Fear of Clowns

A report commissioned by the Minnesota legislature concludes,

For Pawlenty and MnDOT, the harshest criticism may have come in the report's finding that funding influenced decisions concerning the bridge. The decision to postpone a $13 million redecking -- and instead proceed with a $3.5 million overlay that was underway when the bridge fell -- meant "funding considerations deferred work on the bridge that would have improved its structural integrity, not just maintain its drivability," the report concluded.

Labels: I-35 bridge, Minneapolis bridge, pawlenty, Republicans, taxes

// posted by Erik @ 5/21/2008 10:08:00 PM
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From an email John McCain sent me today,

Today, there are 47 million uninsured individuals in the U.S., and nearly a quarter of them are children. High costs and limited access are the underlying, fundamental problems in our healthcare system.

As you know, both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are touting outrageously expensive and unrealistic universal health care plans - a government monopoly over health care.

Unlike my opponents, I do not believe that all of our nation's problems can be solved by turning control over to our government, with all the tax increases, new mandates and government regulation that come with that idea.

The Mcain solution,

I will reform the tax code to provide every family the option of receiving a direct, refundable tax deposit - effectively $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 cash for families to offset the cost of insurance.

McCain openly admits he's no economic genius, however few realize this means he can't multiply or divide even with the assistance of senior campaign lobbyists aides.

Assuming every U.S. household received McCain's proposed individual refund ("$$$CASH$$$" no less!), the math is,

126,316,181 US Households x $2,500 each = $315,790,452,500

Without raising taxes, McCain is proposing greater than a new $316 billion unfunded mandate. In other terms he's proposing more than doubling the yearly deficit.

Labels: 2008 elections, McCain, taxes

// posted by Erik @ 4/29/2008 08:05:00 PM
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I was looking at McCain's campaign site today. It's a cut and paste right wing propaganda job. His solution to every problem is lower taxes, more troops in Iraq, being more ready to blow up more things and not allowing any "legislating from the bench".

Dedicated Republican voters are Pavlovian dogs trained to jump to wrong conclusions upon hearing any one of over a dozen (but less than a score) key words and short phrases. For instance, when they hear "legislate from the bench" they think "dead babies" instead of "the process of creating precedent, creating that body of law known as case law." When they hear "climate change" they think "Al Gore's house is HUGE!" instead of, "God, I hope we're not absolutely screwed." When they hear "tax cuts" they think "Always good! Never bad! NEVER!" instead of "Haven't we already spent enough future generations' taxes?"

There's much anecdotal evidence that today, an unprecedented amount Americans are again accepting shared consensual reality over the keyword-induced mass hysteria spun by the "movement conservatives". And statistical evidence supports the anecdotal,

Call it the enthusiasm gap: In everything from voter turnout to campaign fundraising, Republicans are lagging in ways that could mean trouble in November.

Nationwide, the Democratic vote [in primaries] has swamped the GOP. While 10.9 million Americans have voted in Republican primaries so far, 15.7 million - 44% more - have voted in Democratic ones.

Labels: 2008 elections, Republicans, right wingers, taxes

// posted by Erik @ 2/14/2008 08:24:00 PM
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In days when I served as a left wing agitator on right wing message boards, I was repeatedly asked for the $300 I got from the Bush tax cuts. Yes, there are many people that clever.

This new bi-partisan free $600 is a stupid idea. It's just that much more debt we're collectively racking up. When government spends money on credit - tax cuts or rebates, earmarks or wars - it does indeed artificially give the economy a short-term boost. But that boost is no different than the boost a small business owner gets when he pours more money into a failing business by putting expenses on a credit card.

The economy is unpredictable beyond the fact it runs in cycles. I just wanted to go on the record now so I have something to point to should any of my left wing comrades offer to take my $600 if I don't want it.

Labels: free-markets, left wingers, liberalism, right wingers, taxes

// posted by Erik @ 1/24/2008 09:46:00 PM
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Who can be against a war tax?

Top House Democrats Tuesday proposed a "war surtax" to pay for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a plan quickly condemned by Republicans and opposed by the House leadership.

The surtax would be "a percentage of your tax bill," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wisconsin. "And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war."

Why stop at a war tax? I'd love to see my tax contributions fleshed out.

• War .... 45% ($2250)
• Interest on debt .... 6% ($300)
• Education, disease prevention, environment, non-military scientific research, transportation, etc. .... < 5% ($250)

Labels: iraq, taxes, transportation, war

// posted by Erik @ 10/02/2007 08:18:00 PM
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The Reagan conservative movement has been tremendously successful in spreading disdain for taxes and governmental spending on everything unrelated to war. One result in Minnesota has been a perennial $1.8 billion shortfall in transportation funding.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty followed through on his "won't raise taxes" promise each time a transportation bill including a tax increase came before him.

Minnesotans obviously didn't take the initiative to spend their tax relief wisely.

The bridge was known to need structural maintenance, but the MN Department of Transportation needed to do things on the cheap,

More than a year before the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed, a consulting firm advised the state of Minnesota that the aging bridge should be reinforced with steel plating.

Instead of following that advice, state officials asked the firm to come up with other options.

Six months later, the URS Corp. did just that.

It repeated its recommendation for steel plates, but offered an alternative described as "most cost efficient" -- the state could inspect the 40-year-old bridge for cracks and repair any it found.

The day it happened, emergency vehicles started passing me as I turned off I-35 on to 46th St. to pick up a friend on the way to the Twins game. Forty-sixth is about three miles south of the bridge. We didn't know exactly what had happened until we left the game - I had guessed there had been an industrial fire at the paint plant by the bridge as we saw helicopters and black smoke when approaching the Metrodome, just blocks from the bridge. Creepy to think had I not been going to the game, I wouldn't have written two personal letters after work and that may have put me in a bad window of space-time.

But I can be thankful the collapse will only add 10 or so miles to my commute and that my state taxes haven't gone up recently.

Labels: conservatism, I-35 bridge, Minneapolis bridge, pawlenty, taxes, transportation

// posted by Erik @ 8/04/2007 06:12:00 PM
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