TARP's Damage To The Economy Was As Predictable As A Blizzard Following Manbearpig

Take a wild guess what is happening to tax receipts since TARP and Unicorn One descended upon us.

March is supposed to be a big month for tax receipts from regular corporations whose years end in December. In March 2008 (go to Table 3 on Page 2 at the link), $32.6 billion poured in. This year? I’m not kidding: $3.4 billion. For the fiscal year thus far, corporate income tax collections are down almost 57%.

Through March 31 of last year, according to Treasury’s Daily Statement, “Individual Income and Employment Taxes Not Withheld,” which are largely payments made by the self-employed, partners, and those in S corporations whose income flows through to individual tax returns, are down about 13%, or almost $15 billion, from a year ago. These not-withheld taxes are what drove last April’s all-time collections record, which is definitely not going to repeat itself.

It’s clear that quite a few ordinarily industrious people “went Galt” months before the Tea Party movement even came into existence. As a result, fiscal 2009’s deficit could come in closer to $2 trillion than to the Obama administration’s estimate of $1.75 trillion, or even the Congressional Budget Office’s $1.85 trillion.

Hmm....

 

***Note:

Ummm...., I accidentally linked to a story intended for The Hostages, Part Deux. The link is fixed.

I think.

 

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:39 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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There's nothing funny about Obama

Anybody remember whitehouse.org?  Yeah, me neither.  Anyway, it was a "parody" of the White House website (if  you click on the link, you'll understand the scare quotes) that I'd seen a few times over the past few years.  Anyway, I was curious to see what they were up to these days, and to my surprise, they seem to have stopped posting stuff sometime between January 19th and January 21st.

Didn't see that coming...

Posted by: Sean M. at 07:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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fine FINE since me = caring giver

An appeal to bipartianship was made and since we know that I'm all about the bi, I hereby give you hot boy as well.

Hello there fake Capt. Kirk, you may not be as awesome but you sure are pretty.


more...

Posted by: alexthechick at 07:01 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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blahblahblah serious stuff whatevs

Let's focus on the important things:

Pretty girls and shoes.  Particularly a pretty girl with pretty ballet flats.

HI HONEY HI!

You're welcome. 
more...

Posted by: alexthechick at 05:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This Cannot Be Good

The Taliban have seized a key area just miles from Pakistan's capital.

A Taliban commander said Islamic Sharia courts would soon be established in the district as they have already done in Swat. Mohammad Khalil said the main objective was to end the "sense of deprivation" among locals and provide speedy justice to the people.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Northwest Frontier Province, warned that the militants' activities in Buner were in violation of the Swat peace accord. "After the agreement, there is no justification to take up arms," Mr. Hussain said in a statement Wednesday. He denied, however, that the Taliban have total control over the area.

Rehman Malik, the federal home minister, said the government has the option of using force if the Taliban did not withdraw from Buner. A senior military official said a military operation could not be ruled out to stop the Taliban advance.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Taliban advances pose "an existential threat" to Pakistan and urged Pakistanis world-wide to oppose a government policy yielding to them.

Pakistanis "need to speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents," Mrs. Clinton said in testimony before a House committee. She pointed to "the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by the continuing [Taliban] advances, now within hours of Islamabad."

Analysts said the fall of Buner to the Taliban came as a serious blow to the government's efforts to contain Islamic militancy, which poses a major threat to Pakistan's security. The people of the area had previously beaten back Taliban raids, but lack of support from the security forces broke their resistance.

The development came after Sufi Mohammed, a radical cleric who played a central role in signing the peace accord called his followers to continue their struggle for the enforcement of Islamic rule in the entire North West Frontier Province.

Addressing a large crowd in Mingora, the main town in Swat on Sunday, Mr. Mohammed declared that there was no room for democracy in Islam. "The Western democracy is infidels and should be rejected by Muslims," he said.

Posted by: eddiebear at 02:17 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Chainsawsuit

More here.

Posted by: Alice H at 12:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Open Carry Okay In Wisconsin

Or is it?

While the state’s top attorney says it is legal for residents to carry unconcealed firearms in public, Milwaukee authorities say they won’t stand for it.

“My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said.

“Maybe I’ll end up with a protest of cowboys. In the meantime, I’ve got serious offenders with access to handguns. It’s irresponsible to send a message to them that if they just carry it openly no one can bother them.”

Meanwhile, Kenosha County’s top cops said how their officers and deputies will respond to openly armed citizens won’t be automatic and aggressive, depending on a number of factors, including the setting and behavior of the citizen involved.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a memo saying the law allows carrying unconcealed weapons without a permit, as long as it’s done peacefully and within specified restrictions, such as not taking guns into schools.

It is an interesting debate (I think we all know what I think) that will probably result in arrests without prosecutions since the carrying of the gun alone is officially not grounds for charge. 

Of course, if we weren't one of the TWO states that don't allow conceal carry we wouldn't have this problem.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 11:52 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Behold The Tolerance Of The "Anti-Racism" Conference

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:22 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Fair and balanced

This San Francisco Chronicle article about some possible new consequences regarding Obama's decision to release the so-called "torture memos" is interesting for a number of reasons, but I thought the language in the opening paragraph (I hate it when people call that a lede, by the way) was very revealing:

Foreign prisoners who accused a Bay Area company of arranging torture flights for the CIA told a federal appeals court Tuesday that the Obama administration's disclosure of memos on brutal CIA interrogations undermined its claim that their lawsuit would endanger national secrets.

Notice that the reporter jumps right into phrases like "torture flights" and "brutal CIA interrogations." Gotta love that objectivity there, right off the bat.

The article goes on to say that "The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment," but does not mention whether or not any effort was made to contact anyone at the CIA. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plaintiffs' attorney from the ACLU is quoted twice.

There is no discussion about whether or not interrogation techniques like waterboarding ever provided any useful information, either.

We don't report, so how can you decide? Oh. Right. Why bother thinking about it when you're gonna get a free Unicorn?

Posted by: Sean M. at 04:55 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Public Access TV+ Prank Calls+ Serious Issue=Awesome!

Ironically, this is still relevant today.

Posted by: eddiebear at 01:06 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Do you live in the DC area?

If so, brace for a bitter snowstorm this Friday.  Why, you ask?  Well, that's when a certain someone is scheduled to testify before Congress on the piece of shit climate bill.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:11 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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moar housing stuff!

Detroit councilman walks from home

Why did he walk? Because he was upside down on his mortgage. Because the rate was about to readjust. Because he *can*. It's not illegal to simply walk away. All that will happen is that your credit gets trashed. But look where he is now:

Not precisely sleeping in the street.

Then there's this:


I've ranted about this before, people think that they can just have the contracts revised because they want them to.  Yeah.  No. 

You know, I have to say, there's part of me that understands that this is the cold blood, rational response. Why not simply walk when the consequences aren't outweighed by the costs?  Hell, the anarchist in me thinks everyone should do this, just to watch the system burn.  But.  Well.  We do have a real world example of the consequences, at least if this is true:


I'm actually terrified to check to see if that is accurate because holy hell.  (Yes, I know that's median, not mean or average, but still).  There you go.  There's what happens.

Think we'll ever hear a word about how Detroit has been under control of the Dems for as long as I can remember?  Didn't think so. 

Funniest.  End.  Of.  Civilization.  Ever. 

Posted by: alexthechick at 06:06 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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Perez Hilton is a Misogynist Douchebag

*** Welcome AoS morons ***

There. I said it. I don't care that he's openly gay, NTTIAWWT. I sort of expect Perez Hilton to have some "ew, ick, it's a girl with boobies" hang-up. But that has NOTHING to do with his vulgar and sexist remarks directed towards a beauty pageant contestant.

Apparently after the flap about his lame question, his faux disgust at her response (which ultimately led him to call her a "dumb bitch"), the only remorse Perez Hilton felt was that he didn't call her "the 'c' word." Watch the video to the very end.

Please note the reaction of the female MSNBC anchor after he laughed at his own suggestion. I doubt she thought it was as comical and cute as the gynophobic Perez did. I know his childish remarks sent me through the roof.

I hope the Miss USA Pageant organizers see this video clip and make sure that he is never invited to be a judge again.

p.s. - I'm sure glad Hilton cleared up that there is a difference between running for POTUS and running for Miss USA. Otherwise people might have been a bit confused. /eye roll

UPDATE: A. Weasel shares this video of Hilton saying how Miss California should have answered the question to HIS liking. And another judge says basically it is better to give a fluff answer than an honest answer. Miss California says "no thanks" to their advice. Good for her.

Posted by: conservativebelle at 04:11 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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On Obama's New BFF, Chavez

As much as I'd like to explode with impotent, profanity-laced rage at this incident, I just don't think it is a big deal.  The first handshake was quite a bit more friendly than I'd like our President to be but being civil to our enemies in personal meetings goes beyond diplomacy and enters the realm of human decency and politeness. 

To put it simply, I'd rather he be relatively friendly with the man than spit on his face.  Let's spit on his face with policy*, not literally. 

The second meeting showed Obama to be (to my eyes) visibly perturbed by Chavez's grandstanding and media whoring.  I hesitate to say that because he examined the inside of the book but, again, what was he supposed to do, throw it away?  Also, he's a Communist so he'll probably enjoy the book.

What I'm saying is, let's get pissed about what Obama does with policy and try not to get to rabid about the little shit.  We already do and will continue to have plenty of big things to bitch about. 

P.S. - The Cuba thing doesn't really matter to me.  I fear the Cuban government will find a way to take advantage of this arrangement financially (abductions, extortion, illegal immigration, etc) but I figure trying something different can't be that bad after 50 years of failure.  While my preferred "different option" would be to surgically decapitate the Cuban regime, I don't think any president will have the balls for that in my life time so I'll take this and see what happens.  Certainly, it couldn't be any worse than the status quo.

P.P.S. - The long speech Obama gave about us having a relationship of equals with the states of Latin America is retarded.  We are in no way equal and diplomacy should reflect that.  If there were a vote to determine an international dispute, why the fuck should Bolivia's vote count anywhere near equal to the United States?  It shouldn't. 

Of course, there should never be a global vote to determine to determine U.S. policy.  We already had one.

* - To be clear, I doubt anything good will come on this front but I'll let him make the mistakes before I roast him for them.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 02:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm Getting Too Old For This Shit

I learned a few lessons this weekend.

1)  Moving a 32" television by yourself could easily qualify you as insane. 

2)  It is not recommended to attempt things that were easy at 21 when you are 29. 

3)  Dollies are your friend. 

4)  3 story houses are tall.   They invented ranch style housing for a reason.

5)  The location of the breaker for the boiler falls into the category of "critical information" when you move into a new house. 

6)  I hate moving with the deepest burning passion.  There is no activity I'd rather avoid.  If I could facecock a verb I'd facecock the hell out of it.

But... we're in the new house.  All is well.  After a few more improvements the house will be comfortable and livable.  I'm sure in a few months the nightmare of this weekend will fade and only the pleasures of home ownership will remain. 

Now, does anyone know tips on installing tile slate on the kitchen counters? 

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 09:32 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Ladies and Gentlemen, the New Leader of the Republican Party (and the conservative movement)

Omg, girl, DiorShow mascara is the best mascara in the world. It's worth the $12 or whatever. THE BEST MASCARA EVER!!

- noted supergenius Meghan McCain.

It reminds me of William F. Buckley's magnum opus, Apple Bottom Jeans and Man at Yale.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 07:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Pac-Man fever

This is pretty damn funny,

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 07:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Hot dogs and beer

That might be the way out of this economic crisis. Or is it?

OHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!

Posted by: Sean M. at 04:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What did they expect?

It's no secret that I'm not exactly a fan of Barack Obama, but at least he made the right call by deciding to boycott this ridiculous anti-Semitic freakshow. Unlike some other countries that really should have known better:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiled as European diplomats left in protest over his opening address to a controversial UN summit to fight racism.

President Ahmadinejad, speaking as Israelis prepare to commemorate the Holocaust on Tuesday, described Jews and Israel's creation as the "ugly face" of a Western conspiracy.

"They sent migrants from Europe, the United States in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine," he said.

"The word Zionism personifies racism that falsely resorts to religion and abuses religious sentiments to hide their hatred and ugly faces."

EU diplomats launched a walk out when Mr Ahmadinejad claimed that the "pretext of Jewish suffering", a reference to the Holocaust, had been used to create Israel.

The "EU diplomats" included representatives from Britain. What the fuck were they thinking he was going to say? "Perhaps we've been a little hard on the Jews in the past, what with all the stuff about them being the 'descendants of pigs and apes'"?

Oh, and I just loved this little detail (with my emphasis)...

Mr Ahmadinejad has previously described the Holocaust as a myth and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map". His speech at the UN conference coincided with the 120th anniversary of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's birth.

I'm sure that was just a coincidence. Yeah.

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:22 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Need moar WATERBOARD!

2,791 times too few, in my opinion.

Posted by: Alice H at 01:14 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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