Tax Reality!

I thought I would reply to all the "fwd.fwd.fwd" emails I continue to receive in my inbox about how Obama wants to raise your taxes and end the Bush tax cuts, blah, blah, blah. So Id like to respond first by saying the upcoming tax cuts that are coming in 2011 are actually "The Obama Tax Cuts", because in fact, the "Bush tax cuts" are expiring. They are expiring because the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, passed through a process called reconciliation, meaning they didn't have the votes to make the cuts permanent. The Obama Administration and Democrats want the tax cuts to be extended for everyone except the top 2%. I know, I know, Ive heard the argument. "If we tax the rich, we are punishing the middle class and killing jobs" and my response to that is, where are the jobs? We have these tax cuts now, we had them in 2007 and we still went into the greatest economic downturn in nearly 3 generations. The point being you can't have a tax cut for the richest Americans (none of which are reading this blog by the way) and also reduce the deficit. Did you know that in fact, the Bush tax cuts cost as much as the Stimulus, TARP, Health Care Reform and the Auto Bailout combined? That's right! So I love when I hear Republicans say "we are going to reduce the deficit and continue the 1 trillion dollar unfunded Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy" as if you can do both. Ive decided to attach graphs to this blog, as this sometimes allows people to see things more clearly. The 1st graph shows the Democratic tax plan vs the Republican tax plan, as you can see the middle class actually gains a few dollars under the Democratic plan, until you hit the ubber rich, then the Republicans come away with the win. The 2nd graph shows spending under previous administrations. "Those Darn Big Spending Liberals!!!" The graph shows how George W. Bush spent the most money during his 8 year administration, while not vetoing a single budget that hit his desk! The 3rd graph is the bikini graph, it shows job creation under the last 2 years of the Bush administration and the 1st year of the Obama administration, where more private sector jobs were created then the entire 8 years of the Bush administration. And finally graph #4 shows income gains from 1979 to 2007. This graph shows an overall net income for the top 1% versus the middle class and lower class incomes. The top 1% has seen an increase of almost 300% in the last 30 years versus 25% for the middle class. So excuse me if I don't give a rats ass about the top income earners. Suck it up! You've had it good for a long time... a long, long time. And soon you will have to pay 3% more then you do now.. Get over it! You'll find a tax loop hole and you'll be back on top in no time. The American people have faith in you and we will continue to work hard, so you don't have to!

I pledge allegiance to the uninformed

Today the tea party protesters once again met in Washington D.C. with a little help from Michelle Bachmann (R-Minnesota), other Republican congressmen and the anti-health reform lobbyists. It appears that these folks will hold a protest every weekend for any issue that gets thrown their way. It is a good thing the senate passed an extension of unemployment benefits this week, because these people clearly do not work. Everyone is entitled to protest their government, in fact it should be encouraged, however the argument must be credible. For starters these people are protesting everything from taxes (which have not increased, but rather decreased under the stimulus), to health care reform, to the presidents place of birth, the list goes on and on. Their all over the map on the issues that fuel their rage, much of it makes little or no sense and the irony of it all is waisted on these folks. Todd Akin (R-Missouri) kicked off the tea party protest today by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, however he omitted the word "indivisible". Hopefully one does not need to explain the irony in the omission of this word, at a protest where people held up signs saying "Ken-Ya trust Obama" and held up pictures of mass graves in Nazi concentration camps, equating Dachau, Germany in the 1940's to the current health care reform bill. Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) held up the constitution as if to imply he was a defender of it and then went on to misquote it and instead quoted the Declaration of Independence. Its a frightening day in America when your elected officials do not know the most basic facts about the country they represent. That would be like your doctor mistaking your blood pressure for your temperature. This country is great in part because we have always stood for a two party system, a system where one side of the aisle challenges the other side, as if to keep one another in check. But at a time when only 19% of the population identifies as Republican it does not take much research to understand why. They have fallen off the proverbial deep end, with no ideas and truly no clue what they are talking about. I think the highlight of today's Laugh Out Loud protest is when the flag fell over in the midst of an anti-health reform rant. Perhaps the flag falling over is symbolic of the hyperbole coming from the right wing of American politics these days, but someone over there should pick it up, before the Republican party becomes non-existent.

The United Counties of Texas

The United Counties of Texas

I have a proposition for all the teabagger, deather, birther, tenthers. We as a country are going to give Texas exactly what they want. We are going to allow secession from the United States without a fight. We will not stand in your way. What would the United Counties of Texas look like you ask? Well first, half the population would move to the United States and a couple million “Americans” will now move to the UCofT. So the population will remain relatively the same, maybe a little smaller. But no problem, just more room for “Texans” to stretch their freedom arms and legs. The UCofT would start from scratch. So 1st is the business of starting some form of government or leadership. There would be a hotly contested presidential race between Sarah Palin, Rick Perry and Chuck Norris. Sarah Palin would eventually win and choose Ted Nugent as her vice president. There would be no congressmen, senators or mayors. Tenthers don’t need nor do they want a “big government”. So Sarah and Ted will be as big as the UCofT will allow. Then there will be schools. No longer will the citizens need to home school, as now they all agree on what will be taught. Ann Coulter will teach ethics of course, Michelle Maulkin will teach math (since she can count the best), Dick Cheney will teach history (since he clearly has his own version of it) Tom Delay will teach the Arts (since he thinks he can dance) and English will be taught by the guy in the cardinals shirt. Where’s science do you ask? Well there will be no science taught in the UCofT. Global warming does not exist, period! There is no such thing as evolution in the UCofT and to prove it there will be a picture of Adam and Eve riding on dinosaurs in the back of every class room. Every class day will start out with the pledge of allegiance to Ronald Reagan. There will be no separation of church and state in the UCofT, so all addresses given by president Sarah Palin will start with a bible verse (from the new testament of course). Now as far as Television, there are limited resources in the UCofT so there will only be 2 channels shown. One will be Fox news and the other will show re-runs of Texas Ranger (that’s the least they can do; I mean come on the guy lost the election). There will only be 2 radio stations. One will play Rush Limbaugh and the other will play country music all day long! Mean while back in the communist, fascist USofA, there is a very large wall being built around the United Counties of Texas, we finally decided it wasn’t such a bad idea. Back in the UCofT the weather is getting bad off the gulf and a huge hurricane wipes through San Pedro Island and this devastates the coastal area of the country, not knowing what to do and now that bardering is becoming more difficult, the Palin/Nugent administration realizes they have to make the people pay something, anything to help sustain the great UCofT. Slowly, the taxes rise from 1% to 2% and so on…. Now the administration sees that they can actually start to maintain the roads, provide firefighters and aid workers etc. So eventually the taxes keep rising, the people are still excepting the tax at this point, knowing that it is getting really expensive having to change all those tires due to all the pot holes. But since the population is only 3 million and their are less people contributing to the pot, the taxes keeping rising and the cost of healthcare keeps rising, due to such a small amount of profit coming in with no stock market. And before you know it Billy Bob comes home from work and says “well Betsy, I made $600 this week, but I only received $50 after taxes and I’m $2000 behind on my White Cross White Shield payment.” Before you know it the United States border patrol is running around the border wall chasing around people with Stetson hats and Belt Buckles. Ahhhhh….. a person can dream cant they?

Chicken Hawk Squawk

Over the years many politicians, journalists and pundits have weighed in on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and shared their opinions and comments on the United States military role through out the world. What I find most fascinating is that almost every single individual that supported these wars from the beginning and shunned critics of the wars, have in fact never spent one single day fighting in a war zone. Former vice president Dick Cheney is the lead cheerleader of the wars and would gladly have started another one had he been given the opportunity. This from a man who dodged the draft several times in the 60's, even saying once that "I had other priorities in the 60's other then military service". Well excuse me sir but I'm sure that the thousands of American soldiers that have died in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan had "other priorities" as well, but instead they decided to make their priority saving your ass. During the 2004 election season those on the right painted Democratic senator John Kerry as "anti-American" for his disdain for the Vietnam war after his return. This was a man who was not drafted, but rather signed up for 2 tours in Vietnam. So if anyone has the right to criticize the war, it is someone who actually lived through it. John Kerry was fighting in Vietnam while Dick Cheney had "other priorities" and George Bush was drinking and chasing women, all the while using his fathers influence to stay as far away from Vietnam as possible. And the way the Republican party, in support of potential Republican senator Saxby Chambliss (another chicken hawk who didn't serve 1 day in a war zone because he claimed he had a bad knee) went after Democratic incumbent Max Cleland (a Vietnam war vet who is a triple amputee) was down right appalling. The republican party put out ads questioning Clelands courage and even attempting to tie him to Osama Bin Laden. Those antics worked, Chambliss won and we all now what happened to John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Then there is radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh who criticizes anti-war protesters as "traders and anti-Americans", and Iraqi war veterans who now oppose our presence there as "fake soldiers." This from a man who dodged the draft in Vietnam because he claimed he was unable to serve due to an anal cyst that needed to be removed. Meanwhile we have soldiers with missing limbs wanting to return to war to help support their fellow soldiers. And Rush couldn't find the time to show up, because he had a bump on his ass! And many on the Right have criticized the assistant secretary to veterans affairs for the Obama White House, Tammy Duckworth (who is an Iraq war veteran who happens to be a double amputee) simply because she is of a different political mind. Over and over again these CHICKEN HAWKS squawk, squawk, squawk, never taking the time to get up off their lazy asses, put down their expensive cigars and cognac and actually put their money where their mouths are. So next time Cheney, Limbaugh or any other chicken hawk republican starts talking about wars,wars and more wars and how great they are, please hand them a map with directions to the nearest military recruiting office!

The 2nd Amendment and the "right to bear fear"

Today an anti-health reform protester brought a gun to the New Hampshire town hall held by president Obama. He stated that it was for his protection and his right to the 2nd amendment. What exactly is this man protecting himself from? I enjoy how people think that carrying a gun makes them look "tough." I think it does just the opposite,it makes them look like a "Punk" or a "Wimp". What ever happened to good old fashioned "fists"? Are these people so afraid of the world that they have to carry around a gun on their hip on a Tuesday afternoon? I mean come on, what are these people so afraid of? Nobody's going to take away their guns and so what if they did. Are you not man enough to handle it on your own? The point is.. I don't think a regular citizen carrying a gun in public shows their strength, in reality it shows their weakness.

Right Wing Static

As I sit in my living room navigating yet another day through the radical right wing spin that has now become the healthcare debate, i am left wondering if this whole mob mentality has anything to do with healthcare at all? Heres what I mean... When you have code words like "nazi fuhrer" , "Acorn" (Acorn?, I dont understand what they have to do with the healthcare debate, but..) and other completley ridiculous labels being thrown around about this administration, one has to wonder what is this really about? Is this about the fear of a so called "government take over of healthcare" or is it a fear of a different kind? The fear of the unknown, the fear of a BLACK president! When I hear things like "I want my country back!!!" as to imply that it has gone some where in the last 7 months, that it hadn't already gone over the last 8 years, I think what these people mean to say is, I want my white president back! I'm starting to think these mobs that are infiltrating town halls this August are more concerned with losing their majority status then their current health care. Even though according to the recent census Caucasians make up 66% of the population compared to 14% Hispanics and 13% African Americans. All joking aside, this is down right scary. When town halls are turned into anti-Obama, anti-everything rallies, the American people need to open their eyes and realize what is really happening here. This isn't grassroots outrage, if it was then the people attending wouldn't say things like "tell government to stay out of my medicare". (News flash your medicare didn't fall from the heavens, its supplied by the good ol' U.S of A) This is more like grassroots ignorance. So if we are going to have a legitimate debate on health care, then lets do just that. Debate!! Discuss the issues for and against health care reform. Whats happening right now is not democracy at its finest, it is fear mongering and pure racism at its worst.