it's outrage o'clock

i know, i know.  it’s completely uncool to post about politics in washington, but i’ve resisted as long as is humanly (or humanely) possible.  now let me get this off my chest.

once upon a time, i--unlike many of my contemporary yippie friends--worked for the minimum wage, which was a paltry $5.15/hr at the time.  it basically sucked and as soon as i could, i got a better job.  being a white, upper-middle class male, this was easy for me to do.  it is very, very hard for other people, mostly because they lack one or all of the traits listed above.  also because the man keeps them down.  anyway, that long-ago thankless toil came rushing back to me when I found out that the great state of massachusetts had overridden mitt’s veto and raised the state minimum wage. (and speaking of the mittster, he’s still a rampaging jackass)

as for the federal wage (because not all states are as cool as massachusetts, hell yeah!) it’s still only $5.15/hr.  gadzooks!  somebody call the fucking government, they’ll know what to do!

of course, because it’s congress, and congress is controlled by hulking soulless reptile-men (republicans!), what they did was vote down the minimum wage hike proposed by my good buddy ted kennedy earlier this summer.  shortly thereafter, they voted for a congressional pay raise.  the hypocrisy and gall that these men exhibit on a daily basis is simply mind-blowing.  seriously, if your mind is still in one piece, go back and reread the last three sentences.  i’ll wait.

see what I mean?  blown like a high school quarterback on prom night.  but it doesn’t end there, unfortunately.  just this week, they put together a “compromise” bill that slapped a minimum wage hike together with the repeal of the estate tax.  in case you’re not familiar with the estate tax, it is a tax levied on estates valued at $5 million or more (double for couples).  it is a tax that only affects the super-mega wealthy.  and repealing it is a republican wet dream.  unfortunately for the rest of us americans, it will cost our government almost a trillion dollars (with a tr-) in revenue by 2021.  that’s money that probably would go to programs to help the poor.  is it any wonder that republicans want to eliminate this revenue stream?  it lets them pour money on the rich and oppress the poor at the same time!  praise jesus!

anyway, attaching this ass-rape of a policy to the minimum wage hike is a blatant attempt to lure dems across the aisle and make them vote to repeal the estate tax.  if it works, it might just go down as the worst law of the 108th congress.  i’d say ever, but i think the USA PATRIOT act still wins that one.

ok, politics over.  go back about your business.  there’s a post about debauchery coming up soon, i promise.