Sounds like something Bush would like

According to an Associated Press story, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., said Tuesday that he wants Congress to enact a mileage-based tax on cars and trucks to pay for highway programs now rather than wait years to test the idea.

He said he sees no point in waiting years for the results of pilot programs and studies since such a tax system is inevitable as federal gasoline tax revenues decline.

The tax would entail equipping vehicles with GPS technology to determine how many miles a car has been driven and whether on interstate highways or secondary roads. The devices would also calculate the amount of tax owed.

I have such outrage on this topic, I almost have no words. Picture me behind my computer screen right now, arms flailing, sputtering to form words from the guttural sounds pouring out of my mouth. The GOVERNMENT want to put GPS’s on our cars to MONITOR how far we’re going to TAX us? Forget Big Brother. This is worse than that!

What about better managing all the other taxes we pay? Or getting that federal gas tax revenue from the oil companies who are (at this very moment) waking up and bathing themselves in their billions they made from our $5-a-gallon gas? And if I’m going to have to pay for a mileage tax (which I’m not, because if this acutally gets anywhere, I’m marching on Washington, who’s with me?), but if I did, you’re telling me I’d have to pay a mileage tax and the Garden State Parkway tolls?

Rick Perry (Gov. TX) is Bren’t Thug of the Week!

First of all, 75% of Texans polled said they would never want to secede. You just got teabagged, Gov. Perry.

In a sharp rebuff of Gov. Rick Perry, the Senate on Thursday tentatively voted to accept $555 million in unemployment aid from the federal economic stimulus plan.

Senators voted 22-9 in favor of a bill by Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, that would authorize state officials to receive the stimulus money to shore up Texas’ trust fund for unemployed workers.

The Texas Workforce Commission has estimated that the fund will drop $839 million below its minimum required level by Oct. 1 because of the large number of Texans receiving unemployment benefits this year.

If the stimulus funds are not accepted – as the governor has proposed – employers would be called on to make up the difference through a “deficit” unemployment insurance tax next year.

All of the no votes in the GOP-dominated Senate were cast by Republicans, but 10 GOP members joined with Democrats in voting for the bill.

Alright Fine, We’ll Talk About the Tea Parties

I didn’t want to give these idiots any relevancy, but since the nutjobs are sprouting up all over the place, I guess I’ll take some time to respond, however inane their arguments are.

Ok so I think the best way to do this is to just rattle off some facts (and some opinions) in list format for ease of reading:

Here’s are 10 questions for all you people at these so-called T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already…cute isn’t it?) Parties ranting and raving about wasteful spending and deficits–

1. Why all of a sudden are  you upset about paying taxes?
2. Why all of a sudden are you upset about government spending?
3. Why all of a sudden are you upset about the bailout and the stimulus package?
4. Where have you been over the past eight years?
5. Where have you been while GWB and his Republican administration racked up the largest deficit in our country’s history?
6. Where were you when GWB and his administration would not include Iraq in the normal budget and would only pay for it with “emergency spending money” so he could hide the billions that were being funneled to private contractors (aka his friends) over in the Gulf to rebuild and secure a nation that we had just irresponsibly attacked for no good reason?
7. Where were  you when GWB passed the first stimulus package?
8. Where were you when Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt (i.e. more than equaled the entire debt burden produced by the previous 200 years of American history?
9. Where were you when GWB doubled it after Clinton eliminated it?
10. Where were you when Reagan (because of his insane cut taxes/raise spending economics) was forced to raise taxes TWICE to avert a fiscal catastrophe?!

I don’t mind if  you are worried about government spending. I will respect your views as much as their are LOGICAL and VIABLE with facts, history, and reality. But you Republicans and Libertarians and Fox News nuts at these tea parties don’t have facts, history, or reality on your side.

You protest when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office and a Democratic Congress. But you’re silent when there is a Republican President and/or Congress. You are currently a party that is living in a heaping pile of lies, revisionist history, and alternate reality.

You’re not protesting spending. You have rallied behind deficit spending for the past 30 years. You are protesting the fact that you lost the election in embarassing form. You are protesting because you are sore losers and you’re not willing to allow the “other side” even 100 days to try to right this enormous ship that has been diverted off track by your leaders.

Rather than taking to the streets to allegedly protest wasteful spending (by, ironically, wastefully spending on millions of tea bags), why don’t you all take some time to READ FACTS and LEARN HISTORY and deal with REALITY. Just for a change. Just to see where it leads you. You might upset your other ignorant, fire-breathing friends and family members, but you might just feel a little better inside yourselves.

Dozen Dumbest Taxes of All Time

It’s official – tax day is here. UGH. So in honor of this day, we’ve copied the Huffington Post’s Dozen Dumbest Taxes for your enjoyment. They’re pretty funny.

THE NOBEL PRIZE TAX:
Being rewarded for helping bring world peace or writing a great novel can cost you. The “Nobel prize” tax–in reality it also applies to other prizes such as the Pulitzer–is a tax levied against the money a prizewinner receives. Unless, that is, he or she chooses to give it all to charity.

ILLEGAL DRUG TAX
Often referred to as the “crack tax,” this tax targets possession of illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. Over 20 states currently have such taxes on the books. When you pay the tax in Tennessee, you even receive stamps to attach to your illegal substances as proof of payment. And, not to worry, you don’t have to identify yourself in order to pay the tax. Still, do people voluntarily pay the tax, thus admitting to possession? It appears not often, but Tennessee did collect $1.8 million from the tax in 2006; however much of that came from confiscated drugs on which, alas, taxes hadn’t been paid.

BEARD TAX
Tsar Peter I was one of history’s great tax enthusiasts. His taste in taxes was fairly eccentric, and he is know to have taxed everything from beehives to beards. In an effort to regulate his countrymen’s appearance, Peter the Great introduced a special tax on the latter item in 1705. With the exception of the clergy, anyone with a beard was required to pay for the right to sport facial hair

SODA FOUNTAIN DRINK TAX
If you are the type of person who infinitely prefers fountain soda to can soda, you may want to think again before moving to the Windy City. Chicago taxes can soda at 3%, but fountain soda at three times that amount, or 9%.

JOCK TAX
It seems even jocks get picked on by the IRS. 20 of the 24 states with a pro sports team require athletes to pay state income tax for each game they play there. The tax can be traced to the 1991 NBA Finals when the Chicago Bulls beat the LA Lakers, only to receive tax bills from California for the three games the team played there. While the tax applies to other kind of performers who do business in multiple states, it seems that athletes, with their high visibility and well-documented schedules, are the easiest to target come tax time.

URINE TAX
The Roman emperor Nero levied a tax on the collection of urine in the 1st century (his successor, Vespasian, was also a fan of the tax, and applied it to all public toilets.) At least after collecting the urine from public latrines the Romans put it to good use–launderers, for example, apparently found it useful as a source of ammonia for whitening togas.

TATTOO TAX
Anyone looking to decorate their body with their loved one’s name or finally get that eyebrow ring they’ve always dreamed of may not want to do so in Arkansas, where tattoos and body piercings are subject to an additional 6% state sales tax.

SPARKLERS TAX
Celebrating Fourth of July in West Virginia may lose some of its glory when you realize that the state imposes a special tax on businesses selling sparklers and other ‘novelties.’ That comes in addition to the state’s 6 percent sales tax, and so it may be better to head out of state to buy those trick noisemakers.

SALT TAX
Salt taxes have appeared in various nations over the course of history, yet rarely have they been well received by those made to pay them. The French, the Chinese and the British all implemented them at some point. In 1930, Gandhi led an anti-salt tax protest known as the Dandi March, which helped build support for the move towards Indian independence.

BLUEBERRY TAX
It’s not clear why the state of Maine has singled out the blueberry, but be warned that if you want blueberries from there you will be paying a penny-and-a-half per pound tax, which the states imposes on anyone who grows, sells or purchases the fruit.

WINDOW TAX
Also known as the “glass tax,” it was introduced by William Pitt the Younger in eighteenth century England. Any property that had more than six windows was hit with the tax. Not surprisingly, many windows were bricked-over as a result.

NUDITY SALES TAX
Wear less, pay more. At least that’s the case in Utah, which imposes a 10% tax on any sexually explicit business where someone appears nude or partially nude. The tax covers everything from merchandise to food.