I hope Paris Hilton's gotta cough up a bundle...

NYTimes

Senate Republicans failed on Thursday to muster the votes needed to abolish the estate tax on inherited wealth, but supporters of a compromise held out hope for a deal this year that could attract enough Democrats to pass.

Few tax measures have generated as much passion. The estate tax currently affects less than 1 percent of families, and it is the most progressive tax in the country because its impact is almost entirely on the nation's richest families.

Well, folks, take it from me: it's fair now, but it didn't used to be that way. Time was, if you inherited anything over about 40 grand, you paid estate tax. I inherited an estate valued at $150,000 a little over thirty years ago. It consisted of $900 cash, that's 'hundred', a house, and some personal effects. I had to dispose of the house to pay $40,000 estate tax. That was more money then than it is now, if you figure a car cost three or four thousand dollars back then.

It didn't actually cost me jack shit. It was 'third party' money. I just got to put less in my pocket. Real estate brokers and probate lawyers did OK off me, too. I still made out like a bandit.

They raised the limit a little while later, mostly due to inflation. The tax was starting to hurt smaller inheritors because the money got worth less so the numbers went up. More and more people had to pay the tax that shouldn't have had to. Sort of like the AMT now.

I think anybody who inherits the $2,000,000 necessary to qualify for the tax should thank their lucky stars for the over $1mil they get to keep cuz Auntie croaked and pay up with a smile. It's free money and it wasn't theirs to begin with. They didn't work for it or earn it.

To them I say: Count your blessings for being smart enough to pick the right family to be born into. Pay your share, you lucky bastards, take what you get and be happy with it.

Update:

Bush to tour mansions ravaged by estate tax.

I'm ba-ack...

Well, I got the new set up an' runnin'. It had its moments, but was less trouble than I expected. Didn't hafta call Bangalore, not even once. That means they got this shit pretty well idiot-proofed, although I did hafta pull my head out of my rear end a few times, but that's normal.

It's a Dementia 510 with 2.8 Gaggin' Floozies (my favorite kind!) and a 19" flat screen monitor. It's kinda like being at a drive-in movie! Everything looks slightly different, more like my laptop than my old monitor. This thing is faster than greased lightning compared to my previous one, which was plenty fast enough for me. I guess that's progress. Kinda reminds me of the ol' 'sickle tramp talkin' about his bike: "Yep, she had a set o' Chattanooga Rattlers an' a speed sprocket. Never knew how fast I wuz goin' cuz she'd twist the speedo cable off at a buck-twenty an' I couldn't afford a new one very often..."

My peripherals all plugged right in, although I still have to load a lot of software. Later. I got dial-up, DSL, Firefox, and a printer. And Zuma, of course! That's like havin' wheels, an engine, and handlebars - enough to getcha down the road. I'll worry about the brakes when I have to stop!

I got all my files, photos, etc., transferred OK, but my Firefox Bookmarks stayed with the old machine. I got most of the ones I use here back from The Best Blogroll and Sidebars In The Business. Thanks, Fixer.

It's time to crank this puppy up and go spray some gravel at the Republicans and other meanies. See ya on the trail.

On 'outing'

Shakes pointed it out this morning:

Yesterday, the rightwing National Review Online "outed" Daily Kos front-pager Armando. (Won't link; you can head on over and search for it if you like. There's the main post and then a follow-up.) They revealed his real name and employer...

Now, I understand the reasons for people wanting to remain anonymous while blogging. There are a lot of nuts out there, as well as the pressures of business situations (one of the reasons Mrs F doesn't blog or leave many comments here). I use a pseudonym (I thought it would lend an air of mystery when I first began blogging) but two clicks from this page will reveal my identity.

What I'm saying is, I don't have an expectation of anonymity. If I'm out here, spouting off at the mouth about what I think is wrong with this country, I expect there will be people who go try to figure out as much as they can about me, figure out if I'm somewhat credible or just a nut. If I want to remain anonymous, I wouldn't blog, wouldn't try to set my voice above the din, wouldn't draw attention to myself. It's part of the payback for having people consider your opinion. It's like celebrities, who want the stardom and big bucks, but get bent out of shape at the paprazzi. You knew when you began, they were part of the package.

In Armando's case in particular, I think Seth puts it best:

...

We're of two minds on the matter- if one wants to remain anonymous while blogging, one should be able to. Of course, one should then probably avoid using one's own first name, or identifiable characteristics about one's profession (Digby, for instance, is still anonymous to all except those who know her/him). [my em]

...

If you want to remain anonymous on the Interwebs, you've gotta work at it. Stop crying and either blog or don't.

Friday Cattle Dog Blogging

Princess Shayna is bored with all the administration rhetoric regarding Iraq. "Tony Snow is a lying cracker, just like Snot McClellan," she said before going back to sleep.

Weltmeisterschaft '06

The World Cup starts today. Needless to say, my family (and everyone else in Germany) is glued to their TVs. I just hope they replay the game after I get home from work. Looks like I'm gonna miss it live. Yes, I root for the Germans because they're my peeps and I've been a fan since Beckenbauer was playing. If you like soccer, you're gonna see the best in the world play over the next few weeks.

MUNICH, June 8 (SW) - Germany will be set to impress during the 2006 World Cup opening match against Costa Rica on Friday.

The action kicks off in Munich, where hosts Germany face Costa Rica in a Group A clash. Jurgen Klinsmann's side are favorites but their opponents will aim to surprise, as has happened before in opening matches.

...

I volunteer...

Shakes thinks:

So, the GOP sucks, the Dems suck, the electoral college sucks, and the party-line Congressional districting that all but guarantees 99% of incumbents reelection sucks. I'm thinking, let's just scrap this whole thing and go back to a monarchy...

I've been bugged over the past few years to run for elected office and always dismissed it, but being King...now you're talking. I promise to be benevolent and respect rights, but boy would that be great, not having to watch polls, or have to deal with a belligerent Congress, or be above the law...anyway I think the Mrs. and I would be far better choices for King and Queen* than Shakes' choices.

*Mrs. F would be in charge anyway so you wouldn't have to worry about me doing really stupid shit.

I thought this whole Blogger maintenance thing yesterday was an upgrade? It sucks worse than it did before they 'fixed' it.

Let them teach

Our pal, and really smart guy, The Chemist talks about chemophobia:

...

As you might expect, this has the potential to further dampen interest in the sciences (especially chemistry) in the US, where science education is already sorely lacking.

...

Ha! I wonder how many school district policies I violate every time I do an in-class demonstration? I let kids fire off guncotton, break shit with liquid nitrogen, perform exothermic oxidations, handle and pour weak acids and bases, and other things that are scary sounding but perfectly safe. The students love it, and it's way more interesting for the whole class if one of their peers is blowing something up rather than if they're just sitting there watching me do it.

...

The science teachers I remember were the ones who let us do shit. Is this whole world turning into a buncha pussies or something? Everybody lives in sealed climate-controlled homes, there's a HEPA filter on everything, and nobody's kids play in the dirt anymore. You wonder why your kids have asthma, or are allergic to every fucking thing? Because they've never built up a tolerance to anything. Same thing with chemistry or anything else that might be 'dangerous'. Let the teachers teach and let the kids learn by doing. So what if they blow off a finger. That's why they issue you ten of 'em.

Pack up, get out...

And don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way.

...

DeLay, facing trial in Texas on campaign money laundering charges, is leaving Congress Friday, ending a 21-year career in the House.

...

Good news or...

What Commandment says 'Thou shalt not steal' and have the Repukes read that one?

A reminder...

About the survey in the left sidebar if you didn't see my post yesterday evening. It takes about 7 minutes and I'd appreciate your taking the time to complete it.

So what?

I wake up to this:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaida-linked militant who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings, kidnappings and hostage beheadings in Iraq, has been killed in a U.S. air raid north of Baghdad, Iraq's prime minister said Thursday.

...

So, we can claim one victory in Iraq. Whoopee! Call me when you find Osama.

Either way, the insurgents and al-Qaeda will go on. One man does not an insurgency make.

Consultants and Media

Robert Parry, the political Muse
Shares his views
On "Why Democrats lose"
at Consortium News

Please pardon the "senior Jesse Jackson moment" there, folks!

In explaining Busby's defeat in this bellwether special election, national Democratic consultants will likely point to failures of Busby as a candidate or the fact that the Republican Congressional Committee pumped more than $4.5 million into the district.

But the one point the Democratic consultants almost never mention is the giant media advantage that Republicans have created from years of investing in media outlets - from newspapers, magazines and books to cable television, talk radio and the Internet.

Yet, it is this conservative messaging capability - in coordination with the Republican national political operation - that has proved decisive in election after election, even in disputed contests such as Florida in Election 2000 when the conservative media quickly portrayed Bush as the legitimate winner even though Al Gore got more votes.

Sometimes, when I talk to or e-mail with Americans around the country, they are perplexed as to why Democratic candidates always seem to turn to the same national consultants who lead the party to defeat time and again.

On the other hand, Republicans harbor no similar fears and indeed seem to relish taking the fight to even mildly skeptical mainstream talk show hosts, who, in turn, must fear for their careers if they are targeted as "liberal" by angry and well-organized conservatives.

Yet, as the Busby defeat has again demonstrated, the national Democrats don't seem to have any clue how to break this cycle.

Here's a clue for 'em: Get a message, then unify, consolidate, co-ordinate, and communicate all this to the public.

But given the current media imbalance to the Right, there is also a desperate need to level the playing field by having more media outlets that present views more from the Left side of the political spectrum.

Liberals and progressives simply cannot count on the mainstream news media to act as a counterweight to conservative news outlets. That is not in the job description of mainstream journalists, who understand that their careers will be better served if they tilt Right and avoid getting stuck with the "liberal" label.

This "consultariat" mostly disparaged investments in media and directed money instead to "think tanks" where the consultants and many of their friends were kept in high-paying jobs. They apparently are awaiting a Republican crackup like the one in 1992 when Ross Perot siphoned enough votes away from George H.W. Bush for Bill Clinton to slip into the White House.

So, instead of investing in promising Internet sites or improving the "progressive" content on radio and TV, liberal money flowed overwhelmingly into the hands of the same ol' Democratic consultant class.

Between their highly-paid-but-interest-conflicted consultants and a buncha media types lookin' out for themselves in the current power atmosphere, the Dems are well-nigh sunk right from the gate.

If they had a coherent unified message, something the chattering class deigned strong enough that they could take their teeth out of the jar and sink 'em into, their attitudes might start to change. The Reps have been screwing up bad enough for long enough that you'd think that would be reason enough to start. It's not. It's helpful and a good start, but the Dems don't seem to be capable of capitalizing on it. Time is of the essence here, as today's message can and will become tomorrow's fish wrapper.

I'd say to Hell with consultants unless they consult candidates to go with their gut, stand on principle, and speak loudly and often and in one voice, and not be afraid to piss someone off. Consultants should offer advice but the candidates must decide what's right for them.

It might help to get some young and hungry not-yet-entrenched-and-rich media types in as well, but that'll happen when we're dodgin' aviating porcine excreta.

Please go read the rest of Mr. Parry's piece.

I need a favor...

I'm helping my pal Erin and the students in the political science department at the State University of New York/Stony Brook (right up the road from me) with a survey they're doing. They're looking for a large sample and asked if I could help them rustle up some victims volunteers to take the survey. It only takes a couple minutes and you'll be helping our young people. I'll also be getting a copy of the results and I'll share them with you. I'll be putting a link in the upper left sidebar once Blogger decides to stop sucking monkey ass but here's the gist of it:

The Religion and Politics in American Life Survey

This survey is about attitudes towards religion and politics. Some people think that this country is becoming too secular. They want to see more people in government who share their values. Other people think that religious groups have too much influence in politics. They would rather keep religion and politics separate. We are very interested in your thoughts on this matter.What do you think about religion and politics in the U.S.?

Click here to take the survey:

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Erin Cassese (Stony Brook University) at ecassese@ic.sunysb.edu.

So take the fucking survey already and help out my neighbors' kids. They're our future, you know. Thank you.

I should add that the medical students at the East Campus have put me back together on numerous occasions. Stony Brook is an excellent teaching university and I'm thrilled they asked me to help. If I hadn't been a juvenile delinquent, I probably would have gone there...well...I would have applied there. They have standards after all.

And another aside: If you're a blogger and could see fit to draw attention to this on your blog I'd be grateful.

Smackin' the hornet's nest

Station Charon has a good rant on how Rove et al are shittin' on our troops and ignoring the real problems that face our nation in their "gay marriage" panderpalooza to stay in power. Worth a read.

Smacking the hornet's nest of peckerwood nation has long been the bread and butter play for the fascist right and the corrupt crony capitalists in the perpetrating of their looting of the treasury and implementation of a surveillance state and it is expressed no better than in former Jack Abramoff aide Michael Scanlon's admission that they target regressive bible thumpers as dupes to support their agenda of thievery:

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees. Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

And by God he is right and the pathetically ignorant 'values' crowd will once again pick up their pitchforks, rubber fetuses and foam rubber decalogues, make their pilgrimages to 'Roy's Rock' and get in line like the good little goosesteppers that they are, nothing is more enabling of totalitarianism than an angry mass without the slightest idea of what it is that really causes their anger. The morons of course will not be able to comprehend that if the gay marriage menace were such a threat to the very future of the planet that it would have been addressed by Rove and the Mayberry Machiavellis well before they spent nearly two years after Bush's most theft of a national election in bestowing gift after gift to their crony capitalist benefactors on Wall Street who have the real juice when it comes to driving the agenda.

[...] I caught on to their bullshit at a very early age in life when my parents packed me and my little sister off to the local Baptist church for Sunday school to get us out of the house. The Baptists would even send a nice gaily painted bus around the neighborhood trolling for young converts.

I remember that in addition to prayer a plenty we used to engage in sing-a-longs on that bus and one of the verses of the songs that I will always remember went something like this:

"You can't get to heaven with hippie hair cause the lord don't like that mess up there."

My young little mind must already have had the seeds of cynicism sown because lo and behold while our Sunday school teacher was leading us in song I noticed that he was standing in front of a picture of some dude with really long hair and a scraggly beard...

And it sure as fuck wasn't Ted Nugent.

I actually like "the Motor City Madman" for his stance on firearms, self-sufficiency, and his general attitude other than his wingnut politics. I tried shooting my own food once, but it took too long to pluck the birdshot out of my bucket of chicken.

Sorry, but...

I'll reserve judgment about this Canadian terror cell until all the facts come out. Why? Because it just strikes me there's something funny going on here. Pessimist asks the same question I've been since the news broke.

...

So why would Muslims want to target Canada???

That's when it hit me - this is all a setup.

...

We're desensitized...

To bullshit. Gord touched on it the other day. To wit:

...

And you know what's the worst part of this? No one really cares that much, no one that matters. "Oh, that's just Fox News, that's just O'Reilly, whaddya expect?" The level of bullshit, ignorance, bigotry, and malicious stupidity is so high we don't even notice it anymore. Worse, the stench is so bad and is so far over our heads already, we don't even notice when it's reached a new height.

But we're not done yet. If O'Reilly can keep his job - and he can and will - after smearing American WW II soldiers (as well as sending covert signals of support to all the David Irvings in America), then he will feel compelled to top that. Anyone care to predict the next O'Reilly outrage?

I don't. If you had told me that Bill O'Reilly could get away with rewriting Malmedy, I would have said you were mad. But what we do know is that the goal posts have moved and rightwing extremism is just a little less extreme than it was. [my em]

...

That's how Ann 'I don't need a strap-on' Coulter can get away with the shit she shovels too. When the outrageous is commonplace, the truly horrible doesn't raise an eyebrow. As Gord's post emphasized, had the 'pundits' on the Left said about Christians what Coulter says about everybody else, the Rethugs would drop the anti-gay amendment bullshit in a heartbeat to take up the cause of banning 'hate speech'. Tristero has a good idea:

...Let's call it the Neiwert Effect, in honor of the expert in how extreme rightwing memes get mainstreamed...

It's worse...

After five years of Bush, you know the situation is actually far worse than I previously mentioned.

...

[P]ersonal data on more than 2.2 million active-duty military personnel - not just 50,000 as initially believed - were among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month, the government said Tuesday

...

Yup, the 'party of security'. Is there anyone in this government who is not incompetent? If I did my job the way these assholes do theirs, Harry would have run me out of the shop years ago. If I managed my personal finances the way they do, I'd be living out of a refrigerator box under an overpass of the Long Island Expressway.

I don't know about you...

But I wish they had these when I was in. Freefall for 120 miles! And I thought the HALO jumps were fun. Ausgezeichnet!

You know, just thinking about it, aside from the fun ride, stashing it once you're on the ground might be problematic. I sure as hell ain't carrying it with me or bringing it back. A chute you can bury or hide easy enough and make it look like you were never there. I'd hate to have to try and hide that thing.

Tip o' the Brain to memeorandum.

Geez, that's a simple solution...

I got this in an e-mail from my pal Jo in L.A. and just had to share:

Win win situation.

Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border, take the dirt and raise the levees in New Orleans and put the Florida alligators in the moat.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve?

Well, that takes care o' that, I guess!

The real threat to marriage...

Pensito Review

The traditional media may be interested almost exclusively in the sex lives of Democratic politicians, but on the hypocrisy index, it is hard to score higher than Republicans pontificating about saving the institution of marriage while so many of their leaders are serial and long-time adulterers:

A list follows, with some sordid details. You may have heard of some of them, although some Republican sexual practices may be new to progressives and young folks. There's some oddball shit blows some of their skirts up, but who am I to judge? Moral values, you know.