IS AN INCOME OF $250,000/YR RICH?

Does earning $250,000./yr make you rich?  Well, let's see, 80% of U.S. HOUSEHOLDS earned less than $100,065/yr in 2010 and 60% earned less than $61,800/yr.*  Perhaps at least 80% of the population might be excused if they feel that those in the top 2% of earners ($250,000+/yr) are rich.

But what about the poor small business people?  Please remember that a small business is one that has fewer than 500 employees, a number that includes some pretty big companies, if you ask me.  Only 3% of all small businesses earn more than $250,000/yr according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.  And the number of small businesses affected by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for those earning over $250,000 are estimated to be only 1.5% by the Center on Budget and Policy and the Tax Policy Tax Center.  Even if you count only those small businesses that have at least one employee (Why you would do this I don't know, but I guess to spin the problem into a large sounding number.), the number earning in the top two tax categories increases to only 24%.  Perhaps of some significance, however, is that these "large" small businesses hire 93% of the people in the small business category.

But something missed in all this is that small businesses that choose to have their business profits taxed as income, do so because there is some tax advantage (or from laziness).  I give some references below, but there are many.**    To give just one example, there is a tax credit for hiring a new employee and keeping them for a year or more.  Heck, even we benefit from various tax deductions, and we earn less than half the $250,000.  Also something missed in all this is if you earn, say, $300,000, you will pay the increased income tax only on the amount that exceeds $250,000.  There are those who, incorrectly, seem to feel that you would pay the increased tax on the whole amount.

*  http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/2010/H01AR_2010.xls
** http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2011/02/08/overlooked-small-business-tax-deductions-5-things-you-need-to-k/
http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/31-small-business-tax-deductions-1
http://www.unclefed.com/AuthorsRow/Daily/fwddeductions.html

WHAT ABOUT THE 8,000+ OTHERS?

Events like the latest multi-homicide deaths of at least 12 in Aurora, CO, capture our attention, but what about the other 8,000+ gun related deaths that occur in America per year ?*  Those that are injured but not fatally, of course, are much more.  So the Aurora incident will capture the news media for a while.  Then things will quiet down while we wait for the next multi-homicide event.  Wait for the next event?  Sure there will be another.  We have a population of over 300 million people, and these people can buy all the guns they want.  James Holmes of the Aurora massacre had four: two Glock 40 caliber pistols, a shotgun, and an assault rifle plus thousands of rounds of ammunition that he had bought online.

For a while after the Reagan assassination attempt that turned his press secretary - Brady - into a vegetable, we had a ban on the sale of assault weapons, but even that was considered too much gun control in this country so it was overturned.  We live in an armed camp, and we still fancy we live in the "Wild West" of yore.  In fact California is the leader in the number of firearm murders per year.

So far there has been almost no talk about gun control after the Aurora incident.  There may be something more in the days to come but nothing will be done with it just as nothing was done after the Columbine, CO, incident (1999), Virginia Tech (2007), and the Giffords massacre in Tucson, Arizona (2011).**  There also are less famous ones. Who even remembers the San Ysidro McDonalds massacre in which 21 were killed (1984), San Diego, CA, or the Luby's massacre in Killean, TX, in which 22 (1991) were killed or the Capitol Hill Massacre in Washington State (2006) where 6 were killed.**

We get used to such things as thousands being killed every year by guns just as we have gotten used to around 30,000+ killed every year in automobile accidents in spite of attempts to protect people against themselves with seat belts, air bags etc.  I especially grieve at those murder incidents by people who commit suicide but who first must take down others with them.***

These multi-homicide events attract attention for a while, but who thinks about the thousands of others every year who are murdered anonymously as we wait for the next massacre?

Note added July 23, 2012:  Why do so many fight to allow individuals to own assault weapons?  I think the answer is in the occasional e-mail I get about the possibly need of the citizenry protecting itself against the dictatorial government.  These people also stock pile thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Note added July24, 2012:  Eugene Robinson expresses views very similar to this post about guns and massacres. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-mass-shootings-are-a-tragedy-we-dont-want-to-avert/2012/07/23/gJQAghsI5W_story.html


* http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_events_named_massacres
*** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2012/06/suicide.html

MY GREATEST POP SONGS OF THE 21st CENTURY

This is an impossible task, of course, as there are so many great songs, but, when we are out to dinner, there are certain songs that I ask to be played so they must be my pick for the last half of the 20th century.  This piece will be updated from time to time so you might want to visit it again.

This is "our" song so I better include it, and yes I frequently request it to be played: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r2pEdc1_lI
Only You (can make the world seem right) especially as sung by The Platters, originally in 1955
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_You_(And_You_Alone)

After Only You, I am likely to ask for this theme written by Maurice Jarre in 1965 .  This music seems very good no matter who plays it.  I like the Henry Mancini version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hq0V98f02Q), but the song with lyrics by Connie Francis is good too.
Laura's Theme from the movie Dr. Zivago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara's_Theme

No surprise here as MTV voted it the best pop song of all time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms65JQTBCcQ
Yesterday by Paul McCartney in 1965
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday

Though this Russian song has been around since about 1925, it took Mary Hopkin's in 1968 recording  this song with English lyrics by Gene Ruskin to make it popular:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyaTIXdN5fI
Those Were The Days (my friend, we thought they would never end.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Those_Were_the_Days_(song)

This song has sometimes been called the saxophone player's national anthem (Perhaps it is the strippers national anthem as well.).  I used to request it every time there was a band with a good sax player.: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxqQxJt_LQI
Night Train has a complicated history, but was first made famous by Jimmy Forest in 1950:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Train_(composition)

Wow, I see my five most favorites are all before 1970.  I guess that says something.

I used to watch a TV program that was introduced by this song.  I finally tracked it down and it has been a favorite of mine ever since:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iaR3WO71j4
Secret Agent Man played by Johnny Rivers in 1966.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Agent_Man_(song)

When I used to ask for this song in honky tonk places, I would have to follow it up with "No, the other one!":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFypAB7nYGA
Joy To The World (Jeremiah was a bullfrog) by Axton Holt  No one played it better than the Three Dog Night in 1970
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_to_the_World_(Hoyt_Axton_song)

This is an oldy from my youth.  First published as a piano composition in 1933 by Peter De Rose, Paul Whitman added words in 1938.  It is good no matter who plays or sings it and Dinah Shore did a good job on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW0DGB7QEoM
Deep Purple (When the deep purple falls, over sleepy garden walls,...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Purple_(song)

Another oldie but goodie from my youth.  I like it by Billie Holiday in 1933, but there are many very good renditions:
Stormy Weather by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Weather_(song)

This song is number 69 at the best 100 songs of the Thirties (http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_songs-1930s.html).  I like the Billy Holiday version of this one also:
Red Sails In The Sunset by Hugh Williams and Jimmy Kennedy
hthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sails_in_the_Sunset_(song)

I love this 1933 song, particularly song by the Platters in probably the famous rendition in 1958 that bacme a #1 on the billboard Hot 100: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57tK6aQS_H0
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Otto Harbach
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_Gets_in_Your_Eyes

I have to have something sung by Eartha Kit so I'll pick the following song that I also love written in 1929 and, of course, Fats Waller did a good job on it too:
Ain't Misbehavin' by Fats Waller along with Harry Brooks and Andy Razaf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't_Misbehavin'_(song)

Les Paul and Mary Ford introduced a new sound in the 1950s that was very exciting, and I select the following famous performance made January 4, 1951 that spent 25 weeks on the billboard chart and 9 weeks as #1:
How High The Moon  with music by Morgan Lewis and lyrics by Nancy Hamilton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_High_the_Moon

I love this dreamy 1937 piece from the play Babes In Arms, especially as played by Jackie Gleason:
 (http://www.last.fm/listen/artist/Jackie%2BGleason/similarartists)
My Funny Valentine by Rogers and Hart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Funny_Valentine

I love this 1932 piece.  It usually is played as an instrumental piece, but Bob Russell wrote English lyrics for it.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_N_dqVUsoY&feature=related)
Maria Elena by Lorenzo Barcelata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Elena

How can I not love this song.  The arrangement of of 1944 Johnny Mercer song by the Pied Pipers with the Ernie Felice Quartet is very good:
Dream (When You Are Feeling Blue)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLLEc-Xh068

I think these are called novelty songs, but I used to play them quite a bit on the juke box (Not Listed In Labels):

Though the Kngston Trio's most famous song is probably "Tom Dooley," my favorite is a 1949 song
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VMSGrY-IlU) :
M.T.A. by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.T.A.

This was a good song with a moral that came out in 1947:
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! That Cigarette by Merl Travis and Tex Williams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke!_Smoke!_Smoke!_(That_Cigarette)

Well, this sad song really appealed to me composed in 1953 but I put money in the juke boxes in 1955 sung by Webb Pierce:
There Stands The Glass by Russ Hull, Mary Jean Shurtz, and Audrey Greisham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Stands_the_Glass

I still get a kick out of this early 1970s song that hit number one on billboard and all its sexual innuendos, in spite of the writer saying she did not think about that.
Brand New Key (I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key.) by Melanie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_New_Key

MOUNT RUSHMORE - REVISED

This morning on Morning Joe (June 6, 2012) there was a discussion of what presidents belong at Mount Rushmore.  Much to my surprise, several historians were will to replace the whole lot!  As for me, I would definitely keep Washington and Lincoln. In fact, Washington looks better all the time in that on top of everything else his views on slavery evolved and he planned to have his slaves released upon the death of his wife Martha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_and_slavery).  To do this, you had to compile funds for them so that they would not be a drag on society, and he had to do this in secret or he might have been assassinated. Of course, American history, and maybe global history, would be a lot different if it wasn't for Lincoln.

I do think Teddy Roosevelt could be replaced and possibly Jefferson.  Teddy could easily be replaced by his 5th cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) who ended up being the father of modern America.

Thomas Jefferson is noted as writing the Declaration of Independence and buying the Louisiana Purchase though constitutionally there was no provision to do this.  I find it interesting that he is a hero to Democrats who have annual Jefferson-Jackson Day celebrations and to conservatives who say they are Jeffersonian conservatives.  Jefferson did believe in states rights.  Jefferson's record on slavery is mixed at best (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery).  He did allow two of his four children by Sally Heming to "escape" and freed the other two upon his death along with a few others, but, oddly did not free Sally Heming (though essentially his daughter did, i.e. gave Sally her "time.").  On the other hand he would not recognize Haiti.  But if you were going to replace Jefferson, who would you replace him with?

Surprisingly to me there are those historians who would say Ronald Reagan.  As I have written elsewhere, I have never experienced the Reagan mystique.*  He is credited with being an advocate of small government though he increased the size the government curing his presidential tenure.  For example he is the only president to increase the number of Federal employees between Johnson and Obama.  He is credited with being a budget balancer though he never came close to balancing the budget.  But his spiritual appeal has captured many, but I would not choose him for Mount Rushmore.  I guess I would leave Thomas Jefferson there, but there is a part of me that is attracted to Lyndon Johnson.  To do this you have to forgive him for the Vietnam war, but Johnson's domestic accomplishments are so great that he could be deserving.  If one is going to forgive Jefferson's record on slavery then one might be able to forgive Johnson's record on Viet Nam.

* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2011/02/ronald-reagan.html,
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2011/10/ronald-reagan-further-comments.html,
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2012/05/land-mines-in-way-of-becoming-great.html

Note added July 11, 2012:  After thinking this over, I have decided that we shouldn't replace any of those already on Mount Rushmore, but we could add a couple.  After all in more than a hundred years one would hope we have had a couple of outstanding presidents.  So I would add FDR and maybe Lyndon Johnson.  On Morning Joe, Doris Kearns Godwin suggested Johnson's face be in profile to honor his domestic achievements, but not his foreign policy debacle.

WORST AMERICAN POLITICS EVER?

Over the last 20 years we have seen the evolution of the worst American politcs ever which is not to say that there have been previous intervals of bad politics. Consider: President Clinton was impeached in December of 1998 for trivial, if disgusting, sexual indiscretions in the Oval Office. The only other president to be impeached was Andrew Johnson in 1868, but at least he was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act, passed over Johnson's veto the previous year, that said certain office holders could not be removed by the president without approval by the Senate. The group involved were called the Radical Republicans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Republican.

I find it interesting that the group to impeach President Clinton was a group of radical Republicans led by Rep Gingrich some 130 years later. In a loose way the Radical Republicans of the 1860s were the equivalent of the "tea party" now. Both were groups within the Republican Party that controlled the Republican Party.

Nearly 14 years later with Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, we have for the first time ever the Attorney General of the United States has been held in contempt of Congress, allegedly for failure to turn over certain documents regarding an operation called Fast and Furious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal), a program started in late 2006 under the George W. Bush administration and discontinued in 2011 under the Obama. This program is difficult summarize, and you should read the articles cited. Apparently ATF officials monitored the sale of guns by middle men who transported or passed them on to others on their way to Mexican cartels and other outlaws. The AFT officials were told not to interdict this passage of firearms because of second amendment issues and difficulties in prosecution. About 7,000 documents were turned over to the oversight committee, but another 1,600 were requested that were refused because of "Executive Privilege," the first such claim by the Obama administration.

So the two presidential impeachments and a congressional contempt of Congress for an Attorney General have all been conducted by the Republican Party, two of these in the last 20 years. If the Republican Party cannot impeach a president, then they go after one of his appointees. I believe we are living in a sad era of politics in the United States in which the Republican Party does everything in its power to destroy a Democratic Presidency, should they be elected. The efforts are not restricted to impeachments and contempts of Congress. See Clinton in: http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2012/05/land-mines-in-way-of-becoming-great.html. Mitch McConnell even has said in 2010, "The most import thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Please note that he didn't say to reduce unemployment, or reduce taxes on business, or increase manufacturing in the U.S., etc., but that he wants to defeat the president (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/10/25/126242/mcconnell-obama-one-term/?mobile=nc). He has also said that to provide health care for 30 million Americans that don't have it is not the issue (http://www.politicususa.com/mitch-mcconnell-tells-millions-americans-healthcare-you-arent-issue.html).