Friday, April 08, 2011

A Wonderful Waste Of Time

While Congress shuts down America because they want 16 year old pregnant girls to suffer, what are the rest of us supposed to do? Well, at least there's this stunningly addictive waste of time:

Click the boxes, make music.

It's sort of like creating your very own King of Limbs.

Frankly, a government shutdown is a debacle. And strangely, at least in my lifetime, it only seems to happen when the Republicans wanna stick it to the Democrats. There was no reason to shut down in 1995 and there's no reason now.

Republicans want to turn a budget fight into a battle for larger, more complicated, probably unsolvable issues--abortion, welfare, health care, you name it. They'd rather cut a million dollars from programs for poor people than save billions by repealing a ridiculous-to-begin-with tax cut for billionaires. All because they claim to want a smaller government that also has the power to dictate people's sex lives.

There's only one way to balance the budget. Increase revenue. You can cut out wheelchairs for the elderly all you want, but it won't make a appreciable dent.

I hate taxes like everyone else. And raising taxes is a suicidal proposal for any politician. But until the federal government starts selling iPhones, taxes are pretty much the only way they get money. And if you're going to raise taxes, why not raise them on the people who can afford the hike? (which is not me)

If you don't have the guts to do that, then you're faced with three less palatable options. Slash the military budget in half (good luck!), raid social security and significantly ax the program (enjoy!), eliminate medicare and medicaid and hope that Groupon begins offering medical care deals (Valentine's Day Heart Surgery, 50% off!).

Anything else is a waste of time. Less productive than clicking boxes.

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