Author: eggplant

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Republicans’ tax insanity

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Ben Sargent - Tax Cuts for the Rich

Ben Sargent – Tax Cuts for the Rich

Earlier today…

Norquist’s actual power in Washington and within the GOP is illusory. In terms of stature and public prominence, he’s been a major beneficiary of the party’s opposition to tax increases – but he hasn’t been the driving force behind it. The real story of the GOP’s modern evolution on taxes played out in several stages, from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

The first key moment was the advent of supply-side economics in the late ‘70s, the theory that minimizing income, corporate and investment taxes would result in perpetual economic growth that would benefit everyone. It was a fringe idea at first, championed by economist Arthur Laffer and a handful of Republican members of Congress, most notably Jack Kemp.

Via:
Republicans’ tax insanity – Salon.com
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Boehner Counters Obama’s Proposal on Deficit Cuts

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Racketeer Nickel

Racketeer Nickel

Earlier today…

Under the Republican offer, tax revenue would rise by $800 billion over 10 years, through closing loopholes and ending or curtailing deductions and tax credits. Mr. Boehner did not specify on Monday which tax breaks would be curtailed.

Another $600 billion in deficit reduction would come from changes to federal health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the president’s health care law. Cuts to other programs that are not under the purview of annual Congressional spending bills — so-called mandatory programs — would total $300 billion. And discretionary programs, already cut by nearly $1 trillion through last year’s Budget Control Act, would be reduced by another $300 billion.

Via:
Boehner Counters Obama’s Proposal on Deficit Cuts – NYTimes.com
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Mustache Transplants on the Rise in the Middle East

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Earlier today…

Turkish plastic surgeon Selahattin Tulunay says the number of mustache implants he performs has boomed in the last few years. He now performs 50-60 of the procedures a month, on patients who hail mostly from the Middle East and travel to Turkey as medical tourists.
He said his patients generally want thick mustaches as they felt they would make them look mature and dignified.

“For some men who look young and junior, they think (a mustache) is a must to look senior … more professional and wise,” he said. “They think it is prestigious.”

Pierre Bouhanna is a Paris-based surgeon who, for the past five years, has been performing increasing numbers of mustache implants. He says the majority of his patients come from the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Lebanon and Turkey, with men traveling to France to have the surgery performed.

“My impression is more and more they want to establish their male aspect,” he said. “They want a strong mustache.”

Via:
Mustache Transplants on the Rise in the Middle East – ktla.com
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Rick Santorum Lashes Out At Disability Treaty

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God Wills It

God Wills It

Earlier today…

But these aren’t reasonable times. Some right-wingers are urging the Senate to reject the treaty, saying it’s a plot by one-world-government bureaucrats to undermine American independence. Rick Santorum, the former senator and Republican presidential candidate, called it a “Pandora’s box” that could lead to the United Nations making medical decisions for disabled children like his daughter Bella, whom he brought into a Senate hearing room last week while he made his point.
Mr. Santorum, having fallen far from his moment in the electoral sun, has found a new platform at the conspiracy-mongering right-wing Web site WorldNetDaily. That was where he wrote a column condemning language in the treaty requiring that actions concerning disabled children be taken in the “best interests of the child.”

Via:
Rick Santorum Lashes Out At Disability Treaty – NYTimes.com
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The Morning Plum: No more false equivalence. Both sides are not equally to blame

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tapeworm diet

Earlier today…

There is an actual set of facts here (re fiscal cliff). They are central to understanding the current situation, and belong in every account of what is going wrong:
1) Democrats have offered a comprehensive proposal that meaningfully details the tax hikes they would like to see and contains substantial deficit reduction, but Republican leaders have not offered a comprehensive proposal that meaningfully details the spending cuts they would like to see. And what Republicans have proposed — such as it is — doesn’t contain nearly as much in deficit reduction as the Dem plan does.

2) Many experts believe that substantial deficit reduction simply requires Republicans to drop their opposition to raising tax rates on the rich.

Via:
The Morning Plum: No more false equivalence. Both sides are not equally to blame. – The Plum Line – The Washington Post
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Republished at Mail Fail-Jet Van Lines

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We Deliver For You, Eventually - Ilford HP5+400

My photo was used to illustrate this post

The U.S. Postal Service may be undergoing some serious changes in the face of a rather large deficit. While many take for granted that mail is delivered on time, and can usually complain about the cost of stamps, the Postal Service has been suffering. Just this year the agency posted a $15.9 billion dollar loss. While trying to salvage health care coverage for their many employees the U.S. Postal Service also failed to meet the deadline for reserving $5 billion dollars for this purpose for retired postal workers. Basically, without drastic changes there could be a very real possibility of no Postal Service without a huge helping hand from the government. …Photo credit: swanksalot / Foter / CC BY-SA

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Mail Fail? « Jet Van Lines

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Republished at Bourbon: the Exclusive Whiskey of the United States

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Bulleit Bourbon Frontier whiskey

My photo was used to illustrate this post

Bourbon is a uniquely American distillation of whiskey named after the region of Kentucky that perfected the process. Photo by Swanksalot (flickr).
Bourbon is a subtype of whiskey. For whiskey to be bourbon whiskey, it must be distilled from a grain base of at least 51% corn. More importantly, it must also be made in the United States.

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Bourbon: the Exclusive Whiskey of the United States

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Is Chivalry Dead? – Ilford Delta 3200 was uploaded to Flickr

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Willis Tower (f/k/a Sears Tower)

embiggen by clicking http://flic.kr/p/8X8pZy

Is Chivalry Dead? – Ilford Delta 3200 was taken on November 22, 2010 at 10:04AM