VAGUE SPACE

Pee into this Cup, Governor Scott, You Asshole

Aasif Mandvi brings out the funny with this perfect report on the hypocrisy of Republican lawmakers in Florida and their oh-so-1980s-style attempts to demonize welfare recipients as drug addicts abusing our taxpayer dollars so the rest of us -- the actual taxpayers -- can continue to avoid casting our angry glare at the corporations and lobbyists and politicians in their pockets who have spent at least the last 10 years actively legislating against both the poor and middle class.  Because -- hey -- if we get pissed about the random welfare mother (read: African-American woman) who bought $150 Nikes at Wal-mart that one time we heard from someone one time who works there, then we might not notice how Bush's tax cuts (still in effect) cost the treasury $1.065 trillion since 2001 on just the top 5% of taxpayers, or including all tax payers, close to $2.5 trillion over the past 10 years - and the top 5% got 52.5% of that benefit in 2010. Or we might not notice how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost our treasury between $1.4 trillion and $3.7 trillion, depending on what factors you include to calculate it (such as lifetime veterans benefits).  Or we might forget that corporate taxes as a percentage of GDP have fallen to an all-time low of less than 1.3% (down from 6% in the 1950s).  In fact total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.  If we were taxing corporations at a western world average of ~3% of GDP, that would bring in an additional $300 Billion to the treasury -- or enough to fund the national Food Stamps program (~3.5% of our national budget = $120 Billion) + welfare (also know as TANF = 0.8% of the budget = $30 Billion) + extended unemployment benefits (~4.4% = $145 Billion).  Yes, just making corporations in America pay what they would in the rest of the free world WHILE THEY ARE MAKING RECORD PROFITS AND NOT HIRING MORE AMERICANS would pay for all social assistance programs for the poor every year. 

You as You Were

I had surgery on my foot on December 7th, which turned out to be my own personal Pearl Harbor.  And yes, I just compared my travails over the past 2 months with the attack that started America's entrance into World War II.  Which might be worse than me weaving the story of my upcoming surgery with a review of 127 Hours. But this is my blog and fuck it, the last 7 fucking weeks have been absolute hell.  So let's just move on.  Shit happens to arlot of people but when you've been relatively healthy your whole life and you're young (or think you're young) you really kind of ignore any sort of "at least you have your health" statement, or at least I did, and I realize this was in some ways elective surgery -- and in retrospect, one of if not the worst decisions I've ever made in my life -- but I just spent the past 7 weeks waking up every day in pain, limping around in pain, drugged up to alleviate the pain, stuck inside, unable to drive, unable to do much more than watch TV or read for many or most of those weeks, not even able to sleep.  But... but, finally, in the past week, the pain has started to go away.

Vote for GOP = Vote for 1%

The title of this post couldn't be more evident than in this chart of the % share of tax cuts by income proposed by each of the leading GOP candidates for president.  Disregarding the economic reality that cutting taxes during a recession is insanely idiotic and goes against every economic principle of every sane human and disregarding what this loss of revenue for the government would do to the deficit that the GOP claims to care so much about (only when they are not in the presidency), what's so tragically sad is that the GOP's plans to revive a failing economy that has only provided wealth for the richest 1% of Americans is to -- get this -- give huge chunks of money to the 1% of us who aren't suffering in this economy and who haven't been suffering and who, in all analyses, helped bankrupt the economy, and who aren't creating jobs in this economy as it is.  Seriously, if you vote for a candidate espousing these beliefs on the most important issue in 2012, you just -- I can't -- there are no words...

■ Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s $18.1 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of
Americans an average tax cut of $391,330, which would be over 190 times as large as the average tax cut of
$1,990 that the middle fifth of Americans would receive.
■ Texas Governor Rick Perry’s $10.5 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of Americans an
average tax cut of $272,730, which would be over 270 times as large as the average tax cut of $1,000 that the
middle fifth of Americans would receive.
■ Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s $6.6 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of
Americans an average tax cut of $126,450, which would be over 100 times as large as the average tax cut of
$1,220 that the middle fifth of Americans would receive.
■ Former Senator Rick Santorum’s $9.4 trillion tax plan would give the richest one percent of Americans an
average tax cut of $217,500, which would be over 100 times as large as the average tax cut of $2,160 that the
middle fifth of Americans would receive.

Some Mitt-specific data after the jump...

Recall Walker

Last winter in Wisconsin, we saw the start of a pushback by the middle class against the rich overlords who had just abducted our government by proxy, a theme that continued later that year on a national level with Occupy Wall Street and all its local derivations.  Finally the Americans who were being hurt by the right-wing policies of our government the past 10 or 30 years (depending on how far back you want to go) were speaking up en masse about the inequality of opportunity and the tilt in our political system that gives all the tax breaks and all the wealth to the people who are already rich and have just gotten richer.  But it all started in Wisconsin, a politically middle-of-the-road cheese-loving state that unwittingly voted in Scott Walker as governor in the tea party wave of 2010 (by a bare margin) and had some severe buyers' remorse almost immediately.  One of Walker's first acts -- with a Republican State Senate and State House eagerly rubber-stamping his actions -- was a massive tax cut for corporations.  His next act -- eliminating 100 years of collective bargaining rights for public employees.  Yeah he also cut education funding by $800M and has tried to gut environmental legislation and tried to supress voters' rights -- you know, standard Republican governing -- but it was the collective bargaining rights for teachers and other public employees that began the outrage, particularly since it was a fight being repeated all across the country.  Ohio recently voted to repeal their collective bargaining elimination law enacted by its brand-new Republican governor.  Indiana is having a fight right at this moment between protestors and Republicans in charge who are trying to pass the "end the rights of all public unions to break them and any and all opposition against GOP corporate power" (in fact, some Republicans are even coming out against Mitch Daniels' draconian bill this week).  In Florida the same fight is happening under its new governor.  A fight between the people and the far-right kleptocrats they (and the rich people supporting them) elected in 2010.  And all of these governors are horribly unpopular, polling at massive unfavorables in their states, and all their policy positions are universally disdained, even among Republican voters.  All kinds of buyers' remorse.  But again, it all started with Wisconsin.  And last week, United Wisconsin handed in 1 million signatures in a petition to recall Scott Walker just a year after he was elected.  Bravo, Wisconsin, bravo.

There are about 4.3 million voting age citizens in Wisconsin.  They got 1 million signatures to recall the governor, or about a quarter of all potential voters in the state.  The million signatures is 46% of the total that actually voted in the election in 2010, or just shy of the 1.1 million that voted for Walker.  Without even an election, he's got close to the number of people who want him out of office as who actually went to the ballots to vote him in just on year ago.  That's how hated this slimy fucker is.  And how dedicated the signature-gathering force was, these dedicated citizens who literally stood out in the freezing cold of Wisconsin the past 2 months and collected 1 million signatures in 60 days to end the reign of this horrible governor. 

This is all on the heels of an impressive reversal of US Senate opinions on PIPA and SOPA by a single day of protest from Wikipedia and Google and other Internet sites.  Seriously, when you think of the great strides that Americans are making to take the country back from the powerful and the moneyed and the downright evil that have controlled our policies for at least the last decade, these past few months are quite heartening to see.  Congrats, Wisconsin.  If it weren't so damn cold there, I'd fly out and give you all a big hug.

Yet Another Example of Religious Idiocy

In a mostly forgettable and unnecessary opinion piece in Monday's USA Today, Gary Bauer, a right-wing religious blowhard of significance a decade or two ago, writes a column titled "Why We should Apply a Religious Test" that I honestly couldn't ignore.  In his idiotic tract, which I guess is a shot at Mitt Romney's Mormon beliefs (even if not mentioned, it's the only possible reason I can think of for why this piece appears at this time), Mr. Bauer acknowledges the Constitutional basis for NOT applying a religious test for public office:  "That is what the Founders addressed when they wrote what could be the Constitution's most emphatic statement: 'No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.'"  And then he writes an entire piece about why we should ignore what he just said was the "Constitution's most emphatic statement."  Interesting logic there.  And by interesting, I mean of course, insane.  One wonders how this piece got past the USA Today editorial review board with such an outstandingly flawed basic premise:  "Yeah, yeah, I know that one of the founding principles of this very nation was to not include one's religion as a basis for public office, but hey -- here's why I think you should kind of sort of ignore that even though I don't at any point try to refute that such a part of the Constitution is valid and necessary."  But OK, let's move off the lackadaisical writing or adherence to logic and move to the part of the piece that made me want to read on... the opener (my notes in italics):

A thought experiment: Imagine a presidential candidate. He has spent years in politics, rising to become a trusted leader in his party. He also has spent time in the business world (Mitt Romney!), has an impeccable personal life (Mitt Romney!!!), a deep understanding of the issues, and is eloquent in speech and moderate in temperament.  (For fuck's sake, can he just say he's writing to tear down Mitt Romney because he's not super-fundamentalist enough!)  Sounds like a dream candidate, right?

(and here's where it gets good)

But imagine that, along with those qualities, the candidate is also a Wiccan, a modern pagan. It's not an implausible idea. Some estimates put the number of American Wiccans at more than 100,000. It's safe to say most voters would at least have a few questions for our hypothetical candidate. After all, Wicca involves magic, spell-casting and sorcery — not exactly mainstream religious practices. But would this candidate's beliefs make you question his fitness for office? Would you oppose him based solely on his faith?

So Romney isn't a Wiccan, he's a Mormon, and the Mormon religion has a pretty whacked-out origin story and some weird beliefs that Mr. Bauer clearly doesn't want in the Oval Office.  I have a feeling he doesn't want him in the Oval Office for reasons that have more to do with past positions of moderation on issues like abortion or gay rights (since changed, of course, so Romney can make it through the GOP primary) than any fear or hatred of Mormonism, but yeah, it's there, and that's the easy target Bauer goes for, in his couched "Wiccan" way.

The Great Derangement

So the one thing I've learned in 2011 that I would like to share with my readers and that I cannot stress enough... do not ever, ever -- unless it is the absolute last choice to make to save you from never walking again -- do not ever have foot surgery.  Specifically bone fusion surgery on your big toe, but I think in general foot surgeries are bad ideas.  I won't get into the details because they might either bore you or make you think I'm just whining about the pain, but when I say that this surgery I'm currently "recovering" from is worse than the ACL replacement surgery on my knee a few years back, I'm not kidding.  I'm not at all actually recovering, the pain every day just doesn't stop and although there was a day or two where I thought things were improving, that was quite a long time ago.  I'm back on the Percocet, now over 3 1/2 weeks after the surgery, and the thought of making it through a day pain-free feels like a pipe dream right now, let alone actually being able to walk again or god forbid drive.  I don't know, I'm going back to the doctor this week.  But that's my main advice for the new year. 

2011 Video of the Year

Unbelievably, some right-wingers openly supported the officers who, here in America, pepper-sprayed college students sitting and protesting in solidarity on a college campus in California.  In 2011.  The year that Egyptian and Libyan and Tunisian citizens took down their oppressive governments through the power of mass protest.  Let me repeat:  Americans actually came to the defense of the people spraying these helpless kids.  This is my most lasting memory of the year.  I would say I weep for our future, but for fuck's sake, if people don't see the wrong in this, is there anything left to weep for?

 

 

• Download Handsome Furs - "Serve the People".mp3

Dogs in the capital howling at dawn
Someone's driving by with the radio on
Someone making noise from the center of town
You kick em in the head and you kick em when they're down

And you don't serve the people

50 million souls living underground
50 million people gonna float gonna drown
From the north, further north where....
Kids were making noise with their generators on and the cops said move along

Serve the people
Won't anyone want to know
They don't serve the people
Keeping everything under control

And it's diamonds and gold for the idiot sons
All the privileged thieves gonna make things run
Well I believe in heart and apocalypse sound
You kick em in the head and you kick em when they're down

And you don't serve them

You don't serve them
You don't serve the people
No, you don't serve them
No, no, you don't serve the people

Singing oh my god, waiting here so long I'm feeling changed, I feel a change

And you don't serve them

Happy Holidays

I've spent the past 2 weeks "recovering" from my foot surgery but it's been largely a nightmare.  The first few days were a blur of Percocet and pain, trying to last 4 hours between doses and trying in vain to sleep through the night.  I also had 2 presentations to do for work the next week with no one else at the company that could do them so I had pretty much zero time off.  After surgery.  Not good times.  The next few days were a mixture of trying to ween myself off the heavier doses so my mind could recover enough to focus but the pain in the foot was still pretty intense and actually got worse on the side of the foot where the surgery didn't occur.  I went back to the doctor to have him look at what was causing that pain, and in the process he removed the medical wrap that had been on the foot since the surgery to reveal a grossly swollen, miscolored, hideous stump where my foot used to be -- I seriously thought they'd have to amputate... but the doctor assured me this was a perfectly normal appearance a week after the surgery he performed and without the wrap on, the other side of my foot should lessen in pain.  Which it did.  So there's that.  I got off the Percocet a day later so the past few days have at least been better for the rest of my body/mind, but it's really only today that the foot itself doesn't quite hurt so bad all all the time.  Again, the doctor says it's normal and that the X-rays (which he showed me -- there's a goddamn piece of metal in the middle of my big toe now) showed everything progressing fine, so it's really just up to me to be patient and let my body heal on its own.  But I'm not patient.  Nor a good patient.  These past 2 weeks have been absolute hell. 

Newt. That's Funny. Or Really, Really Sad.

This guy is leading in polls for the GOP nomination for president right now.  This guy.  Or should I say this outright racist, misogynistic, scumbag, hypocritical, has-been, money-grubbing, lout of a human being even his fellow GOP colleagues all find despicable is leading the GOP presidential nomination race right now.  But yeah, the Tea Party aren't a bunch of dumb racist assholes.  Just those they seem to support are.  No, let me take that back.  Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann weren't racist.  And Newt's not dumb.   His ideas are about the most idiotic I've ever heard, although compared to Cain and Bachmann he sounds like a genius.  And compared to Rick Perry, my neighbor's labrador is a genius.  Well done, Tea Party.  Well done, Republicans.  For fuck's sake how in the world the Democrats manage to lose any race anywhere to these neanderthals is beyond me.  Seriously, just watch this clip.  This guy is leading the GOP nomination right now, just a couple weeks out from the Iowa caucuses.

 

 

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Random Music Friday

Song:  "Night Falls on Hoboken"
Artist:  Yo La Tengo
Year:  2000
Album:  And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

• Download Yo La Tengo - "Night Falls On Hoboken".mp3

After I recover from my foot surgery, I'm putting my house on the market and planning a move, which has been in the planning stages for a while now and at some point (like when my house is sold), I will have to decide where to move to.  Because most likely the people who buy my house will not want me to live there anymore.  So yeah.  Decision.  I've looked at Manhattan, Brooklyn, Princeton, Jersey City, East Windsor, West Windsor, North Windsor (which is probably in Connecticut) and the greater tri-state area.  But I've most likely narrowed my choices to (a) the same wonderful town I live in right now and have lived in for close to 15 years and why would I want to leave, or (b) the "hometown" of Yo La Tengo, where I would rent for a year to see if I would really love living in/or near NYC as much as I think I would but I'd still be in Jersey and a quick hop on the Turnpike to come see my friends in Central Jersey as much as I currently do.  So we'll see.  But this RMF isn't so Random I guess.

Come on, let's leave our misery
And crawl toward where we want to be
Can't we try? Can't we try?
Come on, sleep one night peacefully
Then I'll yawn all day easily
and rest up my mind