This reminds me of the two “arguments” (lies) of the Republicans/Tea Baggers that I truly enjoy hearing:

The rich save their money.  They save and invest it.  They buy things, yes, but not at the same percentage as the middle and lower class do.  The middle and lower class, by far, put a higher percentage of their incomes into the economy just trying to keep their heads above water.  The economic impact of the middle class having more money to spend far outweighs the economic impact of the rich saving their money and investing it overseas.

My friend Brian quoted a very relevant response from Heather McGhee (of Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization founded in 2000) to the question of “can tax cuts hurt job creation?” during her appearance on Countdown the other day which perfectly makes this point:

“In this instance they absolutely can.  It particularly because we’re talking about the Bush tax cuts, which, as we know, the vast majority went to the wealthiest 3% of the Americans.  Now if I’m a working and middle class person who is living paycheck to paycheck, I spend every dollar that I can hold on to.  I spend it on groceries.  I spend it on my kids’ books.  I spend it on gas for the car.  I immediately through-put that out into the conomy.  If I’m a millionaire or billionaire I, as you said, Keith, sock it away.  And so the problem using tax cuts as stimulus is that it’s far too expensive and it ties the government’s hands to do the more effective form of stimulus, such as infrastructure spending.”

Nice job, conservatives.  You’re ruining the United States, one failed bill at a time.

Technorati Tags: "The Party of No", Keith Olbermann, Lies, Tax Cuts, Tea Party

To check out that collection, head on over to my flickr account now.  Also, there’s a great preview of the wedding video from Brian & Erika’s wedding over at our friend Cheryls website – http://caslproductions.com/blog/.  Go have a look at that – it’s a great preview of what was a truly beautiful wedding.

So, what have I been doing this summer to keep myself busy?  Weddings and dealing with my house, actually.  Since June I’ve attended three weddings, with a fourth coming up this Saturday – which should be the last wedding of the summer.  Whew!  Everyone seems to be getting married this year.

Additionally, last weekend I was fortunate enough to meet up with some of my old friends from SFOL/FSF at the 31st Annual Shore Leave Star Trek convention.  While I didn’t actually attend the convention, I did browse through the dealer room and had a great lunch with my old friends.  I think next year I’ll actually stay overnight and join in the drunken debauchery (which was broadcast live and in color this year, thanks to a handy webcam someone brought!).

The house.  Mmm.  The damn house.  I won’t go through all of the pain and mental anguish that the house has put me through, but I will say that the last two weeks have been – thus far – problem free.  Hopefully it’ll go like that for a few more months.

For those actually keeping track of things, I am now fully unpacked, with the exception of the kitchen which is going to be remodeled by Sears sometime in the next few weeks.  After that I’ll be having a house warming party finally.  The office/guest room is done, complete with sleep sofa, desk, chair, computer, bookcase, and lighting fixture (which I totally forgot to buy until AFTER I’d finished putting the room together).  I’ve also hung all of the artwork I own (big thanks to my father for donating  some of his nicer pieces).

So, that’s my summer so far.  Hopefully I’ll find some way to fit a beach trip or something in.  All work and no play makes Scott a dull boy.

Technorati Tags: Frederick, FSF, New Jersey, Philadelphia, SFOL, Shore Leave, Star Trek, Summer, Travel, Wedding