News Roundup for 10/5/11

Rep. Steve King believes there's just way too much voting going on in America

-Headline of the Day-
"Rep. Steve King Pines for the Days When Only Male Property Owners Voted."

A high-ranking member of the House Conservative Moron Caucus, Rep. Steve King, used his time on a hearing on a Balanced Budget Amendment to long for the good ol' days when only male property owners could vote.

"As I roll this thing back and I think of American history, there was a time in American history when you had to be a male property owner in order to vote," Steve said. "The reason for that was, because they wanted the people who voted -- that set the public policy, that decided on the taxes and the spending -- to have some skin in the game."

See people who rent or are women don't have that "skin in the game," because "47 percent of American households don't pay taxes, 51 percent of American wage-earners don't have an income tax liability." According to the report, "King made the disclaimer that he was only making 'a historical observation' about the era of property-owner-only voting, but the rest of his dialogue made it seem as though he thought the Founding Fathers might have been on to something."

Here's the problem with his "historical observation" -- it's not historically accurate. Or, at least, apt. The income tax didn't actually exist until 1861, when it was first implemented to pay for the Civil War. The only people running around in stockings and powdered wigs at that point were lunatics, not founders.

The thing is that the only people in the US nowadays who aren't paying taxes are those who never make or spend money. Everyone has "skin in the game" and if King wants to pretend that the only tax in America is the income tax, then its his prerogative as an American to pretend he's an even bigger idiot than he already is. (Crooks and Liars, with video)


-Meanwhile, in the corporate penthouse...-


Click to embiggen

He probably already does. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"IBM Projects It Will Have World’s Most Powerful Supercomputer in Two Years, Artificial Human Brain in 10."

Can you speed that artificial brain project up a bit guys? Steve King needs one now. (Talking Points Memo)

Stories to Watch: 8/9/11

It's really hard to type with all your fingers crossed, but I'm managing OK. Now here's the news...


Wisconsin's having our recalls and the thing that sucks is that there's almost literally nothing to report right now. Turnout seems to be high and that's about the size of it. I'll have more when I know more and will share it here.


A new CNN poll finds the Republican Party taking a nosedive. Only 33% approve of the party, down eight from 41% last month. Democrats are up a bit by two at 47% and the public is evenly divided on them with 47% disapproving. Most interestingly, only 41% believe that their personal House member should be reelected -- the first time in CNN's polling history that number has fallen below 50%. Bad news for the party that holds the majority in that chamber. And, as always, people are more convinced that everyone else's rep is the big problem; "the poll indicates only a quarter of the public says most members of Congress deserve to be reelected." This is one big reason why even crappy incumbents get reelected.


In somewhat related news, Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess thinks we ought to impeach Obama. The "High Crime and Misdemeanor" Burgess believes the President is guilty of? "Pushing his agenda." Way to ride that wave of GOP popularity into 2012, guys. Keep up the good work.


A plane buzzed S&P HQ today with a banner that read, "Thanks for the downgrade, you should all be fired." I would've just went with "YOU SUCK!" because it's important to be concise.


A very excellent take on the London riots. Today's must-read.


Shelly Bachmann is way too into institutional slavery.


The Dow is back up to 430 -- still way short of making up for lost ground.


Finally, I've been dying to write this headline for a while now: "Obama says it's gloves off with Mittens." Man, that was fun.

Related articles

• Tea Party Wants To Impeach Obama, GOP Congressman Agrees (huffingtonpost.com)
• Poll: 24% say most members of Congress deserve reelection (thehill.com)
• Poll: Dems up, GOP down, tea party out (politico.com)
• New wave of Wisconsin recall elections are here (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)