Bullshit Artists

GOP sneaks in automatic annual tax increase by introducing chained CPI

"Republican tax-writers have decided to shift the tax code’s inflation index from the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, to something known as chained CPI, which is a slower-growing method of calculating cost-of-living increases. Using the lower rate of inflation to calculate future tax rates means taxpayers will more quickly fall into higher tax brackets, meaning they will pay more in taxes than if Republicans stuck with the traditional measuring stick. It works out to taxpayers paying $128 billion more to Uncle Sam than they would otherwise over the next decade, and $500 billion more in the subsequent decade."

Continue ReadingGOP sneaks in automatic annual tax increase by introducing chained CPI

Purged Saudi prince said Bitcoin would ‘implode’ last week

"'It just doesn't make sense. This thing is not regulated, it's not under control, it's not under the supervision' of any central bank, Alwaleed said in an interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box.' 'I just don't believe in this bitcoin thing. I think it's just going to implode one day. I think this is Enron in the making,' Alwaleed said."

Continue ReadingPurged Saudi prince said Bitcoin would ‘implode’ last week

Cops Claim Teen Consented to Sex — While Handcuffed In Custody

"After their DNA was found on 18-year-old 'Anna Chambers' in September, the two Brooklyn narcotics officers who she accused of raping her admitted to sex with the young woman. But they claimed the contact—which occured after police pulled over Chambers on a traffic stop, found loose prescription pills in her bag, and took her into their custody—was consensual. Now they're trying to discredit her by pointing prosecutors to her 'provocative' social-media selfies and to tweets where she lashes out at someone accusing her of lying."

Continue ReadingCops Claim Teen Consented to Sex — While Handcuffed In Custody

Investment firm VanEck calls bitcoin a ‘fad,’ then files for bitcoin ETF

"Money management firm VanEck is both skeptical of bitcoin and planning to sell a related investment product, illustrating a rising perception that the surge of interest in the digital currency creates a high-risk opportunity that may be too big to miss."

Continue ReadingInvestment firm VanEck calls bitcoin a ‘fad,’ then files for bitcoin ETF

Donor sues GOP for fraud, racketeering after failed Obamacare repeal

"A retired attorney in Virginia Beach is so incensed that Republicans couldn’t repeal the Affordable Care Act that he’s suing to get political donations back, accusing the GOP of fraud and racketeering. Bob Heghmann, 70, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, saying the national and Virginia Republican parties and some GOP leaders raised millions of dollars in campaign funds while knowing they weren’t going to be able to overturn the law also known as Obamacare." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDonor sues GOP for fraud, racketeering after failed Obamacare repeal

Maduro: Trump’s ‘imperialist hand’ is behind Venezuelan revolution

"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday said that his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, is deeply involved in 'terrorist' activities and the violence that is unfolding in the South American nation with an eye toward 'taking political control' there. Maduro said on his weekly radio-television show that his country is facing an 'attack by violent forces (...) intolerance and generalized destruction,' and that behind all this turmoil is 'the imperialist hand of Donald Trump.' 'Trump has his hands infected and stuck deeply into this conspiracy and this attack that has as its objective taking political control in Venezuela, recolonizing Venezuela,' Maduro claimed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaduro: Trump’s ‘imperialist hand’ is behind Venezuelan revolution