It’d a tired day here in the CatBox. It’s also slow day for news to report. It’s a Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos Play the Chargers, but it’s not televised here. I’m ready for a nap. Have a great day.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:35 (average 5:48). To do it, click here.
Cartoon:
Christmas Dinner:
Short Takes:
From NY Times: On the campaign trail, Joe Biden argued for higher taxes on Americans who make more than $400,000 a year. Those tax increases, he said, would help fund his broader agenda and reduce inequality.
But depending on the outcome of Georgia runoff elections next month, as president he will face either a Republican Senate majority that is dead set against tax increases, or a very narrow Democratic majority that will need to choose its battles carefully.
That will present him with a political conundrum: How do you raise more money from the wealthy if you can’t raise tax rates?
One potential answer: do better on enforcing the existing tax laws.
Tax experts have long identified a large “tax gap” between the amount Americans owe and what is actually collected. This is disproportionately a result of underpayment of taxes by high earners, especially in certain types of closely held partnerships and midsize businesses that face little scrutiny from either the Internal Revenue Service or outside investors.
That is exactly the type of structure — including dubious deductions — that allowed President Trump to minimize his tax bill for years, according to reporting on the president’s taxes by The New York Times.
One problem is that Republicans have been gutting the IRS’ budget for years, so they wont have the money to investigate and prosecute the rich. I’m all for this , but to do it Biden needs to get IRS the funds to do it. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence (from The Concert in Central Park)
Ah… The memories! RESIST!!
23 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!
13 Responses to “Open Thread – 12/27/2020”
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Cartoon: What a shame! Such a tragedy for the gorillas, their environment, and the world.
Hi, WWWendy, and Tom. Dinner looks delicious, and love Wendy’s smile!
NYT: After all dt has recklessly done for four years, I’m sure that Joe will look into this, and get it resolved.
BFTP: Loved this song then, and love it today!
Hi, WWWendy, and Tom. Dinner looks delicious, and love Wendy’s smile! My team is behind, at 3 to the Bengals 10. Hope they can win one. We shall see. Enjoy your day, take good, good care, and Thanks, Tom.
This just in: “After the deadliest year in recorded history, Covid-19, 7 million Americans are facing evictions, the military unfunded and miles long breadlines across the Nation. What’s the golfer-in-chief focused on? Why fashion magazines won’t put his wife on their cover(s). ~ Delphi G. ~
2. “Trump has been living in our heads for 4 years. It’s time to evict him. We need space for other, better and positive things and thoughts.” ~ Anon ~
3. “re: dt – “He can’t run from Justice….he has bone spurs!” ~ Connie E. ~
4. “trump would like an airport named in his honor. Near his Florida home, perhaps.” ~ Howard C. ~
5. “Trump has lost his grip on reality. Now he is losing his grip on the party. Just watch.~ Anthony Scaramucci~
6. “I am steaming, thinking of dt luxuriating in Mar-A-Lago and playing golf while my constituents are shivering in apartments relying on food banks and generosity for their dinner on Christmas and after.” ~ Jackie Speier ~
Omarosa Manigault Newman, Trump’s former communications director, thinks Donnie is “going through a psychotic episode”.
I think she may be right!
https://www.businessinsider.com/omarosa-says-trump-is-going-through-a-psychotic-episode-2020-12
Except that “going through” carries the implication that he will come out on the other side. That I will believe when I see it.
TJI #6 – There are always competent, caring people in Congress who represent you. They just aren’t always your reps. Jckie Speier speaks for me, as do (just to name a few) barbara lee, Alexandria Oasio=Cortez (and the rest of “the Squad), Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, and more – and that’s just in the House.
‘Toon: CRIMINAL! needless to say.
Wendy and dinner both look great! Thank you, Wendy.
NYT: Joe, be wery careful, wery, wery, careful.
BOP: A gem! “And the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, the tenement halls.”
TJI# 4: It’s not his Florida “home,” by his own agreement, and the neighbors of the place have made that clear to him.
One can not expect anything other than smirks and going still lower from trump, he is a failed experiment at being human. I want to see that “…smile run away from his face,” as soon as he is indicted.
The end of the tRump regime cannot come a moment too soon! The day Biden is sworn in, I just might go on a bender since I may be off work the next day.
Your Christmas repast looks delicious. Good to see you and Wendy enjoying a nice holiday together. (And it looks like you got seconds on dessert!)
Come January 21st we know that all republicans will morph back into deficit hawks. Find to ruin the Federal debt and deficit when a rethuglican is president – but never when a Democrat is in the Oval Office.
Cartoon: What a sad day to remember. So tragic.
Christmas: Wendy looks great. The meal looks tasty. Hope you both enjoyed it.
NYT: I hope Joe and his team can come up with a plan that won’t cause too much chaos with the rotten R’s who of course want to protect the rich.
BoC: Great song. Big fan of Simon and Garfunkel.
Hope your day goes well and that you can catch up on your rest/sleep.
Take care. Thanks TomCat
After such a wonderful Christmas dinner, understandably, you need to nap, TomCat.
4:11 Didn’t look like much until the last piece fell in its slot.
Cartoon: A great loss but Fossey inspired a large group of people who continued the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund international. The fund is protecting both the gorillas and the community, educating and employing many to guard the mountain gorillas who seem to be doing well.
NYT: Biden is facing a global problem: the outright unwillingness of rightwing governments not only to tax the rich more but also to fund the IRS, making sure that the rich get away with criminal deductions on the little they pay. And because it is a global phenomenon, people like Besoz and Zuckerberg get away with not paying taxes in any country they operate in. Perhaps Biden should lend an ear to the governments that do impose higher taxes and let no one get away with dodging it; they may have some practical ideas for him.
BOP: This song will never get old or stale. It resonates with me every time I hear it.
Even if Democrats win both races in Georgia and Biden can raise taxes, that extra income will be spent on corvid costs and the financial damages caused by corvid. Biden has to roll back tax cuts instituted by Trump and we will still be in deficit spending. We might be able to tax the rich enough to balance a yearly budget, but not pay our 27 trillion dollar debt, and there will not be enough to pay for the Democratic programs promised in the primaries. It would be a great step if we could get to a yearly balanced budget. The interest rate payment alone on our national debt is near one trillion dollars a year. The rich were not the only ones who benefited from tax cuts over the last 40 years. Mondale was right.
Jerry, in my opinion, the best way to recover the economy is the way FDR did it.
Thanks and Hugs to all. both WWWendy and the meal were magnificent.