Reuters reports that TXU Energy, the biggest utility in Texas, intends to increase its rates — but only for those least able to pay: In a new rate-setting tactic for electric utilities, the unit of Dallas-based TXU Corp. plans bigger rate increases for customers with low "credit scores," which are numeric rankings that take into account customer histories of paying electricity, phone and cable bills, the Wall Street Journal reported. I'm not sure whether this is more evil or stupid,... Read more

The Daily Mislead notes that President Bush, in his acceptance speech Thursday night, complained of the complexity of the American tax code: President Bush said a "drag on our economy is the current tax code, which is a complicated mess, filled with special interest loopholes." Bush noted that the American people were saddled with "6 billion hours of paperwork and headache every year," and said that he was the candidate to create "a simpler, fairer" system. That line jumped out... Read more

Now that the GOP's convention in New York City is over, the biz pages are sporting stories like this, about how much of an economic boost the convention may have provided the city: Mayor Bloomberg declared the Republican National Convention an "extraordinary" economic boon yesterday and said it generated $255 million in economic activity, a figure some merchants found dubious. These things are difficult to measure. Bloomberg's figure, for instance, does not include the potential cost of the tax-free week... Read more

Or, if you prefer, "The Owe-nership Society." Slate's Daniel Gross reminds our MBA president that there are two sides to a balance sheet: The major obstacle to greater ownership isn't a recalcitrant Congress or an American fear of investing. It's debt — debt that the president and his ally, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, have done their best to increase. President Bush, despite having an MBA, has never shown much understanding of finances, and he has failed to recognize that... Read more

Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., began his speech Tuesday at the Republican National Convention by talking about his father. "My dad, a family doctor in Tennessee for 50 years," he said. That would be Thomas Frist Sr., the founder of Columbia/HCA — a giant chain of more than 500 for-profit hospitals, outpatient centers and home health care agencies. HCA is worth about $20 billion. So your basic Tennessee country doctor then. (You can read more about Dr. Frist Sr.... Read more

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. — Oliver Goldsmith, "The Deserted Village" In the current New Yorker John Cassidy examines what President Bush's "ownership society" will really mean: "Tax cuts were just the beginning: the President is signalling a far more radical agenda." The end result of that "far more radical agenda" is an America in which wages, and only wages, will be taxed. People with lots of disposable income —... Read more