The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Remember how, preceding the 2012 elections, the Republican Party decided to divide Americans up into two classes - the makers and the takers - and seemed to insinuate that Republicans were the makers and Democrats were the takers? Well, ironically enough, due to a new report that was released, it appears as if these Congressional Republicans and talking heads were suffering from a case of denial and/or projection. According to the consumer finance site Wallet Hub , it showed that if we were to divide the two parties by the labels of "makers" and "takers," Democratic states would be the "makers" and Republican states would be the "takers." The very blue state of Delaware had the best maker/taker ratio, as for every $1 in taxes it pays, it receives only 50 cents back from the federal government. The very red state of Mississippi and the battleground state of New Mexico tied for the worst maker/taker ratio, as for every $1 they pay in taxes, t...

It seems that more and more Congressional Republicans are threatening to shut down the federal government prior to January 1st of 2014, when most of Obamacare is slated to take effect. The only problem with that is, as the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reported, it wouldn't work. The report said the following: "It appears that substantial [Affordable Care Act] implementation might continue during a lapse in annual appropriations that resulted in a temporary government shutdown." and [The federal government will] "be able to rely on sources of funding other than annual discretionary appropriations." and "If a government shutdown were to occur during calendar year 2014, the lapse in funding would not automatically suspend the requirement of the individual mandate. In other words, during the time period that the government is shut down, taxpayers who fall within the coverage of the individual mandate would still be accruing penalties f...

Like with any national tragedy, the bombings at the Boston Marathon yesterday brought about much fear, pain, grief, and confusion. Also, while the tragedy prompted many to place others before themselves and showcase the selflessness most people seem to possess in such dire situations - coming together in times of need, others have taken the tragedy to spread conspiracy theories and place blame on the federal government, claiming yesterday's tragedy was a "false flag" operation, orchestrated by the government. The tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut was met with a similar reaction by some. Like with the conspiracy theory surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting being proven false, it's likely that the conspiracy theory surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing will be proven false as well. On the other side of the political spectrum is Chris Matthews, the host of Hardball on MSNBC, who insinuated that if the bombings were an act of domestic terr...

It often times befuddles me why so many people are paranoid that the federal government is coming after them. Then there are the rare occurrences when I can temporarily understand why this is. Courtesy of AOL (America Online - yes, it still exists), the following headline was showcased earlier today - "Secret Memo: Gov't Can Kill Americans." I imagine a lot of the before-mentioned paranoid folk saw that headline and thought to themselves, "See? I told everyone, but they wouldn't listen to me. This is why I stocked up on all those assault rifles, twinkies, and Ayn Rand books." If one were to actually click on the headline provided by AOL, it would lead him/her to an article at The Huffington Post , which is titled something different. This article is titled, "DOJ Drones Paper: Obama's Second-Term Cabinet, Agenda Faces New Scrutiny." Yes, the title is slightly different than the one AOL implied - "Secret Memo: Gov't Can Kill Americ...