The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

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Can I get a tax accountant up in here, please?

By erica20 on Fri, 01/27/2012 - 6:10pm |

I know you guys are having a fine time over there deciding whether Mitt Romney's religion should/does matter, and that is awesome.

But when there's a break in the action, I'd love it if some of you more economic-smart folks would be interested in figuring out the following:

(Or if you've seen anyone else share these numbers it would be great.)

1. How much would Romney have paid in taxes if the "Cayman Capitalist" loophole were closed? (i.e. no offshore accounts)

Take their money, lose my vote

By erica20 on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 10:35am |

The article about referees "blowing the whistle" on oil companies was quite energizing.  (Heh heh.) So I'm recycling this comment from 2010.

Important parts bolded--the rest included for context. Main point is that Progressives, "True" Conservatives and Economic Tea Partiers have reason to agree on the issue of big money in politics.

But what did Lady Gaga think of the SOTU speech?

By erica20 on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 11:55pm |

I had the feeling that ordinary Americans might have liked the President's speech tonight more than Congress did--even, in some spots, than Democratic members of Congress did.

Is it possible that Spring has come to Narnia, and Washington will be the last to know?

Cayman Capitalism is Dead! Long Live Legitimate Commerce!

By erica20 on Sun, 01/22/2012 - 1:36pm |

Okay, so maybe we're not quite there yet, but a girl can dream, right?

Watching the veil of the Mitt Romney temple break in twain, not over Mitt's religion but from the godless way he actually makes his money--what a pleasant surprise. It's kind of comforting to know that when finally confronted with Cayman Capitalism in all its Reptilian glory...

The one dollar message, slightly framed: introducing GeorgeGives.org!

By erica20 on Fri, 12/16/2011 - 9:28pm |

Dan K's "one dollar message" made me decide to get back in the saddle on a crazy idea which has been languishing in internet limbo for a couple of years now.

Dagbloggers, I bring you "GeorgeGives.org" in which we write messages on dollars, give them to homeless people (or anyone you think needs a dollar, if you're not into giving money to homeless people) and keep track of what happens to the money by recording the serial numbers as the bills move around the country. 

Mitt's religion doesn't matter: Or, get ready for Wall Street's Koch-upation of America!

By erica20 on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 4:50pm |

Dag just posted a great and very logical piece about how Mitt Romney's Mormon beliefs will make it tough for him to get the Republican nomination, given the fact that voters tend to distrust Mormons and dislike Mitt. Although I see the point, I'm pretty sure Romney's Mormonism isn't going to make much difference in either the nomination race or the race for the presidency--unless the Dems decide to make an issue of it, which seems unlikely. Here's why.

"Dear 1%..." Does there need to be more?

By erica20 on Tue, 10/11/2011 - 7:51pm |

I'm trying to write this quickly so I may make a mess of it but please bear with me...

I was reading Synchronicity's post and also DanK's, and thinking about the critique that OWS doesn't have a unified message, etc.

Here's what I came up with:

"Dear 1%,

We are not going to let you run our country based on the idea that shitty is the new fair.

Thank you,

The Other 99%"

 

Rich Americans, Uncle Sam wants you--to hire a fellow American, or your tax cut is toast!

By erica20 on Fri, 08/05/2011 - 2:07am |

I e-mailed our President today to suggest that he use his 3-day "Listening" bus tour to do some talking instead--and that he tell the American People that now that the Republican spend-cutters have clearly put the Govt. out of the business of job creation, the onus falls on our private-sector Job-Creator pals.

Stimulating the Rich: How many jobs will they need to create to keep their tax cut?

By erica20 on Wed, 08/03/2011 - 4:12pm |

A Million. By Christmas. And then they should keep going, for a total of 1.5 Million Jobs by June of next year. Otherwise their tax cut is toast.

Here's how I got this number. I saw a report that the private sector added 114,000 jobs last month, which was actually better than the 100,000 expected. Rich people can do better than this--so let's tell them that if they want to keep their tax cut, they need to create 200,000 private sector jobs a month for a total of 1 Million jobs by Christmas. Then they get to slow down a bit and reach 1.5 Million by June of next year.

Stimulate the Rich: Sign the Job Creator Tax Pledge Now!

By erica20 on Tue, 08/02/2011 - 2:02am |

Watching the whole debate about whether the rich (now known as Job Creators 'cause we can't call 'em RICH anymore) should pay more or less in taxes has got me thinking. And I think that maybe we've done our Job Creators a bit of a disservice.

Rich people are like German Shepherds--they're smart, they're high-strung, and if you don't give them stuff to think about and do, they'll spend all their time chewing on the furniture and biting the wrong people. Or getting a really weird color tan. Why, it's almost cruel to lower Rich People's taxes, like George Bush did, without giving them a way to justify themselves by living up to their reputation as Job Creators. It takes away their pride--they may not know it, but the Rich have sunk into a well of complacency that would put any Welfare Queen to shame. Surely, a rich person's mind is a terrible thing to waste.

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