Tax Cuts for Democrats

Tax cuts are a stupid idea. And John Boner [sic] is an idiot for the reasons he suggests them. But for the sake of discussion, I was considering what kind of tax cuts I would want if I could only choose one. The two choices are:

1) Tax cuts for businesses
2) Tax cuts for individuals

With the current economic crisis, tax cuts for businesses seems like it would make some sense. The more money a business has, the more people they can hire. The problem is that no one is currently spending money. Will that change if more people are hired? Or will the businesses just keep the money for themselves to make up for money they have lost with the bad economy (meaning it neither gets spent nor promotes job growth)?

Individual tax cuts put money directly into the pocket of individuals. The idea will be that they will spend it, stimulate the economy and create jobs. The question here is whether or not they will spend it. I, for one, know that any money I get is going to pay some taxes I owe (self employment is a bitch). I know other people are just going to save the money or pay back their credit cards. Not exactly the boost the economy is looking for.

So each has their pluses and minuses. If I could only choose one, I'd probably choose tax cuts for businesses - and only small businesses, to prevent corporate hording. At least if businesses are making more of a profit again, there is a chance it will boost consumer confidence and spending will once again increase (which will generate jobs). I don't think either is a particularly good plan, but if tax cuts are necessary, small business tax cuts seem like the best option.

Same Old Song for the Grand Old Poopheads

I'm stealing most of the good stuff, but you should read this article by Bob Herbert of the New York Times (emphasis mine):

[T]he country is hemorrhaging jobs and Americans are heading to the poorhouse by the millions. The stock markets and the value of the family home have collapsed, and there is virtual across-the-board agreement that the country is caught up in the worst economic disaster since at least World War II.

The Republican answer to this turmoil?

Tax cuts.

They need to go into rehab.

When the G.O.P. talks, nobody should listen. Republicans have argued, with the collaboration of much of the media, that they could radically cut taxes while simultaneously balancing the federal budget, when, in fact, big income-tax cuts inevitably lead to big budget deficits. We listened to the G.O.P. and what do we have now? A trillion-dollar-plus deficit and an economy in shambles.

This is the party that preached fiscal discipline and then cut taxes in time of war. This is the party that still wants to put the torch to Social Security and Medicare. This is a party that, given a choice between Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, would choose Ronald Reagan in a heartbeat.

Why is anyone still listening?

l33t Has Come to America

It's Been Real

But now, if you'd be so kind...



Abstinence has come to America.
We have finally gotten rid of Bush and Dick.

Bush's Last Day

Te quiero hoy mas que ayer, pero no tanto como mañana

Well, that's kinda cool

Saw this on the New York Times:

As the number of jobs across the nation dwindles, more Americans are joining the military, lured by a steady paycheck, benefits and training.

The last fiscal year was a banner one for the military, with all active-duty and reserve forces meeting or exceeding their recruitment goals for the first time since 2004, the year that violence in Iraq intensified drastically, Pentagon officials said.

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And the trend seems to be accelerating. The Army exceeded its targets each month for October, November and December — the first quarter of the new fiscal year — bringing in 21,443 new soldiers on active duty and in the reserves. December figures were released last week.

Not bad. We may be losing jobs, but we'll be gaining military strength at a time where people are worried about terrorists trying to test Barack Obama. Also, it makes the "say no to a larger stimulus" somewhat ironic, since they are going to have to pay more and more individuals anyway. But that's a different issue altogether.

Where Were You When the Devil Left the Building

Busy with work has made it difficult to post. But most upsetting is that I have no plans for January 20th. Bush's last day is a time of tremendous celebration, and I should be out and about with copious amounts of alcohol to complement my happiness.

The Filibuster

What is a Filibuster?

It is when someone stands there for like 24 hours and does not stop talking to block a vote. 60 votes are needed to override it.

It only takes 50 votes to pass a bill, but it takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster. That is why people care so much about 60 votes. But remember, a filibuster is not a term for getting 60 votes - only to block some guy talking for 24 hours.

The Democrats - most notably Harry Reid - often do not go through with the passage of bills because the Republicans threaten a filibuster. But instead of just canceling its passage, Reid should start making the Republicans ACTUALLY filibuster. Make them talk for 24 hours, or whatever, so that the bill does that past. That way, when people wonder why nothing has changed in the White House, the answer will not be:

"The Democrats could not get 60 votes to block the Filibuster."

It will be:

"Senator Mitch McConnell reads from Moby Dick for 24 hours."

One makes it sound like the Democrat's fault. The other makes it sound like Mitch McConnell is an idiot.

Start making the Republicans actually filibuster instead of simply letting them threaten it. If Harry Reid does not start doing that, he needs to be ousted as majority leader.

Oh. My. God.

And Republicans wonder why liberals think they are stupid.

Joe the Plumber is taking on a new job.

The Ohio man, who became famous during the U.S. presidential campaign after asking Barack Obama about his tax plan, is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for a conservative Web site called pjtv.com.

This man is an idiot. You have made him the representative of your party. Congratulations, you are represented by an idiot.

Lions and Tigers and Trillions Oh My!

OMG a trillion dollar deficit?! No1 that typ3s like th1s knos wut that means.

A trillion dollar deficit is a big deal. The irony is that there is no such things as money. It is an arbitrary item designed to represent another arbitrary item that people seem to give implicit value to. Wowza.

Losing jobs is real. A trillion dollar deficit is important, but not real. It is one of those things that we need to let bite us in the ass in the future if we have to increase it today in order to live. A bad economy leads to a bad deficit that will never recover, but a good economy by creating a worse deficit is far more likely to recover. So Barack Obama's spending plans should be welcome provided they increase jobs and have noticeable results on the economy. Assuming that is the case, I really could not care less.

His Larious

7ish years ago, George Bush was going to be remembered for one thing: Performing semi-admirably on 9/11. I remember that time. I knew nothing of politics, saw his reaction, and was pleased with his response.

It's hard to believe how many complete and utter failures have occurred since then. The sheer magnitude of them is so strong, that most people think back to 9/11 as not a terrible tragedy, but a time where Bush decided to take the lead ruining the country. 9/11 has, itself, become an example of the administrations failure despite the actual event being something that even he hadn't ruined (yet).

It's impossible to list all of the things that have gone wrong in the past 8 years. There is no aspect of the country or the world that is better off. Economy? Crashed. Environment? Shitty. Science? Halted. Israel? Worse. Army? Weaker. General Intelligence? Less. That he is not considered the worst president in history by a large margin is only due to the country being significantly more technologically advanced when he started, as there was no way his mistakes were going to cause us to lose our conveniences.

Still, I don't feel remotely bad for him. What a joke.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

There is a level of interest that one has in politics when there is a lot of downtime in their life. When one does not have that downtime, the interest recedes.

In other words, this past week I have had nothing interesting to say.

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18 days until Bush is out of office.