Thursday, November 30, 2017

Method In His Madness

Trump has been more disturbing than usual in the last couple of days claiming that the Access Hollywood tape was a conspiracy, deriding Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas while supposedly honoring a few of the remaining Navajo codetalkers, and finally retweeting some very incendiary and inaccurate videos from a very far right British group that target refugee Muslims as marauding enemies. Despite the complete nuttiness of all of this, Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the parade of idiocy as true and a demonstration of Trump's love and respect for the country, saying that it was important that the nation see all the dangers.

Now, once again, many are claiming that Trump suffers from a debilitating mental condition or abnormal psychosis. That is immaterial at this point. Keep focused on the monstrosity of a tax bill, keep focused on the unqualified judicial nominees, don't let those shiny objects stop you from contacting your representatives to ask for more clarity and openness in the entire process.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

We Can All Be Like Kansas

Kansas governor Brownback instituted draconian tax cuts by promising voters that all the tax cuts would lead to unprecedented growth and companies would be swarming into the state to take advantage of the lower corporate tax rates. Of course the reality was practically the other side of the coin. But now we can all be like Kansas if the Republicans in Congress and Senate vote for any form of the proposed new rules for federal taxes.

CNN reports, "The rush to pass anything may cause Republicans to discount the long-term political implications of a bill that independent surveys show does far more to enrich the already wealthy than to lift the working and middle classes."  Of course the already wealthy probably pay your wages or your salary so you will tug your forelock like the good serf you are and say thank you, especially if you vote Republican. Thank you for saving us from that evil socialism, thank you for building better bombs so that Trump can blow up Kim Jong Un, thank you for allowing drilling in the pristine waters in Alaska and the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, thank you for making our rivers toxic again because I always wanted to see the Cuyahoga burn and I missed it the first time, please sir, can I have more?

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Travesty

After the financial meltdown in 2007-2008, many people were rightly concerned that their money was not being managed appropriately. Long before the actual disaster, Congress was warned by Brooksley Born of the CFTC that risks of disaster were mounting. But Congress paid no attention because they were betting both sides of the debacle. So multiple disasters ensued (and despite what anyone told you, this was not because the federal government wanted banks to issue risky loans. the banks made their own decisions to do so and they continue to do so as some of you know). I hate to admit that I paid attention when so many people didn't, but that's just what happened and I sold my big money pit house and bought a smaller one and made a pile of money to boot.

But what about other people who either had no clue or trusted those creepy financial advisors? Congress and the federal system had no control over their behavior. There were no promises of good behavior or even honesty. We had regressed to the old traveling medicine man days where the advisor was here today with a handshake and gone tomorrow with your money. It wasn't just the common many who was afflicted--there were some long standing firms who went belly up because they chased that ephemeral gold too. All those smart young people with computers and greedy ideas transformed our financial world.

Luckily there were some people who were still paying attention including Elizabeth Warren. She fought for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be established and she helped write the rules and regulations governing its maintenance, advising Barney Frank and Christoper Dodd prior to being elected to the Senate. One of the rules everyone wanted established was independence for the agency so no political or personal bias could sway its governance.

Guess what? Richard Cordray got fed up with the current administration and quit, but he knew that the rules of the bureau allowed him to elevate the deputy underneath him. Trump, in another of his grandiose gestures, said that Mick Mulvaney, the angry leprechaun who worships Ayn Rand, should lead the bureau.This is the same Mick Mulvaney who said multiple times that the bureau was one of the worst examples of federal overreach that he had ever witnessed.

So as the Marx brothers asked, "Who are you going to believe--me or you lying eyes?" Watch out folks--the dam is about to break.

Friday, November 24, 2017

Monstrosity

The House passed their tax reform bill and the Senate is still working but what we do know now is that not only will most  people's taxes go up (if not in the first year, certainly in the third year) but the deficit will balloon badly. An estimated $1.5 billion added to the deficit to benefit people who are already wealthy. And let's face it, the whole notion of trickle down benefits was a chimera dreamed up by David Stockman who knew it was nonsense and wouldn't work. If it worked we would all be seeing benefits already since the wealthy have done very, very well in the last few years but we know they haven't started new businesses, hired new workers, or given raises to their current workers. Even small businesses will see a dramatic increase in taxes because they aren't "C" businesses. So unless you are a large corporation or already in the top 5% of earners you not only won't get any relief from the bill, you will lose services and pay more. You will lose deductions and pay more. You will get hosed and still pay more.

Although it isn't a done deal, the Republicans are twisting all sorts of ways to make sure that they can vote on this monstrosity without needing any help from across the aisle, even changing the rules to enable that voting.

Correction: The CBO did its official rating of the tax bill and the addition to the deficit in ten years will be $1.47 trillion. I may not live another ten years but it's a decent bet that my children, your children, and their children will. All to give rich folks more in their banks and pocketbooks.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Outrage

Anyone who has been paying any attention to the news knows that Roy Moore has been accused of multiple counts of stalking and padiddling young women. Not one of the women has accused Moore of rape, but all accounts are creepy and disgusting. The local mall was apparently warned to watch Moore (this comes from multiple accounts) if he ever came in to the mall because he disturbed the young female sales people. Even his own account of noticing his wife when she was only 15 and remembering her name is creepy. It was not surprising that folks in Alabama said, "So what?" By all accounts this behavior was at least 40 years ago, perhaps longer and as I was a young woman in south Texas at the same time I can attest to the behavior being common.

My parents' friends would make passes, make comments, in some cases touch and fondle. I was a very sexy child. I don't mean that I enticed men, but that I had breasts and slim hips, muscular arms from swimming--all the youthful attributes that at 13--16 were clearly enticing to men. One man told me when I was thirteen that I was a classic femme fetale and I had no idea what he was talking about. No one told me what to do when this happened. Even my educated parents were hesitant to talk about sex and if I had told them that one of their friends had acted inappropriately I don't even know what would have transpired. I learned to hide in my room and lock the door.

So Roy Moore's behavior doesn't surprise me even if I still find it disgusting. What does surprise me, what does outrage me is that today Trump said that Alabama voters needed to vote for Moore because he didn't want a liberal in the Senate. Come on you Trumpettes, Trump wants you to excuse Roy Moore's disgusting behavior simply to put a Republican in the seat.

This time you don't get to say, "But Clinton". This is happening now. No Clintons are involved.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

What Do You Know About Pittsburgh?

So my husband and I had decided to look at Scotland and Northern Ireland as retreat, retirement possibilities but then we found out that the UK had done away with its visa that would have allowed us to live there. Clearly we had to seek another option. We talked about what we wanted in a new place to live. Our lists included good medical care, good universities nearby, four seasons, mixed ethnicities,  and good libraries as well as a city big enough to have restaurants and museums. Pittsburgh fit all the bills so we are going to see what we can see to get the feel of the place. I lived  near Pittsburgh 60 years ago, applied and was accepted at what was Chatham College but is now Chatham University (though I attended a different college in Pennsylvania), and I still cheer for the Pirates and the Steelers, but that is our only experience in the western side of Pennsylvania.

Anyone out there who can give a positive or negative report is free to respond to this post. I have been tired of Utah practically from the moment I moved here 26 years ago but my husband has finally joined my side given the moral hypocrisy of those who profess goodness but still support Trump and his minions.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Turkey For Thanksgiving

The House passed its version of tax reform yesterday with numerous poison pills and hidden prizes. The Senate is still working but hopes to have their vote before next Thursday. No matter what political stance you hold, this should bother you. There won't be time for even the senators to read the whole bill before they vote let alone for the populace at large. And don't even start with the what about the ACA nonsense. That was discussed and amended for months before the vote even if Pelosi's remarks seemed to indicate the opposite. So this very large turkey will arrive in time for you to give thanks.

The current proposals on both sides of the Capitol make tax cuts for businesses permanent but tax cuts for individuals temporary. They also give with one hand while taking away with the other. You may get a higher deduction for children but you will lose a host of other deductions so in the end you will probably pay more money. If you live in one of the blue states with very high state and local taxes you will suffer because there is at least a chance that the deductibility of those taxes will disappear. And once again, don't give me the nonsense that the elected men have been spouting that states without high taxes have been subsidizing residents of those blue states. In every single case the states with lower taxes take more in benefits from the federal government than they pay in to the federal government so it's pretty obvious who is subsidizing whom.

Addendum: Someone I know just told me that the tax bill has a particularly nasty poison pill. If you are fortunate enough to receive a tuition waiver for post-grad education, that amount is considered taxable income.  So the poor student, literally a poor student, who has a $50K tuition waiver in exchange for working for his department for very little money, has to pay tax on that $50K even though his real income is probably under $30K. That increases the tax liability by about 400% while Trump will get millions of dollars under various changes in tax assessment from the changes to pass through companies to the changes in the Alternate Minimum Tax. Go ahead and listen to your moronic Republic leaders telling you that this tax bill is for the middle class. They already know they can sell you a mess of pottage. In fact they count on it.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Sidetracked By Babies

I am getting so old that I pretty much resent people having babies for whom I am expected to produce quilts. I know that sounds like I am a curmudgeon and that is true, but I am so focused on finishing the Baltimore Album quilt in my lifetime, that these two new quilts are unwelcome intrusions. But I have the first one pieced and layered so there is progress on that front. I have the second for the new baby in Hawaii designed in my head and the colors picked.

Progress on Trump's insistence on tax reform is more erratic than my poor attempts to satisfy my own plans. Paul Ryan's plans for tax reform have been lying dormant for years, waiting until Republicans had control of Congress and the White House. But make no mistake, those plans change the United States. You can decide for yourself whether those changes are good or bad, but Ryan, a recipient of the benefits of the Social Security system after his father's death, wants to remove those same benefits from you and your children. He is a diehard advocate of the philosophy of Ayn Rand, a Russian emigre who ended up living on the largesse of her adopted country.

The poison pill added to the Senate bill today added the insurance mandate of the ACA to the tax bill. They did this for many reasons including the pressure from the White House and the obligation to reduce the money added to the debt so that they could pass this excrescence without any votes from Democrats. I have written many times about how insurance and insurance markets work, but without the individual mandate, if that is the only deletion from the ACA, the cost to those who have pre-existing conditions and depend on the promises of the ACA for medical care will skyrocket.

That's entirely separate from all of the other ridiculous nonsense that is in the bill. Do taxes in the US need change--there is no question of that. Do we want politicians who have their own axes to grind to write this proposal--hell no.

Friday, November 10, 2017

What Surprises You?

All of the continuing revelations about sexual abuses by men, including the current Washington Post expose of Roy Moore's interest in very young women, should not surprise any woman. Moore now complains that he doesn't even remember the 14 year old but he definitely confirmed that he knew the other three women and had interactions with them that were outside of any business purview. I have one husband and three sons and five male pets but I do not yet understand men. I must admit that I don't necessarily understand women either but at this point I recommend that all mothers give their daughters instruction in martial arts.

I admit to surprise that Rand Paul suffered multiple rib fractures including a few displaced fractures after being tackled by his neighbor. The surprise is that both men are what could be described at best as slight and Paul, from all accounts, had his back to his neighbor and was simply tackled. I just suffered a rib fracture myself, my second broken bone in my life, but that was from a fall at speed against a rigid object. My husband had multiple rib fractures and a hemo-pneumo thorax but he hit a road going downhill on a bike.

What astonishes me is that all of these are confirmed instances but they are doubted by most people. Alabama voters say they will still vote for Moore regardless of his past behavior. As a Southern Baptist, he is supposed to abstain from alcohol but he admits that he gave one of the young women alcohol.

Sunday, November 5, 2017

You Are Not Famous

Today a man walked into a church near San Antonio and shot and killed at least 26 people. There have been a rash of shootings across the US, randomly, with no purpose. All have the one connection that they are reported across the country, as they should be. But the connection also points to people hoping to be famous, even posthumously, for havoc they cause. That's what we get for our addiction to selfies and Facebook and even this stupid blog.

Go out and meet people--talk to your neighbors--invite someone to your house.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Starting To Put Blocks Together

Since we came back from Scotland, I have finished the last of the sixteen blocks in the body of the quilt and decided with my husband's help and advice what order to place them in. The last couple of days I have been making and attaching sashing and today I began putting the blocks together.

Soon I will have all sixteen together but in the meantime it is sew and press, sew and press, sweep and vacuum, repeat. Looks pretty good so far though.

Moronic And Dangerous

After yesterday's tragic terror attack in NYC, Trump says that the American justice system makes us the laughingstock among nations. He reiterated a previous complaint about our compliance with the Geneva Conventions on incarceration and torture, saying that he wanted to send the truck driver to Guantanamo. He also incorrectly blamed Obama for the mere presence of this Uzbecki man in the United States because his entry happened in 2010, but the visa lottery system was set up under George H. W. Bush and had nothing to do with Obama.

After reading about Trump's appalling opinions about our justice system I can only suppose that Trump would like to have public hangings, torture, and guillotines be the new norm. Now all the people around here who say they own guns to protect them from the American government even make a little sense. With Trump, anything seems possible if not likely.