Woo Hoo! I Got Me a $33.000 Tax Cut
p159
Bush's tax cut
While the poor schmucks in the bottom half of the income bracket will keep about $100 a year, the richest 5 percent will be banking a whopping 50 percent of your tax cut.
as a result of Bush’s tax cuts from 39% to 35%, he gained $33,000 this year. Last year Moore was a high earner with his successful book and film and is a beneficiary of the tax cuts alongside Dick Cheney, who has a $85,924 tax cut this year and a promised $171,850 next year.
p160
Perhaps the genius move in this most recent tax cut is how you were able to tell the American public, "We're helping families with children who will receive immediate relief." The only problem was, you and the Republicans saw to it that the bill excluded 12 million children whose parents make between $10,000 and $26,000 a year-including one million children in military families. Those who needed the money the most were the ones who got the shaft. But, after all, how much did those low-income people contribute to the Bush campaign?
PERSPECTIVE:
2013 DEBT and GDP (USA and CHINA)
Source : SIPRI.org on US Military spending from wikipediaWhile property speculation has increased Chinese debts, business and household borrowing went up to 170% of GDP at the end of 2012.The equivalent proportion of GDP for the USA was 157%. Principal and interest repayments on business and household loans may absorb a third of GDP in the next decade
But, which is the more realistic view of military spending? Which captures how Congress prioritizes spending? Which is more relevant to us?
Arguably, discretionary spending is most relevant to ordinary citizens, as we continue to suffer under rising unemployment, increased foreclosures, bankster bailouts, million dollar industry bonuses while the minimum wage remains below poverty, all amid a global financial crisis.
And what does that 58% of discretionary spending amount to?
In 2010: $1,027.8 billion, or over a trillion dollars, according to Robert Higgs of the Independent Institute.
Vocabulary: Homie, Fella, homeboy, Dude, friend.
What's the difference between
Homie, Fella, homeboy, Dude, friend.
Are those used to refer the same meaning?
"Friend" is standard English, and could be used in even the most formal of circumstances. For example, in the British Parliament a member might refer to the Prime Minister during a debate as "my right honourable friend."
Fella is the word "fellow", spelled in the way that many people pronounce it. Fellow is standard, but fella (spelled that way) would be slang. The use of the term does not necessarily indicate friendship (for example, the man who robbed the bank was a big muscular fella), although an old-fashioned woman who referred to a young man as "my granddaughter's fella" (or "feller", which is another phonetic spelling depending on dialect) would be saying that he was the granddaughter's boyfriend, or novio.
Homie, homeboy, and dude are all slang, and as such would be inappropriate for anything other than very informal conversation. Like most slang words, their appropriateness even in informal circumstances depends on fashion. When new slang terms arise, old slang words begin to sound dated and inappropriate in conversation.
