One of the Toms, either Tomorrow or The Dancing Bug, appropriately addressed the double taxation nonsense.

There's lots of double taxation, can you explain why only that one should get preferential treatment?

Also, it's my understanding the effective tax rate for US corporations is lower than other industrialized countries.

"What we don't want is an angry former Republican during a Supreme Court hearing," one unnamed Democratic staffer told the paper.

How about you just kick his ass out and let him be an angry "independent" or "angry "independent republican" or "independent lieberman"?

Of course, it would be fun to watch him grovel around and rejoin the GOP. Think of the fun, watching what's left of the GOP talking heads directly contradict themselves from a week ago. Backflips, all GOP members must have been gymnasts as youngsters.

and @ any other fervent Obama believers -

"Once that fight is over, then he can turn left."

Do you have ANY evidence that he will? Maybe he's competent, certainly he's more capable that the fuktard he replaced, but do you have ANY PROOF that he's a closet liberal? Just because he sports a permanent tan and has a "D" behind his name doesn't automatically make him "Liberal", or "Progressive", or "liberal" or "progressive".

spelling correction

slightly OT - I really just wanted to call Shrub a fuktard again. The pure embodiment of "Conservatism", a felonious lying pompous douchebag with mommie and daddie issues that should have spent the last eight years in therapy, not government.

It's better to perpetrate illegal acts from an undisclosed location and have people suspect you of being an evil twist, than to go onto the Sunday morning gasbag-fests and prove you're an evil twist.

... but, with corporate disinformation and propaganda masqerading as 'news', we don't have to worry about that in the US.

If there were honest debate, using facts devoid of hidden agendas, we might, just maybe, make this country a good place.

Not going to happen when people can turn a profit on the misery of others.

Anything less than a full criminal investigation of this entire sorry episode is simply sophisticated CYA. "Truth Commissions" are for third world countries experiencing the growing pains precursing the necessary maturity to join the civilized world. Is that what we are, some backwater tin pot dictatorship?

I am constantly amazed at the Congresscritters that profess utter helplessness.

Maybe they could act in their role as federal legislators, and you know, pass some laws or something? Maybe even compel some agency to enforce the laws they pass. Do we have anything like that in this country, a bureau to investigate things on the federal level, or a department that tries to enforce the laws and seek justice for the wronged?

"... at least partially an attempt to Bush's religious belief ..."

An attempt to what Bush's belief, suborn? praise? undermine? support? masturbate? bait? manipulate? consecrate?

"[former Shrub administration official, eg Cheney, Rumsfeld] was even worse than you thought."

Dear War Room,

Feel free to use any time.

Thanks,

JFP

And the difference is important for many reasons still today.

Guv Goodhair is a douchebag, a figurehead douchebag of course, but figureheads are important too, esp when they control the microphone.

Though the rest of the country may have Texas Envy or maybe just can't stand that special brand of TX arrogance, abandoning the liberals and progressives here is a mistake you make at your own peril.

.. after you sell your soul to the (evangelical) Devil.

If you head out to one of the many pastures in Texas, at a certain time of the year you might find a certain fungus sprouting from the cow patties. They're quite the mental joy ride, or so I hear. That seems to be an approriate metaphor for origins of the Liberalism that springs forth from this State.

The conservative tone of the state is directly tracable to the failures of Reconstruction. Skipping for now those Karmic implications, it is true that there are some bass-ackwards SOBs in this state, but there are plenty of Liberals and Progressives as well. Some come by it naturally, while others evolve to a more enlightened state through the process of direct observation of the evils of Conservatism.

Side note - that the DNC simply wrote off Texas (abandoning its Liberals and the attending Electoral Votes) was incredibly short-sighted.

As for modern consequences, too bad Wikipedia couldn't help you out. (Hint: why did it take UPS so long to start delivery service here?) After battling Mexico, Texas was deep in debt. The US didn't outright annex the state because it would have had to assume the debt. A deal was struck (hence the treaty). The US would accept Texas, while Texas would keep it's debt and title to the land.

In a vain effort to pay down the debt, the land went up for sale. After years of trying to unload what seemed like miles and miles of worthless scrub, the Texas Lege just outright gave it to the UT college system. Shortly thereafter, black gold was discovered, awl bidness began in earnest, making the UT system one of the richest in the country.

I do hope that those reading this will understand this much a simplifed, and thus, inaccurate, history, so please pardon me. I am not a scholar of Texas history, just a citizen with a hazy memory of grade school. If you really want to nitpick, please start with Wikipedia.

Maybe Reid will finally reveal his Manchurian nature. He'll switch parties, for expediency's sake, and become leader of the Republican caucus. He might even lead the other stealth Thugs to publicly switch parties.

I'm tired of that incompetent, appeasing, magic-underpants-wearing, the-Senate-is-a-country-club-mentality conservative having a "D" behind his name. For the sake of truth in advertising, at the very least he should include the "ino".

Seriously, what will his excuse be now that he has the magical "60th" vote?