Standard & Poor

zendalas

What if millionaires paid their fair share?

If millionaires were simply paying the same level of federal income taxes as they were in the mid-1990s, the federal government would have collected an additional $65 billion in revenues in 2009. That amount of revenue over 10 years, $650 billion, exceeds the cuts to domestic discretionary programs in the budget deal. Those $600 billion in cuts will result in reduced investment in infrastructure, education, housing, public health, food and drug safety, medical research, law enforcement, and other important areas.

Proponents of the Bush tax cuts argued that lower taxes on top earners would boost the economy. That didn’t happen. The United States experienced real economic growth of 3.2 percent during the 10 years before the Bush tax cuts but only 1.7 percent since. (And this anemic growth was not just a result of the Great Recession; pre-recession growth from 2002 to 2007 averaged only 2.7 percent.) The IRS data also show the effect of the recession on middle-class families: Average income declined 14 percent from 2007 to 2009.
 By Seth Hanlon,  Director of Fiscal Reform at the Center for American Progress. 

Tax cuts

Sepia Saturday- Running boards

The theme this week is "running boards".

I posted this photo last year and wrote about the rumble seat. So here it is again, doing double duty as a "running board" photo.

( I just went back to "Sepia Saturday" and noticed that I remembered it wrong. The theme isn't running boards, it's "bumpers". Boy, do I feel dumb!!! Well, this car does have bumpers. )

I'm not sure who the people are. The woman looks like my Aunt Phyllis and the man behind her looks like her husband, my Uncle Glenn. But it also looks like Glenn's brother, Bob. If it's Uncle Bob....shame on her. But maybe Glenn is taking the picture.

I think the man in the front is Jimmie O'Conner, a friend of my father's.  The only thing I know about him is from a picture of him pointing to the lake with a caption that says, "this is where Jimmie fell in the lake. That photo always made my father laugh.

For more Sepia Saturday click here.

New Zentangles (Diva's Challenge #32) and a Zendala

Pants on fire!!!

Ayn Rand, defrocked

The next time one of your "tea bagger" friends quotes Ayn Rand to you here's some ammunition. It's from an excellent article by Herb Crowther.  If you're interested read the whole article here:

"the heroine of the new Republicans was a pacifist who opposed the Vietnam War, a feminist who supported abortion, an adulteress who preached free love, a bohemian who mocked family life and child-bearing, an elitist who sneered at the common man, and, after all her “nanny state” rhetoric, a recipient of Social Security and Medicare and a late, sick convert to the benefits of socialized medicine."

"A passion for the prose and philosophy of Ayn Rand tells us a great deal about an individual, none of it good. There are few surer signs of a poor reader, a poor thinker and an unpleasant person than a well-thumbed copy of Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead."

The Whining of the Bulls

Fair Composite

Robert, from Blue Heron Blast, made this composite from two of my Fair photos. 

I love it!

Thanks, Robert.

(How did you do that?)

Meet me at the fair

The San Diego County Fair at Del Mar.  A few photos.

Some prize winning flowers.

The fun to shoot "fun zone".

The beautiful merry go round.

Bananas seemed to be the most sought after prize from the game booths. Everyone was walking around with one, from small ones to these gigantic ones with dreadlocks.

Lots of wonderful tee shirts.

Girls, too tired to be afraid of the monster over their shoulder.

Etc.

Sorry, I'm a Zentangle addict! Diva's latest challenge # 27

The challenge was to use only two "tangles". They're called "Dex" and "Verdigogh".

Two new zentangles- swirls

New house- still moving

The new refrigerator.

The newly painted art room. Now awaiting a tile floor so I can throw paint around.

Not nearly enough bookcases. This is the bedroom. Every other room has bookcases, also, but still not enough.

The dining room/ den. I love this cut-out panel over the window.

It reflects the design onto the opposite wall.

I haven't moved the table yet because we're still using it at the other house.

My ex-husband's painting and some peacock feathers from my previous house (where peacocks ran wild).

The front entry looking towards the bedroom. I haven't really decorated yet. Things are just sitting where they first landed.  

It's a walled world after all

Politicians- 2 microphones

Not exactly Sepia Saturday- but dog themed (sort of)

I haven't had time this weekend to look up old pictures or research relatives with dogs- the theme this week. I'm still in the middle of moving. But here's what I saw yesterday while driving a load of stuff to the new house.

 A couple taking a walk with their three "dogs".  Look closely and you'll see that one of them is actually a miniature donkey. They had just taken the two real dogs to the groomer and were walking home.

I asked if the donkey got to come in the house and they said he could but could only stay for about 20 minutes because he wasn't "potty trained". (20 minutes???)

 They're all best friends but sometimes the dogs give the donkey a little nip (maybe it's a kiss) and the donkey get's irritated and gives them a little nip back. They assured me it never got serious.

They were a real nice couple. The two dogs are therapy dogs and visit hospitals and schools. Maybe the donkey does, too.

For some real Sepia Saturday click here http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com

Zentangle Weekly Challenge #23- String Theory

To see more Zentangles all made with the same string go to http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/