Kevin Koster commented on Brit Hume Rips Trump’s Coronavirus Briefings
2020-04-11 22:00:51 -0400
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And here we have Brit Hume playing the role of “elder statesman” as though he had any currency toward having that position. (And we can imagine Bill O’Reilly desperately fuming on the sidelines, as this was a role he wanted for himself.)
Kevin Koster commented on Sorry, Fox News Trumpers: There’s A Truly Promising COVID-19 Drug And It’s Not Hydroxychloroquine
2020-04-11 21:59:13 -0400
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If any treatment turns out to be a testable, provable remedy against this thing, I don’t care which company created it.
My issue with the angry Right Wing approach to pushing one pet idea like hydroxycholoroquine is that they’ve they keep pretending it’s some kind of instant fix to this crisis. They’re hoping it’s a silver bullet that will suddenly finish the social distancing and give the Pence White House bragging points. They don’t understand that the rest of the country is fully aware of how and why we got into this mess and how much responsibility the Pence White House bears for it.
My issue with the angry Right Wing approach to pushing one pet idea like hydroxycholoroquine is that they’ve they keep pretending it’s some kind of instant fix to this crisis. They’re hoping it’s a silver bullet that will suddenly finish the social distancing and give the Pence White House bragging points. They don’t understand that the rest of the country is fully aware of how and why we got into this mess and how much responsibility the Pence White House bears for it.
Kevin Koster commented on ‘Pro-Life’ O’Reilly Shrugs Off 13,000 American COVID-19 Deaths: Many Were ‘On Their Last Legs Anyway’
2020-04-11 22:04:41 -0400
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Ellen makes another good point here: The fact that “pro-life” angry Right Wingers keep pitching the idea of massive numbers of death being just fine is a spectacular display of their innate hypocrisy. O’Reilly happened to blast his own hypocrisy with his advocating for Tiller’s death, but now all the rest have plunged themselves into the hole.
From this point forward, any “pro-life” angry Right Winger who has voiced this notion of all these deaths being okay never gets to play that card again without getting a loud rebuke of “NO. YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T CARE IF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE THE ECONOMY WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LIVES. YOU HAVE NO MORAL GROUND ANYMORE.”
From this point forward, any “pro-life” angry Right Winger who has voiced this notion of all these deaths being okay never gets to play that card again without getting a loud rebuke of “NO. YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T CARE IF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE THE ECONOMY WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LIVES. YOU HAVE NO MORAL GROUND ANYMORE.”
Kevin Koster commented on Sanders Suspends Campaign But Fox Fearmongering About Socialism Goes On
2020-04-08 16:11:36 -0400
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It’s frankly tiring to see Chris Wallace continuing to lie and sneer about the record of Democrats while he pretends to be a “responsible Republican”. This is nothing new for Wallace, as we all saw with his attempted “gotcha” of Bill Clinton in the mid-2000s. Wallace is frantically attempting to paint Biden, who’s spent his career as a determined centrist, as a wild-eyed Marxist-Leninist somehow.
Wallace lies when he says that Biden is somehow “so far to the left of where even Barack Obama was in 2012”. Nonsense. In 2012, President Obama pushed DACA through. And there’s nothing more than DACA in Biden’s positions – Biden certainly doesn’t support decriminalizing anything. And Biden’s discussion of making sure everyone has healthcare isn’t about “illegal immigration” – it’s about making sure everyone can get to the doctor, particularly during a major viral outbreak. Would Chris Wallace prefer to see the immigrant community have no healthcare and simply spread the virus to everyone else? Or is he just hoping they’ll die quietly and leave him alone?
It’s true that Bernie Sanders has succeeded in getting his message and his issues onto the table for the Democratic Party, and that’s a good thing. Joe Biden will incorporate, as Hillary Clinton did before him, several policy goals from Sanders and his base – and that’s a major step toward making sure we don’t just have a race between Angry Far Right Republicans and some watered down Republican Lite alternative. But these are not issues that are wildly Left of where President Obama’s policies were. Was it really that long ago that Chris Wallace and everyone else at Fox News was accusing President Obama of pushing “socialism”? Do they really think we’ve forgotten that quickly?
Watch out now for a new wave of angry Right Wing attacks on Joe Biden, likely to be accompanied by some on the Left who are infuriated to see that Sanders is out of the running. We’ve already had several waves, and we’ll certainly get a few reruns before November:
1. “Corrupt Joe Biden” – this is the nonsense story about how somehow Joe Biden is secretly corrupt and how his son Hunter’s board seat at a Ukrainian company instantly means that the Bidens are criminal, inethical and immoral. In fact, Hunter Biden’s seat was completely legal and Joe Biden made sure to stay well clear of it. The only tangible result of the Far Right’s obsession with this tack (in their hope to turn it into more Hillary email fun) has been that the Pence White House saw its childish spokesman impeached.
2. “Senile Joe Biden” – here’s the version of the story where Joe Biden suddenly has dementia and is somehow incapable of even handling his own campaign. There’s no actual evidence of this, but angry Right Wingers keep pushing it. In reality, Biden has had a long history of mis-speaking and of rambling on in his speeches. One variation on this theme has been a fun one that Bill O’Reilly is now desperately promoting from his corner of the internet – the notion that somehow Joe Biden is about to drop out of the race and give all his delegates to Andrew Cuomo. It’s a nice try – implying that Biden is on death’s door and that Cuomo is somehow a “godfather” waiting in the wings – but there is no evidence that this is anything more than an angry Far Right fantasy.
3. “Rapist Joe Biden” – this is the narrative that both Far Right and Far Left are trying to push regarding Alexandra Tara Reade’s latest version of her allegations about Biden from 1993. Joe Biden certainly has a long record of being handsy with women – not in a sexual way, but in a patriarchal way. Doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t get his hands smacked by anyone who’s been annoyed by him, but it doesn’t make him a predator either. That record has been consistent, and it’s of a piece with Biden’s personality. When he talks to people, he clearly prefers to put a hand on their shoulder and to get into their personal space. In the case of Ms Reade, she’s given three different accounts of her interactions with Biden from when she was a staffer for him back in the early 1990s. In one account, she mentioned him being handsy in the same manner everyone else did. No mention of an assault. In another account, when specifically asked about her discussion of handsiness, Reade answered that she had no problem with Biden and no bad feelings toward him. As of 2019, Reade suddenly changed her story and went to Ryan Grim and Amanda Marcotte with a spectacular accusation that Biden had raped her in his office in 1993 and that her family would back up her new version of her story. Reporters trying to confirm this have been unable to get more than a family member insisting that Reade mentioned it at some point. What they have confirmed is that Reade has a history of making odd statements and that she’s tried to erase part of her history of online comments. The Biden campaign has responded to Reade’s sudden rape allegation with a note that it’s outrageous and false and a recommendation that it be investigated so people can see that for themselves. (I’ll note that Ryan Grim’s other claim to fame is that he outed Professor Blasey Ford two years ago during the Kavanaugh ram. Professor Blasey Ford was trying to keep her allegations quiet and anonymous. Grim chose to push her into the spotlight, which has had truly unfortunate consequences for her and her family. In the case of Professor Blasey Ford, the allegations were clearly substantiated, but the issue was that she did not want her name and face dragged through the public trough. In the case of Ms Reade, we have someone who is clearly trying to put herself into the spotlight in hopes of bringing down a presidential candidate)
I note that all three of these narratives are being played at the same time. Joe Biden is thus played as a horribly corrupt politician getting favors for his son, a senile doddering old babbler who doesn’t know where he is or what day it is, and a sexual predator who’s somehow been secretly raping women for the past 50 years. One really must wonder whether angry Right Wingers are aware that these narratives don’t make any sense. One must also wonder why Right Wingers are so terrified of Joe Biden that they feel it necessary to throw these smears around.
Wallace lies when he says that Biden is somehow “so far to the left of where even Barack Obama was in 2012”. Nonsense. In 2012, President Obama pushed DACA through. And there’s nothing more than DACA in Biden’s positions – Biden certainly doesn’t support decriminalizing anything. And Biden’s discussion of making sure everyone has healthcare isn’t about “illegal immigration” – it’s about making sure everyone can get to the doctor, particularly during a major viral outbreak. Would Chris Wallace prefer to see the immigrant community have no healthcare and simply spread the virus to everyone else? Or is he just hoping they’ll die quietly and leave him alone?
It’s true that Bernie Sanders has succeeded in getting his message and his issues onto the table for the Democratic Party, and that’s a good thing. Joe Biden will incorporate, as Hillary Clinton did before him, several policy goals from Sanders and his base – and that’s a major step toward making sure we don’t just have a race between Angry Far Right Republicans and some watered down Republican Lite alternative. But these are not issues that are wildly Left of where President Obama’s policies were. Was it really that long ago that Chris Wallace and everyone else at Fox News was accusing President Obama of pushing “socialism”? Do they really think we’ve forgotten that quickly?
Watch out now for a new wave of angry Right Wing attacks on Joe Biden, likely to be accompanied by some on the Left who are infuriated to see that Sanders is out of the running. We’ve already had several waves, and we’ll certainly get a few reruns before November:
1. “Corrupt Joe Biden” – this is the nonsense story about how somehow Joe Biden is secretly corrupt and how his son Hunter’s board seat at a Ukrainian company instantly means that the Bidens are criminal, inethical and immoral. In fact, Hunter Biden’s seat was completely legal and Joe Biden made sure to stay well clear of it. The only tangible result of the Far Right’s obsession with this tack (in their hope to turn it into more Hillary email fun) has been that the Pence White House saw its childish spokesman impeached.
2. “Senile Joe Biden” – here’s the version of the story where Joe Biden suddenly has dementia and is somehow incapable of even handling his own campaign. There’s no actual evidence of this, but angry Right Wingers keep pushing it. In reality, Biden has had a long history of mis-speaking and of rambling on in his speeches. One variation on this theme has been a fun one that Bill O’Reilly is now desperately promoting from his corner of the internet – the notion that somehow Joe Biden is about to drop out of the race and give all his delegates to Andrew Cuomo. It’s a nice try – implying that Biden is on death’s door and that Cuomo is somehow a “godfather” waiting in the wings – but there is no evidence that this is anything more than an angry Far Right fantasy.
3. “Rapist Joe Biden” – this is the narrative that both Far Right and Far Left are trying to push regarding Alexandra Tara Reade’s latest version of her allegations about Biden from 1993. Joe Biden certainly has a long record of being handsy with women – not in a sexual way, but in a patriarchal way. Doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t get his hands smacked by anyone who’s been annoyed by him, but it doesn’t make him a predator either. That record has been consistent, and it’s of a piece with Biden’s personality. When he talks to people, he clearly prefers to put a hand on their shoulder and to get into their personal space. In the case of Ms Reade, she’s given three different accounts of her interactions with Biden from when she was a staffer for him back in the early 1990s. In one account, she mentioned him being handsy in the same manner everyone else did. No mention of an assault. In another account, when specifically asked about her discussion of handsiness, Reade answered that she had no problem with Biden and no bad feelings toward him. As of 2019, Reade suddenly changed her story and went to Ryan Grim and Amanda Marcotte with a spectacular accusation that Biden had raped her in his office in 1993 and that her family would back up her new version of her story. Reporters trying to confirm this have been unable to get more than a family member insisting that Reade mentioned it at some point. What they have confirmed is that Reade has a history of making odd statements and that she’s tried to erase part of her history of online comments. The Biden campaign has responded to Reade’s sudden rape allegation with a note that it’s outrageous and false and a recommendation that it be investigated so people can see that for themselves. (I’ll note that Ryan Grim’s other claim to fame is that he outed Professor Blasey Ford two years ago during the Kavanaugh ram. Professor Blasey Ford was trying to keep her allegations quiet and anonymous. Grim chose to push her into the spotlight, which has had truly unfortunate consequences for her and her family. In the case of Professor Blasey Ford, the allegations were clearly substantiated, but the issue was that she did not want her name and face dragged through the public trough. In the case of Ms Reade, we have someone who is clearly trying to put herself into the spotlight in hopes of bringing down a presidential candidate)
I note that all three of these narratives are being played at the same time. Joe Biden is thus played as a horribly corrupt politician getting favors for his son, a senile doddering old babbler who doesn’t know where he is or what day it is, and a sexual predator who’s somehow been secretly raping women for the past 50 years. One really must wonder whether angry Right Wingers are aware that these narratives don’t make any sense. One must also wonder why Right Wingers are so terrified of Joe Biden that they feel it necessary to throw these smears around.
Kevin Koster commented on FBN Hosts Liz Claman And Charles Payne Now In Quarantine
2020-03-24 19:27:13 -0400
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We can guarantee that Fox News and Fox Business will put the happiest spin they can on this.
Kevin Koster commented on Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick: Seniors Are Willing To Die For Trump’s Economy
2020-03-24 19:25:59 -0400
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Eyes, they don’t care. They just want to see if they can get millions of people to run back to work and everything else, hoping that somehow nothing will go wrong and the economy will somehow instantly bounce back in time to allow Pence’s childish spokesman to win his campaign this year. If this means that millions of people die in the process, they figure they can blame someone else. What they’re not counting on is everyone remembering that the Pence White House and Fox News and AM radio hosts have advocated for this and thus bear the responsibility for its consequences if anyone is stupid enough to believe them. Just like Fox News and the Pence White House are directly responsible for endangering people by telling them to use various supposed “cures” that have all kinds of problems.
Kevin Koster commented on Tucker Carlson: Burr Should Either Explain Or Resign And Be Prosecuted Over Coronavirus Stock Sales
2020-03-20 15:40:03 -0400
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I agree with this on both counts.
Carlson is correct in pointing out the obvious criminality in what Burr has done here. Unless Burr has some way to explain his behavior here, this would fall under the classification of “Felony”.
At the same time, Carlson is teeing off on an easy target and frankly a distraction during a major crisis for both the Pence White House and its various sycophants at Fox News and AM Radio. Burr’s self-dealing here should be prosecuted, but it’s small potatoes next to the viciousness and incompetence of the Pence White House. And it’s even smaller potatoes next to the demonstrated craven spin from propaganda outlets like Fox News.
Carlson is correct in pointing out the obvious criminality in what Burr has done here. Unless Burr has some way to explain his behavior here, this would fall under the classification of “Felony”.
At the same time, Carlson is teeing off on an easy target and frankly a distraction during a major crisis for both the Pence White House and its various sycophants at Fox News and AM Radio. Burr’s self-dealing here should be prosecuted, but it’s small potatoes next to the viciousness and incompetence of the Pence White House. And it’s even smaller potatoes next to the demonstrated craven spin from propaganda outlets like Fox News.
Kevin Koster commented on Instead Of Apologizing For Misinforming Viewers About Coronavirus Dangers, Hannity Wants To Sue The Messengers
2020-03-19 10:51:58 -0400
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Hannity should go ahead and file that billion dollar lawsuit right now if he really thinks he has a case. Although I wouldn’t recommend Lin Wood, who has a spotty track record at best (having lost the key suit in the Richard Jewell cases and having just lost the Elon Musk case).
It’s unfortunate that Hannity is now trumpeting the nuisance suits filed on behalf of Nick Sandmann. CNN settled one for a pittance of a few thousand dollars to spare themselves the expense of going to court to defend themselves against the nonsensical claims of the Sandmann family. (This is typical for a big company’s response to gold-digging like these lawsuits – they settle for a tiny amount to make it go away quietly.) The Washington Post suit has mostly been dismissed but is being allowed to continue discovery to cement the dismissal. And NBC is unlikely to settle even for the pittance. So no, Nick Sandmann is not going to be a “billionaire”. He likely saw almost nothing from the CNN settlement as much of that would have gone to Lin Wood to cover his own costs. And Sandmann is no innocent victim. He behaved very badly in public and was caught on video doing so. The correct response for him and his friends is that he should have been harshly disciplined by his family, his school and his church. Instead, the family has shamefully chosen to try to monetize his notoriety. Having worked in litigation for years, I can attest that this approach is both pointless and fruitless for a plaintiff like the Sandmann family.
Regarding the constant nonsensical SLAPP suit threats by Hannity, by Devin Nunes, by Pence’s childish spokesman and even by Eric Bolling, that approach is frankly just an irritation. Reporting the truth is always a solid defense against claims like these, no matter how many empty threats Sean Hannity thinks he can get away with flinging. If he truly wants to mess with getting hit with a massive countersuit, he should file away right now.
And on that note, why hasn’t Eric Bolling piped up about that 50 million dollar lawsuit he threatened against Yashir Ali in 2017? The one where Ali had the temerity to report the facts about how Bolling was sexting lewd photos to his female co-workers, which led to Bolling’s firing from Fox News? The one where Bolling tried to personally extort 50 million dollars from Ali as a way of silencing him? The one where Ali hired an attorney on contingency to immediately warn Bolling to walk away or face the consequences? Why hasn’t Eric Bolling been discussing his tremendous success with a lawsuit that should have already gone to trial within the last year? Unless of course, Bolling listened to his own counsel in 2017 and quietly backed down…
It’s unfortunate that Hannity is now trumpeting the nuisance suits filed on behalf of Nick Sandmann. CNN settled one for a pittance of a few thousand dollars to spare themselves the expense of going to court to defend themselves against the nonsensical claims of the Sandmann family. (This is typical for a big company’s response to gold-digging like these lawsuits – they settle for a tiny amount to make it go away quietly.) The Washington Post suit has mostly been dismissed but is being allowed to continue discovery to cement the dismissal. And NBC is unlikely to settle even for the pittance. So no, Nick Sandmann is not going to be a “billionaire”. He likely saw almost nothing from the CNN settlement as much of that would have gone to Lin Wood to cover his own costs. And Sandmann is no innocent victim. He behaved very badly in public and was caught on video doing so. The correct response for him and his friends is that he should have been harshly disciplined by his family, his school and his church. Instead, the family has shamefully chosen to try to monetize his notoriety. Having worked in litigation for years, I can attest that this approach is both pointless and fruitless for a plaintiff like the Sandmann family.
Regarding the constant nonsensical SLAPP suit threats by Hannity, by Devin Nunes, by Pence’s childish spokesman and even by Eric Bolling, that approach is frankly just an irritation. Reporting the truth is always a solid defense against claims like these, no matter how many empty threats Sean Hannity thinks he can get away with flinging. If he truly wants to mess with getting hit with a massive countersuit, he should file away right now.
And on that note, why hasn’t Eric Bolling piped up about that 50 million dollar lawsuit he threatened against Yashir Ali in 2017? The one where Ali had the temerity to report the facts about how Bolling was sexting lewd photos to his female co-workers, which led to Bolling’s firing from Fox News? The one where Bolling tried to personally extort 50 million dollars from Ali as a way of silencing him? The one where Ali hired an attorney on contingency to immediately warn Bolling to walk away or face the consequences? Why hasn’t Eric Bolling been discussing his tremendous success with a lawsuit that should have already gone to trial within the last year? Unless of course, Bolling listened to his own counsel in 2017 and quietly backed down…
Kevin Koster commented on Primary Day – Open Thread
2020-03-18 15:35:42 -0400
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I’m doubting that the Pence White House and Fox News will be able to do much with the Hunter Biden nonsense. Too many people have caught on to their playbook. The only major result they got from that attempt was the impeachment of Pence’s childish spokesman. Their new narrative appears to be one of calling Biden senile, and that one doesn’t appear to be going anywhere either.
Kevin Koster commented on Clueless Nunes And Bartiromo Tell Fox Viewers, ‘It’s A Great Time To Just Go Out, Go To A Local Restaurant’
2020-03-16 20:11:00 -0400
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Most of what Nunes said is criminally irresponsible nonsense, particularly telling people to go out to eat in the middle of a pandemic. (BTW you will still be able to patronize restaurants by either picking up takeout orders or having the meal delivered to your home.)
There is one correct point he made, however. He made a mess of the statement, but I do agree with his point. Which is that it’s a ridiculous idea to run to the grocery store and do panic shopping. Having a couple weeks of food and supplies at your home is not the same thing as filling your cart with a pallet of toilet paper or frantically emptying the shelves of soup or crackers and hoarding those items.
My local supermarket has regularly been slammed by panicked locals frantically grabbing food and items that they don’t actually need for even a month – they’re over-purchasing in a way that would suggest that they think they’ll be locked behind their doors for the next year. Which is ridiculous.
The shortages we are seeing, the empty shelves at the grocery stores, are based on the panic buying, not on a lack of supply. My local supermarket is being restocked on a daily and weekly basis and the panickers are continuing to raid it. I believe that behavior will tail off over the next week and that we’ll see the stores come back to some normalcy. But people really need to calm down about this.
There is one correct point he made, however. He made a mess of the statement, but I do agree with his point. Which is that it’s a ridiculous idea to run to the grocery store and do panic shopping. Having a couple weeks of food and supplies at your home is not the same thing as filling your cart with a pallet of toilet paper or frantically emptying the shelves of soup or crackers and hoarding those items.
My local supermarket has regularly been slammed by panicked locals frantically grabbing food and items that they don’t actually need for even a month – they’re over-purchasing in a way that would suggest that they think they’ll be locked behind their doors for the next year. Which is ridiculous.
The shortages we are seeing, the empty shelves at the grocery stores, are based on the panic buying, not on a lack of supply. My local supermarket is being restocked on a daily and weekly basis and the panickers are continuing to raid it. I believe that behavior will tail off over the next week and that we’ll see the stores come back to some normalcy. But people really need to calm down about this.
Kevin Koster commented on Watch A Completely Schnockered Larry Kudlow Try To Hype Trump’s Economy
2020-02-17 11:20:45 -0500
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What makes this sickening is that Kudlow is LYING. And he’s being fairly brazen about it.
First, Middle Class employees DID NOT GET A TAX CUT. THEY GOT A MASSIVE TAX INCREASE. PERIOD. Middle Class employees saw their brackets increased and their deductions erased – thus pinning them into higher brackets and therefore into significantly higher tax burdens.
Secondly, the increase in take-home pay was a cynical trick of goosed-down withholding – an attempt to fool people into thinking they’d received the non-existent cut during the midterm election year of 2018. This did see Middle Class employees getting more in their weekly checks, but it resulted later in them owing even MORE the following April come Tax Time. The Pence Treasury Dept tried the sop that this was just to give everyone their refunds early, but that didn’t explain why millions went from getting a 4K refund to a 5K BILL.
Thirdly, Kudlow’s estimation of a 5K increase over 3 years in take-home for a 66K annual earner is mostly due to that goosed-down withholding, with the remainder coming from a nearly imperceptible drop. Lower Middle Class and Working Class employees saw very little benefit from minutely reduced rates – with most getting something like an additional 10-20 bucks per week IF that.
There’s a reason that tens of millions of Americans were outraged a year ago at Tax Time. And they’re about to get a painful reminder in less than 2 months – only now we’re in a major election year. It is my hope that they’ll remember this pain come November.
First, Middle Class employees DID NOT GET A TAX CUT. THEY GOT A MASSIVE TAX INCREASE. PERIOD. Middle Class employees saw their brackets increased and their deductions erased – thus pinning them into higher brackets and therefore into significantly higher tax burdens.
Secondly, the increase in take-home pay was a cynical trick of goosed-down withholding – an attempt to fool people into thinking they’d received the non-existent cut during the midterm election year of 2018. This did see Middle Class employees getting more in their weekly checks, but it resulted later in them owing even MORE the following April come Tax Time. The Pence Treasury Dept tried the sop that this was just to give everyone their refunds early, but that didn’t explain why millions went from getting a 4K refund to a 5K BILL.
Thirdly, Kudlow’s estimation of a 5K increase over 3 years in take-home for a 66K annual earner is mostly due to that goosed-down withholding, with the remainder coming from a nearly imperceptible drop. Lower Middle Class and Working Class employees saw very little benefit from minutely reduced rates – with most getting something like an additional 10-20 bucks per week IF that.
There’s a reason that tens of millions of Americans were outraged a year ago at Tax Time. And they’re about to get a painful reminder in less than 2 months – only now we’re in a major election year. It is my hope that they’ll remember this pain come November.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox Reporter Refers To Social Security As ‘A Popular Entitlement Program’
2020-02-13 15:51:24 -0500
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No surprise here.
This is intended to help drumroll the massive actual cuts they intend to inflict on “entitlements” in 2021 if the Dems stay home this November.
I’ll remind everyone that the plan for the big reductions in Social Security and Medicare is publicly available at the Heritage Foundation website. It’s not like they’re hiding their intentions here.
The idea is essentially what Ellen noted, although they’ve been more pernicious about it. Angry Right Wingers have wanted to get rid of these programs ever since they were established. The current approach to destroying them is decades old.
Any potential future shortfalls could have been dealt with 15-20 years ago with minute adjustments in payroll tax levels for employers. But the Republicans refused to make any such adjustments, thus starving the programs and establishing a false premise of how they are going bankrupt. We can still make those adjustments to the payroll tax levels, but they’ll have to be a little larger now, since the Right Wing has forced the delay.
But the intention by Right Wingers is actually to continue fearmongering, and to float these nonsense proposals til they get their majorities back – and then lower the boom.
If they win this November (ie if Dems stay home), they’ll reduce SS to a 1K flat payment per month, only available to indigent elderly (and this will apply to everyone under the age of 60, so it won’t hit the current retirees). They’ll reduce Medicare to a tiny voucher supplement for you to go to your own doctor and you’d have to have your own coverage. And the retirement age will be extended to 69 or 70 – again for everyone under 60. Anyone complaining that they contributed for decades will be told that it can no longer be afforded, and that you have an additional decade to save something for yourself.
This is but one reason why it is crucial for everyone to actually show up this November.
This is intended to help drumroll the massive actual cuts they intend to inflict on “entitlements” in 2021 if the Dems stay home this November.
I’ll remind everyone that the plan for the big reductions in Social Security and Medicare is publicly available at the Heritage Foundation website. It’s not like they’re hiding their intentions here.
The idea is essentially what Ellen noted, although they’ve been more pernicious about it. Angry Right Wingers have wanted to get rid of these programs ever since they were established. The current approach to destroying them is decades old.
Any potential future shortfalls could have been dealt with 15-20 years ago with minute adjustments in payroll tax levels for employers. But the Republicans refused to make any such adjustments, thus starving the programs and establishing a false premise of how they are going bankrupt. We can still make those adjustments to the payroll tax levels, but they’ll have to be a little larger now, since the Right Wing has forced the delay.
But the intention by Right Wingers is actually to continue fearmongering, and to float these nonsense proposals til they get their majorities back – and then lower the boom.
If they win this November (ie if Dems stay home), they’ll reduce SS to a 1K flat payment per month, only available to indigent elderly (and this will apply to everyone under the age of 60, so it won’t hit the current retirees). They’ll reduce Medicare to a tiny voucher supplement for you to go to your own doctor and you’d have to have your own coverage. And the retirement age will be extended to 69 or 70 – again for everyone under 60. Anyone complaining that they contributed for decades will be told that it can no longer be afforded, and that you have an additional decade to save something for yourself.
This is but one reason why it is crucial for everyone to actually show up this November.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox News Uses GOP Playbook To Urge Trump Cut Social Security, Medicare And Medicaid
2020-02-12 09:57:24 -0500
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I wouldn’t give up just yet. Let’s see what happens over the rest of the primaries. Unless Buttigieg suddenly runs away with most of the states, I don’t think we’ve seen the actual nominee prevail yet.
The only way the GOP squeaks through again is if Dems stay home this November. Fox News is desperately promoting a notion that Trump is somehow going to have a “landslide” – as they’re hoping to depress turnout by everyone else, as usual. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. Instead, I continue to urge EVERYONE to show up and vote this November. It’s the only way to head off bonehead ideas like the Heritage plan for SS and Medicare.
The only way the GOP squeaks through again is if Dems stay home this November. Fox News is desperately promoting a notion that Trump is somehow going to have a “landslide” – as they’re hoping to depress turnout by everyone else, as usual. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. Instead, I continue to urge EVERYONE to show up and vote this November. It’s the only way to head off bonehead ideas like the Heritage plan for SS and Medicare.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox Tries To Minimize Importance Of Romney’s Impeachment Conviction
2020-02-06 15:37:46 -0500
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Romney’s maneuver yesterday was an interesting one, and one that will put him in the history books, but it really didn’t cost him anything.
The positive first:
Romney spoiled the intentions of angry Right Wing pundits and the Pence White House by breaking ranks on a single article and voting with the Dems, who all stood on principle and stayed the course. (More on that later)
Fox News and AM Radio had been counting on all the GOP senators to vote in lockstep, so they could play the whole thing as partisan. And they were desperately hoping a couple of Dems in Red States would cave here and give the a “bipartisan” acquittal. Instead, angry Right Wingers were presented with the opposite scenario – a bipartisan vote to convict on a single article. And as we’re now seeing, the Right Wing is jumping up and down and throwing various tantrums as a result.
For Romney, this wasn’t a hard vote. He frankly has never been a fan of the Pence White House, and he’s voiced that at multiple times. He’s also interested in presenting himself as an “independent” voice, along the same lines as John McCain, as this will give him credibility and it will cement his place as an important historical figure for this era. (If you can’t win a presidential race, you can at least be a memorable politician)
Actual cost to Romney for doing this: A bunch of hatred from the Right in the short term, and a few snubs for the next few months. And then it will blow over and he’ll be back in vogue. Because Romney, like McCain, votes 95% with the other Republicans. It’s only from time to time that he wants to have these small rebellions. And he’s in a safe seat – as long as he wants to run for the Senate, Utah will vote him in. I think he’ll be there for another 20 years, to be honest.
Getting back to the Dems who stayed the course – Sinema and Jones are taking a huge risk here. Joe Manchin is figuring he’ll be fine in 4 years anyway, or he may choose to retire at that point. Sinema will be stuck trying to answer for this to her more Right Wing constituents. And Jones is going to be held accountable THIS YEAR, and he could well lose his seat in the middle of GOP anger at him.
I would say that Sinema and Jones have made much braver plays here. Not to take anything away from Romney’s move, but the consequences are much less for him.
The positive first:
Romney spoiled the intentions of angry Right Wing pundits and the Pence White House by breaking ranks on a single article and voting with the Dems, who all stood on principle and stayed the course. (More on that later)
Fox News and AM Radio had been counting on all the GOP senators to vote in lockstep, so they could play the whole thing as partisan. And they were desperately hoping a couple of Dems in Red States would cave here and give the a “bipartisan” acquittal. Instead, angry Right Wingers were presented with the opposite scenario – a bipartisan vote to convict on a single article. And as we’re now seeing, the Right Wing is jumping up and down and throwing various tantrums as a result.
For Romney, this wasn’t a hard vote. He frankly has never been a fan of the Pence White House, and he’s voiced that at multiple times. He’s also interested in presenting himself as an “independent” voice, along the same lines as John McCain, as this will give him credibility and it will cement his place as an important historical figure for this era. (If you can’t win a presidential race, you can at least be a memorable politician)
Actual cost to Romney for doing this: A bunch of hatred from the Right in the short term, and a few snubs for the next few months. And then it will blow over and he’ll be back in vogue. Because Romney, like McCain, votes 95% with the other Republicans. It’s only from time to time that he wants to have these small rebellions. And he’s in a safe seat – as long as he wants to run for the Senate, Utah will vote him in. I think he’ll be there for another 20 years, to be honest.
Getting back to the Dems who stayed the course – Sinema and Jones are taking a huge risk here. Joe Manchin is figuring he’ll be fine in 4 years anyway, or he may choose to retire at that point. Sinema will be stuck trying to answer for this to her more Right Wing constituents. And Jones is going to be held accountable THIS YEAR, and he could well lose his seat in the middle of GOP anger at him.
I would say that Sinema and Jones have made much braver plays here. Not to take anything away from Romney’s move, but the consequences are much less for him.
Kevin Koster commented on Martha MacCallum Defends Trump’s Disrespect For National Anthem: ‘Awkward Moment’ That Could Have Been ‘Any One Of Us’
2020-02-06 15:24:26 -0500
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Nice to hear that Fox News has suddenly decided to reverse its position on NFL players taking a knee. Now we never have to listen to their moralizing on that topic again, right?
Kevin Koster commented on Tucker Carlson: Romney ‘Shall Go Unnamed’ After ‘Silly Moral Preening’ Impeachment Vote
2020-02-06 15:21:58 -0500
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Carlson clearly had a temper tantrum here. And clearly, it’s because he wanted to be able to have the talking point that EVERY Republican had voted to acquit and hopefully that a few Dems had joined them. When the Dems stood on principle, he lost the latter. When Romney took the safe protest position, he lost the whole thing.
Interesting to see Carlson suddenly attacking Romney as a “private equity guy”. Carlson was all about defending Romney from attacks about that in 2012, when he thought the Dems were somehow out of line to bring that up. Guess he had a change of heart for some reason.
Interesting to see Carlson suddenly attacking Romney as a “private equity guy”. Carlson was all about defending Romney from attacks about that in 2012, when he thought the Dems were somehow out of line to bring that up. Guess he had a change of heart for some reason.
Kevin Koster commented on 2020 State Of The Union - Open Thread
2020-02-05 00:19:18 -0500
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I don’t watch addresses by Pence’s childish spokesman as they are usually both incoherent and nonsensical. I did see three key clips, however.
1. Pence’s childish spokesman angrily refusing the hand of the Speaker of the House;
2. Pence’s childish spokesman and Rush Limbaugh degrading the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a moment that clearly embarrassed most of the people in the room.
3. Nancy Pelosi summing up the nation’s reaction to the nonsense by neatly ripping up the papers that Pence’s team had cheapened with the nonsensical address.
1. Pence’s childish spokesman angrily refusing the hand of the Speaker of the House;
2. Pence’s childish spokesman and Rush Limbaugh degrading the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a moment that clearly embarrassed most of the people in the room.
3. Nancy Pelosi summing up the nation’s reaction to the nonsense by neatly ripping up the papers that Pence’s team had cheapened with the nonsensical address.
Kevin Koster commented on ‘Rush Has Lung Cancer’ Top Story At FoxNews.Com
2020-02-03 18:29:58 -0500
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Regarding Limbaugh’s cancer diagnosis – it’s not really that surprising considering that he smoked for years and has made a point of promoting a lifestyle meant to evoke macho posturing but really connotes a bit of desperation.
And now he has a medical situation that he will need to handle – it’s good for him that he has plenty of medical coverage thanks to his membership in AFTRA as a full-time radio host going back at least 35 years. So unlike millions of Americans he derided, he doesn’t have to worry about a major illness emptying his bank account. (I note that he discussed that people who have more money should be able to afford better care, in the same way that wealthier people can enjoy better hotel rooms and better cars for themselves.)
I have no opinion about his medical status. I don’t wish to see anyone suffer from any disease. I do have great pity for Limbaugh for the way he’s conducted his life. And I continue to hold him responsible for having encouraged bigotry and hatred, and for emboldening so many deplorables to act out their inner viciousness. His spoken motto of “Well, SOMEONE had to say it!” has sadly had consequences for millions of people. And his own viciousness toward others suffering from medical conditions, like Michael J. Fox, has been truly repulsive.
In the final analysis, the best measure I can think of is the Campground standard. Meaning that we can best assess someone’s contribution to the world based on whether they leave the campground a cleaner and nicer place than the way they found it. Rush Limbaugh is a man who has worked hard to make the campground a much dirtier and more unpleasant place for the rest of us, and he’s enriched himself while doing so. I can only hope that his career will serve as a reverse example to broadcasters with any sense of principles.
I’m sure that he’ll update his fans fairly soon with how it’s all going for him.
And now he has a medical situation that he will need to handle – it’s good for him that he has plenty of medical coverage thanks to his membership in AFTRA as a full-time radio host going back at least 35 years. So unlike millions of Americans he derided, he doesn’t have to worry about a major illness emptying his bank account. (I note that he discussed that people who have more money should be able to afford better care, in the same way that wealthier people can enjoy better hotel rooms and better cars for themselves.)
I have no opinion about his medical status. I don’t wish to see anyone suffer from any disease. I do have great pity for Limbaugh for the way he’s conducted his life. And I continue to hold him responsible for having encouraged bigotry and hatred, and for emboldening so many deplorables to act out their inner viciousness. His spoken motto of “Well, SOMEONE had to say it!” has sadly had consequences for millions of people. And his own viciousness toward others suffering from medical conditions, like Michael J. Fox, has been truly repulsive.
In the final analysis, the best measure I can think of is the Campground standard. Meaning that we can best assess someone’s contribution to the world based on whether they leave the campground a cleaner and nicer place than the way they found it. Rush Limbaugh is a man who has worked hard to make the campground a much dirtier and more unpleasant place for the rest of us, and he’s enriched himself while doing so. I can only hope that his career will serve as a reverse example to broadcasters with any sense of principles.
I’m sure that he’ll update his fans fairly soon with how it’s all going for him.
Kevin Koster commented on Impeachment Trial: Day 11 – Live Streaming And Open Thread
2020-02-03 14:02:10 -0500
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I note that Justin Amash supported the impeachment in the House, and openly did so until other House Republicans forced him to switch his status to “independent”. If the Right Wing wants to play games about somehow their angry acquittal being “bipartisan” then they can deal with the fact that the impeachment was also bipartisan. The only difference is that the Dems don’t hound people out of their party – the Drew situation was one where he openly stated that he wanted to do jump sides.
And let’s keep in mind – no matter what the Right Wing does here, the Pence White House was impeached. Period. Full Stop. Every history that gets written about this miserable epoch (and there will be plenty of misery to cover) will include the note that Pence’s childish spokesman got himself impeached by trying to goon it up over a nonsense conspiracy theory.
And let’s keep in mind – no matter what the Right Wing does here, the Pence White House was impeached. Period. Full Stop. Every history that gets written about this miserable epoch (and there will be plenty of misery to cover) will include the note that Pence’s childish spokesman got himself impeached by trying to goon it up over a nonsense conspiracy theory.
Kevin Koster commented on Dershowitz: After Acquittal, Nobody Should Regard Trump As Having Been Impeached
2020-02-02 17:12:33 -0500
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Wow! So I guess that means that Bill Clinton was never impeached, right?
Or maybe angry Right Wingers should just accept that yes, Donald Trump has been impeached. Deal with it.
Or maybe angry Right Wingers should just accept that yes, Donald Trump has been impeached. Deal with it.