Going European, Let’s Do It

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Democratic Socialism works for me.

Guaranteeing incomes for poor and middle class beats guaranteeing billionaires.

Biden plan vs. Trump tax cuts
Trump tax cuts

Not one Republican in Congress wanted you to get $1,400 but gave billionaires billions in tax cuts under Trump. That 2022 ad writes itself.

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55 thoughts on “Going European, Let’s Do It”

  2. past POTUSes push

    Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and former First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Rosalynn Carter discuss the important role of COVID-19 vaccination in getting back to the moments we miss and love. To get the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccines, visit GetVaccineAnswers.org.

  4. While it is true that many nations have more billionaires PER CAPITA than the US, that is not the most important issue.  Where they truly outshine us is in the percentage of the population in a strong middle class.  

    The GOP has carved out the middle class so that we are reduced to a K shaped income from the old diamond shape.  The nation is at its best when taxes are invested in education, infrastructure, and healthcare. 

  5. Second shot blues.  My body feels like I am being whacked with sledge hammers.  My headache is crushing.  I am tired and have been up most of the night.  But, I have this weird happy feeling knowing I am firmly in the beginning of the next phase of COVID-19.  Although billions of us entered the beginning phase at roughly the same time, we are definitely not leaving the first and entering the next together.

  6. another past POTUSes ad on the vaccine

    Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton share the facts about COVID-19 vaccination. To get the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccines, visit GetVaccineAnswers.org.

  7. BB, sorry to hear your 2nd shot is causing so much discomfort.  did they advise you what to do about it other than handing out the requisite side effects hand-out?  at what point do they recommend calling your doc?

    Jamie, on same second shot subject, have you noticed any brain fog or neurological effect from your 2nd one?

  8. Sorry to hear BB is having a rough time.  Almost no side effects for me.  Really sore arm and shaking with cold level of chills for a few hours, but totally gone second day.  

  9. not sure I would know whether the 2nd shot would cause brain fog or not being that’s pretty much my usual state of mind…  well, maybe more like smog than fog so it should be an interesting change when i get it.

  13. Carole King has a vac song as well.    Douglas Adams said he wanted to be John Cleese until he found out that the position was taken.

  14. Vonnegut and his friend Joe Heller were at some rich guy’s party and V said to Heller that the rich guy made more in a certain period of time than Heller had gained in royalties from CATCH 22 in his whole life and Heller responded, “Yeah, but I got something he’ll never have.”  V says, ” What’s that?”   and Heller says, “Enough.”

  15. KGC…  so sorry about Mr Cracker’s dog.  Hey living off the grid is hard work…  hope you think it’s worth it.  Best wishes!
     
    BBronc…   hope you feel better tomorrow!
     
    CBob…  yup…  it’s great to be alive!

  18. KC, I sympathize with Mr. Cracker about the dog – we are just waiting to see how long ours will hold out.  She’s in the upper 1% or so for Labs at 15 1/2 years, and when she gets to the point she can’t make it up and down stairs I’m afraid it will be time to say goodbye.  Hard decisions, sad days.

  19. Lloyd the dog was 14 and we thought he was fine and then he wasn’t.   Mr C is devastated. We were able to bury here.
    RR
     
    Most of the time off the grid is fine it’s when everything breaks at once that we wonder 
    BByou can takes any over the counter pain reliever. The CDC has a page of what to do about the vaccination reactions
    I do not understand who those people are who support Trump  talk about voting against your own best interests 
     

  20. Finland experimented with giving money to residents.  One way of looking at it was the people did not achieve full employment.  Another is to look at it as they were employed by Finland to spend money, paid for not working.  With computers and robotics the need for low paid labor is reduced and those people are not “retrained” into other careers, that is always a silly premise especially if there are no jobs to retrain into.  So what do you do?  Provide free American community college or trade school and a stipend until they either get a new job or forever.  It is the money mulitplier effect.  $1400 to Sally, sally spends it on various purchases, those retailers or service people then spend it, and so on, each increasing spending and paying off loans, all along a small bit is taken by governments in taxes.  I remember in some 1960’s economic class the prof railing about how bed things would be if there was a class of people who did not work and were paid to not work.  It looks like we are there.

    I just went through a migraine headache. Uck. It seems to be done.

  23. England declared almost a whole generation “redundant” when their functions were no longer required but it wasn’t practical to retrain.  

    Making staff redundant: Redundancy pay – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

    There are thousands upon thousands of jobs that truly need doing, but aren’t practical occupations.  During the depression and well into my school years, whole companies of singers and actors toured through school systems enriching the lives of children who would never see a play or hear opera if it weren’t for their existence.

     

  24. It is time to start pushing Tax Billionaires not Social Security.  Get rid of the fliabuster and start passing legislation to undo the millions for billionaires tax xcheme and the Regan tax Social Security to pay for millions for billionaires.

  25. BB

    If they did nothing but eliminate the cap on social security that is now about 143K, it would be a massive influx into the fund.  

  28. Well, another beautiful spring day, 75° but cloudy with rain coming. But hey it ain’t snowing. If we catch a break in the anticipated rain this evening, another night on the back porch grilling.

    Anybody know anything about decent ways to cook turnips? We came into possession of one that’s the size of a softball and while I love turnip greens I’ve never cared for turnips, but hey I’m not a kid anymore.

  31. Texas gets CUHRAZEE!  re the rescission of the Texas statewide mask mandate. Wapo

    “City/County leaders must not be thinking clearly,” Paxton said in a tweet. “Maybe it’s oxygen deprivation from quintuple-masking.”

    HAHAHAHAHAHAH – idiot.

    Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) invoked the statewide disaster spurred by a harsh winter storm last month and fired back on Twitter two hours later: “From the people who brought you no water and no electricity: no masks.”

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH – great comeback.

    Paxton and Abbott are trying to make sure everyone knows that the Texas prison system is not the only  place that Texas’ culture of death exists in the state.

  32. Jamie, yep, income is income and it should all be taxed as income.
     
    Thanks for the recipe – I saw that one while I was surfing and thought it had promise.  May give it a test run tonight.

  33. pogo, a few months ago when 14 yo billie bob the princess dog got to that point of can’t make it up and down stairs and even having a hard time just getting up period, i took her to vet who diagnosed doggy arthritis and  prescribed a daily 1/2 dose pain killer ostifen and a daily joint med chew called Alenza for her.  within a couple of weeks she was  back to her bouncy self.  now it’s a matter of making sure she gets enough exercise to restore some of the prior muscle loss due to inactivity.   ‘course now i probably have a junkie on my hands.

    on the turnip greens, caramelize some  onions with pieces of bacon then throw in chopped turnip (& mustard greens if you like piquant stuff ) greens with enough water to boil covered for about 20 minutes (or more if you want the really southern yukky style).  goes real well with blackeyed peas and cornbread.

  34. BTW, i have a hunch that that Alenza doggy chew made by Bayer is likely to become an arthritic  people med eventually  given how it works on billie bob.

  36. KGC,  so sorry about mr crackers loss and also for the hassles of late being off the grid.  once fire season is over, will you be able to come back to a repaired water source? 

  37. jamie, i thought of the newly passed covid rescue bill when i read quote by the navajo leader: 

    “We hope that having our language used in the Perseverance mission will inspire more of our young Navajo people to understand the importance and the significance of learning our language. Our words were used to help win World War II, and now we are helping to navigate and learn more about the planet Mars.”

    buried deep in the bill is a bunch of money to help preserve native american languages among other aid for healthcare and education for tribes.

  38. the hill:

    President Biden on Thursday signed his $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package into law, marking a significant legislative accomplishment for the new president as he looks to shepherd the country through the pandemic.

    Biden, who signed the bill alongside Vice President Harris in the Oval Office, characterized the measure as historic legislation aimed at “rebuilding the backbone of this country.” 

    “In the weeks that this bill has been discussed and debated, it is clear that an overwhelming percentage of the American people … have made it clear they strongly support the American Rescue Plan,” Biden said in brief remarks before signing the bill. “Their voices were heard.”

    Biden signed the bill without taking questions. He is scheduled to deliver a prime-time address later Thursday about the administration’s pandemic response.

    […]

    The bill signing was originally planned for Friday afternoon, but was moved up a day after the bill arrived at the White House following the House vote on Wednesday.

    White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted that the administration would still hold a celebration of the bill’s passage with congressional leaders on Friday. It’s unclear precisely who will attend, but the ceremony is not expected to include GOP lawmakers.

    White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing Thursday that the event would include members from the House and Senate but would not be bipartisan. She said the administration is “still finalizing the list of attendees.”

    [continues]

  40. bad move on that not inviting GOPers to the celebration.  they should bring in jim justice and the other republican govs & mayors & corps who helped push this mammoth to the public at large.

  42. patd
    We have water now.   There was a clog in the pipes near the spring and it was hard to find which is why the repair took so long   Technically fire season starts in June  (although it seems year round now) and ends with the first 3 day rain –last year in November.   If we didn’t have water for that long we would have to move

  43. sweet words in 2 stories in the hill today:

    Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, said he met with prosecutors from the Manhattan DA’s office Wednesday afternoon via Zoom for two and a half hours.

    [,,,]

    Cohen’s meeting with investigators comes a day after Trump made a quick visit to Trump Tower in New York, before leaving with boxes of files heading back to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where is now a resident.

    and

    John Dean, the former White House counsel to former President Nixon, on Thursday, predicted that formerPresident Trump would soon be indicted after reports that his ex-lawyerMichael Cohenhas met with the Manhattan district attorney’s office for a number of interviews.

    “From personal experience, as a key witness, I assure you that you do not visit a prosecutor’s office 7 times if they are not planning to indict those about whom you have knowledge. It is only a matter of how many days until DA Vance indicts Donald & Co,” Dean wrote on Twitter.

  44. patd, 
    She already gets doggie meds for her arthritis and joint chews daily.  I had a shot administered to her about a month ago – seemed to help a little.  As it warms I’ll get her another and reassess.  She’s doing OK although she does struggle to get up at times. We’re hanging in with the vet and trying to make her joints feel as good as they can.  I’m hoping she makes it through the summer but I’m not betting on her making through next winter at this rate.
     
    I agree about inviting governors like Jim Justice, regardless of party.  It would help with our Senator to see Biden doing more bipartisan events and reaching out to moderate repubs who could be of assistance going forward. 

  48. Read the book, A Year of Living Danishly for a good understanding of all of the perks (retaining for jobs, etc.).   They all belong to  community social clubs.  Business executives live next to blue-collar workers.  It’s certainly different from the social structure in this country.

  49. https://reasonstobecheerful.world/vancouver-gave-its-homeless-5800-it-changed-their-lives/

    Giving folks money isn’t a bad idea.
    This wasn’t a basic, living income, but it was a boost.

    Last year, some who had jobs waiting for them after lockdown got a boost from the $600, federal stipend to their state unemployment check. It’s pretty sad that the US is lagging behind the rest of the western world when it comes to wages, education, and so much more.

    Oh, a big point of the book I mentioned was that Danes trust their government with their tax dollars.

    BB – Hope you’re feeling better. I’m curious as to who received which vaccine, and, the symptoms after the first and second shot. Something to look forward to in a month or three.

    Crackers – I’m so sorry about the year you’ve had so far.

  52. kudos to tammy

  53. Bink, one hip, one knee, (and another knee and two shoulders, not to mention knuckles yet to be addressed). Beats feeding worms. 
    Joe’s doing a great job. The only thing I would have said that he didn’t is “It wasn’t the flu; it didn’t just magically disappear – it killed half a million of us. That kind of thinking is over. We’re dealing with what is, not what we wished it would be. “ 

  54. That was absolutely refreshing!  POTUS Biden! I look forward to next year’s SOTU address to see how far we’ve come.

    He did refer to months of not telling the truth leading to more sickness and death. No reason to put too fine a point on it and give you-know-who a reason to squeal.
     

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