FDR, Reagan and Roseanne

FDR

A real Democrat warning us about today's Democrats and Republicans.

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Reagan

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Roseanne

An American treasure. Her show would never make it to air these days.

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Fair-the-well, Shuttles. I grew up with you and watched you fly into Huntsville, AL on the back of 747s. Our government has failed with you nothing to replace you.

Atlantis has landed, ending NASA's shuttle era - Yahoo! News

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G-EffingU.S.-E

This is how it should work in the U.S.:

Campaign via social media networks blocks Dutch bankers' bonuses | Business | The Observer

This is how is actually works in the U.S.:

Senate Dems cede more ground, offer Republicans $30 billion in budget cuts

Fucking Democrats selling us up the river... again.

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We hoped we elected Kennedy. Would have settled for Clinton. We got Bush-lite.

ThinkProgress � After Paying Zero Income Taxes, GE Plans To Ask Its Union Workers To Make Wage And Benefits Concessions

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Feingold calls for GE CEO Immelt to step down as Obama jobs chief | The Raw Story:

"'But what really adds insult to injury is the prestigious and influential position Jeffrey Immelt holds as chair of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness,' the former Democratic senator wrote. 'That's wrong.'

'Someone like Immelt, who has helped his company evade taxes on its huge profits -- and is now looking to workers to take major pay cuts after his compensation was doubled -- should not lead the administration’s effort to create jobs,' he added.

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Daily Kos: America is Giving Up: Why Geithner and GE CEO MUST GO!:

"The hypocrisy and political ineptitude here is appalling. We're talking about an administration that axed Shirley Sherrod just days after trumped up reports by right-wing media smeared her as a racist. Sure, Tom Vilsack later apologized. But the incident showed that the White House is not above getting rid of someone solely based on fears that such a person would be a political liability.

Jeffrey Immelt is a HUGE liability. He is like a disillusionment and despair machine. He is a bright big bonus golden parachute package to the right wrapped up with a shiny bow. Ordinary people already know this story. It's just cementing in their minds that both parties are puppets of the super-rich."

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No, We Can't

I'm pretty sure if you put me in a room with the Prez, without me saying a word, five minutes later I'd come out with his lunch money, his bicycle, all his comic books and a sandwich made by the First Lady... possibly his shoes.... OK, definitely his shoes.

AMERICAblog News: Government shutdown, here we come!:

"For some reason we still can't fathom, the President simply joined the Hoover Economics bandwagon (as Krugman calls it), risking our economic recovery, in addition to a lot of good government services. Anyone who complained about the President's poor negotiating skills during health care reform, or during the recent cave on the Bush tax cuts, will recognize the pattern. This is why Joe, Chris and I said early on in this administration that the President's weakness on any one issue shouldn't be ignored or written off as a one-time thing. It's the way he operates, and it will affect every single deal he ever makes on every single issue you care about.

I do love how the Republicans keep saying $60bn in cuts, and the Dems keep inching towards the Republicans, while the GOP holds firm. Same old same old. It's not a negotiation, it's a conquest. Business as usual. What I fear even more than a shutdown is the President's refusal to ever not-blink during a negotiation. He'll never let it to come that - he doesn't let hostage takers kill the hostages, and will do almost anything to make it stop - and the Republicans know it."

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From one Nobel prize winner to another.

The President Is A Lousy Negotiator - NYTimes.com:

"So, can we now count on Obama, at least, not to preemptively surrender to the right by proposing Social Security cuts — cuts that we know will be a starting point, not an end to the discussion?

No, we can’t."

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Jon Stewart ‘gives up’ on GE tax shenanigans�|�Raw Replay

Nightly News stays mum on GE’s $0 tax bill - Yahoo! News:

"In spite of robust profits of $14.2 billion worldwide, GE has calculated a corporate tax bill for 2010 that adds up to zero, via a creative series of tax referrals and revenue shifts. (This was, indeed, the second year running that the company—which has an enormous, and famously nimble, 975-employee tax division, led by former Treasury official John Samuels"

Heckuva job, Obama.

G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether - NYTimes.com:

A PRESIDENT’S BUSINESS LIAISON
In January, President Obama named Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. “He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy,” Mr. Obama said."

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Asides from the lunacy that one would be poor making 174k a year, how about NOT HAVING 6 FUCKING KIDS.

And the mound of debt is your own damn fault.

GOP Rep: I'm 'Struggling' On My $174K Salary (VIDEO) | TPMDC:

"I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans."

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Just sayin...

Chinese Traffic Cameras In Heze City, Shandong Capture Gruesome Accidents (VIDEO)

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Taxes: Admission to a Civilized Society

Not all Progressives. Some realize he's home where he is.

John R. Talbott: Progressives Cry Out: "Obama, Come Home":

"Last month, Obama named Jeffrey Immelt to the President's Economic Recovery Board and then we find out it was GE that designed and built the Japanese reactors. Yesterday we hear that GE is not paying any taxes on $14 billion of profits but is instead receiving a $3.2 billion rebate. And Immelt is the man that is supposed to be investigating how to close corporate tax loopholes?"

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Japanese corporations agree to forgo tax cuts, for good of their country | The Raw Story

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States broke? Maybe they cut taxes too much | McClatchy

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Maybe somebody should do something. Little help here. Dems?

Telecoms want ‘to put Netflix out of business entirely,’ Sen. Franken tells SXSW:

"'I came here to warn you the party may be over,' Franken said. 'They're coming after the Internet hoping to destroy the very thing that makes it such an important [medium] for independent artists and entrepreneurs: its openness and freedom.'

He warned that pay-walls may soon be erected to enhance the content of wealthy interests, ensuring some voices are heard over others and removing the level playing field of today's Internet. Franken called this a new business model that telecoms like Comcast were keen on implementing, purely in the interests of making money."

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No Broke

Is one broke if one has been robbed blind?

Michael Moore: America Is Not Broke:

"America is not broke.

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.

Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer 'bailout' of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'�tat, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true."

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Not a corporation in the U.S. that pays 35% in taxes. Imagine if they did. Why, we could support 4-5 more endless occupations of other countries.

ThinkProgress � If Banks Paid Their Full Taxes, We Could Rehire All 132,000 Teachers Laid Off During The Recession — Twice

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Yes.

Is it single-payer time yet? California rate hikes!

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Get a job, hippies.

Daily Kos: True Confessions of a Good-for-Nothing Freeloader

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Candidate for most obvious headline of the year.

Police: Drinking preceded Russian roulette death

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Recall Them All

Steve has been covering the happenings Wisconsin since Valentine's day. Check out his great videos:

YouTube - YouTellEmSteveDave's Channel

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Full throated praise once the task is accomplished.

Daily Kos: It's on! Wisconsin Dems officially back recall effort against GOP Senators

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A Union win.

Federal Judge Favors NFL Union Over Owners In TV Dispute

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There's something happening here? We'll see...

Your own private Wisconsin:

"What's more, it feels like the good type of revolution, the kind where the human animal not only struggles en masse against its oppressors, but even, occasionally, wins. What a thing.

So then, the question: Can you at all relate? Do you sense what it's like to take a deep breath and hurl yourself against the great wall of dogma and oppressive overlord? Does it help that many of these revolutions are very much being televised -- or rather socially networked -- often in 140 characters or fewer, which is very civilized way indeed to narrate a revolution, especially for a violently ADHD nation like America? This just in: Brevity is the soul of disobedience. Who knew?"

Do not, by the way, pay much heed to the president's response so far. Truly, our fine Obama is nothing if not measured to a damnable fault right now, urging this or that calm, voicing this or that displeasure over this or that hunk of bloody violence, when more often than not you want him to leap up and stomp his foot and say thank God Mubarak is out and that insane monster Gadhafi is going down and how can we topple more Middle Eastern regimes, and btw what can we do to kick over the whole goddamn poker table and reset the entire game board more fairly, more ingeniously, more hopefully for a new era?

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Why this guy isn't a major cog in the O.A. is telling.

Robert Reich: How Democrats Can Become Relevant Again (And Rescue the Nation While They're At It)

Here's what Democrats should be saying:

Hike taxes on the super-rich. Reform the tax code to create more brackets at the top with higher rates for millionaires and billionaires. Absurdly, the top bracket is now set at $375,000 with a tax rate of 35 percent; the second-highest bracket, at 33 percent, starts at $172,000 for individuals. But the big money is way higher.

The source of income shouldn't matter -- salary, wages, capital gains, other unearned income -- all should be treated the same. There's no reason to reward speculators. (Don't penalize true entrepreneurs, though. If they're owners who have held their assets for at least twenty years, keep their capital gains low.)

And while you're at it, raise the ceiling on income subject to Social Security taxes. And bring back the estate tax.

Do this and we can afford to do what we need to do as a nation. Do this and you prevent Republicans from setting the working middle class against itself. Do this and you restore some balance to a distribution of income and wealth that's now dangerously out of whack.

Do this, Democrats, and you have a chance of being relevant again.

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Lost Damon, he did.

Matt Damon Calls Out President Obama, Education Policy:

"Now, he's not so enthused about Obama. When asked if he was happy with the way the President is running the country, Damon said, point blank, 'no.'

'I really think he misinterpreted his mandate. A friend of mine said to me the other day, I thought it was a great line, 'I no longer hope for audacity,'' Damon said. 'He's doubled down on a lot of things, going back to education... the idea that we're testing kids and we're tying teachers salaries to how kids are performing on tests, that kind of mechanized thinking has nothing to do with higher order. We're training them, not teaching them."

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Hahahaha. Oh, Lynn. He can't do anything but capitulate.

Lynn Woolsey: Obama must not ‘capitulate’ to GOP on shutdown (EXCLUSIVE) | The Raw Story:

"WASHINGTON – Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) is urging President Barack Obama to follow in President Bill Clinton's footsteps and stand strong against Republicans on sharp spending cuts -- even as the possibility of a government shutdown looms.

'You have to remember what a leader Bill Clinton was in 1995. It was very clear he was not going to capitulate,' Woolsey told Raw Story in an interview late Tuesday afternoon. 'President Clinton was absolute -- he said he would veto [the GOP proposals], and he did. We were with him on that, and I'm hoping to do the same with President Obama.'"

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I'll Walk the Picket Line With You

There are some mighty fine fighters in WI.

Daily Kos: Wisconsin - Awestruck, a photo diary

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Where are you, Mr. President?

Flashback from candidate Obama: ‘I’ll walk the picket line with you’�|�Raw Replay:

"During a 2007 campaign speech in Spartanburg, South Carolina, then-Senator Obama told supports he would fight for collective bargaining rights if he was elected president.

“And understand this: If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I’ll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States.”"

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Shock Doctrine, U.S.A. - NYTimes.com:

"Here’s a thought: maybe Madison, Wis., isn’t Cairo after all. Maybe it’s Baghdad — specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence."

But, also, Egypt and not in the recent good way.

Legal Schnauzer: Is the United States Becoming More and More Like Egypt?

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There are no budget problems. The problem is lack of revenue. Now where would some revenue be... hmm.....

Exclusive: Non-partisan ‘US Uncut’ group demands corporations pay taxes | The Raw Story:

"WASHINGTON – Corporate tax evasion has evolved into a virtual art form. Two-thirds of US corporations didn't pay so much as a dime in taxes between 1998 and 2005, exploiting a multitude of loopholes, according to a Congressional report."

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Good ol' Ben. Keepin' it real.

Letters of Note: Older mistresses are so grateful!!:

"From the pen of Benjamin Franklin in 1745 comes a once-scandalous letter to an unnamed recipient (very possibly fictitious but rumoured to be Cadwallader Colden) in which he begins by suggesting marriage as the best remedy for the young man's sexual urges. In the event of marriage being out of the question for his friend however, Franklin then goes on to write an eight-strong list detailing the advantages of an older mistress which, due to its 'obscene' nature, resulted in its being omitted from published collections of his writings during the 19th Century."

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Rise Up

Rise up and fight, Americans. Rise up and fight.

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Republicans wish to fundamentally alter our very existence. They detest the constitution (but for the 2nd Amendment) and they give only lip-service to the teachings of Jesus H. Christ.

Republicans and their Democratic enablers-supporters are a cancer on this country.

Wisconsin Power Play - NYTimes.com:

"For what’s happening in Wisconsin isn’t about the state budget, despite Mr. Walker’s pretense that he’s just trying to be fiscally responsible. It is, instead, about power. What Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to do is to make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy. And that’s why anyone who believes that we need some counterweight to the political power of big money should be on the demonstrators’ side."

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No fault of the Unions is any of this. None.

Ezra Klein: Unions not to blame for Wisconsin woes:

"WASHINGTON — Let’s be clear: Whatever fiscal problems Wisconsin is -- or is not -- facing at the moment, they’re not caused by labor unions. That’s also true for New Jersey, for Ohio and for the other states. There was no sharp rise in public workers’ wages in 2006 and 2007, no major reforms of the country’s labor laws, no dramatic change in how unions organize. And yet state budgets collapsed. Revenues plummeted. Taxes had to go up, and spending had to go down, all across the country.

Blame the banks. Blame global capital flows. Blame lax regulation of Wall Street. Blame home buyers, or home sellers. But don’t blame the unions. Not for this recession."

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Amazing.

ThinkProgress � Leader Of Egyptian Unions To Wisconsin Protesters: ‘We Stand With You As You Stood With Us’

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God forbid Obama, Inc. bring Reich on board. Little Timmeh is doing OI's bidding just the way they like it.

Robert Reich (Why We Should Raise Taxes on the Super-Rich and Lower Them on the Middle Class)

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The Grand Shaft. Heading towards a butt very near you.

Obama and the Republicans by Elizabeth Drew | The New York Review of Books:

"But despite all the confrontational rhetoric between the two parties about budget priorities, the White House and Republican congressional leaders, in private talks, have agreed on the need to try to reach a bipartisan “grand bargain” over the budget—a sweeping deal that could include entitlements and tax reforms as well as budget reduction. A Senate Republican leadership aide confirmed this, saying, “In fact, for anything to happen, it will require such a White House/congressional leadership bargain.” The preferred idea is that, just as they did late last year on the tax bill, they would reach an agreement and then unveil it to the public."

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Shocking.

Alabama among laziest states; CDC says most not active in free time | al.com:

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No one could have ever predicted...

Scientist finds Gulf bottom still oily, dead - Yahoo! News

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Sailing. Takes Me Away....

Very cool. This will be a site to behold and free seating around the entire bay:

San Francisco selected to host America's Cup:

"Rather than holding the races miles off shore, which was the case in Valencia and in Newport, where the Cup was held from 1930 to 1983, San Francisco Bay offers a natural amphitheater. Spectators in Financial District high rises, along Crissy Field, on Angel Island and in the Marin Headlands will be able to view the action."

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An excellent economic read for those of us who need economic info to be simplified. Extremely comprehensive.

Daily Kos: Why the rich get richer and poor get poorer

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Obama is gonna hire his next chief of staff from JPMorgan. You tell me if Obama will stand up to The Big Lie. Hard to stand up to something when you are behind pushing it.

Robert Reich: The Big Lie:

"The truth is our economic problems stem from the biggest concentration of income and wealth at the top since 1928, combined with stagnant incomes for most of the rest of us. The result: Americans no longer have the purchasing power to keep the economy going at full capacity. Since the debt bubble burst, most Americans have had to reduce their spending; they need to repay their debts, can't borrow as before, and must save for retirement.

The short-term solution is for government to counteract this shortfall by spending more, not less. The long-term solution is to spread the benefits of economic growth more widely (for example, through a more progressive income tax, a larger EITC, an exemption on the first $20K of income from payroll taxes and application of payroll taxes to incomes over $250K, stronger unions, and more and better investments in education and infrastructure.)

But instead of telling the truth, Obama has legitimized the Big Lie by freezing non-defense discretionary spending, freezing federal pay, touting his deficit commission co-chairs' recommended $3 of spending cuts for every dollar of tax increase, and agreeing to extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

Will Obama stand up to the Big Lie? Will he use his State of the Union address to rebut it and tell the truth? Maybe, but so far there's no evidence."

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"We like everything convenient". Even our orgasms.

Alabama Sex Toy Drive-Thru Business on the Rise - CBS News:

"'It's been doing well, and really well on nights when it's cold or rainy,' said employee Toni Kennedy. 'Discretion and the ease of it are big, and convenience. We're Americans. We like everything convenient.'"

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Red Planet

Al Franken's pitiful mea culpa for voting Yea mimicked GOP talking points to a T. Very disappointed in Franken,

Repeat after me. TAX CUTS ARE NOT STIMULATIVE. TAX CUTS ARE WHAT'S GOT US IN THIS GODDAMN MESS TO BEGIN WITH. THIS TAX CAVE IS THE FIRST STEP TO KILLING SOCIAL SECURITY.

Daily Kos: The End of Obama's Presidency, According to Him (Updated):

"If the last two years have taught us anything, it's this: never put your faith in a politician. The only way for citizens to find their power in our present corrupt governing system is to band together outside the corrupt party apparatus and demand change from without. When even Al Franken goes along to get along, there seems no other choice."

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I'm all about Uptown Almanac at the moment. Cool old vid from Hwy 1/Ocean Beach.

San Francisco Motorcycle Cops Trained as Daredevils | Uptown Almanac

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Awesome.

Jim Bell: 'Postcards From Mars': 15 Amazing Pictures Of The Red Planet From New Book (PHOTOS)

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Because it is broth season.

For the Love of Cooking: Homemade Chicken Broth

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What Do San Franciscans Want for Christmas?

High hilarity:

What Do San Franciscans Want for Christmas? | Uptown Almanac

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Wish I lived in a country where the leaders stuck it to the people who are financially fucking us.

AMERICAblog News: Ireland to failed bank: pay bonuses and you won't get bailed out

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As far as lobbies, go, this one if flush, and I mean FLUSH with cash.

Marijuana-legalization push gets voice on Capitol Hill | McClatchy

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Can this bloody week be over, please, so I can be on my holiday break... bitches.

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Social Un-Security

Don't kid yourself. Obama is coming after our social security.

If you aren't disgusted yet, you really aren't paying attention.

Tax Cut Deal A Hidden Threat To Social Security:

"WASHINGTON - The tax cut deal that President Obama struck with congressional Republicans contains a provision that could ultimately be the undoing of Social Security, say Senate Democrats and backers of the old-age and disability program."

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The Obama Tax Deal: Giving the Hostage Takers More Hostages | TPMCafe:

"However, after further thought and conversations with people around Washington (first and foremost, Nancy Altman, the co-director of Social Security Works), I have become convinced that this deal would be a disaster. Paul Krugman does a nice job laying out the limited benefits of the stimulus, but my greater concern is what happens to Social Security in this story. Effectively, this deal would give us a permanent two-percentage point reduction in the payroll tax in a Washington climate very hostile to Social Security."

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Daily Kos: The payroll tax holiday won't be temporary:

"But as I wrote yesterday, there's a problem: the payroll tax holiday won't be temporary. Sure, it's supposed to be for just one year, but if you think Republicans are going to miss an opportunity to demand permanent extension of a tax cut -- especially one that covers the cost of Social Security -- then you haven't been living in the same country as the rest of us. In fact, I can already hear Republicans saying that it must be extended, because now is not the time to raise taxes on the American public. And I can hear them now, laughing privately about the fiscal crisis that such an extension will cause for Social Security."

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Remember when Obama was a Democrat:

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Garden of Eden

In news of 'no-fucking-shit':

Warren Buffett: I 'Should Be Paying A Lot More In Taxes'

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It is quite shocking how often he repeats right-wing lies.

FDR, Reagan, and Obama - NYTimes.com:

"But Obama buys the right-wing smear.

More and more, it’s becoming clear that progressives who had their hearts set on Obama were engaged in a huge act of self-delusion. Once you got past the soaring rhetoric you noticed, if you actually paid attention to what he said, that he largely accepted the conservative storyline, a view of the world, including a mythological history, that bears little resemblance to the facts.

And confronted with a situation utterly at odds with that storyline … he stayed with the myth."

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When Dems do good. Not sure how to react since 'Dems Doing Good' and 'Tigers in the Wild' are similar in their rarity.

Oregon Senator Wyden effectively kills Internet censorship bill | Raw Story:

"It's too early to say for sure, but Oregon Senator Ron Wyden could very well go down in the history books as the man who saved the Internet."

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Hemingway's book Garden of Eden is one of the top five most influential books of my life. Yes, this opens up a can of psychological worms, but the fact remains. This book is a huge one for me. I've read it a gazillion times.

Wine wrapped in newspaper....

I had no idea it was being turned into a film. Not sure how I feel about that, but it looks promising if they didn't gin up the story too much.

And Caterina Murino... good lord.

Hemingway's Garden of Eden - Movie Trailers - iTunes

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