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Sunday, October 3, 2021

Recap October 3, 2021

 

Fox News headline this morning. 

Democrat -- DEMOCRAT -- Tammy Duckworth hasn't paid property tax on her Illinois home since 2015, report says.

Why, that cheating bitch!


Except disabled veterans are exempted by law from paying property taxes in Illinois. 

Yeah, except for that part, you know. 

And Fox News actually does know, because they actually spell out that Duckworth is fully 100% entitled to her exemption in the actual article under that inflammatory headline: 

In Duckworth’s case, the 53-year-old U.S. senator pays zero in property taxes because she is a disabled U.S. military veteran with a 70% or higher disability rating, as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

She and other similarly disabled veterans in Cook County who own homes get the tax break regardless of their income level, the Sun-Times reported.

Duckworth lost both of her legs and some use of her right arm after the helicopter she was piloting was hit by a rocket-fired grenade in Iraq in 2004. 

The article also mentioned that Duckworth paid more than $16,000 in property taxes on a second home she owns in Virginia -- because even though Virginia offers a tax exemption for disabled vets, it's not her primary home and so she doesn't quality. 

So, she didn't pay taxes she wasn't required to pay. 

And she did pay taxes that she was required to pay. 

The outrage! 

Fox News is literally attacking a 100% combat disabled veteran who was severely wounded in the service of her country for not paying taxes that she doesn't owe and for paying taxes where she does. The article literally describes Duckworth's valor and then somehow implies that same Senator, a combat veteran who is a hero in every sense of the word as defined by Fox News and its viewers, as somehow doing something wrong because ... something. 

And if you read the comments under the article you'll see that Fox's conservative viewers agree, even if they're not quite sure why they're certain Duckworth is somehow up to no good. 

Republicans love Veterans and tax breaks until it's a decorated combat veteran who happens to be a woman of color and a Democrat.

I'm not a politician. 

I am however, a disabled veteran. 

I make a decent living. And you'd better believe I take every veteran related tax break I'm offered. 

Why wouldn't I? I earned it. 

Why wouldn't you? 

Why shouldn't Duckworth? 

I mean, what's the logic here? If you make some arbitrary amount money, as determined by random Republicans on Twitter, you're not really a veteran any more? A real combat hero should live in poverty? How much is a pair of legs and an arm worth anyway? 

I really enjoy that part where this guy thinks people should just volunteer to pay taxes they don't owe. 

Trump, a rich coward who got out of serving his country by faking a crippling injury via a doctor that his daddy paid for, once crowed about how smart he was for not paying taxes and his supporters cheered and enthusiastically agreed -- just as they did when he and his Republican cronies slashed taxes on the wealthy and multitrillion dollar megacorps. 

But the very same people are now mad because a combat veteran didn't pay taxes she doesn't owe

It's not just Fox News:

That's Chicago Sun Times yesterday. 

Which is, no doubt, where Fox News stole the idea from. 

It's funny how the Sun-Times article leads off by attacking disabled vets in general and Duckworth in particular, yet the Senator's property is not some palatial estate but rather a 1600 square foot home worth a modest $250,000 and the others mentioned in the article make vastly more money than she does. Not only that, but the article specially says that property tax exemptions for disabled veterans and senior citizens are a "tiny sliver of the $1.5 billion in all real estate tax exemptions granted to Cook County homeowners this year." 

A tiny sliver.

And yet the Chicago Sun Time is pretty sure it's somehow Duckworth and other combat wounded veterans who are the villains here. 

This isn't anything new, of course. These same people, all who profess to love the military are who are utterly outraged when a black man kneels during the National Anthem in what they see as the ultimate insult to veterans, were the very same people who mocked John McCain's combat disability and who went after Bob Dole, who attacked Gold Star families because they didn't vote for Trump -- a guy who openly mocked a disabled reporter and called veterans "losers" and "suckers." 

Republicans tell you they love and respect the military. 

But that's not true. 

What they actually love is the idea of an obedient all-powerful unstoppable force they can use to crush their enemies and threaten into subservience those they see as less than worthy. 

Most of all, they see the military as a projection of their own manhood and the right arm of their mean bitter religion.

They despise the idea of a military made up of actual people. 

They are actively revolted by veterans who might have been damaged in the service of their country, mentally or physically, because to them any disability is weakness and any veteran who is less than a comic book hero in their eyes lessens their manhood and makes mockery of their small miserable selfish god. 

This country doesn't deserve heroes like Tammy Duckworth. 

And yet, there she is, still serving. 






54 comments:

  1. Perfectly stated once again Chief.

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    1. Jim is an AMAZING wordsmith.

      As he said about Senator Duckworth, we don't deserve him, but I'm damned thankful for him

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    2. Thank you. I am an Illinois voter and approve this message. We give veterans a property tax break, no matter what their income status, based on their service to this country and, if they have a disability, we cut that property tax even more. It is a tax exemption we the voters back 100 percent. I think they need to change their logo from Fox to Weasel and they were never news - they are all talk.

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    3. People of means don't need social security but how many turn it down? How many Republicans turn it down?

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  2. My senator, who ran against a Dick just like your description.

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  3. So true. Thanks, Jim.

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  4. Kipling didnt get everything right but I'm pretty sure he would be nodding along with you on this.

    http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_tommy.htm

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  5. Nailed it, thank you for your continued service. Conservative opinion opposes anyone and everything that doesn't fit into their narrow world view.

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  6. It's beyond the pale how galling these attacks are. And you're 100% correct. R's don't give a s**t about the military. As my mom used to say, "actions speak louder than words" and their actions AND words scream otherwise.

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  7. Whatever, whoever they once were our political right now is in a place where they don't want soldiers, they want enforcers. Not warriors but goons.
    Not a nation but a tribe.

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    1. Just so they die "over there" and don't come home to remind them that war is not a glorious hero orgy but a ghastly waste of human life and limb.

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  8. Republicans only see Democrat when they attack someone. It doesn't matter what comes after.

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    1. Absolutely correct. They only want Republican born again heroes who bow to Trump.

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  9. And yet no outrage at all the veterans who take a 10-20% discount at countless places that offer a discount to veterans. Do they need that discount? Maybe, maybe not. The times I have been with veterans at restaurants that offer a discount, none of them needed it.

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  10. she makes too much money but mega churches and their pastors shouldn't pay taxes and tax breaks for the very wealthy are of course mandatory. Their audience *has to be* made up of drooling morons because anyone with an IQ above room temperature can see that they are lying hypocrites.

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  11. And how many millionaire congresspeople take legal exemptions, like those for seniors? I’m a vet and a senior and have a great income, but I take what I am entitled to. If the rethuglicans want to go about closing tax loopholes, there are much more lucrative places to start than with veterans.

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    Replies
    1. And how many of those Congresscritters WRITE those legal exemptions that they take advantage of?

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  12. Nothing about how hard it is to get the exemptions and the sacrifices made though.

    How convenient.

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  13. Thanks, Jim. Perfectly stated...again.

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  14. Goddamned right on every count. The fascist GOP only love veterans when they can use them as props for their propaganda.

    I love my Senator and I'd love to see Duckworth as governor too someday. She's a badass!

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  15. I don't know anybody who could have commented on it better...
    I swear!
    Needless to say, I shared this blog's link on my FB site...

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  16. I'm not sure why I still find it amazing that people of a certain political persuasion boast about how much they love and appreciate the military and veterans, then in their next breath berate and vilify any veteran who disagrees with their small-minded and petty insanity. Growing up, the military veterans I looked up to always reinforced the idea that the best way to honor veterans and fallen soldiers... is to stop making more. Stop sending troops into harm's way when it's unnecessary, and when it is necessary, you send them in with as much support as you can to prevent them coming back damaged or in a box. It would seem that the aforementioned people of a certain political persuasion would prefer to make martyrs and false narratives, than to actually follow through with what they claim to support.

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  17. No tax exemption can make up for what you and Sen Duckworth gave in service.

    Fox could have used the Duckworth story to educate. Instead they tried to score cheap points on a disabled vet.

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  18. My other favorite is when people are outraged over corporations not paying taxes but it is OK because they are simply taking advantage of all legal tax exemptions and deductions. In fact, that is usually what the corporations say when confronted about not paying taxes. It's "Corporation X follows all tax laws".

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  19. They dump on people like Tammy Duckworth who gave a lot in service to our country, yet are trying to make a martyr out of the traitor Ashley Babbitt, who went against everything that she swore an oath to defend.

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  20. Republicans and conservatives love the vets when they can use them for propaganda.

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  21. And we wonder why the GQP has such a bad reputation.

    Spot on once again, sir.

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  22. I've been told by quite a few conservatives that I'm the wrong kind of veteran.

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    1. And I imagine you don't get very coherent answers (if you get any at all) when you ask them just what the "right kind of veteran" would be...

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  23. I'm beginning to think the greatest threat to American freedom is headline writers....

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  24. I am constantly amazed at how low fox and repubs will stoop. I shouldn't be surprised by anything they do at this point.

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  25. WEll said, Jim. My senator, Purple Heart recipient.

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  26. I will say this again: there has to be a stronger word than hypocrite for these lying Republicans, willing to say and smear whatever and however. Fuck 'em.

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  27. Eloquently nailing it as always.

    Dad was an aircraft mechanic in Korea during the war. He never bragged about it, in fact, it was like pulling teeth to get him to relate his experiences. I think he was a Staff Sergeant when he got out and went on to fly for Pan Am.

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  28. This is the crowd whose leader professes not to like vets who were losers or prisoners, so colour me not surprised.

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  29. No at all surprising. I've been told I'm not a "real" veteran because I served when women weren't allowed in Combat Roles. Except I guarded the flight line against FALN terrorists in Chicago, and Basque terrorists in Spain. But, of course, as I wasn't lined up shooting at someone, that wasn't "real".
    It felt pretty freaking real.

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  30. There's a certain segment of the population that honestly believes that there's going to be a mass exodus from the military over COVID vaccines, and that these disgruntled vets are going to foment rebellion against Biden for forcing them out of the military. It's amusing to see the variety of people on Quora who are trying to disabuse them of this fantasy, really. Pretty much every vet who has responded to one of those questions, regardless of their politics, has dismissed the notion in no uncertain terms.

    So for my money, it's not *quite* accurate to say that the right wants a slavishly obedient military, because taking vaccines on command is just the sort of obedience that the military *does* exhibit. More like they want a military that is slavishly obedient to them in particular.

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  31. I guess I can just say GOD DAMN and BLODDY FUCKING hell here. Thanks. And thanks Jim for the posts from a studied and reasonable perspective.

    Also, thanks for the monthly video blogs. It's so great so sit with adults in the room, have a Bourbon and enjoy.

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    1. Wait, there are monthly video blogs? I’ve missed that. Where can I find them?

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  32. This nation was founded on the principles of taxation..., and how not to pay the British for the finest tea on planet Earth. Representation does not exist in politics. Never did, never will. Ironically, we pay tax on everything WITH REPRESENTATION as is stated in the Constitution. I swear, the idealism that crept into the minds of men during 18th century Colonial America must need be studied meticulously. Something is inherently wrong with our system. How did it evolve? There were a strong number of British loyalists at the time of the American Revolution living in the colonies. Was it possible that 'negative creep' emerged into the ranks of those young men from Philadelphia with just of sliver of justification for alienating an entire population of people from 4,000 years of shared history in Great Britain? What was here belonged to who was here, not to us for the taking. It's been a coup with no chance to re-coup. So, here we are. Reparations = repatriation.

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  33. Knowing Focks, I have to wonder what attacking Tammy Duckworth is a diversion for. That is besides general stupidity, plain hatefulness and a need to keep everyone off balance.

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  34. Oh Good!
    More disabled vet shaming. Duckworth has pulled more American weight than over 99% of the rest of America.

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  35. Instead of "Democrat Tammy Duckworth" that headline should have read "Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Duckworth".

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  36. Spot on, as always. I don't understand how people continue to fall for the bullshit that Republicans spew. I honestly believe they hate everyone who isn't them.

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  37. As I always say, "hero" is how the public sector says "for exposure". We talk a lot about how important our teachers/nurses/soldiers/etc. are, but the talk is all we're willing to actually give them for such an important job.

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  38. Senator Duckworth has more courage, patriotism, and cajones than the entire GOP put together. They have to attack her over nothing, because they really can't measure up to such a bad-ass woman.

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  39. I'm sure Jeff Bezos could pay his taxes too... 🙄🙄🙄🙄

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