Three days ago, in his first remarks as Speaker, McCarthy vowed to "stop the rising national debt." Today, Republicans tried to rescind IRS funding, which would increase the deficit by $114 billion.
It took 3 days before they dropped all pretenses to yet again coddle the rich.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) January 10, 2023
"If the President were presented with H.R. 23 — or any other bill that enables the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to cheat on their taxes, while honest and hard-working Americans are left to pay the tab — he would veto it."https://t.co/Geuf9kde6P
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) January 10, 2023
Ooooh, Kev can call spirits — well, poo-flinging monkeys — from the vasty deeps…
The White House made its first veto threat of the new Congress Monday, targeting a House Republican bill that would rescind funding allotted to the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last summer.
“This reckless bill would increase the deficit by nearly $115 billion over 10 years per an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office by enabling wealthy tax cheats to engage in additional tax fraud and avoidance,” the administration said in a statement, citing the score released Monday.
“If the President were presented with H.R. 23 — or any other bill that enables the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to cheat on their taxes, while honest and hard-working Americans are left to pay the tab — he would veto it,” it added.
Such a bill, should it pass the House, would almost certainly never survive the Democratic-controlled Senate to reach Biden’s desk…
“Are they going to have a strike force that goes in with AK-15s already loaded, ready to shoot some small-business person in Iowa?” mused Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Fox and Friends last summer.
It’s a talking point fully untethered from the reality of the Inflation Reduction Act. The 87,000 figure comes from an old Treasury Department report, issued before the Act became law, estimating the number of full-time employees the IRS would be able to hire by 2031 with an $80 billion infusion. Much less than funneling new funds to a supposedly rabid group of IRS agents who habitually terrorize gentle Iowans, that money would be used to hire employees spread across the agency, many in functions like customer service…
But the Republican animosity towards the IRS is nothing new. Through hearings and ginned-up scandals, the party has been aiming at the agency for decades with tangible results. The cumulative effect is an agency understaffed, using hopelessly outdated technology, that completely lacks the resources and firepower to go after top earners, many of whom hide their money and assets behind accounting trickery and batteries of lawyers.
As the White House points out in its statement — and as other, independent analyses have also noted — that means billions of dollars in uncollected taxes owed to the government…
I’ve been pushing to give the IRS the resources it needs to serve taxpayers and crack down on ultra-wealthy tax cheats. With 50,000+ workers—including many customer service representatives—set to retire soon, time has been of the essence. (2/3)https://t.co/sZBp3NFnCE
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) January 10, 2023
Of course, when your majority is fragile enough that a few overdue indictments could kill it, you do what you can.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) January 9, 2023
The historic chaos in the House of Representatives this past week embarrassed not only a party, but an entire nation. A small minority blocked the House from electing a leader, or even swearing in its own members. https://t.co/KxQbGackiq pic.twitter.com/l7bSW4bthr
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 9, 2023
Sad trombone noises:
Thousands of protesters in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo demanded “No amnesty!" on Monday, a demand for retribution against those who stormed the Brazil's capital Sunday in an effort to reinstall former President Jair Bolsonaro. https://t.co/DQJ0Bgtcbl
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 10, 2023
Bolsonaro tells CNN Brasil he plans to return from the U.S. earlier than planned to see his doctors for the intestinal obstruction derived from the 2018 stabbing. He posted a photo from his Orlando hospital bed. pic.twitter.com/PNpJuvXSnt
— Anthony Boadle (@AnthonyBoadle) January 10, 2023
Baud
Yes.
WaterGirl
I don’t normally watch 60 Minutes, but my impression is that it skews very Republican. So I was very surprised when I caught the final tick-tick-tick last night at the beginning of a show I had recorded on Sunday.
Am I right about how 60 minutes skews? That’s really just based on the hack interviews I have seen with the president, so I may be wrong.
But right now I’m thinking if you have lost her, that’s a big deal.
Shalimar
McCarthy is on his knees looking up at Patrick McHenry.
danielx
that long?
WaterGirl
@Baud:
What does that even mean?
The only “they” who would go in with AK-15s loaded would be republicans, and who wants to shoot some small-business person in Iowa? I am very confused.
matt
Sounds like Grassley needs an audit.
Shalimar
@Baud: I thought the whole point of primary calendar reform is that I no longer have to think about Iowa ever again.
Betty Cracker
Gotta give Bolsonaro props for lack of vanity! I was reading an article yesterday about his frequent hospitalizations (not only from the after-effects of the assassination attempt but all kinds of weird maladies), and he doesn’t shrink from posting selfies of himself looking terrible in a hospital bed! Maybe he mistakenly thinks it makes him look tough?
Shalimar
@WaterGirl: Grassley is so old he looks back fondly on the days when you could demonize jack-booted government thugs without looking ridiculous.
dmsilev
I know it’s a small thing, but “AK-15”? Clearly, by the laws of debate forced upon us by the clip vs. magazine crew, Senator Grassley must withdraw from any and all gun-related debates and votes.
Shalimar
@Betty Cracker: Bolsanaro’s fondness for hospital beds makes me want to research my new theory: there has never been a cop or doctor television show that lasted more than 1 season without having a plot involving an assassination attempt on a hospitalized patient.
Ken
@Baud: We are, after all, talking about criminals. No-knock raids, civil forfeiture, tactical response teams — why shouldn’t the IRS make use of all the tools of law enforcement?
Omnes Omnibus
@danielx: You have to remember that it was a weekend.
P Thomas
Well, hobbling the IRS is always the first order of business.
How can they steal money if someone is watching?
NotMax
FYI.
Is there anything more ubiquitous and also more (one hopes) taken appropriate notice of then subsequently quickly forgotten about than traffic signs? Now you know the skinny.
Matt McIrvin
@WaterGirl: Anything on broadcast TV at this point has a good chance of catering to the preferences and attitudes of the people who still regularly watch broadcast TV, that is, the elderly. And this is a group that currently leans right on average.
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: Someone dubbed CBS the Codger Broadcasting System. (Kathleen Sullivan, a journalist with CBS and other networks, called it that once, and got in a lot of trouble for her remark. She does not seem to have been wrong.). So yes, looking at some of their content.
Plus, Lara Logan. Some other suspect type journos, whom I will not waste any mental bandwidth on at the moment.
I think NBC is worse, because it hides its proclivities more successfully.
Anne Laurie
Leslie Stahl, at the very least, skews Republican. That’s why she’s so upset with ‘Speaker’ Kev & the Tantrum Caucus — they’re making her party look terrible in front of the normies!
It’s the updated version of Sally Quinn’s They trashed the place, and it wasn’t their place!
Or, like many another Mafia boss looking at hard time, he’s hoping a jury will take pity on such an obviously aged & broken shell of his former self.
Some people are surprised TFG hasn’t developed a convenient case of… let’s just call it post-WH phlebitis. But then, Trump is so vain, he’d rather be dead than be seen as ‘weak’ (remember his post-covid antics?), so…
NotMax
@Shalimar
Barney Miller? ChiPs? Ben Casey? Kojak? Marcus Welby, M.D.? Scrubs? Doogie Howser, M.D.? Car 54, Where Are You? St. Elsewhere?
:)
MattF
Maybe someone should use that shot of Bolsonaro for anti-KFC propaganda. “A chicken died for this.”
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Jackie Mason’s classic snipe involving Nixon and phlebitis.
“It’s not phlebitis. It’s syphilis. You don’t get phlebitis from screwing 200 million people.”
Soprano2
I’m not a bit surprised that their first action would increase the deficit, because they don’t actually care about that unless they can use it as a cudgel to hit Democrats with.
On another note, it’s possible that my workplace is starting some kind of a purge. The superintendent (not a school, that’s just a title for my boss’ boss) retired on Friday; many of us think he was forced out by the upper management of the department who are unhappy with what they’re getting for the amount of money we’re spending. Yesterday they came down here and told one of our supervisors that he could either attend a hearing tomorrow regarding the 10-point complaint letter against him that they served him with, or he could retire. He chose to retire, so yesterday was his last day! This is a man who has been causing problems in this department for YEARS (he was rude to me, he tried to sabotage our new cleaning program, etc.). When he got promoted to this supervisor position, many people in this department gave up on things ever getting better because they promoted an obvious problem. Well, him leaving went off like a bombshell here. I knew upper management had been having conversations with various employees about different issues, but I had no idea how far-ranging it really was. I’ve heard this probably won’t be the last person forced out, but just getting rid of this one person may change a lot of things around here for the better. It demonstrates that they aren’t afraid to take action when it’s needed.
Amir Khalid
I know for a fact that IRS agents don’t carry guns because there has never been a TV show about gun-toting taxmen — that I know of, anyway.
Edmund Dantes
@danielx: they took the weekend off.
Geminid
@Amir Khalid: I think the IRS has a small armed unit for exceptionally dangerous situations
This is being exaggerated by politicians who otherwise have never met a SWAT team they didn’t like.
The Moar You Know
@dmsilev: Internet gun experts make the laws and enforce them. Grassley indeed must never speak of The Holy Firearm ever again.
Cameron
@dmsilev: AK-15: “A woke firearm for a woke military!” MAGA, fuck yeah!
NotMax
@Geminid
Nobody expects the T-Men!
;)
The Moar You Know
@Amir Khalid: they do. I bought my first shotgun from an IRS field agent. He had some interesting things to say about that job. I feel free to share this much: don’t ever threaten the IRS with violence.
frosty
Grassley, you poor old soul. Time to hang it up. AK-15? What’s that? They refit an AR-15 with an AK-47 stock?
ETA: I see I’m not the first one who saw this.
ETA2: New plan to comment more: don’t read the previous comments and mutter to oneself: everybody else already said the same thing, better.
dmsilev
@The Moar You Know: I’m told that the true don’t-ever-fuck-with law enforcement group are the Postal Inspectors.
OzarkHillbilly
A tale of out of control boredom:
The punchline:
If you want to know the joke, you’ll have to read the piece. Don’t worry, it’s not very long.
NotMax
@The Moar You Know
Then there are those known colloquially as revenooers. ’nuff said.
;)
Elizabelle
I think the Democrats should start talking up the instability caused by insufficient taxation.
The GOP excels at constructing false examples: the IRS is coming after your $5 million farm. No. We as a nation need to come after billionaires and multimillonaires, who are hiding behind that “family” farmer.
The GOP wants to reward very rich people and tax cheats. If the rich and corporations will not pay their fair share of taxes, the burden will fall on the middle and working classes’ shoulders. Further, you can see how much better the government can spend money, for all of us, than billionaires can. (Space race with Jeff Bezos, anybody, in a first world country with insufficient healthcare for millions of its citizens. High infant mortality, opioid deaths of despair, random death by guns, day after day.)
It’s time to spell that out, in very simple language. Make the connection. We can’t have nice things because the tax code has been manipulated to support a millionaire/billionaire class who are hoovering up everything they can.
Look at how housing cost and availability — even rental housing — is being manipulated. Private equity is buying up housing that used to be more available to actual families. Air BnB is a real problem in some rental markets. Manhattan, and all the high end (unoccupied a lot of the year) apartments.
Spell it out. Our system is not sustainable. This is why. This is how it used to be, these are the lies you are being told to prop up this unsustainable system.
We will have more money to deal with climate change and Alzheimers and housing, health and education, everything a first world nation needs to grapple with, if we can pull more of it out of the grasping hands of the ultrarich. (The nature of work is changing, too. Going to see a lot of displacement in the coming decades. Get ready to deal with it.)
Popular culture is apparently beginning to turn against the plutocrats. Use the moment.
Especially when the GOP is so naked about its intentions and clownishness.
Explain more about the leading European nations who reign in, more than we do, predatory capitalism.
Capitalism is good as a concept, for a lot of issues. (Not all, healthcare, etc.). Predatory capitalism, though, is what we have.
Explain it.
OzarkHillbilly
The Teenage Prank That’s Lasted 60 Years
It’s a good yarn about a yarn that got out of hand. Well worth the reading.
Ken
You know what they say about death and taxes.
NotMax
Raise a virtual glass to England.
Geminid
@dmsilev: My Congresswoman was a Postal Inspector for a couple of years. Ms. Spanberger had applied for a job with the CIA, but her family had lived overseas a lot and her security clearance was going to take a while. So she worked for the Postal Inspectors in the interim.
JMG
I swear Bolsonaro spends more time in hospitals than Dr. Kildare.
SFAW
Apparently there actually is a weapon named AK-15. It’s a Kalashnikov, etc.
So the question becomes not “Is Grassley senile?” (we know the answer anyway), but “Why is Grassley’s go-to firearm a Russian weapon? Was he part of the July 4 Traitor Caucus visit to Moscow (or Mockva, as Chuck and RonJohn prefer to call it)?”
It’s irresponsible not to ask.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Ockham’s Razor still says he conflated AK-47 and AR-15.
Paul in KY
@WaterGirl: Was all for Grassley to get to say ‘AK-47s’ & hoping to tie that to Commie Dems.
Edit: Just saw he said ‘AK-15’! Guess he’s doing that ole shucks I’m too hard at work to remember them thar commie gun names. Or he’s just a sad old senile GQPer.
kindness
I don’t really understand the need to say President Biden would veto these House bills. Not one of them will ever see the light of day in the Senate. They’ll never get to Biden’s desk. How is that not universally understood?
frosty
You really have to ask, given what we’ve seen of the US electorate?
tobie
@Elizabelle:
I don’t recall the Democratic Party ever taking up the pitch that we’re the party of the good old days. They weren’t so good but still…the idea that we’re trying to protect what was good may work. The GOP has draped itself in the mantle of Ozzie and Harriet for too long while robbing Ozzie and Harriet blind.
Yutsano
@Baud: I want A-10s, personally. Because BRRRRT never goes out of style.
Joe Falco
@WaterGirl:
As recent events has shown, it depends whether the business is frequented by those with more melanin than the shooter.
Paul in KY
@Soprano2: Hope it improves work conditions for you & your co-workers.
randy khan)
I like the theater of the veto threat. We know that there is literally no chance this bill will become law, and so does the Administration, but it’s a convenient punching bag. I expect that there will be a lot more of them as this Congress goes on and the Republicans put up more stupid things for a vote. The bill to strip defense funding will be an even easier target.*
*I actually think that we do spend too much on defense, but since they plan to include Ukraine funding in the cutbacks, it’s a no-brainer to issue a veto threat.
Jackie
To the surprise of no one here:
Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) announced that she is runningfor U.S. Senate from California in 2024.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah.
But, he should have known that the jackbooted thugs will be using the XM5.
Fail on so many levels. He should retire, but not for the tweet…
Cheers,
Scott.
Delk
Hey Chuck, is running a meth lab considered a small business? Your state has quite a few of those.
cain
@randy khan):
I think we need to really talk about the IRS stuff – I think it’s easy to make the argument that without more IRS agent, rich people can defend themselves and well irs agents need to make their numbers so tehy are going to go after the people who don’t have money because they don’t have a phalanx of lawyers to hold them at bay.
randy khan)
@kindness:
It’s a chance for Biden to say what he stands for and to highlight how feckless the House Republicans are. Think of the threats as messaging, not substance.
cain
@Jackie: Is that Dianne’s seat?
Another Scott
@kindness: The national political press is wired for the GQP. They’re going to cover the daily noise from them – reality doesn’t drive coverage.
As we know. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
tobie
@Jackie: I’ll be curious who else declares. If Schiff runs, I’ll likely support him. I’m sure others will enter the ring soon.
Betty Cracker
@Jackie: Yay!
evodevo
@WaterGirl:
Yes…you are right…with a few exceptions, they are no different than NPR – Nice Polite Republicans…in some cases, far right, as in Lara Logan…though she is gone now, thank goodness..
twbrandt (formerly tom)
@OzarkHillbilly: one good story deserves another
https://brandnewbox.com/inthestacks/
dmsilev
@cain: Yes. She’s filed paperwork to run for reelection, but that’s a pro forma step and nobody really knows whether she’s actually going to run or will retire. Hopefully the latter.
evodevo
@The Moar You Know: OR the PO…Postal Inspectors don’t fool around when threats of violence are involved…seen it first hand in our little tiny office in the hinterlands of KY…they were down on one of our part time subs so fast his head was spinning lol
Baud
@Jackie:
The negative to this is that she was redistricted into a bad district, and she might be the only Dem who can win it.
narya
@Soprano2: That is FABULOUS. I hired someone my second year at ex-job who was a disaster; she was a bully and was particularly evil toward me, but NO ONE would do anything about it. Not my various bosses, not HR, no one. When she left a year ago, it was amazing how many things went SO much better. You wouldn’t think one person could make that much difference, but, in the right position, they really can.
Jackie
@cain: Yes. Her term expires in 2024. I hope she graciously announces retirement.
Sure Lurkalot
@Elizabelle: Totally agree that we need to pound the drum on our woeful taxation system and structure. In addition to sucking capital from good works benefitting the many instead of the anointed few, the accumulation of wealth is a corrupting influence on governance and ironically, on the holders of the wealth themselves.
The past few months have shown us what a few particular billionaires really are deep down inside and it’s not pretty. We need to redirect the idolization of wealth and wealthy people.
Betty Cracker
@dmsilev: Jesus God, she filed to rerun?
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: Just have a line graph that shows total amount of tax money received by USA. Have it broken down into percentage paid in by rich & percent paid in by not-rich (under 120K). then if you slide the marker to reduce the share paid by rich, what other bracket pays more to cover for the rich paying less?
Betty
@Shalimar: Recently here we had a gang member assassinated in the hospital – by his own gang members – allegedly to keep him from talking to police.
Paul in KY
@Jackie: Will send her some change! Really like her & think she would be a great US senator.
Reboot
@Elizabelle: Excellent comment. (Though I’m pondering whether capitalism as a concept meets the needs of an all-hands-on-deck moment of history).
delphinium
@cain: Think the delay in getting tax refunds due to the current budget also needs to be discussed. I believe some folks were waiting 6 months or more last tax season for their paper returns to be processed and a refund sent (not including those delayed due to missing info or complicated returns).
Betty
@frosty: Grassley has.my sympathy because I made that mistake on Twittter once, and, oh boy, did I get blasted. Clearly I was not qualified to have any opinion whatsoever on gun safety.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: I think the chances of Senator Feinstein running again are slim to none. As another commenter said, the filing she made after her last win is routine, or “pro forma.”
Citizen Alan
@kindness: Because it allows Biden to go on TV and present himself as standing up for seniors who the GOP House wants to rob of their SS benefits. Our useless prostitute media wants to see a fight of some kind. So I think it’s great that Biden is building on the speakership fiasco by picking a fight with the Republicans over a bill they can’t even get passed anyway.
delphinium
@Delk:
Meth. We’re on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0blILDdvHSw
kindness
I like both Schiff & Porter. I had assumed Schiff would run. One big fail of California’s Jungle Primary is the top 2 candidates run in the general. It isn’t decided by party. With that in mind it is possible Schiff and Porter could split the vote and both end up not on the ballot. Call me old fashioned but I think it isn’t wrong for the party to be able to pick their own candidates without non-party members messing with the votes. I mean if one really wanted to vote in a primary it’s easy to change your party ID to be able to do that. Now here in CA…doesn’t matter.
Geminid
@Jackie: Katie Porter is one ofthe better known members of the talented House Class of 2018. I think Porter may be the first one to run for the Senate, but I expect she won’t be the last.
Porter has developed quite a national reputation, and this will be a good test of it. If she is as strong a politician as her fans believe, Porter should win that seat. I think she’ll definitely raise the money.
Mimi haha
If I were the current SofH I’d be so embarrassed it took that many votes to get there I’d resign.
Geminid
@tobie: I’ve seen at least one person predict that Governor Newsom will run for that Senate seat.
Jackie
@kindness: Schiff has made noises about running for Feinstein’s seat. It’d be a shame to lose two excellent congress persons; I hope it doesn’t come down to that.
WaterGirl
@Soprano2: I’m confused. Don’t you either own or run a bar?
Geminid
@Betty: “Socialist dog mom” Molly Conger once speculated that the AR-15 is so named because every time she mentions the weapon on Twitter “there ARe 15 guys jumping into my timeline to explain it to me.”
WaterGirl
@kindness: that’s true about the Senate. But I also think that mentioning the Senate and that way would backfire cause a big ruckus and also maybe piss off cinema or mansion because they say you’re not the boss of me you don’t know how I’ll vote. I’m absolutely sure that Biden understands that and his chief of staff.
Brachiator
@delphinium:
The IRS is understaffed and underfunded. There are still paper returns waiting to be processed for the 2021 tax year, and the new tax season will be starting soon. It’s a mess. And the GOP created the mess and is trying to make it worse.
jonas
@Jackie: Some Twitter commenters the other day were claiming she flippantly fired one of her staffers recently for supposedly giving her Covid. It was definitely shades of what happened when Amy Klobuchar announced her run for president — all of a sudden all these bitch boss stories started coming out of the woodwork. Any local SoCal jackals know what that was about?
I have a good impression of her so far, though. She seems both tough and level-headed. Also, Feinstein needs to retire already. She’s almost 90 and, everyone agrees, in the throes of dementia. I don’t know what she ( well, at least her family and loved ones) think she’s still doing there.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: so say we all , but you said it better!
jonas
Exactly what they tried to do with the USPS. Starve it for funding and then claim it’s evidence for how it’s dysfunctional. Assholes.
WaterGirl
@Paul in KY: he would prefer Katie Porter to Adam Schiff as a senator?
WaterGirl
@Geminid: do you think Katie Porter would win over Adam Schiff?
jonas
@Geminid: Newsom definitely wanted to run for president, but now that Biden’s indicated he will run for reelection, yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a bid for the Senate seat instead.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: yeah, it was pretty clear when Schiff said he didn’t wanna leadership position because he would be running for Senate. Not sure if use those exact words, but he made it pretty clear.
Paul in KY
@WaterGirl: Katie Porter is more my style. Schiff would be fine too. Great to have such choices!
WaterGirl
@jonas: he’s not term limited is he?
WaterGirl
@Paul in KY: I loved Katie Porter at first, but I don’t think she wears as well, if you know what I mean.
Geminid
@jonas: The story of Porter and her staffer seems overblown. The woman in question was an intern working as part of a “wounded warrior” type project. Her internship is due to expire in a few weeks and Porter did not fire her, just told her to work from home the rest of her tenure.
The intern’s claims that there are more general problems with Porter and her staff are not confirmed by other sources.
Soprano2
@narya: Yep, I’m hopeful that this one change will make a big difference. Our department has a lot of problems; many of them stem from having a weak bosses’ boss, who is the guy who retired on Friday. He didn’t want to deal with any personnel problems, so he mostly ignored them. Evidently those days are over. When the supervisor who was just “fired” was promoted, that’s what really started the downward spiral. He’s the kind of guy who didn’t want to be a supervisor, he just wanted to tell people what to do. Then people figured out that the bosses’ boss wouldn’t do anything about their complaints, so they started going to HR with dumb stuff (someone went to HR complaining about the Covid cartoons I had on my office door!!). Lots of other things that weren’t good happened, too.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I really could not say. There will be other strong candidates in that race though, even if the governor doesn’t enter.
Newsome can run for that seat while he’s still Governor. That’s been done before. His opponents will say he has to resign but he doesn’t have to play by their rules.
tobie
@Geminid: I heard that about Newsom too. Does CA term limit governors? If so, what a pity.
I dislike populism of any stripe, so I’m not a big Porter fan. Everything is at the boiling point in the US right now. I’d love to see a return to discussing issues without personalizing it (Bezos, the uber-wealthy, etc). I know I’m a minority here on BJ but I often feel like Porter dumbs things down to appeal to regular folks and this bothers me.
Soprano2
@WaterGirl: I do, but I also work for the sewer department of my city. We own a bar, but we have a manager who runs it. I never wanted to run a bar!
Geminid
@tobie: You may not actually be in the minority. Porter certainly has her fans here, but others think she is overrated. I’m in the latter group.
tobie
@Geminid: Thanks. Good to know there’s a large range of opinion here.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I think that can be a useful political skill (ETA: we can debate the difference between “dumbing things down” and “breaking things down”), but the way people have blown her up into a dragon-slayer kind of mystifies me. And the thing with the book struck me as both silly and ill-timed. Not as embarrassing as that guy who ate chicken in a hearing to point out that Republicans were cowards (I think was supposed to be the point), but what was happening in those votes was actually pretty fucking important.
One thing we’ve seen a lot in the last five-plus years is pols who start believing their own press, when that press is just a relative handful of twitter accounts and fawning segments in Lawrence O’Donnell’s C-block
Ruckus
@P Thomas:
It’s not as much the watching they mind, as the catching.
Because they think they look smart when they fuck with the IRS or anyone else that is there to stop them from stealing billions that they stole from the rest of us.
billcinsd
@NotMax: M*A*S*H
Scuffletuffle
@Amir Khalid: Elliot Ness?
tobie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “breaking things down” can be useful if it comes off as authentic…as in the person is earnestly explaining complex points. The quoted tweets in the original post don’t do that in my opinion. You know Porter thinks she’s scoring points. I’m not a progressive and while I don’t always agree with Jamie Raskin I always think he’s being earnest. In general I’d like to see the party boost it’s many great orators. I’m impressed with the House leadership team on that score and new(er) reps like Joe Neguse and older ones like Raskin and Schiff. Soaring rhetoric moves me, and as the saying goes, Republicans fall in line, Democrats fall in love.
Kelly
Taxes should be a public record. Employers should post everyone’s pay. The idea that exposing your finances is the same as peeking up a skirt is propaganda meant to keep us all in line.
TriassicSands
It just reinforces the pointlessness of wasting time on legislation that will not be enacted. It also emphasizes the performative nature and unseriousness of everything the GOP House does. The House is speaking to ignorant and stupid people, who need daily meals of outrage.
“Oh, my Lord, the armed IRS is coming for me,” says the average Iowan (or resident of other Red states).
TriassicSands
@Kelly:
But, Kelly, revealing everyone’s income could also reveal gross discrepancies in pay, many of which might be based on male vs. female or “race.” It could result in countless disgruntled employees. Worse still, from the point of view of Republicans, it (fairness) would result in increased prices (unfairness).
I would expect that, if you took a poll of all employed Americans, they would oppose making incomes public. I’m agnostic on the issue.
I do think it is important to report the compensation for CEOs and other high ranking employees of corporations. However, the knowledge of absurd compensation offered to them, athletes, and entertainers has never had any effect on decreasing compensation.
Note: Race is in parentheses because we are not different races.
Nancy
@Matt McIrvin:
I’m old and I don’t watch 60 Minutes. Not Republican or rightward, and lean left so far I could lose my balance.
Did I mention that I’m old? I come to Balloon-Juice every day.
I do not care to be described as “elderly,” but I probably fit the definition. On Zoom with Adam Schiff, many of my fellow Juicers appeared to be in my age bracket. I do not think that they are elderly.
As I grew wise with age, I stopped catagorizing.
OzarkHillbilly
@twbrandt (formerly tom): Thanx for that, I have a soft spot for librarians. They are special people.
lowtechcyclist
@kindness:
It’s a free opportunity to take advantage of this GOP-provided example to remind people that the GOP serves the rich at the expense of the rest of us.
Gotta take advantage of these opportunities. Fortunately, Biden knows how to play this game.
lowtechcyclist
@Yutsano:
A Warthog? Hell yeah!
Urban Suburbanite
Is anyone familiar with this writer in San Francisco named Michael Shellenberger? The local conservative grifters love to use his material railing against homeless people (especially the one fired by KOMO for being a Proud Boy sycophant and the nonprofit grifters at We Heart Seattle).
Zeke
Maybe Kevin can call poo flinging monkeys from the vastly deep, but so can I or any man. But will they come when he calls?
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: I think you’re wrong about that. I have Tivo, and I record shows I like from broadcast TV.
I also stream. But you are painting with a giant-sized brush there, and I think you’re wrong, to boot.
Whomever
@Amir Khalid: The Untouchables? They were Treasury agents…
No One You Know
No One You Know
@Zeke: I think the question might be, “Will they leave when he says what they want to hear?”