Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Wrong Kind of Tea

Last night, I made a mistake. I thought that the right wing was telling us fairy tales to scare us. After what I've seen today, I realize that we would have been lucky if that is all that was happening. I do believe a lot of them have finally snapped.

They are all upset about the prospect of having to pay more in taxes. (I didn't know that there were this many uber-wealthy people in this country.) While no one likes to pay taxes, some of us have the maturity to recognize it as a necessary evil. The rest throw tea parties. The only thing is, I suspect it's not tea they're drinking, but Long Island Iced Teas. Really strong ones.

Not everyone has grown enough to realize that taxes are an unpleasant necessity. And it is no wonder. Just look at who is leading their anti-tax crusades.

James Rowen links us to a video of Glen Beck, one of the right wing's darlings. I've heard his name bantered about right wing sites almost as much as the drug-addicted Rush Limbaugh or the asocial, amoral Ann Coulter. But in the video, I see a guy that is half-charlatan, half-psychotic. I really don't understand why people would even pay this lunatic any attention.

But then, via the Chief, I see just what kind of people do listen to them:



As the wise Chief alerts the reader, pay attention to the guy at the end, who thinks that the digital converters are part of an epic brain-washing conspiracy. There is also the guy who thinks there is a 50 year scheme by the Communists to take over. There must have been a real shortage of tinfoil in that neighborhood.

Next thing you know, someone will be starting to talk about secession. Oops, too late on that one.

In a related matter, now that we are getting closer to April 15th, expect more post like this one from the right, expressing their outrage every time a tax goes up. What you shouldn't expect is posts complaining about the power companies raising their rates higher and faster than any tax.

As I've said before, the right doesn't really care about you keeping your money. They only care that you give all of your money to their sort of people, like the CEOs with their million dollar bonuses, as opposed to the poor person needing a meal or a place to sleep.

30 comments:

  1. What is scary is that there are some people who do not see the danger in allowing Washington, D.C. hijack powers from the states, which is where they were intended to reside. Y'all might believe the government can run your lives and spend your money better than you. Now THAT is REALLY scary.

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  2. Kate,

    Did you get that from your digital converter?

    You might have had a more valid point if you were getting this riled up when Bush was having his streak of Imperialism and giving all of our money to Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Business.

    Now that your rule of tyranny is over, you just can't accept that, so you come up with these gimmicks to make yourselves feel like you still are in control.

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  3. Hmmm....I don't remember being all the high on Bush. Maybe you know something I don't? When I disagreed with Bush, I said so. If Obama ever does anything I agree with, I'll say so. I haven't been thrilled with D.C. for a LONG time, as you should know. :/

    Oh, and that "Big Oil", "Big Pharma", "Big Business" stuff doesn't work with me. Ya oughta know that too. :)

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  4. I also find it odd, to say the least, that there have been no right wingers protesting power companies and oil companies for gouging people.

    Like I said, it's not that the right wants us to keep our money, they just want it to go to their people.

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  5. Oh, fer the love of pete. I guess you missed my posts about TVA, eh? want YOU to keep your money too.

    If a company is making a profit, is this a bad thing? Companies that do well are apt to hire more people. Is this a bad thing? If a company is investing profits back into the company for exploration, research, etc., is this a bad thing?

    Seriously, why aren't you so dead set against someone working hard to advance their own finances? If it weren't for those "rich" people, there would be no money for government jobs.

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  6. There's nothing wrong with making a profit, but when it's in excess, that is wrong. That is avarice and greed.

    And please, most of their money goes into bonuses for CEOs or for advertising.

    You want to get ahead in life, fine. Just don't do it on my back, or the backs of the people doing the actual work. What is so bad about being against corporate slavery.

    While you are choosing to have the workers hold the boat on their shoulders, even if they drown when the tide comes in, I propose lifting all the boats with the tide.

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  7. Uh....where do you come up with this stuff. :) Did I not say more jobs are created with the prosperity of the company? Wouldn't that mean the "workers" have a place within the company? But I'm guessing your term of 'worker' is more on a USSR version? Of course, I could wrong....

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  8. Gee, maybe it is when I see companies making profits, but laying off workers.

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  9. If there are no profits, there's not much point to having a company, is there.

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  10. And what is so bad about the CEO's taking half a million, or even less, in bonuses, to keep employees on staff.

    It would benefit the company in the long run to keep good staff on, instead of having to pay unemployment, and then later paying for recruitment and training.

    That would be a win-win. Is that so bad? Why does someone always have to lose?

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  11. You do know that a lot of those CEOs aren't getting a salary, right? They only get their bonuses? All the flap about the AIG bonuses, and a $1 a year salary. Hmmmm....

    Oh, and when are folks gonna get all up in arms about the Frannie and Freddie bonuses, which were more than $200mil? Just curious.

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  12. I do believe that has been going on for a while.

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  13. Very little has been said about it. Haven't heard about anyone being bussed to protest outside their CEO's home, or threaten their lives.

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  14. Speaking of not hearing things, will you tea party people be returning the tax cuts that Obama wants, or all of you in the top 5% of moneyed people?

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  15. ROFLMAO When I get in that top 5%, I'll be sure to let ya know. And where on earth do you get the idea that there is actually a "cut" anywhere? I don't know if you've noticed, but ALL taxes are going up. Even renters will be paying higher in rent because the owners taxes are going up.

    BTW, have you actually seen the amount of taxes those 5% pay? FIFTY percent of all taxes are paid by those who you turn your nose up at. They pay your salary, your health care, etc. Or, I should say all people who work for a government entity.

    Y'know, this 'class envy' crap is a fairly ugly trait of the left. :/

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  16. Mmm, well, my wife's checks are already bigger.

    But if you want cheaper taxes for us gubmint workers, the solution is pretty simple. The biggest cost is health care. That has been going up in double digits every year for over almost a decade. Make the cost of health care reasonable, and that will drive taxes down. Oooh,but there's your profit margin to worry about, isn't there?

    And speaking of gubmint employee benefits, did you know we get no Christmas bonuses or any other kind of bonuses for that matter? We don't get trips to Puerto Rico or Hawaii. We don't get million dollar offices.

    But you just keep crying about us. That is what is really ugly.

    And for the record, I don't want a $6K shower curtain, or 400" TV, or a car the size of the HMS Queen Mary. I just want to make a living, and I want the other guy to be able to do so too.

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  17. A $6K shower curtain? Jiminy crickets! Then again, some people have more money than sense. :/ Or taste for that matter.

    Anyway....I'm fairly sure you are somewhere in my age range, right? Do you happen to remember back when There was something called hospitalization? That's when you paid a small monthly premium, and the insurance would pay for 80% of your hospital stay, and you paid 20%. It was kind of simple. There were no doctor's visits covered (average visit was about $10, plus a $5 shot if needed), no co-pays, drugs were reasonably priced. Then, along came the HMO nonsense, and things have spiraled out of control. Unions demanded more and more - cradle to grave, cutting into any profits for companies, pushing prices of products up higher, and the circle continued. Well, what if we did an about face? How 'bout if the demands stop? How 'bout if we return to personal hospitalization? I'm not saying it would work all that well for a while, but at this point, NONE of us can afford to get sick. Well, other than those in D.C.

    Seriously, I've pretty much decided we all live too freakin' long, and I'm gonna check out when it's my time.

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  18. Then, along came the HMO nonsense, and things have spiraled out of control.

    "What's wrong with making a profit?" asked Kate.

    I just got done making this point elsewhere so I will do so again:

    The largest cost to any agency or company, public or private is benefits. The most expensive benefit is health care. But when proposals are made that would decrease these costs, the right does everything they can to stop it.

    This is the party they wanted, and now we all are stuck with their f'ing bar tab.

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  19. Pfft! You're confusing the "right" with the Republicans. Ain't the same thing! :P

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  20. Close enough for government work. :)

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  21. Don't make me come up there and smack you! :P

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  22. You two have something going we don't know about? :)

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  23. LMAO Yup....civil discourse. Ain't that a pip? :)

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  24. Whut?? Can't ya hear me singing? That's the caterwauling outside your window! :P

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  25. I thought that was a cat in heat. :)

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  26. Uh huh. Sounds just the same! Heh.

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