Representing Blog for Arizona on the Buckmaster Show
January 25, 2012
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by David Safier I had my 10 minutes of fame on Bill Buckmaster's radio show today, which leaves me 5 minutes more until I use up the entire 15 minutes Andy Warhol allotted me. You can hear the show on Buckmaster's site. The whole show is an hour. If you want to skip to my … Read more
Birther Queen replaces Scott Bundgaard in the senate
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The other day I posed the question, Will the 'Birther Queen' replace Scott Bundgaard in the Senate? Survey says: Yes, she can! States' rights "nullifaction" teabagger and "Birther Queen" Rep. Judy Burges, Ahhh, the "Birther" Queen's bill dies in the Senate, was among the three individuals nominated by Tea-Publicans as potential replacements for Sen. … Read more
Don ‘Tequila’ Shooter: ‘We don’t need no stinkin’ testimony on the budget’
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Just how authoritarian is our Tea-Publican legislature? This authoritarian. Shooter considering banning public testimony on budget bills – Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required): The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Tuesday he is considering banning all public testimony when lawmakers take up the state budget later this year. Sen. Don Shooter told … Read more
Jonathan ‘Payday’ Paton to run for Congress in CD 1
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Don't say that I didn't give you fair warning. Watch out Alta Arizona! This carpetbagger has eyes for you. That's right, former state senator Jonathan "Payday" Paton, the wannabe tinhorn dictator of Tucson, is going to run for Congress in the new CD 1. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Paton to … Read more
Sorry Newt, but that fantasy belongs to Arizona’s Russell Pearce
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Disgraced former House Speaker and preeminent housing historian, Newt Gingrich, participated in a Univision candidate forum in Miami on Wednesday. Newt was asked about Willard "Mittens" Romney's immigration policy of "self-deportation" from Monday night's "Survivor – GOP Presdiential Primary" debate. Newt had two responses which: (a) demonstrates that he is badly misinformed, … Read more
Romney-Gekko 2012: ‘Find Your Tax Haven’ ad
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Do we have any travel agents out there? I am curious what one of those 4 nights and three days in the Cayman Islands packages costs. I was thinking a "Visit Mitt's Money in the Caymans" raffle might make a good fundraiser for Democratic organizations. You need to bring back photos of his P.O. Boxes in the Caymans.
Americans United for Change's Romney-Gekko 2012 campaign, has a new parody ad highlighting Romney's use of an offshore tax haven in the Cayman Islands. The ad is a parody of the series of "Find your beach" ads for Corona Beer.
The ad opens with two men on the beach in suits, symbolizing "Mittens" Romney and Gordon Gekko. In the background two airplanes fly by with banners reading "Welcome to the Caymans — Home of Mitt's Millions" and "'Cuz Paying Taxes Is 4 Poor People… Romney-Gekko 2012."
See the campaign ad after the click…
Tearful goodbyes as Gabrielle Giffords resigns from Congress
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
There were tears all around as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords resigned from Congress this morning.
See the video after the click…
Romney’s 2010 tax return raises more questions than it answers
January 25, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
What the … When John McCain was vetting Mitt Romney for vice president, Romney turned over 23 years of tax returns. This year the American people are vetting Romney for president, and Romney has turned over one full year of his taxes. Ezra Klein writes, If Romney is nominated, 2012 will be about taxes – Wonkblog:
So let’s be clear: Romney hasn’t released his “taxes.” He has released a single tax return from a year in which he was already running for president for a second time. As Gov. George Romney — Mitt Romney’s father— said when he released 12 years of his taxes in 1968, “One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show.” We don’t know all that much more about the taxes Romney has paid today than we did yesterday.
But even if this one year is a fluke, even if it was done just for show, the outline of the story is clear enough: Romney is a very rich man who pays a very low marginal tax rate. In the past, it’s possible that more agressive tax engineering drove his rate even lower. It’s possible that more use was made of loopholes, and offshore accounts, and tax shelters. But even without all that, we know that Romney paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010.
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His taxes also contextualize what he would do as president. Romney’s tax return shows that the effective rates paid by the richest Americans are often pretty low. Romney’s tax proposals would reduce those rates further. And the cost of those proposals — more than $6 trillion when all is said and done — would be offset through cuts to domestic programs. Romney is saying, in effect, that people like him should pay less to finance the government, and low-income Americans and seniors — the two groups that depend on government programs — should be asked to cut back instead. Many Americans are likely to see that as unfair.
Steve Benen points out that Romney's 2010 tax return raises more questions than it answers. Political Animal – What we’ve learned from Romney’s returns:
Mitt Romney’s campaign, as promised, released the former governor’s 2010 tax returns, as well as an estimate for his 2011 returns, and we’re starting to get a sense of why the Republican candidate wasn’t eager to share these details.
Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments.
None came from wages, the primary source of income for most Americans. Instead, Romney and his wife, Ann, collected millions in capital gains from a profusion of investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments.
By any fair estimate, over $42 million in income over two years isn’t bad for a guy who jokes about being “unemployed.” Indeed, Romney would be in the top 1% based solely on the income he makes in one week. [He makes in one day what the average wage earner makes in one year.]
Romney said last week that his rate was “closer to 15%,” but as it turns out, despite his vast wealth, he actually only paid a 13.9% rate last year — lower than his political rivals who aren’t nearly as wealthy, and lower than most middle-class American workers.
And what about those overseas investments?
