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Open thread
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted Jan. 23, 2007 at 1:04 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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68 Comments
Kansas Democrats Use Congressional District Party “Committees” as Political $uperfund To Pump Money to Kansas Democratic Party, Sebelius, Morrison and Pollsters
(What to do when writing one check for $35,000 to the Kansas Democratic Party would be illegal? Write SIX checks!)
http://www.kansasmeadowlark.com/2007/01-23/index.htm
See diagram more easily here:The “$uperfund” for the Kansas Democratic Partyhttp://www.saljournal.com/blogs/?p=1769
If the Democrats really can legally use their state party and all four of their congressional district party committees as a single “political superfund”, the Republicans should do exactly the same thing.
Meadowpoop you twit.This has been going on for years.I saw the same damn chart on the repugnicans over a year ago.
Philllll preaches:Kline rallies anti-abortion effortsBY AMANDA O’TOOLEThe Wichita EagleA roomful of people gave Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline several standing ovations Sunday as he delivered an anti-abortion address in a Best Western convention center in Park City.
His message was part of a service that was sponsored by Heartbeat Ministries, which provides sidewalk counseling to women outside Women’s Health Care Services, an abortion clinic on East Kellogg.
Kline said there is a culture in Wichita, in Kansas and throughout the country of apathetic tolerance toward abortion –”a voice that says it’s all about comfort,” he said on Sunday, the night before the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion.
“There is a cry in Wichita and it’s been multiplied 1,000 times over,” Kline said. “And not just by the lives taken, but by the women and girls who have been deceived.”
After the sermon was over, Heartbeat Ministries took acollection for local anti-abortion efforts and for Kline.continued………
Gosh gee, I figured there’d be enough crime in JoCo to keep him busy!
Darwin Awards Haiku:Dude had a screw loose.Glad he didn’t reproduce.Darwin saves the day!
Stupidity kills.Absolute stupiditykills absolutely.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/22/opinion/polls/main2384943.shtml
HOLY COW! Bush approval rating drops BELOW 30 percent!
“(CBS) President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday night to a nation that’s strongly opposed to his plan for increasing troops in Iraq and deeply unhappy with his performance as president, according to a CBS News poll.
“Mr. Bush’s overall approval rating has fallen to just 28 percent, a new low, while more than twice as many (64 percent) disapprove of the way he’s handling his job.
“Two-thirds of Americans remain opposed to the president’s plan for sending more than 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq — roughly the same number as after Mr. Bush announced the plan. And 72 percent believe he should seek congressional approval for the troop increase.”
This is about where Nixon stood right before he RESIGNED.
For many a long year, I despaired that the American people would live up to Lincoln’s observation that “you can’t fool all the people all the time,” but finally even the reality-tv sodden, video game ridden American public understands that this man is the
Worst
President
Ever.
SOTU address. 8PM?
ComradeAmerika <– one-trick pony
SOTU address. 8PM?
Pepto Bismol .. 8:02??
gster-thought you’d start w/ the pepto around 7:50 to get prepared
Gster, I dont recommend pepto as a chaser to tequila. Which is what is needed to numb the bushwatching pain.
I’m considering pouring the Pepto over the popcorn.Any thoughts?
“And a juxtaposition of Abu Ghraib and Muslim beheadings tells the tale, as too many of us are epitomized by panties while our adversaries are by swords. While they bat nary an eye at the torture of an innocent, we eat ourselves alive over the humiliation of the guilty. But what is truly humiliating is when the hard people laugh, watching the soft people play the fools, bray at one another, and commit cultural suicide.
And make no mistake, they laugh. Why do you think the Mexican government distributed literature instructing its citizens on how to best violate our southern border? Why did Islamists issue advice on how to play the victim card in the American legal system? They don’t tolerate such under their dominion, but they know about our lawsuits, protests, pandering politicians and capitulating clergy. They know the game. They know us. And they don’t really think we’re barbaric or unjust.
They think we’re weak and stupid. ”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/01/soft_people_hard_people.html
Check this out blogfarts.
Somebody try it and see if it works, please?I don’t have my cell phone with me or I’d try it.
http://www.phonetrace.org/index.php
Tracy damn it no.
TRACY…
DON’T GO THERE!
It’s just someone peddling porn…
Testicles, who knows with you- you’d probably poke a pinhole in my face and use it as a sex toy.
Or distribute it online.
Ahhh – trailer park humor. I get it.
Tracy,I’m afraid to enter my cell number. I’m liable to start getting sex sales calls – I’ve already got the fear of Jesus since I gave the number to PeeMom.
I haven’t told anyone your number or who you are yet. Relax.
Remember, I’M not the MEAN ONE.
Pee,It was a joke. I’m not afraid or I wouldn’t have given it to you.
“I’m considering pouring the Pepto over the popcorn.Any thoughts?”
Sure, I always have thoughts. Note I didn’t say coherent thoughts.
Won’t the popcorn covered with Pepto stick to the TV screen? What a mess!
Ok ya’ll, way past my bedtime. Nighty night!
“Won’t the popcorn covered with Pepto stick to the TV screen? What a mess!”
Yes-But it will give our hero more depth than normal,even some texture!
Even as it slides down the screen onto the floor!
Very true, gster. Proceed.
Oh crap…….I didn’t try it.The guy that sent it is into those kinda jokes……..SORRY.
If it’s a porno link, let’s get it bounced.Me stewpud.
Here’s something much nicer:
Lexophiles – lovers of words – will enjoy these.
1. A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired.2. A will is a dead giveaway.3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.4. A backward poet writes inverse.5. In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.7. If you don’t pay your exorcist you may be repossessed.8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I’ll show you A-flat miner.10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.13. You are stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.14. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.15. He broke into song because he couldn’t find the key.16. A calendar’s days are numbered.17. A lot of money is tainted: ‘Taint yours, and ‘taint mine.18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.23. When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she’d dye.26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.27. Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison:a small medium at large.
HA, double HA!
They think we’re weak and stupid. “Whats your point heckler? When the Russians were in Afghanistan did they treat the locals nicely? Did they win? Were they not a strong force, a modern military?Why do you guys think we would do any better. Were just another foreign occupying force.Ask the French or the Brits.How did they do?
You are correct, .morg, we should have learned from the Soviet example in Afghanistan. Their occupation of Afghanistan contributed to the downfall of communism. It was death by a thousand cuts, with the USA suppying the knives.
Without genocide, an occupying force cannot win.
Yeah, that’s right Morg, there are too many American’t(s).
Good article by Fareed Zakaria regarding democracy and our attempt to “spread” the same in the Middle East.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16723221/site/newsweek/
JM,When I go out in the world I see Mcdonalds, burger kings, star bucks ect. That’s our culture dude. This isn’t Sparta {ancient greek warrior state} we have remotes for our tvs heated seats for cars. And you guys wonder why were not busting down the door at the army recruiting office. It’s hot in Iraq there’s no electricty sewage in the streets and no cable tv. And the shooting is real and you can’t change the channel.
“ComradeAmerika <– one-trick pony”
Or, in the alternative, accurate reporting on a zero-trick president.
Check out this trick, it’s really amusing:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012300406.html
WPE is wrapping this plan to screw the middle class as a way to help the poor. Only Rove and WPE could have even thought of such crap.
“Yeah, that’s right Morg, there are too many American’t(s).”
Yeah, that’s right JM, if more a Americans thought postive like our fearless leader, there’d be no problems in Iraq – none, I say!
If the above were true, it would be the first time mass delusions aided a war effort.
Morg,
When I grew up, there were no McDonalds, Burger Kings, Star Bucks, etc. What does a Slave rebellion (aka Sparta) have to do with anything today? Good vascular circulation eliminates the need for heated seats (aka the flabby butts.)
I’ve been to Syria, Turkey and Israel, so have a good idea of what the middle east is like. You haven’t felt a sweltering heat until you coexist with jungles in South East Asia.
Back in the day, very few air conditioners existed, there was no cable tv and there were usually just three channels, lucky if you get two of the three.
A lot of rural towns had limited phone service, rural electrics were just getting started.
So, I suppose you are saying the U.S. back prior to 1950 wouldn’t have been worth saving either.
I’ve been thinking about the “back door” tax increase Ben posted on yesterday, and have come to the conclusion that this is a way to discourage employer-provided health benefits under the guise of a “tax cut”.
For years, it has been said that the cost of employer-provided health insurance is making the cost of goods produced and sold by American corporations anti-competitive, often citing other industrialized countries’ companies as not providing same. Well, gee whiz folks, if there is government provided national health care, why would the companies need to provide such a benefit? Perhaps if the cost of such was also “externalized” in the U.S., the labor costs would decrease here, too.
IF the big deal is to provide a tax policy for social policy benefit, perhaps the appropriate way would be to give the individual taxpayer a refundable dollar for dollar income tax credit for health insurance premiums paid. As most know, a deduction is only worth $$ spent x marginal rate. A dollar for dollar credit would be just that; $1 less in income tax for each $1 spent in premium, and if the $$ spent in premiums exceed the $$ owed in income taxes, let’s refund the difference as a reward for relieving the burden on employers by obtaining our own insurance.
VT,Great post – stay tuned to the SOTU tonight to hear a good idea like that turned stupid.
How about taxing people with good insurance paid for by companies that do have good moral character and want to provide their employees insurance?
brian, as posted yesterday, the only reason this is not gross income for income tax purposes is that the Congress provided an exemption therefor in the Code; there exists no economic basis to otherwise exclude the same from gross income.
By so doing, an earlier Congress and President were promoting a perceived beneficial social policy by providing a tax benefit to the employer, with no corresponding tax burden on the employee. Of course, to realize the full tax benefit of the current code provisions, the company must be a C corporation; restrictions on the full deductibility of these premiums apply to S Corps, Partnerships, and LLCs taxed as partnerships, again, I suspect, to encourage all-inclusive insurance plans rather than plans exclusive to the officer/stockholders, etc.
On passthroughs the taxpayer gets to deduct SE health insurance in a manner a wage-earner cannot. He gets it on page 1 line 29 “above the line” rather than on schedule A with the 7.5% “haircut”
For JM,From WilkopediaSparta (Doric: ??????, Attic: ??????) is a city in southern Greece. In antiquity it was a Dorian Greek militarist polis (citizen city-state), whose territory included Laconia and Messenia, dominating the entirety of the Peloponnese. During Classical times Sparta had reached the status of a World Power, regarding itself as “the natural protector of Greece”[1]. The modern town is situated some kilometres away from the ancient site. Technically, ‘Sparta’ was the name of the ancient town; Lacedaemon, (Greek ??????????), was the wider city-state. Sparta is now normally used for both. The Spartans were believed to be the descendants of Heracles
Militarism or militarist ideology is the doctrinal view of a society as being best served (or more efficient) when it is governed or guided by concepts embodied in the culture, doctrine, system, or people of the military. Militarists hold the view that discipline is the highest social priority, and claim that the development and maintenance of the military ensures that discipline. Militarism connotes the drive to expand military culture and ideals to areas outside of the military structure —most notably in areas of private business, government policy, education, and entertainment
Morg,
I knew that… I wanted to see if you paying attention to what I posted or would you simply looking for anomalies.
It looks like the latter won out. :)
dezinformatsiya -Soviet Word translated to English – Disinformation is mostly commonly described as false information created by governments in wartime for military purposes and by totalitarian governments for political purposes in peacetime.
True, Ben, and thanks for the additional information. However, the adjustment to income you reference is limited to the earned income from the activity; and any excess is an itemizable deduction on Schedule A, subject to the 7.5% floor. BTW, for anyone who isn’t asleep by now, the discussion above as to S Corps is for a >2% shareholder who also receives wages from the S Corp; if an employee of an S is a <2% shareholder, the corporation takes the deduction on the 1120-S in determining the amount of income that passes through to the shareholders.
The same rules apply to an LLC and partnership; there must be compsensation received by the partner or member as “earned income” for the adjustment to income to apply; otherwise,or to the extent the pass through deduction for health insurance exceeds the earned income amount, the Schedule A limitations apply.
“On passthroughs the taxpayer gets to deduct SE health insurance in a manner a wage-earner cannot.”
You might be amazed at the number of SE who do not have health insurance.
RD, I would not be amazed, based upon a sample of the population of all self-employed persons consisting of my self-employed clients.
P.S. There IS Cable TV in Iraq. Just 9 channels, but better than nothing.
Alright.Andrew’s back!cool
I would not be amazed either RD. My only point was to illustrate the deductability they have that wage-earners do not have.
g’day andrew!
This president talking thingy ain’t gonna’ cut in on my american idol is it?
;^)
TRACY – I have never watched that show but have seen clips. I’d love to see that one judge do an analysis of BOTH addresses tonight!
lol Ben
JM – and note that I said BOTH. I’d love to see ALL politicians get his treatment. ;^)
Ben, it would be worth watching to see if Simon (is this the right judge, TRACY?) was his usually warm and comforting self in such evaluation.
Now, removing my tongue from my cheek; I will not be watching the over-produced made for media spectacle tonight, as I have not watched any SOTU address since 1984. I prefer to read transcripts, and see what legislative proposals, etc., emerge later. I guess I got to the point that the SOTU wasn’t worth my time, as carefully as the speech is crafted, designed for maximum media exposure given the length of the typical address, etc. I know, a terrible attitude; but that’s how it is for me.
This in regard to the Libby trial:
“Wells displayed a note written by Cheney that said he was ‘not going to protect one staffer (and) sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others.’
“Wells said the staffer referred to is Rove, the man who is given credit for directing President George W. Bush’s two successful presidential campaigns.
“Libby ‘was an important staffer, but Karl Rove was the lifeblood of the Republican Party,’ Wells said.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070123/pl_nm/usa_crime_libby_dc_3
As the lawyers dig in, and republicans scramble to save their asses, this not going to be pretty. But, I have plenty of popcorn on hand…
Typical Fed move – get the rats to rat each other out…
Works everytime.
One thing is for sure,GW wouldn’t make it to the next round on speaking abilities and first impressions.I don’t even think Paula would vote yes when she’s peaking on xannies and vodka.
Is this really the point in time in which we should change the tax code to remove or reduce the gross income inclusion exemption for employer paid health care premiums?
brian,If it’s not about sex, booze, god, homos, immigrants, abortion, or evolution…..well, then we don’t have a clue.
Why has astrology been invented? So that economy could be an accurate science.
Tracy,you forgot concealed carry
brian, not in my (less than) humble opinion. The idea being floated (I believe as a part of an intentional leak on the part of the White House, as oft occurs with a SOTU address) will not make the monthly premium for health insurance any more affordable; and, if the exclusion is repealed, then the employer, citing the additional cost to it of the employer FICA, etal, will likely (in the absence of a collectively bargained agreement) dump the plan. Just my 2 cents.
FICA – that is a major point VT. Even if I can deduct the premiums on schedule A (after the 7.5% haircut) I would still be paying FICA on it – as would my employer.
Exactly, Ben; this is the proverbial “camel’s nose” in my way of thinking.
I hve a feeling we will not be hearing this idea tonight …
Agreed, Ben; thus the hypothesis that this was a “leak” to test the waters. BTW, I gleaned from a short piece on cnn.com that the chair of the Senate Finance Committee (IIRC) stated he wouldn’t hold hearings on such a proposal, should it be made.
A moment of silence may be in order for E. Howard Hunt who, according to cnn.com, died today at the age of 88.
REPORT ILLEGALS NOW.. YOUR DAUGHTER MAY BE SAVED
We now need a Passport to go to Mexico. But how come Mexicans don’t need one when they *visit* the USA?
Quote of the Day:
“If it came to fighting I’d fight for Mississippi against the United States even if it meant going out into the street and shooting Negroes. After all, I’m not going to shoot Mississippians.” ~ William Faulkner
Viva La Revolucion Blanco!!