What are YOU lookin at?
Reply
Tag Archives: Cats
Vote McCain . . . Or He Might Lose
SRSLY? Is that all they got now? After picking Palin merely because she looked the part . . .
“The way you pick a vice president is, you get a frame of Time magazine, and you put the pictures of the people in that frame. You look at who fits that frame best — that’s your V. P.“
And now clinging to the idea that the economy failed McCain, when the truth was that McCain failed to lead on the economy . . .
America was in crisis. Perhaps with the Bush theory in mind, Steve Schmidt had advised McCain to “go in all the way” on the financial crisis so as to reveal his candidate’s true character. But given a chance to show what kind of president he might be, McCain came off more like a stymied bystander than a leader who could make a difference.
Am I right that all they really have left is to say if you don’t vote for the Republicans, the Democrats will win?
Well, No Duh!
I’ve been pretty disgusted with GOP induced gridlock since Gingrich, GOP excesses under Tom Delay and Bush’s Rubber-Stamp legislature, and GOP filibusters giving a nominally Democratic controlled Congress a bad name. I absolutely welcome our new Robot Overlords from the Blue States.
Anyone worried about liberal excesses is simply fear-mongering and desperate. This is the Democratic Party, not the vanguard of some socialist revolution. A herd of cats has more synchronicity. Is there any doubt that most of the new Democrats from Red Districts and States will merely add to the power of the real power-brokers in Congress, the Blue-Dogs?
Yes, theoretically a united Democratic Party could, and should bring sweeping changes to this nation. That’s a good thing, right. The word “Change” is on all the campaign literature from both parties. So . . . Bonus! After months of the “me too” tactic of adopting Barack Obama’s central theme (by McCain and by Clinton before him), why should anyone be fearful of a lot of change in a short amount of time? You don’t think Hillary and the Republicans were being disingenuous, do you?
Other than driving the GOP’s bankrupt ideology to the Hospice, Democrats aren’t all that united on much.
The Blue-Dogs already proved they could side with like-minded conservatives in the other party to pass just about anything they want — and despite the hype, Obama is more practical than he is ideological in these things. (see e.g. FISA) The check, the balance you’re looking for is the reasonableness of the majority of law-makers we send to Washington now that so many of the whack-jobs have been outed and will soon be gone. (And Jack Murtha, that means you too. Sorry big guy.)
We Americans have more in common than those things that have been exploited to divide us. Those wedge issues the Atwaters/Roves/Schmidts have used to gain power are contributing directly to our demise as a nation. It has to end or it will be the end of us all.
We’ve got serious problems to solve in this country. Now is not the time to indulge in the silly one-up-manship and gridlock that has defined Washington for the last 20 years. Enough is enough.
The Moment You Waited All Day For
The (late) Friday Docu-Dump.
You just don’t know how much those of us assigned to the Friday blog roundup circuit just love this stuff. After a full day sorting through all the end of the week round-up posts, the linky news you should know but aren’t worth an entire post about stuff, those damn cats you see every damn Friday, and the inevitability that you will be Rick-Rolled again and again; you just know there’s gold to be mined (and great stuff on the SciFi channel to be missed) when a steaming pile of official-looking, number-filled, mind-numbingly dull reams of paper are pushed out to the public late on a Friday.
Welcome to my world.
Only the most stallwart souls would venture beyond this disclaimer …
There is no new information on this tax return beyond the actual amount of Mrs. McCain’s income and taxes paid, because all other details of her personal and family sources of income and assets are already public.
Hmm… make my day. Caution of course is in order before clicking the link. It feeds you directly into the lair of the enemy, John McCain’s website.
http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainfinancial/… which proivdes a pdf link to Cindy’s returns and a summary of John’s taxes which were previously disclosed.
SUMMARY OF TAX RETURNS
Taxes Paid:
For 2006, Senator McCain paid $72,771 in federal income, alternative minimum, and self-employment taxes (LINES 57 and 58) on taxable income of $215,304 (LINE 43), which is a 33.8% tax rate. View
For 2007, Senator McCain paid $84,460 in federal income, alternative minimum, and self-employment taxes (LINES 57 and 58) on taxable income of $258,800 (LINE 43), which is a 32.6% tax rate. View
Ya wanna know what’s funny? Since Obama would only raise taxes on those making over a quarter million a year, and only tax the excess of that at a marginally higher rate — if Senator McCain makes this year what he made last year, $258,800, he’d only pay extra on the $8,800 above $250,000. McCain want’s that taxed at 35% and Obama bumps it up to 39.5% That makes the “wealth” Obama wants McCain to share equal to only $404.80.
That’s right people. Barack Obama is a socialist because he wants McCain to chip in an extra Four Hundred Bucks a year. Don’t believe me? Do the math yourself after looking at the non-partisan Tax Policy Center’s analysis.
The impact of the tax code on economic activity under each candidate’s policies would differ in several important ways. Under Senator McCain’s proposed policies, the top marginal rates (35 percent on individual income and 25 percent on corporate income) would be significantly lower than under Senator Obama’s plan (39.6 and 35 percent, respectively). McCain’s reduced individual and corporate rates could improve economic efficiency and increase domestic investment, but the larger future deficits would reduce and might completely negate any positive effect. In contrast, Senator Obama’s proposed new tax credits could encourage desirable behavior, particularly if the childless EITC and payroll tax rebate encourage additional labor supply among childless low-income individuals. However, he would also direct new subsidies at an already favored group—seniors —and an already favored activity—homeownership—which could probably be better directed elsewhere.
I’m again amazed how we can polarize the nation over a lousy 4.6% raise on someone who gives away a hundred grand to charity anyway — his and Cindy’s private foundation of course. This shit is unbelievable sometimes.
Joe John The Plumber Senator’s Taxes
- McCain Tax rate: 35% on the excess John makes over $250,000 equals $3,080 on $8,800.
- Obama Tax Rate: 39.6% on the excess John makes over $250,000 equals $3,476 on $8,800.
- Difference between plans? You do the math.
Not only is John McCain a creepy old coot with delusions of rationality, he’s a cheap old fart too.
If I may be so presumptuous, allow me to be so bold as to quote myself:
Since Ronald Reagan took his last nap in the White House Situation Room, we’ve been fighting over a marginal difference in tax rates of about 12 points, give or take. That’s all. Twelve lousy percentage point are the cause of all the demonization and hyperbole that warrant the GOP calling Democrats commies and us self-righteous liberals justify painting conservatives as heartless fascists. (Okay, there are other reasons they are a bunch of hate-mongering thieves, but let’s stick to taxes for now.)
Back in Eisenhower’s day the top bracket paid 90 frickin per-cent! Now the top pays what? 35%? Less since that rate doesn’t apply to the first $175,000 you earn.
Hey Joe, you not-really-a-plumber. Kiss my ass.
Oh, and how much did Cindy McCain make last year? Who knows. Who really cares anyway. She’s as rich as sin and never broke a nail doing dishes let alone working an honest day in her life — yet pockets over $4 Million a year, mostly in rent and dividends. Hail to the Thief — Obama, the modern day Robin Hood who’ll squeeze another couple of sawbucks out of her skinny ass and that ne’er do well husband of hers when he takes over.