Froth Slosh B'Gosh

And There You Have It=

Its necessary to comfort the comfortable by cutting their tax obligations, and as a result, add over a trillion dollars to the deficit, hence, we can no longer afford to comfort the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable.  

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday that congressional Republicans will aim next year to reduce spending on both federal health care and anti-poverty programs, citing the need to reduce America's deficit.
“We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,”

Which of course, was the plan all along.

Buyer's Remorse

You thought that Trump and the Republicans actually cared about you. You were wrong. I'm very, very sorry and saddened that you're getting shafted by the politicians you trusted, but we tried to warn you, and you didn't listen.

 

As Always, IOKIYAR

I'm old enough to remember when this was grounds for automatic rejection.

Treasury secretary nominee Steven T. Mnuchin defended his ties to offshore business entities and his management of a controversial California bank during a testy confirmation hearing on Thursday.

Speaking before the Senate Finance committee, Mnuchin said businesses in the Cayman Islands and Anguilla revealed in his financial disclosures were not used for his personal benefit but served nonprofits and pensions. A memo compiled by Democratic committee staffers obtained by The Washington Post showed Mnuchin initially omitted some of those entities -- as well as more than $100 million in personal assets -- from his nomination paperwork.

IIRC, presidential appointments were routinely rejected for things as mundane as employing an undocumented immigrant.  Forgetting to declare hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, ties to overseas tax havens, and shady banking practices?  Eh, what can you do?

 

Better Columnists Please

Much twaddle on the editorial pages of the P-G today.  First George F. Will is upset that more people don't vote the George F. Will thinks they should vote, and he would rather they just don't vote if they wont vote the way George F. Will votes.

Ruth Ann Dailey then complains about the new centralized parking kiosks, even though parking revenue is up, and parking tickets are down, because she has to sometimes stand in line to pay for parking, and can't remember her license plate numbers.  She'd like the old coin meters back, oh, and stay off her lawn you lousy kids!

PA GOP Boss Admits Voter ID Suppressed Democratic Turnout

Perspective

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon terror attack, its worth remembering that it could have been worse, a lot worse.  Four are dead, and nothing will bring those people back.  I cannot imagine the pain their families are going through.  Close to 200 people were injured, many seriously, and they face a long road to recovery.

But the people who are responsible have been brought to heel.  One is dead, the other in custody.  By taking Dzhokhar Tsarnaev alive, we can learn much about the brothers' motivations, mindset, and most importantly, if there are any other conspirators on the loose.  Those responsible either have been, or will be punished. Plans will be made and in all likelihood laws passed and regulations promulgated to make sure this never happens again.

In West, Texas, a fertilizer plant situated in the middle of town exploded. Fourteen people were killed.  Around 200 people were injured.  Buildings were destroyed.  And after a few questions about why this happened, nothing will be done, because regulations that could prevent such accidents, or zoning laws that would keep dangerous industrial operations away from residential area are too "economically burdensome."  While the company will likely face fines and lawsuits, no one who made the decisions that contributed to the accident will be held responsible and punished for their actions.

When comes to keeping you safe from industrial accidents that have the same, or greater potential of causing death or injury, just remember that a dollar earned trumps your right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Rigging The 2016 Election

After using underhanded tactics to alter senate bounderies to favor themselves, Virginia is now considering doing away with its winner take all electoral vote allocation for one which, if it had been in place for the 2012 election, would have awarded Romney nine of Virginia's 13 EV's, and President Obama only four, despite Obama carrying the state.  The "reasoning" given behind the move is breathtakingly dishonest. 

Sen. Charles W. “Bill” Carrico, R-Grayson, said the change is necessary because Virginia’s populous, urbanized areas such as the Washington, D.C., suburbs and Hampton Roads can outvote rural regions such as his, rendering their will irrelevant.

So much for one person, one vote, eh? Obama won Virginia by three percentage points, but under this scheme, the will of the majority of the state's voters will be rendered irrelevant.   As I asked before, if "proportional" EV allocation is such a good idea, why aren't deep red states like Texas considering it?

Poor Little Rich Boy

Phil Mickelson whines about his taxes.  Doesn't understand how progressive taxation works, or the difference between marginal tax rates and effective tax rates.  Golfers don't have to be smart, but there's some world class stupid going on in his head.

Mickelson had suggested "drastic changes" were in store for him -- perhaps moving from his native California -- because of changes in federal and state taxes that he says tap into more than 60 percent of his income. He said it "absolutely" was a factor in deciding against becoming part of the San Diego Padres' new ownership group.

The four-time major champion didn't back away from his outlook, only his decision to talk about it...

"If you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate is 62, 63 percent," Mickelson had said. "So I've got to make some decisions on what I'm going to do."

First of all, Mickelson would only pay more than 60% in taxes if the higher rates applied to his total income.  They don't.  He only pays the higher federal rate on income over $400,000.  His income up to that point is taxed at the lower rates.  Likewise, his California taxes only increase an additional 3.3% on his income over 1 million dollars.  He pays the lower rate on everything under that amount. To be sure, the bulk of his income has the higher rate applied, but that's the marginal, not the effective rate. As for social security taxes, he only pays that on his first $113,700 in income.  Everything over that amount isn't taxed at all.  His belief that he'll pay 62 or 63 percent of his income in taxes is simply wrong. Without knowing what he's able to claim in deductions, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that his total tax bite is closer to 45%, if not lower.  I don't understand why so few in the SCLM ever explains the rather simple concept of progressive taxation whenever a story likes this crops up.  To his credit,  Len Burman has a piece up in Forbes telling Mickelson to put on his big boy pants. 

...suppose Mickelson’s upper estimate on his tax bill–63%–were right. Is he saying that a $10 million endorsement deal wouldn’t be worth doing if he only got to keep $3.7 million after tax? Really? Mr. Mickelson, do you understand that the typical American would have to work about 75 years to earn that much money before tax?

Sir, you get paid astonishing amounts of money for playing golf–directly through the purses you win at tournaments and indirectly through all the endorsement deals that come with golf success.  According to Forbes, you are the seventh highest paid athlete in the world, with $4.8 million in salary and winnings and $43 million in endorsements?

Do you have any idea how lucky you are?

Please stop whining and give thanks for being able to earn a fabulous living playing a game and selling golf clubs (even after tax).  99.999% of people would never have that option, no matter how hard they worked on their swing.

Mickelson made 48 million dollars last year according to Forbes.  Even if he DID have to pay 60% of his income in taxes (and he doesn't) he'd still be left with $28.8 million dollars  to roll around in, Scrooge MacDuck style. We should all have his "problems." 

Pat Toomey...Deadbeat

So, Toomey thinks defaulting on the debt is a good idea, because we "need to get off the road to Greece?"  Does Looney Toomey understand that by defaulting on the debt we will go the way of Greece, full throttle??

Let me 'splain it to you simply Pat.  Lets say you buy a hottub on credit. You install it, and enjoy it.  Then when the bill comes, you just toss it in the trash, because well, just because.  What do you think would happen to your personal credit rating?  Its the same sort of thing with the debt "ceiling."  Congress has already approved the spending, and in many cases spent the money.  Now we (as in We The People) have to pay for the spending we (via are lawfully elected representatives in congress) approved. 

Of course, Toomey has no real stake in this.  He's a wealthy man, and is far, far more interested in reducing his taxes than he is in governing.