The Rant

In the ultimate outrage - The Lords of Wall Street have received the swine flu vaccine before some hospitals that are trying to serve pregnant woman. There was a shortage of the vaccine in NYC hospitals, clinics and doctors but not to the the healthy white males who work at Wall Street. Goldman Sachs got 200 doses for their in-house clinic that serves the lords of Wall Street, the same number of doses as New York's Lennox Hospital, while Citibank got 1200 doses.

Bob:

Go to Rachael Maddow's offical website and watch the show segments for 10/15 with Tim Phillips of "grass roots organization" Americans for Prosperity.

She got pissed.

In California, the top one percent income earners pay 47% of the State's income tax. Not surprisingly, some of these "rich" have chosen to move their businesses and their persons to states with less draconian income taxes. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming have no state income tax.

Is it really fair that the majority of voters pay virtually no taxes, yet get to use their political power to spend whatever they like using money from people who are compelled to pay taxes? Is this not taxation without representation?

With regard to the Federal income taxes, the bottom 50% pay an insignificant percentage of the total taxes, and a smaller percentage every year. In 2008, the bottom 50% pay only 2.89% of the total taxes. Yet 51% can vote to award themselves money from government programs for anything they like. For example, the government pays farmers two billion dollars not to farm their land. It paid sixty billion dollars for other kinds of corporate welfare. We spent something like 500 billion dollars in Iraq in 2008. So we can build democracy there or something. (the Weapons of Mass destruction turned out not to exist).

To me, it seems fair that the tax rate should be equal for all voters. If I make ten times what you do, my taxes will be ten times higher, but you will pay according to your ability. If you want to wage war in Iraq making it safe for democracy, or pay Farmers not to farm, you should pay your fair share for these brilliant projects.

If a person pays no taxes, they should not get a vote on how the money they did not contribute is to be spent. People who feed off of other humans are called cannibals.

Liberals were fooled too.

The Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, the Justice Department told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday.

Lawmakers and civil rights groups had been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wants to preserve the post-Sept. 11 law's authority to access business records, as well as monitor so-called "lone wolf" terrorists and conduct roving wiretaps.

The provision on business records was long criticized by rights groups as giving the government access to citizens' library records, and a coalition of liberal and conservative groups complained that the Patriot Act gives the government too much authority to snoop into Americans' private lives.

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama said he would take a close look at the law, based on his past expertise in constitutional law. Back in May, President Obama said legal institutions must be updated to deal with the threat of terrorism, but in a way that preserves the rule of law and accountability.

In a letter to lawmakers, Justice Department officials said the administration supports extending the three expiring provisions of the law, although they are willing to consider additional privacy protections as long as they don't weaken the effectiveness of the law.

Obama continues to prosecute the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, pretty much without change, except he is ramping up Afghanistan. He has done nothing about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." He has not closed Gitmo.

Hope and Change continues.

Tax revenues in the states are permanently down. Government needs to shrink, not grow. But where is there any will to do what needs to be done? Not in California. I wonder which state I should flee too? California gets most of its revenue from less than one percent of the population. But these people can move themselves and their businesses. And they are. California revenue is down some 30%. Hope and Change. Perhaps Democrats should enslave them and force them and compel them to work "for the good of the people."

I knew I made a mistake working for the private sector. The future is clearly with the government. Except these wages must be paid by taxes on the private sector, which is currently shrinking. Oh well, we can always borrow more money. No need to worry or sweat the small stuff. YES WE CAN!!

Same as the old boss.