Whether it's taxes or gov't regulation, we can always count on right-wingers for a good laugh -- if only it were funny

Governor Kasich struck his blow against gov't regulation.

by Ken

My goodness, the things right-wingers say. It would be beyond belief except for the evident fact that there are Americans who nod and drool and maybe even do a little dance. Nah, it's still beyond belief.

I have, for example, steadfastly resisted finding out what kind of claptrap that co-front-running GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan actually is, knowing that whatever it is, it's nonsense -- not that that by itself prevents it from being given serious consideration by Republican economic "thinkers." But the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus, writing from her attic of isolation, has been pondering the "plan" as if it were something being uttered, by, you know, a major-party presidential contender. And in "Cain’s 9-9-9 plan doesn’t add up" and "More fuzzy math from Cain," she makes it pretty clear that our Herman almost certainly doesn't understand his own plan. Which, happily, doesn't stop him from lying about it. When you're a right-winger, it's your God-given right, even obligation, to lie about anything, even (especially?) your own damned plan.

And he especially isn't telling the truth about who would be impacted by this plan.

The Tax Policy Center analysis shows that Cain has it exactly backward. Compared with current tax rates, 84 percent of taxpayers would pay more under 9-9-9 if it were fully implemented in 2013. Just 14 percent — the wealthiest — would see their tax bills drop.

Oops!

And of course not many things will get a right-wing crowd more worked up than whining about government regulation, despite the evident fact that we are wildly under- not over-regulated. In which connection let me pass on this Daily Kos diary from our colleague Zappatero:

WED OCT 19, 2011 AT 03:48 PM PDT

Ohio Gov Kasich let wild animal
regulations lapse

by Zappatero

(This was already diaried, but I'm going to give it some oomph.)

Ohio Governor John Kasich is a slash-and-burn Republican of the highest order. He came into office and immediately threw in with the Koch Brother Agenda of attacking unions, selling off state assets, and cutting regulations.

One regulation he cut may have come back to bite him in the butt today:

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Jack Hanna says the scene of wild and dangerous animals running from an eastern Ohio farm after their owner freed them and killed himself was “like Noah’s Ark wrecking.”

“Not full of birds and things, just lions and tigers and bears,” the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said today near Zanesville. “I can’t imagine any more animals that would be worse to have out here.”

[...]

Even as law officers tracked the feral escapees, Ohio officials are considering regulations on exotic and wild pets. Former Governor Ted Strickland (a Democrat) issued an executive order banning their keeping before leaving office in January, though it expired under Governor John Kasich.

Here's the regulation that John Kasich, good Republican who is against regulations, let expire:

The Department of Natural resources announced on April 4, 2011 that key stakeholders from across the state would be involved in the development of policies and procedures regarding ownership, sale and transfer of dangerous wild animals in the state of Ohio.

Outreach to stakeholders is taking place at the request of Governor John R. Kasich who supports the regulation of dangerous wild animals to ensure the public’s safety and animals’ humane treatment. He also believes any new regulations should be developed in a transparent way with input from the public and those who have interests at stake.

The Kasich administration initiated this process because of the April 6 expiration of the previous administration’s Executive Order 2010-17S and Emergency Administrative rule 1501:31-19-5, banning the "possession, sale, and transfer."

So let's sum this up: a Democrat puts in a sensible regulation to protect citizens and animals in the state of Ohio. Slash-and-burn Republican gains office and starts selling and deregulating and attacking those very same animals and citizens. And the regulation, which could have been extended by the stroke of a pen, remains expired as a menagerie of animals is killed and the Citizens of Ohio remain in danger due to unregulated wild animals on the loose.

This is the direct cost of Republicans' constant fight against regulations and the common good of the citizenry.

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