Outsurgents

It appears that W plans to send 20,000+ more soldiers to Iraq. He's not calling it an escalation though - he's calling it a surge. Anbar Province and Baghdad are the most dangerous places in the whole country, so that's where the surging new troops will most likely be going. Those places are teeming with insurgents, and so I'm calling the new troops the outsurgents.

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article by Nicholas von Hoffman in The Nation, entitled Tax the Rich, End the War:

The Democrats can tax our way out of the war. This would be a Victory Over Terror tax to be levied on incomes of $5 million a year or more. It should be a surcharge of 20 percent over and above what people in that rarified income bracket are already paying. It should be levied on all income, regardless of what form it takes, so it would include stock options, jet plane rides, company-paid-for health and life insurance, retirement programs, golden parachutes, the use of apartments in Paris, cars and drivers.

The people in this stratospheric income category have enjoyed the big tax cuts that have gone into effect while the nation has been attacked and been at war. Individuals making $1.25 million a year have gotten tax cuts of almost 20 percent, but many of these would be spared paying the Victory Over Terror tax, which only cuts in at the $5 million level.

Needless to say, those paying this tax do not represent the Democrats' voter base. As these things go, this is politically pain-free. The tax is aimed at war profiteers, overpaid CEOs and grossly fat cats in general, most of whom carry a lot of weight at the White House. If there is any group of people in the world whom George Bush listens to, it is this bunch of billionaires. Call this a backdoor use of the power of the purse. And since the surcharge expires when the war on terror is won or declared over, those taxed will have a powerful incentive to tell the President it is time to get a move on.

Therapy was at 7:30 this morning - there were lots of people there - I was surprised. Kari says that next week we'll be adding weights. Oh dear.

Today I became durable power of attorney for Mother. We waited and waited for the lawyer to turn up - she was half an hour late. All was forgiven when she arrived though because she's very young and fresh-faced and due in April. The procedure was short and sweet and Mother was able to sign the document with no problem. So now I keep doing what I've been doing for years, except now it's legal.

Dick went to the VC to help Kathee fold 750 pizza boxes for the chili cook-off. Each box contains a napkin, a spoon, and 8 cups for chili samples. If we want to go, we get in free. Except that Dick reminded me that I have an appointment to help Dylan storm the castle with Tom and Jana at noon, so we might not be able to make the chili cook-off.