Tag: 2012

VP: Does it Mean Anything?

therightliberal2 Comments

Being Vice President of the United States seems like a big deal. I mean, by the title, it seems to be the second most important job in the US. But is it?

No. It really is not to be honest.

Let’s think about how much power Joe Biden has. If there is a deadlock in the Senate, he has the tie-breaking vote. But because everyone knows which way he will vote, there never ends up being a need.

Nowadays the VP doesn’t even show up to the Senate, they always elect a President pro tempore. So what else are the VP’s duties.

Well really not anything. They are the first up in the line of succession so they need to keep up on all the goings on just in case the President becomes unable to serve. For the most part they go around campaigning and enjoying a nice pay check and some media coverage.

But I think there is a role for the VP, and Joe Biden does a good job of it.

Biden is really an average Joe (lots of pun intended). Listening to him talk in an interview is like listening to a local politician talk about Washington. And with the general population growing more and more uncomfortable with intelligent politicians (just look at the GOP field) it is good to have someone who can converse with the general voter.

To be honest, if there was to be a huge disaster in the US, I would want Biden to talk to the people, because he would be honest and to the point. He does not seem to be too motivated by the politics of Washington (most likely because he is not involved) and he understands Americans.

Dick Cheney was quite the opposite. While Biden comes off as a goofy and  an average guy, Cheney was the evil Sith Lord who was pulling all the strings in the executive office.

And that was the problem. Cheney was never supposed to have the power he had. The VP should not be the one controlling the country, they should be the one at the local bar getting to know the people. They should be the ones who go around the country campaigning because they have nothing better to do.

Cheney had so much power that he could not even be called VP. He was more Evil Overlord of America. Cheney is a very smart man who saw opportunity in the VP position. He realized that Bush was so weak that he could take over control of both the White House and much of the Senate.

So to answer the title of this blog, yes, the VP position CAN mean something. Chances are it doesn’t, but there are certain pairings of President and VP that turn it in to a meaningful post.

But for the sake of the country, let’s keep it meaningless. Let’s fill it with down to earth people who are able to stay attached to the real world instead of becoming entwined with the mysterious world of politics. Let’s have more Joe Bidens.

9-9-9 = 6-6-6

therightliberalLeave a comment

Herman Cain thinks he has found the solution to all of America’s economic problems; it’s called the 9-9-9 plan.

I guess Herman has not listened to those thousands of people protesting across the country, complaining about the low taxation of the rich and all the corporate tax breaks they receive.

The premise of his plan is fairly simple, a 9% tax on business income, a 9% tax on wages and a 9% Federal income tax.

Estimates by people who understand tax law (which are few) say that this would mean raising taxes for 90% of Americans. Ironically it would also decrease the amount of money that the Federal government takes in from taxes.

Oh that makes so much sense! Lets tax the lower and middle class more, decrease taxes on the wealthy and on businesses and bring in less money.

The 9-9-9 plan is a publicity stunt, and quite a sad one. It sure sounds great until you realize what it would actually be accomplishing (or failing to accomplish). Cain is getting a lot of air time out of this plan, just because of its simplicity.

But there is no such thing as a simple tax policy. The tax codes take up thousands of pages filled with tiny print nowadays and it will not work to just toss those books out the window and just print out a page that says 9-9-9 on it.

Under Cain’s plan, over 23,000 millionaires would be freed from paying taxes. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?

GOP: Spread the wealth to the wealthy

Cain’s plan is quite frankly stupid. It shows just what a weak candidate he is. At the beginning of the GOP race he was one of the most obscure candidates and it is only due to his boldness that he has gained attention.

If the GOP want to nominate him, go right ahead. I highly doubt he could stand up to Obama, a man who is both intelligent AND possess common sense.

If you are set on putting America in a worse economic position than it is in now (yes it is possible) and ruining all that we have built as a country, vote Herman Cain in 2012!

starwars apocalypse 2012

shredicusmaximusLeave a comment

My god, George Lucas just won’t stop messing with Star Wars will he. Apparently it has come to my attention that a 3-d re-release of the Star Wars saga beginning with episode 1 is set to debut in 2012, date TBA. They are starting with The Phantom Menace which came out in 1999 for those of us who remember. It was the one where Darth Maul has that cool double saber, and a more awesome look than Darth Vader, and is frankly, a more badass villain. It also included Jar Jar Binks, the annoying alien thing that looks like a rejected Pokemon character who many despise and some even consider racist. Now I usually enjoy stupid characters in movies, when they’re funny.

Now this may be a welcome change when it comes to logic seeing as how they are opening with part one rather than part four, even though A New Hope was an awesome movie. They are going to start with part 1 and base the re-makes on ticket sales. Speaking of said sales, I for one am not too thrilled about the jacked up ticket prices when a movie just happens to be in 3-d. Tickets at my local theater go for  $10 for an adult ticket. When I saw Pirhanna,  My Bloody Valentine, Beowulf, ticket sales were all $15. Plus with that being said, I wasn’t a fan of episode 1 in the first place. Not to mention 2 or 3 before the good ones start.

So I’m a little apprehensive about this, especially since Lucas can’t seem to stop upgrading his movies in re-releases. Him and Spielberg‘s parody episode in SouthPark was 100% fact, and not to mention hilarious. So $15 to see an inferior Star Wars? No thank you.

And if the reason for this was to once and for all settle the debate about Han or Greedo shooting first, then that’s just sad.