What's Mallard raving about today?
Checks, the US Post Office.
Leave it to Mallard to complain about getting money from the government because it involves the Post Office. Essentially proving that there is absolutely nothing that Mallard will not reflexively complain about.
6 comments:
I love how Tinman tries to strike a pose as the defender of common sense of the common man, but comes across as an out-of-touch middle class blowhard that's indicative of one of the more obnoxious brances of the GOP.
It reminds me that great bit in the Simpsons when Krusty is trying to learn about stand up comedy and says "You mean, like when your lazy butler warshes your socks and there still covered with schmutz?"
I'm going to give Tinny credit for this one. (It happens sometimes!)
First, he's kicking Bush right in his "economic stimulus" package. That's fine. We've already discussed what an idiotic idea that is--no surprise, given its source.
Second, he's pointing out a completely non-imaginary, obvious case of bureaucratic inefficiency, and--shock of shocks--also pointing out an equally obvious alternative. God...it's like he's dry or something. He even skips the "it's my money anyway!" whining.
Even the Post Office crack isn't insulting--at least, not to the workers, which are normally the target of Tinny's bile--although the sheer fallacy of the stimulus package would've been a wiser choice. Can't expect miracles, I suppose...
Mallard: the future is now! If you had filed your taxes through the internet-tubes, you would already have your free money in the bank ready to go for next year's tax return. No paper, no USPS, no waste. It's because of crusty old bastards like you who can't be bothered to learn better ways to do things, that it's going to take six months to do what would otherwise take less than one. Enjoy your check. In October.
Actually, if I recall correctly, tax forms were out and some people would have already filed their taxes by the time the economic stimulus package was passed. It would actually have been much more inefficient, costly and unfair to send back the returns that had already been sent in and make people do them again to figure in their stimulus amount, and to print and distribute new tax forms late in the season. I could complain that maybe if the Bush administration had acknowledged the economic problems earlier on, they could have passed the package earlier and included the amount on tax forms -- but if I'm being honest with myself, I would have to admit that that would require more prescience than most politicians and even most economists possess, let alone the Bush administration. It may seem obvious now that the housing market was going to bring the whole economy down, but months and months ago when these forms were being put together and printed, it would have been a lot less obvious.
Stimulus packages are being distributed on the basis of the last two digits of your SS#. Which kind of implies that they don't intend for this money to be released in a flood when 90% of the American population does it's taxes.
So Mallard might say "duh" but he doesn't have the whole story.
And why is he POed about it anyways? It gave me, your average hard-working underpaid American, ALL of the federal income tax money back in some form or other. I work 40+ hours a week at a dull blue collar job and here I am, with my tax return and rebate being the total amount of everything I gave in the first place. YES, some of it was mine in the first place, Mallard,
I'm not an idiot. Does average American now mean those with lots of money? Statistics imply otherwise! Your average postal workers only make around 30k a year.
All the above are good points; here's a few more.
When I got my "tax rebate" a few years ago, I noticed it clearly and redundantly stated that it was coming from a city in Texas (Houston or Austin, I forget which.) That seemed odd; why print it in Texas, and why tell me that? This seemed like just another way to (a) make a little money for whatever private firm printed the dang thing and (b) remind us that the Fake Cowboy from Texas was the one who got us the money. Cheap politicking.
So I fully expect that the paper check I receive eventually will have some other politically-useful return address on it. Arizona perhaps?
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