Boehner is really between a rock and a hard place here. Would he back down, he'd face some really stiff competition to remain the minority leader. Yeah, I predict it's going to be hard on the Republicans in Congress for quite a few years to come.

How does Dick Armey feel about this?

I'd like to see the humor in this....but I can't find anything at all to laugh about here.

Good thing common sense finally penetrated and abstinence is getting the shaft.

.

Penis joke

Weaver95: I'd like to see the humor in this....but I can't find anything at all to laugh about here.

Yeah, you have to squint to see it.

Weaver95: I'd like to see the humor in this....but I can't find anything at all to laugh about here.

you can laugh that boehner's tax proposal won't actually lower anyone's taxes.

posted from the redlit version of this thread:



The Republicans stressed that they want to include more middle class tax cuts in the package, citing their proposal to cut the two lowest tax rates - 15 percent and 10 percent - to ten percent and five percent, rather than issue the refundable credit Obama wants.

if my math is wrong someone let me know but...

the tax expense of those two tax brackets, if my math is right, is completely covered by the standard deduction. that is to say, lowering those brackets would not result in anyone's tax burden going down at all.

from the IRS:
rate....single..................married
10%.....Not over $8,025.........Not over $16,050
15%.....$8,025 - $32,550........$16,050 - $65,100
25%.....$32,550 - $78,850.......$65,100 - $131,450

Standard deduction for married couples filing jointly increases $200 to $10,900. Singles and married filing separately increases $100 to $5,450.

$8025 * 10% = $802.5
$32550 - $8025 = $24525 * 15% = $3678.75
total tax: $3678.75 + $802.5 = $4481.25

in fact, according to my math, to exhaust the standard deduction you need to earn more than $36425 (single). unless they're talking about lowering the 25% bracket as well, no one will benefit from this.

that's why obama is doing tax credits as opposed to just lowering the rate.

So, Boehner is confused when money is spent on items that will be actually created and used for positive purposes. Just tell him that they are weapons that will be used to destroy sperm and he will understand it.

burndtdan: you can laugh that boehner's tax proposal won't actually lower anyone's taxes.

by the way, if i got that math wrong, don't tear me apart over it.

i was doing that while working on something else.

Republicans don't like birth control because they have fewer delinquents to send to war or put to death later in life. If it's one thing republicans love it's big brother standing over your shoulder telling you what you can read and where you can put your privates.

burndtdan: burndtdan: you can laugh that boehner's tax proposal won't actually lower anyone's taxes.

by the way, if i got that math wrong, don't tear me apart over it.

i was doing that while working on something else.

yeah, i did it wrong.

in reality, it would provide a maximum benefit of $1,627.50 to everyone making more than $38,000, and the benefit would decrease as you went down below that level.

burndtdan: tax stuff

I don't think that's totally correct. If you made $36425 after all pretax payroll deductions (401, health ins, health savings etc etc) and had no other income from interest, dividends, capital gains etc etc, and had no exemptions- student loans, moving etc. your taxable amount would be $30,975, which would put you in the second bracket, 15% of anything over $8025 +802.50.

That person's total tax is $4,245. You really can't know if that's more or less than the person's witholdings without knowing how many exemptions they filed.

I'm not sure what "exhausting the standard deduction" means.

burndtdan: by the way, if i got that math wrong, don't tear me apart over it.

fark.

I'd suggest having more kids. More kids = more future productive members of society. Put that money (and more) into healthcare and education and reap real rewards down the road.

People are too focused on the Now... that moment was fleeting; it's the future Nows that we should worry about.

what_now: burndtdan: by the way, if i got that math wrong, don't tear me apart over it.

fark.

lol it's ok. i corrected my mistake though.

Ummm, what_now and burndtdan, I don't understand your dick jokes. Can you explain them to me?

Tastes Like Chicken

I like penis.

dillenger69: Republicans don't like birth control because they have fewer delinquents to send to war or put to death later in life. If it's one thing republicans love it's big brother standing over your shoulder telling you what you can read and where you can put your privates.

Or, as Carlin put it, "They want live babies so they can grow up to be dead soldiers".

Tr0mBoNe: I'd suggest having more kids. More kids = more future productive members of society. Put that money (and more) into healthcare and education and reap real rewards down the road.

Yeah, but there's an inherent flaw in your plan:

Children.

Oh shiat, is John about to cry again?

Don't ask questions...just drink the Kool-Aid.

Lionel Mandrake: Oh shiat, is John about to cry again?





On a slightly more serious note:

I'm not opposed to tax cuts except when Republicans propose them, because it's pretty clear at this point that most Republicans have no idea why tax cuts work. The issue has become so ideological for them that they tax cuts as the solution to every problem. It's a classic example of "If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." There are certain economic conditions where tax cuts are the correct course of action; this may even be one of them, I don't know. What I do know is that the Republican leadership has no plan to deal with this economy so they simply fall back on the only thing they know.

DrillSergeantPoopyPants: Don't ask questions...just drink the Kool-Aid.

You were so good at it for the last 8 years.

Mentat: I'm not opposed to tax cuts except when Republicans propose them, because it's pretty clear at this point that most Republicans have no idea why tax cuts work. The issue has become so ideological for them that they tax cuts as the solution to every problem. It's a classic example of "If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." There are certain economic conditions where tax cuts are the correct course of action; this may even be one of them, I don't know. What I do know is that the Republican leadership has no plan to deal with this economy so they simply fall back on the only thing they know

I think this is a fairly accurate description of not only the Republican party's big problem these days, but also as to their style of governance over the last 8 years.

Tax cuts are not the solution to every problem. Nor, it appears, is championing them enough to get elected when the shiat hits the fan in other areas (especially when the shiat was created by a combination of your tax cuts and deregulation).

No one likes taxes, certainly I hate them, but at the same time I realize that if my company goes under then I will get the biggest tax cut of all - because I won't have a job!

That doesn't seem like an acceptable solution to me either.

Don't worry, "Boner". They won't tax self tanner or mascara. They'll tax cigarettes.

Because a simple tax cut will result in millions of jobs sprouting up overnight, and consumers everywhere begging to buy the latest plasma tv and GM vehicle.

For the past 8 years Democrats resisted every attempt to cut taxes and stimulate the economy with deficit spending. Now tax cuts and huge deficits are good. Got it.

For the taxable economy? Nowhere, other than Nevada.

As long as these are ribbed contraceptives there should be plenty of stimulation.

Luckily I am a Protestant, so I can buy a French Tickler if I want to.

"How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives?" Boehner asked. "How does that stimulate the economy?"

It prevents people from having children they can't afford.

DrillSergeantPoopyPants: Don't ask questions...just drink the Kool-Aid.

references to kool-aide never get old and are always hip and edgy.

Hat Madder: For the past 8 years Democrats resisted every attempt to cut taxes and stimulate the economy with deficit spending. Now tax cuts and huge deficits are good. Got it.

We were deficit spending to pay for the war, not to stimulate the economy.

xtain science monitor (poppy)

brainiac-dumdum: "How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives?" Boehner asked. "How does that stimulate the economy?"

It prevents people from having children they can't afford.

Which, while I'm very much in favor from a Green/Malthusian perspective, is economically even more dangerous. Note falling house prices in Japan and zero growth for a decade. Yeah, that's what a zero-to-negative population growth rate looks like. Which is great, except that the math of debt-centered capitalism only works at positive growth rates (thus runs into a problem, eventually, on a finite planet). In a stable world we'd be in 'recession' half the time.

Hat Madder: For the past 8 years Democrats resisted every attempt to cut taxes and stimulate the economy with deficit spending. Now tax cuts and huge deficits are good. Got it.

Honestly, we needed a more salutary recession than we got after the tech boom. Possibly, we needed more of one in the mid-late 90s. Greenspan bubbled his way out of those with cheap easy credit, low regulations, and relaxed reserve requirements. Now, we've got three recessions piled up.

madmann: Yeah, but there's an inherent flaw in your plan:

Children.

Yes... that's a good point.

More contraceptives.

More abortions.

Choose ONE!

Lawnchair: Which, while I'm very much in favor from a Green/Malthusian perspective, is economically even more dangerous. Note falling house prices in Japan and zero growth for a decade. Yeah, that's what a zero-to-negative population growth rate looks like. Which is great, except that the math of debt-centered capitalism only works at positive growth rates (thus runs into a problem, eventually, on a finite planet). In a stable world we'd be in 'recession' half the time.

People should be able to decide when and if they want to have children. If they can't afford birth control, they certainly can't afford a child. It is wrong to expect people to have children so we can keep buying crap from China or some Merril Lynch asshole can buy a $60,000 rug.

Besides, the US maintains its population and economy with immigration.

brainiac-dumdum: "How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives?" Boehner asked. "How does that stimulate the economy?"

It prevents people from having children they can't afford.

This. A big, steaming pile of this with cheese dip on the side.

If not for modern contraceptives, it would be exponentially more difficult for me to put off having kids until such time as I have their college fund ready, a house properly equipped for them, as well as a stable job with good benefits. It's that whole 'attracted-to-spouse' problem the Catholics use as an excuse to risk Malthusian disaster for all of us. Just because I want to bang his brains out on a daily basis doesn't mean I want to be knocked up at this point in time. It's cruel to have children you can't provide well for. A side of duh with your Jesus chips!

Hideously Gigantic Smurf: More contraceptives.

More abortions.

Choose ONE!

But, contraception is abortion according to some of these people.

I agree with you though.

I'd rather have people farking safely to relieve their stress than knocking over a bank to feed their over-sized family.

We have a deficit that might hit $2T, we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, our auto industry is on the verge of collapse, and we're going to coddle people who aren't responsible enough to buy their own damn rubbers??? WTF?

I looked over the Obama stimulus plan. I don't remember seeing ANYTHING about contraception. Me thinks he's being disingenuous.

Renowned transvestite sexologist: I looked over the Obama stimulus plan. I don't remember seeing ANYTHING about contraception. Me thinks he's being disingenuous.

Could be mixing up two different issues, the stimulus and the executive order about overseas abortions.

I don't get why we're spending ANYTHING on that kind of stuff right now. We have serious problems at home...we can't afford foreign aid unless it's directly tied to a vital national interest. If people want to fund any kind of overseas work, they can donate their own money, but W has left us in too much of a bind for the government to do it.

Bestbank Tiger: We have a deficit that might hit $2T, we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, our auto industry is on the verge of collapse, and we're going to coddle people who aren't responsible enough to buy their own damn rubbers??? WTF?

I find it interesting that your second lament is that we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, followed by indignation over contraception funding.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a lot of the people who can't afford rubbers are also without health insurance. If they were to have babies, those babies would also be without insurance. It is cheaper to provide rubbers and pills to avoid pregnancy than adding babies to the ranks of the uninsured.

hundreds of millions of dollars of contraceptives prevent hundreds of billions (or trillions) of dollars spent to help raise the unwanted progeny of teenagers and ne'erdowells.

If the GOP could learn to prevent problems instead of jerking their knees at them, they might eventually govern effectively.

TwistedFark: No one likes taxes

Everyday of my life I use things paid for with taxes that I definitely couldn't afford to build myself. I have no problem with taxes, I definitely get my moneys worth.

lexslamman: hundreds of millions of dollars of contraceptives prevent hundreds of billions (or trillions) of dollars spent to help raise the unwanted progeny of teenagers and ne'erdowells.

If the GOP could learn to prevent problems instead of jerking their knees at them, they might eventually govern effectively.

They're not jerking their knees at problems, they're kicking the poor in the crotch.

brainiac-dumdum: Bestbank Tiger: We have a deficit that might hit $2T, we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, our auto industry is on the verge of collapse, and we're going to coddle people who aren't responsible enough to buy their own damn rubbers??? WTF?

I find it interesting that your second lament is that we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, followed by indignation over contraception funding.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a lot of the people who can't afford rubbers are also without health insurance. If they were to have babies, those babies would also be without insurance. It is cheaper to provide rubbers and pills to avoid pregnancy than adding babies to the ranks of the uninsured.

Norplant.

brainiac-dumdum: Bestbank Tiger: We have a deficit that might hit $2T, we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, our auto industry is on the verge of collapse, and we're going to coddle people who aren't responsible enough to buy their own damn rubbers??? WTF?

I find it interesting that your second lament is that we have tens of millions of Americans without health coverage, followed by indignation over contraception funding.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a lot of the people who can't afford rubbers are also without health insurance. If they were to have babies, those babies would also be without insurance. It is cheaper to provide rubbers and pills to avoid pregnancy than adding babies to the ranks of the uninsured.

I find it hard to believe that people can't afford rubbers or birth control pills. They're a LOT cheaper than insurance and there are organizations like Planned Parenthood that give that kind of stuff away. I'll bet dollars to donuts that there are people who claim they need someone else to buy their birth control but they can afford cable and cell phones.

You know, agree with Boehner (giggle) or not, you should be glad he's raising objections. In this situation - a troubled economy, a very very close to fillibuster proof majority in the legislature, a populist president from the same party with a large "engaged" following - without any other input our most likely scenario is that we'll get a mess of a bill rushed through that ends up sucking big time in retrospect.

The Republicans can't stop the bill. They also aren't going to get an alternate plan considered. If all the Republicans can manage to do is slow it down a little bit and get it scrutinized a little more then that's a good thing. In the end the bill will be better.

One other point: More working people would be able to afford insurance if we got the gubamint's hands out of their pockets. The solution to the problem isn't more birth control. It's ending the insane War on Drugs, cutting off public funding of fat cats' Carribean junkets, putting a stop to no-bid contracts for Halliburton, etc.

/picked GOP darlings so y'all wouldn't think I was a fundie :)

Obama could dribble it out or pump it out in huge globs. He's the liquidity injector decider.

Does he have any idea how much the average guys spends to put one contraceptive device into play? Screw the tax rebates. Send every taxpayer a condom. An additional sixty billion dollars will be circulated that weekend.