2009 archive
Stray Thought 0
I don’t know why it rubs me the wrong way, but it does. I really dislike hearing a man refer to his spouse as “the wife.”
Oh! Horrors! Nanny Tax Dept. 0
And this surprises us how?
My guess is that, in many cases, this happens through ignorance and laziness, not through cupidity.
Anyone who has a profession tax advisor, though, has no excuse:
That means that, at a minimum, tens of thousands of Americans fail to pay the tax – but experts in the field say that the number is probably much higher.
“It’s hard to estimate how many nannies are working, because the vast majority are paid off the books,” said Michelle LaRowe Conover of the International Nanny Association, the umbrella organization for in-home child care.
Jon Swift on Jindal 0
As is his custom, Mr. Swift cuts to the quick. Two nuggets:
(snip)
And instead of having bureaucrats build roads and bridges why not let people build their own roads and bridges? With all of the companies laying off people and outsourcing jobs to Gov. Jindal’s native country, there are plenty of people with time on their hands looking for something to do during the day. It would give people a sense of accomplishment and distract them from worrying about how they will pay the mortgage or pay for health care for their children.
Follow the link for the rest.
Cause<---Effect 0
Yeah. I know the arrow is supposed to point the other way.
But that’s the Republican equation.
Witness this column from the Guardian:
There’s much more at the link, but I didn’t want to waste any more electrons on it.
The author leaves out what necessitated this budget: decades of misgovernance under Republican Economic Theory, which, from passing Prop. 13 to requiring a super-majority to pass a state budget, has left California virtually ungovernable.
He left out that, the day before the budget was passed, California was shutting down. And what is government? It’s not Nyarlothotep, though it’s seldom perfect, just as you and I are seldom perfect.
It’s police, fire fighters, food and housing inspectors, persons who serve the public (and, by and large, persons who, unlike bankers, don’t get bonuses for failure). Government is the engine that makes civilized society possible.
Republicans don’t like government, therefore they must not li–oh, never mind.
Throw a Sheet over It 0
Not all bigots are stupid.
Just most of them.
Honest to Pete, the modern Civil Rights struggle started over 50 years ago. Why haven’t bigoted white folks figured out what they can say in public yet?
Truth. No Reconciliation. 0
Evil has been done in the name of the people of the United States of America.
(lots of snippage)
But a USA Today/Gallup poll this month found that 62 percent of Americans support either a criminal investigation or an independent panel to look into allegations of torture and other abuses of power during the Bush administration.
As I have said before, I do not favor prosecutions. But I do favor the truth.
If you sweep evil under the rug, it just lies there waiting to bite you in the behind.
‘Tis better to expose it to the plain light of day.
More here.
Via PDA, who, methinks may have jumped the gun.
Equal Time 0
FactCheck dot org. Nitpicked in parentheses. Follow the link for the full analysis:
- He said “we import more oil today than ever before.” That’s untrue. Imports peaked in 2005 and are substantially lower today. (Because unemployed persons don’t drive far–ed.)
- He claimed his mortgage aid plan would help “responsible” buyers but not those who borrowed beyond their means. But even prominent defenders of the program including Fed Chairman Bernanke and FDIC chief Bair concede foolish borrowers will be aided, too. (Bair and Bernanke were both appointed by Republicans–ed.)
- He said the high cost of health care “causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds.” That’s at least double the true figure. (That’s over half a million bankruptcies a year, rather than over a million a year. Significant.–ed.)
- He flubbed two facts about American history. The U.S. did not invent the automobile, and the transcontinental railroad was not completed until years after the Civil War, not during it. (The Transcontinental Railroad was funded in 1862, the second year of the war, and completed in 1869. I think FactCheck blew this one–ed.)
- He claimed that his stimulus plan “prevented the layoffs” of 57 police officers in Minneapolis. In fact, it’s far more complicated than that, and other factors are also helping to save police jobs.
The president also repeated some strained claims we’ve critiqued before.
Translations 0
For “bipartisan politics” to work, both (“bi” means two, after all) parties must be willing to participate.
I have addressed this before.
Contemporary Republicanism is not only morally, ideologically, and philosophically bankrupt–a demonstrably failed ideology (don’t believe me? Go here) which clouds its failures with the smokescreen of “family values” while concomitantly demonstrating a creepy fascination with the sexual behavior of others (why don’t they just a watch a porno, for heaven’s sake)–it is also so doctrinaire as to be incapable, not just of compromise, but of admitting any other points of view.
Members of the Democratic Party have repeatedly allowed themselves to think that, when Republicans spoke of “bipartisanship,” they meant “cooperation and compromise,” when they meant, instead, “our way or the highway.” My fellow members of Left Blogistan tend to go–how shall I put this?–off their nuts when the Democrats do this.
(It is difficult to keep from typing, “Democrats have dealt in good faith; Republicans have not.” Oops.)
This sums it up (emphasis added):
The fundamental flaw in clamoring for a bipartisan process in light of the above is the erroneous belief that the fruit of any open-handed endeavor is necessarily a bipartisan (and universally acceptable) solution. One need only look in the rear view mirror to disprove such a naive notion. It has been the most bipartisan of processes that have sprung forth the most odious and partisan results.
There is no cooperation and compromise with those who will neither cooperate nor compromise.
It is to Mr. Obama’s credit that he tries. By doing so, he allows the Republican Party to reveal the divergence between its words and its deeds.
Oh, yeah, and there is a word for a “divergence between words and deeds.”
The Vitter Truth 0
Money quote: “I might be a porn star, but at least i haven’t done anything illegal.”
At least she’s honest about doing it for the money.
Via Brendan.
Stray Thought: “Entertainment News” Dept. 0
Who are these people and why does anyone care about them?
The Republican Capacity for Delusional Behavior 0
The lies do get tiresome after a while.
Whether they are lying to themselves or to others or, more likely, to both themselves and others, the lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths do still get tiresome.
Bushonomics: The Hangover 0
The direct result of the Republican Economic Policy of non- and deregulation and their deluded belief that those pursuing tons of money will ipso facto conclude that acting responsibly and morally is in their and society’s financial best interest:
Sales are down 8.6% in the past year, the industry trade group reported. The sales pace in December went unrevised at a 4.74 million annual rate.
It was like pulling the cops off the street and trusting drivers not to drive recklessly. Most drivers will not drive recklessly (many do not drive competently, but that’s another issue).
The ones that do drive recklessly cause horrible damage, especially when they are driving overloaded semis with bad brakes.
Like Citigroup and Bank of America.
Stray Thought 0
When you hang out a sign that says “bank,” persons should be able to bank on you, not just with you.
Perspective 0
One of the nice things about listening to the BBC News Hour is being continually reminded that TWIAVBP.
The show was 22 minutes old before they got to Mr. Obama’s speech.
Serendipity 0
When I went to DL last night, I actually found a parking space on Chestnut almost right in front of the bar venue.
With 45 minutes left on the meter.
Metered parking in that area on Chestnut is eight minutes per quarter (still cheaper than the lots).
As one of my DL friends remarked, the previous parker must have been a tourist.
As anyone who watched Parking Wars knows, Philadelphians don’t do meters. Or park legally. (And you thought the show was about the exceptions, didn’t you?)
What a Hoot! 0
Following up to this post, the Newark, Del., Hooters got a license on condition that there be no “Bike Nights” and no “Lingerie Nights.”
Now, where are all those middle-aged men with the Harleys and the fake pony tails going to go?
Aside: I once saw “lingerie” defined as something you think you can see through, but you can’t.
Speaking of Republicans Making Stuff Up 0
Mother of all coincidences. This came in from FactCheck dot org even as I typed the previous post (q. v.). As always, follow the link for detailed analysis:
- It’s not true that the bill contains spending for “golf carts.” It has $300 million to buy fuel-efficient vehicles, some of which may be electric cart-like utility vehicles like those already in use on military bases and at other government facilities.
- Money claimed to be for “remodeled federal offices” is mostly designated for upgrading buildings to “green” status through such things as thicker insulation and highly efficient lighting, not new drapes or paneling.
- A widely repeated claim that $8 billion is set aside for a “levitating train” to Disneyland is untrue. That total is for unspecified high-speed rail projects, and some of it may or may not end up going to a proposed 300-mph “maglev” train connecting Anaheim, Calif., with Las Vegas.
- There’s no money in the bill specified for butterfly parks, Frisbee golf courses or water slides, despite a GOP congressman’s claim that the bill “will fund” those projects. He culled those silly-sounding items from a list of 18,750 city projects that the U.S. Conference of Mayors cobbled together as examples of “shovel-ready” projects.
Don’t look to us to defend any particular item in the bill, or to criticize it. We will, however, call out politicians for delivering trumped-up descriptions of the bill’s contents.