Your Republicans at Work

Today the Republican House of Representatives extended the 15% maximum tax bracket on capital gains for another two years. What that means is that the investment income I make for sitting on my butt will be taxed at a maximum of 15% while the money you work your butt off for will be taxed as ordinary income - normally at 28%. Put another way, student loans are about to be cut for the poor while the rich have another break to spend on a Harvard education. The economic recovery is no longer an excuse according to the Republicans, we're growing at a 4.5% annual rate (although I'd like to see you sell that one to someone looking for a job today). So what's the reason? The rich own Washington. This week I've heard the term "Culture of Corruption" applied often to our lawmakers. They're right: Our lawmakers are for sale to the highest bidders. Unfortunately, those of us who have to earn our salaries can't bid much; therefore, the rich get tax cuts, the poor get benefit cuts.

Russ Feingold could emerge as a hero in the coming days. The Republicans believe it's okay to search our records at will and to place gag orders on those who've been searched or those of whom records are requested. I believe we still have a First Amendment guaranteeing us free speech, don't we? And a Fourth Amendment protecting us as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

There you have it, folks, probable cause, not sneak-and-peak search on FBI National Security Letters. Period. The Patriot Act Paranoids haven't a leg to stand on, except for the fact that those they're presenting with those letters aren't those with an interest in protecting the civil rights of those being actually searched. Unless Bush can stack the courts with like-minded paranoids, the Supreme Court will strike down the first Patriot Act case that comes before them based on the Fourth Amendment. But, as we've seen from Condi's visit to Europe, the Bushies' way is to do the illegal until they're caught, fight to keep doing the illegal as long as they can then claim innocence at the end - see torture and Condi's "We don't torture". The secret bases closed a month ago. The claim is probably correct.

I really do encourage Democrats to stand up for their principles and filibuster this abomination called the USA Patriot Act. There's nothing patriotic about it and it's completely un-American.

But then, I thought torture was un-American. That was before Republican rule of two of the three branches of Government. Oh, did anyone catch Rumsfeld's comments to General Pace? The General stated that if U. S. forces observed Iraqis abusing someone they were to stop them. Rumsfeld corrected the General: According to Mr. Weaselword, our obligation is merely to report the incident. Values, anyone?