When I left my job as the deputy assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy in 1993, I left a message on my office blackboard for my successor. I wrote, "Broaden the base, lower the rates" repeatedly until I filled the entire space. I then had it covered with wax so it could not be erased. (Yes, the government charged me for my bit of vandalism. But it was worth it.)

This choice quote comes from a larger discussion of the Bowles-Simpson tax plan and the Herculean task of remedying the federal deficit. How, The Observer would like to know, could the citizenry take seriously a known vandal who flagrantly abuses government resources. Compounding the matter, Hubbard shows no remorse!

One would think the dean of Columbia Business School would treat a chalkboard -- the taxpayer's chalkboard -- with greater respect.

mtaylor [at] observer.com | @mbrookstaylor