Daily Updates: 12.2.10

The format, size and scope of Facebook updates are appealing to me, so I'm going to try out a new, regular feature on this blog: Daily Updates. They're going to be direct copy and pastes of what I post on Facebook and elsewhere, both on topic and off.

These topics are generally the things which are really on my mind each day, so I hope they'll spark some good conversations. As always, my tweets can be found on the sidebar of this site. Now for today's updates:

• BTW: The Republicans who voted today against the Obama tax cuts in turn voted to raise the income tax by 50% on the lowest tax bracket in America, which officially makes them horrible human beings in my book. The Republicans just said to the working poor, "Screw you!"
• Admiral Mullen's testimony in favor of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell today was one for the history books. He made it clear: This is all about restoring dignity and improving readiness, and he tore apart the arguments of the few holdouts. Hearing Admiral Mullen's testimony makes me proud of America. Let's make this happen.
  
• So, one of my favorite YouTube channels is "SupraDarky," someone who is obsessed with video game instrumentals and music. He has a "Best VGM" series in which he collects all his favorites... and his most recent pick is pretty awesome, from the Castlevania franchise.
  
  
  
• Not enough people understand how tax brackets work. If you make $251k, and the tax rates for those who earn above $250k get rolled back to the Clinton-era rates, you're only paying that Clinton-era rate on the $1k you make beyond $250k. So, in essence, everyone still gets a tax cut... this is just slightly more sane than throwing another $700 billion down the toilet that this country can't afford.
• While Scott Brown holds out to push permanent tax cuts for the wealthy totaling $700 billion over the next decade, he's voting to strip our country's meager unemployment benefits right before Christmas.