G. O. P.: Of, By, and For Billionaires

Nicholas Kristof explains who Republicans represent, and it's not the voters, and it's certainly not the American work force. This is about the massive tax breaks the super rich receive and the fact that the Republicans in congress refuse to discuss any modifications in the tax breaks, even though these tax breaks do absolutely nothing to help create jobs or help the small business person.

Where Your Tax Dollars Go:

Glenn Greenwald reports on military spending in today's Salon.com: The United States' budget for fiscal year 2008 is $623 billion; meanwhile the rest of the world combined will spend only $500 billion, and part of that money comes from the U. S. in the form of military aid.

Evidently, money 't'ain't enough to capture a middle-age terrorist with kidney disease.

Do you feel safer? Or just poorer? Meanwhile, China, the number two military spender has a budget of only $65 billion.

Waste Management: Where Did Your Tax Dollars Go?

Washington Post staff writer, Dana Hedgpeth, reports on the loss of millions of dollars worth of equipment in Iraq: guns, trucks, grenades in astonishing numbers have disappeared, if they ever existed at all.

In the meantime, the Democratic leaders in congress are about to grant the administration a blank check for continued spending in Iraq as long as the president agrees to spend $11 billion additional dollars for projects here in the U.S. No wonder their ratings are so high among the voters.

Perhaps there is some good news. Howard J. Krongard, the State Department's inspector general, has announced he is resigning after the holidays. Krongard has been accused of impeding investigations of how the money is being spent in Iraq. You could argue that Krongard has been Blackwater's man in the government.

NOTE: Am I the only one who fell out of his chair laughing when, following the news that America's spies are now convinced that Iran has NOT been attempting to make a bomb since 2003, Georgie Boy demanded publicly that Iran's leaders had a lot to explain. Evidently, he believes Iran has reneged on some sort of promise.

Double Take:

On the one hand, the Bush administration has claimed it has the right to arrest and spirit away anyone on the planet and do with them what they will without so much as a "thank you, ma'am" to anyone, simply by declaring them (us) "enemy combatants." (Have you read The Count of Monte Christo ?).

On the other hand, yesterday's New York Times reports that

State Department investigators offered Blackwater USA security guards immunity during an inquiry into last month’s deadly shooting of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad — a potentially serious investigative misstep that could complicate efforts to prosecute the company’s employees involved in the episode.

Keep in mind that Blackwater USA is a government contractor employed by the State Department. In other words, the Bush administration has rigged the outcome of any investigation against its private (Praetorian Guard) security firm.


Death Penalty Status:

The death penalty—a central ingredient of politicians' attempts to demonstrate they have the proper level of testosterone to intimidate the weak minded—has been placed on hold by the Supreme Court, that bastion of conservative ideology, of all places.

Linda Greenhouse reports on the issue in today's New York Times. The issue focuses on the chemicals used by prisons to kill people for the sake of garnering votes for prosecutors who either are or represent elected officials.


Throw More Money at It:

The Republican party has claimed throughout most of its history that "you can't fix problems by throwing more money at them." Mostly they've practiced this ideology when the problems were the sort that affected predominantly Democratic voters. When it comes to the military, for instance, the last Republican to show any restraint was Eisenhower. He was a guy, you might remember, who thought you could replace much of the traditional military with lots of cheap nuclear bombs. (That worked out well!)

Today's New York Times reports on the cost of spying in an article by Mark Mazzetti, who states that congress has authorized "spending $43.5 bilion over the past year to operate spy satellites, remote surveillance stations and C.I.A. outposts overseas."

The White House will tell you that the money has been well spent, that they have thwarted (fill in any number you choose here) terrorist attacks. Naturally, they won't be able to tell you anything about those alleged attacks. They were, after all, thwarted. (Did I tell you about the rain dance I did in my back yard before the last rain storm?)

The Way Things Work:

Last year, Warren Buffett, the third richest man in the world, paid a tax rate of 17 percent, while his receptionist paid 30 percent. That's America at its finest, the opportunity to benefit at other's expense.