If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people
under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy. - Thomas Jefferson


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Keeping would be killers in check

As though we don't have enough to spend our tax money on, lets investigate, incarcerate, and provide a trial for these two dumbasses. Thanks guys, for proving that maybe we should live in a police state. Next time your angry at your government, get a fucking job. Maybe that will keep you busy in your spare time when your not having your circle jerks. (Did I say circle jerk? I meant rallies...)

Two held over Obama 'murder plot'(bbc)

Keeping extremists who think a man should be killed because 'he don't look like me' in check...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Teddy Boy

Too bad we had to pay for a massive investigation, then conduct a nice trial, but Ted "I thought I paid for that" Stevens is guilty! (I was also debating Ted "I'm just borrowing this" Stevens)

I'd be willing to bet he gets re-elected even though he is facing jail time. That'll be neat.

US Senator Stevens found guilty(bbc)

Keeping our senators in check...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Separation of Something and Something Else

When they were talking about the separation of Church and State, they must not have been talking about the state of Idaho.

Yes folks, our very House of Representatives floor was taken over for National Bible Week by Representative Bill Sali. Why don't you e-mail him and ask him about his thoughts on the Separation of Church and State?

National Bible Week on the House Floor by Rep. Bill Salli - R-Idaho

And a big Fuck You to those who pray on the Koran, or any other religion. But then again, if you ain't a Christian, you ain't really an American, are you?

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Bailin' Out Who?

And we were told they were going to bail out Wall Street...

Now we know why Congress voted no the first time. The poor Congresspeople were never given the appropriate chance to tack their pet projects onto the bill!

I'm glad there is a bailout for rum, 'cause I'm going to need a few shots to get through this one.

Here's a list of SOME OF what else got bailed out in the $750BILLION bailout bill:

Sec. 503
This baby exempts taxes on a very particular type of non-reinforced wooden arrow. Sponsored by the Oregon Senators, our friends at Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon will save over $200,000. What? You don't have any friends at Rose City Archery? Then why are you giving them handouts? E-mail the Oregon Senators and ask them why... Republican Senator Democratic Senator (Its nice to see republicans and democrats come together for our country... And people wonder why I vote third party...)

Sec. 317
Those poor owners of race track facilities need a hand too! So lets let them evade $100MILLION in taxes by modifying how many years they can write off depreciation on their facilities. Including their parking lots. I guess I'm going to have to start buying tickets to events so I can enjoy some of my tax money going up in the smoke of squealing tires.

Sec. 308
The one we've all been waiting for: Rum Rebates! We're throwing in $192MILLION to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands because they can't be expected to support our rum habits on their own. They need our help in earning a profit off of us. I guess there IS a little Captain in all of us.

Sec. 301
Lets throw $19BILLION at the R&D departments of Microsoft, Harley, Boeing and more. Because these are very small scale operations that need OUR money to create their product upgrades. I love the fact that Vista was partially my fault.

Sec. 504
I'm a tiny smidge torn on this one. This one allows the few people that are getting paid off by Exxon for the Valdez disaster average out their payments over 3 years to prevent the IRS getting their sizable share. Its an OK cause, but why'd it have to be thrown in on the bailout bill, and $49MILLION?

Sec. 601
Again, Oregon decides it needs some of my tax money. This one is $3.3BILLION to pay counties that aren't reaping the rewards they used to for raping our forests. (Thats pretty unfair, I'm a big fan of logging. But it sounds more dramatic this way...) Again, lets e-mail our folks in congress and ask them why we should be paying off counties in their states just because they've run out of forests to log... (Again, unfair, but I think I'm making my point...)
Representatives DeFazio (D-OR), Bill Sali (R-ID) (This guy is creepy a la National Bible Week on the House Floor); Senators Wyden (D-OR), Larry "Footsie" Craig (R-ID) (I'm sure glad Craig decided not to step down so he could save us in our time of need!)

Sec. 201
We are all pitching in on helping Texas, Nevada, Florida, Washington, and Wyoming cover their sales taxes at a cost of $3.3BILLION. Sounds fair to me!

Sec. 502
Next time you go to see any movie made in America try explaining to the minimum wage kid working the ticket sales booth that you've already paid your share with a $478MILLION tax break to the producers.

Sec. 325
Right here, in the bailout bill, is a tax credit to companies that offshore some of their operations in America Samoa. $33MILLION to the corporations that move our jobs offshore.

Sec. 201
More ethanol subsidies. Can't expect companies to make their own profit...

Sec. 211
$10MILLION to help people buy, store, and 'improve' their bicycles. Again, we can thank Oregon politicians. Senator Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Blumenauer(D-OR).

Sec. 323
Lets food companies write off donations of food they couldn't sell anyway.
The question: Poor People, or Dumpster? Since they aren't choosing dumpster, lets give 'em an extra $149MILLION.

Sec. 324
I completely agree with this one and think its a totally cool use of tax money during prosperous times. But, again, whats up with this being a part of the bailout bill? $49MILLION tax credit to those who donate books to schools.

Sec. 602
$9MILLION to former mine workers who worked at mines that closed down. (You mean mined resource are finite???)
Benefits mainly people in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Ohio.
Paid for by Everyone.

Thanks to taxpayers for common sense!
Article found at the swamp (Chi Trib)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Attacking Syria

Not much to say. Can't say I'm surprised. I've already made my argument that sending our troops into a foreign country to kill people counts as an attack regardless of the political speak used to describe it...
'US troops' strike inside Syria(bbc)

It can and is already being argued that this was authorized by the Bush Administration. Sort of a fuck you, I'm out type thing.
What could lie behind Syria raid?(bbc)

Attacking foreign countries trying to make peace with the world.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The rest of Picking Winners Making Losers

I got off on that Henry Paulson and PNC conversation there and forgot the scarier part of the message.

Not only is our government picking and choosing which banks will succeed and which will crash n burn, but they have also begun saving other industries. They're starting with insurance. Specifically The Hartford, Prudential, and Met Life have their hands out.

Bailout Expands to Insurers
Treasury to Take Stakes in Firms as Distress Spreads Beyond Banks (WP)

Letting my government pick the industries to keep...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Picking and Choosing the Winners and Losers

Yes, the government has begun picking and choosing which companies and industries it wants to keep and which it will let fail.

The Fed declined National City's request for an injection then gave $7.7BILLION to PNC to buy out National City!!!

Can you picture that exchange?

NC: Henry Paulson, we need to get in on some of that bailout shit you got going around or my wife is going to kill me.
HP: Geez, NC, I'd love to help you but you're not a member of my country club.
*click* *dialing*
HP:PNC? Its HP! Whats happening my nigga?
PNC:Yo Dude! I haven't seen you since that time we accidentally killed those hookers!
HP:Have I got a deal for you. I just got off the phone with NC and they are going down. These dumbshits actually thought I was gonna bail them out. HA! Can you believe that shit?
PNC:No Fucking Way.
HP:Seriously. So, anyway, you can go buy that shit up for cheap. Get your ass over there.
PNC:Dude. Times are tight right now. I had to rifle through my grandmother's purse for my smokes today.
HP:Damn. Ain't that about fucked up. I tell you what, why don't I just hook you up with the taxpayer's wallet so you can pull out a cool $7.7BILLION. That way, you can get your old lady a new mansion, give your mistress a little hush money, and see a doctor about getting rid of the clap from that hooker. I just need you to do me one favor.
PNC:Anything Dude.
HP:Make NC beg for it. I want you to make him cry.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Bailin' out Iceland

Why do I pay taxes you ask? (Ok. So you didn't ask. But I often ask myself...)
To give Iceland $2.1 BILLION.
Why does Iceland need $2.1 BILLION?
Because these whaling bastards couldn't be content with being a tiny little fishing village on the international scene and decided they should come play in the big boy markets. Of course they failed. Same reason you don't hear about viking raids anymore...
Iceland set for $2.1bn IMF help(bbc)
NOTE: I am not completely familiar in the way IMF works. However, I do know that it is funded by member nations.
Profile: IMF and World Bank(bbc)
Maybe Iceland has to pay it all back and maybe they'll be able to pay it all back. All I know is that a worldwide institution supported in part by my government is giving away money to people who got themselves in a whole heap of trouble. (And before you point out that America is the one that started the heap of trouble, I ask you this: What business did these villagers have investing in our mortgages? We were selling, but we didn't force anyone to buy. Next time, do a little research before taking on liabilities 12 times the size of your GDP...)
Germans Suffer from Exposure in Iceland(CondeNast)

Bailing out entire countries...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Virtual Crime - Real Bars in the window

Woman in jail over virtual murder(bbc)

Jail and court costs for sore losers in video games...

THIS is whyjapspaytaxes.
(I hope Japs isn't derogatory. I certainly don't mean it to be.)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I need a new investment portfolio manager...

The next time I make a large investment in an investment bank, I hope I don't lose $2 BILLION within the first couple months...

Bear Stearns $30 billion mortgage portfolio falls 9 percent (Reuters)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Greenspan

Why have I paid taxes in the past? Why did our parents pay taxes?

To cover this guys salary:

"I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms," Greenspan said.

Referring to his free-market ideology, Greenspan added: "I have found a flaw. I don't know how significant or permanent it is. But I have been very distressed by that fact."


Waxman pressed the former Fed chair to clarify his words. "In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right, it was not working," Waxman said.

"Absolutely, precisely," Greenspan replied. "You know, that's precisely the reason I was shocked, because I have been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well."
(quoted fromIHT)

Well. At least he's distressed and shocked.
I'd hate for him to have known in advance that his policies were enabling the destruction of our quality of life.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Stop Watch Part 2

I was looking at the Gross National Debt clock I posted on the left from zFacts.

2 things:
1.) I'm sure its not real-time by any means, but it takes 7 seconds for our national debt to go up by $1 MILLION!

2.) It wasn't too long ago that the clock ran out of digits. It took almost 20 years to get it from $2.9 TRILLION to $10 TRILLION. We've added $0.5 TRILLION in A FUCKING WEEK AND A HALF!!!!

My buddy the other day says: "Fucking Bush. He's eliminated my ability to earn a reasonable living for the rest of my adult life. I'm making less now than I was 10 years ago and it only looks to be getting worse." Blame Bush or not (IMHO: he didn't cause the problems, he enabled them to spiral out of control. His war is expensive, but not expensive enough to destroy us...), it seems as though our generation is the beginning of that 'future' generation that we keep shoving our debt off on. I've always known I'm not going to get any social security. Now it seems I'll be lucky if my parents die before the end of social security payments. I just hope they stop charging me for social security when they stop paying it out and that they don't just keep up the tax to pay the interest on the $500 BILLION dollars we borrowed since the debt clock ran out of numbers 12 days ago.

I think I'm starting to get scared. It may take the rest of Generation X and Y before there is any kind of standard of living again. By that time we won't have an environment left. Is it possible that we're past the peak of humanity?

Hoodwinked

Yes folks, we've been hoodwinked.

Remember a few weeks ago when Congress and the media and the rest of us were in an uproar about the $750 BILLION we will give to banks?
(We already gave banks $250 BILLION of that to the banks and guess what they are doing with it: Hoarding it. Thanks banks. Way to make sure that cash doesn't actually help the economy. Instead, use it to cover your asses, because we all know we can trust YOU with our money.
But this isn't the story I want to tell here. It doesn't matter to this blog what happens to the money after the government wastes it... Even if I do want to choke a CEO or 2... Read on.)

My question is: If good ol' congress was so upset about $750 BILLION, why is the fed prepared to dole out another $540 BILLION without even telling anyone? Combine this with the $500 BILLION I bitched about a few days ago and we've blown long past the $750 BILLION everybody got their panties in a bunch over...

Story from my boy Kai at Marketplace.
Fed jumps in for money-market funds (NPR)
Another story, more directly about the $540 BILLION:
Fed would grant up to US$540 billion to money market funds (Y!/AP)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Hush Money

Hush money in a manner of speaking...

I can tell you this: if *I* ever get hit by a cop car, I'll definitely be wanting a settlement from the city, county, or state that owns the cop that hit me...

Naperville Police vehicle strikes 2 pedestrians (WREX)

Cops forgoing pedestrian safety to get to the scene.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

P.S. An older related story that cost the Rockford PD untold amounts of cash. But hey, at least this cop kept his job!!! (What? He only killed 2 people)

P.P.S. While looking for the P.S. link, I discovered that cops hit and kill people with their cars all the time! (Do a google search...) But, of course, they were rushing to IMPORTANT calls. Can't be bothered to leave the citizens in the way alive...

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Joe the Tax Evader

Ho-ly shit.
Not only is Joe the plumber not even a Plumber, but he also had a lien against him by the Ohio Department of Taxation in January, 2007, for failing to pay $1,183 in property taxes. (NP)

Tax evasion...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Oh. My. God!

Legal case against God dismissed (bbc)
*sigh*
Another post that can only begin with a heavy sigh.
So, between cases about abandoned children, apparently judges in Nebraska end up deciding cases against god. I'm not sure whose god, but I suppose we can assume its the generic stand-in Christian god. (Though I'll bet the case wouldn't have been so easily dismissed if it were against Allah...)

The reason this case was dismissed is not because god doesn't exist. It was not because the 'plaintiff' is more nuts than a squirrels nest. No, it was because they didn't have an address to serve papers to.

I like the 'plaintiffs' point on this: So, since you have acknowledged gods existence you must also acknowledge his omniscience. Because this god they speak of sees and knows everything, he is aware of this trial. Because he is aware of this trial, he has been served the appropriate papers.

Do you think God had Johnny Cochran at his side through these troubling times? If the glove does not fit, you must acquit!

And there's also room for a civil lawsuit joke here somewhere. ... Perhaps pain and suffering for not being born into a wealthier family? Perhaps damages for not intervening and having Bush die in a coked out car accident in his youth? Hmmmm.... The concept of suing God...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Taxman Wasteth

Even the agency charged with making our tax law too confusing for the average American to file without the assistance of a 'professional' enjoy wasting some of our tax money from time to time.

How about $2 BILLION for a computer system at the IRS with known security and privacy issues?

Its not like the IRS has any sensitive data to protect. I'll happily throw down my share of the $2 BILLION on a roll of the dice.

New IRS computer systems have security and privacy problems, watchdog says
(Newsday)

Oh yeah...
THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Oh AIG... When will your management be behind bars?

What is AIG doing with my bailout?
No. Not taking a lavish team building exercise... That was last week...
Why, they are Lobbying Congress to get off their backs!

Because, yeah, uhhhh, just trust them. They know what they are doing.

AIG Still Lobbies to Relax Oversight Rules (wsj)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Handouts for Handouts

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Expected to Continue Donating to Charity (Chron of Philanthropy) (Original link found on kausfiles: It's hard to stop a gravy train)

Yes, I'm sure they are all great causes, but how could you even expect to receive handouts from a company being supported solely by handouts?

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Just when I thought I saw a glimmer of hope...

*sigh*
OK. Glimmer of hope is way WAY overstating it. However, I was beginning to have, uhhh, positive thoughts about how neat it was that congress didn't rubber stamp the bailout as ordered. Instead they thought about it for 2 days and added provisions that would attach some strings and maybe, just maybe, turn a profit for the government. (Of course they would have wasted that profit, but, you don't need me to tell you that.)
Then, on the drive home, my reliable source for generally mind blowing news (Marketplace (APM)) did a story, Where's this bailout cash coming from?, that brought my childlike fantasies about a government that is efficient to their knees. Here are some verbatim key phrases to sum 'er up for you:
...the Fed started this crisis with an $800 billion war chest. ...
...Now that war chest is almost wiped out. ...
...last month without hardly any public debate...
...Since then, the Treasury has forked over half a trillion dollars.
...that's half a trillion you haven't heard about before. ...
...if the Fed doesn't get paid back, the Fed can't pay the Treasury back and U.S. taxpayers will end up on the hook. ...


While we were all wondering about $0.75 TRILLION dollars and whether or not we should trust the financial industry with it, they were already giving them $0.5 TRILLION without letting anyone know. WE ARE ALREADY $1.25 TRILLION INTO THIS MESS!

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Pirate Czar, AARRRR!

Avast Ye, Downloaders: The Pirate Czar Is Coming (npr)

ARrrrrr!
This one is quite exciting for me. I have recently made some tax expenditures designed to allow the government to throw my ass in jail because I once wanted to listen to Copacabana without experiencing the excruciating embarrassment of buying a Barry Manilow album.

Surprisingly enough, they took out the provision that would have allowed the Department of Justice pursue CIVIL lawsuits against me on behalf of the recording industry. This would have been the first time in the history of the DOJ that it was ordered to pursue civil 'suits. Yes, my government would have provided them a complete legal team to take every penny I have (after taxes) on behalf of the RIAA who sold over $10,370,000,000 worth of music in 2007.

What I'm curious to know: If being pursued by the DOJ in a civil case, do I have the right to a state appointed defense attorney? I'd guess that this right is only guaranteed for criminal cases...

To be clear: They took out the civil lawsuits provision. Those poor recording companies that have been exploiting musicians for decades will have to buy their own legal team to sue me.

To continue to be clear: The DOJ, Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and a host of other Departments will soon have to stop pursuing terrorists, illegal aliens, slavery smugglers, tax evaders, Wall Street criminals, etc. so they can instead answer to the Pirate Czar when he commands his legions to find me and put my severed head on a pike in front of the RIAA's gate as 'an example to others.'

Appointing cabinet level positions and hiring an entire department of people to put my ass in jail 'cause I made a new copy of my favorite mix tape.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Have a Heart

No, seriously, does anyone have a spare heart? Dick Cheney's isn't doing so well. I imagine the pipes are freezing up from how cold it is in there...

Cheney to receive heart treatment (bbc) I thought Terminators would be able to fix their own 'heart'?

Keeping Uncle Dick 'alive' so he can continue rape Uncle Sam on behalf of Uncle Halliburton and friends.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Any Child Left Behind


What nobody saw coming is crazy bitches like the one from Michigan that drove 12 hours to abandon her 13 year old child in Omaha.
Child dumped under Nebraska law (BBC)

Can you imagine the issues you have when your mother tries to abandon you in Omaha at 13??? I've been to Omaha recently. I wouldn't abandon a full grown adult there!

Yes folks, taking in unwanted children from across this great nation then having a court hearing about it.

THIS is whyNebraskanspaytaxes.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Checks and Balances

Palin guilty of abusing her power(bbc)

Why do I pay taxes? So our government can keep my vice presidential nominees in check.

THIS is whyAlaskanspaytaxes.

Why Norwegians Pay Taxes

Norway MP called fortune-tellers (bbc)

Yes, a member of Norway's Parliament rang up a phone bill calling pay per minute psychics. In one month she called a psychic 793 times. More than one psychic told her to stop calling!

Best part is: She billed it all to the government! (Apparently it was a cost of doing business?(side note: They made her pay it back)) I wonder how many times she voted yay or nay based on what a psychic told her...

THIS is whynorwegianspaytaxes.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Stop Watch

The National Debt Clock has run out of numbers. It was made in 1989 in an attempt to scare our country [government] into spending within its means, by a fellow who thought maybe we shouldn't run up so much debt. Apparently back in the 80's it seemed impossible that America would ever allow its President start multiple wars and overpay its underqualified contractors enough money to go past $10 TRILLION in debt...
US debt clock runs out of digits (bbc)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

A.I.G. Knows How To Spend My Money!

So, I gave them my share of taxes. Hell, all the taxes I'll pay my entire life won't even be a drop in the bucket compared to the $85 BILLION we gave them out of the kindness of our hearts.

And they have shown that they know how to appreciate an $85 BILLION bail-out. Times have been very stressful for this management team as they destroyed one of America's largest insurance companies! It sounds like time for a $440,000 retreat!!!

Here is the living room of an executive suite at the St. Regis: (Take the Photo Tour!)
THIS IS THE GODDAMN LIVING ROOM OF THE MOTEL ROOM THESE BASTARDS STAYED IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK AFTER RECIEVING $85 BILLION TO COVER THEIR ASSES FOR DESTROYING THEIR COMPANY!!!! I bust my ass hard for my job and I don't even get a Recognition Fuzzy from the bottom of my boss' pocket. These fuckers eliminate their company's net worth and they get to stay in a room with a dining room nicer than I've ever eaten in!

AIG Spa Trip Fuels Fury on Hill(Wash Post)
After bailout AIG executives stay in posh resort
(Newsday)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Ten to Toss (abridged)

Here's a condensed version of the Ten To Toss (Slate) article I referred to earlier describing 10 of Bush's Presidential Executive Orders that should be immediately repealed when we get a reasonable president.

EO 13233
Normally presidential records are available in 12 years.
Bush set it up so that he has the right to review and refuse any document requests from his presidency for as long as he is alive.

EO 13435
This is the one he wrote that prevents using federal funds for stem cell research, unless your one of the lucky scientists with access to one of the raggedy old strains currently approved.

EO 13440
We don't really know the details of this one, but we know it allows us to torture people!

EO 13292
This one is for Cheney. This one give the VP the ability to classify any document s/he chooses. Anything ol' Dick didn't want the public to see he could simply classify.

EO 13303
This one is fun. Follow me here:
This order can be used to nullify judicial proceedings against any oil company doing business in Iraq or with any other company that is doing business with the Development Fund for Iraq. With this Order, companies like Exxon/Mobil, Haliburton, KBR (AP), Blackwater, and all those other long-since-been-proven-incompetent defense contractors are completely above the law in both Iraq and the U.S.

EO 13438
This is the one they use to eliminate your 5th amendment rights against illegal search and seizure, so long as they say they suspect you of terrorism.

EO 13422
Very clever on this one. This is the order that lets the president put a crony in charge of the rule making process at federal agencies such as the EPA, DOE, NASA, et al. What better way to make sure the EPA doesn't pass unfavorable rules than to tell them how to make their rules?

EO 13279
Amongst a gaggle of other Executive Orders helping churches to get federal funding, this one lets churches avoid disqualification from federal funds when they ignore anti-discriminatory hiring laws. Fun!

The reader voted EO to repeal wasn't an EO at all, but a great one nonetheless:

National Security Presidential Directive 51
This NSPD gives the president "Complete Control" in case of 'Emergency'. What do they mean by Complete Control? What do they mean by Emergency? Well thats classified silly! They'll tell us when we need to know. Hell, we may still get to see what it is if they consider Obama beating McCain an Emergency!

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Help is On The Way!

How to Panic a Baby Boomer



Marshall Ramsey

The Real Debate

Help Me Lower Our US Postal Service Subsidy Payments

The US Postal Service lost $1.1 Billion last quarter. When government agencies like the USPS are operating at a loss, they are being subsidized by our taxes. So, yes, we collectively spent $1.1 billion dollars last quarter to keep the PO afloat.
I'm ok with this. The post office provides a great service and was never intended to operate at a profit. (I am, however, quite uncomfortable with how much money they spend on advertising. Its the freaking post office, not UPS!!!)
In the article that initiates this post, it is pointed out that just over 50% of the mail moved through the USPS is direct mail marketing. What with everyone going to e-mails, online greeting cards, and online bill pay, turns out no one is using the mail except for companies that enjoy deforestation in order to tell you about the latest set of commemorative Elvis plates or to inform you that you are paying too much for auto insurance.
Believe it or not, there is still a large enough portion of taxpayers out there that don't really care about this giant subsidy (and missing forests) and decide to support these direct mailing campaigns by buying shit they didn't even know they needed prior to receiving an ad for it in their mailbox. At any rate: It is still worth the costs involved in a direct mail marketing campaign.
So. We are indirectly subsidizing, at a rate of $4.4 billion per year, the marketing efforts of credit card companies, life insurance companies, cable companies, etc. etc. etc.
Here's how we can reduce the amont of the subsidy we pay to the USPS
I have long been sick of receiving unsolicited mailings. If I wanted a credit card, I'd go get one. If I wanted a rate quote from Geico, I'd go get one. If I wanted to add to my collection of commemorative plates, well, I don't...
So, what I do is take the time to go through my junk mail and look for the postage prepaid return to sender envelopes. I then send my commemerative plate offers to the bank offering a Visa card and I send the terms and conditions of my Visa offer to the folks offering the commemorative plates. This basically doubles the cost of the mailing to me for the target company and forces them to throw in a larger share of the expenses of running a post office.
What I hadn't thought of until I read this article is that because the direct mailing company is paying more to the operations of the USPS, our taxes have been paying less.
(hole in my logic: if the USPS operates at a loss, does that mean that every piece of mail is a loss? Or is it mainly the mail going to places like Deadhorse, Alaska that cost more than they charge?)

Article:
To Postal Workers, No Mail Is ‘Junk’ (Newsweek)

P.S. I ain't no revolutionary. This idea is very old. One place I saw it was in Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman. Though he recommended that we take these postage paid envelopes and attach them to masonry bricks. With this method, the direct mailing organization actually does pay to have that brick returned to their office.

Yes folks - Subsidizing Direct Mailing Campaigns...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Wasted Gas - Saved Water

Doesn't really fit within the context of this, uhhh, blog I guess you could call it, but I found a statistic that blows my puny little mind.

Did you know that in Southern Iraq they are flaring over 700 million cubic feet of natural gas EVERY DAY???

Luckily, Shell will soon be harvesting it. I'm not a big fan of oil companies, but I'd rather see shell reap the profits from the use of that gas rather than just burning it for the sole purpose of destroying the environment...

Article: Iraq and Shell sign agreement on south Iraq gas (Al Bawaba)

Also, dude.
This ones just an update to an old story: Bush has approved the Great Lakes Compact. The governors of 8 states signed an agreement to not let anyone take water from the Great Lakes other than in small containers. I like that. It seems cool. However, it sure makes you picture the time in society where civilization is demanding that the Great Lakes region shares their great gift. Will our politicians sell us out? I bet they will!

Article: Great Lakes Compact OK'd to prevent water diversion (CNN)

Am I the only one who thinks you could make a decent living by buying yourself a water truck? Just go to some of the more secluded shores of the great lakes, fill 'er up, drive out to Vegas, and sell the load to a Casino...

Friday, October 3, 2008

Executive Orders

I haven't even had time to pore over this info, but its the kinda info I love to read. It gets you past all the media bias' and whatnot and lets you see the actual harm Bush has done to our fine country.

Disposition of Executive orders signed by President George W. Bush (From the National Archives at Archives.gov)

You can see what the Slate Editors think the top 10 of these EOs that need to be scrapped in a pretty major way. Ten to Toss (Slate)

I can't really close this post the way I normally do, as I haven't gone into a specific rant about how our government is blowing my cash. However, I am certain enough that anything bush does costs me money, so:

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Couple of Great Graphics from BBC

These are a couple of great at-a-glance graphics I found on BBC. (Finance crisis: in graphics)

Yes folks. The large blue dots represent how much taxpayer money the US and British Governments are giving to bankers because the bankers fucked up and we don't want them to suddenly be as poor as the rest of us.
Speaking of people that don't deserve to be as poor as the rest of us, check out this article.
I had started a post a week or 2 ago in a weak attempt to showcase how much these geniuses get paid to bring the worlds economy to its knees. However, I didn't have the time to go scrounge up a bunch of info.
While I realize that these bailout plans aren't being given directly to the bank CEOs, however, ... ... well, here is an example:
Lehman Brothers paid Richard Fuld approximately $17,000 per hour (Based on earnings of more than $40 MILLION in 2007) to completely destroy Lehman Brothers. Had Lehman been bailed out, it would have taken more than $40M to clean up the mess. Therefore, it can be considered that a bailout would have helped to recover from his compensation package. THIS is my logic when I say that our government wants to use $700B of my taxes to pay this guy.

Seriously. Read the article. It is absolutely fucking mind blowing how much these cats were getting paid to destroy America's place in the world.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.