{"id":3101,"date":"2010-04-15T11:19:20","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T17:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/nada\/we-interrupt-poetry-month-for-a-brief-reality-check\/"},"modified":"2010-04-16T07:52:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T13:52:00","slug":"we-interrupt-poetry-month-for-a-brief-reality-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/nada\/we-interrupt-poetry-month-for-a-brief-reality-check\/","title":{"rendered":"We Interrupt Poetry Month for a Brief Reality Check"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tea partiers more likely to think \u201cviolent action\u201d against the government is \u201cjustified\u201d \u00ab New Mexico Independent<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n

By Matthew Reichbach<\/a> 4\/15\/10 9:33 AM<\/p>\n

A nationwide New York Times\/CBS News poll<\/a> released yesterday finds that a majority (53 percent) of tea party supporters are \u201cangry about the way things are going in Washington,\u201d most (63 percent) watch Fox News, and they are more than twice as likely (53 to 24 percent) as the general public to say they believe that the network\u2019s commentary shows, such as those hosted by Glen Beck and Sean Hannity, are \u201cnews\u201d rather than \u201centertainment.\u201d [mjh: Recall that Beck and others often claim they are entertainment foremost.]<\/em> In addition, they are significantly more likely (24 to 16 percent) to say that it is \u201cever justified to take violent action against the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also think\u2014incorrectly\u2014that most people share their views. Nearly 85 percent of tea party supporters say \u201cthe views of the people involved in the tea party movement generally reflect the views of most Americans,\u201d while only 25 percent of the general public agrees.<\/p>\n

The Times also created a great series of infographics<\/a> about the poll.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Tea partiers more likely to think \u201cviolent action\u201d against the government is \u201cjustified\u201d \u00ab New Mexico Independent<\/a><\/p>\n

Update added 4\/15 9:30pm<\/p>\n

Another Tax-Time Myth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s another whopper popular out there on FOX News, right-wing talk radio, and the Albuquerque Journal<\/em><\/a>. It goes like this: <\/p>\n

\u201cDid you know that 47 percent of all taxpayers \u2013 almost half \u2013 pay no federal income tax? Why should half of America be supporting the other half? It\u2019s not fair\u201d <\/p>\n

As a well-researched piece in the New York Times<\/em><\/a> points out, this whopper ignores the inconvenient truth that income taxes are not\u2014by a long stretch — the only federal taxes people pay. When you look at the whole picture — which includes payroll taxes like Social Security and Medicare — you get a very different number. According to the CBO, only about 10 percent of all households, at most, pay no net federal taxes. That\u2019s a significantly less outrageous number, so you won\u2019t hear it on FOX news. <\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.democracyfornewmexico.com\/democracy_for_new_mexico\/2010\/04\/fact-check-the-truth-about-tax-freedom-day-by-gerry-bradley.html<\/a><\/p>\n

15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America<\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The gap between the top 1% and everyone else hasn’t been this bad since the Roaring Twenties<\/h4>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

This chart shows average income of the top 1% as a multiple of average income of the bottom 90%. <\/p>\n

Bigger chart @ The Nation<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Gus Lubin<\/a> | Apr. 9, 2010, 10:33 AM<\/p>\n

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Clich\u00e9, sure, but it’s also more true than at any time since the Gilded Age. <\/p>\n

The poor are getting poorer, wages are falling behind inflation, and social mobility is at an all-time low. <\/p>\n

If you’re in that top 1%, life is grand.<\/p>\n

Here’s 15 Mind-Blowing Charts About Wealth And Inequality In America ><\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Read more: http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/15-charts-about-wealth-and-inequality-in-america-2010-4#ixzz0lEMydAkG<\/a><\/p>\n

Second Update added 4\/16 8am<\/p>\n

Investing in public structures together<\/a> Sharon Kayne <\/em><\/p>\n

Without taxes, we would have little infrastructure and a very small percentage of the population would be able to read and write. In other words, we would be a Third World country.<\/p>\n

Despite our enduring mythology of Americans as \u201crugged individuals,\u201d this country was not built by individuals acting alone. Certainly, many very talented and enterprising individuals made significant contributions. But we built this great country together, and we did a lot of it by investing in public structures together.<\/p>\n

Taxes are not the penalty you pay for being an American. Taxes are the communal kitty that we all chip in to so we can accomplish great things as a nation.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/04\/without-taxes-america-would-be-a-third-world-country\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tea partiers more likely to think \u201cviolent action\u201d against the government is \u201cjustified\u201d \u00ab New Mexico Independent  By Matthew Reichbach 4\/15\/10 9:33 AM A nationwide New York Times\/CBS News poll released yesterday finds that a majority (53 percent) of tea party supporters are \u201cangry about the way things are going in Washington,\u201d most (63 percent) … Continue reading We Interrupt Poetry Month for a Brief Reality Check<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edgewiseblog.com\/mjh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}