It always sounds better in the original German

Why Romney Can't Stop Santorum - These Are Not The Candidates You're Looking For - Esquire:

'via Blog this'

I wish I had something pithy to say, but Mr. Pierce nails it for the rest of us.

Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators: Nick Hanauer - Bloomberg

At last. Somebody finally explains the obvious.
Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators: Nick Hanauer - Bloomberg:

'via Blog this'

Political Animal - Proving the 99% right

Political Animal - Proving the 99% right:

'via Blog this'

News Flash: Rain Is Wet

I see Republicans -- most recently mega-billionaire Charles G. Koch -- are still pushing the meme that Government spending has been increasing at a "massive" and "uncontrolled" rate.

You have to love Republicans. They find one thing which, if looked at correctly -- that is to say, if you squint real hard and ignore everything around it -- could be loosely construed as true. Or not false, at any rate.

• Government spending has increased

Yes, it has. Except when it hasn't. Are we talking about 2010 versus 2009? It went down. Are we talking about the projected expense for 2011 over 2010? It is scheduled to go up.

• Government spending as a percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has gone up

Yes it has, and this is my favorite one. This is like saying "household expenditures, as a percentage of houshold income, go up during a heat wave." or "bleeding increases when one's arm is cut off." Yes, it's true, but so what? Let's rephrase that to be a true and meaningful statement:

• There is less money coming into the government, thanks to the Great Recession
• The government is spending more money on "safety net" programs because of the Great Recession
• Less money in + more money out = spending, as a percentage of GDP, goes up.

Guess what? If the recession ends, if unemployment drops, a lot more money flows into the government. Spending, as a percentage of GDP, will go down. And guess who keeps trying to prevent that from happening?

Twelve bonus points if you say "Republicans!"

Oh, and I forgot: Did you know that your burn more calories walking uphill than you do downhill?

The Growth of Government... Not

The next time your Republican friends tell you how the growth of government is out of control! you should just show them this graph. Point out that the size of the Federal government, in terms of how many people it employed, was larger during the Reagan administration then it is now. And then take a step backward to avoid being splattered by brain matter when their heads explode.

FRED Graph - St. Louis Fed

"We are ruled by charlatans and cowards. Our economy is in the tank, we know what to do about it, and we're just not going to do it. The charlatans prefer instead to stand by and let people suffer because that's politically useful, while the cowards let them get away with it because it's politically risky to fight back."

- Kevin Drum

The Tax Freeloader Myth | The New Republic

The Tax Freeloader Myth | The New Republic

I'm Famous!

Here's the video proof:

Remembering Reagan

Let's Do This For The Gipper

We need to honor Ronald Reagan, pay homage to his legacy. The "Tea Bag" movement could surely get behind such an effort. But how best to pay our respects to the revered Gipper? I humbly suggest the following:

Roll back taxes (adjusting for inflation, of course) to what they were during the Reagan administration.

That's it. That's my plan in a nutshell, in its totality. Simply restore the Reagan tax rates. If those rates were good enough for the anti-tax crusading former governor of California, they're good enough for me.

And what conservative could possibly have a problem with honoring the hero of the conservative movement in this manner?

Movin' Out

The test of time appears to be the most standard of all tests, and the easiest to do. Unless you die, of course, in which case you didn't stand the test of time. The instructions for carrying out the test of time look something like this:

1. Do
2. Wait.
3. See what happens.

I say that because I am typing this from a room other than my office, a room that -- up until now -- was off-limits. I speak, of course, of the Room Formerly Occupied by The Daughter. Who moved out. Many things were left behind, among them one blue, blue room with a wide variety of stains on the rug, holes in the wall, and evidence of a paint job gone horribly wrong.

But it has a great view, which is one of its blessings and one of its curses. The blessing is, of course, the view. But the same contrivance that enables the view -- the window -- also enables that other consequence of sunshine: heat. It gets pretty warm in here, mostly because it's a south-facing room with little or no shading. The cats love it, with the exception of the New Cat, who still hasn't gotten used to the fact that she doesn't have to spend her life hiding. Sometimes, we tell her, a little sunshine is just what you need.

But this isn't a post about sunshine. Ostensibly, according to the title, it's a post about moving. Children growing up and moving out (or, more accurately, moving out and then growing up), adults moving around, finding the right space.

I believe it was Buckaroo Banzai who said "Wherever you go, there you are!" I could be wrong, but I have The Google with which to verify things like that, and The Google tells me that I am... mostly right. Buckaroo Banzai used a variation ("No matter where you go, there you are!"), but the original appears to have been coined by Thomas a Kempis, in The Imitation Of Christ, ca. A.D. 1440.

So here I am, and here is where I happened to be when I penned this, although I am no doubt elsewhere at some point in the future which -- as luck would have it -- is the past for you, for the moment in which I originally penned this (typed, actually) has passed.

So there you have it. Tryouts for a new office, cats, prodigal daughters, and sunshine, all in one post. Next!

Republicans Believe in Wife Beating

The health insurance industry, in ten states, can deny coverage to a battered spouse, claiming that it is a "pre-existing condition." When Patty Murray tried to change the law, the bill was voted down. In Committee. By Republicans.

Glenn Beck - Wonderful Human Being

It's September 14, 2009, eight years and a few days after 2,819 people lost their lives. The Bush administration was always quick to remind us that, thanks to their Awesomeness, "only" 2,819 people were killed on their watch. By terrorists. Striking in the United States. In an attack that the President was warned about by a briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S."

Glenn Beck decided to commemorate the events of 9/11 by organizing a March on Washington, something attended by 30 - 70,000 crackpots, sore losers, and assorted Republicans Mad at Barack Obama for Winning the Election. I'm not sure what this had to do with 9/11, but it's always instructive to hear what Mr. Beck Himself has to say about the victims of disasters like 9/11. And Katrina.



Funny thing about that "9/12 project," though. The mission statement for the 9/12 Project says, in part, "This is a non-political movement. The 9-12 Project is designed to bring us all back to the place we were on September 12, 2001. The day after America was attacked we were not obsessed with Red States, Blue States or political parties. We were united as Americans, standing together to protect the greatest nation ever created."

Now, take a look at this video and see how well the participants in the 9/12 project tolerate a view other than their own (or, at least, that of their corporate sponsors):

Steve Kangas's Home Page

Here's a link to a mirror of Steve Kangas's Web site. There's a treasure trove of liberal reading material here:

Steve Kangas's Home Page