Estate Tax Lunacy

I have written before about one of the greatest cons the republican party has ever pulled on the American people (Link), and the con goes on.

The great fleecing of America I am talking about is the estate tax. Or, for those of you who worship at the alter of Rush, the death tax.

Harold Meyerson wrote a good piece on the continued push by the GOP to create a permanent aristocracy in the country - Estate Tax Lunacy.

The proposed measure would gut another trillion dollars from the treasury over a decade by eliminating the estate tax. A bone headed Democrat from Montana, Max Baucus, is working on a deal that would only plunge us another half a trillion dollars in the hole as a compromise.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, only 19 family farms in the entire country had to sell off any assets to pay estate tax in 2000. There are 2,000,000 farms in this country. Only 94 family owned businesses had to pay estate taxes.

This means the family farms and businesses had to have assets over $3.5 million as a couple or $7 million for spouses in order to get hit with a tax bill.

Let me say this once and only once - if you have over $3.5 million in assets and don't have life insurance (which is business expense deductible) to cover the estate tax, you have absolutely no sympathy from me and you should fire your financial planner post-haste.

As for the non-farmers and non-family business owners - you know, the likes of the Vice President Dick Cheney, the repeal of the estate tax would save him between $16 and $61 million. Donald Rumsfeld would save between $32 million and $101 million. Ex-Exxon Mobil chairman Lee Raymond would save $164 million. The Wal-Mart heirs would save in the billions - to all of these people, who want to pass along money that mostly has never been taxed to begin with, I say:

a) Life insurance. Check it out.

b) If after leaving your heirs million upon billions of dollars and they still can't make it in the world, the world probably isn't missing much.

Look, I am sorry if Paris Hilton would only be able to throw herself a million dollar birthday party instead of a two million dollar party. But, hey, life sucks. I would rather the money be funneled back into education so the kids who actually have something constructive to provide to society can rise to the top.

I have a pretty earning potential over the course of my life. In the end, if I have (inflation adjusted) over $3.5 million to pass along to my children along with a top notch education and evey other benefit I can give them, and they still can't make it - well, then I failed as a parent.

From the Makers of Bad Idea Jeans

Some things may sound good when you are sitting around a table, knocking back some brewskis with the buds, but on second thought, aren't the brightest ideas. I am pretty sure that is how "New Coke" and "Chia Pets" came into being.

Well, the Pentagon just came up with their own version of Pepsi's bad idea of "Brown and Bubbly" as an advertising campaign (and if you have no idea what I mean by brown and bubbly, there is a very good reason).

The Pentagon wants to attach non-nuclear warheads to the tips of the Trident II submarine launched missiles. This would enable us to hit almost any target in the world within an hour. On first glimpse of the plan, that seems pretty good. We can get info and act on it swiftly to defeat our enemies.

There is only two teensy-weensy little problems.

First, and I think a killer within itself, is its $31,000,000 price tag per missile plus the half a billion price tag to convert the missiles. So, if used against a terrorist camp (as one of the possible uses proposed by the Pentagon) we would be deploying a $31 million dollar missile to blow up a couple of tents, an '81 bronco and a Zenith TV.

The second and really, really important problem - You can't tell the difference between a non-nuclear tipped Trident II missile from a nuclear tipped Trident II nuclear missile by radar or other means until after impact. And, also due to the flight path, unless you are the launcher, you can't tell were the damn thing is going until shortly before impact. This means if we were to launch one against the North Koreans, the Russians and the Chinese would think that it was coming at them. We launch one at somewhere in Afghanistan, Pakistan may think it is coming from India (or vice versa). One of these missiles could easily set off WWIII. Just the fact that Rumsfeld is 100% behind the idea has got to mean it is stupid.

Now, this may not be as bad of an idea as the "doomsday device" in Dr. Strangelove, but is is damn well close.

Pentagon Seeks Nonnuclear Tip for Sub Missiles

Ugg!

Is this really the logo you want for a pediatric center?

New Treasury Sec Nominated

I knew that they guy couldn't be too bad since he is a Dartmouth grad, but it looks like he may be better than I originally thought.

Apparently Henry M. Paulson Jr., currently the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, is at least somewhat based in reality, and has stated that it is in America's best interest to join the Kyoto protocol. Paulson sits on the board of the Nature Conservancy who's statement on the matter is this:

Even though companies here in the United States are not subject to Kyoto’s emission caps, U.S. companies that operate in nations complying with the Kyoto Protocol do have to meet those countries’ caps. Until the United States passes its own limits on global warming emissions, innovative companies based here will lose out on opportunities to sell reduced emission credits to companies complying with the Kyoto Protocol overseas. Additionally, without enacting our own emission limits, U.S. companies will lose ground to their competitors in Europe, Canada, Japan, and other countries participating in the Protocol who are developing clean technologies.

Paulson is such a "moonbat" on the issue that many wingnut think tanks have lobbied against his nomination (Free Marketer: Don't select Goldman Sachs chairman). If the loonies are against him, he probably has some merit. The Freepers are probably going nuts right now.

I have often argued the same line of thought as Paulson. Opting out of Kyoto makes us weaker in the long haul. Unfortunately, I doubt that as treasury sec, he will get too much say on the issue. But at least there will be someone at the cabinet meetings with their head on straight.

Paulson Nominated as Treasury Secretary
By Fred Barbash and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 30, 2006; 12:30 PM

President Bush named Henry M. Paulson Jr. , chief executive of Goldman Sachs, as the new Treasury secretary this morning to replace John W. Snow.

Bush made the announcement at 9:15 a.m. from the Rose Garden, saying Paulson would be "the leading force on my economic team."

Paulson would be the first Wall Street figure to hold the post during the Bush administration. Paul H. O'Neill and Snow were industrial executives. The appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, underscores the traditionally heavy Goldman Sachs presence in top economic policy jobs in Democratic as well as Republican administrations in Washington, represented in recent years by Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Bush economic adviser Stephen Friedman.

The administration is said to have been dissatisfied with both previous Treasury secretaries, believing that they could have done more to get credit for the administration for economic growth.

(Full Story)

Update: Yup, checked out the Freepers... they ain't happy

Want to get a simple idea of what [former Goldman Sachs] Corzine and his [Goldman Sachs] cronies do... watch the movie "boiler Room" only think of it being done by a lot of rich and liberal jewish and secualr socialists with thugs to back them.

President Bush... Who abducted you and when?

This is indeed puzzling!When is"W"FINALLY going to come to grips with the fact that"Making Nice"with The LEFT doesn't work???????????

I've reluctantly concluded that while the President gives lip service to free market principles, he is essentially a crony capitalist, like Ferdinand Marcos.

I held out hope for years that he, unlike his father, was something of a stealth supply-sider. Now I wish I could just give him credit for being a misguided but principled Keynesian, but even that is not supported by his nominations.

I'm mad about this nomination. It will go quite a long way in offending the base and ruining the next election.

Paulson also supports the economy-killing Kyoto Protocol and has demonstrated little respect for private property rights.

I'd bet my mother that Paulson will not fight for permanent long-term tax reform, be it a flat tax, NRST, or any other option that limits the preferences to the companies run by his friends in the liberal social world.

The very second we heard the words ''Goldman Sachs'', the ONLY reasonable response to this nomination became ''no effing way''.

Possible Retraction

Tommy has had some questions I raised about the FBI raid on William Jefferson's office (Link). I offered my response as this:

Thus, therefore, and therehua, the correct way for this to have been done would be for the DOJ to issue a subpoena for any papers related to bribery investigation. A team of lawyers would be brought into the office and would search through the entire collection of papers. Anything that was not relevant is excluded. Anything where the privilege of office attaches, it is put on a "privilege list." Anything relevant is turned over. If the DOJ has issues with anything of the privilege list, the DOJ goes in front of a judge and argues why it would be turned over to the DOJ. If the judge agrees, it will be turned over. If the judge does not agree, it remains privileged.

I have come to learn that the DOJ did in fact issue a subpoena and Jefferson refused to comply with it. While the second part of my response remains the same, Jefferson does have an obligation to respond to a subpoena in a legal manner. A flat out refusal to comply is wrong. I don't know all of what has gone on, but Jefferson should have had the papers where he is applying privilege to put on a privilege list. If the DOJ still wants to see them, they go in front of a judge and ask for a motion to compel. If Jefferson does not comply with that motion, then the FBI has more grounds for raiding his office. This is how it is done for the Oval Office. This is also how it shoudl be done for a Congressional office.

So, at this point, both the FBI and Jefferson appear to be in the wrong legally on this matter. The documents should be returned to Jefferson and then the DOJ should seek their disclosure in a lawful manner.

Real Big Fish

I just have to file this one under funny. This is a week old, but I still needed to comment. I am not bashing the president for this. After all, we have all told "fishing stories" that added a pound or two the the size of the days catch. When Bush was asked about the best moment of his presidency, he said:

I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake,” [Bush] told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

But, I do have to say:

a) it is an artificial lake.

b) it is stocked and he is the only one with access.

c) The largest perch ever caught is 4lbs 12oz.

d) THIS WAS HIS GREATEST MOMENT IN THE PAST 6 YEARS?!?!?!

Well, come to think about it... he is right. That was his greatest moment.

I heard afterwards, Cheney came over and bagged a 32 pound blue gill with his shotgun.

Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling Convicted

Well, it looks like Bush's good ol' buddy, "Kenny Boy" Lay will be seeing the inside of a jail cell. Mr. Lay, who once had his own desk in the West Wing, was found guilty on bank fraud and making false statements. The jury deliberated for only six hours before returning the guilty verdict. Lay was released on $5 million bond pending his sentencing.

Enron Leaders Found Guilty
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; Page A01

HOUSTON, May 25 -- A federal jury found former Enron chairman Kenneth L. Lay guilty of every one of the half-dozen counts with which he was charged and convicted his protege Jeffrey K. Skilling of 19 more on Thursday, pinning them with responsibility for one of the era's biggest and most damaging business frauds.

Jurors deliberated for less than six days over a trial that took almost four months and was more than four years in the making. As they filed back into the courtroom, jurors avoided eye contact with the defendants and their families. Skilling rose first and stood impassively, holding his hands pressed together in front of him and exchanging words with his brother, while the judge read aloud "guilty" after "guilty."

Lay, who sat beside his weeping wife and daughter, bowed his head at Skilling's predicament, then stood and braced himself as the judge handed down a rapid-fire series of guilty verdicts against him. Relatives and friends of both men buried their heads in their hands and murmured "no" as individual jurors affirmed their ruling.

Moments after the verdicts, U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III asked Lay to stand for a second time, finding him guilty of four counts of bank fraud and making false statements in a separate trial, related to personal loans. The judge then demanded that the once-powerful executive who had dominated this city's business and cultural circles surrender his passport and fork over a $5 million bond. At the bond hearing, Lay's wife and three of the couple's children pledged their homes on the promise that he would not abscond before he is sentenced.

(Full Story)

Who Reads What?

READING HABITS

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country--if they could find the time--and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who is running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another
country but need the baseball scores.

10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is
a country, or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.

11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12. None of these are read by the guy who is running the country into the ground.

Iran and the U.S.

As I noted earlier today (Not a Time to Be Stubborn), there may be room to open direct, one-on-one talks with Iran in order to avert further escalation of standoff currently going on between the U.S. and Iran.

Later in the day, an Iranian official claimed that opening a dialogue with the U.S. was in fact not on their agenda (Iran official says US talks not on agenda), and President Bush claims that no talks will be held until after Iran has proven that they do not have a nuclear weapons program. (No Change on Iran Talks, White House Says)

So, why the mixed message from Tehran and the rejection by Washington.

First, I think this is a very similar situation to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. I do believe that Tehran does in fact want to open back door channels with the U.S. When nations send mixed messages like this, it is most often a signal that, while they have to remain defiant for their own political reasons, they wish to engage in talks through other means.

Second, I have no idea what is actually going on in the west wing, but if Bush is using the same tactics as he has done with every other rogue nation, there are no back channel communications going on. But this could be a huge blunder and a missed opportunity.

I will point once again to the Cuban missile crisis. If Kennedy had been stubborn and reacted like Bush is now and not read the messages coming out of Moscow properly, we would have had either nuclear missiles in Cuba, or WWIII. The neo-con, one size fits all, diplomacy that Bush likes to engage in cannot and will not work globally. Even as Ronald Reagan was calling the U.S.S.R. the evil empire, he was communicating through back door means. Unfortunately, I truly don't believe that the presidents advisors have the ability to think outside of their self imposed box, and the president does not have the intellectual capacity to understand the subtleties of diplomacy. Four years of this type of "Bush" diplomacy put us in a worse position with North Korea than when we started.

It was only after Kennedy began negotiations that a bargain could be struck. It may only be after communications with Iran begin that we can start to muttle our way out of this.

Jefferson Refuses to Step Aside

Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana is refusing to step aside from his position on the House Ways and Means Committee even after House Minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, demanded an immediate resignation by Jefferson.

Jefferson, who is under a serious investigation for $100,000 bribe is remaining defiant, even after being caught on tape taking the bribe.

Unlike how Republicans rushed to the defense of Tome DeLay, Democrats need to take a firm position that Jefferson step down until he is either indicted or cleared of charges. And, unlike the GOP, Democrats need to show that they take corruption seriously. Pelosi's demand for a resignation is a good first step, but it should not end there.

Jefferson refuses to quit Ways and Means

Not a Time to Be Stubborn

Iran has requested direct talks with the U.S. over its nuclear development program. This, following an 18 page letter written to Bush, is the first real interaction we have had from Iran in the past 25 years. Both the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have endorsed direct negotiations with the U.S.

Sa far, Bush has dismissed all overtures to the U.S. as being purely tactical. This could be correct, but it might also be wrong. By rejecting the Iranians outright, bush may be missing an opportunity to make substantial progress on the issue. To start to analyze the issue, we must remember that Iran does have every legal right to engage in a peaceful nuclear program. It is only on nuclear weapons that we have any standing to intervene

In 1962, despite hard-line rhetoric coming out of the Soviet Union in regards to the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy was smart enough to open up back door communications with Khrushchev, do some dealing, and successfully end the nuclear stand off. If Kennedy had not had the foresight to engage the USSR diplomatically, and instead played only a game of nuclear chicken, we would have either endured missiles in Cuba for the next 30 years, or even possibly engage in nuclear war.

For Bush not to engage the Iranians in talk is foolhardy in the least, and possibly down right disastrous. Maybe the talks would be fruitless, but a door not knocked upon is a door never opened.

The only reasons for not engaging the Iranians at this point is either because Bush cannot swallow his cowboy machismo, or he is hanging political advantage on ratcheting up tensions with Iran even further.

Either way, rejecting the Iranians outright is a dereliction of his duty to the American people. There is little upside to outright rejection and a big down side. Not only would the Iranian leaders be put in better standing in the eyes of their own people, but we loose future opportunities for meaningful progress without "complete submission" by the Iranians (which we already know they don't go for). If negotiations fail, we can always go back to the current course of actions.


Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program
By Karl Vick and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 24, 2006; Page A01

TEHRAN, May 23 -- Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats.

The eagerness for talks demonstrates a profound change in Iran's political orthodoxy, emphatically erasing a taboo against contact with Washington that has both defined and confined Tehran's public foreign policy for more than a quarter-century, they said.

(Full Story)

FBI Raids Congressional Office

In all appearances, Congressman Jefferson (D-La) is guilty as sin for taking bribes and adding to the already corrupt congress than inhabits D.C. He, along with any other corrupt politician, should be punished for their misdeeds and he should be run out of town on a rail. The fact that he is corrupt does not surprise me in the least. Louisiana has some of the most corrupt politicians in the country (regardless of party). A former Governor (who is now in federal prison) was even re-elected after he was indicted on federal bribery charges. Corruption in Louisiana is as common as the afternoon summer thunderstorm in the Mississippi delta. jefferson even says he plans on running for re-election, and in all honesty, it would not shock me in the least if he is re-elected (pending trial results).

But, the FBI raiding his capital hill office is going way beyond the separations of powers and is down right wrong. His home is one thing, but no congressman of any party should ever have their office raided in the middle of the night.

Even the likes of GOP leaders such as Senator Frist and Newt Gingrich are calling this a serious violation of presidential enforcement powers.

“What happened Saturday night ... is the most blatant violation of the Constitutional Separation of Powers in my lifetime,” Gingrich fumed, after having seen news of the search on CNN. “The President should respond accordingly and should discipline (probably fire) whoever exhibited this extraordinary violation. ... As a former Speaker of the House, I am shaken by this abuse of power.”

Who ever made the final call on this blunder should be given walking papers, and Bush should make sure of this. Of course, Bush doesn't seem to mind any other crossing of constitutional lines.

GOP worry over FBI’s raid on Dem

FBI Raid on Lawmaker's Office Is Questioned

So $90,000 Was in the Freezer. What's Wrong With That?