You Voted For It: $1 Trillion in New Taxes?
Posted by MichaelGroff on January 7, 2013 | Filed under Podcasts
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Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Following the “fiscal cliff” scare tactic that prompted Republicans to eagerly agree to across the board tax increases without addressing governmental spending, there appears to be another wave of tax hikes looming. Although the Obama administration stressed that budget cuts would be part of any new taxation legislation there have been few specifics as to the nature of these cuts and to what ratio they would compare to tax increases.
FEMA to the Rescue?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has finally started doling out checks to the victims of superstorm Sandy in areas hardest hit by the storm such as New Jersey and Staten Island, New York. Not so surprisingly, the federal compensation has been nearly as underwhelming as various insurance companies that we have discussed previously.
Robin Urcinole, a resident of Seaside Heights, New Jersey received a check for $1,200 but is quick to point out that the damage estimates to her home are over $40,000. While many residents have decided to rebuild in the Seaside community, Urcinole has decided to buy a house in Bayville and depart the New Jersey town where she has spent the last 13 years of her life.
Each passing day decreases the odds of any further comment from president Obama, Governor Christie or anyone that may be able to help the families/victims of a storm that ravaged the region more than two months ago.
Alabama Wins National Championship
Proving that computers don’t always chose the best match-up, Alabama thumps Notre Dame 42-14.
The story from ESPN:
Quieting the Irish by the first play of the second quarter, Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron and the No. 2 Crimson Tide rolled top-ranked Notre Dame 42-14 for the BCS championship Monday night, locking up a second straight national title and third in four years with another laugher of a title game.
The Bear would’ve been especially proud of this one — Nick Saban and the Tide romping to the second-biggest rout of the BCS era that began in 1999.
Lacy, the game’s offensive MVP, ran for one touchdown and caught a pass for another in the final minute of the opening half, spinning away from the vaunted Notre Dame defense not once, but twice, to cap a 28-0 blitz before the bands even got on the field.
Lacy finished with 140 yards on 20 carries, coming up with two of his best performances in the two biggest games of the year. He rushed for a career-high 181 yards in a thrilling victory over Georgia in the SEC title game, and was nearly as dominant against the Irish. McCarron wasn’t too shabby, either, completing 20 of 28 passes for four touchdowns and 264 yards, adding another dazzling effort on top of his MVP in last year’s title game.
You could almost hear television sets around the country flipping to other channels, a hugely anticipated matchup between two of the nation’s most storied programs reduced to nothing more than the second straight BCS blowout for the Crimson Tide.
“We’ve had a lot of really great football players who’ve worked really hard,” Saban said. “Because we’ve had a great team, we’ve been able to have a significant amount of success.”
Alabama (13-1) scored 69 straight points against its title game opponents, going back to getting the final 13 against Texas in 2010, followed by a stifling 21-0 victory over LSU for last year’s crown, then scoring the first 35 points on Notre Dame. Saban’s team made the Irish (12-1) look like a squad that would be hard-pressed to finish in the middle of the pack in the mighty Southeastern Conference, which has now won seven straight national championships.
Finally the controversey over computer rankings and BCS nonsense will be quieted somewhat as the playoff format is finally introduced into NCAA Division 1 football next year. Perhaps I might even be compelled to watch once a champion is determined on the field of play and not in a computer algorithm.
Also on this Episode…
– 6 year-old student suspended for pointing his finger at a fellow student and saying “bang”. Just when you thought that public schools didn’t have any more common sense to lose… Predictably, the parents of this student might have a problem with such administrative zero-tolerance nonsense policies.
– Talk show host Alex Jones is “harassed” by the TSA. Hmm… which side’s account do I believe here? The paranoid, conspiratorialist radio host that wouldn’t give in to a simple request to remove his shoes or the over-reaching, security-theater, intrusive, rule-changing, power-hungry TSA.
– “Desperate”, “Disturbing”, “Disgusting”, “Deranged”, “Despicable”. I was just going through the dictionary to find adjectives that best describe a person that would have sex with a dolphin… “Deplorable”, “Dysfunctional”, “Dirty” …………
My apologies for the third segment.
January 9, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Gotta say Mike, it’s fantastic to get back to a [semi] regular podcast. I check in nearly every other day, so its always a treat to see a new show.
FEMA – Seems any gov’t run program, especially recently established ones are doomed from the start. FEMA has probably one of the worst track records. No one seems to support it, yet it gets all this cash flow. I wish every cent would get shot at NASA instead, at least then they could do something useful with it.
Basketball – Never been one for any sports, besides tennis and ping pong. Or ‘table tennis’ I suppose. Call me when you wanna discuss the radically over-complex scoring system.
Public Schools Update – I best not make a cowboy bebop reference then. Wait, doesn’t my school library stock that manga? Guess they better get rid of those before the books make a threat against the students.
TSA update – In this case, I would say he should be glad he took his shoes off. Perhaps the TSA took the stick out of his ass. Or do they return that property to him?
Dyfunctional story – Mike, you will never believe the endless number of fetishes available on the web. Never delve too deep. If this much shocked you, you’ll be comatose upon looking up how much there actually is.
November 20, 2013 at 2:55 pm
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August 23, 2015 at 9:03 pm
Paparazza is a female photographer
Paparazzo is a male photographer
Paparazzi is plural
I so get why the president doesn’t want his children photographed. But, can’t say so much for his tactfulness or the lack of. Rudeness just brings more issues.
Alex Jones, TSA and Athlete’s Foot….oh my!
My heart goes out to all those who suffered losses due to natural disasters and even more so from not getting the help they needed from FEMA. Show me the money FEMA.
Um, sex with a dolphin….gross.
Love Hockey <3 Just thought I throw that in there :P
:)