More Freebies For the Super Rich

I was home on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I have this major construction job taking place in my backyard. My garage has been leaning to the left ( a bit like it's owner ) ever sice I bought the house, and over the past few years, (again like it's owner) it's tilting a lot more in that direction, so much so, that I think it might fall over. I actually found a guy would come out to give me a quote, and after the quote, he appeared the very next day to do the job. Say what you want about immigrant workers, but if you find one who can do your construction jobs, hang onto him, because they show up for work, they finish the job on time, and they don't rip you off. Anyway, I was home supervising the construction job, running to the Lowes for two by fours, and roofing materials, making coffee for the guys, and sort of watching CNN in between. CNN this week has been hyping the coming hurricane season, they are showing re-runs of Katrina, and getting a jump on the next disaster. It's almost like trailers for a new season. Since presently, there are no hurricanes, I was just wondering if maybe they could uhmm...just report the news?

CNN stands for Cable News Network. If they want to change the name to HNN, Hurricane News Network, then I will tune in when the hurricane actually comes, and switch to MSNBC until the next disaster. Because believe it or not, there are things that are actually happening right now that Americans need to know about. There are things being voted on in our Congress this week that will have a tremendous effect on the national debt, the ability of our nation to actually pay for wars that we can't seem to win. Our Congress is about to hand over our fiscal future to a bunch of billionaires, and to the tune of 1 trillion dollars. And do you know who's getting the tax break this time?

If you said Paris Hilton, you would be correct. You win a pitcher of Tankwoman Cranberry Margaritas, and a plate of Triple chocolate Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting*.

We've all heard Republicans talking about the "Death Tax". They talk about family farms being passed down from the older generations and going bankrupt because of estate taxes. This picture of a guy inheriting his father's farm and getting reposessed by the Federal government is complete bullshit.

The anti-estate tax American Farm Bureau Federation could not find a single case of a family farm lost due to the tax. (Moreover, if there were any evidence of such problems down the road one could easily protect family farms and small businesses by raising the exemption level.

What's really happening is a very familiar tax dodge by the super-rich. You have to ask the question, who gets a big payday, and how much did they pay our elected officials to get it?

One reason is a 10-year, multimillion dollar lobbying and public relations campaign led by 18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion. A repeal would net them $71.6 billion, and supporters of the PR effort include the families behind Wal-Mart, Gallo wine, Campbell's Soup, and Mars Inc.; the richest family in Alabama; and the world's largest retailer.

Okay so let me see if I can summarize this issue for you.

There are 18 super rich families who have hired lobbyists to bribe our elected officials to eliminate estate taxes. The taxpayers have hired no lobbyists, and therefore have no voice in this matter. The fact that we pay our elected officials to speak on our behalf means jack-shit.

The elimination of the estate tax will cost us $1 trillion dollars, and we are already in debt up to our eyeballs.

You can forget about sending your kids to college, you can forget about health care reform, you can forget about our parents on fixed incomes, you can forget about getting these people out of trailers who are facing the next season of CNN and the storm of the century, forget about anything we ever wanted to do for the poor or marginalized people in this country. We don't have the money now, and we sure won't have the money five years from now.

Forget about economic recovery.

I'm F-ing sick of tax dodging rich people. I'm sick of rich whiners. Paris Hilton who did nothing to earn her billions will not pay taxes. You and I will pay taxes on the sweat from our brows, the fruits of our labor. We'll put off retiring for 5 or ten years because we can't live on Social Security, and the drugs that keep us alive are costing us a fortune. Our children will not go to college. They might have to work at Walmart. Our hope for the future will be buried under the interest on our trillion dollar debt.

And Paris Hilton will fuck someone else on the Internet, and not contribute a single cent to the country that has favored her over working people.

Do you get it yet? Or are you still infatuated with Anderson Cooper and the drama of a hurricane that hasn't happened?

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