A couple of updates on the crises in the Middle East, neither of which should be surprising to anyone with a fully functioning brain.
1.) Iran rejected the terms of a U.N. edict demanding it give up its nuclear program.
2.) An Israeli air strike killed sixty civilians in Lebanon.
A couple of quick opinions on these events:
Why would anyone feeling threatened by the U.S. and/or Israel just give up its nuclear ambitions, peaceful or not? Wow, if we ask really nicely do you think North Korea might stop its boasted weapons program? A great big "DUH" moment if ever I saw one.
Next time some asshat trying to justify murder by the IDF says Israel goes out of its way to avoid killing civilians, point to the article linked to above and tell him he's full of shit. Is it just me, or is launching an all-out war over a few soldiers who knew full well what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for the IDF...how can I put it...INSANE? And all the while Bush & Co. drag their feet trying to look like they're doing something when in fact they are actually trying very hard not to do anything.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Saturday, July 29, 2006
House Republicans Extort Wage Increase
I have to give the worthless little stains on humanity's backside, otherwise known as the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, credit on one thing: they sure know how to engage in extortion and face-saving political ploys designed to embarrass Democrats.
In one of their usual late-night sessions in which GOPers pass legislation they know would never survive a full vote by the House, Republicans managed to do what their counterparts in the U.S. Senate refused to do: raise the minimum wage--on the condition that the estate tax gets cut, big time.
Republicans passed this bill knowing it will probably fail in the Senate; that body shot down a minimum wage increase last month. So why did they do it?
Simply put, the Republicans by tying the wage increase to a huge cut in the inheritance tax--which affects only the wealthy--put Democrats in the uncomfortable position of going against one of the party's core issues in the midterm elections. Their plan, a desperate bid to convince voters that Democrats lack the courage of their convictions, is to appear like they're the ones really looking out for the interests of low-wage workers. By passing this bill, they reason, they stand a better chance of keeping control of the House of Representatives (which they've ruled with an iron fist for over a decade, and where any impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney must start).
Look for more of this kind of extortionist tactic the closer we get to November.
In one of their usual late-night sessions in which GOPers pass legislation they know would never survive a full vote by the House, Republicans managed to do what their counterparts in the U.S. Senate refused to do: raise the minimum wage--on the condition that the estate tax gets cut, big time.
Republicans passed this bill knowing it will probably fail in the Senate; that body shot down a minimum wage increase last month. So why did they do it?
Simply put, the Republicans by tying the wage increase to a huge cut in the inheritance tax--which affects only the wealthy--put Democrats in the uncomfortable position of going against one of the party's core issues in the midterm elections. Their plan, a desperate bid to convince voters that Democrats lack the courage of their convictions, is to appear like they're the ones really looking out for the interests of low-wage workers. By passing this bill, they reason, they stand a better chance of keeping control of the House of Representatives (which they've ruled with an iron fist for over a decade, and where any impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney must start).
Look for more of this kind of extortionist tactic the closer we get to November.
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