Church

“I don’t go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.” I was browsing the web today and found this quote attributed to the great director Billy Wilder. I am not sure whether it was given to a character in a film, but I think it’s clever. It says something both funny and serious about going to church, prayer, and taking something…

Cleveland!

My plane did not land until nine at night, and I was expecting a hungry evening. What a surprise, then, to walk out of my hotel, near ten o’clock, and find East Fourth Street packed with people, the restaurants jammed, the air alive with excitement.  This was not the vision I’d had.  via www.ruthreichl.com Yes, Ruth, there is good food…

Perry’s Oct. 28 Very Un-Presidential Speech in New Hampshire

U.S. Presidential candidate Rick Perry made a bizarre and un-Presidential speech which lasted 25 minutes in New Hampshire on October 28. Is this how the United States President should present himself? (The clip I used shows the moments that are most unusual; it includes Rachel's Oct. 31 introduction to her show, and then moves into the Perry footage, which is…

Marriage

Really? Gay people cannot marry but we have to protect the sacred institution of man-and-woman marriage so that people including Kim Kardashian (filed for divorce today after 72 days of marriage to Chris Humphries) and Britney Spears can treat it like they have? Honestly? See this roundup article for other very short marriages that do a great job of presenting…

Perry’s Jobs Plan

According to an article by Susan Adams in Forbes, Texas governor and United States presidential candidate Rick Perry's jobs recently revealed plan to create jobs is in fact a nearly word-for-word restatement of the American Petroleum Institute's wish list. Although the plan does not explain how such actions would lead to job creation, the plan projects creating 1.2 million jobs…

Warren Buffett on Tax Reform

In the Aug. 14 New York Times, Warren Buffett makes the argument against "coddling the rich." He writes, "OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched." Read the rest of his insightful op-ed here:…

Michele Bachmann and One of Her Tax Reform Ideas

In a Forbes article, Howard Gleckman provides an analysis of what would happen to taxpayers and taxes if one of Michele Bachmann's ideas for tax reform were implemented. This is especially interesting if one remembers how energetically many Tea Partiers rail against the way that the people who earn the lowest incomes frequently do not pay much, or any, income tax. "In a revealing…

2012 Proposed Budget Changes to Medicare and Repeal of Health Insurance Reform

I've been thinking about the recommendation to privatize Medicare, recently announced by Paul Ryan as part of the Republican Party's 2012 federal budget proposal. Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin was chosen as chairman of the House Budget Committee after the Republican victories in the 2010 midterm elections. The proposed 2012 budget would reduce the amount currently budgeted for Medicare and change Medicare…