Just some filler while I organize thoughts on some weighty issues: quotes from an article in this month's Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi.
Seemingly every third person in the place is sucking oxygen from a tank or propping their giant atrophied glutes on motorized wheelchair-scooters. As Palin launches into her Ronald Reagan impression — "Government's not the solution! Government's the problem!" — the person sitting next to me leans over and explains.
"The scooters are because of Medicare," he whispers helpfully. "They have these commercials down here: 'You won't even have to pay for your scooter! Medicare will pay!' Practically everyone in Kentucky has one." (Rolling Stone, Matt Tabbai)
Ha!
So how does a group of billionaire businessmen and corporations get a bunch of broke Middle American white people to lobby for lower taxes for the rich and deregulation of Wall Street? That turns out to be easy ... A loose definition of the Tea Party might be millions of pissed-off white people sent chasing after Mexicans on Medicaid by the handful of banks and investment firms who advertise on Fox and CNBC. (ibid)
Ha!
They are all furious at the implication that race is a factor in their political views — despite the fact that they blame the financial crisis on poor black homeowners, spend months on end engrossed by reports about how the New Black Panthers want to kill "cracker babies," support politicians who think the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an overreach of government power, tried to enact South African-style immigration laws in Arizona and obsess over Charlie Rangel, ACORN and Barack Obama's birth certificate. (ibid)
Ha!
"But when I'm crisscrossing Pennsylvania, Glenn, voters I run into haven't lost their heads at all. They understand what's going on. They get it. They are totally engaged and energized. Certainly you see it in the tea party movement but it's beyond that as well. So I'm confident that the American people are not going to sit by and tolerate what's been happening." (Pat Toomey, Glenn Beck program)
Ha ... um ...
Tom Corbett, as governor, will authorize challenges to the legality of many of the Health Care Reform provisions. http://www.tomcorbettforgovernor.com/issues He supports lowering taxes on job creating industries, such as coal and natural gas. These tax cuts are crucial in promoting job growth. Please allow intelligence to rule over anger at the polls in November, Tea Partiers, A Corbett win over Onorato IS a win for the Tea Party. (Pittsburgh Tea Party Examiner)
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.
Man, the comments on that article were a trip. In an effort to avoid actual work this weekend I read most of them. Fun stuff...
ReplyDeleteThe Allegheny Institute post is laughable at best. No wonder they don't allow comments.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that Lamb's plan amounts to taking out more debt to barely make 50% in the pension this year, and does not in fact fully pay for that debt increase through increased parking revenues.
ReplyDeleteAs I have noted before, Lamb's plan is only commendable if you think it is really, really important for politicians to stay in control of the parking assets, and you are willing to advocate that the City sacrifice a lot of short-term and long-term financial interests in order for the politicians to maintain that control.