In honor of Obama's first hundred days in office, here's a list of mind-numbing facts about American government and life (and no, I don't think Obama is personally responsible for all of them.)
1) The U.S. tax code is 67,000 pages long, and so complicated that even Treasury Secretary Geithner can't figure it out.
2) 43% of Americans will pay zero or negative federal income taxes in 2009 according to the Brookings Institution.
3) 48% of Americans say the amount of federal income taxes they pay is "about right" according to a recent Gallup poll. (If I were part of the 43% that paid no taxes I guess I would say that it was about right, too. The other 5% that are happy to pay taxes are just stupid.)
4) After promising to eliminate wasteful earmarks, Obama signed a budget bill with 8,600 of them.
5) The top ten earmarking senators brought home $767 million in pork from the budget bill. Six of the top ten earmarkers were Republicans.
6) Obama has pledged to halve the deficit by 2013. That shouldn't be hard to do considering that he started by quadrupling the deficit of his predecessor.
7) High school teachers earned an average of $42,000 in 2008.
8) Joe Cassano, the man behind AIG's losses, earned an average of $35 million a year for 8 years.
9) The AIG bailout cost taxpayers $180 billion.
10) $11 billion of the AIG bailout money has gone to French bank Societe Generale, and $5.4 billion has gone to Germany's Deutsche Bank.
11) Merrill Lynch awarded bonuses of $1,000,000 or more to 696 people at the end of a quarter where it lost $15 billion.
12) Fifteen members of Congress are currently under investigation by ethics committees or law enforcement agencies. (8 Republican, 7 Democrats)
13) William Jefferson, who was caught with $90,000 in his freezer, is using the constitution's "speech or debate clause" to squash his bribery probe. Other corrupt politicians are following his lead.
14) Nancy Pelosi argued that money for birth control in Obama's stimulus bill would boost the economy by creating fewer people for the government to support.
15) Obama burned thousands of gallons of jet fuel to fly to Denver and sign the stimulus bill so he could stand in front of solar panels and preach to America about the virtues of green energy.
16) The government spent $120 million on Obama's inauguration, four years after people complained that Bush's $42 million inauguration was extravagant.
17) After promising to keep lobbyists out of the White House, Obama decided to let them in if they signed a waiver.
18) Former Raytheon lobbyist William Lynn is now Obama's Deputy Secretary of Defense.
19) The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) continues to lobby Congress, even after the FBI declared it a front for HAMAS.
20) The California legislature is planning to ban black cars from the state to help reduce global warming.
21) Attorney General Eric Holder called America "a nation of cowards" because of its record on race relations.
22) The U.S. spent $68 billion on prisons and other correctional costs last year. The Department of Education spent $56 billion.
23) 1 in 31 U.S. adults are in jail, on parole or on probation, according to a recent Pew Center report. Twenty-five years ago, the rate was 1 in 77.
24) Georgia leads the nation with 1 in 13 adults in jail, on parole or on probation.
25) You still can't buy a six-pack of beer in Georgia on a Sunday.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Homeland Security calls the Deep South an extremist group in new report
I just had to post this:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Just one month ago, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) was criticized for a report that cited supporters of third-party presidential candidates like Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr as potential domestic terrorists. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is defending itself against criticism of a new report that names the South as a “Rightwing extremist group.”
According to the report, all of the states from Texas to the east and Virginia to the south (excluding Florida) fit the profile of an extremist organization.
Some of the hallmarks of extremism mentioned in the report are “antagonism toward an African American president and his perceived stance on a range of issues.” A pattern of southern racism can be clearly seen in the 2008 electoral map, which shows a band of southern states that voted against Barack Obama.
The report also contends that “Rightwing extremism includes groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion.” A recent Gallup poll showed that 52 % of people in the South hold anti-abortion views, compared to 44 % nationally.
The high concentration of military service members in the South is also cited as a major risk factor for extremism. As stated in the DHS report, “The willingness of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.”
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said “We are especially troubled that the South has been growing in numbers,” citing census data that the region has added 1.4 million people in the last year alone. “It is definitely a sign that the south is recruiting.”
As a precaution, all southerners or people who appear to be southerners have been added to the TSA's No- Fly list. “Unfortunately this will cause some inconvenience and delays at airports in the southeast,” a TSA spokesperson at Hartsfield-Jackson airport said on Wednesday. Hartsfield-Jackson is the nation's busiest airport.
In a follow up press release, Janet Napolitano stated that Homeland Security is closely monitoring other red states throughout the U.S. “They have not reached the critical mass of the southeast, but they are still a concern.”
http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1239817562001.shtm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Just one month ago, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) was criticized for a report that cited supporters of third-party presidential candidates like Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr as potential domestic terrorists. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is defending itself against criticism of a new report that names the South as a “Rightwing extremist group.”
According to the report, all of the states from Texas to the east and Virginia to the south (excluding Florida) fit the profile of an extremist organization.
Some of the hallmarks of extremism mentioned in the report are “antagonism toward an African American president and his perceived stance on a range of issues.” A pattern of southern racism can be clearly seen in the 2008 electoral map, which shows a band of southern states that voted against Barack Obama.
The report also contends that “Rightwing extremism includes groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion.” A recent Gallup poll showed that 52 % of people in the South hold anti-abortion views, compared to 44 % nationally.
The high concentration of military service members in the South is also cited as a major risk factor for extremism. As stated in the DHS report, “The willingness of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.”
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said “We are especially troubled that the South has been growing in numbers,” citing census data that the region has added 1.4 million people in the last year alone. “It is definitely a sign that the south is recruiting.”
As a precaution, all southerners or people who appear to be southerners have been added to the TSA's No- Fly list. “Unfortunately this will cause some inconvenience and delays at airports in the southeast,” a TSA spokesperson at Hartsfield-Jackson airport said on Wednesday. Hartsfield-Jackson is the nation's busiest airport.
In a follow up press release, Janet Napolitano stated that Homeland Security is closely monitoring other red states throughout the U.S. “They have not reached the critical mass of the southeast, but they are still a concern.”
Here are links to some relevant documents:
http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1239817562001.shtm
Monday, April 6, 2009
Next stop, the Twilight Zone
Okay, so like most conservatives right now, I feel I'm living in an Orwellian nightmare. But in the last few weeks, the absurdity has reached a new level. You've probably heard that many of the same people wringing their hands about the AIG bonuses knew about them back in November. Here are a few issues that are just as mind-numbing, and haven't gotten as much press. I've added links to real news outlets so to prove that I didn't get this stuff from rightwingmilitias.com.
THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
Obama thinks that one big reason for the global economic meltdown is that too much influence was concentrated in the hands of a few US and UK executives, and their poor choices started a domino effect that hurt the world economy. To avoid that risk in the future, his solution is to concentrate all the influence on the world economy into the hands of a few bureaucrats on an international Financial Stability Board.
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/04/06/commentary/op-eds/doc49d9b9e9826c9440084179.txt
US LEGAL SOVEREIGNTY
Harold Koh, Obama's nominee for Legal Advisor to the State Department wants to subjugate the US to international legal norms on issues like the death penalty. The morality of decisions made by the Supreme Court would be reviewed by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. This makes perfect sense, considering that the Netherlands is also home to that paragon of virtue known as Amsterdam.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/q=MDBhMDk5NzFkZGIwMDI0ZDM3ZDQzYzBjNTk1ODg0YmQ=
HEALTH CARE
Obama's new budget director Peter Orszag has stated that cutting health care costs is one of the best ways to solve our nation's long-term budget problems. I agree with him. The problem is, his boss Obama's plan to save money is to have the government insure 80 million new people, and use that economy of scale to bring costs down. Remember, this is the same government that paid $436 for a hammer. This is the same government that thinks a budget cut means no new increase in spending. This is the same government that underestimated the cost of the Medicare prescription drug program by 60 percent. They're the ones who can cut health care costs?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9328-2005Feb8.html
DISARMAMENT
After North Korea used the pretext of launching a satellite to test a long range missile, Obama responded with a call for the US and other superpowers to scrap their nuclear weapons and bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force. Fewer nukes would make the world a safer place, right?It's similar to the argument that the best way to curb gun violence is to have everyone turn in their firearms. The problem is, the only people who would turn in their guns are the law-abiding citizens, who would then have no way to defend themselves against the criminals who kept their guns. It's sort of like asking the community of nations to disarm. That brilliant plan would only leave the rogue states to have WMD's all to themselves.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040500021.html?hpid=topnews
THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
Obama thinks that one big reason for the global economic meltdown is that too much influence was concentrated in the hands of a few US and UK executives, and their poor choices started a domino effect that hurt the world economy. To avoid that risk in the future, his solution is to concentrate all the influence on the world economy into the hands of a few bureaucrats on an international Financial Stability Board.
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/04/06/commentary/op-eds/doc49d9b9e9826c9440084179.txt
US LEGAL SOVEREIGNTY
Harold Koh, Obama's nominee for Legal Advisor to the State Department wants to subjugate the US to international legal norms on issues like the death penalty. The morality of decisions made by the Supreme Court would be reviewed by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. This makes perfect sense, considering that the Netherlands is also home to that paragon of virtue known as Amsterdam.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/q=MDBhMDk5NzFkZGIwMDI0ZDM3ZDQzYzBjNTk1ODg0YmQ=
HEALTH CARE
Obama's new budget director Peter Orszag has stated that cutting health care costs is one of the best ways to solve our nation's long-term budget problems. I agree with him. The problem is, his boss Obama's plan to save money is to have the government insure 80 million new people, and use that economy of scale to bring costs down. Remember, this is the same government that paid $436 for a hammer. This is the same government that thinks a budget cut means no new increase in spending. This is the same government that underestimated the cost of the Medicare prescription drug program by 60 percent. They're the ones who can cut health care costs?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9328-2005Feb8.html
DISARMAMENT
After North Korea used the pretext of launching a satellite to test a long range missile, Obama responded with a call for the US and other superpowers to scrap their nuclear weapons and bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force. Fewer nukes would make the world a safer place, right?It's similar to the argument that the best way to curb gun violence is to have everyone turn in their firearms. The problem is, the only people who would turn in their guns are the law-abiding citizens, who would then have no way to defend themselves against the criminals who kept their guns. It's sort of like asking the community of nations to disarm. That brilliant plan would only leave the rogue states to have WMD's all to themselves.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040500021.html?hpid=topnews
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