Please tax me more

Obviously, I haven't been blogging -- exploring issues at length -- as much as I'd like to and as much as I have in the past. Some issues and ideas have been piling up, so I'll mention them and let you read the original.


A lot of the discussion around ending the Bush tax cuts seems to be a hidden discussion about the wealthy saying, "We want to keep our money for ourselves and we don't care whether the rest of the country falls apart due to lack of money." Here's a refreshing change. Jeffrey Hollender, cofounder of Seventh Generation (I use some of their environmentally friendly cleaning supplies) and a member of the Responsible Wealth Project says the government doesn't tax him enough. He certainly doesn't need the cash. The country does. The rich need to show more compassion. His goal isn't just to let the Bush tax cuts expire. He also wants to reform the tax code. You're rich enough for a second house? You don't need to deduct its mortgage on your income tax.




Pastor Cary Gordon doesn't like the law that says if a church participates in the campaign process that church can lose its tax-exempt status. Gordon is taunting the IRS: Bring it on! Investigate me so that I can take the case all the way to the Supremes! And I'll win. At least he claims. His current electoral target is the Iowa Supreme Court. He wants to replace a few justices who demanded the state allow gay marriage.



Back when Bush was in the White House and progressives were complaining about him the GOP said he's your president, respect him. Now that Obama has the job respect is the farthest thing from their minds. A billboard outside Grand Junction, Colorado shows four versions of Obama -- terrorist, gangster, Mexican bandit, and gay man playing cards. There's lots of other GOP bogeyman symbols (United Nations as a vulture, EPA as a rat). The caption says, "Vote DemocRAT."



The dating site OKCupid collects lots of information about its clients so that it can properly match them up. Since one piece of that info is "Gay or straight?" it allows them to do data mining into the differences between gays (male and female) and straights. Here are some of the things they found:

* Gays aren't interested in straights as sexual partners. There goes the bogeyman that has the military all in a tizzy.

* Gays aren't any more promiscuous than straights. So much for the Fundie bogeyman that straight relationships are about love and gay hook-ups are about sex.

* Large numbers of straight people are interested in trying straight sex.

* Straight men are more aggressive and much more into sports, gay men are more compassionate and more "artsy" and literary.

Some progressives are looking at the looming election and its anticipated results and looking for someone to blame. The grumbling coming from gays makes us a handy target -- The Dems wouldn't be in such a mess if the gays would just shut up about their rights! Sorry guys, the way the prez. has been missing in action on gay rights is only one facet of a much bigger issue. We wanted Obama to carry the progressive banner. He turned into someone quite willing to compromise the progressive position until there isn't much left.