"New York Governor David Paterson, however, isn't so keen to raise taxes on rich people, fearing they would all flee New York City. Where are they gonna go, Des Moines? Not bloody likely."
Uh, Connecticut. Duh. That is the reason we exist.
You want to hear the ironic thing? The reason people across the country are getting their taxes raised are because of conservatives and moderates in the Senate who didn't put enough aid to the states in the stimulus package.
Also, I realize this is an unpopular opinion on Gawker media, but I'm of the opinion that Geithner leaving would probably be counterproductive. I mean, fuck, this bonus thing sucks but its not a thing to FIRE him for. We don't even know all the details of the fucking banking plan yet, and the Treasury is incredibly understaffed. Plus, letting Geithner go would seriously cripple Obama politically (yes, I realize that this is a somewhat cynical thing to worry about, but I want to get health reform, people!). It's a horrible idea this early in the new administration.
My dad is convinced that his name made it on the no fly list because Air Force 1 used to fly very low over his house and he would always run outside to shake his fist at Bush. I love my dad.
I didn't like Obama's appointment of Geithner because I thought he was too close to Wall Street, and I wondered if he can't do his taxes right, how could he run the Treasury?
But give the guy a break! I've had jobs where I've had less shit dumped on me at the last minute than he has, and with no more help than he has, and I wouldn't have done any better. If he missed the undigested peanut about the bonuses among the rest of the stinking pile, who would have done any differently?
I'm more worried about Obama. I love him and I love his calm, but isn't it time for some righteous anger?
@BOO_BOO_HOFF: I am no fan of Geitner, but I will give you that. The dude has no staff whatsoever, so more things are falling through the cracks than would if he could.
I haven't been able to find out exactly why it is that he has very few senior staff members yet. Is this related to blocked nominations? Hard to find people? Or is it normal for this time, since it's still fairly at the beginning of an admin?
There is a very small part of me who understands the bonuses. If it was in their employment contracts to pay their shareholders certain dividends, then those contracts would have had to be honored by any company, bailout or no.
I'm not saying it's right, but... if you got a loan from the bank because you couldn't pay your rent, you'd still have to pay your rent, ya know?
Larry O'Donnell went to town this morning on Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA). The ostensible issue was whether Cantor was going to support Rep. Charlie Rangel's bill to tax the heck out the AIG bonuses when it comes up for a vote later today. He couldn't get an answer out of Cantor, though to my ears it sounded like a no. But the larger issue this exchange exposes is just how bereft of solutions the Republicans are right now. The only thing they have managed to muster is a faux populism over the AIG bonuses -- a passing fancy they hope will score some short-term political points:
Hmm, I wonder what would happen if we took all our Righteous Indignation against Geithner/bonuses and, I don't know, used it to light a fucking fire under the asses of teh Repubs holding up Every Treasury Staff Appointment? Perhaps slimeball/incompetent/morally degenerate Geithner didn't catch this horrible event that is probably 0.1% of the entire bailout bill because he doesn't have his own fucking staff yet? This sucks, it is proof of principle that this entire situation is bullshit, but getting ready to pillory the guy before he's even gotten started seems...ridiculous.
I honestly don't get this idea that we need a White Knight moral crusader powerranger in every position. He's policing some of the most intelligent financial minds in America who are constantly looking for a loophole. Yes, I want the guy who worked with them and did a good job ripping off the government because now he will know Exactly What to Look For. I do NOT want the guy who will stand on Wall Street berating them with 'you're all terrible, I would never do such a thing.' This is the place where morally grey deeds get shit done, not pretty rhetoric or moral indignation.
I don't like the TSA either. They hassled my mixed race boyfriend at JFK for half an hour about whether he'd been involved in terrorism and told him he had the same name as a suspect wanted for terrorist activities in London. He asked why they'd let him through at Heathrow, which they couldn't answer. Apparently they finished up their little talk with "Uh, welcome to America!"
@VivianDarkbloom: omg they are so ridic. Like he was going to be like oh Heathrow? Yeah well I'm in deep with some of the Sikh guys in Home Affairs so that works in my favor. WTF? Maybe London has better intell, perchance?
@J.D.Regent: Ha! To get into the US from the UK, they put you through pretty much all the same screening as they do when you land at JFK. His point was - if he had the same name as a terrorist suspect in London, why had London let him through.
@VivianDarkbloom: oh oh oh i see. your MAN asked why they hadn't stopped him. I thought TSA asked him that!!! derrrr. i travel that route frequently and both sides are ridiculous, but TSA is decidedly less competent.
@VivianDarkbloom: I know someone who is the wrong shade of brown because he's of mixed race (also not of middle eastern descent) and he gets stopped a lot on both sides of the pond.
he's hairy too so he makes an effort to be particularly clean shaven when he travels. which makes me laugh.
i'm the "right" kind of brown (i.e. black) and I've been stopped for extra security exactly once (in charles de gaule) and all they did was hand check my carry on luggage in view of everyone (no secret back rooms), and I've traveled a lot, and I'm not going to lie, ever since I realized my chance of being upgraded to first class based on nice clothes and a smile, I roll through airports looking one step above homeless (sweats, no make up, glasses).
@J.D.Regent: I should have mentioned in my reply to you that his flight landed at the same time as a flight from Haiti who were waved through security with no problems.
@VivianDarkbloom: Yeah, it can be discrimination, but more often than not I think it is just stupidity.
I am a petitie, blonde haired blue eyed person who frequently travels on an official passport and I haven't been on a plane in 5 years where they havent pulled me over to go through all of my bags, or brought me into the back room to ask me questions and have a woman pad me down. I have NO IDEA what kind of vibes I am giving them, though I guess when this happens I also think "well, I suppose at least they aren't being discriminatory!"
I do freelance, but I just instructed my husband to draw up a retention contract that includes huge annual bonuses. He deserves it, I mean he's a special snowflake and nobody could do his job as good as he does. Screw bad economic times, if his bonus means coworkers are laid off because the company needs to pay him 5x more instead, well then that's their problem.
@WashingMyHair: I know, I mean, I totally took a class in behavioral economics for my MBA. You see, humans are fundamentally lazy and simply will not show up to work pushing papers for less than seven figures. I have a chart, powerpoint, and a graph as proof.
@seejanerun: I think it's taxed regular but they want to tax it at like 70-100%. My suggestion is just to raise income tax back to REAGAN-era levels (48-52% for top 10% of income earners) and then can make our class rage directed at all the over earners. We all love Reagan right? Who could argue?
My question: where has Henry Paulson disappeared to? Is he in an underground dungeon somewhere(I'm picturing a Gringotts or Scrooge-McDuck like vault where he whittles his time away sleeping on large gold mountains)?
I know that if I made a massive mistake at my job yesterday but resigned today, I would certainly have to answer(and most likely be legally forced to)answer for my mistakes tomorrow. I can't remember the last time Congress interviewed him, but I'm thinking he has some info we can use.
@pupsnpies: I think they sent him to the same airless, underground vault that Cheney went into, you know, the one for people who ostensibly destroyed the world through terrible, incompetent decision-making.
Senator Chuck Grassley over-stepped a bit with the Japanese suicide talk, but he's just expressing the palpable frustration that people feel. I heard part of Liddy's testimony, where he was talking about the threats made against AIG employees, specifically those who got the bonuses, and while it is appalling that people are so ready to lynch these folks, Liddy and crew don't get it. WE'RE ANGRY!!!! The mob is not ruled by reason or logic, and yes, he should be worried. And that should be enough impetus to get him to shake these bonus-takers down and get them to give back every penny.
@NefariousNewt: I wonder if Grassley is a Gawker commenter on the side. It sounds like something that would be funny on Gawker, but not okay to say in the real world.
Yes, thanks to the Illinois tax increases, the Obama stimulus tax break that many people are getting will be all but negated.
I don't understand why shit doesn't fucking work in this state. Back when I lived in Wisconsin, shit WORKED. We had great public schools, roads in good repair, decent public services. In Illinois, nothing fucking works. And it costs an arm and a leg to live here. If it keeps up like this, I'm moving to Minneapolis, Madison, or Milwaukee. Other suggestions welcome.
@morninggloria: don't come to Detroit. This last winter I learned that the state of Michigan has apparently decided to stop plowing and salting all major roads. interesting choice...
@morninggloria: I'm moving to Missouri in a year or two (whenver jobs are available). So tired of paying high taxes to drive on potholes. Not to mention the city schools. . . forget it.
At first, Mississippi may scare you, what with things like having to go out of state if you want an abortion and shizz like that. But the weather's nice, the people are friendly and WE NEED THE PEOPLE!
@morninggloria: Albuquerque's fantastic. Our schools are crap, our roads are crap, our politics corrupt, but it was 82 degrees yesterday and we've got green chile.
@HannahBethD: I've often considered a concentrated resettlement of certain areas of the South. I like everything about it but the conservatives. We can outnumber them with a little concerted organization. Start a farm. I hear the feds aren't raiding pot farms anymore...
@Majrhoulihan: I am most definitely Coast Trash. North Mississippi is where all good things go to die. Oxford is lovely, but everywhere else is a pit. I don't go north of Hattiesburg if I can at all help it.
@J.D.Regent: I seriously think we can outnumber the fuckers. It's cheap to live down here, we've got casinos and we're hoping to get more stuff soon. We're getting a Target in October. We're heathens so you can get booze whenever you want.
@HannahBethD: I have several friends that moved down that way to work for NASA at Stennis. Sadly, most of them are great people in many ways, but hardcore right wingers!
@lindsaylouhan: Fort Collins is way cheaper than Boulder and twice as friendly! Plus, lots of great breweries to bike to, a river greenbelt, awesome parks, Ultimate frisbee, great cheap restaurants, a symphony, and the greatest rockclimbing gym I've ever been to.
"Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) is in the spotlight after he was overheard complaining to airport security workers in Portland about their "stupid" rules as they pulled him aside for additional screening.
And this from a man who helped create the agency that makes those rules. "
That DeFazio/TSA article was delicious. *shuddering from pleasure* I only wish there had been video. Perhaps some people would wish that DeFazio would have gone Diva-berserk on the TSA worker and there would have been sir-ing, then arguing, tazering, back-rooming and finally rubber-gloving, leaving DeFazio quivering in a pool of his own tears/etc...but not me! I am just fine with his pouting, and telling TSA screeners that since he helped create the screening he doesn't have to go through it. No siree. And don't let anyone tell you different!
03/19/09
Uh, Connecticut. Duh. That is the reason we exist.
You want to hear the ironic thing? The reason people across the country are getting their taxes raised are because of conservatives and moderates in the Senate who didn't put enough aid to the states in the stimulus package.
Also, I realize this is an unpopular opinion on Gawker media, but I'm of the opinion that Geithner leaving would probably be counterproductive. I mean, fuck, this bonus thing sucks but its not a thing to FIRE him for. We don't even know all the details of the fucking banking plan yet, and the Treasury is incredibly understaffed. Plus, letting Geithner go would seriously cripple Obama politically (yes, I realize that this is a somewhat cynical thing to worry about, but I want to get health reform, people!). It's a horrible idea this early in the new administration.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
But give the guy a break! I've had jobs where I've had less shit dumped on me at the last minute than he has, and with no more help than he has, and I wouldn't have done any better. If he missed the undigested peanut about the bonuses among the rest of the stinking pile, who would have done any differently?
I'm more worried about Obama. I love him and I love his calm, but isn't it time for some righteous anger?
03/19/09
I haven't been able to find out exactly why it is that he has very few senior staff members yet. Is this related to blocked nominations? Hard to find people? Or is it normal for this time, since it's still fairly at the beginning of an admin?
03/19/09
I'm not saying it's right, but... if you got a loan from the bank because you couldn't pay your rent, you'd still have to pay your rent, ya know?
It's still sucks they paid those bonuses.
03/19/09
Larry O'Donnell went to town this morning on Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA). The ostensible issue was whether Cantor was going to support Rep. Charlie Rangel's bill to tax the heck out the AIG bonuses when it comes up for a vote later today. He couldn't get an answer out of Cantor, though to my ears it sounded like a no. But the larger issue this exchange exposes is just how bereft of solutions the Republicans are right now. The only thing they have managed to muster is a faux populism over the AIG bonuses -- a passing fancy they hope will score some short-term political points:
03/19/09
I honestly don't get this idea that we need a White Knight moral crusader powerranger in every position. He's policing some of the most intelligent financial minds in America who are constantly looking for a loophole. Yes, I want the guy who worked with them and did a good job ripping off the government because now he will know Exactly What to Look For. I do NOT want the guy who will stand on Wall Street berating them with 'you're all terrible, I would never do such a thing.' This is the place where morally grey deeds get shit done, not pretty rhetoric or moral indignation.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
This article astounded me:
[www.huffingtonpost.com]
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
he's hairy too so he makes an effort to be particularly clean shaven when he travels. which makes me laugh.
i'm the "right" kind of brown (i.e. black) and I've been stopped for extra security exactly once (in charles de gaule) and all they did was hand check my carry on luggage in view of everyone (no secret back rooms), and I've traveled a lot, and I'm not going to lie, ever since I realized my chance of being upgraded to first class based on nice clothes and a smile, I roll through airports looking one step above homeless (sweats, no make up, glasses).
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
I am a petitie, blonde haired blue eyed person who frequently travels on an official passport and I haven't been on a plane in 5 years where they havent pulled me over to go through all of my bags, or brought me into the back room to ask me questions and have a woman pad me down. I have NO IDEA what kind of vibes I am giving them, though I guess when this happens I also think "well, I suppose at least they aren't being discriminatory!"
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/20/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
Legalize it - don't criticize it
Legalize it and i will advertise it
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
I know that if I made a massive mistake at my job yesterday but resigned today, I would certainly have to answer(and most likely be legally forced to)answer for my mistakes tomorrow. I can't remember the last time Congress interviewed him, but I'm thinking he has some info we can use.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
Anyway, since the gutting of Jezebel's staff, I've been boycotting Gawker.
03/19/09
I don't understand why shit doesn't fucking work in this state. Back when I lived in Wisconsin, shit WORKED. We had great public schools, roads in good repair, decent public services. In Illinois, nothing fucking works. And it costs an arm and a leg to live here. If it keeps up like this, I'm moving to Minneapolis, Madison, or Milwaukee. Other suggestions welcome.
03/19/09
Maybe it's the high gas taxes.
03/19/09
03/19/09
We should all move together, at least minisparks is fun times!
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
At first, Mississippi may scare you, what with things like having to go out of state if you want an abortion and shizz like that. But the weather's nice, the people are friendly and WE NEED THE PEOPLE!
Seriously, Katrina fucked us up.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
@J.D.Regent: I seriously think we can outnumber the fuckers. It's cheap to live down here, we've got casinos and we're hoping to get more stuff soon. We're getting a Target in October. We're heathens so you can get booze whenever you want.
Plz liberal people! I'm outnumbered!
03/19/09
03/19/09
Just sayin'.
03/19/09
Ohai! Welcome!
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
And this from a man who helped create the agency that makes those rules. "
That DeFazio/TSA article was delicious. *shuddering from pleasure* I only wish there had been video. Perhaps some people would wish that DeFazio would have gone Diva-berserk on the TSA worker and there would have been sir-ing, then arguing, tazering, back-rooming and finally rubber-gloving, leaving DeFazio quivering in a pool of his own tears/etc...but not me! I am just fine with his pouting, and telling TSA screeners that since he helped create the screening he doesn't have to go through it. No siree. And don't let anyone tell you different!
03/19/09