Et tu, GOP? Two polls show majorities supporting tax increases on those who make more than $250,000 per year. One of the polls even shows a majority of Republicans supporting that. I guess a lot of Republicans understand that progressive tax does not equal socialism, godless communism, or the end of civilization. Thank heavens:
The Washington Post/ABC News survey asked American adults whether they supported or opposed a list of proposals to reduce the deficit. Seventy-two percent of all respondents said they supported raising taxes on annual income over $250,000, including 54% of respondents who said they “strongly” supported that position. Democrats were most supportive of that proposal (91%), but so too were a majority of independents (68%) and Republicans (54%.)
And now it’s happening even with congressional GOPers, who are provoking the wrath of that odious marmot Grover Norquist.
ADDITIONAL: As you may have noticed, little makes me angrier than when Christian fundamentalists pretend that Jesus was a pro-business Republican. Last I checked, he was an itinerant Israeli prophet with decidedly hippie peace and love values. But apparently, some of these wunderkinds believe that exploiting the trust of well-meaning people is what Jesus would have done.
So what would Jesus do about net neutrality, the principle that all content on the Internet should be equally available? If you don’t think the Bible answers that, well, enter David Barton, fundagelical toady:
Rick Green: Today, David a topic we actually haven’t covered that much, it has to do with the Internet, and it’s called Net Neutrality, a wonderful sounding name-
David Barton: But we talk about it today because it is a principle of free market. That’s a Biblical principle, that’s a historical principle, we have all these quotes from Ben Franklin, and Jefferson and Washington and others on free market and how important that is to maintain. That is part of the reason we have prosperity. This is what the Pilgrims brought in, the Puritans brought in, this is free market mentality. Net Neutrality sounds really good, but it is socialism on the Internet.
…
David Barton: This is the Fairness Doctrine applied to the Internet, and I’ll go back to what I believed for a long time is: fair is a word no Christian should ever use in their vocabulary. Fair has nothing to do with anything. What you want is justice, you don’t want fairness. Fairness is subjective, what I think is fair, what you think, what happened to Jesus wasn’t fair. That’s right, but we needed justice so God did that for us.
…
David Barton: This is really, I’m going to use the word wicked stuff, and I don’t use that word very often, but this is wicked stuff.
Yeah, equal access to Internet content is wicked. And Jesus was a corporate flack.
ALSO: A new jetpack contender, only watery this time. They just don’t get that practicality is what we were promised, not expensive toys that make you look like a total dork with more money than brains. We’re going to have to give up on this dream. The practical jetpack is the functional equivalent of the Moller Skycar.
AND LASTLY: A prediction. The release by the White House of Obama’s “long form” birth certificate will fan the flames of birtherism, not extinguish them. GOP presidential hopefuls will ask more questions instead of less, sensing blood in the water. Obama will face an endless string of requests for records of all kinds, and since he released this one, well, if he won’t release others, he must be hiding something.
That was a stupid, stupid move that will make the next presidential election about frivolity as much as substance. It would have been anyway, of course, but now we know which frivolity.
TO CLARIFY: It isn’t so much that I’m afraid of watching the onslaught of birthers gone wild as that I am bored in advance. None of it will likely prove successful, but this promises to be a maddeningly dull election season, guided by even more rabid and petty concerns than usual.
