The NYT reported today on the reaction to the tax proposal put forward by Representative Charles Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The article quoted Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as saying that Rangel's proposal is the “largest increase in the history of America.” It would have been worth mentioning that this is not true since some readers may not be aware of this fact. It also would have been appropriate to point out that charging that a particular tax increase is "the largest in history" is a Republican ritual. There have been many proposals that they have labeled the "largest tax increase in history" over the last two decades.
--Dean Baker