I’m giving up. The fire is now out of control. The firefighters can only pour water on the blaze because what else are they supposed to do. I’ve just run out of words to describe the conflagration.
For now, anyway.
Neil Steinberg: This White House can’t seem to pin the needle on crazy weird. It sits there, stuck at the extreme end of the scale, and these nutbags keep adding more red zone to sink into.
That’s about right. That seems to capture the essential weirdness. I’m glad he has some words, because I feel like I’m out.
These are good words, too:
for as curious as I was to see Sean Spicer on Dancing With the Stars I'm now even more interested to see Steve Bannon on Americas Got Talent
— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) July 27, 2017
So, if you’re living on an outer planet and don’t know what I’m talking about, this is what I’m talking about:
On Wednesday night, I received a phone call from Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director. He wasn’t happy. Earlier in the night, I’d tweeted, citing a “senior White House official,” that Scaramucci was having dinner at the White House with President Trump, the First Lady, Sean Hannity, and the former Fox News executive Bill Shine. It was an interesting group, and raised some questions. Was Trump getting strategic advice from Hannity? Was he considering hiring Shine? But Scaramucci had his own question—for me.
“Who leaked that to you?” he asked. I said I couldn’t give him that information. He responded by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff. “What I’m going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we’ll start over,” he said. I laughed, not sure if he really believed that such a threat would convince a journalist to reveal a source. He continued to press me and complain about the staff he’s inherited in his new job. “I ask these guys not to leak anything and they can’t help themselves,” he said. “You’re an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.”
It goes on from there. You’ll want to read it. This is our America.
This is a better, or at least cheerier, story, about the promise and peril of recreational genomics. A new term, that. It’s about the family secrets that can be revealed through the use of home gene-testing kits like 23andMe, etc.
I will confess, however, that I find this level of dedication to one’s pedigree to be fairly far from my understanding. I simply don’t care enough about who begat who, once you go back far enough that I can’t remember them. The story is a very good yarn, though, with a nice twist at the end. You’ll like it.
We started with Neil Steinberg, and I guess we end with him, too. This just in: Blogs are dead.
Long live this one, anyway. I’m not going anywhere.
But I am planning to have a nice weekend. You do the same.
St Bitch said on July 28, 2017 at 2:27 am
Thank goodness I underestimated Senator McCain…or that he’s had a crucial moment of lucidity. Still, recovering from PTSD over so much riding on that bewilderingly unpredictable vacillating mind.
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ROGirl said on July 28, 2017 at 4:01 am
If the rant to the reporter had happened on an episode of Veep, it would have been hilarious, but also an over the top, cringe-making, fictional because it couldn’t ever happen, scripted TV show.
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David C. said on July 28, 2017 at 5:58 am
The mavericky maverick actually mavericked. Good for him (for once). The only thing that would have been better would have been if he yelled as he voted “I’m dying and taking you motherfuckers with me”.
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Connie said on July 28, 2017 at 6:04 am
Add me to the list of those who can’t bear to read the news.
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adrianne said on July 28, 2017 at 7:30 am
Dramatic end to the health-care mess. McCain will get the credit, but it was really Murkowski and Collins who hung tough in the face of incredibly sexist attacks.
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Suzanne said on July 28, 2017 at 7:41 am
7 years they’ve had to come up with a great plan! A wonderful plan! The best plan anyone’s ever seen! And they write a bill over lunch and try to pass it hours later. Would you want your child bring home a love interest on Tuesday, engaged over lunch on Wednesday with a planned wedding at 7 that night? Or would you tell your kid that this is not a good time frame? Mr Ryan is correct. Doing big things is hard.
It only takes 6 years for a good bourbon (thank goodness for bourbon!) to age and they had 7 years to get a health plan together, let it age, and bring it to fruition. They didn’t even seem to try.
Amazing. Utterly amazing.
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Julie Robinson said on July 28, 2017 at 8:02 am
You’re so right Adrianne; once again a man gets the credit instead of women. Some things never change, do they?
Left to myself I might never take the time to do genealogy research but I’m thankful for the family members who have, and was happy to contribute my spit. As I’ve mentioned before, it led to the discovery both of a cousin we didn’t know about and a family branch out of Africa. In turn those have led to rich new friendships and a deeper understanding of these issues. The shame of past generations has been transformed into a celebration of diversity and the amazing fortitude of our forbears.
Most of the blogs I used to read are gone. Let’s hear it for nnc!
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Peter said on July 28, 2017 at 8:12 am
Wow – about the blogs. I’m way behind the times, or I lead an insulated existence, but with the exception of losing one (Romanesko’s obscure store) and gaining one (Neil Sternberg’s everygoddamday) all of the blogs I read are still going strong.
And with that, thanks Nancy for all of the good you’ve done. Seriously, hasn’t it been over 20 years?
I’m thinking that the Scaramucci show and the upcoming twitter blast about Obamacare is more proof that this administration is a plane has lost another engine and is starting the death spiral. Hope we can survive the crash.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 8:27 am
McCain had cover to vote no, and to be able to claim he’s independent. He could as easily have noted against motion to proceed, or for that matter, voted for Obamacare back in the day.
He might as well have been on the floor in Vegas, saying “hit me”.
McCain, McConnell and Grassley are three of the most convincing arguments against the wisdom of growing old while white.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 8:31 am
Imani Gandy, on the nose as usual.
https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/890818798671937536
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Suzanne said on July 28, 2017 at 8:46 am
Reading statements by the likes of Ted Cruz it appears many of the GOP leaders still don’t get it. When the unwashed masses say they want the ACA repealed & replaced, they mean they want it replaced with something better, not worse.
If I complain I don’t want liver & onions for dinner, don’t serve me cat food as a replacement and then be surprised I turn up my nose at that even more.
In my nearly 60 years I have never seen such incompetence at such high levels.
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Connie said on July 28, 2017 at 8:52 am
The women get credit from Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/07/28/mccain_got_the_credit_but_murkowski_and_collins_did_more_to_defeat_trumpcare.html
Who said they couldn’t bear to read Slate? Salon is worse. Honestly it is all I can do to come here and read you all discussing the state of the world.
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4dbirds said on July 28, 2017 at 9:19 am
Hooray for the women and shame on Shelly from West Virginia.
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Sherri said on July 28, 2017 at 9:27 am
I’m off on vacation today. We’re headed down to Ashland for a week at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. As I did in San Francisco, I’m going to try to avoid Twitter, spending the time I’m not in plays reading these things I’ve heard of called “books”.
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jcburns said on July 28, 2017 at 9:28 am
Cooz has it exactly right. The legislative acts of “courage” I’ve seen from McCain have all taken place under protective cover. I’m grateful to Senators Murkowski and Collins for their strength and steadfastness.
And I think Suzanne has it exactly right. Our fellow Americans are NOT saying “get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something worse.” They aren’t, none of them are, at least those in their right mind. The vision of “something better” seems opaque to business tycoons and the heads of big insurance and big pharma…they still see the world as a place where if they have more money, they deserve a fancier house, a more exclusive meal, and a more meticulous car wash…and they lump health care right in there as just another service like cutting their lawns. It’s not. It’s something closer to our human core, and I’re sure like to see it acknowledged as such, globally.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 9:37 am
West Virginia ain’t going to return anybody to the senate who isn’t a toothless racist hick. This vote was a white trash referendum on Obama. That’s why there’s no provision for actual health care in the bills the Republicans keep yanking out of their asses in secret.
Every goddamn one of them are racist trash, and they were so deeply scarred by their defeats in 08 and 14 we won’t see the end of their tantrum in our lifetimes. McConnell has already calendared this bill again. They are going to kill some people if they have to backstroke through a shit moat to do it.
https://twitter.com/danpfeiffer/status/890784834313900032
Making this about McCain’s “dignity” is typical beltway perversion of the facts to support the preferred racist narrative. We wouldn’t be at this juncture if the press hadn’t been complicit, and we’re not done by any means because they remain complicit. As long as the DC Press corps is who it is, John McCain will never have to suck his own cock.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 9:38 am
I meant 2012. Brain fart.
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beb said on July 28, 2017 at 10:30 am
I’m strictly a print guy. When reading Yahoo or whatever I don’t want to get directed to a video, which can’t be skimmed. I’m not interested in listening to a couple people yammering on about something. (I’ve rarely listened to the commentary tracks on DVDs which might actually be interesting. It’s too time consuming.
Considering how often “concerned Republiicans” cave on critical votes I’m glad that McCain voted ‘no’ but then by all accounts a lot of Republicans had grave concerns about that bill. It’s like McCain was the designated sacrifical lamb.
I’d go on but it’s time to pack and say ‘be to my dad (96th birthday) abd return to Detroit.
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Icarus said on July 28, 2017 at 10:51 am
recreational genomics: How did Great Grandma cheat on her husband with a Samoan when she never left Ulster?
“Add me to the list of those who can’t bear to read the news.”
Me too. It puts me in the fetal position looking for a puppy to hug.
“Blogs are dead”
This proclamation is made every 2-4 years. They are just evolving, like they always have. They went from Online Personal Journals to Amateur Columns (me included) especially once people learned how to monetize them (missed the boat on that one).
Finally, Cain is no hero, maverick or “designated sacrificial lamb”. That was pure political backroom dealing so he could look good for a change and everyone else could say they tried but gosh who knew it would be so hard.
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basset said on July 28, 2017 at 11:01 am
I hadn’t noticed any decline in the blog count… then again the only ones I read regularly are here and bringatrailer.com, which is really an auction site.
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Sherri said on July 28, 2017 at 11:06 am
If McCain were really a hero or a maverick, rather than just trying to burnish his reputation with his base, the DC press corps, he would have dragged himself from his sickbed to vote no on the MTP, stopping this whole fiasco cold. Instead, he voted yes, then grandstanded with a speech about how we needed to all get along, and eventually voted no, and the DC press fawned accordingly.
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Bitter Scribe said on July 28, 2017 at 11:18 am
My initial thought was that I was sorry for all the bad thoughts I’ve had about McCain. But Adrienne, Julie and the others are right: Murkowski and Collins should get more credit.
Regardless, I’m so relieved that I won’t be paying $800 a month for health insurance. Even if I don’t get another job (unemployed all year), early retirement will still be an option.
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Snarkworth said on July 28, 2017 at 12:33 pm
icarus@19: Maybe great-grandma met a handsome Samoan down at the docks. Ulster had a lot of shipping back in the day.
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Jolene said on July 28, 2017 at 12:35 pm
That was pure political backroom dealing so he could look good for a change and everyone else could say they tried but gosh who knew it would be so hard.
I agree that Murkowski and Collins were the ones who were steadfastly, and on principle, opposed throughout, but I think the statement above is too cynical. The blow-by-blow reports reveal
lengthy efforts to jawbone McCain by Pence and Jeff Flake. I don’t think most knew what was coming until it came. When McConnell spoke after the vote, his voice was shaking. I don’t think that would have happened if he hadn’t been caught off-guard by McCain’s vote.
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Jakash said on July 28, 2017 at 1:07 pm
Cooz mentions 2008 and 2012 and he and Mr. Pfeiffer are surely right about the referendum on Obama.
But this week, I’ve been thinking more about 2011 as the motivation for Dolt 45’s craziness. It’s hardly an original thought, but that was the year of the White House Correspondent’s Dinner when Obama roasted ole Rumpy with the Gary Busey joke and other zingers. We all know that all he cares about is himself and what people think of him and that had to burn him royally. Enough that all he really wants to do is screw Obama whenever he can.
Some of it at least makes sense — tax cuts for people like him, for instance. But some is just clearly revenge. This week, for example… What the fuck does he care about the Boy Scouts? Nada. Certainly neither they nor the organization have ever been on his radar at all. But it comes up, somebody tells him “you know, Obama never addressed the Jamboree” and he’s like “Sign me up!”
Or the transgenders in the military tweets. He’s a freaking New York libertine, not some 1950’s corn-fed Iowa farmer. I find it hard to believe he has a big problem with alternative life-styles. “Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.” he tweeted just last year. I remember thinking that that was one of the few things about which he was willing to alienate his base. But now — hey, here’s another chance to undo something Obama did, even though he doesn’t really give a rat’s ass about it. So, he flip-flops and enrages pretty much everybody but the deplorable 38%.
This all goes along with his pettiness, of course. Issues big or small, consistent with what he believes (if there actually *is* anything he believes) or not, he’s just trying to make himself feel better about Gary Busey.
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Jolene said on July 28, 2017 at 1:47 pm
I think you are right, Jakash, that Trump would do pretty much anything to denigrate Obama or undo his achievements, but there are other motivations at stake too.
This report from Politico indicates that there was a complex link between the transgender decision and funding for his border wall. House Republicans were arguing over whether to permit the Defense Department to pay for medical costs associated with transgenderism. Most wanted to rule it out, but there was enough support for covering those costs that the opponents weren’t able to get their way.
Initial funding for the border wall was part of the same bill, so, to get their way on the transgender issue, the opponents called in support from DJT, telling him that funding for the wall was being held up by controversy over funding for trans healthcare services. So, in his usual thoughtful way, he came up with a ruling that had not been discussed with the Pentagon, the better to move forward on the wall.
So, you are right that he likely doesn’t care much about other people’s gender identity issues, but he does care about his wall.
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Jakash said on July 28, 2017 at 2:16 pm
There you go ruining a swell, half-assed, Gary Busey-themed comment with the facts, Jolene. D’oh! Very nicely explained, so I can skip the article, too. : ) I guess that explains why I was seeing tweets yesterday to the effect that the “Pentagon spends 10 times more on erectile disfunction meds than transgender services.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/343974-pentagon-spends-10-times-more-on-erectile-disfunction-medications
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 2:31 pm
It’s pretty clear we should be thanking Republicans for delaying the shit legislation they’re ultimately going to pass. Wherever would we be without the NPR civility style guide?
Left out of this discussion are the activists who camped out in their fucking wheelchairs to fight this.
But yeah, Walnuts gets another moment to preen, so it’s all good.
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Deborah said on July 28, 2017 at 2:53 pm
I’m in Abiquiu and my phone ran out of juice because I kept checking it non-stop last night to check on the stupid skinny repeal vote. Then I finally turned off my phone to sleep a bit, I woke up at 1:30 (3:30 EDT) I turned on my phone and could hardly believe my eyes, I let out a big whoop and woke up my husband. So we have more time for LB to have healthcare. Hooray! Thank you Murkowski, Collins and McCain for doing the right thing. I was able to read a bit about the vote before my phone conked out. Now I’m at Bode’s having a beer and using their wifi and electricity to charge my phone.
My husband checks out Fox news on line in the mornings to stay informed about what propaganda they’re pushing. He reported that they did not have word one in their headlines this morning about the failed vote. Figures.
We’re going to stop at the Rio Arriba County Fair this afternoon, which takes place on county property not too far from our cabin. I haven’t been to a county fair in years and years. I used to be astounded at the size of the animal’s testicles, I’ll be interested to find out if that still fascinates me.
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Bitter Scribe said on July 28, 2017 at 3:35 pm
I couldn’t find the Steinberg quote anywhere on his Facebook page. Yet another reason why I loathe Facebook.
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Jenine said on July 28, 2017 at 4:24 pm
@Deborah: I wonder if a solar phone charger would work for you. I don’t have experience with them but it seems like a good option out in the boonies.
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Dexter said on July 28, 2017 at 4:27 pm
A few years ago National Geographic offered the gene-test and my report came back with some vague useless info: lived in what is now Iran, over time swept across Russia and kept moving through to France and then England, and later across the big pond… could have been anyone.
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Deborah said on July 28, 2017 at 4:46 pm
Jenine, we do have a solar charger, its about 6 or so years old by now and doesn’t work so hot. It’s been raining a lot the last couple of days (yay!) so we haven’t been able to set it out much. We probably need to get a new, better one. It takes forever to juice up, all day, and then it only charges one phone maybe half way.
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basset said on July 28, 2017 at 5:09 pm
Priebus, outa there. You could not make this up.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 5:17 pm
Fire sale.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/891032069916291072
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 5:54 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLvKtstNUD0
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David C. said on July 28, 2017 at 6:00 pm
Surely someone has sent samples to all of the genealogy testing joints and compared the results, but I search Google and the only comparisons are the features they claim to have. If someone, or many someones, did that and the results correlated pretty well, I might try it. Until then, I think I’ll save my $99.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 6:02 pm
Mrs. Scaramucci: Tony, what happened to Reince?
Tony: He’s in a box…a boxing match, uh to raise money for crucified cops.
Mrs. And Spicer?
Tony: He’s gone into masonry…his dad’s old business. He was always a block..uhh brick. Hated to see him go.
Mrs. I’m not going to Nevada, Tony.
Tony: Neither is McCain…
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Julie Robinson said on July 28, 2017 at 6:49 pm
David C, my new cousin had hers tested on both Ancestry and 23 & Me and the results came out the same. She got it done twice because they each have their own universe. Once you’re in their system you can compare with other people to find matches, but they don’t accept results from their competitors. Obviously you don’t get the same quality as something that costs thousands, but I think there’s reasonable accuracy.
That said, I only got mine done because family members requested it and even paid for it. There was a chance that the cousin might have been my sister. She eventually was able to get her birth certificate which showed my aunt as her mother, and then it came out that one of her brothers knew about the pregnancy, while other siblings did not. That includes her sister, who couldn’t have bio kids and ended up adopting. This is the only sibling left alive and there’s some dementia, so we don’t know how she feels–presumably she would have adopted the daughter had she known. The cousin is still looking for her father, who was unlisted on the birth certificate.
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 8:22 pm
Especially in a twitter presidency, this is huge. Trump and the rest of the semiliterates in his party are going to get their clocks cleaned. Republicans, get ready for black twitter.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/07/28/federal_court_rules_public_officials_cannot_block_social_media_users.html
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coozledad said on July 28, 2017 at 8:39 pm
Mel Brooks has signed a five year contract with God:
https://twitter.com/xbCC0981LdF25kD/status/884747826382725120
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Sherri said on July 29, 2017 at 12:29 am
I’m sure that privatizing the Bonneville Power Administration will be a fine idea. I’m sure the TVA is on the list, too. Shareholder-focused power companies have been such a win for us all (says the person who lived with rolling blackouts thanks to Enron manipulating the energy market.)
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Sherri said on July 29, 2017 at 12:35 am
I got a push poll call a couple of months ago with the lies being pushed in the ads the Republican PAC is running against Manka in the state senate race. I haven’t seen the ads because I haven’t been watching much tv.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/political-ads-challenging-democratic-state-senate-candidate-draw-complaints/
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Deborah said on July 29, 2017 at 12:45 am
Well, I’m unexpectedly back in Santa Fe tonight. We went to the Rio Arriba county fair and after a hard rain we tried to return to the cabin but the arroyo was running hard and fast about a foot deep. An arroyo for those who might not know is a usually dry creek that only runs with water after a torrential rain. We have to cross an arroyo on the road up to our land. It’s usually dry, just a little bumpy but a couple of times every summer during the monsoon season it runs and is uncrossable, unless you have a monster truck or something. We’ve never been in town when it’s happened before so it was the first time we’ve seen it. Sometimes it can get to be 4 ft deep and then it blows out the road and it’s a real mess, that happens about every five years. We waited an hour for the water to subside but it was obviously going to take a long time and it also looked like more rain was about to hit, so we turned around and headed the 50 miles to the Santa Fe apartment for the night. Everything should be back to normal tomorrow unless the road blew out after more rain. We shall see.
And the county fair was really sad. Rio Arriba is the poorest county in NM, and NM is the 3rd poorest state, so there were not a lot of funds to make a spiffy county fair. It was still sweet though, to see all of the proud 4Hers with their animals and exhibits. And Dorothy, they had a quilt show, some of them were very nice.
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coozledad said on July 29, 2017 at 9:24 am
Now that Trump is openly trashing the fops and grifters that make up his own party, watch for this upcoming strategy: We’re the only ones who can keep him in check, and we’re going to do it by giving in to his every demand.
They have no dignity, no spine, and no respect for democracy. Republican men take their own measure by how adept they are at bowing and scraping.
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Connie said on July 29, 2017 at 9:31 am
I have done 23 and me at the request of a cousin’s kid. My grandfather was illegitimate and his teenaged mother never named the father. He was adopted by his mother’s older sister. Cousin’s kid thinks that if enough of us do this we might find relatives who could help us figure this out. There were not many close matches shown. And I am 100% European ancestry. It was not more specific than that.
Seven of my greats were Dutch born or the children of Dutch immigrants. (My maternal grandmother was practically born on the dock after they stepped off the boat in New Jersey in 1898.) One is a mystery. So you go cousin Justin and figure this out for us.
Nice to have something to talk about besides the news. I am in the office this a.m. and stopping at the art fair on the way home.
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basset said on July 29, 2017 at 10:43 am
Just had the carpet layers in to look the place over… disruption on the way, years of clutter about to get shifted around.
Sometime this weekend, we will try to see “Dunkirk” in iMax.
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ROGirl said on July 29, 2017 at 2:15 pm
This amused me.
https://www.pushtrumpoffacliffagain.com/
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Deborah said on July 29, 2017 at 4:05 pm
I went to the farmers market in Santa Fe and bought my first batch of fresh roasted green chilies. It smells like heaven when you walk by the roasters. I also got onions, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, arugula, plums, shishito peppers (mild) and fennel. I love this time of year.
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basset said on July 29, 2017 at 5:35 pm
No “Dunkirk” for us tonight:
“The film broke, we’re gonna try it in digital but it won’t cover the whole screen.”
“When does it play in the regular theater?”
“I don’t know.”
In the refund line for our $19.50 tickets niw, and that’s going pretty much like you’d expect.
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Robinson said on July 29, 2017 at 9:25 pm
Basset, in all my years of movie going that’s never happened. How crappy.
Connie, how long ago did you get your DNA tested? Mine was pretty detailed, for example 29.9% British and Irish, 6.2% Sub-Saharan African, etc. The one that surprised me, since I already knew it would find African, was 5.6% Scandinavian, until my mom pointed out that our German ancestors are from the far north of the country, just a small amount of water away from Norway. Oh, and that I’m 3.5% Ashkenazi Jewish, too. I’m a mutt!
Today was my mom’s 85th birthday so we spent most of the day with her celebrating. We took her to lunch and then visited our art museum, which has two boffo exhibits right now, finishing up with ice cream and talking with her grandkids. She’s amazed that she made it this far; she always thought she would die young but here she is.
So far this year six of my friends have lost a parent so I’m painfully aware how precious our time together is.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 29, 2017 at 9:35 pm
Chiles. Mmmmm.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 29, 2017 at 9:39 pm
Re: #48 – this is why we’re gonna miss Flash.
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jcburns said on July 29, 2017 at 10:21 pm
Not to be pedantic (oh, ok, some), but https://www.pushtrumpoffacliffagain.com/ does NOT require Flash. Yay HTML 5!
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Kaye said on July 29, 2017 at 11:55 pm
Bassett, hope your money was returned in less time than it would have taken to watch the show. Thanks for the link to the running-out-of-sand story. I do miss that type of story since I stopped listening to NPR – along with any other station that may air news.
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coozledad said on July 30, 2017 at 8:11 am
Priebus: Mr. President, Scaramucci is literally selling the Chinese access to you. There’s a trove of emails. It’s beyond dispute.
Trump: So?
Priebus: His wife is in childbed, and she’s shitcanning him. Here’s the divorce filing. (Hands Trump manila folder)
Trump: Read it to me.
(Priebus begins reading)
Trump: Use the Donald Duck voice.
Priebus: Sir…
Trump: THE FUCKING DONALD DUCK VOICE, OR IT’S SUNDAY SCHOOL WITH PENCE.
https://twitter.com/christinawilkie/status/891372667261026304
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basset said on July 30, 2017 at 8:13 am
Ehh, half an hour or so, I was just being cranky. Trying again later this week, story we got later was that some kind of cooling device on the projector had failed and they would have to bring some expert in to fix it. School statts here a week from Monday and this is no sales tax back to school shopping weekend so the mall was crowded, sales tax here is 9 3/4 percent.
Push Trump didn’t work for me either on the iPhone, just hung on the opening screen.
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coozledad said on July 30, 2017 at 9:41 am
O wad some power the giftie gheebus
to deposition Rheinhold Priebus.
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Jakash said on July 30, 2017 at 1:46 pm
Whoa, 9 3/4% is pretty impressive for a red state, Basset! Not quite Chicago’s 10.25%, but closer than I would have thought…
Of course, that’s not enough, though. Cook County is about to impose a 1-cent-per-ounce soft drink (pop, soda, Coke, YMMV) tax.
“applies to both sugar- and artificially sweetened drinks”
“Under the sweetened beverage tax, drinks in a bottle, or from a fountain machine, are taxable. But on-demand, custom-sweetened beverages, such as those mixed by a server or barista, or a hand-made Frappuccino, aren’t subject to the tax.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-cook-county-soda-pop-tax-lawsuit-20170728-story.html
So, a 2-liter bottle of pop: an additional 67 cents. Glad I gave up pop years ago and only have to contend with the bottled water tax, the 7-cent per bag grocery bag fee and the assorted other money grabs. Have yet to pay for a bag since that went into effect, though — woo-hoo!
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basset said on July 30, 2017 at 3:16 pm
The last half or maybe it’s a quarter of a percent is local to Nashville and Davidson County, state tax alone is quite high enough.
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Sherri said on July 30, 2017 at 3:24 pm
Tennessee doesn’t have an income tax.
Washington is a blue state with a red state tax system. No income tax, and in King County, sales tax is 10%.
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Deborah said on July 30, 2017 at 4:17 pm
New Mexico sales tax is 5.125 but municipalities add to that, Santa Fe is 8.something which includes state, city and county. We get charged 10 cents for bags here. I often forget to bring my own bags but LB is religious about remembering.
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Sherri said on July 30, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Everybody is talking about McCain, Collins, and Murkowski, but let’s give a shoutout to a Senator I’m often annoyed with, Joe Manchin of WV. He’s up for reelection next year in a very red state, but unlike his colleague Sen Capito, he didn’t cave. And good work Chuck Schumer holding all the Dems together on this one.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 30, 2017 at 4:53 pm
JC, that’s what going by appearances gets you. Thanks for the correction!
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MarkH said on July 30, 2017 at 10:56 pm
Base sales tax for all counties in Wyoming is 5%. Teton County starts a voted-in special purpose exise tax of 1% in November, so 6%. No income tax in Wyoming either. Won’t change even though mineral tax revenue went off the cliff in 2015. Legislators scrambling to plug budget holes especially in K-12 education without tapping the sizable rainy-day mineral surplus find. Good luck.
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