Turns out, the NSA has been spying on us even more than they’re supposed to (and they’re supposed to spy on us a lot, I think). They call it an “overcollection” problem, and they even spied on a sitting Congressman. I thought it was the FBI’s job to spy on Congress? I think the NSA is a bunch of douchebags, so I’m calling on all real Americans come together en masse and hold D-bag parties (dates and locations TBA) to D-bag the NSA.
I think this idea will go viral, and my goal is to raise enough money to leave a million D-bags (or at least one D-bag for every D-bag in the NSA) on the steps of the NSA (assuming they have steps; can’t say as I recall what their building looks like). And by “my goal,” what I mean to say is I hope somebody else will do it. Maybe Move-On or something. If you can’t make it to a party near you, then stay at home and D-bag yourself (which is a lot easier than T-bagging yourself, unless you’re really, really flexible).
Speaking of douchebags, our Governor is planning on introducing legislation to legalize gay marriage in New York. That’s all well and good (hard for me to believe it requires new legislation; if it’s legal for one person to marry another person, then that’s all we should need), but I can’t help but think this is some sort of a plan by Paterson to improve his popularity ratings. Everybody pretty much despises him at this point, so if he at least can improve his popularity with gay people, his numbers have to go up at least a little bit. Kind of a “gay bump.” The anti-human rights people are poised to oppose the legislation, of course (ironic that these are the same people who were running around T-bagging each other yesterday).
In other douchebag news (or, rather, news involving douche bags), 63% of Minnesotans want Norm Coleman to give it up already. Apparently 37% of Minnesotans are lawyers.
Another beautiful day shaping up here. I’ll have to fire up a couple of web cam sites at work so I can see it.
There’s a petition telling Coleman to give it up.
Possibly. Though I work with one and when harvest time comes we will probably hire more because they are professionals and work fast. There are organizations that provide volunteers but we’re not organized enough for that yet.
As thousands of anti-tax protesters rallied across the nation yesterday and the president promised tax cuts for most, new data showed that the federal income tax burden is already hovering near its lowest level in three decades for all but the wealthiest Americans.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the average family forked over barely 9 percent of its earnings to the IRS in 2006, the most recent year for which information is available. The effective tax rate hit its all-time low in 2003 and has since crept up only slightly.
Middle-class families — to whom President Obama has delivered even more tax relief since he took office in January — have fared especially well, according to the CBO. The middle fifth of taxpayers, who earned an average of $60,700 per household in 2006, paid just 3 percent in federal income tax that year, down from a high of 8.3 percent in 1981.
With federal income taxes so low for so many families, a majority of those surveyed by Gallup last week said the amount of federal income taxes they pay is either “too low” or “about right,” compared with 46 percent who said their tax bills are “too high” — one of the most positive assessments of the federal tax burden since Gallup began asking the question in 1956
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041503371.html
That’s odd. In Federal withholding only (not Medicare, SS or NYS), I pay about 16%, and I’m not exactly one of the wealthy elite. Methinks the CBO and/or WaPost are full of shit.
I think they’re talking about the taxes that are actually paid after deductions for mortgage interest, state taxes, business expenses etc. But, as I can’t do my own taxes and avoid my tax preparers calls ’cause I don’t know what the hell she’s talking about, I’m certainly no expert.
Norm told Al to drop it after a day or two post election day. So why is he not following his own advice? Oh yeah, he’s a republican.
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Mr. FK’s return to sandbox blog is up.
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KP, I was told by numerous farmers that the best way to train a dog not to kill farm fowl is to tie the dead bird the dog killed around the dog’s neck and leave it on the dog for several days. Needless to say, I never took that advice (nor do I recommend it – I’m a Democrat). 😉
Yeah, that’s what I thought, but I pay about 16% (OK, more like 15.5%) in Federal income tax a year – after deductions (not that I have much in the way of deductions; I don’t even have enough to itemize).
Of course, the more kids you have, the more deductions you get. I guess that’s where I lose out.
Always nice to read Mr. FK. May they both be safe and home. It would be nice to be done with war.
Afternoon Gang!
As part of an ongoing court case, the Department of Justice released on Thursday memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005, detailing techniques used for interrogation of terrorism suspects. In doing so, President Obama declared:
“While I believe strongly in transparency and accountability, I also believe that in a dangerous world, the United States must sometimes carry out intelligence operations and protect information that is classified for purposes of national security. I have already fought for that principle in court and will do so again in the future. However, after consulting with the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and others, I believe that exceptional circumstances surround these memos and require their release.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/16/bush-torture-memos-releas_n_187867.html
(thanks SP, will pass on)
John Sifton of the Daily Beast was on KO last week and I thought he had the best explanation for Obama not going after the war criminals. He said that new presidents, all of them, are enamored by the cia/fbi/clandestine crap (my lingo) and are told that they can’t go after these folks as there is more than meets the eye. Essentially the new Presidents are bamboozled by those advising him. After hearing Sifton, I thought about Obama and his deep respect for the military and our national defense, especially since he never served. I can see how he could be thrown a curve ball. No excuse, but a reason I suppose. Obama needs to clean house – even at the risk of losing continuity. I find the Bush administration’s law breaking reprehensible. By Obama not at least investigating, he is dishonoring our Constitution and the blood our forefathers and mothers shed.
Yeah, I bet that would work. But then you have to deal with the dog trying to get attention from you with a dead chicken and jumping on you with a dead chicken. But it would be something to video tape and post on youtube!
two articles by sifton here and here.
And my dogs sleep in the bedroom…. 😮