While we applaud the Democrats’ historic victory Saturday night, our parochial concern with the rush to healthcare “reform” hasn’t changed: How much will it screw us over?

Some background, if you’ve never had the pleasure of working freelance: Neither party has ever given a shit about Americans who embody the American Dream by working for themselves.

If you’re a wage slave, you’re familiar with the Social Security/Medicare tax from your paycheck, which amounts to 7.65 percent. But that’s only half of the real tax — your employer pays the other half.

Self-employed? You have the distinct pleasure of paying both halves, or 15.3 percent — off the top, whether you earn $5,000 or $50,000. You can deduct half from your gross income, but you’re still on the hook for the percentage — which is the most fabulously regressive tax America offers, since it only applies up to $106,800 of income. If you’re wealthy, you end up paying less a portion of your income than the working poor. Even sales tax is more fair than that.

But we like using the coffeehouse as our office, so we can live with that. Beats waking up at the asscrack of dawn five days a week.

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Didn’t she think that everything she ever shot would surface?

Carrie Prejean wasn’t the only member of her family who got a peek at Carrie’s solo sex tape — TMZ has learned her MOM was in the room when the Miss California USA lawyers pressed play.

Sources tell TMZ Carrie’s mom was in shock — instantly turning sheet white as she watched her daughter give herself a hand.

As TMZ first reported, it took all of 15 seconds for Carrie to drop her $1 million demand from the Pageant people after the XXX tape was played.

Carrie Prejean’s Mother Saw the Sex Tape [TMZ]

Rep Steve King (R-IA) – making shit up as usual:

[via]

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We don’t know who Larry Johnson is, but apparently he’s about to break the all-time rushing record for the Kansas City Chiefs. That is, if he doesn’t shoot off his mouth first:

We told you about Johnson’s comments Sunday night, when he took shots at his coach Todd Haley. Johnson compared his father’s football career playing for a legendary youth coach and then briefly playing in the NFL to Haley, who played golf and then “nuthn.”

Not content to rest after that, Johnson then responded to a Twitter follower that reminded Johnson of the incident last year in which Johnson allegedly spit a drink into a woman’s face. L.J. used a three-letter homophobic epithet to get his point across in response.

According to Yahoo! (and some of our commenters), Johnson wrote, “think bout a clever diss then that wit ur [expletive] pic. Christopher street boy. Is what us east coast cats call u.”

The slam added ammunition to a 31,000-signature fan petition demanding that the apparently unpopular Johnson be benched before he breaks the team record. Johnson quickly took his Twitter feed private, but not before getting in a final dig at critics: “Still richer than u.”

Which reminds of a line we’d like to say our father taught us, except for the fact we just made it up: All the money in the world, and he still can’t buy a clue.

Larry Johnson continues Twitter meltdown [NBC]

Title: “The Book of Genesis Illustrated”

Author: R. Crumb

Rank: 22

Blurb: “Originally thinking that he would do a take off of Adam and Eve, Crumb became so fascinated by the Bible’s language, ‘a text so great and so strange that it lends itself readily to graphic depictions,’ that he decided instead to do a literal interpretation using the text word for word.”

Review: “So what is it, in the end? A guilt-ridden Catholic boy trying to atone for the excesses that made him famous in the first place?”

Customers Also Bought: “Trotsky: A Graphic Biography,” by Rick Geary

Footnote: Stinque Advisory Warning: No tits.

The Book of Genesis Illustrated [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

The party of Saint Ronnie:

This morning, the House began consideration of the rule for debate of the House health care bill. As the Democratic Women’s Caucus took to the microphone on the House floor to offer their arguments for how the bill would benefit women, House Republicans — led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — repeatedly talked over, screamed, and shouted objections. “I object, I object, I object, I object, I object,” Price interjected as Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) tried to hold the floor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMdlcnK_MI4

GOP Gone Wild [Think Progress]

And, because I love you guys, random healthcare/chickenhawk smackdown:

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This open thread begins with the observation that… well… God almighty, there’s nothing like a House of Representatives debate sometimes.  Like, say, whenever Barney Frank gets rolling on a procedural point.  Or whenever Michelle Bachmann goes into her private reserve of insane. 

Today?  Well, even the debate on setting the rules for debate descended into a total mess.  John Dingell, Father of the House / Crochety Old Man Who Is Getting Tired Of This Shit, presided over a half-hour of (a) scores of Democratic women making unanimous consent requests with a wee bit of debate thrown in, and (b) Republican members shouting “I OBJECT!” repeatedly.  Dingell tried his best, as a parliamentarian, to tell the Republicans to shut the fuck up — to no avail.  And after that, the Republicans got up and made unanimous consent requests with the same wee bit of debate rolled in…. and the Democrats sat there, politely.  First blood, then, to the Dems, for not acting like total douchebags.

And that, friends, was how this day began.  Christ.

We are in for a long, and hilarious, day.  Open thread, suckers — with major, earthshattering levels of stupid noted in the post proper, post-jump, for the sake of teaching children that running for Congress just isn’t worth it.

ADD: I am made to understand that the Sport open-thread will not be seen today, so that we may bring you this Stinque Special Presentation.  It will return at its regularly scheduled time next week.  Kisses.

ADD #2 — A personal note: I got a statement from my insurer today, w/r/t my annual checkup.  Total bill: $834.  Total amount I have to pay: $10 — the copay. 

National minimum wage?  $1,160 per month, or $2,320 for a two-earner family.  $834 would positively break people if they didn’t have coverage, of some sort.  Nobody in the GOP seems to get that.  Seriously.   

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