It’s April 15, that joyous day when our spendthrift ne’er-do-well Uncle Sammy comes a-callin’ with both hands held out, palms up. Oboy.
We had to write a couple of hefty checks this year to Sammy and his layabout cousins running Colorado, and I can’t say I’m happy about it. Neither are the Teabaggers, who were very much in evidence today, as the media loves a circus.
Antiwar protesters couldn’t buy time on TV during the Daffy-Fudd regime, but dingbats like the ukelele-playing former “SNL” cast member Victoria Jackson get a free ride with their nonsense about there being a “communist in the White House.” Ditto Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Bizarro World), who referred to the Obama administration as “this gangster government” while addressing a Teabagger rally in DeeCee. She must’ve spent the previous administration down the rabbit hole with Alice, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.
With all the anti-tax hysteria taking over prime time, I was astounded to stumble across a bit of sensible commentary — from, of all things, a newspaper that once employed Your Humble Narrator. The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson editorialized today “that when public officials and others rail against ‘taxes’ and cast every tax as evil and unnecessary, it’s vital to counter those claims.”
Sometimes reasoned argument even prevails over noisy nonsense, as in a follow-up interview with one respondent to a New York Times/CBS News poll on the Teabag “movement.”
(I)n follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”
Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.
“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” She added, “I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.”
No marginally sane person would argue that every tax dollar is spent wisely. Some of us might point to the previous administration’s fondness for starting needless, illegal and immoral wars, for example.
But if you want cops and firefighters, schools and parks, clean water and air, and some hot mix for those goddamn potholes, well … someone has to pay the freight. Which of your must-have items are you willing to do without in the name of lower taxes?
Ass, gas or grass, baby — nobody rides for free.
Mad Blog Media 
A little waste is the grease that keeps the system running. You wanna spend money tracking down every wasted dollar, you will spend ten to save a buck. Ask me how I know that.
Let’s start with making sure it’s the department of DEFENSE again. Not the department of let’s start a war with every one we can. Every weapon the Pentagon buys and drops on someone is money that is never coming back.
I am not sticking my balls in anyone’s mouth. Especially not Michelle Bachmann’s, Jesus Fuck, check out those chompers! Teabagging is simply dangerous, if not immoral.
It’s a bit of a repeat of what has been said, but I found this column by e.j. dionne, jr. today. It’s not something you read very often. Could the tide be turning?
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/04/in_praise_of_the_irs.html
OK Khal….I’ll bite. How do you know that?
JD
I’d like to apologize for the fine citizenry of Rocklin, CA but then I remembered that they ARE all nutbags. GOPers on a pension whittling away on their Social Security while driving SUVs the size of Rhode Island. Nope the nutcases in Rocklin are just clueless GOPers parroting whatever Uncle Rush tells them to think.
As my wife often says — “people are stupid”. Explains these right-wing tea party bozos pretty well. Someone pointed out the group is mostly white guys who never made it through college and of course now are feeling disenfranchised. But they’re slowly headed to extinction so perhaps the Republican Party will becoeme extinct as well?
Working in a Federal Lab, for starters.
Also, as Darren says, FERCHRISSAKES,DON’T BITE!
The Dems would be in trouble in ’12 if they were running against the Whigs, Federalists, Know Nothings, Anti-Nebraska, Torries, Labour, Sinn Féin, or any other party save for the GOP. But once again, we’re in for a battle of wits between two unarmed opponents.
It’s easy to say DoD is a big sink hole, but nearly every dollar they spent gets turned into an American job. (Well, used to … we’re blowing a wad on bribe money these days, but we’re trying to get out of that business.) The problem with DoD isn’t the money but the orientation. Give them the job of filling sandbags in Fargo or fixing levees in Louisiana or the like, and you’ll see them get the job done for a ton less than Halliburton will charge ya for. Hard to beat a PFC pulling in $21K a year and on call 24/7/365.
Steve o. DoD dollars don’t stay home anymore and also tend to tamp down economic growth. A lot of the computer chips for smart and other weapons are made overseas (can anyone say Malaysia or Peoples Republic of China?) Other gear is built with designs or part manufactured under a foreign license, those royalty payments don’t stay here. Then there are base leasing/maintenance costs and local employee costs. What are we paying for that airbase in that unpronounceable republic?
Then there’s the drag on economic growth as DoD spending (not all of it but the hardware spending, yes) doesn’t return value to or get repent through our economy like civilian spending.
From a study I found (yeah there’s likely a counter study out there too) From the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Massive Defense Spending Leads to Job Loss
Dean Baker Truthout, November 10, 2009
“A few years ago, the Center for Economic and Policy Research commissioned Global Insight, one of the leading economic modeling firms, to project the impact of a sustained increase in defense spending equal to 1.0 percentage point of GDP. This was roughly equal to the cost of the Iraq War.
Global Insight’s model projected that after 20 years the economy would be about 0.6 percentage points smaller as a result of the additional defense spending. Slower growth would imply a loss of almost 700,000 jobs compared to a situation in which defense spending had not been increased. Construction and manufacturing were especially big job losers in the projections, losing 210,000 and 90,000 jobs, respectively.”
What to push economic growth? Build, refurbish, replace infrastructure. The money circulates more and the benefits accrue to a much wide portion of the population. But it’s this kind of local development spending that the Tea Party mad hatters oppose. These folks are entitled to feel as mad as they want, but they have no right to force their irrationality on the rest of us and to our detriment.
I love when the Seal Beater shrilly squeals the they will “Cling to our Constitution, guns, and religion, and you can keep your change.” When you have the means to do so, fine. Multi-million dollar book deals and huge personal appearance stipends means she can stay ignorant and in a isolated mansion, but the average tea-bagger just can’t see what that kind of government would mean to them. They think they are hurting now, just wait. The cost of virtually everything is on the rise, but jobs and wages are doing an about face. All to the favor of the wealthy corporate culture that fuels the so-called “Grass roots” movements, like the tea-baggers. I would bet after the big rally, they jump in their gas guzzler SUV, fill it up with hugely over price gas, hit Walmart to buy Chinese made crap (thus increasing our debt to China), head home to beat off to Fox “News.”
This shit too good to make up.
Steve o, I’m going to quote you someplace anonymously.”The Dems would be in trouble in ‘12 if they were running against the Whigs, Federalists, Know Nothings, Anti-Nebraska, Torries, Labour, Sinn Féin, or any other party save for the GOP. But once again, we’re in for a battle of wits between two unarmed opponents.” That’s just too good a line not to steal it.