Holy Buck, Fatman!

From the WSJ (subscription needed)

Governments should set policies and disburse funds to create financial incentives for businesses to improve the lives of the poor, he plans to say today.

I can’t believe it. The poster boy for Capitalism is now realizing that there is a major gap between the haves and the have nots. Red Rover Red Rover Send Billy Right over! *hands Bill Socialist Kool Aid* DRINK UP, BABY!

While it is wayyy awesome that he delivered a speech littered with shades of Socialism to a bunch of capitalist Blowhards in Switzerland yesterday, his focus is largely on developing countries. Some might call this “emerging markets”. If he wants to do it, I believe he will. Hopefully, he stays true to trying a “kinder form of capitalism”

By the way, Bill, that’s called socialism. It does work. Just go to several countries in South America.

I’m not an economist by any means; I just play one on the internet with my simplified understanding of how things should work. I have read a ton of books, had some interesting discussions and studied the historical implications of other policies that were executed in the past. I often yield to more experienced blogs when it comes to more complicated opinions. My opinions come from the experiences of the common lay person. I suppose that makes me what they call an “armchair Economist” In light of what has recently been happening, here is my take.
The stupidest possible thing the government can do is put together a stimulus package. This has been hammered home in tons of economic blogs, but no one is really listening. Take for instance this quote from the Daily Reckoning: ( a Baltimore Based News letter about global economics. These guys are NOT your typical talking heads you see on 24 hr Business news channels. These guys called the Big Shit pile some years ago and they were spot on.

“I just don’t get it! What would make these people think that? We’ve never been in a debt situation, government or public, like we are today, so I’m wondering how they think a stimulus package that puts money into people’s hands that go out and spend it and it’s gone, whoosh, vanished into thin air, is going to be the magic elixir for the economy”

Lets hear it for B-more. We’re a little unconventional in thought on many issues, but damn—someone needs to listen.

The village idiot we have in the white house has sent out three tax rebates in the past. The first rebate I remember I did not get a check. The second rebate I received a $400 check. This time, I think the government needs the fucking money more then I do. Wtf am I expected to do with this money? Oh yeah—That’s right—I am expected to go out and put a down payment on a flat screen television. Or a Blueray DVD player or buy me some new clothes. Fuck THAT!

One of my guilty pleasures on Teeveee is “Clean House” on the Style network. There are other shows similar to it, but I like Nicey, so…Clean house it is. Mister Fatman groans every single time I put it on, but I’m just fascinated by it. There are major reasons I watch the show. First, It is terribly apparent that shopping/consuming and hording things are the quick fixes for every problem from depression to issues people refuse to face. Stuff is the comfort that makes someone feel good about themselves. It makes them feel wealthy. It brings satisfaction that they got it on “sale”. Stuff defines them as a person and sometimes consumption can get out of control. The other reason I watch the show is—well….YOu should see my effin office. It’s a shithole of stuff that I need to get rid of!!!! After watching several episodes of the show I have come to realize I realllllly don’t need that much shit and my money is better saved then spent. When it’s time for a purchase, it better be functional. It’s taken me a long time to realize that the shit I have, I’m not using. I need to get rid of it or put it to use. I can’t wait to organize my own purge. Lastly–I saw the end results of a friends recent purge and Damn…I’m jealous. Downsizing is good.

WE’ve been told from the very beginning of the bush administration that we need to spend spend spend. From the moment those first tax rebate checks came in to today. Shopping is what holds us afloat. what if everyone decided to take their rebate checks and save it? what if we all decided to open an add on CD at our local bank or Credit union and started to add on to the damn thing? It would benefit the banks and would start a trend of saving like our Asian friends across the pacific pond.
Hell no. No saving in “murka. I just heard on the news today that China is a bit worried about the ‘murkin consumer’s inability to shop. They’re worried about their jobs.

Guess what, china? So are we.

Good LORD—No pun intended but Huckabee is one crazy wingnut. Crazy to point that it’s starting to scare the living shit out of me.

This crazy mofo was actually advocating revising the constitution to reflect “God’s Standards”. Uh…Here–Read for yourself:

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,” Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. “But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”

Allllrighty then.

I’m sure my fine readers have figured out that while I don’t profess to any faith, I do not stop anyone from worshipping. I believe that is what the first settlers were escaping when they came over to settle here in the first place. Correct me if I’m wrong, but would Fuckabee be negating the last 450 of US history? Oh, That’s right—Christians like him try to revise American History to fit their dominionist viewpoints.

Fundies like him give my Christian friends a very bad name. Not one of my christian friends have ever tried to forcefully convert me or even tell me I am going to hell because I don’t believe. In fact, we engage in healthy debate about all kinds of ideas from all sorts of faiths.  It’s what I believe America is all about–a healthy exchange of ideas, faiths and experiences that translates into the human experience.

What WOULD happen if Fuckabee got his way? Would I be mandated to join a church? Would Tithing be taken out of paycheck and forwarded to my mandated place of worship? It seems a bit outlandish, but rhetoric like his quote above leads me to believe that he would like to make changes that would essentially demonize people like myself and shame us into joining the mainstream of fundie thought in order to avoid persecution. While drastic changes won’t occur right away, the national discourse will start to sound like this:

It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

That was Mitt Romney’s attempt at pandering to the Fundies who kinda find his religion..”Cultish”. In order to even try and bridge that gap, he needed to figure out who they could agree the bad guy was. Those Damn Secularist!  You know, the ones who chose NOT to worship anyone? Yep—that would be me.

I’m pretty sure I live a decent lifestyle. I’m married, raise a child who choses to follow a faith, I follow the law, help my fellow neighbor in need and don’t bother to stop anyone from worshiping whomever they want. Why am I a bad person? why do these fuckwads insist that my choices in life are “wrong”? Why do they wish to force their belief system on me when I am not bothering anyone? HUH?

The constitution doesn’t mean that I have the right to stop anyone from worshiping who they want. It also doesn’t mean that I should be forced to worship something I don’t believe in, either.  Freedom of religion—that means I am free to chose no religion at all. Fuckabee can take his God’s standards bullshit and shove it up his preacher ass.

I’m stuck in a rut and I want to write but I can’t seem to agree on what to write about.

Right now, the political arena is heating up. The Blue side of the Blogosphere can’t seem to agree on who to throw their support behind and the Red Side seems to agree that they all hate Hillary. I think the red side of this plate has all gone batshit insane and decided that Huckabee the Great will lead them to the rapture. Seriously, folks. If the Rapture were to occur, I think the world would be a better place.

With the Presidential race comes the muck raking. Pundits are currently analyzing every single word that spills from Hillary’s mouth and all they seem to come up with is the fact that she is a women. You don’t say! It’s as if these pundit boneheads are  just now figuring this out and they can’t seem to understand how a Woman could possibly lead the country. I mean…she cried! The fact that she has a chance really ruffles their feathers. On the other hand, they have a Black Man who could win. Oh! GASP! a BLACK MAN! while I was trolling for fodder on RedState, I came across a comment that basically stated the commenter was not ready for a woman or a black president and can’t figure out why not. At least the commenter was honest about his or her prejudice instead of hiding it behind racist code words like our agent of satan, Karl Rove. In the highlighted WSJ article, Satan’s right hand man uses the words, “Trash Talking” and “Lazy” to describe Obama.  It has long been known that political speech has been ridden with coded words to appeal to a group of people either blatantly or subconsciously. David Kuo explained in his book “Tempting Faith“  that he often used many coded words and phrases directed at the evangelical community in many speeches delivered by the village idiot we have in office. A few nights ago, Mister Fatman said that he was excited to be a part of the generation that will potentially elect a black man to be President. Not just A Black man, but someone who has demonstrated that he is worthy of the job by his past record. The Bullshit that some say about his “lack of experience” can eat shit. We have a man who has failed at every business venture he’s ever been involved in, currently running our country. No wonder we’re running both a huge trade deficit and budget deficit. Bush can’t Lay off the American people to cut costs. Obama actually succeeded in his community outreach days, while attending Harvard Law and when he was a part of the Illinois State Legislature. If you count the man people Bush fried while Gubbner of Texas, well…Okay. I guess that can be measured as a success. Depends on who you talk to.

In the huh? department—Snow Fell in Baghdad.  Since President CooCoo Bananas and his Sith  Lord Darth Cheney said that they wouldn’t leave until Hell Froze over–I suppose that means they have to leave Iraq now.

Riiight.

Okay. Rut cured.

 WhooooBOY!

A plot by dozens of foreign terrorists who purportedly planned to attack Fort Huachuca with rocket propelled grenades and mines has proved unfounded, an FBI spokesman said Monday.

The threat, detailed by a local television station and The Washington Times after information was recently leaked to them, involved Iraqi and Afghan terrorists working with a Mexican drug cartel to smuggle themselves and weapons across the U.S. border.

The plot contains all the makings of a true Wingnut horror movie! Terrorists! Iraqis! Afgans! Drug Cartels! Mexicans! and the cherry on top: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CROSSING THE BORDER!

I’m surprised this plot did not include the nefarious plot to impregnate all good Christian girls across the US of A while making their fathers gay with the gay bomb!!!

Man, this shit cracks me the hell up!

h/t Atrios 

My libertarian debate buddy, Psychophil chimed in on the SCHIP debate which is still raging here in DC. (well, for all intents and purposes, I am in DC as I type this, soooo Blah.)

Phil’s argument is a poorly formed argument against SCHIP. They live in California where the Governator has propsed UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!!! *GASP*

However, for the sake of the argument, lets say that this fool profiled on “SAVE ME FROM MYSELF, SAINT OPRAH!” lived in Maryland. The idiot profiled on the Oprah website is just that, and idiot. She(and her husband) were called idiots by guests, friends, etc etc. . not once in the article did she state that she wanted to apply for state sponsored health care for her children. In fact, the price of health care for her entire family is $1,000, and she decided that she wanted to spend it on herself instead. Since her husband pulls in $5000-6000 monthly (is that net or gross?), under current SCHIP guidelines, they would NOT qualify. Under the MD expansion, a Family of 8 would qualify for a portion of assistance, but still be subjected to paying premiums because they fall more then 200% above poverty guidelines. Quoth the MD Expansion:

SCHIP Expansion. The Maryland Health Care Access Act of 2007, a comprehensive health care reform plan sponsored jointly by the governor and members of the legislature, expands Maryland’s SCHIP program to children under the age of 19 in families with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Families with incomes between 200 and 400 percent of federal poverty guidelines would pay premiums to participate in the program. Dependent on a Medicaid waiver.

That sounds like someone would be paying something our of their bank account.

Secondly, this is not a story about a family struggling to make ends meet. It’s a story of an addiction to shopping, deceit, and unwillingness to let go of the material things that define us as people. This is something we should be addressing separately from the SCHIP debate: The credit crunch. We live in a country where we are told that the only way to express our patriotism is to shop. Financial analysts are betting that already overextended consumers will find a little more Holiday cheer in their pockets and spend some money during the Holiday season.

Easy credit is the way people have been showing off their “wealth”. Assets? Oh, well..The home. Maybe. Except that HELOC. And the ReFi. uhmmm…Housing prices are on a downward trend. I sincerely doubt the idiots on the Oprah show would be granted any kind of loan.

The idiots are so vastly different from the thousands who play by the rules, work decent jobs and just simply get screwed by a screwy system. Contractors who have no benefits through their jobs seek out health insurance just to get denied for a “preexisting condition”. Some cubicle monkey looks at some drs note in a chart and determines that Acne is a preexisting condition. People who live in generally depressed areas and are offered jobs at minimum wage with health care being an expense they simply cannot afford to buy.

It’s true, some of us are victims of our own personal choices. Some are not. Some have played by the rules only to have the factory close down, the IT job offshore or the small shop they once owned get priced out because of the new Wal-Mart. SCHIP programs are designed to be safety nets—a program to help someone while they are in the process of making better choices. I think there are plenty of people out there who are victims of circumstances. I also believe that inflation is worse then people think it is. How can I tell? well…personally, I can tell by how much money I will take out of the cash machine. I used to be able to make a 20 last all week long. Now, the same expenses cost me 40$.

I’m paraphrasing. But HELL—The Judge pretty much said JUST THAT.

The victim was assaulted in broad daylight, at an Exxon station while a cop witnessed it. From the Sun:

The officer testified in court that she was 25 feet from the car at the time of the incident.

“I witnessed him use his right hand, not in a fist, but in, I guess, an open hand, and push the female’s face. … As I saw him grabbing her hair … and trying to pull her out, that’s when I called it on the radio,” the officer said, according to a recording of the hearing.

The woman told the officer that Webb had attempted to pull her out of the vehicle, causing her hairpiece to fall off, and that he hit her in the face, though she characterized it as “more of a tap than a punch.” The woman had no visible injuries, police said.

Alrighty then. So, the Judge says in response to this:

But when the alleged victim didn’t show up in court, Circuit Court Judge Paul Harris said it didn’t matter what the officer saw.

“The state is stepping into the shoes of the victim when she obviously doesn’t care,” the judge said Oct. 3 before acquitting Michael Antonio Webb of second-degree assault. “It’s that big brother mentality of the state. I know it’s your policy (to bring domestic abuse cases without victims), and I appreciate that and I’m not faulting it, but I have to decide the case on what I have. I think a crucial element is missing.”

The judge said without the victim’s testimony, he couldn’t be sure she didn’t want to be beaten.

“You have very rare cases. Sadomasochists sometimes like to be beat up,” he said.

Sadomasochists.

Yes, My friends. Victims of Domestic Violence who are terrified of their attackers and refuse to testify in court against the abuse because they fear the repercussions can now be classified as sadomasichists.

What. The. Fuck?

I’ll be honest. I was TERRIFIED to bring charges against my ex husband. He threatened to kill my cats. He threatened to take my daughter away. He said that if I left him, he would sue me for all the money I made (he didn’t work) and tell the courts I was a bad mom. He held knives to my throat and said that he would push deeper if I called the cops. I escaped under the cover of darkness and only after I knew he wasn’t home. This was in 1996. I didn’t bring charges against him until 2003.(for abuse related to my daughter and threats made to myself) That’s…Hmm.. SEVEN YEARS LATER! I remember his attorney questioning my attorney on why I “wanted to do this now.” My attorney replied, “When you have someone standing behind you ensuring your safety, confrontation isn’t as scary.” She was referring to my current husband, who, at 6 ft and roughly 250lbs, could pound my 160 lb ex into pulp if he went near his girls. Believe me, he wanted to. However, my husband has self control and conducts himself like a real man. Meaning? Violence is never the answer. It’s the last resort of self defense.

I suspect the victim in this case is terrified as well. I bet her attacker made similar threats to her if she talked. I suspect that even though he is in jail, she believes he could make parole without her knowing and come after her for disobeying him. I know her fear all too well.

Judge Harris, the judge who put the victim on trial instead of the attacker, doesn’t give a flying fuck. Especially if he is seriously labling the girl a “sadomasochist.”

Judge Harris, you’re dead to me.

Liss over at Shakesville points out something just pathetic. a “HER Depot”

Yes, you read that right—a HER DEPOT. This store won’t have that icky lumber or plumbing materials that girls think are yucky! It will have the decoration items, lovely appliances and pretty light fixtures that women can empower themselves to get inspired to change the decor in their bathroom! I wonder what the chick on DIY’s Bathroom renovations thinks about this?  Are they going to have a “pink tools” section?

This makes me want to throw up. Throw a coat of Pink Paint onto something and WHAMO! It’s “for Women” .   I do NOT need a set of pink tools or a pink drill slightly smaller then a regular sized cordless DeWalt to get a job done.  Come to think of it, when any kind of drilling, hanging of stuff, and some general repairs—I like doing most of it. Why? Because my father taught me how when I was very young. He thought it was important enough  for a person to know how to do some basic repairs, regardless of my being a “girl”. I didn’t need a pink hammer to tell me that “I CAN HAMMER A NAIL INTO A BOARD!”

Why is it that pink makes it automatically for women? Pink razors don’t work any better on my legs then it’s Mach3 turbo male counterpart. I use that one because it’s the one my husband uses as well–so we don’t have to buy two different razor replacements at the Costco. The Mach3  Turbo doesn’t rip my legs up because it’s not for “her” either. If I need that extra layer of silkiness on the legs afterwards, I just lotion up after I get my ass out of the shower. Come to think of it, the “Lady” versions tend to be slightly more expensive as well. I think that has something to do with the “silkiness lotion strip” or something. Or maybe Pink coloring just costs more.

Or maybe, just maybe…they jack the price up slightly because it’s “for her”.

It seems the assholeosphere has been leading the attack on the young boy who delivered the Democratic radio address concerning SCHIP and it’s benefits to a family struggling to make ends meet. The wingnuts got all up in arms about a family taking a *gasp* government handout that they went as far as to post the Frosts address on the website. This led Michelle Malkin to take a drive over to check out the neighborhood of Butchers Hill and come back with a report for her hordes. Quoth MM:

Why did I take the time to go to Baltimore? Because bloggers raised questions about the Frosts’ financial situation and made specific reference to these pieces of real estate. I did not “harass” the Frosts. I simply reported what the tenant told me and described what I saw after driving by their home. My basic reporting rebutted some impressions left by other bloggers on the right who haven’t been to these sites and assumed they were high-end luxury properties. They’re not. Moreover, I corrected the mistake that some of these bloggers made in overvaluing the house at $400,000-plus. It’s closer to $300,000.

Well, Miss Malkin, you have ventured into *MY* neighborhood and now it’s personal. MM wanted to see Butchers Hill/Fells Point for herself. Well, she failed to talk to some MORE residents.

What the wingnutosphere forgets to mention is that the Frosts bought their home in 1990 for $55,000. According to the Baltimore Sun. What they ALSO forget is how the the Mess that Greenspan Made has given way to inflated prices, which gave way to inflated property tax assessments in 2006. Although the State of Maryland has agreed to revalue certain assessments that were appealed, most in my neighborhood were denied. I was, and I suspect the Frost’s were, too. Butchers Hill and Fells Point are the cash cow of Baltimore city. To reassess us would be denying themselves much needed funding in a city striggling to attract more homeowners among a growing crime problem.

The right has also failed to acknowledge the stagnant–even decline in median income for the City of Baltimore. I know this to be fairly true simply because I cannot work in Baltimore City and draw a salary that will pay my mortgage. I have no choice but to commute two hours a day to make a living wage and to keep my home. I suspect that being away from her children is not an option for Mrs. Frost. I have one child and must chose between a long commute or a job near home. To keep my home, I commute. My husband works in the neighborhood. To be fair, I only have one child–and she is a teenager.

The Right also failed to acknowledge the rising cost of energy. Of course, no one wants to mention that in order to heat your home, you should set aside 5-600$ a month just to be safe. I conserve as much as possible, installed timers on the Thermostat, installed energy saving lights and kept them off as much as I could. My electric bill *STILL* went up. I suspect the Frosts pay a bit more. Their house is slightly larger then my own.

And finally, healthcare. I know a little something about this. A short time ago, I was a contractor as explained here. because my services were contracted, I was elgible to purchase a policy as a small business owner. It was priced at $1200 for one plus a child—in 2003. I had a choice: Starve or pay for healthcare. I shouldn’t have had to make such a choice!

The truth is this: NO ONE WANTS TO REMAIN POOR! The fact that the Frosts took advantage of MCHIP shouldn’t be the big issue. What needs to be addressed is the rising cost of living that has stagnated an otherwise vibrant business owner to the point where his only choice to save his children was to enter into the program. $55,000 a year with six children is nearly impossible these days. I tried to make it on  that with ONE child.

The Frosts should be a GOP wet dream. They’ve been married for many years, have six beautiful children, own their own home and abide by the laws of the land. They follow what many Goppers tout as the path to financial freedom: entrepreneurship. They have one fatal flaw, though. They haven’t earned the millions that most GOP supporters expect small business owners to achieve. Mr. frost has failed to grow his business at a rapid rate. The debate is about a program that helped the family in a time of dire need. Now we need to start asking some very serious questions: Middle class families are without affordable healthcare. WHY? It’s the economy STUPID!
Now, back to Ms. Malkin and the rest of her Ilk: I want you to come back to Baltimore and sit down to have a beer with me, a former MCHIP recipient, a former single mother and resident of Fells Point/Butchers Hill. I’ll show you homes that are over 400K and some that are still no more then 80K. I’ll show her what NCLB has done to Baltimore City schools and WHY the frosts chose the Park school. I’ll show her a Real Estate situation that has homes on the market for years. Hell, I’ll even chose a bar! Butts & Betty’s on the Corner of Gough and Collington. MM is pretty familiar with Collington. Why, she’s already been down that road already.

I had the GALL (according to Commenter Cham) to Spread my Legs and Procreate at the tender age of 20. ( the man who manipulated me into conceiving-and forcing me to have the baby–I suppose that doesn’t really matter. Whole ‘nother story)

Being proud, I refused to submit to public assistance. I worked. HARD. 70hrs a week sometimes. (Again, not going to mention the father of said child who, well…didn’t like that whole idea of working. Whole ‘Nother Story.) I did take one thing that was offered to me: MCHIP. It allowed me to afford well baby visits (I paid on a FEE SCALE—AGAIN–Not entirely free) and when my daughter contracted rotavirus from daycare, it partially paid for her NOT TO DIE FROM DEHYDRATION at the age of three.(my part of that Hospital bill? $3,000. That’s an asston of money when your effin poor. But I paid it off in installments) I had no intention of staying in the program. I was still working. I made, what…25K a year in 1997? I was going to school. I was trying to make my life better. Awesome, right? Right. Not everyone wants to take a handout. Sometimes, there aren’t any other alternatives.

Well, the middle class in America is fast becoming the poor class. We have Uber Rich, Investor Class and EVERYONE ELSE. With the cost of healthcare going up at an alarming rate and wages STAGNANT for nearly 10 years, I’d have to say that offering healthcare to a wider group isn’t a bad thing. What are your solutions to more and more businesses passing on the increasing cost of health insurance on to the employee—without making a tiny effort of raising their wages? Corporate profits are sky high, too. Maybe the CEO could take a paycut? Ohhh no. Probably not. His Ayn Randian “mememe” attitude is justified! The ilk that support that way of thinking forgive him for his vanity. It’s okay. Pursuit of self satisfaction is ultimately the best thing one can do–It will trickle down! Oh wait—that was piss.

What is the solution to the nasty inflation problem we have (no doubt brought on by the increasing cost of corn, oil and other commodities) What is the solution to jobs that once held the working class together being shipped overseas faster then you can say Ni hao, Wo-duh ming-d’zih (that’s HELLO! In Chinese) or—HOLA! And Finally, what is the solution on the fact that most people in the middle class are now living on credit–nearly $8,500 of CC debt per household? No doubt thats because of that whole stagnant wage thing. Give me solutions that will help people get better paying jobs within their skill set–not some bullshit about bailing out some stupid hedge fund manager because somewhere, and investor *MIGHT* have an idea and start up a company with the gains from his investment. That is a long term goal. I want short term solutions for people who need it NOW.

I agree, “sin taxes” DO effect the working poor disproportionately. I mean, if your life is spent being hired and fired for nothing but cost reduction, then I’d drink and smoke, too.

If people TRULY want this to be an “Ownership society”(libertarian & GOP Rhetoric) then proponents of this idealism really need to start educating them on staying away from such sins and saving their money. They probably won’t need the healthcare as often if they do, too.

I hear the bitching. Now give me some solution. Debate is good.