Wednesday Open Thread

Filed in National by on December 30, 2009

It’s Wednesday and it’s open thread time again! I know you’re probably going through withdrawal because we didn’t have one yesterday. Well, your wait is over!

Dick Cheney is a dick:

“As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low-key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of Sept. 11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won’t be at war.

“He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core Al Qaeda-trained terrorists still there, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, ‘war on terror,’ we won’t be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe. Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society. President Obama’s first object and his highest responsibility must be to defend us against an enemy that knows we are at war.

Is this from the Dick Cheney who tried attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid and wannabe terrorist Zacarias Moussaoi in U.S. courts? These terrorist supervillains are now quietly serving their time in U.S. supermax prisons. I guess these terrorists are saving their superpowers for later then.

Of course, we all know the proper response is to wet our pants and wiretap some more Americans or something.

Ahhhh…the fruits of reconciliation. On January 1, the estate tax (dubbed the “death tax” by Republicans) goes to 0%. On January 1, 2011 it resets back to its 2001 number, 50%. This tax only applies to very wealthy estates, roughly 5,000 per year.

Eight and a half years ago, when I dubbed the first Bush tax cut the Throw Momma from the Train Act of 2001, I didn’t really think that we’d get to the point where there would be strong financial incentives for wealthy heirs to bump off their parents before the legislation expired, and the estate tax was reinstated. I expected one of two things to happen: Democrats would restore a sensible estate tax, or Republicans would achieve the political dominance needed to permanently abolish the tax. As John Belushi would have said, however, But NOOOOO. Instead, it’s really happening.

Just to be clear, the source of this craziness is fiscal fraud: way back when, the Bush team used sunsets that were never intended to take effect in order to hold down the official cost of their tax cuts. Their assumption was that at a later date they’d be able to make the thing permanent.

Hooray for Congress for going for the least sensible route. That takes talent!

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Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (13)

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  1. Lizard says:

    so much for the “reset button”

    Russia: Vladimir Putin calls for more weapons to stop America doing ‘whatever it wants’

    The Times(UK) ^ | 12/30/09 | Will Stewart
    Vladimir Putin calls for more weapons to stop America doing ‘whatever it wants’ A Topol-M missile in Red Square. Vladimir Putin called for more Russian offensive weapons to punch through America’s new missile defence shield Will Stewart in Moscow Russia needs more weapons to punch through America’s new missile defence shield, Vladimir Putin said yesterday in blunt remarks that will complicate efforts to cut the nuclear arsenals of the former Cold War rivals. The Russian Prime Minister, reasserting himself as the country’s real ruler, said that Moscow should press ahead with a new generation of weapons to stop the Americans…

  2. donviti says:

    when is the next “blame congress” post queued up for? I’m polishing up some Bush years examples

  3. Lizard says:

    Why do we know that the pantybomber’s father went to the US embassy and told us that his son was a dangerous extremest? Why isn’t that a secret?

    Think about the next family member tempted to warn us… Why risk it, the US Government will do nothing with your warning and then out you as a “spy” when your family member succedes.

  4. Lizard says:

    Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue #3 In Heterophobic San Francisco

  5. Kurward Derby says:

    Rachel Maddow’s last show of the year tonight: calling out Cheney and the Rethugs on the airline bomber tactics, year in review, best of “Moment of Geek” — great show.

  6. anonone says:

    Local press reports in Hawaii report that Rush Limbaugh was rushed to the hospital in Honolulu today with chest pains. He is reported in serious condition.

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/rush_hospitalized_in_serious_condition.php?ref=fpblg

  7. Yes, I saw this A1. I’m waiting for more information before posting on it.

  8. liberalgeek says:

    Hey Lizard, you fool, the parents are the ones who disclosed their report to the embassy.

    “His father, having become concerned about his disappearance and stoppage of communication while schooling abroad, reported the matter to Nigerian security agencies about two months ago and to some foreign security agencies about a month and a half ago,” the family said in a statement.

  9. Lizard says:

    hey finger smeller, did they issue the statement before or after the father was identified in the press?

    you can relax it wasn’t the dear leader that I was criticising.

  10. A. price says:

    it’s that lizard and the like just cant accept that Obama is the president. it could be because he is smarter than them, or black, or young, or proposes a world where they cant be greedy and live life spitting on everyone else… whatever it is they dont want to accept he is the president. when WE refused ot recognize bush, it was for legitimate reasons. he didn’t actually win the election in 2000. But it is very telling that the right decided before election night to hate the new president and to stand against the majority of their countrymen, and adhere to a leadership policy that had already proven faulty.

    you call yourself patriots just “being american” but your opposition has no basis whatsoever other thn pre decided hate.

  11. pandora says:

    Lizard still hasn’t accepted the earth is round.

  12. Brooke says:

    Oh, pandora, I missed you. *heart*

  13. pandora says:

    LOL, Brooke! Missed you, too!

    Lizard celebrates his intellectual laziness – he wallows in ignorance. Seriously, take away his linkless cut and pasting and all you have left is crude name-calling. No independent thought, whatsoever. He hates Obama. That’s all he has. All his plagiarized comments reveal this. He doesn’t discuss policy, because he can’t… which explains the constant cut and pasting.