Leftists have threatened the life of Arthur Laffer, the "free-market" economist who favors lower tax rates because--get this--they generate additional revenue for the government. As if the government doesn't do enough damage with the revenue it collects under high tax rates. Anywaym Laffer reports someone has gone so far as to kill his animals.

I am reminded of a joke I heard in 1986. This is back in the good old days when the Soviets were the Implacable Enemy With Whom No Compromise Was Possible, and the mujahideen were freedom fighters armed and funded by the U.S., to thwart that Implacable Enemy.

A Brit, a Frenchman and a Russian stumble into a lantern. They rub it. Sure enough, a genie appears. The genie offers to make one wish come true for each of them.

The Brit says, "I want a million pounds of cash, a fish and chips franchise, and a castle in the Scottish Highlands."

The Frenchman says, "I want a kilogram of gold, a chateau on the Riviera, and a beautiful French mistress."

The Russian says, "My neighbor Sergei has a goat. I haven't got a goat. Kill my neighbor's goat."

That's the politics of envy for you. Like Puritans resenting others' having a good time, the leveler chafes at others' wealth, no matter how attained.