Matt Galligan

Under SOPA, you could get 5 years for uploading a Michael Jackson song. One year more than the doctor who killed him.

— Alan Cooper (@MrAlanCooper) January 19, 2012

This is why all the legislation, rules and lawsuits around media “theft” is absolutely insane. All of the sudden uploading one song, one video or worse, linking to any of this content might be worse than other capital offenses. And what kind of real damage happens really? This has all gotten so out of control and after SOPA and PIPA have had rulings, we need to re-evaluate the consequences for offenders of this regard. Stat.

Photo courtesy of gageskidmore

The basics:

On January 1st, the payroll tax cut will expire. Lengthened unemployment benefits will end.

The Senate wanted to propose a compromise that would have extended those benefits a bit longer. The measure worked. The vote was 89-10 in a landslide win to extend them. This included 39 Republicans. Uncanny! A bi-partisan legislation that actually passed with flying colors. Because why? Because it’s good for the American people. People are down and out right now and it would be an insult to not extend the benefits.

But guess what. That insult happened. Today, the House, controlled by the Republicans for now, rejected the Senate bill that would have helped millions of Americans days before they head to recess, effectively killing any opportunity for an extension to happen. Merry fucking Christmas.

Said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, “If Republicans vote down the bipartisan compromise negotiated by Republican and Democratic leaders, and passed by 89 senators including 39 Republicans, their intransigence will mean that in ten days, 160 million middle class Americans will see a tax increase, over two million Americans will begin losing their unemployment benefits, and millions of senior citizens on Medicare could find it harder to receive treatment from physicians.”

There’s an agenda here. According to MSNBC, this will “[force] a reluctant President Barack Obama to make an election-year choice between unions and environmentalists over whether to build an oil pipeline through the heart of the country.” This is about politics, folks. Not what’s good for the American people. It makes me sick to see this country diving down into the ridiculousness that is government-for-politics-not-people.

Thanks, House Republicans. Nice holiday present you just gave the country there.

(Source: cbsnews.com)

This morning I woke up to a brilliant post by Warren Buffett, one of the most incredible minds in economics. His sentiment brings me back to some of the statements J.K. Rowling made just a few weeks back about wanting to be taxed for the greater good. His complaints largely focus on the fact that, despite the crushing reality that our country has run out of money, the taxes on the rich continue to be inordinately low.

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.

To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

I really wanted to add some of my own commentary here, but Buffett says it quite well. I encourage you to read the entire post.