Archive for September, 2011
The GOP Mathematical Magic Trick
Here’s a hypothetical. Let’s say we send nine blondes and one brunette into a room and we ask each of them to say something really stupid. Then we conclude from the experiment that blondes are nine times more likely to say something stupid as brunettes. You cry foul? You think we rigged the statistic by creating conditions that would make the statistic come true? Well, you would be right.
Last Saturday morning on MSNBC, Chris Hayes, host of the new weekend program “Up with Chris Hayes” proved that very point when it comes to the GOP’s favorite statistic that the top 10% of wage earners pay 70% of all taxes. As Hayes noted, the statistic is ridiculous on its face since it does not take into account payroll taxes, or state and local taxes. Be that as it may, he goes on to prove the emptiness of the meme even if we zero in on Federal income tax.
He invents a fictional country named Inequalistan, a tiny little nation with a population of 10. Nine of its citizens make $10.00 a year. The tenth citizen makes $100.00 a year. Believing a progressive tax to be unfair, Inequalistan imposes a 10% flat tax on all its citizens. As a result, the country collects $19.00 per year in taxes. If you do the math, $10.00 of this revenue is coming from the rich guy. So the rich guy is paying more than 50% of all taxes.
Now here’s the kicker. As Hayes points out, this can’t be the result of “class warfare” because everyone in Inequalistan is taxed at the same rate. Hence the “unseemly burden” borne by the rich guy is the direct result of his unseemly wealth. In other words, in a society where one small class of people can so thoroughly dominate the rest of the country economically, the result of even a fair flat tax will be more money coming from that privileged class. The conservatives who gripe about the rich paying more taxes ignore the advantageous conditions that create that inequity. Or to quote Chris Hayes (the money quote, so to speak), “Conservatives are using evidence of inequality to defend inequality.”
So the next time you hear someone say the top 10% pay 70% of taxes ask yourself why the top 10% make so much more than everyone else that they would indeed be paying 70% of all taxes. Maybe the answer is not to tax the rich less, but to create economic conditions such that more people share in the wealth of the nation.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
Picture credit: http://kathleenrooney.com/news/rich-uncle-pennybags/
The Danger of Partisan Media
No, this is not another attack on Fox News. This time I have to take a minute calling out my beloved MSNBC which I’ve always claimed, despite its liberal bias has always taken the higher road compared to Fox.
Late this week Chris Matthews on “Hardball” devoted an entire segment to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s pay-to-play method of governing. Apparently there is a pretty conspicuous pattern of campaign donations being followed by legislative favors. Michele Bachmann got the conversation started during last Monday’s GOP debate when she accused Perry of letting campaign donations influence his decision to mandate administration of the HPV inoculation to young female Texans (with an opt-out available to their parents). Perry’s response, which has inspired chuckles ever since, was did Michele really think he could be bought for a lousy $5,000.00?
Unfortunately, as I watched Chris go on and on about Perry’s ethics, I could not get out of my mind a story that my readers called to my attention, namely the brewing Solyndra scandal. Up until my cadre of conservative opponents threw it in my face, I figured Solyndra was some sort of sugar substitute. Little did I know it was a solar panel manufacturer with a lousy business model which was loaned half a billion dollars of our money by an administration who had been warned things would go bad, but who also had been prodded by Solyndra investor George Kaiser to approve the deal. George by sheer coincidence was an Obama fund-raiser. Sure enough, as predicted by some, Solyndra went belly up this month firing all of its workers.
Now you might fault me for not knowing about this story but clearly Chris Matthews and his producers knew about it. So how could they possibly go on a rant about Perry’s crony capitalism when the White House has a discernible stench of it right now? To make matters worse, guess where I had to turn to get the full Solyndra story? Comedy Central. That’s right, once again a man who should be a pure comedian, Jon Stewart, was delivering news that the MSNBC prime time pundits didn’t want to touch.
I’ve always considered MSNBC’s advantage over Fox that they had bias without hypocrisy. Now I need to reconsider that assessment.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
The Ghost at the GOP Debate and Obama’s Jobs Speech
This is a short post that I admit is neither profound nor particularly original but it bears repeating.
While the physical manifestation of Osama bin Laden may have perished on May 1, 2011, his ghost will be with us for some time to come and his presence was felt strongly at both the MSNBC/Politico debate last Wednesday and at Thursday’s Obama address to a joint session of Congress. Since the war in Afghanistan was barely mentioned in the GOP debate and was not the topic of Obama’s jobs speech, you might ask what I am talking about. It’s very simple really.
bin Laden’s lasting legacy is the economic devastation suffered by our country. We fought two wars off the books in reaction to the September 11 attack of 2001. We’ve dumped trillions of dollars into nation building wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the hope of deterring future terrorist activity. One can debate the wisdom of these choices but the consequences are clear. Had we not spent all that money re-creating Iraq in our own image; had we not kept fighting in Afghanistan long after al Qaeda was no longer a threat there would we really have every GOP candidate for President discussing how to turn our economy around? If 9/11 had not happened might we have been better prepared for the financial Armageddon that befell us in 2008? Had Barack Obama not labeled Afghanistan “the good war”, would it be as likely that he would be addressing Congress and the nation about an economy on life support?
As I said, the observation is not original but it bears repeating. bin Laden’s goal went far beyond murdering more than 3000 Americans ten years ago. His wildest dreams were fulfilled by the largely self-inflicted economic death-blow that our country has suffered. As we commemorate the tenth anniversary of that horrific day, we remember how we lost our loved ones, our innocence and our financial health. Economics can kill a great nation just as easily as a brutal war. The attacks of September 11 were simply bin Laden’s first punch. The lasting damage has occurred in the ten years since.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
Photo from Wikipedia
Dick, Are You Kidding Me?
I’ve been casually observing the former Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney as he embarks on his book tour for In My Time, his personal memoir covering some forty years of public life. I watched the softball interview he had with NBC’s Jamie Gangel. I saw a question or two from Matt Laurer, slightly tougher in tone. This morning Cheney got his toughest interview to date from the crew at MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
What absolutely floored me took place at the 19 minute 45 second mark when Mike Barnacle asked Cheney how he could let Osama bin Laden slip through his fingers at Tora Bora in 2001.
Cheney’s response was that the commander in the field felt that “the locals could deal with that particular problem.” Excuse me? That particular problem? That particular problem was public enemy number 1, the man single most responsible for 9/11. How could we possibly leave his capture up to the “locals”? How could any commander in Afghanistan at the time not be under strict orders to do anything and everything to capture Osama bin Laden?
My suspicion is that the commanders weren’t given these priorities because the administration’s vendetta against Saddam Hussein was already in full swing and Osama bin Laden, our real enemy, was off our radar. What blows my mind is Cheney’s ability to go on national television without an ounce of remorse and admit to gross incompetence. Perhaps what is worse is that no follow-up question came from the “Morning Joe” panel. Something along the lines of “Dick, are you kidding me?”
Until some interviewer asks Mr. Cheney if he is afraid to leave the country for fear of being prosecuted as a war criminal, I will consider his public grilling incomplete. The silver lining to this book tour would be if the proceeds from In My Time went to the survivors of the Iraq war dead. I won’t hold my breath. After all, we are talking about a man whose hunting buddy apologized for being in the path of Cheney’s bullets when he got shot in the face.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How To Produce Your Opponent’s Campaign Ad
With the odds 99.999% against Jeb Bush or Paul Ryan throwing their hat into the ring, only two names remain as possible alternatives to Mitt. One has repeatedly said he won’t run and the other repeatedly teases us that she might. However both have made statements on video that are tailor-made for their opponent to use should they decide to enter the race. Interestingly, their statements disqualify them for completely opposite reasons.
I’m Not Ready
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has offered Barack Obama the best possible campaign ad imaginable. Just look at these quotes from Christie:
“I don’t feel like I’m ready to run.”
“First you have to have it in your heart, you have to want it more than anything else … I don’t want it that badly.”
“You have to believe in your heart and your soul and your mind that you’re ready and I don’t believe that about myself right now.”
“You have to believe in your heart that you’re ready to walk into the Oval Office and lead the nation and I don’t feel that I’m ready.”
The Governor has been consistent in his message and heaven help him if he changes his mind because his quotes will be played in a continuous loop by the Obama campaign.
The Presidency Isn’t Big Enough For Me
Now, every time Alaska half-Governor Sarah Palin opens her mouth she provides fodder for opposing campaign ads but her latest salvo really takes the cake. In an interview with CNN’s Greta Van Susteren, Palin suggests that the presidency is just a title and that the role might “shackle” her. She wouldn’t be free to be that maverick rogue that we’ve all come to know and love. This should not surprise us since four years ago Sarah wasn’t sure the Vice Presidency of the United States would be a productive enough job for her.
If Sarah runs, all the DNC has to do is replay her dismissal of the importance of the Presidency over and over again.
I have clearly chosen the wrong avocation. I need to go work for the Democratic Party because the GOP would make my job so easy for me.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
Photo credit: David Shankbone via Wikipedia
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September 30, 2011 at 2:07 pm Rutherford 410 comments