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07 Feb 2011 22:16

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Politics: Why you’re paying less in taxes than you were two years ago

  • 13% drop in income tax payments since Bush’s last year in office
  • 33% decrease in taxes paid by corporations since 2008; that’s a big drop
  • 1950 the last time taxes (as a percentage of the entire US economy) were this low source
  • » But don’t get too excited. While lower taxes may sound nice on paper, the real reason for this drop isn’t as much due to policy changes as it is the recession. See, people (and corporations) are making a whole lot less money than they were a few years ago; hence, they’re paying less in taxes. And that sucks for just about everybody involved. However, Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota places a lot of the blame on our nation’s tax code itself, calling it a “simply indefensible” policy that’s “hemorrhaging revenue.” Still, our primary focus should probably be on pulling our economy out of the toilet. Then we can fix the tax code.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2010 20:23

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Politics: Gallup’s “Most Admired” poll: SARAH PALIN BEAT OPRAH?!?!?!?!?!

  • 22% of people think Obama is the male they admire most – worse than 2008 or 2009, but still decent
  • 17% of people think Hillary Clinton is the female they most admire – she kills at this poll, usually
  • 12% of people think Sarah Palin is the female they most admire; who are these people? source
  • » To emphasize our dislike of this poll: Sarah Palin beat Oprah. SARAH PALIN BEAT OPRAH!!!!!!!! While George W. Bush was just behind Obama, he didn’t have 12 percent. Cannot believe this, guys. We think we might have to go to bed after this one.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Dec 2010 10:32

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Offbeat: A cougar ran through George W. Bush’s lawn this week

  • In what may be the greatest Christmas gift of all, some weird guy decided to drive his 1970s-era Mercury Cougar through George W. Bush’s front lawn the other day. We’re sure the former president gets this kind of treatment all the time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Dec 2010 21:21

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Politics: Senate getting slower and slower at confirming judicial appointees

  • 39.8% confirmation rate of Barack Obama’s judicial nominees (lowest in history)
  • 76% George W. Bush’s judicial confirmation rate at this point in his presidency
  • 89% Bill Clinton’s judicial confirmation rate at the same point (more than twice Obama’s) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2010 22:43

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Politics: Ten years ago today, the chads stopped hanging in Florida

  • So guys, remember ten years ago, when our country was so divided that we had to debate how stupid Florida’s ballots were? You probably don’t, because ten years of drama has happened since then, but today marks the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision that gave George W. Bush the electoral college win – and led to his two twisted terms. It’s a reminder that no matter how far we’ve come since then, the partisan bickering never really went away. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

12 Dec 2010 21:57

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World: Wikileaks: Al-Jazeera targets of U.S. scorn, and they’re not happy

  • Who might that be? Well … back in 2005, when Al-Jazeera was a tad bit more controversial, it leaked that George W. Bush and Tony Blair talked about attacking up the Qatar headquarters of the Middle East’s most-well-known news outlet. More recently, in the latest spat of WIkileaks data, cables suggested U.S. was concerned that the news outlet was a mouthpiece for Qatar. Al-Jazeera denies those allegations, saying that their goal has long been “to give a voice to the voiceless; to hold centres of power to account; and to uphold our editorial independence no matter what the cost.” In recent years, this has perhaps become a bit more obvious, but after 9/11 … source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Dec 2010 01:43

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Politics: Obama finally decides to pardon some actual human beings

  • nine number of pardons Obama granted today; all the turkey talk must’ve gotten to him
  • 682 number of days of presidency it took Obama to make his first official pardon
  • 699 number of days it took George W. Bush  (the record-holder) to make his first pardons source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Dec 2010 00:34

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Culture: Stephen Colbert chats with Reddit about being “Stephen Colbert”

  • Let me say that the President could not have been nicer, especially to my mother. I have some lovely pictures of her with him.
  • Stephen Colbert • Discussing his interactions with George W. Bush at the White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner, where he made a controversial 2006 appearance. Colbert was asked about the situation by a Redditor in a lengthy, out-of-character interview that he largely wrote in all-caps. Other interesting topics covered: A congressman tried to walk off the stage while he was shooting in DC (but they got him to stay), he always tells his interviewees that he’s in character (“I admire Sacha Baron Cohen, but I am not doing Ali G.”) and he claims that the dumber he sounds about a topic, the more he knows about it. Fun read. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 20:40

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Politics: George W. Bush invades Facebook; world stops dead in tracks

The two things that define the naughts more than anything else, together at last. Bush openly admitted he was there because he was “trying to sell books.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Nov 2010 22:17

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Politics: Dick Cheney’s dramatic change in appearance only took months


  • Dick Cheney, February 2010Earlier this year at CPAC, the former vice president gave a notable speech that put him in front of the public eye very notably. Soon after, his well-documented health problems crept back, leading to a lengthy hospital stay in July that led to months of speculation.
  • Dick Cheney, today At George W. Bush’s groundbreaking for his presidential library, Cheney showed up looking a heckuva lot thinner and a tad bit like C. Montgomery Burns. What happened? He lost a ton of weight in the hospital. But he’s reportedly doing a lot better. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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