Home > Jay Bookman > Archives > 2008 > June > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USIn praise of “Smoltzie”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Even after 18 years in Atlanta, I wouldn’t call myself a Braves fan. Baseball loyalties that are built early in life and run deep can’t be changed easily. At least not in my case.
I am, however, a John Smoltz fan. When I came to town, Smoltz was the young flamethrower on a bad Braves team, overshadowed by Tom Glavine and later by Greg Maddux. During his 20 years with Atlanta, we’ve had the chance to watch his whole career arc through to revered baseball elder, an opportunity that is rare in modern-day baseball. And throughout that time, through injuries and personal setbacks, he has been a thorough professional, always seeking excellence within a team concept.
I suspect our politics are very different — the only time I’ve ever written about Smoltz was to criticize something he had said about gay marriage, and I never felt right about dragging him into that debate. But political differences are only one aspect of life, and their importance is too often exaggerated. Out of my handful of best friends, several are very conservative, and for a while there, they gave me unending grief about the virtues of the Bush administration. These days, not so much, but that’s another story….
If this shoulder injury is a career-ender for Smoltz, he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer five years from now. He already is in my book.
Comments
By A Non-Kool-Aid Drinker
June 6, 2008 10:56 AM | Link to this
Jay — I know your column on the FairTax has generated a lot of heat and letters to the editor (including one from me), but it struck me that one of the frustrating issues with the FairTax is that there are so many folks out there who don’t realize that any alternative tax reform plans even exist. So, they tend to think that if we don’t adopt the FairTax, we’ll be stuck with our current monstrosity.
Why don’t you do an column on an alternative tax plan that might make more sense than the FairTax? One I have in mind is called the “Competitive Tax Plan” that is proposed by Michael Graetz of Yale Law School. He published a book on it last year, but here’s a linke to a brief wikipedia article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompetitiveTaxPlan
Essentially, he would:
Exempt couples from any income tax liabilites up to $100,000 ($50,000 for singles).
Have a flat tax rate of 25% on incomes above the exemption amount.
Reduce corporate tax rate to 25%.
Add a Value Added Tax (similar to a consumption tax) of 10-13%.
I’m pretty sure he leaves the estate tax at current levels.
I’m not sure whether or how his plan deals with Social Security and Medicare taxes, but the point is that his plan has many of the advantages of the FairTax, primarily in terms of tax simplification, without so many of the problems.
I’s sure professor Graetz would love to explain his plan to you (particularly since his book probably only sold about three copies), and it would be very interesting to see the response you got from the FairTax crowd if you actually wrote about a tax reform plan that made sense!
P.S. Another tax reform plan is called the Efficient Taxation of Income, which was developed by Dale Jorgenson of Harvard (who, ironically, was at one-time touted as a guru behind the FairTax until he came out against it). But I believe Jorgenson’s plan is more complicated and might be hard to explain in a column.
Good luck, Hayden
By Me
June 6, 2008 11:06 AM | Link to this
Whether this is the end or not for John Smoltz he is and always has been a gamer. Baseball needs many more like him.
By Fred
June 6, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this
Jay,
Nice departure from politics as usual. I don’t agree with most of your political views but I really enjoy your columns. A change of subject such as this shows us different side of you. I enjoyed this almost as much as the column about your car!
By AH
June 6, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this
Of course Smoltz is a first ballot HOFer. I’m sure we all wish him the best and hope to see him back.
As to A-Non-Kool-Aid-Drinker and his post I’m sure you could have found a better place to post it but you didn’t. That being said looking at the Graetz plan made the hair on my head stand on end. That sounds like to most punishing tax plan in the world to me. If you make above $50k, which I do, and you are subject to both an income tax and a VAT your going to be miserable. It seems like it punishes anyone how makes money and rewards people to make less money. Maybe there is more to it and I’ll read up on it later but it doesn’t sound like it has any of the benefits of he Fair Tax other than the simplification of the tax system.
By mount18
June 6, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this
I am a native and of course a loyal Bravos follower. I sure hope he can suit up next Spring, but let’s be rational and start looking to bolster the starting rotation and bullpen.
I would also like to know what exactly a Non-Kool-Aid Drinker defines? Please explain further as I like to stay up with today’s lingo.
By A Non-Kool-Aid Drinker
June 6, 2008 3:29 PM | Link to this
AH:
Besides being a non-Kool-Aid drinker, I am also a techno-spaz. I meant to post my comment on Jay’s column on the FairTax, but it wound up on this one instead. My mistake. I’m sure Smoltzie is a great guy and I don’t mean to besmirch Jay’s tribute to him by throwing in political opinions.
mount18 — A non-Kool-Aid drinker is someone who does not drink the Kool-Aid (or believe the hype) when offered to him/her by a of con man or politician. If you still don’t understand it, look up Jim Jones and the Jonestown mass suicide (via poisoned Kool-Aid) in Wikipedia.
By Thor
June 6, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this
Non-Koolaid drinker, bad move - talk about your home team and a future hall of famer.
I like Schmoltz; praise him!
By Crafty
June 6, 2008 6:37 PM | Link to this
Jay, Wow, I stand corrected. You actually wrote a couple of paragraphs that aren’t tearing someone down or beating up on someone else’s beliefs. Did you take a Paxil?
Yes, Smoltz is awesome. He’s my favorite ballplayer of all time. Why? Because he’s selfless, hard worker, and an all around good guy. Money was never a factor in his career. He is a team player who puts his team above money. Something this sport needs more of.
Now Jay, go back to your other blog and bash Christians.
By AL
June 6, 2008 6:52 PM | Link to this
Lifetime Braves fan. Smoltz is one of the top 5 this franchise has ever produced. The Braves were a laughing stock from the get go. My 1968 T-ball team in the upper deck loved Felipe Alou , Rico Carty and of course Hank. When Smoltz, Jones, Glavine and that bunch came to Atlanta things turned around he was a major part of that change. NO DOUBT. I’m active duty Navy and follow Smoltz and the Braves religously no matter what time zone. GO Braves!!!