Classes

I think it is interesting that in the debate about the Economy and Taxes, we are told that the Better the investment Class does the better the rest of us do. Because they are 'Creating Wealth' while all of us worker bee types aren’t. Now I don't know if this or true or not, it very well could be. But what I find interesting is the inherent self interest in someone telling me that if they make a billion dollars it helps me. If a used car dealer told me it was in my interest to pay more than market value for a car, I wouldn’t doubt for a moment that he is trying to pull a fast one on me. So why when Bush say that giving a tax break to the wealthy, and say that it will really help me, why do I sit there and think ‘is that really true?’

This is from a editorial in the Washington Post -

"Liberal intellectuals, journalists and candidates have been trying to explain the class interests inherent in the tale of America's true and aberrant populism for a long time now. It's a hard job made harder these days by the Republicans' success in convincing the political press that a rational appeal to voters' economic self-interest amounts to what the Republicans, and Democratic cooperationists such as Sen. Joe Lieberman, mislabel as "class warfare." In Bush's America, it seems only the rich are allowed to invoke self-interest as a valid voting motivation.

The Democrats seem skittish about invoking personal income and tax issues. David Kushnet, a former speechwriter in the Carter White House, has written that U.S. voters do not resent wealth per se or corporate control of public policy as much as would seem logical. "But," he observes, "they rebel against wealth by gaming the system."

That should provide an opening for Kerry and his running mate. The system has never been more thoroughly gamed than by Bush and his minders. For that matter, the class warfare has not been so intense in the United States since the days of the robber barons. But so far only one class is fighting, and the ever-widening income gap in America shows who has been winning. At the Democratic convention, there'll be a lot to watch for by way of a predictor of the November election. One I'll have my eye on is whether Kerry-Edwards seem to have a plan for freeing the political prisoners of George W. Bush's brand of cultural populism. "

The Convention

Here is the text of the speech by President Bill Clinton at the Democratic convention on Monday, July 26, 2004

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127101,00.html

Is it funny that the only place I found it was on FOX? If you didn't hear it you should read it, its good.

The Rich

From the Washington Post -

"In the campaign, you'll hear, we're only going to tax the rich," Bush said. "That's what you'll hear. Now, this from a fellow who has promised about $2 trillion of new spending thus far. And only taxing the rich, first of all, creates a huge tax gap, which means buyer beware.

"You see, if you can't raise enough by taxing the rich, guess who gets to pay next?" Bush asked. "Yes, the not-rich. That's all of us."

So it turns out that Bush, unlike your typical grandsons of senators, sons of presidents and graduates of fancy prep schools, Yale and Harvard business school, is just another "not rich" guy, a regular working stiff. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average annual wage for the Cedar Rapids area is $34,600. So that crowd was clearly "not rich."

But who else are the "not rich"? Well, Bush last year reported an income of only $822,000, and his assets were worth as much as $19 million. That includes his 1,583-acre ranch in Crawford, Tex.

Clearly not rich.

But Bush didn't define the minimum wage and assets needed to be considered rich. Would Vice President Cheney be in that class? Cheney reported income of almost $1.3 million and had assets in 2002 worth between $19.1 million and $86.4 million. Surely close, but not quite there.

These class divisions are, by definition, subjective and arbitrary. So let's set the standard: Rich means a yearly income of at least $2 million, assets of more than $100 million and ranches larger than 2,000 acres. Everyone else is "not rich."

That would mean that "fellow," Sen. Kerry, would be trying to raise those trillions from a relative handful of people, including his own wife. Absolutely impossible. So all of us "not rich" better beware, we're gonna get hammered if Kerry wins.

Sandy Berger

From the Nelson Report by way of Talking Point Memo -

"4. To show just why Democrats are upset/worried: Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of House Armed Services, lost no time in raising a serious charge, while pretending not to. Speaking to Fox News last night, Hunter suggested that Berger may have removed the classified documents to help the Kerry Campaign (since they apparently cover an "after action" report of things Clinton did, successfully, in the war on terrorism).

-- Hunter then went on to say he "accepted" Berger's "protestations and [his] proclaimed innocence and his good faith and [that] it was just a mistake - he was just sloppy. I think we accept that." Plunging home the knife, Hunter concluded, however, that there is a "certain discipline" required to separate politics from public duty, and that "he's obviously violated that discipline."

(Translation: if Kerry's people are "sloppy" with highly classified materials in the war on terrorism, how can Kerry be trusted with the responsibility of protecting the American people in the future? Especially, Hunter implies, if Dems are so reckless as to use classified information for political advantage. Shocking...shocking. Democrats choke in fury on that one, given Atty. Gen. Ashcroft's record since 9/11. Anyhow, that, in a nutshell, gives you the immediate bottom line.) "

Reefer Madness

From Cnn -

"Alarmed by reports that marijuana is becoming more potent than ever and that children are trying it at younger and younger ages, U.S. officials are changing their drug policies."

"While the research so far is inconclusive, Volkow believes that cannabinoids affect the developing brain and that stronger pot, combined with earlier use, could make children and teenagers anxious, unmotivated or perhaps even psychotic."

Where have a seen that before....

War and Peace

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - After launching two wars, President Bush said on Tuesday he wanted to be a "peace president..."

...With polls showing public support for the war in Iraq (news - web sites) in decline, the Republican president cast himself as a reluctant warrior..."

Bush has called himself a "war president" in leading the United States in a battle against terrorism brought about by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.

"I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind," he said in February. "

And what about the whole bring it on thing...Well I guess they follow the polls...

Why I love to Pay Taxes

From the Union Tribune -

"Two San Diego councilmen amended their financial disclosure records to show that in 2001 they shared an $808 dinner that was paid for with public money by the then chief executive of the San Diego Data Processing Corp...Councilmen Scott Peters and Jim Madaffer ...

The tab for the dinner at Baci Ristorante Italiano in San Diego was $708.03, with Talamantez adding a $100 tip. He paid for the meal with a credit card from the city's nonprofit computer and telecommunications agency."

Didn't even tip 15% and it wasn't even his money... where do we find these guys...

"...One example was a $6,740 bill for a two-day meeting by senior managers at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe in March 2003. The tab included $325 for 13 tequila shots and $242 for two bottles of wine. "

Is it just me or is a 30$ Tequila Shot a bit Much, not to mention it is the Tax Payers who are buying it.

Are they for Real

From TalkingPointsMemo Blog -

Louisville Kentucky Republican party (specifically, the Jefferson County Republican Party) is handing out signs that read "Kerry is bin Laden's Man/Bush is My Man."

I put in a call to the head of the Jefferson County Republicans, Jack Richardon IV and asked him if this were true.

Richardson told me that he'd seen a bumper sticker with that phrase on it and agreed with it heartily. "I believe that if you look at John Kerry's voting record in the senate," he told me, "why wouldn't bin Laden prefer Kerry over Bush?"

When I pressed Richardson on whether or not his party organization was distributing it, he acknowledged that they probably were handing it out on their campaign literature tables at recent events. And if it was being handed out, "I make no apologies for it."

The CIA's Prisoners

From the Washington Post -

"FOR DECADES the United States led the denunciation of despots whose enemies "disappear" -- vanish into official custody, with no accounting for their whereabouts or treatment, no notification of their families and sometimes, no acknowledgement that they are being held. Now that same term is being applied to prisoners held by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism. According to the International Red Cross, a number of people apparently in U.S. custody are unaccounted for. Most are believed to be held by the CIA in secret facilities outside the United States. Contrary to the Geneva Conventions, the detainees have never been visited by the Red Cross; contrary to U.S. and international law, some reportedly have been subjected to interrogation techniques that most legal authorities regard as torture. According to the independent group Human Rights Watch, this exceptional practice is "perhaps unprecedented in U.S. history." Like the Pentagon's mishandling of Iraqi detainees, it cries out for congressional review and reform. ...

...At least two detainees have died while being interrogated by CIA personnel."

Another Drawn-Out Election?

From the Washington Post -

Another Drawn-Out Election?

The Department of Homeland Security is thinking of delaying the election in case of a terrorist incident. But Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) thinks he has a better option: "Why don't we start the election on November 2, but then hold it open until the Republicans get all the electoral votes they need?" That's "worked well in the House."

Emanuel notes Iraq, Afghanistan and the United States are thinking about delaying elections. Hmm. All three pretty much run by the Bush administration.

Michael Moore

In the New York Times -

This Editorial is just about how I feel about "Fahrenheit 9/11". I have read about more or less everything in the movie. While I feel that Moore is a little crazy he does says some things that are important.