Month: July 2012
Time Travel
Zimmerman stayed in the car. #Retroactively.
One of many tweets using the hashtag #Retroactively, following a statement by Mitt Romney spokesperson Ed Gillespie that his boss had retired from Bain Capital “retroactively.” Also: “Michael Jordan retiring #retroactively, denies responsibility for those two seasons on the Wizards.” Is making something disappear retroactively better than Etch-A-Sketching it away?
Mitt, Show Us the Money!
If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong. I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.
Gov. Robert Bentley (R-Ala.), one of a growing number of Republicans who are calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns already and end the speculation about what they might contain. Blackmail payments to Seamus, perhaps?
Rice for Vice?
What do conservative bloggers have against Condi Rice?
We think Mitt should consider her for his Vice.
Her experience governmental
Would seem to be fundamental,
And white-bread Mitt could use a little brown sugar spice.
Republican Priorities are Different From Yours
33
Number of opportunities, as of this week, that House Republicans have given themselves to be able to say that they voted against all or part of the Affordable Care Act. None of the votes made it through the Senate, but they did serve their intended purpose: to make House Republicans look like they are doing something when in fact, they are just hanging out in expensive suits and air conditioned offices, listening to one another talk as health care for them and their families is paid for by taxpayers.
Point of Order: Obama Wants to Give Everyone a Tax Break
Whether ignorance or deliberate spin is to blame, we keep hearing that Pres. Obama wants to end the Bush tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000 annually. This is true. And false, false, false.
The president is proposing, as he has since he took office and knew Bush’s tax cuts would expire during his first term, to end the tax breaks on family incomes above $250,000.
That means everyone pays at the lower rate on the first $250,000 they earn. So if your family earns $220,000, you continue to pay at the Bush rate on your entire income. If you earn $280,000, then you continue to pay at the Bush rate on $250,000 and pay at the higher, Clinton-era rate on $30,000.
As Daily Finance’s Bruce Watson explains:
When discussing the tax code, most analysts and pundits — not to mention average citizens — focus on the highest rate that an individual pays. One rarely hears about the fact that everybody pays only 10% tax on their first $8,700, 15% on everything between $8,701 and $35,350, and so forth. In other words, a millionaire pays the exact same amount in taxes on that piece of their income as someone who makes $35,350 per year…or $85,000, or $150,000. (Before deductions, of course.)
It’s not hard to see why tax issues are drawn along wealth lines — after all, creating barriers between the rich and the middle class makes for good headlines and hot political battles. In truth, though, the line isn’t between cutting taxes for the rich and cutting them for the middle class; it’s between cutting taxes for the rich, and cutting taxes for the rich more.
Emphasis added
Update: The misstatement bothers Robert Reich too.
Washington Post Provided Stenography Services to Romney Campaign Instead of Reporting on Cheney Fundraiser
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MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow took WaPo to task for a story on Mitt Romney Wednesday night. And that’s putting it mildly. Rather, she channeled her inner Freddy Krueger and methodically butchered the story to shreds one line at a time. She called the piece “whitewash” and “non journalism.”
