Daddy on the Edge of "The Welfare State"

So, I started out as diligent little blogger person, searching for stats - facts and figures, charts and graphs to back up my seemingly Un-Daddylike position that supporting all of the greedy little thieving welfare queens in our country has simply got to stop. And then I thought, I don't need no stinkin' stats! I'm fueled by rage! Powered by righteous indignation! I'm having a Tea Party in my pants! So here I go - catch me if I fall.

First, let me say that, if you are just broke ass broke, and you need help, then you should have help - I'm all for that. If you're sick and can't care for yourself, you should have care. The weakest among us should be assisted by those of us who are not so weak - Jesus said it, Buddha said it, Ghandi said it, Clinton, King, Obama, Kennedy, and of course - Daddy says it.

However, if you do not need welfare - if you already make more money than you need and yet still insist on taking that which is meant for those less fortunate - well then, you are scum. You are disgusting, loathsome maggots feasting off of the flesh of our country - taking that which does not belong to you; that which you do not deserve, and in doing so, forcing the rest of us to pay for your gluttony. You are filth, and it is you that we speak of when we discuss "Welfare Queens".

Here are a few of those money grubbing bitches - those welfare queens that sit around all day with their other freeloading friends, trying to think of even more ways to steal from honest, hardworking Americans;


ExxonMobil
Sales: $311 billion
Pretax income: $37.3 billion
Income taxes: $17.6 billion
Tax rate: 47%

None of ExxonMobil's income taxes were paid in the U.S. In 2008 the company's income tax bill was $36 billion.

They paid ZERO. A pre-tax income of 37.3 BILLION and they paid ZERO. Daddy's pre-tax income was just slightly less than 37.3 billion frigging dollars, and let me tell you that Daddy paid taxes. Daddy's butt is still sore from the last tax payment. But hey, as long as I'm supporting poor, defenseless companies like little old ExxonMobil - I mean, somebodies gotta pay for all that boom, right? I wonder if my money is helping them dodge proper well drilling techniques, or going to purchase poorly misused and inadequate boom, or maybe my tax dollars subsidize the bird cleaning effort. Hey, as long as I'm doing my part to keep this poor company on it's feet!

Chevron
Sales: $172 billion
Pretax income: $18.5 billion
Income taxes: $8 billion
Tax rate: 43%

Chevron paid $19 billion income tax in 2008. Of this year's taxes, just $200 million were paid in the U.S.

Not as bad as ExxonMobil, but still - $200 million down from $19 billion? Methinks someone has found an offshore haven of sorts.But hey, we didn't need that $18.8 billion, did we? We'll get by - maybe we can have a bake sale!

Y'know that I could go on and on with this rogues gallery, but we have grocery shopping to do, so I'll wrap up with this one, which is by far my absolute Fav!

General Electric
Sales: $157 billion
Pretax income: $10.3 billion
Income taxes: (-$1.1 billion)
Tax rate: N/A

GE's financial services unit, GE Capital, keeps the overall tax bill so low. Over the last two years, GE Capital has displayed an uncanny ability to lose lots of money in the U.S. and make lots of money overseas, where tax rates are lower.

Read those figures carefully - that's a Negative $1.1 billion under Income Tax. Not only did they "owe nothing" in U.S. Income Tax, but they managed to record a tax benefit in excess of one billion dollars! I love that - they have an uncanny ability to lose money here and make it elsewhere! Y'know, there's a name for that ability. It's called Larceny.

The bottom line here is that you can blame the poor in this country all you like for "the strain on the system" that they cause through their needs, but it is nothing when you compare that amount to the enormous amounts of money that these companies deny the U.S. every year. We need to be clear on who's stealing from us. While it's comforting and easy to blame this guy -



the truth is that he's the least of our problems. He's a decoy, put out there by lobbyists, corporations and even those in our own government. They want us to focus all of our energy on that guy, so we don't notice this guy -



Pretty damned good decoy, huh? I'd have trouble telling these guys apart. This Welfare Queen to my right is Lee Raymond, Chief Fat Bastard of ExxonMobil, just looking all happy as a pig in shit over how he fleeces this country that he calls home. Bastard.



We've gotta stop this, and I'm certain we can. But this requires thought. It requires minds greater than Daddy's to figure out how to bring down these giants and steal their wallets. That's where you come in. We need ideas; we need to start a dialogue. Revolutions are won by those who show up - leaving some thoughts in the comments section is a damned good start.

Here's some music to get you excited - track 2 on the Revolution Soundtrack.

"The principles are clear and explicit. The free market is fine for the third world and the growing counterpart at home. Mothers with dependent children can be sternly lectured on the need for self-reliance, but not dependent executives and investors, please. For them, the welfare state must flourish."

~ Avram Noam Chomsky

Time to dethrone the Queens,

Daddy

Daddy on the Edge of Shamelessness

"Most mothers on the earth today are poor, uneducated, and deeply in love with their children. And they are buried in shame and silence."

This is one of the more poignant lines from a blog entry I stumbled upon this morning. I didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but was pleasantly surprised. Seems that more and more Daddy is becoming a fan of the completely unabashed. Check it;

Ho Mama! A Blog for Slutty, Single, Low-income Moms

Have you lived like that? For a week, a minute, or a lifetime? Have you known someone who has? It's been said that everyone on the planet should have to work in food service for a week, just so they might realize how difficult it is and maybe give their server a bit of slack the next time their three minute eggs are clearly only 2 3/4 minutes done. Maybe that's true of living hand to mouth as well. Maybe that should be a prerequisite for living in this country. I daresay that if more people had to live the low income lifestyle for a period of time, they would be a lot more compassionate to those that live it every day.

The same can be said for so many aspects of life that fall "outside the norm". Why is it that the majority of the Western World seems to base all of it's opinions of right and wrong, stylish and un, good and bad, tasteful and not, on this guy?

This guy isn't real; he never existed. Were there guys that walked around that looked like this guy? Sure, there still are today. They like to pass judgement on all that is not white, straight, male and middle class. The trouble is that this guy beats his wife, or peeps on his neighbor, or steals from the church, or cheats on his taxes, or fools around with the cleaning lady, or gambles the kids college fund, or drinks way more than he should. This guy broke eight out of ten commandments to climb the ladder of success, just so he could look down on everyone else not at his level. He can now cast shame on those below; shame for not achieving all that he has. Shame for not having this happy family that he has; shame for not being the white straight middle class male that he is.

Quick question; who give this guy such power? Society did; we did. Who can take it away? We can. And the first step is the easiest...and the hardest;

We must not be ashamed of ourselves.

No one wants to be laughed at. No one wants to be mocked. No one wants to be thought of as "less than" for their beliefs, or their preferences, or for who they are. So we sort. We divide. We slice and dice our lives, ourselves, into what is and what is not acceptable for public consumption. People will accept that you have a routine; they may not accept that you have OCD and must hit the light switch five times. People can know that she's frugal, but God forbid anyone knows that she occasionally has to use food stamps. He's the President of the Rotary Club - everyone knows that...and once a month, he wears heels and an evening gown and goes dancing - no one knows that.

When we do that; when we give the world less than what we are for fear that they will reject those parts of us and, in so doing, reject the whole of us, we are being unfair to ourselves, to them and indeed, to the rest of the world. It is only through standing up, through showing who and what we are, that people can understand and come to accept those parts of us - whatever parts of us that we think people just can't handle. In doing so, we give others in our shoes the opportunity to see that it's okay to be who we are; it's okay to allow our whole selves to shine.

It's okay to be unashamed.

We are what we are. We do what we do. God did not put us on this planet to assimilate into one big "Father Knows Best" character. A scientist doesn't mix different chemicals hoping that they will all become the same; he mixes them because he knows that their combination of differences will provide a desired result.

If we do the unimaginable, If we show our true selves,
the world as a result will be better than we ever could imagine.

I thought about ending this post here, but there is one more thing that needs to be featured. I came across another blog entry this morning, this one not nearly as inspiring as the one above, but one that needs to be discussed, nonetheless. This blog entry deals with the Tiffany Club of New England - here's a little about them(and I've added a link in the links section for anyone who would like to learn more);

Tiffany Club of New England is a social and support organization for the transgender community.

Tiffany Club of New England is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in the state of Massachusetts with offices in Waltham, Massachusetts. Tiffany Club of New England’s primary mission is that of being a social and support club for transgender peoples in the New England region.

Pretty harmless, huh? Not out to hurt or subvert, just finding some common ground to express that part of themselves that society isn't always ready to see. This finding of common ground, this desire to simply be, was looked at as an opportunity by a group calling themselves Mass Resistance, a "pro-family action center" in Massachusetts. They decided to sneak into a Tiffany Club function and secretly videotape transgender people using the ladies room. This was done in an attempt to fight passage of a hate crimes bill. Here's the link to that story;

Fighting a hate crime bill with hate

As the writer said, the very acts of Mass Resistance outline the need for hate crime legislation. The thing to remember here; the message to take away, is that none of those transgender individuals should be ashamed of themselves in any way. In fact, I applaud them for the courage to openly express who they really are. The shame should be reserved for the ones manning the camera, the cowards who can't enjoy this world unless everyone assimilates to their views. For them, and to wrap up this post, I have not one, but three quotes from Buddha, Daddy's "Wise Dude of the Day".


Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Buddha



He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.
Buddha



And finally, for the slutty, single, low income Moms, everyone in the transgender community and anyone else who might stumble on these words;



You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
Buddha

Much Love,

Daddy