{"id":17097,"date":"2015-11-04T12:38:23","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=17097"},"modified":"2015-11-04T12:38:23","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:38:23","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-04112015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/04\/squatchs-open-thread-04112015\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch\u2019s Open Thread 04\/11\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, many locales in the US had elections yesterday so I will be cruising the trades to see what happened.  One thing I did hear last night was that Kentucky elected Tea Partier Matt Bevin as governor.  What is in the water there???  McTurtle, Paul, Davis and now Bevin?  OMG!!!  On the other hand, Justin Trudeau was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Canada this morning with a full cabinet.  But more on that later.  There's lots more going on so I best get at it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Puzzle — <\/strong>Today’s took me 4:23 (average 6:10). To do it, <\/span>click here<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Huffington Post<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/strong>— House Republicans are pushing to give private debt collectors the right to target all unpaid tax bills, handing a traditional IRS responsibility over to an industry with a long record of consumer abuse.<\/p>\n

I was aghast when I read this piece.  With approximately 79% of those owing taxes being low income taxpayers with no resources for taxes, perhaps the IRS should be going after the 21% who are not low income, including corporations and those that utilise off-shore havens.  Of course, that might necessitate some new policies and laws. . . . when pigs fly!<\/span><\/p>\n

Mother Jones<\/span><\/a><\/strong> — Carson has repeatedly—including last year on Fox News—cited Skousen, who died in 2006, as the key to understanding what has happened in the United States over the past half-century. The most recent edition of Skousen's book trumpets Carson's endorsement on the front cover: "The Naked Communist<\/em> lays out the whole progressive plan. It is unbelievable how fast it has been achieved." In 2007, the conservative National Review <\/em>called Skousen an "all-around nutjob."<\/a><\/p>\n

BARF BAG ALERT!!    BARF BAG ALERT!!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n