We need an honest conversation about the Bush years

About the stupidest President we ever had, George W. Bush.

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Senate helps themselves, ends FAA furloughs

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Tax cheats pony up $5.5 billion in amnesty programs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service has recouped more than $5.5 billion under a series of programs that offered reduced penalties and no jail time to people who voluntarily disclosed assets they were hiding overseas, government investigators said Friday.

In all, more than 39,000 tax cheats have come clean under the programs.

But there's more.

Government investigators suspect that thousands of other taxpayers have quietly started reporting foreign accounts without paying any penalties or interest. The number of people reporting foreign accounts to the IRS nearly doubled from 2007 to 2010, to 516,000 accounts, a report by the Government Accountability Office said.

The sharp increase suggests that some people are simply starting to report their accounts without taking part in the disclosure programs, the report said.

"IRS has detected some taxpayers with previously undisclosed offshore accounts attempting to circumvent paying the taxes, interest and penalties that would otherwise be owed," the report said. 

"But based on GAO reviews of IRS data, IRS may be missing attempts by other taxpayers attempting to do so."

Some taxpayers try to avoid penalties through a technique the IRS calls "quiet disclosure," in which they file amended tax returns that report offshore income from prior years. Others simply declare existing offshore accounts for the first time with their current year's tax return, the report said.

"If successful, these techniques result in lost revenue for the Treasury and undermine the offshore programs' fairness and effectiveness," the report said.

Peter Zeidenberg, a partner at the law firm DLA Piper in Washington, said it's pretty obvious that people are starting to report foreign accounts that probably existed for years.

"I don't think you get an increase like that from people just all of a sudden getting the idea I'm going to open an account in Switzerland," Zeidenberg said.

Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller said catching overseas tax dodgers is a top priority of the agency. In a written response to the report, he said the agency is working to improve the way it identifies people who are still trying get around the agency's disclosure programs.

The IRS has run four voluntary disclosure programs since 2003. The last three — in 2009, 2011 and 2012 — have yielded almost all of the $5.5 billion in back taxes, penalties and interest. The latest program is still open.

The agency stepped up its efforts in 2009, when Swiss banking giant UBS AG agreed to pay a $780 million fine and turn over details on thousands of accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets from American customers.

The GAO's report looked at data from the 2009 program. More than 10,000 cases from that program have been closed so far. The median account balance: $570,000.

U.S. taxpayers can hold offshore accounts for a number of legitimate reasons, the report says. They may want to diversify their investments, facilitate international business transactions or get easier access to money while living or working overseas.

But, the report notes, "some use them to illegally reduce their tax liabilities, often by not reporting the income earned on these accounts."

Taxpayers with foreign accounts totaling more than $10,000 must report them to the IRS or face stiff penalties.

The IRS has long had a policy that certain tax evaders who come forward can usually avoid jail time as long as they agree to pay back taxes, interest and hefty penalties. Drug dealers and money launderers need not apply. But if the money was earned legally, tax evaders can usually avoid criminal prosecution.

Fewer than 100 people apply for the program in a typical year, in part because the penalties can far exceed the value of the hidden account, depending on how long the account holder has evaded U.S. taxes.

The disclosure programs offered reduced penalties, but they were not a complete amnesty. In the 2009 program, most of the tax cheats were required to forfeit 20 percent of their accounts, the report said.

Miller said the agency is using information from people who have come forward to target banks and financial advisers.

The disclosure programs helped build political momentum to pass a law in 2010 that will require foreign banks to report U.S. account holders to U.S. authorities, said Ian Comisky, partner at Blank, Rome, a law firm based in Philadelphia.

If foreign governments refuse to disclose the information, U.S. banks must withhold 30 percent of certain payments to financial institutions in those countries — a big incentive for countries to cooperate.

Together, the disclosure programs and the new law offer a powerful incentive for tax dodgers to come clean, Comisky said.

"They are more scared, and they are coming in where they might have been sitting out in the cold," Comisky said. "Now they're trying to come in, even if there's a penalty to do so."

Racial profiling helps terrorists

By Rev. Al Sharpton

4:34 PM on 04/26/2013

 

In the 1990's, National Action Network and I worked on a case with the late Johnnie Cochran where we introduced the term racial profiling into America’s lexicon.

Four young Black and Latino men from New York were traveling to North Carolina for a basketball tournament, when two white police officers pulled them over on the New Jersey Turnpike and opened fire, injuring three of them.

Profiling, whether it be racial, religious, or any other kind, is a poison on society that can unknowingly chip away at its principles. After the catastrophic Boston marathon bombings, we must take great measure in making sure that in our diligent pursuit of all responsible parties, we do not begin down a slippery slope of profiling and demonizing entire groups, religions or ethnicities.

Profiling based on race or religious affiliation is not only immoral and unproductive, but it also gives more power to those wrongdoers that fall outside of the profile. As I’ve echoed for decades, these kinds of dangerous practices criminalize the innocent and rarely solve crime itself, or prevent the actual criminals. Profiling will only help the terrorists.

When Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the now deceased suspect in the Boston attack, allegedly had two outbursts in a local mosque, the members of that congregation shouted him down and asked him not to return (according to reports). Immediately upset over his inflammatory rhetoric towards Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, as well as his objection toward celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving, those in attendance couldn’t have been more patriotic in their stance.

Today, we’re hearing other reports that a Boston mosque (possibly the same one) has refused to hold the funeral and burial for Tamerlan because of his reprehensible actions. And in the recent thwarted train terror plot, it was Toronto’s Muslim community that led police to the suspects. Instead of highlighting these devoted Muslims and their praise-worthy actions, much of the focus has remained on reigniting the flames of Islamophobia and racial/religious profiling.

Since Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev were identified as the bombing suspects, coverage of their backgrounds and the subtle implication of all those of the Islamic faith has been dangerously present everywhere we look. It’s important that we do not lump everyone into one category, or blame an entire religion for the actions of a few.

Just as the appalling alleged acts of Jared Loughner, James Holmes, Adam Lanza, Timothy McVeigh and others do not represent their entire communities, we cannot allow the appalling acts of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar to speak for their respective communities whether it be Islamic, Chechen or any other.

I’ve been a Christian preacher since I was just a little boy. Religion has and will continue to remain a solid foundation in everything that I do. But as a Christian, I can say that there are those who claim to belong to my faith and then behave in the most un-Christian like manner. Am I painted with the same brush as preachers who were also members of the KKK that went and burned crosses, attacked the innocent and condoned bombings of Black churches?

There are and always will be extremists in every religion, just as there are good and bad folks from all ethnic backgrounds and in all corners of the world. We cannot therefore profile and condemn all followers of one religion whenever a disturbed individual(s) takes it upon himself/herself to commit an atrocity. The bombings in Boston pulled at the heartstrings of all Americans and we mourned along with those suffering. But our response to that grief will tell a lot about who we are as a nation.

Last week, John King from CNN made a comment about searching for a ‘dark-skinned male’ as the hunt for the bomber(s) was under way. What his words did was to make every dark-skinned male in the Boston area and beyond suspect and vulnerable to being profiled, stopped, searched, arrested or worse. The New York Post splashed pictures of the wrong men on the front pages of its paper and accused them of being responsible for the attacks.

In all the emotion of the moment, we need to take steps to make sure we are not profiling and harassing all dark-skinned men going forward, or all people of a particular religion, while the real offenders slip under the radar. The most dangerous reaction we can have is to profile the innocent, as those who do not fit the profile can then feel comfortable to execute the crime.

I have long discussed the dangers of profiling. Whether it’s driving while black, practices like ‘stop & frisk’ or going after all ‘dark-skinned’ males or Muslims, or Arabs, or others, profiling creates further distrust between marginalized communities and authorities.

As the foiled train plot proves, more cooperation between them is exactly what we need. We cannot waste time on profiling while the real terrorists get away. It’s time for thorough investigating, law enforcement and prevention; not a witch hunt.

This column also appears on Huffington Post.

Mitt and Ann Romney, here's why you lost the election

Martin Bashir explains to Mitt and Ann Romney, whose latest interview shows they still don’t know why they lost, that America rejected a family who believed they were entitled to the White House.

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How Chained CPI Will Screw Over Seniors

Robert Reich on Chained CPI (the proposal to cut Social Security benefits)

InfoWars host Alex Jones capitalizes on Tsarnaev brothers attention by denying he’s trying to do that

Cenk Uygur and TYT producer Shana Naomi Krochmal dig into conspiracy theories following the arrest of Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev.

Plus, “InfoWars” host Alex Jones makes confusing attempts to disassociate himself from rumors that Dzhokar’s older brother, Tamerlan, may have been a fan by talking about it constantly.

Mark Sanford’s hubris, downfall on full-page display

By John Flowers

Martin Bashir

Polls show Sanford badly trailing Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch — and a new full-page newspaper ad addressed to voters shows why.

Just a few months ago, were someone to ask which toxic Republican—Mark Sanford or Todd Akin—had the better chance at a political comeback, the automatic answer likely would have been “Mark Sanford.”

Sanford was a former governor, with powerful financial connections, running for a reliably conservative South Carolina congressional seat.

Akin, on the other hand, said “legitimate rape.”

How quickly things change, though. Because now, Sanford is sinking in the polls—his Democratic opponent is leading by nine points with the special congressional election just two weeks away—while Akin is the one reportedly talking “comeback” in his first, post-Election Day interview.

How did Sanford manage this amazing feat, of almost certainly handing Democrats a reliably GOP congressional seat? Well, in a word, “hubris.”

Take Sanford’s latest eye-rolling misfire: his response via a full-page newspaper ad to news he’ll have to appear in court—two days after the special election—for trespassing in his ex-wife’s house.

In a week dominated by terror headlines, it’s only appropriate for Sanford to begin this letter to voters, “It’s been a rough week.” What’s inappropriate is that Sanford was talking about himself.

“It’s been a rough week”—for him, he goes on to say—what with facts of the case marring the careful version of a comeback he’s spun for voters.

Well, facts and the media:

“Though we may be public figures, we are still human figures who struggle just as so many other families and divorced couples do in getting childrearing right as best you can. It’s hard enough on its own and it’s nearly impossible when the media is sensationalizing things. I would also respectfully submit that they do a real disservice to the truth when they are grabbing for headlines.”

The Daily Caller is reporting that a D.C. fundraiser for Sanford—featuring Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott among others — has been canceled in the wake of the trespassing story. And that follows news that the National Republican Congressional Committee—the group charged with helping elect GOP candidates—won’t help him.

Apparently, not everyone believes his “but he was my son and it was the Super Bowl” defense carries water.

In fact, one Southern Baptist preacher is already using Sanford as Sunday sermon fodder.
Mac Brunson of conservative megachurch First Baptist in Jacksonville had this to say to his congregation Sunday:

If he dealt treacherously with his wife BEFORE—and the state, and the people who worked for him—do you think character has changed that much that he’s not going to deal treacherously at some point in the future? That’s a white man, GOP conservative. I’m an equal offender, brother. I don’t care who it is: If it ain’t right, it ain’t right for nobody.”

Testify!

Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer: ‘Washington isn’t broken, it’s bought’

Cenk Uygur talks to former Louisiana governor and presidential candidate Buddy Roemer about why he was kept out of national debates during the 2012 presidential race. The reason? Money.

“Here’s what they finally told me,” Roemer says. “Governor, you haven’t raised half a million dollars in the last 30 days… American politics, unlike 25 years ago, has gotten [to the point] where money is the most important thing.”

Splinter Cell: Blacklist Wii U Features Trailer

Take control of the battlefield like never before with the Wii U Gamepad in Splinter Cell: Blacklist on the Wii U!

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

All in favor of pissing on Sean Hannity raise your hand

Faygo Kid (20,168 posts)

Ed Asner appreciation thread. He's 83, after all.

Had health troubles in March, and I'm not waiting until he leaves us to recognize what a great liberal, moral voice he has been. Last month, he had problems at a performance. Here's hoping he's OK, but thanks for all his great performances. I was inspired to remember him because another thread noted Carroll O'Connor - another great humanitarian.

I don't want Ed and all he has done to be neglected, then remembered when he's gone.

He has always had spunk. And I HATE spunk.

Wall Street betting billions on single family homes in distressed markets

By Michael A. Fletcher, Published: April 21

Erik Wesoloski and his partner Scott Kranz pose for photos at their agency Title Capital Management in Miami. Wall Street investors and other big institutions account for 70 percent of home sales in some Florida markets, raising doubts about the state’s housing recovery. Marc Serota/For The Washington Post

MIAMI, FL — Big investors are pouring unprecedented amounts of money into real estate hard hit by the housing crash, bringing those moribund markets back to life but raising the prospect of another Wall Street-fueled bubble that won’t be sustainable.

Drawn by the prospect of double-figure profit margins on rents and the resale of homes whose prices plummeted in the crash, hedge funds, Wall Street investors and other institutions are crowding out individual home buyers.

If the chain of easy credit and dangerous leverage that started on Wall Street fanned the housing bubble and eventual crash, some analysts find it disturbing that major investors are the ones snapping up the bargains — and eventual big profits — left in its wake.

“There is the possibility that Wall Street and the banks and the affluent 1 percent stand to gain the most from this,” said Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant based in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

“Meanwhile, lower-income Americans will lose their opportunity for the American Dream of building wealth through owning a home.”

Real estate executives say institutional investors — who in some cases are bidding on hundreds of homes a day — account for as much as 70 percent of sales in some Florida markets. Over the past two years, analysts say, they also have accounted for a majority of purchases in other parts of the country where housing prices are rebounding sharply.

The influx of investors may explain why home prices have been rising in parts of the country most affected by the housing crash, despite high jobless rates and relatively few new mortgages being issued by lenders. In the past year, prices have risen 23 percent in the Phoenix area, 15 percent in Las Vegas, 9 percent in Tampa and 11 percent in Miami, according to the Case-Shiller home-price indices . Nationally, prices are up more than 8 percent over the past year.

“I don’t know whether things are as good as they seem to be. A lot of properties are being occupied by institutional investors, not the end-user,” said Scott Kranz, co-principal of Title Capital Management, a firm that helps big investors scout, buy and manage homes in Florida. 

 

“The end-user would need to see a great increase in jobs, availability of mortgage money and a loosening of the reins that have been holding them back. But all the economic indicators are that we are not at that point.”

The ability of investors to make cash deals is helping them buy a large portion of the distressed homes that continue to flood the market. Property brokers and others in Florida say traditional buyers — even those able to qualify for financing in a still-tight mortgage market — are finding it difficult to compete with the cash and market savvy of large investors.

“The investors are making it hard for a regular homeowner to buy a property,” said Robert Russotto, a broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate in Fort Lauderdale. “They are getting outbid by people with cash.” Russotto noted that out of the 20 home sale contracts he is the process of completing, 17 of the buyers are major investors.

A desperate bid for attention and relevance

In a desperate bid for attention and relevance, professional imbecile Glenn Beck has come up with a brand new conspiracy in hopes that the lunatic fringe will revere him as King Psycho again.

 By T. Steelman

Right-wing nut job and president of Crazyland Glenn Beck has given the U.S. government an ultimatum: come clean on the Benghazi-Boston bombing connection before Monday or he will expose it. You know, sometimes you just have to wonder – really wonder – about this man’s sanity.

“I don’t bluff,” Beck stated, “I make promises. The truth matters. I’ve had enough of what you’ve done to our country. I thought I had heard and seen it all. I thought I didn’t trust my government. Oh no, no, no. There is no depth that these people will not stoop to. They have until Monday and then The Blaze will expose it.” (source)

Well, gosh. I sure hope that President Obama is paying attention. Because, wow, if The Blaze is going to expose this… well, it’s just too scary to think about (insert massive amount of sarcasm here).

But he’s not alone in thinking (if one can use that word to describe this crap) that there is some kind of conspiracy going on. It all traces back to that Saudi national who was detained by Boston authorities on Monday. The man was cleared of any kind of suspicion. But that’s just not following the narrative that the right-wing crazies have created. Here’s what they think, voiced by Fox News head conspiracy guy, Steve Emerson:

“Remember the Saudi that they initially had arrested, or at least detained? … Well I just learned from my own sources that he is now going to be deported on national security grounds next Tuesday, which is very unusual… This is the way things are done with Saudi Arabia, you don’t arrest their citizens, you deport them, because they don’t want them to be embarrassed and that’s the way we appease them.” (source)

Man, that tin foil hat must be on too tight. These guys believe that there is some kind of connection between that Saudi – who was not arrested but merely questioned – the Boston marathon bombing and Benghazi. I know, right?! These guys, Beck and Emerson, both say that they have “sources” that tell them the Saudi man, whom they identify as Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, is being deported on Tuesday after his visa was revoked. And, according to Beck, he is a “bad, bad man.”

Congressional sources say that there has been a file created for the Saudi man and Sen. Rand Paul (oh, you knew it had to be him, dincha?) has promised to “look into” the reports. But Immigration officials and Secretary Janet Napolitano have called the conspiracy claims “categorically false.” Rep. Jeff Duncan even asked Secretary Napolitano about the connection Thursday morning. Her response was curt:

“I’m not going to answer that question,” she shot back after being pressed by Duncan… “That question is so full with misstatements and misapprehensions that it is not worthy of an answer.” (source)

So I guess we’ll have to wait until Monday to see what Beck has up his sleeve. Though I’m pretty sure that it’s just more of the same: crazed blatherings about things he has made up in his tin-foil-covered head. As usual. He really should see a therapist. Maybe Emerson should join him. Now there’s a group therapy session to make your hair stand on end!

---

      T. Steelman is a life-long Liberal. She has been writing online about politics since 2007. She lives in Western Washington with her husband, daughter, 2 cats and a small herd of alpacas. How can anybody be enlightened? Truth is, after all, so poorly lit…

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Captured

Boston Bomb Suspect Captured Alive in Backyard Boat

Bomb Suspect Manhunt: Neighbor Told Bloodied Body Inside Boat

Auto Start: On | Off

 

BY PIERRE THOMAS (@PierreTABC) , BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , LEE FERRAN (@leeferran) and COLLEEN CURRY

WATERTOWN, Mass. April 19, 2013

The alleged Boston Marathon bomber who hid from authorities for more than 20 hours was captured tonight by police, sending cheers up through the Watertown neighborhood where he was found.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was discovered by a homeowner lying in a boat in the man's backyard around 7 p.m. The man noticed blood on the boat, spotted a body inside the boat and called 911, according to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

According to police, a helicopter with infrared technology then located Tsarnaev in the boat and noted that he was moving about within it. The helicopter directed officers on the ground to the boat, where they briefly exchanged gunfire shortly before 7 p.m.

Police halted their gunfire and sent hostage negotiators to try and talk Tsarnaev out of the boat Davis said.

But the suspect was not responsive, and after about an hour and 45 minutes, officers went to the boat and took Tsarnaev into custody.

His arrest sparked a spontaneous celebration in Watertown with people high fiving police, chanting Boston strong and USA.

"We got him," Boston Mayor Tom Menino tweeted immediately after Tsarnaev was arrested. "I have never loved this city & its people more than I do today. Nothing can defeat the heart of this city .. nothing."

The Boston police department also sent out a tweet in the aftermath trumpeting, "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody."

Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, are believed to be behind the bombing of the Boston Marathon on Monday that killed three individuals and injured more than 170.

Tsarnaev was then transported away from the scene in an ambulance, as law enforcement officials and onlookers clapped and cheered.

The alleged bomber had been shot by police during gunfire nearly 24 hours earlier, when he and his brother allegedly shot and killed an MIT police officer and then engaged in a shootout with cops.

Police said tonight that there were some 200 rounds of ammunition, as well as improvised explosive devices and homemade hand grenades found at the scene of the shooting. Tamerlan was killed in the gunfire, but Dzhokhar fled on foot into Watertown.

Police locked down a 20-block section of Watertown today and searched door-to-door with heavily armed SWAT team members.

But police said at a press conference after the standoff ended that Tsarnaev had escaped their manhunt and hid himself in the boat just one block outside of the perimeter they were searching.

"We know he didn't go straight to the boat," said Watertown police chief Edward P. Deveau. "We found blood in the car he abandoned and we found blood in a house inside the perimeter. We had no information that he had gotten outside the perimeter, but it was very chaotic this morning. We had a police officer who was shot and bleeding."

Salmon and Herring in Oil Recalled for Listeria Risk

By News Desk | April 18, 2013
A New York firm is recalling certain imported sliced salmon and herring products because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Prime Food USA of Brooklyn issued a voluntary recall of its Latis brand Herring Fillet “Mateij,” Herring Fillet “Forelka” in Oil and Salmon Fillet Slices Wednesday after testing by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets revealed Listeria monocytogenes in a sample of product.

The products were imported from Latvia and sold in New York State.

Products subject to the recall include:

- Latis Brand Herring Fillet “Matiej,” packaged in 17.64 oz (500 grams) plastic containers. The 17.64oz (500gram) container has a partial code: 01.14 and UPC Number 7541004076916.

- Salmon Fillet Slices packaged in a 7.5 oz plastic container marked with code.15.07.13(17JL).

- Herring Fillet “Forelka” in Oil, packaged in 11.64 oz (330gram) plastic oval containers. The 11.64oz (330gram) container is marked with code 07.01.14(09JR).

No illnesses have been connected to consumption of these products to date, according to the recall announcement.

Scarborough: GOP Headed to Extinction

JOE SCARBOROUGH: You don't ignore -- you do not ignore 90% of the American people on an issue of public safety. You don't do it. They did it yesterday, and I've got to say, mark it down, this is going to be a turning point in the history of the Republican party as well. And let those out there chattering, let them chatter away all they want to and scream like hyenas. Let them do what they want to do.

This party that killed this background check yesterday, this party is moving toward extinction. A new Republican party is going to replace it and this is going toe a vote people will look back on and say that party, that extremism that was unsustainable. (Morning Joe, April 18, 2013)

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Suspect Arrested In Ricin Letters Case

By Alan Colmes

       Federal authorities have arrested Kenneth Curtis suspected of sending letters to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker and to President Obama.

Both letters carried an identical closing statement, according to an FBI bulletin obtained by NBC News on Wednesday.

According to the FBI bulletin, both letters, postmarked April 8, 2013 out of Memphis, Tenn., included an identical phrase, “to see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.”

In addition, both letters are signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”

Senate Gives Big Middle Finger To Newtown and 91 Percent Of America

By Michael Hayne

Yet again Republicans  chose to kowtow to their NRA puppet masters and a mentally unstable assortment of wannabe Rambo shitkickers  by voting down basic background checks that 91 percent of America support. Due to procedural obstructionism, Republicans were able to prevent the 60 votes needed for the Manchin-Toomey Amendment to pass, with a final vote of 54 in favor and 46 opposed.

It should be noted that Four Republicans voted in favor of the measure, including Sens. Collins, McCain, Toomey and Kirk. But, even more importantly, 4 Democrats voted against it, including Sens. Heitkamp, Pryor, Baucus, and Begich.

Thus, proving my point that both Republicans and Democrats  are married to guns. But regarding the gun marriage, while Democrats have a typical marriage where they rarely have sex anymore, Republicans are on still on their honeymoon and that honeymoon is in freaking Gitmo: indefinite and with no end in sight.

The Tea Party poorly co-opted the esprit de corps of the founders by mistakenly protesting ‘No Taxation With Representation’ (They’re really against Big Prepositions), because with 91 percent of Americans calling for gun background checks and Republicans–including Four Democrats–proudly giving them the middle finger, then we have no representation in the first place.  What we essentially have are a bunch of idiot man-children taking their cues from equally idiotic man-children in NRA  brass due to the fact that they fear getting Primaried by even dumber man-children.

In short, the majority of Republicans and four Democrats who voted against the bill have confirmed the ‘revolving door’ system that infects America more than Honey Boo Boo; that is, their time in Congress is merely a public internship for when they get the real good paying job as a lobbyist down the line.

 Michael is a comedian/VO artist/Columnist extraordinaire, who co-wrote an award-nominated comedy, produces a chapter of Laughing Liberally, wrote for NY Times Laugh Lines, guest-blogged for Joe Biden, and writes a column for MSNBC.com affiliated Cagle Media. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook, and like NJ Laughing Liberally Lab if you love political humor from a progressive point-of-view. Seriously, follow him or he’ll send you a photo of Rush Limbaugh bending over in a thong.

The sound and the fury (and the facts) over Obama’s 18.4% tax rate

By John Flowers

Martin Bashir

A few conservatives are having a good time hitting President Obama over the 18.4% tax rate he paid in 2012. However, a little context is in order.

• VIDEO: Joe Scarborough said “the hypocrisy is mind boggingly” on his show. (Morning Joe)
• Matt Drudge got in a tax-related punch, too. (Matt Drudge)
• Our friends at Fox News handled the issue in their usual, button-down manner. (Mediaite)
• The one “conservative” not willing to bite on the tax “hypocrisy” charge? Donald Trump. (Mediaite)
• So how did the Obamas do it? Via tax deductions. Mostly the ones for charitable causes. (NPR)
• In fact, they gave about 25% of their income to charity. (The New York Times)
• Obama’s federal budget would impose a 28% cap on deductions. “If the deduction cap were in place, the value of their charitable contributions — their biggest deduction — would have declined by about $7,500.” (NPR, interestingly, puts that figure at about $18,000) (Politico)
• But here’s the rub. By one estimate for the previous tax year, people in the Obamas’ tax bracket — the top of the very top (call it “The 5%”) — paid an average rate of 16.4% in individual income tax. (Tax Policy Center)
• Here are the Obamas’ and Bidens’ 2012 tax returns. (White House)
• Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas preferred to attack the President over using taxpayer dollars to … fly Air Force One!! (Sen. Ted Cruz)
• “Fun fact: The Biden-negotiated fiscal cliff deal raised tax rates on couples earning $450K+. Obama wanted $250K+. The Bidens made $385K.” (Steven Dennis)

'You Can't Yadda Yadda Yadda The Last 60 Years'

Jon Stewart began Thursday's "Daily Show" with a look at Rand Paul's visit to Howard University. 

After announcing that people told him he was either "brave or crazy" to go speak at the traditionally black school, Paul attempted to convince the students that the Republican party has always been on the right side of civil rights history... if you disregard the last 60 years, of course.