Shocking

"The tax audit rates of the largest companies are less than half what they were 20 years ago while more small and mid-size businesses are coming under scrutiny, according to an organization that monitors the Internal Revenue Service."

Fewer large corporations audited by IRS - Yahoo! News

Nutty Republicans

I have a white supremacist in my neighborhood which I'll blog about soon; however...

I stopped by a local eating establishment lately, and on the way in I picked up our only local muckraking paper the Phoenix New Times.

The proprietor took my order, looked down at the paper, and said "Soooo, what's the propaganda rag have to say this week?" with a raised eyebrow.

I grinned, looked around at the 5 TV sets blaring FauxNews and said, "You seem to be the expert on propaganda around here.. you tell me."

He lost his half-grin, looked like he thought better of what he was going to say, and walked away.

Hell, I thought we were having some friendly banter. I forget how sensitive these right-wingers are.

Worst Track Ever

"Four out of five Americans believe things are 'on the wrong track' in the United States, the gloomiest outlook in about 20 years, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released on Thursday."

This should surprise no one; however, I find the number of Republicans who cling to the failed ideas of their party to be astonishing.

Most of the right-wingers I know refuse to link Bush's foreign policy with the Iraq disaster, the broken economy with Bush's tax cuts, or any other predictable disaster bestowed upon us by Worst Ever.

Furthermore, they can't wait to see McCain elected for a third Bush term. Absolutely stunning. I was shocked when the country, legimately or not, allowed Bush another 4 years to do damage to the US. I will not be shocked, but bitterly disappointed at the stupidity if McCain was able to do the same.

81 percent of Americans think country on "wrong track" - Yahoo! News

Bush Depression?

"Yes, our five-year war was totally financed by borrowing. But unfortunately, 'deficit spending gives the illusion that the laws of economics can be repealed. They cannot. Americans will have to pay for the war at some point -- and when they do, they will be paying not the Bush markdown but the full price'"

Startling honesty from a corporate media source. Editors today appear to be letting their writers run free; do you suppose they want some credibility when the crash comes?

Aside from the Social Security hysteria (the problem is Medicare, not SS); this piece lays out many of the reasons the Bush economic policies and former Republican rule have set us up for a huge mess in the coming years.

Ten reasons your taxes are going up no matter what - MarketWatch

The Roberts' Court

"The family of a Missouri woman must reimburse Wal-Mart for nearly a half-million dollars in medical expenses now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review her case."

The story is heartbreaking: a woman who stocked shelves at Wal-Mart was in a car accident where a semi destroyed her mini-van and left her with severe brain injuries. Luckily, she had been paying for health care insurance and her expenses were covered.

That is, until the family sued and won a judgement against the trucking company to obtain funds for her lifelong care. Winning that money gave Wal-Mart the right to sue her for every dollar they paid in health care.

That's right: if you sue and win $1 in damages for your long-term care, your employer can sue you for every dollar they ever paid out to you in health care benefits.

The Roberts' Court refused to hear their appeal. It is obvious to me why they would refuse. The Court is so tilted to the right, I'll be shocked if an employee-friendly decision comes out of this court in the next 20 years. The Court knows this, and if this was a case where Wal-Mart was suing a drug-using black or Hispanic woman; they'd probably hear it. But given the woman's son just died in Iraq, the father was just treated for prostate cancer, and Wal-Mart is asking for more money they received in the settlement -- there's no way the Court wants to get involved in the PR shit-storm that should rightly emanate from this travesty of justice.

Little do they know, were this case heard and decided, most of the public wouldn't even notice; and FauxNews would heartlessly smear the family to mute those voices that did give a damn.

STLtoday - Brain-damaged ex-worker must pay $470,000 to Wal-Mart

Close Mouthed

Anyone else noticing their Right Wing buddies don't have any fun talking about politics anymore?

God Love The Onion

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

No One Could Have Predicted American Unease with the Economy

"Except for the late 1990s, pay has been stagnant for more than a generation, barely keeping pace with inflation. In 1973, the median male worker earned $16.88 an hour, adjusted for inflation. In 2007, he earned $16.85.

For many families, the stagnation has been moderated by the addition of a second paycheck as more women went to work, and their pay rose over the same period.

But the largest gains went to workers at the top of the pay scale. Now, economic worries are rising fastest in households with smaller paychecks, and that chasm is widening."

Economic woes reveal a long-felt unease - Yahoo! News