Today’s correspondence with “leader” McConnell

Senator,

I don't live in your state, nor do I live in Alabama. But your decisions affect all of us.

It seems you have forgotten that the government is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Doug Jones was elected by the people, while mr sessions replacement was appointed to fill the role. The people have spoken and they must be heard. He should be seated before any further votes are taken.

You are so set on ramming through your absurd, and wildly unpopular "tax" bill that will increase the deficit by trillions (oh perhaps you were correct when you said it won't add to the deficit by "one penny;" it's a much larger get number) and harm everyday working Americans. All the while adding plenty of items that have nothing whatsoever to do with taxes.

If you had the gene, you would probably feel shame. But clearly you don't.

You will proceed as if somehow this is the most important thing ever in the history of the US with no debate, no CBO score, and really no time to review it.

All the while there are many much more important things that you should be focused on. Guns, climate change, Russian influence, and North Korea to name a few important ones.

But please waste your time trying to please your corporate donors.

The GOP’s latest tax plan would do exactly what Rubio warned them not to. Will he vote with them anyway? - The Washington Post

If you live in Florida, you should give the good senator a call. He should hear from us about this bill, and perhaps he will take it under consideration. 


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/13/the-gops-latest-tax-plan-would-do-exactly-what-rubio-warned-them-not-to-will-he-vote-with-them-anyway/

If you live in Alabama get out and vote. Against the pedophile!

Sayin.

#NetNeutrality

America has always encouraged innovation. We've done amazing things as a nation. American exceptionalism really is all about *us* being better than everyone.

It's debatable who invented "the internet" but there is no doubt, no question, that the United States was the reason it took off. The US made the internet what it is today.

It's a place for free expression, collaboration, and commerce. Even a jackass person can freely express world views (even if those world views might lead the unhinged jackass to take us into WW III).

And now some douche who has the best interests of large telecom companies as his primary focus can undo it. All of it.

Essentially we've taken what we know as the internet and said "here are the keys. You decide what to do"

And you can guess it won't be good for any of us. We'll all pay the price (figuratively and literally) for his decision.

Thanks for nothing Congress! Way to give it all away. Y'all are awesome.

Read what it means here:
https://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-what-you-need-know-now

Summer sausage

Growing up, we always had summer sausage around this time of year. We'd sell it as a fundraiser. We'd buy it from hickory farms.

That and the port wine cheese spread were always awesome and a part of the holidays.

I don't eat beef anymore, so I haven't had it in years. When I saw it on sale today I was taken back in time....

But my question has always been this: why is summer sausage so popular in the late fall/early winter?

An open letter about #GOPTaxScam

Here is a copy of the letter I sent to the undecided GOP senators about the tax plan. Feel free to use as much of it as you like when you reach out to your senators -

I am not a resident of your state, however, I wanted to reach out to you about the tax bill currently being considered because it's breadth will affect all of us.

While I do applaud any attempt to simplify the tax code, this bill was hastily conceived and has not been fully scored by the CBO, and therefore is unlikely to do much for residents of your state, and surely will have unintended consequences.

What we do know about this bill isn't promising. For one thing, the removal of the individual mandate will cause 13 or so million nationwide (a portion of those in your state) to be uninsured, and will also raise premiums by around 10% for most people.

Meanwhile, Medicare Funding would be cut by $25 billion. That would disproportionately affect people with disabilities and the elderly – our friends and family members who need it the most.

Also, the "average tax cut" is just a myth. 50% or so of tax cuts would go to the top 5% wealthiest households in the country in the first year of the law, and gives 98% of millionaires a tax cut compared to just 27% of middle class Americans. Taxes will go up - on average - for people making under $75,000.

While some tout the potential for job creation, I think it's safe to say that the opposite is likely true: corporations will have no incentive to spend the additional tax savings, and will be more likely to move more money offshore and essentially hoard it. And the wording in the bill would encourage more outsourcing of jobs.

Furthermore, there will be cuts to infrastructure investment which would mean our roads and bridges will continue to deteriorate. And surely, when there is the inevitable next storm, less money will be available for aid and repairs.

With changes to federal aid and block grants, your state may have to increase taxes to cover the losses form federal funds.

But it doesn't stop there. Students with loans, those working on research at universities, people with medical expenses, and teachers will all be harmed by the changes to the tax code.

There are also items contained within that have nothing to do with taxation: allowing churches to have a political voice, and restricting abortion are a couple of examples that make this more than a simple change to the tax code.

In the end, the deficit will surely grow, based on the reduced taxation. The number will likely be in the trillions. We all know that many republicans believe that we should reduce the deficit; assuming you believe this as well, surely you can not find this acceptable.

And lest I forget, while Donald Trump assured us that he gets no benefit from this tax bill, but we can see this is utter nonsense. He, personally, will save tens of billions on his tax bill. This is totally self serving and should be treated accordingly. He is pushing legislation that will directly benefit him, and this is not acceptable.

I hope you will vote NO on what many call the GOP tax scam.

Thank you