Posts tagged ‘economy’

January 31st, 2009

Same Game, Different Players

by Venomous Kate

Quote of the day:

Why is it that the same people who think we can’t afford the Iraq War when the economy was strong thinks we can afford the stimulus when the economy is weak? Why do the same people who constantly complained about the government using fear of terror to consolidate power and increase spending turn a blind eye when their party does the same thing using economic fears? I find it worse than dangerous when people start putting party over principle — something both sides of the aisle are guilty of.

From Thinking on the Margin, via Sophistpundit.

CategoryLiberals Bite | Comment1 Comment »

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January 5th, 2009

President-Elect Obama and His 10 Inaugural Balls

by Venomous Kate

I’ll say this for President-elect Obama: he has balls. Ten official balls, at last count, where he’ll personally be on display. Who knows how many unofficial ones there will be?

But here’s the thing about Obama’s balls: they’re big. And while his staff claims he’s got the first-ever Neighborhood Ball, the neighborhood around the White House pretty much threw their own ball when they stormed the president’s house after Andrew Jackson was elected. (His balls were apparently too small for their liking.)

Of course, taxpayers need not fret: we’re not footing the bill for Obama’s big balls. That’s the job of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which has been busily raising funds to fete Obama’s balls. Sure, actors and other artsy types are happy to fork over $10,000 per head for one of Obama’s balls — and Oprah hasn’t named her going rate yet — but even those steep prices don’t cover the entire expense associated with his balls.

Taxpayers will pay in part for Obama’s balls by footing the bill for House and Senate members to plan the inauguration and balls, by paying for the preparation of alternate locations in the event of inclement weather, by paying for the archiving of documents relating — however tangentially — to the inauguration itself. Oh, and we’ll also pay for the massive security force (Secret Service, Capitol Police, U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) needed to not only secure D.C. and the various environs of Obama’s balls, but to also screen each and every individual who personally attends Obama’s balls.

Perhaps this is what Michelle Obama meant when she said Obama would make us work? Even though she may have warned us, it’s rather infuriating to realize we, too, are now tasked with the responsibility of supporting Obama’s balls although few of us can afford our own. And, meanwhile, we’re all getting the shaft.

CategoryLiberals Bite, Politics Bite | Comment22 Comments »

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September 16th, 2008

Tippling Tuesday: The Drink Your Worries Away Edition

by Venomous Kate

Your Venomous Hostess has had a rough day. A rough, unprofitable day — a combination which is guaranteed to put me in the mood for a martini.

Did you know that during a bad economy, people will cut back on just about everything but lottery tickets and booze? In the Venomous Household, we call VH’s weekly lottery purchases his “dumb tax” since his piddly $5 winnings here and there don’t even compare to the 3.2% he’d (read: we‘d) have made had he invested the funds in our money market account instead of spending them.

Apparently, that irrational thinking behind lottery ticket purchases is shared by people who consider their incomes insufficient, whereas those who perceive themselves to be financially comfortable spend their money on other things.

Like booze. Evidently, when the economy gets tough, the tough go drinking.

If high-end European vodka is too expensive, you might try the stuff distilled in Wisconsin. If that’s too much, how about a beer? Don’t have enough for an import, try a domestic. If the bar tab is too much to handle, stop off at the store and bring a six-pack home.

Now, while Yours Venomously may have had a rough and unprofitable day, she still has standards. Ergo, she’s not yet willing to trade in her exquisite and repeatedly distilled high-end grape-based vodka for the swill they make locally, which makes The Venomous One’s martinis taste like petrol. So perhaps there’s something to be said in favor of the French since their vodka which tops that of the Russians as well as that distilled by the guy up the road here in Kansas.

Ergo, I have dispatched the Venomous Hubby to go forth and make martini goodness happen. Unfortunately, he just informed me that we’re out of vodka, a situation which only compounds my distress over such a rough, unprofitable day. He has, however, offered to run out and replenish my supply, an offer to which I gladly agreed even though I’m certain his real motive is purchasing yet another lottery ticket for tomorrow night’s Power Ball drawing. I’m fine with that, though. Really, I am, especially since I couldn’t make a decent martini if my life depended on it. And, as I believe I’ve made clear, I ain’t going without my martini tonight, dammit.

So this week’s Tippling Tuesday question is this: what discretionary spending item can you not live without?

CategoryTime Wasting Bites | Comment10 Comments »

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