You gotta give it to the Republicans. Only they would use something like Katrina to justify huge spending cuts in essential programs ... rather than eliminating tax cuts for the wealthiest, eliminating subsidies for big oil or getting the hell out of Iraq. The House Republican Study Committee outlines many cuts including:
- cuts or increases in premiums for medicare/medicaid
- freezing of aid to Global AIDS Initiative, Peace Corps
- eliminate state grants for Safe and Drug-Free school programs
- eliminate Even Start
Without any sense of irony, they list items such as the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the Applied Research for Renewable Energy Sources Programs as "corporate welfare" that can be eliminated and are better served by the private sector. I'm so sick of all this "free market" crap they spout. It was the "free market" people in the 60's that didn't want civil rights legislation to go through. They said that the market would eventually see that they shouldn't descriminate. Capitalism is the answer to every problem to them. Do you know what capitalism and real corporate welfare are doing? They're creating a have and have-not society. And these moronic cuts they are recommending will hit the have-nots the worse, especially the elderly.
In addition, they suggest eliminating the National Endowment for Arts and publicly funded TV. This is not a shocker because these programs represent culture and the Republicans in power right now (not all Republicans, mind you) wouldn't know culture if it hit them between the eyes. Larry the Cable Guy is not culture, you hayseeds.
============================================================
Former President Jimmy Carter told a panel at American University this week something that most of us already know, but that is suprising coming from a former president, Gore won 2000 election.
I like the fact that Carter and Clinton earlier in the week are not being afraid to tell it like it is ... abandoning this nonexistent unspoken rule forbidding former presidents from criticizing a standing president. The rule is bogus, as George Sr. had no problem savaging Bill while he was office.
============================================================
It's good to see that Homeland Security is doing it's job ... protecting us from those evil vegans:
ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans who protested ham
We all know how violent vegans can get. Think of the bedlam that would ensue from a booby-trapped tomato or cauliflower in a crowded area. :-)
12 comments:
hell, they cold be hiding WMD's in those tamaters!
"eliminating tax cuts for the wealthiest"
Yup, and if they did that than all of the small businesses that fit into that tax bracket will have to pay higher taxes which means laying off people (adding to the extremely high unemployment rate from the loss of jobs due to Katrina) or possibly not being able to stay out of the red. Thus the small businesses go under, which the big corporations wouldn't mind. Sounds like a no win situation there. Well, i can't say no win because then dback could complain about that instead.
"...eliminating subsidies for big oil"
Yup, that way we are even more reliant on Middle Eastern oil.
"or getting the hell out of Iraq."
Sounds good, lets fail to complete the job. We'll take the dictator out, but then we'll leave the country and factions to themselves to have chaos. Now that's what i call being responsible.
Hmmm... correct me if i'm wrong, but you criticize them for talking about eliminating the National Endowment for Arts and publicly funded TV. Than you criticize Larry the Cable Guy. I could be wrong, but isn't that publically funded television?
You are saying that they wouldn't know what culture is, and yet you then fail to recognize that "Larry the Cable Guy" is a part of a culture. It's not a "high brow" "have's" (as you were just criticizing) kind of culture, but it is a culture none the less. Thus saying that "Larry the Cable Guy" is not a culture shows a flagrant misunderstanding of both art and culture.
Tax credit and loopholes allow over 60% of corporations to pay no taxes at all. Rolling back tax cuts for just the top 1% of Americans would save $327 billion. Plus, we give tax credits for companies to create jobs in other countries. No small companies are affected by either of these things. Individual taxpayers comprise 45% of the total tax bill while corporate tax comprises only 7.4%.
Oil companies are making record profits yet sink hardly any of it into discovering new deposits. Cry me a river on how bad oil companies are doing.
Iraq is in chaos because we ARE there. The insurgency would have no reason to exist if we left.
What does Larry the Cable Guy have to do with public television? Public broadcasting encompasses NPR, PBS, etc. Last time I checked, he wasn't on those. If you think a racist, mysoginist alcoholic like Larry is your idea of culture (it certainly isn't art), I underestimated you as a person and a Christian.
And if you noticed, I did not criticize Republicans in general for their view on "culture" but rather those in power that are seeking to define their own view of it.
Don't disagree just for the sake of disagreeing. You speak in platitudes and then seem burdened if you have to back them up.
Hey... I saw Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I know what those damn vegan commies are up to...
My favorite administration exploit thus far is one of Bush's recent speeches where he flip-flops between issues of Katrina, terrorism and Iraq... something about how the terrorists wish they could have done the damage to New Orleans and that's why we're in Iraq... Genius, evil genius. Now, not only is he conflating Iraq with terrorism (again) but he's lumping in an act of "god" with them... sigh
Now, not only is he conflating Iraq with terrorism (again) but he's lumping in an act of "god" with them... sigh
Not to be argumentative, but everything--to a Christian--is pretty much an act of God's will; unless the person is evil and sinful--then he's working off his own will.
So the people left behind by Katrina:
Did God mean to kill them, or did they deserve what they got because they're sinners?
Not all christians believe in predestination and total submission...
"Not to be argumentative, but everything--to a Christian--is pretty much an act of God's will; unless the person is evil and sinful--then he's working off his own will."
Um, i have difficulty with that line of reasoning. I believe that everything we do has consequences to ourselves, our lives, those around us, our environment, etc. When we sin, as much as we don't want it to be true, it affects everything around us. God often protects all of us from the worst aspects of all of that and more. If He didn't none of us would be alive right now.
He gives us strength to get through the rest. When we seek Him and His will we see more and more of His will in our lives. As we know Him more and better we begin to hear His voice and recognize Him better. As we seek Him and listen to Him instead of ourselves oftentimes He leads us and protects us from doing things that will destroy ourselves. Ultimately however, we still have a choice.
I don't know how this all fits together, but this is as best as i can explain it at this point. I don't have all of the answers, but either way this is completely off topic. Sorry dbackdad.
"What does Larry the Cable Guy have to do with public television? Public broadcasting encompasses NPR, PBS, etc. Last time I checked, he wasn't on those. If you think a racist, mysoginist alcoholic like Larry is your idea of culture (it certainly isn't art), I underestimated you as a person and a Christian."
So much for the concept of "tollerance". I don't know much about Larry the Cable guy. What struck me was that you were criticizing the gap forming between the upper and lower classes and the "have's" vs. "have not's". Then you turned around and are insulted that what the "have's" consider culture and art is being financially cut. In doing so you reject some of the culture of the "have not's" rejecting that they have a culture or that they may even have art because it is not what the "have's" would consider culture or art.
The reality is that there are many cultures and forms of art in the world. It doesn't matter if the "have's" accept those cultures or art forms or not. It doesn't make them any less.
You and i may not like what "Larry the Cable Guy" says or represents, but that doesn't mean that he does not represent a culture or art form.
NPR and PBS gives voice to documentarians, non-commercial music and art of all philosophical bents. They are refreshing because, unlike all other sources, they are not driven by profit. There has to be a conduit for such things. I'm reading a great book right now called What's the Matter with Kansas. It about how the Right has successfully coopted the working class of America so that they vote against their economic self-interest. There is a great quote from it which I think it relevant. The quote describes "Cupcake Land", a term that describes many pre-planned homogenous communities in America: "Cupcake Land encourages no culture but that which increases property values; supports no learning but that which burnishes the brand; hears no opinions but those that will further fatten the cucake elite ...". It describes our society as a whole where we don't hear of anything unless their is an economic reason for doing so. Larry the Cable Guy (I can't believe I have wasted this much oxygen taling about him) is popular because what he says and where he is marketed to. It's populist, lowest-common-denominator entertainment.
NPR and PBS gives voice to documentarians, non-commercial music and art of all philosophical bents. They are refreshing because, unlike all other sources, they are not driven by profit.
HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, SNORT, ha, ha, (rolls on ground laughing)
Now that is rich. What makes it even more funny is that i don't think you meant it as a joke!
Yup, "all philosophical bents" as long as their mainly Liberal in nature or have some liberal slant to them!
I think the word "refreshing" should be replaced with "indoctrinating". But then being liberal i can understand where you would say "refreshing". I stopped watching most PBS shows a long time ago due to the overwhelming bias i was seeing on the shows.
Nope, they're not driven by profit at all. They're driven by politics because if the liberal mentatlity can be increased, chances are their funding will increase.
Nope, you're absolutely right, not driven by profit at all. And you wonder why it's the republicans that want it's funding cut.
Laughing to a joke only you can hear, JC?
What a fascinating post. You managed to get through the whole thing without citing any actual examples or any anecdotes to back up your assertion. Simply repeating Republican talking points is not enough here. And if your source is Kenneth Tomlinson's study, don't even go there. His study classified Bob Barr and Chuck Hagel as liberals.
You've seemed to take on the persona of our buddy Underground Logician ... blindly blathering on until confronted.
Post a Comment