Monday, June 18, 2012

Headlines - Monday June 18

 
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Mitt Romney today claimed that he never went to law school, even though he has a JD from Harvard.
I like having two sides. I didn't go to law school, I didn't practice law, but I like the idea of arguing points back and forth and sorting through them, and being able to probe, in some cases you need to go back and get more information."
This particular Romney lie is part of his larger message that President Obama is a socialist (read: communist (read: Soviet)) trying to turn America into Europe, which apparently is a very bad place where people get 9 weeks vacation a year and young boys don't grow boobs from drinking milk.

Of course, please ignore the fact that Mitt Romney went to live in Europe for two years (a
nd spent one of those years in a palace in Paris), and that he and his wife own race horses that race in Europe all the time, and they like to go and visit.

Oh, and he speaks fluent French, too.
 
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I get that people love horses. I have one myself.

What I don't get is the rarified world of dressage and overbred, worthless horses.

And I really don't get a country that has a tax code that lets a worthless woman write off tens of thousands of dollars more on her taxes for her worthless horse than the median household income.

It's an expensive hobby but in order to shield themselves from losses (poor babies), the 1%ers have convinced congress to allow for a tax deduction such that they can write them off. Oh to be able to write off losses associated with owning a lowly dog or cat or parakeet, huh?

The Romney campaign hasn't spelled out what kind of tax deductions it wants to close in order to pay for lower headline income tax rates, but perhaps something related to horses could do the trick:

As millions tune into the Olympics in prime time this summer, just before Mr. Romney will be reintroducing himself to the nation at the Republican convention, viewers are likely to see "up close and personal" segments on NBC about the Romneys and dressage, a sport of six-figure horses and $1,000 saddles. The Romneys declared a loss of $77,000 on their 2010 tax returns for the share in the care and feeding of Rafalca, which Mrs. Romney owns with Mr. Ebeling's wife, Amy, and a family friend, Beth Meyers.

Meanwhile, the median household income in the United States in 2010 was $45,800.

But that's the Rmoney world, folks, and we ain't invited to the steeplechase.

Doesn't it just give you a warm fuzzy feeling all over?

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A Nebraska man is suing a local lighting company for not hiring him because he isn't "Christian enough."

According to the complaint, the manager asked Wolfe "to identify every church he has attended over the past several years; where and when [he] was 'saved' and the circumstances that led up to it." In the interview, Wolfe claims he was told most employees at Voss were Southern Baptist, but employees could go to any church, as long as they were "born again." The complaint claims the manager asked Wolfe if he would "have a problem" coming to work early, without pay, to attend Bible study. Wolfe, a single parent who says he cannot attend church on Sundays, told lawyers the branch manager was "agitated" at his answers. He didn't get the job. The suit is filed under Title VII, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion.

If the situation were reversed, you can bet this story would be at the top of every Christianist site. For now, radio silence.

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A picture of world oil — who produces it, who uses it, who has it:

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Another Republican assassination fantasy

Whenever Republicans try to be funny or satirical, they come off as unfunny, tasteless or obnoxious. Here's an instance of all three things.

Outside the Montana state Republican Party convention this weekend was an outhouse labeled the "Obama Presidential Library" and covered in painted-on bullet holes.

Inside the outhouse contained a fake birth certificate for Barack Hussein Obama, according to the Helena Independent Record.

Yeah, there's a right-wing gomer in Montana who thinks he's hilarious with his assassination prop-comedy. The Montana Wingnut Carrot Top.

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Skippy's environmental news stories Sunday

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In other news, average pay for the top 200 highest paid CEOs rose to $14.5 million in 2011 while worker pay rose by 2.8 percent.

I'm sure there's an explanation for why that darn Obama's socialist, business-hating policies have lead to the highest average CEO pay ever.

 

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