Why Do We Stand For This?

Bu$hCo & his ReThug minions only care about about the top 2%.

Our policies need to consider the additional causes of our widening wealth gap, including tax breaks for the mega-wealthy; the lack of strong U.S. employment strategies; and the decline of unions, which were essential to building 20th-century America's middle class.

The question, really, comes down to this: What kind of society do Americans want to create in this century?

The avoiders will continue to try to weakly dispute whether inequality is growing.

It's what she says about the avoiders, but many people who ought to care, those of us who feel the stagnant wages, need to wake the fuck up. here are more inconvenient facts for us.

Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that they had to make ends meet with less money than at the peak of the last economic expansion, new government data shows.

While incomes have been on the rise since 2002, the average income in 2005 was $55,238, still nearly 1 percent less than the $55,714 in 2000, after adjusting for inflation, analysis of new tax statistics show.

My emphasis.

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Wait This

Looks like the capitalist ding-dong medical doctors can't fix the waiting with private clinics. I, with no degree in medicine, could have told them that. Full disclosure: Mrs. coldH2O is involved in the health care industry.

Not much of a crowd in this Canadian clinic.

American waiting room? Not so much.

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I Wish I Could l Sing & If I Could Play The Piano & Sing, I Would Do This Song

Via skippy, the bush kangaroo.

Good Riddance

She's finally dead.

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Native American Rights Fund

Do it, it's good thing.

Nothing New Here, Just Move Along, Suckers

OK, I've found something.

I would be sick to my stomach over this, but I've lost the capacity to be shocked. Bush is willing to talk peace with the Taliban in order to get security for an American company to build an oil and gas pipeline. That about says it all for the Bush administration's priorities in its self declared War on Terror. I'd like to see how the right wing media megaphone and blogs will spin this. Provided they ever mention it at all, of course. See no evil, hear no evil ....

Sadly, my emphasis.

I Got Nothin'

Except for this.

I love the video, plus it mentions Miss Lucy, & she would be one-half of the cutest Tag Team in the history of the world. Oh, listen closely to the lyric.

Shame Of Pawlenty

It really is all about money with these ReThugs. No tax increases, no tax increases. & what do you get.

But at least three internal documents suggest that money was a consideration.

Well, at least the dead won't be paying any taxes anytime soon.

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I'm Still A Bit Nervous

But it looks better this week.

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The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

Via Nowegianity. I just started reading this blog again, after prodding from RLK & the fact that The Twins now live in MN. You should go read both blogs as well.

Midwestern freeways are notorious for their poor design. I-95 halts every single weekday thanks to a slightly too sharp bend where St. Paul meets Minneapolis, and every day about 3 p.m. traffic grinds to a halt as too many cars tap their brakes in the same spot. So it's not like Midwestern states' DOTs have the greatest track record, but still — this is being handled badly. MnDot has NEVER understood where to place signs and you never know if a sign means "down the road a ways" or "NOW!"

This is a hard time being made harder thanks to an overburdened state agency that's been starved for funding and confused by zealously cheap political administrators.

Welcome to the next ten years of our lives as we struggle to get past our neglected infrastructure courtesy of frightened shitheads who freak out at the mention of a penny tax on anything, but then vote in creeps who shovel out the money for illegal wars and corporate giveaways.

When the rich have ALL the money, everyone else suffers, even if they're not broke. Personally, given his vast fortune, I think Carl Pohlad should pick up the tab for the new I-35 bridge, or at least pay as much of the bill as Hennepin County residents are picking up for his baseball stadium.

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Support The Troops?

Not so much.

Explain The Anti-Defamation League's Reasoning To Me

It's sad that the ADL apparently denies all genocide except one. This does not further the quest for complete human rights or for the complete truth. For me, here's the most meaningful quote:

Critics say this position is hypocritical. Foxman "should understand that the truth of any genocide is not conditional upon political relationships," said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America in Washington, D.C. Rather, he said, it should be dictated by "truth" and "history."

Amen to that.

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Poor, Poor Pitiable Tony Snow

He will not be able to make it finacially, if he stays with Bu$hCo. I hope he beats the cancer he has, but the son-of-a-bitch makes $168,000 a year, for crying out loud. Not to mention all the vacation time. Remember, Bu$hCo is attempting to set a record for vacation time.

President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.

The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening for a stretch of clearing brush, visiting with family and friends, and tending to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.

The August getaway is Bush's 49th trip to his cherished ranch since taking office and the 319th day that Bush has spent, entirely or partially, in Crawford -- nearly 20 percent of his presidency to date, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS Radio reporter known for keeping better records of the president's travel than the White House itself. Weekends and holidays at Camp David or at his parents' compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, bump up the proportion of Bush's time away from Washington even further.

It's getting near the end of summer, so Bu$hco is going on vacation, again. 5 weeks, for christ's sake. Here's a good joke about the bad joke Bu$hCo.

"President Bush is on a five-week vacation. How many folks get five weeks off a year? You know, if I want five weeks off I have to have open heart surgery, for God's sake." --David Letterman

Here's another.

"President Bush still having his five-week vacation. Today President Bush announced he is going to leave his ranch in Texas to visit Idaho for two days. However, Bush told his supporters, 'Don't worry, I won't do any work there either.'" --Conan O'Brien

More here.

For 168 grand a year, plus this kind of vacation time, Tony ought to be able to stick it out until the end of the Bu$hCo disaster/failure.

J.B.Van Hollen Supports The Arts

Not really. But he refused to criticize Pro-Life Wisconsin's celebration of the murder of a women's health doctor & his bodyguard. Of course, Van Hollen was endorsed & received the largest contribution the Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund made in 2006. See previous link.

Last week, in gruesome irony, “pro-life” activists held an event in Milwaukee celebrating the murder of Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard, James Barrett, by anti-abortion stalker Paul Hill.

According to media reports, the “highlight” of the event was “the re-enactment of Hill’s murders,” culminating in a chorus of “Hallelujah” after the man playing Hill pulled his shotgun’s trigger.

More on this bullshit here. The question is, of course, will J.B. Van Hollen repudiate what an organization who endorsed & financially supported him is doing? I'll never hold my breath for a ReThug to do the right thing. He really ought to return the contribution, after all, he apparently doesn't need it since he donated over $700,000 of his own money to his campaign. Maybe the Ashland County, WI, D.A. Sean Duffy could make this suggestion to his fellow traveler. It would be a wonderful gesture, even more, it would be the correct thing to do. After all, it is one thing to be pro-life (I mean, who isn't?), but it's a whole other thing to be pro-murder.

Movin' On Up

& I bet you thought the $640 toilet seats and $400 hammers were expensive. Sit down & let me tell you about shipping charges.

A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas, U.S. officials said.

The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.

Yep, we sure do go to war with the Army we have, but you would have thunk that the U.S. Postal Service would have given the taxpayers a break on the postage. I think I'm having the vapors, since even Bill "The Bloody" Kristol criticized Rumsfeld, the moron. I promise to never again link to a Kristol piece. If fact, bye-bye, I need to take a shower. First, however, I must sidle on over to the the fainting couch.