Today would normally be the day on which "we, the people" (but not GE, apparently) pay their fair share to Uncle Sam; however, because of some DC holiday, everyone gets until Monday! So, we'll have to wait until then to see the obligatory local news coverage of people at the post office who waited until the last minute. :D
There are 2 downer "this day in history" items but also 2 kewl items to balance out the downers. So, first, on April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg. About 1,500 people died, but Leo DeCaprio died as "king of the world." ;D Lord, that movie was OVER - RATED! On this date in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died nine hours after being shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington. On the happy side of the history ledger, Jackie Robinson became baseball's first black major league player when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers on this date in 1947. And, on this date in 1850, my spiritual & soul home was incorporated {sigh}.
OK, I need to get SPARKy before I get too damn depressed. This kid is smarter than today's current crop of the GOBP & $aint $arah from Wasilla - not too difficult to do, I know, but still! ;D All right, if THIS STORY doesn't convince you to just let the South leave the union again if they want to then...*&^%$#@! With all respect, love, and fond memories of Countdown's puppet theatre, can Keith Olbermann build THIS sucker?! Finally, we'll end with another "AAAaaaWWWwww!" from the animal kingdom. :D
On with The Rachel Maddow Show!
...with Chris Hayes - THANKS! :D
"Due the Right Thing" - HEY! How did he get into my diary draft?! I talked about April 15th first!! ;D Today is Emancipation Day - probably not a happy day for Civil War folk who like to remember "the good old days." And, whose BRILLIANT idea was it to make a movie of Atlas Shrugged??!! Also today, every single GOBPer except 4 in the House voted to end Medicare as we know it & give tax cuts to super rich folks & corporations. Not a single Dem voted for the MoFo, but the 4 GOBP who just said no will surely be tea bagged.
And, thanks for reminding us about the birth & after birth of the damn tea baggers, Lamb Chop! Ugh... The prevailing memo seems to be that there's not a revenue problem - just a spending problem. We rank 20th in the world as far as tax burden. Chris asked how taxed we are now compared to in the past. Hell, I can answer that before he gets to it; we are taxed A DAMN SIGHT LESS than in the past! Didn't the tax rate for the super rich used to be about 70% or so during Ike's presidency? How 'bout that corporate tax revenue graphic?!
The same graphic applied to the super rich. The average American pays a little over 22% of their income to federal taxes. The richest 400 Americans paid just over 16%.
Even "we, the people" are slightly under - taxed as far as historical proportions go. Letting ALL the GWB tax cuts go the way of Crystal Pepsi would get us a damn sight closer to balancing our budget. Rep. Anthony Weiner's in studio to talk taxes & today's vote. Yea, I will NEVER FORGET Senator McCentury's braying about cutting Medicare during the HCR debate in the Senate - such a crock of $hit.
Rep. Ryan's "budget" just passes along the tax burdens to localities that are struggling already. Rep. Weiner said that government just does certain things better; yea, I'll go along with that. I don't exactly recall GOBP Governors turning down federal help during Hurricane Katrina or the BP/BS Deepwater Horizon spill or any other disaster that gets inflicted on a certain segment of the population. How 'bout that tax receipt thing?! Pretty neat...except some of us got refunds {diving under my desk}. ;D
"NO - klahoma" - OK's GOBP Governor has turned down $54 million from the federal government that would help set up health exchanges per the new HCR law. All righty, I know plenty of other states that will take it! Lots of GOBP Governators are turning down coin from the federal government while they claim their states are broke.
OK State Senators are scared of "falling into the Obamacare trap." Ugh...&^%$#@! Dem State Senator Andrew Rice is on hand to talk about how his state ain't getting a whole mess of federal coin; now, the citizens of OK get to make up the difference. I hope they remember this during the next election cycle! OK doesn't appear to want to follow federal law.
"Win Sum, Lose Sum" - So, can the Waukesha County vote clerk chic be sacked or not? She sure as $hit should be! It's not like this SC vote was her first SNAFU!! *&^%$#@! And, how does she get by with saving voter information on a PERSONAL COMPUTER??!!
There is going to be an investigation of voting practices in Waukesha County! Hello?! ;D So, do any of my CheeseHead FOKRs live in this county or close to this county?
"Unthinkable" - We're still in Libya? Huh... None of the CIA peeps in Libya has tried to put a tiny bomb in one of Kodaffy's pens or something?! Our country's role was supposed to be limited & not include taking out Kodaffy. Now, President Obama & the leaders of France & Great Britain wrote an op ed saying that the good Colonel must go. Military in Libya are shooting in residential areas. Stephanie Gosk is reporting from Libya. I guess Richard Engel's getting some much needed much deserved rest! :D NATO's not had the most success since taking over in Libya - lovely. *&^%$#@! Why am I having bad studying the Vietnam War flashbacks?
"Post Modern" - Lost Wages is lousy with the Eifel Tower, the Pyramids, and the Statue of Liberty. ;D The fake Statue of Liberty from Lost Wages is going to be featured on an official US postage stamp. NICE!
"The Pale King" - The IRS is going to receive no additional funds to hire extra people to track down tax cheats - another gem featured in Rep. Ryan's little shtick. O...K...never heard of this book or the author. Michael Pietsch works for Little Brown & put together the pages left behind after the author's suicide to make the book that came out today. That sounds like what Frances Kroll did for The Last Tycoon! :D