Headlines - Monday April 9

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Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to run their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin, in a move that is absolutely not in any way part of any Republican "war on women" signed a bill repealing Wisconsin's pay-equity act, thereby guaranteeing that another few hundred thousand Wisconsinites would like to boot him down State Street in Madison. He did this on Thursday, apparently with a pen that didn't make any sound because, as all his friends always say, Scotty has the courage to make the tough decisions. The Romneybot itself said just the other day that Walker was a "hero" and a "man of courage."

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It is hard to read this as anything other than Mittens would give Israel a veto over American foreign policy in the Middle East:

In a telling exchange during a Republican debate in December, Romney criticized Gingrich for making a disparaging remark about Palestinians, declaring: "Before I made a statement of that nature, I'd get on the phone to my friend, Bibi Netanyahu, and say: 'Would it help if I say this? What would you like me to do?'"

This is about as odious as George Bush's (both father and son) coziness with the House of Saud.

I believe that American presidents should do what is in the best interest of this country. To put the interests of any other country before ours smacks of treason.

 

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When Reichwingnuts push for a "flat tax," what they are really pushing for is one that takes even more from the working poor and middle class to enrich even more than ever before the already obscenely rich. Why? Because the grossly unequal system we have now - redistributing from the poor to the rich - is as flat as flat can be.

Kevin Drum:

Did you know that the richest 1% of Americans pay 21% of all taxes? That's a lot! But do you know why they pay 21% of all taxes? It's because they make 21% of all the income.

Suddenly that doesn't seem all that unfair, does it? In fact, the rich are doing mighty well for themselves if we basically have a flat tax in America. And as it turns out, they are, and we do: the federal tax system is modestly progressive, but state and local taxes are modestly regressive. Add 'em all up and you end up with a pretty flat tax system. Here are the numbers for 2011 from Citizens for Tax Justice:

Here's the thing: the richer you are, the more you benefit from government (tax dollar) investments in social goods like highways, airports, law enforcement/prisons, drinking water treatment, etc. When your share of national taxes equals your share of national income, that means the working poor and middle class are subsidizing social goods for the rich.

That's why the rich should pay proportionally more of their income in taxes than the poor and middle-class: because they get more service bang for their tax buck.

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The White House has put plans on hold to require federal contractors to disclose political giving, The Hill reports, after facing push back from conservative lawmakers. The regulation is designed to prevent contractors from using taxpayer dollars to lobby to acquire more taxpayer dollars.

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The high temperatures this year are far surpassing any previous records. Temperatures were 8.6 degrees above normal for March and 7,700 daily temperature records were set. Climate scientist point to global warming as a contributing factor. Duh.

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Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma arrested two men suspected in a deadly shooting rampage that terrorized the city's African-American community. The massacre, which left at least three dead and two others injured, may be racially-motivated, but authorities cautioned it was too early to tell.

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Worst Persons in the World

Fox Orlando affiliate WOFL for this:

A Fox Orlando affiliate decribed Neo-Nazis as "a civil rights group" on a television broadcast and online. The group of Neo-Nazis, known as the National Socialist Movement, has been conducting armed patrols of the streets of Sanford, Florida, the town where Trayvon Martin was shot dead.

I do not think those words mean what Fox thinks they mean.

Incidentally, by way of disproving a Glenn Beck fueled bullshit idea, this group is called "The National Socialist Movement." I assure you, in no way shape or form do they have anything in common with the left or socialists in general. Why? Because the Nazi use of the word "socialist" was propaganda. As I've said dozens of times, the name "hot dog" has the word "dog" in it, but the food item doesn't have anything to do with actual dogs.

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According to Ben Stein, the president has a "1937 socialist, youth league, city college of New York approach to all economic questions".

Yeah, guess what. 1937 was all about a conservative deficit-reduction kick that reversed economic growth and relapsed the economy into recession. But Ben Stein thinks Fox News viewers are morons who won't verify his nonsense, so he knows he can get away with whatever through-the-looking-glass horseshit he can yank from his monotone has-been ass.

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Frackers Outbid Farmers For Water In Colorado Drought