– I liked reading about social columns.
– Newsweek continues its tradition of brilliant, well thought out covers.
– How dare Obama campaign?
– I’m still having trouble — you know morally — wrapping my head around the GOP position on the Violence Against Women Act (h/t).
– I can get behind Bill Murray as FDR.
Items 2 and 3 above had puddles up in arms over the weekend – typically pushing Fox talking points.
I think that the asshole VanderSloot over in Idaho should be outed nationally for the greedy conniving bigot that he is – make him an albatross around Rmoney’s neck – he’s one of Willard’s national finance ‘co-chairs’ – AKA gives and raises BIG Bucks.
He’s a predatory pyramid scammer – another iteration of vulture capitalism.
Reading the Friday Night thread is kind of like trying to shop on a street where the sidewalks are littered with piles of dog shit.
Look, banning someone from the HA comment threads needn’t be a free speech issue. If the person is obviously certifiable, then it can be seen as being done for their own damned good.
@2 Puddy is an alien sent to earth to weaken our resistance before the main invasion fleet arrives.
One of the things I’ve noticed about this whole austerity schtick is the drumbeat of whining from the free-market types who want the Federal Reserve to prop up the stock market with more quantitative easing. That’s half of their prosperity plan. The other half is paying for the excesses of the rich by shifting the costs to the poor.
I wonder if the hedgies who are $2 billion richer at JP Morgan Chase’s expense are gonna give the money back to the bank? haha haha haha
The Efficient Market Theory
There’s a school of thought that argues markets are perfectly efficient at pricing in every known variable. Let’s see if it works:
Step 1: J P Morgan Chase lost $2 billion in derivatives trading.
Step 2: J P Morgan Chase’s stock went down $14 billion.
Do you understand why I make money by flipping stocks?
@ 4
Wondering who the free-market types desirous of QE3 might be.
How did that whole scott walker recall go? Lol
Gee, I wonder
http://www.reuters.com/article.....AF20120511
why the GOP wants to tighten voter registration rules?
Having illegals vote has always been part of the dnc strategy. Its why democrats have always resisted tightening up our immigration laws…..
Scott Walker’s fundraising is doing wonders for job creation in WI..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....f=politics
Last I looked it was just about the worst in the country. So much for slavishly copying/pasting the ALEC playbook.
And why Republicans are in favor of “fences”..
@11
Liberals fail….
Big eddie schultz and thom the scam artist hartmann said walker was going down in flames….
Wa happened? Lol
Mitt’s going to just turn the U.S. into a “private capital” venture..
http://www.romneyeconomics.com/gst/gst-intro
Worked out great for him!
The true theme of the R-Money campaign:
The perfect applause line for his billionaire funders!
It’s a real “scam” being leaps and bounds more intelligent than the typical asshat who listens to Dori Monson.
@9 “Gee, I wonder why the GOP wants to tighten voter registration rules?”
To prevent American citizens, particularly brown ones, from voting for the opposition party. Glad to help you out, you stupid fucking twit.
@8 “How did that whole scott walker recall go? Lol”
You stupid fucking idiot, you’ll find out in June just like everybody else. Damn, you’re fucking stupid.
If we required a minimum IQ of 60 to post here, we rid ourselves of these asswipes. Better to have no trolls at all than be stuck with the really stupid motherfuckers we’ve been cursed with so far.
@ 17
Ah, Steve, you closeted bigot. Referring to people by their skin color. You’re dropping your mask yet again.
Unfortunately for your ilk it’s not a Fox News or other right-leaning source of this story. Good luck spinning it.
Today’s ad? Romney killed jobs. Except he didn’t. A Bain-owned company went bankrupt two years after Romney left Bain. Pretty much while Romney was saving the SLC Olympics a company failed.
Using the same logic, Illinois’ troubles are Barack’s fault, since he was a legislator there once.
@ 18
Steve not taking well the fact that Walker’s up 9 points in the most recent poll, Wisconsin is running a budges surplus, the unions’ preferred candidate got her ass handed to her, and the DNC isn’t funding the WI Dems effort.
Steve not taking the WI disaster-to-be well at all.
What happens when the nation’s governors realize that the true solution to their states’ ills is telling the unions, for once, to shove it?
Steve will be even unhappier.
20 – Bob, the unions were more than willing to compromise with Walker.
He took their bargaining rights away anyway.
A budget surplus doesn’t mean jack when you also promised that your policies would create jobs..
Haven’t done that and won’t do that. ALEC legislation is designed to maximize profits not expand payrolls.
Almost all of the largest corporations were making money just fine even at the depths of the great recession.
@21
YLB you re-write history. Unions were willing to discuss increasing their contributions to their health care when it became clearly apparent to them that they were going to have that forced on them anyway.
They are still able to bargain collectively on salary issues.
Did you see what WEA did to their proposed insurance premiums after they were no longer the sole source for insurance, YLB? You should go look at that.
As a result of the savings, teacher layoffs were avoided and most schools found themselves in a whole less hot water. Teachers still taught and kids still learned.
What a concept. Teachers paying closer to what the rest of us pay and working full days means the schools can provide what they need to provide and stay within budget.
Don’t let that get out. Steve’s head will explode.
@19 I point out the obvious, the wingnut obsession with suppressing black and latino voters, and according the the second dumbest motherfucker on the planet, that makes me the bigot. Go fuck yourself, you goddamned idiot.
The source of the story is the Florida Wingnut Division of Elections. Gawd, you’re fucking stupid, even for a damned troll.
You don’t get it, twit, and you never will. If Walker wins in June, you and the rest of our dumbfuck trolls will still be as fucking stupid then as you are now. Your dumbfuckedness is something that will never, ever change.
“Steve’s head will explode.”
In your fucked up dreams.
Remember when the Republicans used to claim the Democrats were trying to surpress the GI vote from overseas? It was nonsense, of course.
But what makes it even more nonsense, especially now, is that polls show that Obama has a decided lead among veterans serving overseas over Romney. I seems that servicemen and women serving overseas don’t want a President who engages in “knee-jerk reaction” wars, much less those who do it for political benefit.
Weary warriors favor Obama over Romney, poll shows
It seems that they are all in favor of serving their country, but don’t like being used as pawns by “chickenhawks” who want to prove their manhood by sending them again into harm’s way.
The “rest of us” have been relentlessly screwed by the corporations – just ask the folks who used to work at Safeco after Mike McGavick and his ilk sent their jobs to India.
And to the extent that the right wing has convinced the “rest of us” are really being “screwed” by public unions just goes to show how debased the public discourse is and why more than ever right wing policies are NEVER to be trusted.
The plan is “you’re getting screwed by the public unions”, now look aside while we continue to pollute the environment, suppress the vote and use “savings” from telling the unions to “go to hell” to get more tax cuts from the Republicans.
@23
I’m sure you look forward to the allegation that 2,600 voters are non-citizens, based on information provided by the state, being proved false, then.
Right?
This morning I caught a snatch of a Walker speech and he mumbled something like:
“we don’t want to go back to the days of a one billion dollar deficit”
One billion!!! If only that was Texas’ problem and they’ve been right wing forever!
There was a non-emergency in WI that was “solved” with over-reaching ALEC legislation that hasn’t done jack to deliver the jobs that Walker promised.
@28 “based on information provided by the state”
You mean this state? You mean this kind of asswipe? You mean like the Florida Gov’s Chief of Staff?
Wingnuts. Every damned one of them is fucked up in the head.
It is time to bring back the Golden Goat. We have at least one strong contender for the prize in Bonehead Bob.
@8
People have until May 30th to mail in their ballots.
Regardless of how the election turns out, the recall got a lot of people on both sides that weren’t involved in or aware of what was going on in WI tuned in.
Unless the Democrat in the races loses really big, it’s a win or win even bigger situation for the Democrats.
Interesting map. A county by county break down of where in America veterans live.
http://www.dailyyonder.com/fil.....etsALL.jpg
Note that the war mongers in Texas and the Southeast tend to live in counties with a below average # of vets.
I should point out that the poll numbers among G.I.’s in favor of Obama comes despite considerable “pushing” over the years by the Republicans and a few top brass. For years, TV news services available at mess halls and other community quarters were limited to Fox News. Despite this (or perhaps because of this?), the G.I.s have formed their own opinions.
My own nephew, having recently returned from his secound tour in Afganistan, can speak for himself on this issue. He’s still a commissioned officer in the Army for another couple of weeks, but he says that after that term of service expires he’s let me know what he REALLY thinks. Before he went to Afganistan, he was a strong GOP supporter, his tone of voice suggested that perhaps he’s changed his mind a bit.
Gee, I think Walker’s still sweating. The Democrats had a hard row to hoe in selecting a candidate in a primary and giving them a little better than a week to campaign against Walker. And the amount of outside money coming in to support Walker (some of it in amounts as much as $10 Million per individual) is much greater than that coming in to support the Democratic candidate.
But iven if the Wisconson recall is unsuccesful, what Walker has managed to do is to provide a rallying point around which Democratic candidates for governor can bring in their support. Pointing out that a GOP candidate could be “another Scott Walker” is pretty effective at dropping a few points off the Republican favorability rating. After all, no prior proof is needed – Walker came in as a “sleeper” candidate, promising to pursue a moderate agenda and then turning around and performing a hatchet job. This means that we can’t trust ANY Republican candidate, and have a reasonable basis for doing so.
@ 35
Gee, even if Dems lose and even if Walker is successful it proves that the GOP can’t be trusted.
So, Dems win.
Too fuckin’ funny. You would think the DNC would share your opinion if it were that simple.
Have you noted that Barrett has used the same methods to reduce costs in Milwaukee as Walker has to decrease costs at the state level?
I see that right-wing extremist JT Ready was hoping to murder himself some illegal immigrant latino families.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi.....fpnewsfeed
It’d probably turn out no better than right-wing extremist Shawna Forde’s foray into the murder of illegal immigrant latino families, as when little 9-year old American citizen Brezina Flores was shot in the head and killed as she pleaded for her life.
Bob doesn’t know the difference between voter fraud and election fraud. He’s a pathetic apologist for billionaires.
Yea, you will think it’s real funny when the Repulican candidates start being called “Walker surrogates” (or “Walkerites?”) in every 2012 election, from the Presidency to a city council race.
It’s a self-inflicted wound you’ve created. Deal with it.
@ 38
Some types of fraud are ggggggooooooodddddd because it elects Dems. Other types of fraud are bbbbaaaddddddd if it can be used to make allegations against Republicans.
What’s next? You’ll share the difference between rape and rape-rape?
How do you know Wisconsin’s job climate is improving?
http://www.jsonline.com/news/w.....33845.html
You have Dems claiming that your lying eyes are deceiving you and that they know what’s really happening, even if the revisions say otherwise.
Nope! The Dem’s got a ton of people networked and set up for the 2012 elections ahead of time and got a ton of info out about Walker and the Republicans that wouldn’t have gotten out there otherwise. If it all blows up in their face and the Democrat loses big, like 12% or something, then it’s a loss for the Dem’s.
@ 42
So is 12 your over-under, then? Only thing I like better than IPA is free IPA, Current line is 9 so I need points.
@ 42
How much more networking was covered in the Walker recall than was covered in the Plosser/Kloppenburg race? She hooked her wagon to the union team bigtime. What did all those millions spent by the union on this recall fiasco buy them? Another few thousand names on a Dem database?
Florida’s already proven that most of the new names will be worthless.
Not to mention, it sucks up union campaign funds when they really want to be funneling them to The One:
http://articles.latimes.com/20.....s-20120511
Well, yeah, if you’re not getting it anyway…
Seitz-Wald recently declared on the Kremlin propaganda channel RT that he would be willing to give up sex for a year in exchange for the Internet.
http://freebeacon.com/thinkpro.....continues/
Best Liz Warren Indian names:
She Will Sioux
Stands with a Writ.
Hunts at Whole Foods
Chief Full-of-Lies
Running Joke
47 – Oh Bob! How bigoted of you!
@ 48
Yeah, I thought of that, but isn’t it faux bigotry, since she isn’t really an Indian?
“Hunts at Whole Foods” was pretty good.
49 – We’ll be sure to cite this next time you attack RR.
Funny that it’s all so “funny” to you.
@ 51
Maybe it qualifies me to be VP in an Obama administration, whaddya think?
Or do I need to work on my Hindu accent before I’m up to Biden standards?
51 – I mean where’s the outrage we saw with RR??
Strangely missing when it comes to freeper-style comments left on right wing comment threads.
We see laughter now.. Enjoy Bob.. I’m sure it’ll warm you heart even more when a right wing tool like Brown edges out a consumer advocate like Liz Warren.
Good thing Ron Paul’s suspending his campaign. He just lost another donor:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/.....estaurant/
re 47: Ah… The numbers — Bob’s Indian name is Three Skin. The tribe agreed that he was not good enough to be Four Skin.
““Hunts at Whole Foods” was pretty good.”
Not really.
Of course, no HA troll has ever had an original thought:
http://theconservativetreehous.....d-against/
The hate-filled asswipe concluded that it was bigoted of me to talk about wingnut efforts to suppress the votes of blacks and latinos.
@ 54
I’ll have to take your word for it. I have no foreskin while you have encountered many. Probably with forked tongue.
Looks like the trolls have already thrown in the towel on the presidential race. At this point they are resorting to claiming that “not losing” a recall election for Wisconsin governor is cause for celebration, despite any other loses elsewhere.
Main reason to vote for Obama: Mitt Romney.
Main reason to not vote for a Republican to Congrewss (either house): Paul Ryan.
Main reason to not vote for a Republican as governor: Scott Walker.
Funny how a couple of trolls show up on this site only during an election year, and then dissapear shortly thereafter. At least Sharansky had the testicles to buy Goldy a beer when his candidate lost.
“Funny that it’s all so “funny” to you.”
Hateful right-wing extremist bigotry is obviously “funny” to Bob. But mention the efforts of right-wing bigots to suppress black and latino voting rights? The mere mention of right-wing voting rights suppression is the real bigotry to Bob’s feeble mind.
Face it, folks, we have some of the stupidest fucking trolls on the damned planet.
@ 57
So if the convo’s not All Obama, All The Time it means the right thinks the presidential election’s lost?
Funny. Keep believing it.
True to form that a leftoid believes that the best reason to vote for Obama is fear of the other guy. You would think that after 3+ years in office you could offer something positive in support of your candidate.
Although after these past three years, making people afraid of the other guy is probably your best shot at getting re-elected. No surprise.
Here ya go, YLB:
http://www.dor.state.wi.us/news/20120511_01.pdf
Walker’s been in office little more than a year and already there’s a surplus and job growth.
Somehow you find fault with that and yet you fully support Obama, under whose administration job growth is barely better than the minimum needed to keep up with natural population growth and whose administration is left with claiming jobs are ‘created or saved’.
“You would think that after 3+ years in office you could offer something positive in support of your candidate.”
Horseshit.
You can be the first troll to say actually something positive about Mitt Romney. Go for it, Bob.
@56
Lmfao…that was funny
# 59: Gee, getting people to vote for someone by making them afraid of the other guy is so, so, UN-REPUBLICAN !
(Excuse, me, I have to catch my breath, I laughed while trying to drink my coffee…)
60 – If there’s something like 77 or 78 thousand net jobs created then Walker’s kept his promise.
I haven’t looked at your cite but I highly doubt that’s the case Bob.
@ 63
Not saying the right hasn’t done it. What I AM saying is that your guy, who was supposed to be transformative, has been the least transparent, the most partisan, and wasted his veto-proof majority paying off his cronies rather than doing what he was elected to do.
So now you are forced to revert to the norm in order to try to keep it going. You can’t run to Wall Street for your funding this time around, the kiddies who supported you in 2008 now can’t find jobs and ‘cool’ isn’t as compelling with a record of failure your guy has.
You decide your best shot is to make people fear the opposition. You look back on your record and realize you have no chance if it’s a referendum on performance.
@ 64
I guess it might look short if you don’t revert to ‘created or saved’ to make your numbers, YLB.
66 – He promised 250,000 jobs over his term..
So I believe the number I cited is about right for this time.
The surplus is hardly here or there because WI was never in that bad of fiscal shape. Has there been some job growth in WI? I hope so because any viewing of the bikini graph shows job growth since the trough in early 2009.
Oh my! Those disastrous job killing Obama policies!
Has there been as much job growth in WI as Walker promised? He got everything he wanted with his party in the legislature in lockstep behind him. Again I highly doubt it.
“You decide your best shot is to make people fear the opposition.”
Is that why you wingnuts have nothing positive to say about Mitt Romney even as you all rag on and on and on about Kenya, birth certificates, our Muslim presidemt and how he’s gonna take your guns away?
You’re such a dickwad.
re 56: As far as technique goes, I’ll have to defer to your expertise.
# 65: “…veto-proof majority…”
It’s not the veto, it’s the ability to invoke cloiture in the Senate to cut off a filibuster that’s been ths sticking point. President Obama has always been one short of that vote, without at least one defection by the Republicans (which allowed the Affordable Care Act to be passed). That, and the Republicans unprecedented use of the filibuster to try to sabatoge the economy for their own political advange all so that idiots like you will then claim that the President hasn’t delivered on the economic recovery. Of course, the economy could be doing back flips right now, and Romney would still be making that claim.
Oh, and thanks for reminding us that in the greatist economic crisis since the Great Depression, all thanks to the Republicans in charge 2000 – 2008, Republicans announced that THEIR priority was making sure the President wasn’t re-elected. It didn’t matter to them that FEMA was being shut down (costing tens of millions in lost tax revenue), that unemployed workers were going to lose their benefits two weeks before Christmas – they really don’t care as long as their own interests are advanced.
Yet another reason to NEVER vote for a Republican.
@44
We wont know what it’s bought them until after the recall election. If it’s bought them several pre-built election staffs with volunteers that are already well versed and tested, they’re golden for the fall election. If it blows up in their faces and everyone tells the Dem’s to fuck off, then they’re fucked. Wont know till it happens. We do know that everything has trade offs and risks.
Bret Victor – Revolutionary:
http://worrydream.com/#!/Bio
Check out his goals.
Mindblowing talk:
http://vimeo.com/36579366
“Social activists typically fight by organizing. You can fight by inventing.”
Wow has this guy invented!
“Republicans announced that THEIR priority was making sure the President wasn’t re-elected”
Our trolls started blaming all the nation’s ills that were caused by the failure of Reaganomics on the uppity Kenyan Jihadist before he was even in office. They would have started even sooner but their heads had recently exploded and it took them a couple of weeks to stuff the goat shit they call brains back into their thick skulls.
Our trolls hate on the uppity Kenyan Jihadist and yet he’s the best Republican president we’ve had since Bill Clinton. Go figure.
We all agree Austerity is bad, very bad, for everyone but the banksters.
What countries are doing the opposite of Austerity successfully?
If its down to Romney vs Obama, I will probably hold my nose and vote Obama.
Obama is pretty much harmless, while I dont trust Romney.
What I AM saying is that your guy, who was supposed to be transformative,
Yep, that was the goal
has been the least transparent,
How do you figure? Show us your proof of a pattern of obfuscation so we can discuss them.
the most partisan,
I suppose if you mean, not completely absolutely doing what ever the republicans want, then I guess he is being partisan. Show us your proof of a pattern of partisanship so we can discuss them.
and wasted his veto-proof majority paying off his cronies rather than doing what he was elected to do.
To do WHAT?
76 – Iceland and Argentina refused austerity. They told the banksters to go to hell. They were still able to get credit. China didn’t impose austerity afaik.
We ourselves chose very weak stimulus and we’ve done better than the UK which has dipped back into recession.
Stimulus can work – you just have to apply enough to do the job. Austerians believe given enough time, in the long run everything will work out but in the long run – we’re all dead.
@76
Look @ Scotland V. England. Two parts of the same country and same economic unit handling the recession differently (England going the austerity route). Scotland’s doing so well that it want’s to break with England and be an independent country. But, also note that Scotland invested it’s share of North Sea oil wealth while England lived off of theirs (Thatcher cut taxes and blew through their oil windfall).
Also look at Iceland V. Ireland and Greece. Iceland gave the bankers the finger and filed for bankruptcy. Iceland’s been completely fucked since filing (cars with big loans against them tend to catch on fire on a regular basis), but at this point they’re half way to healthy and the end of the tunnel’s in sight. While in Ireland they’ve been fucked, are being fucked, and there’s no end to being completely fucked in sight. We still don’t even know what’s going to happen in Greece.
The way I see it most of the first world needs to go through a structured contraction, but that’s not what’s happening in europe, they’re just being screwed over.
I’d probably site different things than you, but the outcome’s about the same.
Wasn’t that front page news on Nov. 5, 2008?
What a biased skewed lying report.
Florida says 180,000 non-citizens may be on voter rolls
Lets see, according the census the population of the Miami-Dade County is 2,496,435.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/q.....12086.html
so that means 0.064% MAY be not be citizens.
Oh gawd republicans! Be terribly afraid of that 0.064%.
bob, why are you not upset with this level of shoddy reporting?
You think the republican voter suppression effects more than 0.064% of the vote?
I believe when you’re at the bad end of a credit cycle then if you want to recover in a halfway reasonable amount of time and minimize the suffering of the maximum number of people then the rich MUST take some losses. Heavy losses even..
A more quickly recovering economy means the rich recover too.
“Officials in Florida”
Appointed by Gov. Scott to facilitate the suppression of voting rights. Too fucking predictable for words.
@85
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!1!!
YOU CAN’T TAKE MY STUFF!!! IT’S A VIOLATION OF MY FREEEEEEEDOMMM!!
COMMMMUNISMMMM!!
87 – Austerity as a solution for credit collapse is just shorthand for the rich KEEP ON getting richer and the poor KEEP ON getting poorer ONLY FASTER.
@88
And then the poor get really poor and say “hey, fuck you” to the rich, and when the poor vastly out number the rich, and you’re in a country like America where there’s about 88 guns for every 100 people wanna guess what happens next?
Anyone have any comment about Dow Constantine’s taste in women?
@90
Nah, it’s not like he was carrying on about the evils of homosexuality while going by the name Cobra82 and doing half the young, gay, males in town. Or carrying on about the evils of homosexuality and then paying gay guys for sex while you’re at Republican convention in Spokane.
Dow did something stupid and called it off on his own. Embarrassing, but that’s about the end of it.
re Dow Constantine:
Lemmee guess. I’m gonna click on (un)SP and get WAY, WAY, WAY more than anyone could ever ask for…
Apparently they haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Inexcusable in the glory days of that ugly place.
What did Constantine do?
94 – Look at seattletimes.com
By the way, the story is posted by “Bob” Young.
Huh! I wonder…
Oh, I found it…
So he had an affair. We’re supposed to care about this, bob? Really? Why?
It always astounds me that Republicans bring up sexual impropriety. They have to realize that for every one example on the left that they cite we can cite at least three on the right and ours will be way worse than theirs. How can they not know this?
Remember this one:
I dropped by (un)SP the other day…it was a parody of itself.
There was a predictable pudge piece downplaying bullying, and how he got over being bullied all by himself, and that Rmoney’s savagery was no big deal.
There was a Jim Miller piece of drivel linking to Instaputz expressing skepticism that reduced public health agency budgets had any impact on the present Pertussis outbreak.
Then there was a Timmeh Eyman piece exhorting the local brownshirts to greater devotion to the 2/3 majority cause.
*shakes head*
@96
An affair that doesn’t seem to have crossed any lines that we should be concerned about.
I generally have a pretty low tolerance for politicians (or anyone else) that can’t keep their dick in their pants. I mean, I’m a complete horndog and I can keep my dick in my pants, so why can’t they?
But, this one doesn’t seem to have crossed any lines. It’s not like he fled the country for a dirty weekend in South America, leaving everyone to wonder where he was at, and then claimed he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
That’s so stupid it hurts to read it.
@96 I think the idea is for us to ignore the moral decadence of today’s GOP.
http://www.republicanoffenders.com/Pedophiles.html
@ 79
Iceland and Argentina are NOT members of the EU. The whole EU is placed at risk when its members begin to default. Totally different scenario from when sole nations tell other countries to shove off Imagine, YLB, defaulting on your debt and having your parents, or your sister, on the hook for it instead. You might be less likely to welsh on your debts if your family got stuck with the tab. Hence Europe’s problem. Greece’s northern EU neighbors are also by and large its lenders.
Iceland’s finance minister even warned Greece not to do what Iceland did:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....eland.html
Argentina recovered, in about a decade, from its default. But it did so on the basis of commodity production, largely soybeans, which it sold to other countries, to pull itself out of a hole.
Greece, on the other hand, doesn’t make much, and its unions won’t step up and do more to help, so the likelihood that Greece could produce itself out of being an economic pariah is far less likely.
Nice try, but the world isn’t as simple as you might have us believe.
Obama Leads Among Veterans
A new poll shows Obama leading Rmoney by 7 points among military veterans.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47415035/ns/us_news/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: As a Vietnam veteran, I couldn’t vote for Rmoney because he lacks character and integrity.
@ 103
Same poll:
“Asked about Obama’s handling of his job, 27 percent of veterans approved, and 37 percent disapproved, with the rest undecided.”
You sure you believe the poll data matching Romney vs. Obama? Barely more than a quarter of veterans think Obama’s doing a job worthy of approval.
THAT’s the take-home message. Small wonder Romney’s ahead in the CBS-NYT poll released today. That’s what happens when the cross-tabs reflect reality, peeps.
@102 “Greece … doesn’t make much, …”
Except Greece is Europe’s largest producer of cotton and pistachios, 2nd largest producer of rice and olives, 3rd in figs, almonds, tomatoes, and watermelons; has the world’s largest merchant shipping fleet; and led Europe in manufacturing growth between 2005 and 2011. Greece makes, among other things, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, beverages, and dairy products.
As usual, Bob doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
@ 105
Greece has a predominately service economy, which (including tourism) accounts for over 70% of GDP.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/gdp
Greece has a capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs.
http://www.indexmundi.com/gree.....ofile.html
So with 40% of its GDP created by that notoriously efficient public sector and 20% of its work force unskilled, Greece will grow its way out of a post-default hole………
How, exactly?
Figs?
Thanks for the Encyclopedia Britannica review of Greece’s exports, though. Glad to know there’s still one or two of those still on the shelf.
@ 79, 105
Argentina, with a labor force of 16 million, defaulted on $81B
Greece, with a labor force of 5 million, will default on around $300B
Greece receives 3+% of its GDP as aid from its EU neighbors. You think that will continue after it stiffs them, when they can divert the money to save Spain and Italy instead?
40% of Greece’s GDP is produced by public sector. It’s public sector unions that are striking because they don’t want to work harder and earn less.
With all of this working against Greece, how is Greece like Argentina?
Answer: It’s not. It doesn’t have the wherewithal, nor the gravitas, to work itself out of a hole. Olive oil, figs, and watermelons only go so far.
Oh bob! Such miserable bullshit! I’d never put my parents or other relations in that position.
And even if that’s the case why in the world would they extend the credit to me in the first place?
Why would they take the risk???
The creditors of Argentina and Iceland were milking those cows for all they were worth for no better reason than to continue expecting future returns to match or better past results.
All well and good until the world changes under people’s feet..
So ok they defaulted and look what’s happened! Argentina and Iceland still have things to offer the world – therefore THEY STILL GET CREDIT!
@105
Funny how when someone suggests that we use a system that lets the free market do its work and punishes people who made stupid loans all of the sudden Bob thinks governments should get involved.
I didn’t checkout Bob’s link, but one of Iceland’s finance minsters advised Iceland to not do what Iceland did! He got run out of office.
While Iceland isn’t an EU nation, the vast majority of its debt is owed to EU nations so its really not that different. Iceland, Greece, and Ireland all have small economies, and could have all restructured at the same time. Ireland and Greece would have gotten a better deal and the people that made stupid loans would have had to take the hit for their stupid behavior. In the end Greece would probably still be a basket case. Greece as always been a basket case. And the rest of use could have gotten on with life.
And further more, what is “bob’s alternative” to default – the debtor living in miserable penury in perpetuity???
Some compassionate wealthy relative you make Bob!
Bob, Bob, Bob, go back and read your own post!
Where’s Greece going to come up with $300B? It’s not! Greece doesn’t have the cash and it never will. It would have been much better for Greece to have gone under in a structured way in 2009, with a much smaller debt, than to go under now with $300B in debt, no functioning government, and everyone pulling their guns out of storage.
Greece is a basket case and there’s no way it should have ever been loaned the kind of money it was. The people that loaned Greece that cash need to take a hit. The people of Greece are going to take a far larger hit than any of the bankers that loaned them that cash ever will.
@ 108, 111
Er, those lenders ARE taking a hit. A huge hit. And that’s with the agreements that Greece already has made and is now reneging on.
I think the March agreement was for the investors to take a 50+% haircut (53.5%?) on the face value of the bonds they bought. In addition, the interest rate they were to receive would be decreased.
So the pain has already been felt, more than once, at the lending end, Michael.
And, yes, YLB, the lenders were expecting the future to be as good as or better than the past. Duh. If the understood risk was greater than a standard risk, the interest rate would have been higher.
If it were just Greece, and not the whole EU at risk, a default would already have occurred and the result would be a ton of out-of-work public sector workers, pensions slashed to nothing, and austerity from within, not forced from outside, when Greece can’t get loans based on its new currency.
It’s only because of the EU security that Greece has been able to promise, renege, promise, renege. Germany’s pretty much been there, done that now. Can you blame her?
When Greece is forced out of the EU, and the bondholders take the huge losses you are cheering to happen, Greece will be isolated and the public sector workers will get theirs. It will be far, far worse than what they are facing now. Things that can’t go on forever, don’t.
Strange you don’t realize that is what will happen. Perhaps you would not be so supportive of Greece’s unions’ intransigence if you did.
Because it doesn’t have the cash and it never did.
Greece should have never been let into the EU!
Exactly, and we knew back in ’09 that Greece was in over its head.
That’s your own bias talking. I’ve never been supportive of Greece’s anything (except food which is yummy). Greece has been in default for right about 50% of its existence. As I’ve said many times on this thread (and else where on HA) Greece is a basket case. Greece should NEVER have been treated as anything other than a 3rd world basket case. And yet, your 1%er banker buddies loaned them cash by the bucket full.
@113
What I’m supportive of is not throwing good money after bad, which is what’s been going on in Greece since at least ’09.
And who are they who want this Roger DumbASS Wabbit? Libtards.
Thanks for playing… Sometimes you slip up and tell the truth about Obummer’s gang.
Remember you were thinking Apple was following Republican thought processes. NOT. They are running away from paying US taxes like GE… Both companies are Obummer lovers! Wanna review your stupidity again? Just ask ylb. Then again, you are afraid to ask ylb and his deranged data-debazement. Very afraid to review your stupidity in pixels.
This is one of the reasons people are seeing through the Obummer BULLSHITTIUM…
Ahhhh yes the litany of attack ads being developed will be wonderful!
Greece’s wonderful economy shrank in the first three months of 2012, the 13th contraction in the past 14 quarters! So Dumb Wabbit, if those products you proclaim are so precious to the world why is Greece imploding?
Once again all can see Roger Dumb Wabbit doesn’t know what he’s talking about!
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/E.....cord-shows
Oh, god, the stupidest man alive has arrived – Hi puddles!
So, given your superior analytic skills, puddles, tell us – how did the Burgess Shale form? and where did all those fantastical creatures come from, and go?
Did all that wonderful oil we’re burning come from fossilized algae deposited tens and hundreds of millions of years ago, or did god put it there 6000 for us to find and use as we please?
Did Jesus ride a dinosaur? How did Noah keep the Velociraptors from eating the Emperor Penguins? Did god create dinosaur fossils just to test our faith? Or did the devil do it?
While your at it, please spew some more false equivalences and bash a few straw men, oh, and please provide us some of those cool linky-things that don’t go anywhere you say they go – I love those.
I love when puddles comments here!
http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....5600.story
Yet what is the agenda of our dear degenerate right wingers in this country? To make us the laughingstock of the world apparently..
puddles was trying to make some cheap hit (emphasize ‘trying’) with a reference about Newsweek the other day, and it’s silly ‘Obama is first Gay President’ cover.
Buchanan beat him to it, it seems. Also diaried here, with some discussion of his lover, a gay Alabama senator who moved to Cuba to get better health care (no, really).
The Salon piece also discussed chronocentrism, an interesting notion that our time is inherently superior to the past – however, puddles is clear evidence for retrograde evolution if there ever was!
“You use divide and conquer”
http://www.jsonline.com/multim.....2690236001
http://www.thenation.com/blog/.....o-says-yes
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/14-3
@ YLB
So they’re spending about $120 per head for insurance coverage.
Yeah, if it’s $120 per head in the US as well, I’m OK with that.
I have to wonder if you guys even read the text of what you post.
Apparently the Obama campaign has decided that having Obama go off-script to generate more donations isn’t something they want the rest of the country to hear:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejm.....ers-secret
I guess that ‘bitter clingers’ gaffe is still smarting, four years later.
Seems to me they could just dump Biden and problem solved.
http://www.alternet.org/story/.....1&t=5
@120
And yet, when people need superior healthcare or an operation, the most often head to america.
Why don’t you go to thailand or china and see how the care is dumbass.
Ylb thinks we should have a haelthcare system like rwanda and ghana.
Nice selling point there idiot….
127 – 128 – Yawwwn more dumbass shit from a know-nothing.. The point flies right over his pin head.
The crazed dumbazz deranged data-debazed made a point?
Nope… still a dope!
130 – Yep, totally lost on a reading-comprehension challenged dope like you as well..
Like that’s a surprise..