Let's Play "Did You Know?"

Did you know that any money, apparently, in the pockets and bank accounts of ordinary people is a gift from government? Witness Rep. Elijah Cummings today on MSNBC, in response to a question about the tax compromise hashed out by President Obama and Republican legislators:

"We are concerned about the estate tax. We're concerned about a number of things. We're also concerned about whether we can, in fact, afford this. Keep in mind--we are about to give $68 billion, over the course of a year, to 39,000 families through this estate tax item. That's a problem." [bold added]

That's "give," as in GIFT.  Well, Ho Ho Ho to you, too, Representative Cummings!

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Power to Seize Firms

The headline says it all.

Here's the article.

Farmocracy

"[Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner] said...Congress should deny farm subsidies to people with more than $200,000 a year in adjusted gross income."

Wow, $200k. That shouldn't be too controversial.

"The Senate would block subsidies to people with more than $750,000 a year in adjusted gross income from the 2010 crop year unless at least 67 percent of their income is from farming. The House would bar payments to anyone with an AGI above $1 million and a $500,000 AGI limit for part-time farmers."

Oh.