Category Archives: Throw Da Bums Out

Independence Day

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“Too often in recent history liberal governments have been wrecked on rocks of loose fiscal policy.”

Here’s a revolutionary idea.

Independence Day commemorates our declaration of independence from the King of England. The revolution officially began two days earlier when the Second Continental Congress approved the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain, a resolution proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia in June. After voting for independence on July 2, Congress debated and revised the Declaration itself for two whole days and approved it on July 4.

In the centuries since, only the 111th Congress has moved with anywhere near the speed of that first gathering, since the 111th Congress passed trillions of dollars of spending on millions of pages of bills in less than 100 days. And no one in Washington read any of them.

The Declaration of Independence fits on one page. Everyone in the Continental Congress read the whole thing.

In Peoria just one hundred fifty-seven years ago Rep. Abraham Lincoln said,

Nearly eighty years ago we began by declaring that all men are created equal; but now from that beginning July 4, 1776we have run down to the other declaration, that for some men to enslave others is a “sacred right of self-government.” … Our republican robe is soiled and trailed in the dust. Let us repurify it. … Let us re-adopt the Declaration of Independence, and with it, the practices, and policy, which harmonize with it.

Lincoln spoke of the enslavement of persons. Today our republican robe is soiled and trailed in the dust by a government that would enslave We the Overtaxed People, taking more and more of our rights and our land and our life’s blood to its own purpose.

Just to rekindle our liberal friends, Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the “loose fiscal policy” quote.

The second session of the 114th Congress is back to its usual wiener roasts (they have “worked” 81 days this year and are off for the months of July and August) and Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus is indeed still fiddling in Washington.

Two hundred thirty-five years ago today, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum and an artillery salute for the soldiers who fought off the foreign monarchy that did enslave us. It is now time to mark July 4 with a double ration of electoral salute to those who would be the modern monarchy of government.

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Let us re-adopt the Declaration of Independence, and with it, the practices, and policy, which harmonize with it. Can you do that? Take the test if you dare.


Much of our litigious life today grew out of English Common Law. We abandoned one really good idea in the first Revolution, though. We abandoned the No Confidence vote.

An earlier version of this column appeared in 2011.

 

Hypocrisy, Writ in Yellow in the Snow

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Companies are pulling out of North Carolina for that new segregation law, HB2. Social media is atwitter with peeps calling out those companies for not pulling out of countries with human rights violations.

An 'All Genders' bathroom in Kentucky

Pot. Kettle.

If you want to stop doing business with those countries, folks, go right ahead. Don’t buy from Walmart. Or Target. Or the Dollar Store. Or Peebles or Nordstrum or Costco. Don’t buy a new television or a new sound system or an Apple iPhone. Don’t buy a lithium battery. Every store on the list buys from countries with human rights violations. Every one. All your electronics gear has components from countries with human rights violations. Every one. Don’t buy a new car. Every new car has castings made in China. Every one.

North Carolina’s HB2, passed in minutes by the General Assembly and signed that same night by Gov. Pat McCrory, nullifies local ordinances around the state. The new “Public Facilities Segregation Act” makes it illegal for cities to pass ordinances that regulate discrimination and more.

“…this Article and other applicable provisions of the General Statutes supersede and preempt any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or policy adopted or imposed by a unit of local government or other political subdivision of the State…”

North Carolina’s new law sets a statewide definition of the classes of people who are protected against discrimination: race, religion, color, national origin, age, handicap or biological sex. Sexual orientation is not protected under state law despite recent the legalization of same-sex marriage.

All Conservatives and Libertarians should boycott North Carolina, too. After all, HB2 is, more than anything else, another law in the Conservative arsenal to wrest local control away from the local voters.

The photo is from a building in Kentucky.

 

Taxed. Again and Again and Again

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We the Overtaxed People dread most April fifteenths but that terrible day has been delayed to April 18 or even April 19 this year.

Form 1040Emancipation Day, a little-known holiday beyond the Beltway, is the primary reason the tax deadline changed this year. Slavery was formally abolished in the United States December 6, 1865, when the 13th Amendment was ratified, but it occurred much earlier in the District of Columbia: President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862, freeing the thousands of slaves who lived in the district. Now a legal holiday in Washington, government offices and other public services do not operate on Emancipation Day, usually celebrated April 16. Emancipation Day falls back to April 15 or ahead to April 17 when it falls on a weekend because we couldn’t deprive civil servants in that city of a holiday.

In other tax news, Schedule HI-144, Vermont’s “Household Income Schedule” has a couple of unique features. By “unique” I mean “criminal.”

Here’s the first.

Definition:
Household Income means modified adjusted gross income, but not less than zero (0), received in a calendar year by:
all persons of a household while members of that household;
AND
the spouse of the claimant who is not a member of that household no matter where that spouse lives and who is not legally separated from the claimant, unless the spouse is at least 62 years of age and has moved to a nursing home or other care facility with no reasonable prospect of returning to the homestead.

So. Imagine that you live in North Puffin in the People’s Republic of Vermont but your spouse lives in Florida or South Dakota or Pago Pago, the territorial capital of American Samoa. You go to work, come home, feed your rabbit, put your feet up, watch TV. Tomorrow, lather, rinse, repeat. Meanwhile, your spouse works extraordinarily hard in that other place. He or she walks down to the beach, sniffs the fine odor of fish, and counts the boats in the harbor, until it is time to go home, feed his or her koi, put the old feet up, and watch TV. Tomorrow, lather, rinse, repeat.

That spouse never, ever comes to Vermont and has no Vermont income. Vermont grabs on to the Household Income of the spouse of the claimant who is not a member of that household no matter where that spouse lives.

It gets better.

Line e Interest and dividends
Enter the income required to be reported on Lines 8a and 9a of Federal returns 1040 or 1040A; or on Line 2 of Federal return 1040EZ plus the nontaxable interest not required to be reported on Federal return 1040EZ.
Line t
Add columns 1, 2, and 3 and enter sum. Entry cannot be less than zero (0).
Line u
For claimants under the age of 65 as of Dec. 31, 2015, enter the total of interest and dividends for all household members reported on Lines e and f in each column.
Line v
Add the three columns on Line u.
Line w
For purposes of calculating the property tax adjustment or renter rebate, household income is increased by the household total of interest and dividend income greater than $10,000.
Line x
Subtract Line w from Line v. If Line w is more than Line v, enter zero (0).
Line y Household Income.
Add Line t and Line x.

Didya notice?

Line e: enter the interest and dividend income required to be reported on your Federal return even if it’s nontaxable. Line u: enter the interest and dividends reported on Lines e and f. Now add it all up.

Didya notice? Vermont makes you add in your interest and dividend income twice.

Wet Lubes Wet Uranus SiliconeWhat have we learned today?

If the People’s Republic of Vermont knows your name, they will tax you even if you live off planet. If you have a homestead in the People’s Republic of Vermont, they will tax twice for interest and dividends.

And there is no deduction under tax preparation expenses for Wet Lubes Wet Uranus Silicone.

Now does anyone wonder why I support (a) the flat income tax and (b) elimination of all other tax methods including corporate taxes? People have the right to be taxed fairly, the right to know how much is coming out of their pockets, and the right not to be taxed two or three times on the same income.

 

He Had a Wide Stance

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Bruce Springsteen canceled his North Carolina show to protest the bathroom law.

Mr. Springsteen and the E Street Band were booked in the Greensboro Coliseum yesterday. 15,000 ticket holders will all be eligible for a refund.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) signed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, HB2, last month after the North Carolina General Assembly called a special session to push the law through after the Charlotte City Council passed a non-discrimination ordinance.

“[The abominable Charlotte act] allows grown men to share bathrooms and locker facilities with girls and women,” one North Carolina Repuglican said.

Be very afraid!

The newly enacted law requires individuals to use bathrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate.

“To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress,” Mr. Springsteen said in a statement.

Update:
PayPal pulled 400 jobs from North Carolina. Braeburn Pharma is pulling out. The NBA All Star game probably won’t happen in NC. Some 100 national companies have decried the law.

“F**k Springsteen,” my friend Dino Russell said. “Wanna see what sex you identify with? Look in your underwear.”

Dino is a world traveler so I’m pretty sure he has peed and pooped in Europe. I didn’t know he much cared then if the next guy was male, female, both, or anything in between.

“I don’t give a crap for me,” he said. “My daughters and granddaughters presumably do and I do give a crap if the next guy over is, well, a guy with his cellphone on the floor looking up her snatch. Or whatever. Bad enough they have to deal with the weirdos of their own sex.”

Pfui. It’s Victorian. We need to get over the legal idea that there’s something secret or dirty about our bodies.

“You are being stupid,” he said. “This is an issue of increased potential for rape. Pull your head out of your ass.”

In case you missed it, please notice a number of bathroom references here.

I’m being stupid about yet another salvo in Conservative attempts to wrest local control away from the local voters.

Liz Arden gives us a few points that Dino and the other ostriches would do well to understand.

a) Just because someone thinks they’re female or homosexual or asexual or nonsexual does not mean they are pervs who will violate your person or your privacy.

b) There are pervs who will violate your daughters’ and granddaughters’ privacy and threaten their sense of safety and well-being. Period. They could be sitting next to you in church.

c) North Carolina and the other states don’t care a whit about pervs with cellphones in bathrooms. They care about competition in the bathrooms. Oh, yeah. And they care about catering to the emotional idiocy of people and the Sharia belief that they can impose their religious interpretation on everyone within 10 feet of them. Or within 3,000 miles.

How many rapes happen in the famed Parisian unisex public toilets?

How many by transgender folk or even cross dressers?

Weirdos are weirdos. A person who genuinely feels they are female despite having XY chromosomes and penises, well, that weirdness does not in the slightest threaten Dino, his wife, his daughters, his granddaughters, nor any other human being on the planet.

Unless they are carrying an axe like, say, Carrie Nation. Or the lawmakers who passed HB2 or HB 1523. Then be very afraid.

Dino’s daughters and granddaughters would do well to understand that. Dino would do well to understand that. There are already laws banning pervs from being in the bathroom looking up the little girls’ snatches. Or raping them.

Update:
Bryan Adams has canceled his show at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum this Thursday, because that state’s new “Religious Liberty” Act, HB 1523, discriminates against gay couples or members of the LGBT community.

We gotta get over the legal idea that there’s something secret or dirty about our bodies.

It’s tough, though.

He merely had a “wide stance.”

A (now-former) Republican senator pled guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge after his arrest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Former Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) had been caught flat-footed by a police detective investigating lewd behavior in an airport men’s room. His 28 ultra conservative years in Congress, years spent fighting gay rights at every turn, put him in second place in Idaho history, behind only Sen. William Borah (R-ID).

Former Sen. Craig barred extension of rights to same-sex couples. He voted “yes” on an Idaho constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. He voted against extending the federal definition of hate crimes to cover sexual orientation. And so on.

Who’s making odds on how Former Sen. Craig would have voted on HB2 or HB 1523?

For the record, I’m OK with Balian Buschbaum (formerly Yvonne Buschbaum) or Erik Schinegger (formerly Erika Schinegger), Jaiyah Saelua (formerly Johnny Saelua), Mianne Bagger (formerly Michael Bagger), or Caster Semenya (formerly Caster Semenya) sharing the restroom with me or with my great-granddaughters. Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce), though, I’m not so sure of.

“Buncha pansies who think it strikes too close to home,” Miz Arden said.

And there you have it.

 

The Campaign of 4-Year-Olds

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Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus says Trump supporters should “leave it to the professionals” when it comes to quelling interruptions.

Mr. Priebus also says the GOP could have a different candidate at the national convention in Cleveland this July.

A brokered, or contested, convention occurs when no single candidate has secured enough delegate votes to secure the nomination on the first ballot. Sadly a brokered convention can also occur when the party elite change the rules so the popular vote doesn’t matter.

The winning Demorat needs to have at least 2,383 delegates in the primaries and caucuses; the winning Repug has to get at least 1,237 of the 2,472 delegates. Hillary Clinton currently leads the Democratic pack with 774 pledged delegates to date, far surpassing Bernie Sanders’ count of 946. That means she’s currently well on her way to the nomination.

Say what?

Yeah, the guys on the other side of the aisle already cooked the books; they have “superdelegates” to swing the nomination wherever they want. Ms. Clinton has 469 cheaters, so she really is well on her way to the nomination unless the Sanderistas can take over that convention.

Mr. Priebus says the GOP could have a different candidate at the convention in July, too. Repugs are looking for ways to cook the books, too.

Donald Trump leads the Repuglican pack with 739 pledged delegates to date, far surpassing Ted Cruz’ count of 465, which means Mr. Trump is well on his way to the nomination, too.

Mr. Priebus is counting on the GOP having a different candidate at the convention in July.

Dear Reince Priebus:
I’ve been a Republican Town Chair. I’ve run for and held elective office. I’ve put governors and congressmen and bank presidents together to register new voters. Now I’m just a crotchety op-ed writer with a message.
You say, “We have rules.” We hear you say, “We are weasels.”
You’re going to have a populist candidate with pretty close to the 1,237 delegates required for nomination. If you go ahead with this plan to steal the nomination, just to give it to another party hack, you will have stolen the party that freed Americans from slavery and made it the party that enslaves Americans.

Remember the “stiletto” job the “mysterious cabal” attempted in 1964? When Nelson Rockefeller appeared at the convention, AuH2O voters shouted down Mr. Rockefeller and beat back your backroom deal makers.

And they were still so mad at the party that LBJ slaughtered Mr. Goldwater that November.

Here’s what is likely to happen. You give the nomination to another party hack. Demorats do the same at their convention:

  • It won’t matter whether you pick UNTrusTed Cruz or Mitt Romney or Bruce Wayne.
  • Repuglican voters will stay away from the polls.
  • Ms. Clinton will win the White House.
  • Democrats will win 7 of the 11 gubernatorial races, a dozen of the so-called “safe” Senate seats, and more than half the 18 retiring Repug House seats.
  • We’ll get a business friendly Supreme Court Justice.
  • Business pretty much as usual.

The bills getting passed will change but the real business of politics will just keep on keeping on. The trillion-dollar deficits will continue to fund your cronies. Congress will continue to do everything for themselves and nothing for us. You’ll grumble in the press and be secretly pleased that you survived.

That’s the best you can hope for.

Now imagine what happens if give the nomination to another party hack and the Demorats actually let Mr. Sanders win their Convention!

  • It still won’t matter whether you pick UNTrusTed Cruz or Mitt Romney or Bruce Wayne.
  • Repuglican voters still stay away from the polls. (New) young Demorats will turn out by the million.
  • Mr. Sanders will win the White House.
  • Democrats will win 9 of the 11 gubernatorial races, a dozen of the so-called “safe” Senate seats, and at least the 18 retiring Repug House seats.
  • We’ll get Stephen Reinhardt or Goodwin Liu or Vermont’s John Dooley as a Supreme Court Justice.
  • And a Sanders administration will start prosecuting all the bankers and businessmen he rails against.

Voter Considering Ballot BoxThat’s the second best you can hope for but you still haven’t thought about all those voters who stayed home.

This isn’t 1964 but this could well be your Viet Nam.

See, social media will keep that core of disenchanted voters alive. Sooner or later, we will elect a populist candidate. And we will throw out all your party hacks.

Here’s your real nightmare:

  • Repuglican voters will come back to the polls.
  • A businessman (and loose cannon) will win the White House.
  • In three election cycles, every sitting bum^H^H, ahem, politician will be replaced.
  • And then a populist administration will prosecute EM>you.

The Arab Spring can become the American Fall. You whining 4-year-olds won’ get a time out, though. That means actual jail time.

The country survived Viet Nam. The politicians didn’t.

We get a great choice this year. A loose cannon businessman v. a liar-turned-party-hack and a liar-and-party-hack v. a loose cannon socialist. I can hardly wait.