Forget the irony in the fact that John Edwards is currently building the largest home in the state of South Carolina while telling everyone about the two Americas, one rich, the other poor. And never mind that his wife is afraid of her neighbor, *gasp* a "rabid Republican," and one of them there poor folks he feels the pain of. He also wants to raise our taxes to pay for his health care plan, a plan that makes the Bay of Pigs invasion plans look like a smashing success, by the way. I say forget those things because Mr. Edwards is the gift that keeps on giving...
To show solidarity with the "average American" Mr. Edwards gets his hair cuts from Supercuts, a discount chain of hair salons scattered throughout the country. No, wait, I was wrong about that. He is out there getting $400 haircuts and paying for them from the millions he made as a trial lawyer...Sorry, wrong again. John Edwards is getting himself $400 haircuts, but he isn't paying for them, his campaign contributors are.
Now, as someone who routinely pays upwards of $18 for a haircut twice a year, whether I need it or not, I can't imagine what a $400 haircut looks like. But if I had to guess I wouldn't think one would require this much primping before a television interview.
Though, having owned 4 cars, 3 of which cost as much as one of his haircuts (the other was only $250), I'd image I'm not the best person to comment on such necessities.
One last question: The stylist says he and Edwards have been friends for years. Is the $400 price tag the "friend price?" If not, why not cut an old friend a little slack. If so, what the hell does it cost for someone who isn't his friend?
Given how expensive Presidential campaigns are, and how Edwards wasn't very close to the top in fund raising, those $400 haircuts could probably buy himself and all of his campaign staff their own Flowbee and still have money left over.
Update: Since some people don't seem to remember the Flowbee and think it isn't real, here you go.
18 April 2007
07 April 2007
And the band played as the Titanic sank...
The insanity of my home state of Michigan continues. Facing a massive budget deficit, the highest unemployment in the country, and the flight of major businesses (including Comerica bank), Michigan seems to have found the cure for all that ails it; even higher taxes and mp3 players for all kids!
President Herbert Hoover promised a "chicken in every pot" while running in 1928. Now, Michigan Democrats seem to be running under the slogan "An iPod for every kid." This editorial from the Detroit News explains their latest insanity, and how it will, well, be really, really stupid.
Not to worry, the Republicans will come in and save the day, right? They surely will bring some sanity to the logic vacuum that is the state capital, right? If only.In stead of acting like conservatives, they seem to have opted to be "Democrats Light." This strategy is famous for failing everywhere it's been tried and only served to elect Democrats.
To change to old saying slightly, those who don't learn from history are idiots and should go back to school. They certainly shouldn't be making policy. Maybe it's time for EVERYONE in the Michigan legislature to be "retired" by voters. That is if there is anyone left in Michigan in 2008 to vote.
Check out the story.
President Herbert Hoover promised a "chicken in every pot" while running in 1928. Now, Michigan Democrats seem to be running under the slogan "An iPod for every kid." This editorial from the Detroit News explains their latest insanity, and how it will, well, be really, really stupid.
Not to worry, the Republicans will come in and save the day, right? They surely will bring some sanity to the logic vacuum that is the state capital, right? If only.In stead of acting like conservatives, they seem to have opted to be "Democrats Light." This strategy is famous for failing everywhere it's been tried and only served to elect Democrats.
To change to old saying slightly, those who don't learn from history are idiots and should go back to school. They certainly shouldn't be making policy. Maybe it's time for EVERYONE in the Michigan legislature to be "retired" by voters. That is if there is anyone left in Michigan in 2008 to vote.
Check out the story.
04 April 2007
It sure ain't kosher
Pork Mountain, aka Capital Hill, has long been known as a secretive place when it comes to how and where our money is wasted, er, I mean spent. Thanks to Senators Coburn (R-OK) and Obama (D-IL), a little light is being shined into the dark areas of legislation where pet and pork projects tend to hide. This new website will finally allow you to see at least some of the pork stuffed into legislation passed by Congress.
Check it out.
My main complaint about it is you can’t search by Member of Congress to see their pig farms in one place, but it’s better than what we used to have, which was nothing.
Check it out.
My main complaint about it is you can’t search by Member of Congress to see their pig farms in one place, but it’s better than what we used to have, which was nothing.
03 April 2007
Can't we all just not get along?
To say there is partisanship in Washington is as shocking as mentioning the fact that the sun rises in the east. But every once in a while the stars align behind an issue and people from both sides of the aisle put aside their difference and work together for the greater good. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened for a while in this town, and doesn’t seem like it will for a while still, even on an obviously obsolete and regressive tax on the poor like the telephone excise tax, aka the Spanish-American War Tax.
You remember the Spanish-American War, right? No, of course you don’t. No one alive now was alive during the 10 month battle with Spain to free Cuba (let’s not go into how well that worked out long-term). It was in 1898, when only the wealthy had telephones. Congress, looking for ways to fund the war, imposed a “temporary” penny tax on each phone call made to cover the cost of our efforts. Since it was rich people calling rich people, most people paid no mind to (or any part of) the tax.
Flash forward, the phone went from being a luxury to a necessity, rich and poor alike got phones in their homes, and the tax went on. Not many people were aware that the tax even existed, let alone that they were paying it. Even when it went from a penny a call to a 3 percent tax, most people were unaware. Who really sits down and studies their phone bill every month?
There have been several moves to eliminate this tax over the last couple of decades, but to no avail. The closest Washington has come to making this tax go the way of the Dodo was in 2000 when repeal passed both the House and Senate, only to be vetoed by President Clinton. (For the record, it was part of a larger bill President Clinton vetoed, not just the excise tax repeal.)
Since then it has taken a back seat to, well, everything else the government has been doing. Congress has never been known for their eagerness to allow us to keep our own money, it’s simply not a priority, and way too much fun for them to spend.
But the tax is back! Thanks to Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), there is a move in the House to eliminate the excise tax once and for all. Congressman Lewis realizes what any one who actually thinks about this out of date tax would realize; a tax once meant to soak the wealthy has become a tax that soaks the poor!
A phone costs the same for a rich person as it does for a poor person. And the wealthy are more likely, in this day and age, to have cell phone and use broadband Internet phones, or VoIP technology, neither which were dreamed of in the time of the Spanish-American War, and therefore are not subject to the tax.
Republicans are lining up to support Congressman Lewis’ bill, which, in a perfect world would fly through Congress like a hot knife through water. (I know the common saying is butter, but water takes even less effort.) But this is Washington, about as far from a perfect world as Dennis Kucinich is to being a viable candidate for president. (Not to be mean, but if he runs again in 2012 he will pretty much solidify his position as the Pat Paulsen or Lyndon LaRouche of the modern age.)
The Politico reported today that Democrats are hesitant to get behind repeal because, well, they love taxes. After having just passed what would amount to the largest tax increase in US history, you’d think they’d be less inclined to block repeal of a tax that hurts the poor, the people they always claim to care about more than anyone (while the cameras are rolling, anyway).
But all is not lost. The bill can live, and actually become law, if you make your voices heard! Got to www.house.gov and look up your Member of Congress. Call, email, send smoke signals, telegrams (if they still exist), pony express, to your Congressman. They’ll listen to you over and above anyone else because they’re afraid of you. You are the only one with the power to fire them. Sure, a lot of them will sell you out when they think or know you’re not looking, but if you let them know you’re watching they will behave the way they should, probably the way they said when they ran in the first place.
If they don’t, fire them. That’s the great thing about our Government; we get a chance to fire those we elected who do a horrible job, who don’t do what is best for the country, who don’t do what they said they were going to do. If only it we could apply that common sense logic to teachers! But that is for another entry.
You remember the Spanish-American War, right? No, of course you don’t. No one alive now was alive during the 10 month battle with Spain to free Cuba (let’s not go into how well that worked out long-term). It was in 1898, when only the wealthy had telephones. Congress, looking for ways to fund the war, imposed a “temporary” penny tax on each phone call made to cover the cost of our efforts. Since it was rich people calling rich people, most people paid no mind to (or any part of) the tax.
Flash forward, the phone went from being a luxury to a necessity, rich and poor alike got phones in their homes, and the tax went on. Not many people were aware that the tax even existed, let alone that they were paying it. Even when it went from a penny a call to a 3 percent tax, most people were unaware. Who really sits down and studies their phone bill every month?
There have been several moves to eliminate this tax over the last couple of decades, but to no avail. The closest Washington has come to making this tax go the way of the Dodo was in 2000 when repeal passed both the House and Senate, only to be vetoed by President Clinton. (For the record, it was part of a larger bill President Clinton vetoed, not just the excise tax repeal.)
Since then it has taken a back seat to, well, everything else the government has been doing. Congress has never been known for their eagerness to allow us to keep our own money, it’s simply not a priority, and way too much fun for them to spend.
But the tax is back! Thanks to Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), there is a move in the House to eliminate the excise tax once and for all. Congressman Lewis realizes what any one who actually thinks about this out of date tax would realize; a tax once meant to soak the wealthy has become a tax that soaks the poor!
A phone costs the same for a rich person as it does for a poor person. And the wealthy are more likely, in this day and age, to have cell phone and use broadband Internet phones, or VoIP technology, neither which were dreamed of in the time of the Spanish-American War, and therefore are not subject to the tax.
Republicans are lining up to support Congressman Lewis’ bill, which, in a perfect world would fly through Congress like a hot knife through water. (I know the common saying is butter, but water takes even less effort.) But this is Washington, about as far from a perfect world as Dennis Kucinich is to being a viable candidate for president. (Not to be mean, but if he runs again in 2012 he will pretty much solidify his position as the Pat Paulsen or Lyndon LaRouche of the modern age.)
The Politico reported today that Democrats are hesitant to get behind repeal because, well, they love taxes. After having just passed what would amount to the largest tax increase in US history, you’d think they’d be less inclined to block repeal of a tax that hurts the poor, the people they always claim to care about more than anyone (while the cameras are rolling, anyway).
But all is not lost. The bill can live, and actually become law, if you make your voices heard! Got to www.house.gov and look up your Member of Congress. Call, email, send smoke signals, telegrams (if they still exist), pony express, to your Congressman. They’ll listen to you over and above anyone else because they’re afraid of you. You are the only one with the power to fire them. Sure, a lot of them will sell you out when they think or know you’re not looking, but if you let them know you’re watching they will behave the way they should, probably the way they said when they ran in the first place.
If they don’t, fire them. That’s the great thing about our Government; we get a chance to fire those we elected who do a horrible job, who don’t do what is best for the country, who don’t do what they said they were going to do. If only it we could apply that common sense logic to teachers! But that is for another entry.
Silly rabbit, working's for kids!
Remember all the hoopla about litmus tests every time the subject of federal judges comes up? Candidates and Senators climb all over each other to get to news cameras (even more so than usual) to out “non-partisan” each other about how they don’t have them, they simply want the best people appointed to the bench without regard to one’s party affiliation. Well this is Washington, and if you didn’t instinctively know that was a bunch of garbage, prepare your hungry brain because this story will give it some food for thought.
It seems the best person for the job is currently unemployed, or employed elsewhere, because Judge Charles Kornmann refused to step down as long as a Republican is in the White House. The problem isn’t that he’s not going to retire, he’s perfectly free not to, it’s just that he’s not going to be doing the job any more.
What does that mean? It means that the other two judges on the same court, both appointed by President Clinton (as was Judge Kornmann), have agreed to do most of his work so he won’t retire.
That’s a pretty sweet deal! For him, anyway. Not so much if you’re trying to get justice through the federal courts in South Dakota because your wait time will probably double what it normally would. But, hey, who cares? At least your case, when it ever makes it to that point, will be heard by judges with political agendas and not loyalty to anything as silly as the Constitution, or what’s best for the county.
Just so you don’t think Judge Kornmann is doing nothing productive all day, he is keeping his marriage together. He told the Associate Press this:
"One of the good things about the job is you don't have to retire unless you're senile. I think it's good for anyone to keep working, as long as you're healthy enough. That's a good fact about the job and you have an office to go so you're not driving your spouse nuts."
Isn’t that sweet? We taxpayers get to subsidize this guy having an office, not do his job, and not get on his wife’s nerves. It’s like we’re all his personal Dr. Phil.
I’m sure Senator Leahy will be holding hearings on how much of our tax dollars are wasted on this sort of political manure as soon as he’s done wasting our tax dollars to find out why 8 prosecutors, who could be fired by the President for any reason whatsoever, up to and including a dislike of their hairstyle, were fired.
Yeah, I’m going to start holding my breath now…
It seems the best person for the job is currently unemployed, or employed elsewhere, because Judge Charles Kornmann refused to step down as long as a Republican is in the White House. The problem isn’t that he’s not going to retire, he’s perfectly free not to, it’s just that he’s not going to be doing the job any more.
What does that mean? It means that the other two judges on the same court, both appointed by President Clinton (as was Judge Kornmann), have agreed to do most of his work so he won’t retire.
That’s a pretty sweet deal! For him, anyway. Not so much if you’re trying to get justice through the federal courts in South Dakota because your wait time will probably double what it normally would. But, hey, who cares? At least your case, when it ever makes it to that point, will be heard by judges with political agendas and not loyalty to anything as silly as the Constitution, or what’s best for the county.
Just so you don’t think Judge Kornmann is doing nothing productive all day, he is keeping his marriage together. He told the Associate Press this:
"One of the good things about the job is you don't have to retire unless you're senile. I think it's good for anyone to keep working, as long as you're healthy enough. That's a good fact about the job and you have an office to go so you're not driving your spouse nuts."
Isn’t that sweet? We taxpayers get to subsidize this guy having an office, not do his job, and not get on his wife’s nerves. It’s like we’re all his personal Dr. Phil.
I’m sure Senator Leahy will be holding hearings on how much of our tax dollars are wasted on this sort of political manure as soon as he’s done wasting our tax dollars to find out why 8 prosecutors, who could be fired by the President for any reason whatsoever, up to and including a dislike of their hairstyle, were fired.
Yeah, I’m going to start holding my breath now…
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