Maybe it’s because I’ve been sick with a cold for about a week or because it’s been snowy and cold here in Indiana for ages. Or maybe I’ve just been cooped up inside for too long with nothing to do but work. Whatever the reason, a bunch of people are really getting on my nerves lately.

I guess I’ll start with Congress because the majority of irritating folks work in there. First, the House Republicans. Seriously. Not one vote for the stimulus plan? One-third of them managed to vote for George Bush’s bank bailout back in October. So evidently, they can overlook party politics and their proven-not-to-work economic philosophies when a bill supports big business that has shot itself in the foot by being too greedy. When it’s a bill to help out average Americans who find themselves in dire straits because of big business, however, the G.O.P. suddenly comes together to make a moral stand against “socialism.”

Then there are the Republicans in the Senate who keep droning on and on about “tax cuts.” Yeah, because tax cuts have worked so well in the past. Moody’s, an independent and nonpartisan financial analysis company, recently released an eye-popping chart showing what government actions stimulate the economy and by how much. For every $1 the government spends on tax cuts, the economy produces about $1.16, depending on the type of tax cut. Permanent tax cuts actually result in a LOSS of about .36 on the dollar, again depending on the type of tax cut.  The most stimulating actions the government can take include food stamp increases ($1.73 for each dollar spent), infrastructure spending increases ($1.59 for each dollar) and state government aid ($1.36 for each dollar). So while hundred of thousands of Americans are losing their jobs and finding themselves perched on the brink of financial ruin, Senate Republicans are playing playground politics, refusing to play with the other kids unless they get their way even though their way is far more ineffective. Tax cuts won’t help my MANY friends who have lost their jobs and just trying to figure out how they’re going to keep their homes. Besides, the tax cuts the G.O.P. are advocating really don’t mean much to the big companies and m/b-illionaires they love so much. Those fat cats have herds of lawyers and accountants who shelter their money in investments or offshore accounts so they don’t have to pay taxes anyway. Argh.

Then there’s Dick Cheney who just needs to shut up and go away. On February 3rd, in an interview with Politico.com, he launched another terror campaign, frightening Americans with the threat of another major attack with “a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind”  (politico.com, 2/4/09). Chiding President Obama and the millions of Americans who voted for him, Cheney shook his finger at all of us for being “more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States.” Yeah, Dick, that’s what we’re worried about. Osama bin Laden’s Miranda rights. Look, dude, your party lost the election. What’s more, the major terrorist attack that occurred on September 11, 2001, occurred ON YOUR WATCH! And you had received intelligence that it might happen and ignored it. Need we remind you that, just a month before 9/11, during the President’s daily briefing from the C.I.A., you and George were told Bin Laden was “determined to strike” the United States. You did nothing with that information. Thanks for continuing to try to terrify us with vague warnings while simultaneously attempting to vindicate yourself for your own egregious failures. Now go back under your dark rock and leave us alone. We’ll do our best to protect the country, which is more than you ever did.

But my ire is not solely restricted to Republicans. Plenty of Democrats are doing stupid, annoying stuff too. Rod Blago-however-you-spell-the-rest-of-his-name is one of them, but I don’t want to give him any more attention because it feeds his egomania. I just wish he’d go away to wherever corrupt, pathologically self-centered politicians go after they’ve had their 15 minutes of infamy. Blah.

And what’s up with all these Obama nominees not paying their taxes?! Tom Daschle, Tim Geithner, Nancy Killefer, and Hilda Solis should be slapped. Honestly. How do they get away with not paying thousands and thousands of dollars in taxes for years? When I was 23, working for $7.50 an hour in the mall, the retail company I worked for went under and conveniently “forgot” to pay its employees payroll taxes. I ended up owing the I.R.S. about $2100. Within weeks, the I.R.S. was all over me to get that paid. Although it was an astronomical sum to me at the time, it was nothing compared to what these Democrats owed. Idiots. Obviously, Democrats are not as good at sheltering their income as the Republicans are.

Speaking of idiots and astronomical sums brings to Bernie Madoff who just needs to go to prison. How is it possible that he is still roaming his luxurious penthouse apartment in Manhattan while hundred, perhaps thousands, of his former clients have lost everything? Some of his elderly investors, some of them in their 90’s, are having to go back to work just to stay afloat. Others who were involved with Madoff took the quick route and committed suicide. Until his trial, Madoff needs to be sitting in jail, not a plush apartment. His assets should have been frozen immediately, not weeks later after he’d already mailed some of them off to friends and family. And when he’s convicted, the assets should be liquidated and disbursed to his victims based on their needs, not their investment.

Finally, there’s Etta James. Look, I’m no Beyonce fan either. And if I were a Republican whose song was being used by a newly elected Democratic president’s inauguration ball, I’d probably be annoyed too. But Etta needs to remember that people buy tickets to hear her singing, not her political rants and professional beefs. Shut up and sing, Ms. James.

I guess that’s it for now. I could go on with usual suspects - Rush (”I hope Obama fails”) Limbaugh and Ann (voter fraud doesn’t apply to her) Coulter, but I feel a little better for having vented now. And this much negativity in one blog post is way too much already!