sharpstick’s blog

In Orangeburg eating at McD's. Will see Mom and Dad soon.

Yum! Where can I get this?

Yum! Where can I get this?

I pulled this photo to test Ping.fm.

I pulled this photo to test Ping.fm.

This is a test blog post of the new Ping.fm posting service web site. If all goes well, I will be able to keep all my social networking sites up-to-date all at once. Which means my VOX account is most likely going to get a lot more personal details and my FaceBook page will be getting more "serious" content. Testing 1, 2, 3.

Proving that that you become what you hate, the certain Republicans are comparing themselves to the Taliban.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/08/AR2009020802344.html

"After giving the package zero votes in the House, and with their counterparts in the Senate likely to provide in a crucial procedural vote today only the handful of votes needed to avoid a filibuster, Republicans are relishing the opportunity to make a big statement.  Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) suggested last week that the party is learning from the disruptive tactics of the Taliban, and the GOP these days does have the bravado of an insurgent band that has pulled together after a big defeat to carry off a quick, if not particularly damaging, raid on the powers that be. "

The Republican Party is shriveling up to it's hard, bitter core and because of that are doing more harm to the country. Their motivation for blocking the stimulus bill is not the betterment of their country, it is to further their own political careers in their home districts. They had no problem signing a bill that gave $700 BILLION away to banks who horded it and wasted it with out oversight. The banks sneezed and the Republican lead Congress fell all over its self to wipe their noses. But now that a bill comes across their desk that has a chance of putting money into the hands of those who need it, or provide jobs to those who want to work,they are resistant and righteous and sudden spend thrifts who are unmoved by the plight of the common American worker who is so beneath them. There is no Charity in their hearts, only the love of power and money. This is hypocrisy of the highest order and a continuation of the deadly hubris of the Bush error.

Now they see themselves as following in the footsteps of the Taliban and sanctioning the philosophy of terrorist? Really?

The Republican Party needs a re-boot, or needs to be allowed to die and be replaced with a new party that puts it's country (and it's citizens) first.

Anthem lyrics

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me.

Ring the bells that still can ring ...

You can add up the parts
but you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum
Every heart, every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.

This pretty much sums it all up.

A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks
With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy

By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 10, 2008; A01

The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.

But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.

...

"Did the Treasury Department have the authority to do this? I think almost every tax expert would agree that the answer is no," said George K. Yin, the former chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the nonpartisan congressional authority on taxes. "They basically repealed a 22-year-old law that Congress passed as a backdoor way of providing aid to banks."

...

Lawmakers are considering legislation to undo the change. According to tax attorneys, no one would have legal standing to file a lawsuit challenging the Treasury notice, so only Congress or Treasury could reverse it. Such action could undo the notice going forward or make it clear that it was never legal, a move that experts say would be unlikely.

But several aides said they were still torn between their belief that the change is illegal and fear of further destabilizing the economy.

"None of us wants to be blamed for ruining these mergers and creating a new Great Depression," one said.

Some legal experts said these under-the-radar objections mirror the objections to the congressional resolution authorizing the war in Iraq.

"It's just like after September 11. Back then no one wanted to be seen as not patriotic, and now no one wants to be seen as not doing all they can to save the financial system," said Lee A. Sheppard, a tax attorney who is a contributing editor at the trade publication Tax Analysts. "We're left now with congressional Democrats that have spines like overcooked spaghetti. So who is going to stop the Treasury secretary from doing whatever he wants?"

Read the full story