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Eric Gorski, The Associated Press, November 9, 2007
For some, a Senate committee's investigation into six well-known evangelical ministries is long overdue, a needed check on preachers living lavish lifestyles built with their donors' generosity.
But even among those who welcome the scrutiny, there was concern Wednesday over government intrusion into religion, more red tape in the name of transparency and undue burdens on preachers and churches who play strictly by the rules.
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, faxed letters Monday to a half-dozen evangelical mega.m.inistries requesting information about compensation, board oversight and perks — from luxury oceanside homes to flights on private jets to opulent spending on office furniture.
The organizations are not legally required to respond. Some have released statements pledging to cooperate, others have hedged and all have emphasized their commitment to following applicable tax laws.
The IRS requires that pastors' compensation be "reasonable," a figure set by collecting comparable salaries and weighing factors such as church size and a pastor's value to the congregation. IRS rules prevent pastors and other insiders from excessive personal gain through their tax-exempt work.
Read More Here
Paul Krugman, The New York Times, November 9, 2007
The United States spends far more on health care per person than any other nation. Yet we have lower life expectancy than most other rich countries. Furthermore, every other advanced country provides all its citizens with health insurance; only in America is a large fraction of the population uninsured or underinsured.
You might think that these facts would make the case for major reform of America's health care system - reform that would involve, among other things, learning from other countries' experience - irrefutable. Instead, however, apologists for the status quo offer a barrage of excuses for our system's miserable performance.
So I thought it would be useful to offer a catalog of the most commonly heard apologies for American health care, and the reasons they won't wash.
Excuse No. 1: No insurance, no problem.
Read More Here We are SO excited to have you with us today. Here you see the newly remodeled ballroom. It really IS a “ball”room, with a twist, or two, or three or… If you wish, Liberal media, I’ll put one of the hoods over your head and use the many pliers to make sure you tell us what we want to hear. Back in the bad old days this was used by the Clintons for socializing. Now we’re ready to defeat terrorism no matter what citizen, or media outlet, gets too far off our script. Obviously it’s a work in progress. As soon as we declare an emergency and cancel elections afterYOS note #2: That was after she transformed into the succubus she has become after marrying the boy-King-wannabe: Junior. It was that, or go to prison for murdering the ex in a blinding rage. Why? Because NO ONE TELLS HER, OR HER HUBBY, “NO” WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES.invading, oh, silly me, go into Iran to save them from themselves, we can start cleaning up our own neighborhood. Yes, I see a hand up there. Mr. Scribe, I will answer your questions later. Now we have arrived at the kitchen. In the bad old days; or if we allowed that she-bitch Hillary to actually win, this was… or would be… used for exotic dishes that I can’t even pronounce. After all, I’m just a boyfriendmurderer,killer, um, accidental dispatcher from a little old town in Texas. Poor boy, but that’s what he gets for standing up to me… (giggle, giggle, giggle, snort). Now we serve chittlins and hamhock, boiled in the lard we get from thejournalists…. um, terrorists who don’t make it through our reeducation camps, um… “No Journalist’s Behind Left” program. The rest is used down the hall for lampshade and soap production. (Snicker, smirk, smirk, snicker.) Yes, Mr. Scribe, we will get to your question soon. Here are the special peep shows Junior has had installed. Now back in the old pornography loving, Liberal White House, days these would might offered the most unGodly screenings of maggot infested filth; if they had been here. Instead, we old offer my hubby and friends the best in wholesome, Neo Con entertainment: disembowled, body parts splattered heavily with blood, electrocuting, beheading type films available. Of course these are 100% American: freshly filmed from our own facilities overseas, in Cuba and right here in our secret prisons. A few are relabeled as al Qaeda films and we attempt to scrub them of fat "terrorists" wearing Rolexs and Nikes. Sometimes we don’t succeed; in fact it's pretty obvious we're REALLY bad at everything we do, but the American people are too stupid to figure THAT out. (Chortle, snort, sniff, wheeze, chuckle.) Now be very careful as you step: my hubby Junior and Biggus were just in this one and the floor, the walls: even the ceiling are still quite sticky. We scrape it off every night, send it straight to the kitchen; ship it out Airborne, label the packages “Chiffon Pie,” and serve it to our detainees. I’ve heard they prefer it to their usual diet of AIDS infected carcasses of rotting rats. Oh, my, Mr. Scribe. Eager beaver aren’t we? Be patient. Finally we have the Oval Office. Oh, my, Georgie. What are you doing, and why is Condikins under the desk? “Debriefing you?” Well, sorry you had to see that, my dears. At least it was one of the housenigger… um, help. We don’t count them as “people” anyway. Of course we don’t count you little ones as people anyway. In the bad old days that actually might have been, oh, dear, how terrible… dare I say? CONSENSUAL. Ewe. Sorry you had to hear that. I I wasn’t the first lady they’d take me and wash my mouth out with a soapy, pre-desecrated Koran. Now, that ends the tour. Mr. Scribe, you can put your hand down now. Silly you. We don’t ANSWER questions here. We tell you, and every one else, what the answers are. Everyone bow once to the Dynasty. Mr. Scribe, you’re encouragable. Not bowing? I'll pass your name on to das Homeland Insecurity. NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE.
