If I hear one more word about the plight of the “job creators” - I think I’m going to explode. Please let’s get real on this issue. It has degenerated to the point where all you hear is incomprehensible slogans and veiled threats of pulling the plug on yet more jobs if taxes on the rich are allowed to rise by so much as a dime. Since they weren’t creating jobs in the first place - stating that this will prevent them from creating jobs seems a moot point. This is another example of fact-free political pandering. The facts be damned when you are trying to convince the masses that what is bad for them is actually good.
The New York State Millionaires Tax - an onerous burden? Not so much…
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The republicans have FINALLY found a tax hike they can get behind. Why? It increases taxes on he poor while sparing the super rich - who are carry so much water for the rest of us - from an more undo responsibility.
But in order to justify the tax hikes - there must be a villian - a group of people who can be demonized for not properly pulling their weight. What better target than Main Street America - particularly the working poor?
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Paul Krugman offers up his own Bah! Humbug!
Paul Krugman pointed out the nearly radical leftist implications of Dickens “A Christmas Carol” in his recent Op-Ed in the New York Times - The Humbug Express .
Truth be told - anyone looking closely at New Testament scripture would be forced to acknowledge that Jesus was no capitalist - and even if had leanings in that direction - his philosophy and teachings would have thrown him pell mell against the religious and economic doctrine of the far right.
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The 911 First Responders Bill - A slam-dunk morphs into a nail-biter:
Well, The “911 first responders bill” finally passed the Senate. It was by no means a sure thing. How a slam-dunk piece of legislation whose purpose was to provide long term medical care for those who willingly lay their lives on line could wind up being the nail biter of the millennium will be a topic for historians to chew on for generations.
Senator Jon Kyl feels Christmas should be respected….
One explanation for leaving the “911 first responders bill” unresolved until the new year offered by Senator Jon Kyl was that asking the Senate to work over the Christmas holiday season is disrespectful to religious Christians. ( Apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a heathen) This caused the topic to morph from the merely bizarre to the surreal. Such rank stupidity would have been funny if it weren’t such a tragic indictment of our dysfunctional government. After a gaffe like that - what more can be said - except that this whole mess has put a spotlight on the total contempt with which some members of the Senate hold the general public. Apparently, if we can’t line their pockets with millions of dollars we don’t matter and don’t count. In other words 99% of us are irrelevant to the process of government.
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A Political Geek From Day One:
A friend of mine asked me the other night about what motivates me. At first I didn’t understand - we were sharing a nice glass of wine and perhaps I was feeling a buzz. But the question was posed as an issue of bravery. If I see a political or community issue about which I am knowledgeable, I am not afraid to speak out. It has caused me more than a small amount to trouble over the years -because there are those who would prefer that I remain silent. My friend asked me what gave me the “courage to speak.”
Ok - so I wasn’t totally sober - but I did know the answer. To me it was never about “courage” - it was more about doing the right thing. And the compulsion to act in certain situations came from something my late mother instilled in me - and it can be summed up in two words - civic duty.
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