December 13, 2010 8:49 AM |  SPRINGFIELD -- The state of Illinois wants residents to pay sales taxes on all of the gifts they buy. Online shoppers, this means you.

Illinoisans can often dodge sales taxes by shopping online, but the state is hoping to collect on those taxes next year by offering a sales tax amnesty.

A new law allows people who didn't pay sales tax on items bought online, through the mail or over the phone between June 20, 2004, and the end of 2010 to pay what they owe without penalty. The tax amnesty runs from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15.

Department of Revenue spokeswoman Sue Hofer tells the (Springfield) State Journal-Register that Illinois also plans to offer a more detailed worksheet on state income tax return forms to get taxpayers to pay up.

US Fish and Wildlife Service was planning to call the wolverine an endangered species. Not based on their numbers, which have increased, but based on speculation that climate change was destroying snow pack habitat.

See if you can spot the key words.

Only about 40% of the population agrees with Obama on anything, like illegal immigration, CommunistCare, the Ground Zero Mosque amd his own approval rating. But he says, "...I think the American people will be on my side on a whole bunch of these fights."

I can't wait to hear the loud POP when someone finally uncorks Obama's head out of his ass. It will be deafening.

Will somebody unplug Ruben Amaro's PS3?

I've seen video game rosters less rigged than the Phillies' rotation.

Republican progressives

I have no words.

Posted by: maverick muse at December 14, 2010 07:47 AM (H+LJc)

No Labels are leftards who also can't do math, still want to tell us what to do and look with contempt at everything in flyover country.

They just don't want to get their clothes dirty in political fights.  There is a word that begins with "p" that describes such people.

I do feel sorry for you people in the South as far as temps are concerned. At least here in the Heartland we're used to it, and have the appropriate clothing. Heck, when I stepped outside of work an hour or so ago, I was thinking "heck, this isn't bad at all". And it's 20. But compared to the last couple of days, and with no wind, almost comfortable.

But again, I'm dressed for it.

I always thought you should throw wads of chewed gum at a fire.

*shamelessly stealing a Rifftrax reference*

Posted by: Kemp at December 14, 2010 08:27 AM (JpFM9)

That's about par for the course on the freeways around here. Probably one of those Mexican trucks that got passed through.

Endangered Sea Turtles Almost Killed By Globull Warming

I think the R's should walk away from the Tax deal.

Let the Clinton era tax hikes go back into effect.  Fuck the democrats.

Also ,that show the Nancy and her progressive communists put on - yeah a show.  a lie.

Well, it's 21 right now in the tidewater of VA and headed to 35, which is pleasant. Except for the  20 knot wind, gusting to 35 knots,  that killing me. Yeah, i was used to it in the midwest, but the moisture in the wind makes it worse.

Oh, and they are calling for snow thursday, saturday, and sunday.

Got to love me some globull warming.

I think it's imperative the R's let the tax deal die.  Walk away.

The D's are 100% responsible for The Clinton era tax hikes.

"The deal has several key features. It reduces payroll taxes, extends unemployment benefits and keeps current tax rates intact. So far, so good. But intermixed with the benefits are considerable costs of consequence. Given the unambiguous message that the American people sent to Washington in November, it is difficult to understand how our political leaders could have reached such a disappointing agreement. The new, more conservative Congress should reach a better solution."

CLIFF LEE!

IS BACK!

heh heh heh

Christmas came early for us Phillies fans

Not only that, but he dissed the Yankees (at a cost of 50 million dollars more!)  Heh!  When I read that this a.m., I knew today was going to be a beautiful day!

It doens't always happen , but I agree with Mitt Romey.

chop

"Of course, delay now is better than an immediate tax hike. But because the extension is only temporary, a large portion of the investment and job growth that characteristically accompanies low taxes will be lost. When entrepreneurs and employers make decisions to start or expand an enterprise, uncertainty about tax rates translates directly into a reduced propensity to invest and to hire. With only a two-year extension, investors know that before their returns are realized, tax rates may be jacked up to the levels favored by President Obama. So while the tax deal will succeed in temporarily putting more money in the hands of consumers, it will fail to deliver its full potential for creating lasting growth.

It will also add to the deficit. In many cases, lowering taxes can actually increase government revenues. If new businesses, new investments and new hiring are spurred by the prospects of better after-tax returns, the taxes paid by these new or growing businesses and employees can more than make up for the lower rates of taxation. But once again, because the tax deal is temporary, a large portion of this beneficent effect is missing. What some are calling a grand compromise is not grand at all, except in its price tag. The total package will cost nearly $1 trillion, resulting in substantial new borrowing at a time when we are already drowning in red ink.

Part of the tax deal is a temporary reduction in payroll taxes. The president was insistent, however, that only the employee's payroll taxes be reduced — the portion paid by the employer is to remain the same. Again, the president is looking to get more money into the hands of the consumer to boost near-term spending. But by refusing to lower the cost of hiring a new employee, he fails to encourage what the American people want even more than lower taxes — more good jobs. Like the income tax deal, the payroll tax deal will add to the deficit.

For those without jobs, the tax compromise extends unemployment benefits for 13 months. A decent and humane society must have a strong safety net for the unemployed. I served for 15 years as a lay pastor in my church and saw the heartbreak of joblessness up close; a shattering loss of faith in oneself is but only one of many forms the suffering can take. Nonetheless, the vital necessity of providing for those without work should not be used as an excuse to ignore the very real problems of our unemployment system.

In this, as in so many other arenas of government policy, unemployment insurance has many unintended effects. The indisputable fact is that unemployment benefits, despite a web of regulations, actually serve to discourage some individuals from taking jobs, especially when the benefits extend across years."

You should fight everything with fire.

We didn't start it, though!

Oh, and they are calling for snow thursday, saturday, and sunday.

Got to love me some globull warming.

Posted by: todler at December 14, 2010 08:50 AM (fPOY0)

They are calling for snow and sleet here Wed night. I have been living here for 33 years and it has NEVER snowed in Dec since I have been here.

Yeah, we have some globull warming alright.

Mitt - cont... Why R's should walk away from the bad tax deal.

"The system is also not designed for a flexible economy like ours in which some employees move from job to job for short periods, and are therefore ineligible for unemployment compensation when they are faced with a protracted spell without work.

To remedy such problems we need a very different model, perhaps establishing individual unemployment savings accounts over which employees would exercise direct control when they lose their jobs, or putting in place financial incentives for employers to hire and train the long-term unemployed. One thing is certain: While we cannot rebuild our flawed system overnight, we are surely not required to borrow the funds to pay for it. In spending $56.5 billion to extend benefits, the deal is sacrificing the bedrock republcian principle that new expenditures be paid for with offsetting budget cuts.

President Obama has reason to celebrate. The deal delivers short-term economic stimulus, and it does so at the very time he wants it most, before the 2012 elections. But the long term health of our great engine of prosperity will remain very much in doubt. To the twin inevitabilities of death and taxes, we may now have to add persistent high unemployment."

It doens't always happen , but I agree with Mitt Romey.

What's to agree with? Note that he didn't jump on the anti-bandwagon until AFTER the Senate passed it. It is a done deal unless the House commies add more shit to it to the point that it goes back to the Senate and they shoot it down finally.

Yeah, I agree. Real balls to come out against it the day it passes. If you want to get Mitt Romney's opinion on any matter, just go and see what Palin said a month earlier. And as i have stated before I am not a Palin fan, but i can't help but notice Mitt says the same thing she does like a month letter when it is less politically risky.

Speaking of Holbrooke, from WaPo:

Mr. Holbrooke crossed swords with another part of the administration in Pakistan, where he ordered an end to the automatic renewal of aid contracts with U.S. and other foreign nongovernmental organizations with long histories there.

He experienced health problems in August, when he underwent treatment for heart problems and canceled one of his frequent trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. On Friday morning, he was taken to George Washington University Hospital after he became flushed and suffered chest pains during a meeting with Clinton.

As he was sedated for surgery, his final words were to his Pakistani surgeon, according to family members: “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”

Hmmm....Another addition to the "Clinton Dead List"?   And how convenient, his final words to his Pakastani surgeon.

mitt would be good as RNC chair.  for the most part, we already know how he stands (not that we would need to care in his day-to-day RNC duties); he has good contacts all over the country; he looks good on TV...what's not to like?

also, it gets him out of the presidential race where he is certain to gum up the works?

Hmmm....Another addition to the "Clinton Dead List"?   And how convenient, his final words to his Pakastani surgeon.

i think I found the real cause of death.

From Cuccinelli: (Love this guy): (I got rid of the formatting so...)

As I told you earlier today, Virginia won the first round of the constitutional fight over the federal health care law. I also told you I'd get back to you with more details later in the day, and I'm keeping my promise I will tell you up front that I will also go into still more detail later this week - when time allows.  

Arguments and Outcomes.  There were two basic arguments in this case.First, Virginia argued that the individual mandate was beyond the power of Congress and the President to impose under the Constitution. Specifically, Congress claimed that their regulatory power under the Commerce Clause allowed them to order you to buy their government-approved health insurance, even if you decide not to buy health insurance. The judge ruled that the federal government does not have the power to compel you to buy health insurance as part of its attempt to regulate the entire field of health care and health insurance. Thus, Virginia won this argument. Second, the federal government advanced a 'fallback' argument in case it lost on its commerce clause argument. The feds' fallback argument was that the financial penalty you have to pay if you don't buy the government mandated health insurance is a tax.

 This may sound like an odd argument from a political standpoint - usually they say everything is NOT a tax (in fact, they argued the penalty was not a tax while they were trying to get the bill passed); however, they changed position after the bill became law to try and save the bill. What they were trying to do was to get the courts to agree that because the penalty would presumably raise some revenue, it was therefore a 'tax' under the taxing and spending for the General Welfare Clause of the Constitution.

 No judge in the country has bought this argument, and Judge Hudson was no exception. He ruled that the taxing power of Congress does not save the bill, because the penalty for not buying the mandated health insurance is not a tax.

 The federal government only had to win on either of these two arguments, while Virginia needed to win both to prevail, and we won both!

 What's Next?

 Certainly the federal government will appeal their loss in the district court to the 4th circuit court of appeals within the next 30 days. And whichever side loses in the 4th circuit will certainly appeal to the Supreme Court. And no one has any serious doubts that ultimately the constitutionality of the individual mandate will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 Conclusion < federal the of power limit to was place first in constitution for reason important an remember, and government, from protected been has Constitution Today Constitution. day great a is>Today is also a day of a small degree of vindication. When we first filed suit, the screeching of the liberals was deafening. Everything from accusing us of playing politics instead of practicing law, to filing what they called a 'frivolous' lawsuit.

 I want you to know, that our team makes decisions based on the Constitution and the laws. Period. We deal with the consequences of our decisions separately, but first and foremost we have been and will continue to be true to the Constitution and laws of the United States and Virginia, regardless of whether it's easy or hard in any particular case.

 Thank you for your continuing support!

I think everyone here is making too big of a deal over the RNC chair and who sits in it. The RNC isn't what it once was. It will never be the primary fundraising tool again for Republicans. Individual donations will continue to grow in popularity. The only people making donations to the RNC will be the very wealthy, people with net worths north of 10 million. 

The rest of us lumpenproles will pick out favorite candidates and send them money or do volunteer work for them.

All we really need for an RNC chairman is someone who will stick to script and not make an ass of himself, or self aggrandize at the expense of the party.

 yeah, Lemon, nothing says permanent like "temporary"

Nothing says economic stability like - "hey, lets pull the rug out from under everyone making 200K+ in two years and take credit for tax cuts now so that Obama can win in 2012"

I want to take the clinton era tax increases and hang them around every fucking democrat.  The left own job-killing tax increases.

 yeah, Lemon, nothing says permanent like "temporary"

Nothing says economic stability like - "hey, lets pull the rug out from under everyone making 200K+ in two years and take credit for tax cuts now so that Obama can win in 2012"

I want to take the clinton era tax increases and hang them around every fucking democrat.  The left own job-killing tax increases.

part of me agrees with you, but things are really bad in this country. I'm not sure I can wish more pain and hardship in return for some political gains. I think we have a decent shot of beating Obama in 2012 anyway, I am weary of wishing economic ruin on this country for the next two years.

Posted by: Boris Yeltsin at December 14, 2010 08:43 AM (4sQwu)

A week ago they were the evil tax cuts for the evil rich. Now that Barry's neck is on the line to keep them in place the MFM will spin it a whole new way. The MFM makes MiniTrue look like a free press

On Fox just now. Rass poll, 60% want Obamacare repealed

Yup, it looks like people are starting to find out what's in it.  Yesterday's WSJ:

"Big employers faced with incorporating the first round of health-care changes next month are grappling with how to comply with the long list of new rules.  Many consultants to sort through the mountain of new mandates....Some are also considering changes to their plans--including pushing costs to workers.

'There's an administrative burden just to try and understand the 2400 pages of the document,' says Jenn Mann, VP of HR at software maker SAS Institute Inc.

As a result of the reform, SAS is doubling its legal and consultant expenses for 2011, says Ms. Mann....SAS is also taking steps now to prepare for changes that take effect in future years.  In 2018, a tax kicks in on employers with plans whose costs exceed certain levels.  If SAS doesn't adjust its health plans, it estimates that the tax will cost it approximately $20 million a year, says Ms. Mann.

To help get under the threshold level, In January SAS is eliminating its higher-cost indemnity plan and is also doubling co-pays to $20 from $10, she says.  The company may still have to shift more costs to employees to avoid the tax, she says.

I remember several years back, 60 Minutes did a breathless story on SAS and how well the CEO at the time was looking out for its employees.  They had all kinds of benefits (daycare at work that included pediatricians and facilities for sick children so parents could still go to work, on site physicians for employees, etc.) 

One of my local radio stations this morning was airing quotes from dems on how "Unemployment benefits help the economy". Somehow because they have money and spend it  This was Pelosi, the Prez, and others. All on the same page.

And I'm thinking WTF? And these of course are politicians, whose salary is paid by us.

Good god...

Your statement underscores the real situation - it is Obama and the Dems that are holding us hostage.  Instead of making all the tax cuts permanent and dissipating the uncertainty, they are trying to get us to accept a crappy deal knowing that if nothing is done, taxes will go up on everybody.

*sighs*.  I'm just a moron, not a political strategist.  I don't want to see people suffer, yet this deal sucks and we should try to get a better one. 

 The feds' fallback argument was that the financial penalty you have to pay if you don't buy the government mandated health insurance is a tax.

If you need any further evidence, Obama in an interview with George Snuffaluffaguss said quite emphatically "IT IS NOT A TAX"!  That should be Exhibit A.

About a week ago, Judd Gregg was on Andrea Mitchell's show and she tried this line. For once, Gregg got something right. His response "well, Andrea, maybe we should all become unemployed....just think how stimulated the economy would be then."

Some of those idiots in Congress are going to be funemployed in a few weeks.  Do they get to collect unemployment benefits?  I guess they'll get to see firsthand how stimulating it is to be out of work.

I know every media outlet is going to sing the praises of Richard Holbrooke, and I do not want to speak ill of the dead, but I don't really see what his accomplishments are.

The Dayton Accords? The war between the Croats and Serbs was essentially over by 1995. The Croats and Bosniaks had made a peace and teamed up against Serbia, who had made large gains in both countries between 1991-1994.  Also, Milosevic had decided to abandon the Bosnian Serbs and Karadzic and Ratko Miladic because they wouldn't accept a piece that would allow them to keep most of their gains in Bosnia. So NATO bombed the bosnian serbs and the bosnian muslims and croats attacked.  The Dayton Accords followed.   Some form of peace was inevitable Serbia, Croatia and the Bosnian muslims wanted peace. The only people who didn't were the Bosnian Serbs.

Other than that what did Richard Holbrooke do. Can someone learn me some information on this mans acccomplishments?

Posted by: runningrn at December 14, 2010 09:28 AM (ihSHD)

I doubt it. They feather their nest all the time. THEY aren't going to have to worry.

*sighs*.  I'm just a moron, not a political strategist.  I don't want to see people suffer, yet this deal sucks and we should try to get a better one. 

No you're right on that. Why are we even dealing from a position of weakness?

Let the rate lapse, and make your own deal with your new 63 hour members and 6 senators.

Then make the old rate retroactive. I still don't get why republicans think this has to be done now. it can be done in January.

Ugh, decadence!

Seriously, Megyn, why did you feel the need to do this shoot?  You were already getting enough amorous attention by simply appearing on your show.  If she was well-compensated for it, fine, her choice, but still....hope her journalistic/interviewing creds don't take a hit. 

You guys are on crack if you think Palin has more knowledge or grasp of economic issues than Romney. Delusional.

I don't think anyone said that. I did say that Palina and Romney say the same things on major issues, but Palin says it months earlier when it is poltically risky, whereas romney says it when the conclusion or result of forgone and there is no political risk. Romney came out against the deal the day it was being passed? really?

Look, I actually like Romney, but come on. Take a position when it matters.

Word to the wise. Don't go over to Drudge...

OK, I warned you!

My friend posted this on her FB page with the caption "If I was rich, I'd join this group."   Talk about a bunch of useful idiots:

Responsible Wealth, a project of United for a Fair Economy, is a network of over 700 business leaders and wealthy individuals in the top 5% of income and/or wealth in the US who use their surprising voice to advocate for fair taxes and corporate accountability.  If you're in the top 5% (over $200,000 household income and/or over $1 million net assets) and you care about economic justice, please join Responsible Wealth today!

2010 is the year the Bush Tax Cuts were set to expire. RW is working to make sure that the tax cuts for upper-income households expire. Make sure your voice is heard by taking the Tax Fairness Pledge today (click on box at right for more information

200k/year is by no stretch of the imagination rich.  I love how there are only 700 members.  Heh!  I hate class warfare.  It's so old and tired.

You guys are on crack if you think Palin has more knowledge or grasp of economic issues than Romney. Delusional.

The question for a president is how wise they are.  Washington wasn't the smartest guy around, f/x, but he was wise enough to surround himself with the absolute best, people like Hamilton and Jefferson. 

ManBearPig

FIFY

lol, I was helping my lab-mate kill mice. 

Why do Kratos hate rodentia?  Can't you just do a computer simulation?  Mice have rights too!  (Human fetuses, not so much!)

Posted by: Not Dan at December 14, 2010 09:33 AM (zICOi)

They are calling for snow and sleet here Wed night. I have been living here for 33 years and it has NEVER snowed in Dec since I have been here.

Yeah, we have some globull warming alright.

Posted by: Vic at December 14, 2010 08:57 AM (e4sSD)

I'm hoping that th eJames and the York freeze over this year. It's cold enough for it, and then i won't hav eto deal with the idiots on the bridges around here.

Posted by: Lady in Black at December 14, 2010 09:44 AM (x9xik)

Not likely. If Kagan bowed out it would be 5-3 or 4-3 in favor of killing it. Remember Kagan replaced a liberal.

Posted by: Not Dan at December 14, 2010 09:47 AM (b5NAv)

FTFY

His actual positions and record while Governor are out there as well. 

Physician heal thyself

It would be cool if they did.

Not really. Then you would have to put them in little carts before they got there.

Or am I just thinking of some book?

Posted by: Not Dan at December 14, 2010 10:00 AM (3jL5h)

Don't worry, its the real Vic

Romney is a RINO; he's McCain with slick hair.

And if I lost 99.99% of my smart, I would still be smarter than you.

Not only that, but he dissed the Yankees (at a cost of 50 million dollars more!

The Curse of the Bambino upon him!

The growing list of Pledge signers includes:

Judy Pigott, an author and co-founder of Personal Safety Nets who lives in Seattle, Washington and is the daughter of the late Formula One race car driver Pat Pigott.  Her family wealth comes from manufacturing Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.

Jeffrey Hollender, the co-founder of Seventh Generation natural products, he lives in Vermont.  He is a self-made millionaire, author and entrepreneur who is a leader in the socially responsible business movement.

Eric Schoenberg, a behavioral economist at Columbia UniversityÂ’s School of Business who lives in New Jersey.  He was a successful investment banker, after a stint with the State Department, and built his wealth on the fortune his father amassed in the computer and telecoms industries.

Marnie Thompson, an education consultant and co-founder of the Fund for Democratic Communities in Greensboro, NC where she lives. She accepted her inheritance from her father, an Ohio businessman, on the condition that she could give it away to charity.

Mike Lapham, director of United for a FairEconomyÂ’s Responsible Wealth project and an inheritor of family wealth from a paper mill business in upstate New York. He lives in Boston.

So, 3 out of 5 of these pledge signers didn't actually earn their wealth, they inherited it.

How surprising.

The United States enjoyed two centuries of uninterrupted democracy before George W. Bush came along. The Brits burned the White House, civil war slaughtered millions and depressions brought economic chaos, yet presidential elections always took place on schedule and the winners always took office. Bush ended all that, suing to stop a ballot count that subsequent newspaper recounts proved he had lost. He had his GOP-run Supreme Court, a federal institution, rule extra-jurisdictionally on the disputed election, a matter that under our system of laws falls to the states. Bush's recount guru, James Baker, went on national TV to threaten to use force to install him as president if Gore didn't step aside: "If we keep being put in the position of having to respond to recount after recount after recount of the same ballots, then we just can't sit on our hands, and we will be forced to do what might be in our best personal interest--but not--it would not be in the best interest of our wonderful country." Bush wasnÂ’t our president, but he plays one on TV. His presence in the White House is an affront to everything that this country stands for. His fake presidency is treasonous; our passive tolerance for it sad testimony to post-9/11 cowardice. As we the people declared , "George W. Bush is not the President of the United States of America." And millions of Americans agree.

Two months after 9/11, when Bush's job approval rating was soaring at 89 percent, 47 percent of Americans told a Gallup poll that he had not won the presidency legitimately. "The election controversy...could make a comeback if Bush's approval ratings were to fall significantly," predicted Byron York in The National Review.  Today, 3 million jobs are gone, Bush's wars have gone sour, and only the far right wing racists approve of his performance.
Most people in Brattleboro still consider Bush to be no more legitimate than Saddam Hussein, who also came to power in a coup d'état. That is why we must support President Obama’s agenda for socialized healthcare, higher taxes, pull all troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, increase government spending to end the Bush recession, and pass amendment to the Constitution to allow President Obama run for a 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th term.

Posted by: Come on palin; mtcmtauth= at December 14, 2010 10:35 AM (HSnDk)

Could have vetoed the whole thing and let them overturn all of it.

wealthy individuals...who use their surprising voice

Here's me using my surprising voice: "I took the rubber off. Surprise!"

Posted by: Mary Cloggerstien from Brattleboro, VT at December 14, 2010 10:36 AM (SZy+Y)

Ummmmmm........

*unsure*

Other than that what did Richard Holbrooke do. Can someone learn me some information on this mans acccomplishments?

Posted by: Ben at December 14, 2010 09:29 AM (wuv1c)

He once appeared on one of the Sunday gab shows in 2004 and said that people were full of shit for thinking that Lurch was inconsistent on his foreign policy votes.  That's all he fucking said because he didn't back it up with anything specific that would show "I was for it before I was against it" was anything but a craven horse-faced opportunist; but I'm sure it was enough to convince the dimwitted scrunts in Brattleboro, Vaginistan to vote for Reporting for Doody.

Posted by: RedneknSC at December 14, 2010 11:37 AM (1dCTA)

I checked the weather on Weatherunderground and they were calling for snow tomorrow there. When I looked at the location on the map because of the snow I "assumed" it was in the mountains.