“The Biden administration defended its plan to increase funding for the IRS by nearly $80 billion, arguing in a memo to congressional Democrats the additional money could help the agency crack down on wealthy tax dodgers and recover billions in lost revenue. ‘President Biden’s plan will give the IRS the resources and information it needs to increase enforcement against the highest income tax cheats, while protecting Americans earning less than $400,000 per year,’ the White House said. The memo comes after House Democrats on Monday released a draft of proposed tax increases, including providing the IRS with an extra $78 billion in funding for enforcement measures. But the White House also wants to give the agency more power over the next decade to crack down on tax evasion by high-earners and corporations — a move that has prompted a swish backlash from Republicans.” (09/16/21)
“It’s hard to figure out why we sometimes internalize the deaths of people we never knew personally. Maybe it forces an awareness of our own mortality we often try to ignore. Maybe it signifies the end of an era that gave you inspiration or happiness. In the case of comedian Norm Macdonald, his death hit me hard and I know precisely why. Another voice of truth is gone. I’ve had the privilege over the years of interviewing great comics who come through town to promote their shows. It’s always a particular thrill when those comics happen to be people I grew up watching and appreciating stylistically. The late 80s and 90s-era Saturday Night Live cast are those people to me.” (09/16/21)
“After three House Democrats voted against a key plank of their party’s plan to lower prescription drug prices, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that Congress must ensure the provision is included in the final budget reconciliation package despite objections from conservative lawmakers. Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said he understands that ‘the pharmaceutical industry owns the Republican Party and that no Republican voted for this bill, but there is no excuse for every Democrat not supporting it. … Congress must demand that Medicare negotiate prices with this extremely greedy and powerful industry.'” [editor’s note: Of course, unless he is also willing to strip back the power of the FDA, CDC and other federal barriers to innovation, this is the usual blustering bullshit – SAT] (09/16/21)
“As Senate Democrats on Tuesday announced a compromise voting rights bill backed by the entire caucus, advocates of election reform were quick to press Sen. Joe Manchin (who was part of the negotiations after opposing a previous broader proposal) to drop his resistance to reforming or abolishing the filibuster. The new Freedom to Vote Act retains parts of the House-approved For the People Act, which Manchin (D‑W.Va.) refused to co-sponsor and Senate Republicans repeatedly blocked this summer – elevating calls to change the chamber’s rules to advance the agenda of Democrats, who have the narrowest possible majority with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking tie votes. Manchin is a vocal opponent of killing the filibuster and continues to make a case for bipartisanship, even as the GOP actively works against his party and President Joe Biden’s policy priorities.” [editor’s note: This “coup” continues, while the other committee still claims there was one in January – SAT] (09/16/21)
“Olympic champions, heroes to young women and girls across the nation for their athletic achievements, on Wednesday served as champions for survivors of sexual abuse as they demanded accountability for those who enabled Larry Nassar, who abused them and dozens of others for years. Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman, alongside fellow gymnast Maggie Nichols, recounted their experiences before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in the wake of a Justice Department Inspector General’s report that revealed how the FBI failed to act on their complaints. As a result, they said, Nassar (who once served as a doctor for USA Gymnastics) was able to continue his pattern of abuse against young women and girls.” (09/15/21)
“The Build Back Better Act promises to finally remedy the disastrous way we take care of the elderly in America. The pandemic revealed the perils of warehousing seniors in understaffed and even dangerous nursing homes. Large majorities prefer to age in place or receive assistance with a disability at home, but the supportive care needed for this is outrageously expensive and scarce. Poorer people must literally drain all of their resources to get Medicaid to pay for home care, and even then they can languish on a wait list for years. Moreover, while home care work is one of the fastest-growing professions in the economy, it’s also one of the lowest-paid, averaging about $12 an hour. Fixing home and community-based services (HCBS) involves two essential stages: increasing affordable access to services, and raising the living standards of the direct-care workforce.” (09/15/21)
“Despite the outpouring of international sympathy for Afghans who fled their country after the Taliban takeover last month, it’s by no means certain this will translate into receiving the refuge they are entitled to under international law. Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland and Russia have categorically said they won’t accept new Afghan arrivals. Slovenia’s foreign minister even reportedly issued an outrageous warning of ‘terrorist attacks on European soil.’ In the United States, where tens of thousands of Afghans are expected to be resettled, some of the more ambitious and Trumpian members of the Republican Party are using the new refugees as a political weapon to fight culture wars ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Some Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE and Bahrain have indicated they intend to be only temporary hosts to the Afghans.” (09/15/21)
“A series of camel sculptures carved into rock faces in Saudi Arabia are likely to be the oldest large-scale animal reliefs in the world, a study says. When the carvings were first discovered in 2018, researchers estimated they were created about 2,000 years ago. This was based on their similarity to reliefs at Jordan’s famous ancient city of Petra. But a fresh study puts the camels at between 7,000-8,000 old. Precisely ageing rock sculptures is a challenge for researchers. Unlike cave paintings, say, there is often no organic matter to sample. Rock art of this size is also rare in the region. The researchers, who published their findings in the Journal of Archaeological Science, assessed erosion patterns, analysed tool marks, and tested animal bones found at the site to determine a new date for the sculptures’ creation.” (09/15/21)
“Revelations about the conduct of Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contained in a new book are beyond alarming. If accurate, they constitute court-martial offenses. If proven at trial, they merit conviction and imprisonment. In a new book titled Peril, Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa describe in intimate detail conversations that Milley had with senior Pentagon officials, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a top general in the Chinese military toward the end of Trump’s presidency. According to the book, Milley usurped the authority of the president as the elected civilian leader of the United States, sought to defy any order with which he disagreed, and inserted himself into a chain of command where he did not belong in order to arrogate power over the nation’s military operations and nuclear codes.” (09/15/21)
“A mayor in Ohio told all five local school board members to resign during a board meeting or face charges over class material for high schoolers he deemed ‘child pornography.’ ‘It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom,’ Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert told the Hudson Board of Education during a meeting on Monday. ‘I’ve spoken to a judge this evening. She’s already confirmed that. So I’m going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged,’ Shubert added, which was met with cheers from the audience.” [editor’s note: On closer review, the class used “642 Things to Write About” as a spur to student’s essays, and among those things there were a COUPLE of topics involving … Heaven forefend, sex! – SAT] (09/15/21)
