AND HAVE YOU STOPPED BEATING YOUR WIFE?

I love the Republican Party.  Here is a CENSUS DOCUMENT QUESTIONNAIRE that I, as “one of our most loyal Republicans,” am sent to fill out, with questions like:

Should we do everything we can to stop Democrats from repealing critical border and port security legislation?  [] Yes  [] No [] Undecided

A nit:  No Democrats are trying to repeal this legislation. In fact, it was not until the Democrats took over Congress that we finally wrote into law the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, theretofore opposed by the Administration.  (Otherwise, this is a fair question.)

Should we make our fight against the Democrats’ massive tax hikes a central part of the 2008 campaign?  [] Yes  [] No [] Undecided

A nit:  No Democrat is proposing any tax hike, let alone a massive one, on the kind of people being sent this “census questionnaire” with its appeal for $25, $35, $50, $100, $250 or $500.  It’s the folks who might be asked for $5,000, $10,000, and $28,500 – namely, those making more than millions of dollars a year, or at least fractional millions – who will be asked to go back to something like what we had under Clinton/Gore.  So the question might more fairly be phrased:

Should we fight to keep Waren Buffett’s tax rate lower than his secretary’s?  Fight to continue borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from your children and grandchildren in order to extend the massive tax cuts for the wealthy that we enacted?  [] Yes  [] No [] Undecided

Here’s one I love:

Should Republicans renew the fight for a Balanced Budget Amendment?  [] Yes  [] No [] Undecided

Republicans seem to have put a temporary hold on that fight while they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House.  And yet most of the budget’s imbalance has come on their watch.

The National Debt now stands at $9.2 trillion. This is the accumulation of all our annual budget deficits since 1776.  Of this, nearly 85% was racked up under Republican Administrations – indeed, nearly 75%* under just 3 of our 43 presidents: Reagan, Bush, and Bush. 

*It’s more like 72% now but will be 75% be the time Bush leaves office.

STATE OF THE UNION VIDEO

In preparation for Monday’s State of the Union address, here’s a quick video that reviews last year’s State of the Union address.  (Thanks, Roger and Alan.)  It’s not exactly dispassionate – but what is there really to be dispassionate about these days?

SYMZ

The shareholders are fighting back.  I’m holding on.