The War on the Blue States.

It’s like the second civil war.

The Tax “Reform” bill is going to hit New York State particularly hard, especially in the NYC metro area where housing prices are steep and property taxes are stratospheric. Many of my former coworkers got out of NY/NJ when the small molecule R&D industry went belly up. You can’t live in the area without a very good paying job. And even that will only get you what I have in Pittsburgh on half the salary. So, I feel very concerned for the people who are left who are still struggling to make it on contracting positions, paying for their own health insurance and getting stuck with state and local taxes they won’t be able to write off. It is essentially double taxation on their income.

There was a tweet yesterday that summed up what this is like for those of us not stupid enough to vote for Trump. It was something like the writer wishes we had a parliamentary system because what is happening right now us we have a minority government wrecking the country and the majority have to stand by and watch helplessly until the next election.

It’s even more unfair to the blue states because they have taxation without representation. The country is divided on regional lines and when some redneck in Mississippi has more electoral weight than some out of work STEM professional in NY, the sting is particularly vengeful and stupid.

My dad used to say, “save your Dixie cups because the south is going to riiiiiise again.”

Well, it’s risen. But it’s just as wrong, callous and greedy as it’s ever been. But this is how the ultra wealthy gets its way. It divides us against ourselves and then grabs the spoils of war.

Forgot to mention that all of these politically motivated hits on the blue states have big consequences. The quality of life in the blue states is better than in GOP states. That’s just a fact. It can’t be disputed. These states have a responsibility to their residents to maintain already existing infrastructure and teach already existing children. The idea that breaking local governments is somehow going to please the working and middle class voters in these states is bizarre and wishful thinking. They’re the ones who are most likely to be hurt by this when their schools fall apart and their bridges rot. That’s going to happen everywhere including places like Pennsylvania. No one is going to benefit from this.

Taxpayers are waking up to this disaster already. They know who is doing it and who is going to make out like bandits. The only way Republicans can possibly get away with this is if they are very confident that the will pay no electoral consequences even if overwhelming majorities of people turn out against them.

Everyone, regardless of party affiliation should be very concerned with that possibility. Because if it turns out a Trumper wakes up next year and decides to stop this crazy thing before it gets to the point of no return, there may be no way to reverse it.

**********************************

MSNBC cut ties with Sam Seder yesterday after a tweet he made about Mike Cernovich turned up criticizing the latter’s excuses about rape.

Let us review what Cernovich has said about rape, shall we?:

Seder explained Cernovich’s “smear involves the willful misinterpretation of a tweet that I posted in 2009” that was criticizing rape apologists, but MSNBC sided with Cernovich, who previously asked “Have you guys ever tried ‘raping’ a girl without using force? Try it. It’s basically impossible. Date rape does not exist,” and claimed “A whore will let her friend ruin your life with a false rape case. So why should I care when women are raped?”

Ahem, it is possible to rape a woman without overt force. Well, I guess in the strict physics definition of the word force, F=ma, all it really requires is a large mass using gravity. For example, if you’re 5’7″ and weigh 120lbs soaking wet and someone who is 6’6″ and almost 300lbs is laying on top of you, then yeah, that’s force enough even if the guy isn’t holding a knife to your throat or slapping you around or tying you up. Does anyone disagree?

Ok, then. So why is Seder out of a job? Can someone explain this to me?

***********************************

Mueller has subpoenaed Trump’s account records from Deutsche Bank. The thot plickens.

***********************************

It’s a dark and rainy day, like a Long Black Veil…