Ironically 47% DO pay for operation of federal government just with a different tax...

Everybody who gets wages or a salary pays Social Security tax, which was doubled in the 80's to accumulate a surplus to prepare for Baby Boomers retirement.

Instead, government did some three card monte and borrowed that surplus to pay for other expenditures, which was absolutely necessary because of cuts to the income tax that mainly helped the very wealthy.

Any talk about "reforming" Social Security is really about welching on that debt.

So the 47% are LOANING money to the federal government, who keeps trying to talk their way out of repaying them.

When the top 1% (really of 1% of 1%, etc) loan the government money, they fully expect to be repaid and they are.

In a way, that means at least half the tax payers are getting screwed, but it's not the half Republicans claim.

PHOTO: Netanyahu passes Baby Bush, descends to Rocky & Bullwinkle level of evidence

I thought nothing could be lamer than the Bush mobile chemical weapons lab drawings as an excuse for a war but Netanyahu did it at the UN, with an illustration that wouldn't be convincing in a Saturday morning cartoon.

This is more likely to insult his audiences intelligence than persuade them of anything.



CONTEXT OF PHOTO

I think he's trying to say that if we do not act now, the moose and squirrel are in existential danger.



Note how accurate his drawing of the bomb is!

Bush deleted no threat of attack from Iraq line from NIE; why believe IRAN is a threat?

Obama seems to be walking a fine line on Iran between placating Israel and not starting a World War. I wish he would just come out and say Iran even with nukes is no threat to us or even to Israel, as the National Intelligence Estimate in 2002 made clear about Iraq in spite of the fear-mongering in the press and from the Bush admin.

who is a better Obama: Fred Armison or Jay Pharoah?

Fred



Jay



I give the hat tip to Fred for the more dead on imitation, but Jay has a more satirical edge.

Iran, Israel, and Existential Threats

Somebody bothered to ask the president of Iran what the hell he meant by that Israel "wiped off the map" comment a few years back. His answer is in the excerpt below.

It is also worth noting that when Saddam Hussein attacked Iran with chemical weapons, Iran did not respond in kind, and their religious leaders have said nuclear weapons are a sin. They also haven't invaded any countries for over a hundred years, and have a military budget that's a fraction of ours.

The truly ironic thing the author of this article pointed out is that while Obama was telling the Muslim world that we don't kill people over offensive words and images, our government and Israel are contemplating killing a lot of Iranians over that "wiped off the map" comment and the possibility that they MIGHT get nuclear weapons and MIGHT use them on Israel or the United States, and action that would be self-inflicted genocide since Israel has hundreds of nukes and we have thousands, more than enough to wipe Iran off the map and have plenty left over for every other possible enemy.

I don't like many aspects of their religious government, but is not justification to kill thousands or start a war that could escalate to a World War since China and Russia might not look too kindly on our military occupation of the top three oil reserve countries in the world.

There is a lot of scare-mongering here on DU about Iran and I think most people are too smart to fall for it. We need to convince our friends and neighbors too, so politicians might at least think twice before doing this.

Why do so many Dem Party leaders support groups who support GOP & destroy lives of Dem voters?

In election season, we at DU are not supposed to advocate for voting for other than Democratic candidates (which makes sense given the name of the site), but when we are asked to give our dollars, time, and votes to Democratic candidates, it's worth asking why many top party leaders support GOP groups and ideas that are harming Democratic voters and all Americans--and those groups give money to Republican candidates.

While I am grateful that Obama has given NCLB waivers and funding to prevent teachers from being fired due to budget cuts, he still supports the conservative education agenda of repetitive standardized testing, replacing real public schools with for profit charter schools that siphon off tax payer money into profits, and the like.

Likewise, he rolls Social Security into deficit reduction talks as if it contributed to the deficit rather than running a surplus for a couple of decades to prepare for the Baby Boomers retirement so the program can still be roughly pay as you go, and the rest of the budget has borrowed that surplus.The only way Social Security contributes to the deficit is if Washington has no intention of paying back what they borrowed from the SS trust fund. Why treat a debt to American workers any less seriously than a debt to an investor, bank, or foreign country?

We need to light a fire under those at the top of the party and let them know they need to put more daylight between themselves and corporate compliant Republicans. The Chicago teacher's strike should have been their wake up call--don't let them hit snooze.

TOM TOMORROW TOON: further gaffes from the Romney video

Lincoln trailer: a reminder of what we expected of Obama and what he could still be

Watching this trailer, it's hard not to think of the short-sighted political and moral pygmies Obama has surrounded himself (i.e. Rahm, Arne Duncan, Geithner, and most of his economic advisors) with and compromises he has made in contrast to our hopes after the lowest point of our democracy.

Most politicians are creatures of their times and seem to have no ambition beyond the approval of and compensation from the handful of very wealthy who can put them in office or remove them it (walking on their own two feet or otherwise).

As naive at it may be, I still have a glimmer of hope that Obama is Lincoln, waiting for his Antietam, that will give him the opportunity to change history as profoundly as Lincoln did at that moment.

PIC: another way Romney could still win...

Romney has an ace in the hole he hasn't played yet...

"Vote for me, and I'll show you how to get rich bankrupting businesses! It's quick, easy, and all it takes to get started is borrowing a couple of million dollars from your parents!"

He could do a late night infomercial and sew up the whole race.