The Weekly Rewind

Greetings and salutations to you all. As Kemp mentioned the other day, he is out of town for some well deserved R&R, so once agian this week I will be informing you on the happenings of the past week. Some of these things may have been covered in the news and some may have been conveniently overlooked. In any case....away we go!

Heckle: to what the hell are you thinking. The Internal Revenue Service this week announced that in 2007 taxpayers will have the option of dividing their tax refund in up to three diferent banking/financial accounts. Oh yeah, taxpayers who elect this option will have to fill out yet another form! (You saw that one coming didn't you?) And just what is the reasoning behind this new ability to split your refund? “Split refunds should encourage saving, and we hope it will dampen demand for refund anticipation loans,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. Sorry Mark, but I don't see this leading to more people saving or lessoning a demand for refund loans. Remember we live in an instant world that demands instant gratification. Nice try though. How about making sure that people with six kids claim them on their W-4 and have the correct amounts withheld during the year instead of using the US Treasury as a 'christmas club' that pays them each spring?

Heckle: to another nice try, but we ain't buying it. Outgoing Treasury Secretary John Snow is still spouting off as one of the Bush brain-washed. Speaking about the just released May employement report, Snow stated “Today’s report is good news for American families. It shows that our economy is on solid footing and that we are heading in the right direction, giving Americans a renewed sense of optimism.” He went on to add, “I am pleased to note that virtually everywhere one looks there is good economic news."

I am more inclined to side with Bernard Baumohl of the Economic Outlook Group. His take on the numbers were more gloomy, “Today’s weak employment report represents one of the more concrete signs that we are about to enter a sustained economic slowdown in the second half.” Well said Mr. Baumohl.

Applaud: to others catching up to us. “President George W. Bush has been named the worst president in the last 61 years by American voters — with nearly twice the negative rating of Richard Nixon — in a new poll by Quinnipiac University.”

Heckle: to the real flip-flopper. The Bush administration’s “world-class flip-flop” on Iran goes unnoticed. It would be nice is other people noticed this besides us.

Applaud: to division in the ranks. House republicans have grown more and more combative. Seems that folks are getting nervous about holding onto their majority with the midterm elections looming in the distance. This should get even more interesting as we get closer to November. I see them losing the majority hold on congress, but then stranger things have happened. So all of you fellow left wingers don't think we have November in the bag just yet, we have a long 5 months to go.

Heckle: to the administration has itself to blame. The three-month probe of the reported massacre in Haditha, expected to be released next week, will likely conclude not only that “some officers gave false information to their superiors,” but that “senior Marine commanders were derelict in their duty to monitor the actions of subordinates.” Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, who led the probe, “declined to say whether he would characterize it as a ‘coverup.’”

Applaud: to grass roots activism. “The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families announced Tuesday that it had secured more than twice the number of signatures it needed to refer the abortion ban passed by the 2006 Legislature to a vote of the people this fall.” The group gathered 37,846 signatures - “more than double the 16,728 they needed to get.”

Heckle: to still looking lame the second time around. Vice President Cheney “was dead set against” yesterday’s decision to offer the prospect of direct talks with Iran, one former Bush official said, but in the end “it came down to convincing Cheney and others that if we are going to confront Iran, we first have to check off the box” of trying talks.

Applaud: to once again showing that the scientist is indeed smarter than the politician. “Climate researchers at Purdue University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology separately reported new evidence yesterday supporting the idea that global warming is causing stronger hurricanes.” I'm not a scientist but even I could see the science behind this one.

That's all for this week. I know there are things that you are going to say I missed from the week, but hey, you're an adult, chime in, share your thoughts, what are you applauding or heckling?

Be good, stay informed...later.