Obama and McCain Tax Plans Compared

Here is a good comparison chart of the candidates tax plans., from a very reputable source.

As you can see, McCain and Palin’s claims that Obama will be raising taxes on the middle class are complete crap.

Texans are amazing

Texans are amazing. I suspect this is probaby true of every other state too. Here’s a story to read:

New poll shows Texans want better roads; don’t want to pay for them

I guess people expect the roads to magically build and maintain themselves. With regard to high gas prices and the cost of commuting, here’s something from near the end of the article:

Only 37 percent said they would consider moving closer to work or school so that the commute would not be so far.

It will be interesting to see if this number changes over the coming years, or if people will just remain stupid.

George Carlin

A few months ago, George Carlin performed in Fort Worth. Knowing that he was getting older, I figured we should go see him while he was still around. We did — he was great — but now he’s dead, which is a bummer.

With the 4th of July coming up, and Carlin now dead, I thought it appropriate to post some video of Carlin talking about various things like the Bill of Rights, corporate ownership of the country, etc.

If there was bullshit around (and there always is), you could always count on Carlin to ask loudly “What stinks?”

A great blog

I don’t normally post links to anything even remotely political, and I never argue politics with anyone – it is rarely a good idea.

However, I discovered this site today — it is the site of former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Reich is, without a doubt, one of the smartest people in the country. He also possesses a great internal bullshit detector. He’s a guy who likes a good idea, and while a democrat, he would certainly support good ideas from republicans too (I realize such a thing is unlikely, but it isn’t a complete statistical impossibility).

http://robertreich.blogspot.com/

His posts tend to long, but well written. I have checked him before, and his numbers are accurate.

Do yourself a favor and read his blog.

Texas Democratic Bullies

Here is a note from the Quorum Report, a Texas Political Website. 

The Kucinich for President campaign is filing a lawsuit against the Texas Democratic Party to stop the Party from excluding Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich from the Democratic primary election ballot. A co-plaintiff in the lawsuit is legendary entertainer, longtime Kucinich friend, and Texas voter, Willie Nelson.

The state party notified the Kucinich campaign today that its application for a place on the Texas primary ballot was rejected because Kucinich refused to “swear an oath” to “fully support the Democratic nominee for President, whoever that shall be.”

I’m not surprised by this. During the last presidential election, I served as a county delegate to the Texas Democratic Convention. I did not find the membership of the party to be very progressive (though there were some exceptions), and frankly I thought throughout most of the post-precinct-level activities I was strongly encouraged to NOT vote my conscience. I’m sure the same is true on the Republican side.

Anyway, I hope Kucinich wins this lawsuit.