1) He&#x27;s not blaming the tax-system. He&#x27;s blaming the rate setting system.<p>2) How is that intellectually lazy? It seems like a perfectly reasonable point of view to me: fixing the system to remove the lead would cost money. Since rates are too low, the money isn&#x27;t available to do that.<p>He&#x27;s not saying the status quo is acceptable. He&#x27;s pointing out what is necessary to fix it.