– The story of the Metro Route 48 is pretty amazing.
– The city council lost its best excuse not to put the full $80 on the ballot. But they’re still not going to.
– What could go wrong with a tunnel (h/t Mike O’Brien on Facebook)?
– Good on Warren Buffet.
– We’ve seen Rick Perry before, he was called George W. Bush.
(Sigh!) I have to say good on Danny Westneat for pointing out that digging a tunnel under downtown Seattle isn’t exactly cutting-edge stuff. There are at least three of ’em already (if you count the Battery Street one) and the first, which to this day carries the BNSF main line from the King Street Station to Interbay, was dug in 1903 by hand, with picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and horse carts.
There are a lot of reasons not to replace the Viaduct with Gregoire’s Folly, but the notion that it’s technically unfeasable ain’t one of them. Perhaps the most valid one is that most likely we’d be better off simply tearing down the Viaduct and encouraging people to take other routes–perhaps using some of the money to do some fixing up of I-5. For an idea of how that might turn out, look at San Francisco’s Embarcadero.
What I want to know is, if capitalism is so great and communism is so bad, how come all the capitalist countries are up to their necks in hock to communist China?
My read on the Publicola piece is that Seattle could still get $80 tabs on the ballot if there was some sort of consideration for low income folks and some more push from the pro $80 camp. ‘Course, I could be wrong, thats happened before.
Dear Nick Licata,
The $20 difference between $60 and $80 amounts to an extra $1.665 a month. Please vote for the extra $1.665 a month.
What’s the deal with Licata anyway, I thought he was your gold plated urbanist on the council?
2
Curious, isn’t it?
It seems that Tim Eyeman’s absolutely has gone bonkers over King County raising it’s car tab fees. He’s appealling for the people of Eastern Washington to bombard two Republican council-members with e-mails and phone calls to register their fury.
Gee, Timmy, if King County wants to tax cars to reduce congestions (which will make it easier to drive), what’s wrong with that? If you don’t like it, you can go live somewhere else – like Mukilteo.
@5
I forgot the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....038;sns=fb
It seems that the Chinese are rather amazed that Gary Locke acts – normal. A picture of him buying his own coffee at Starbucks at SeaTac airport, and using a discount coupon, has them all a’twitter.
The “ABCs” of Being Ambassador to China
An editorial in the Chattanoogan today about Rachel Beckwith,
http://www.chattanoogan.com/ar.....206980.asp
Rachel gets Utah media bump yesterday.
How about those DFH’s at Oped News!
http://www.opednews.com/articl.....3-101.html
They’re on board.
South Africa? I don’t speak the language, but it looks like they’ve jumped on board with Rachel too.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyhe.....3465614.ab
Interesting that even the always very liberal LA Times is trashing Obama. They even reported Obama’s recent fall below 40% Approval in the Gallup Poll. http://www.latimes.com/news/po.....1281.story
It’s really quite amazing to watch our President self-destruct thru his lack of any jobs plan and his dubious choices of how to spend his time while the economy is crumbling and so many are unemployed or underemployed or quit looking. Great idea..go to the elitistville of Martha’s Vineyard and hobnob with the rich white folks you claim to want to go after!! Go for a $1 Billion campaign funded mainly by rich white folks you claim to want to tax more. Good, good, good.
A media bump in Italy.
Go Italy!
http://www.ilpuntoamezzogiorno.....lidarieta/
@13
So he’s at about the same point St. Ronnie was in his presidency, minus the catholic priests chaining themselves to the doors of federal buildings, sane/freeze marches that filled Central park, and across the pond 30K women in the UK linking arms and completely surrounding a US military base, twice.
Indonesia.
http://www.jawaban.com/index.p.....9/limit/0/
@17
That’s awesome.
I remember a “children’s crusade” back in 1968 – another time of senseless war and deep national division. Get “Clean for Gene”? Hmm, stay with Bobby(“Arrgh!! Get in!!”)? I stuck with Bobby. I was sixteen and ready to change the world. We all know that crusade pretty much died in Los Angeles and was buried in Chicago.
I don’t believe what has been started by Rachel’s passing is going to end anytime soon. I think that it’s about more than clean water. I believe that it’s about making hope and change real. I believe a lot of people on this planet have been long ready to make it real. It just took a little girl’s birthday wish to show the way.
re 19: Name that tune:
“Be the first one on your block, to have your boy come home in a box!”
I think it was in the Chattanooga editorial that there was mention of a doctor there whose faith in humanity and a sense of self empowerment had been restored by this girl’s simple wish and witnessing the world’s response. I see many comments on Rachel’s site with similar expressions of restored faith in humanity and self empowerment,
Like I said, this is about more than clean water.
http://www.mycharitywater.org/.....n_id=16396
“Gimme an F!” heh. County Joe and the Fish.
Your turn.
“The eastern world, it is exploding”
If warren buffett wants to pay more taxes, why doesn’t he just pay more taxes? Its not like anybody is stopping him from writing the govt a check.
A Las Vegas Sun editorial today,
http://www.lasvegassun.com/new.....death-act/
Green is clean and it’s more media for Rachel,
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2011/0.....gic-death/
re 22: The Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire
“Who cares what things we choose, little to win but nothing to lose.”
My question is this: Which member of the Strawberry Alarm Clock joined Lynard Skynard (I forget how it’s pronounced) in 1972 to play guitar?
re 23:
Because it wouldn’t solve our financial problems. Here’s a question for you: If rich people don’t want to pay taxes, why don’t they renounce their citizenship, sell all their stock in U.S. companies, and move to Switzerland? (The Yodeling never gets old)
Call ‘Bullshit’ On Rick Perry’s Jobs Claims?
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is staking his presidential run on job creation — specifically, he claims to know how to createe jobs and bring down unemployment because 38% of new U.S. jobs since 2009 are in Texas.
Should we call “bullshit” on Perry’s job credentials?
The answer is emphatically “YES!” but first let’s provide a little backdrop:
“[I]f Texas has created many jobs, it has failed to create good jobs. Many of the jobs created since 2009 pay only minimum wage, and Texas, along with Mississippi, has the highest percentage of minimum wage workers in the U.S.”
But even more than that,
“[I]t’s unclear how much (if any) blame or credit Perry personally deserves for either Texas’ good job creation or Texas’ bad wages.
“Perry did not endow Texas with the oil that supports the Texas economy. Nor did he locate Texas next door to Mexico and the flow of … immigration that drives down Texas wages.”
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINIO.....?hpt=hp_c1
The main point here is Perry can’t transplant Texas’ oil and gas reserves, or its proximity to Mexico, in other states (“beam me up, Scotty!”) — so he’s not to blame for Texas’ low wages, but neither can he deliver on any promise to replicate Texas’ job growth throughout the U.S.; Texas’ job experience, good and bad, is unique to Texas.
The bottom line is Perry has no special job cred. He’s simply a politician from a state with a unique local economy.
It’s not a spurious issue; jobs is THE central issue of the 2012 campaign (but do you notice how congressional GOPers ignored this issue after campaigning on it in 2010?).
But for Perry to credibly make jobs the centerpiece of his campaign for president he’ll have to come up with a nationwide job-creating formula. So far, all we’ve gotten from him is “get government out of the way.” That’s nothing more than a substance-less bumper-sticker slogan. It has no support from economists, or even from prominent business people like Bill Gross who have weighed in on the issue of the economy.
Being able to spew hot air is not a qualification for the presidency. Unless and until Perry demonstrated he has actual knowledge of how the economy works and useful insights on how to kick the job-creating engine into gear, he doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously — either as an economic pundit, or as a serious candidate for the presidency.
Truth be told, it’s unclear how much (if any) blame or credit Perry personally deserves for either Texas’ good job creation or Texas’ bad wages. Perry did not endow Texas with the oil that supports the Texas economy. Nor did he locate Texas next door to Mexico and the flow of legal and illegal immigration that drives down Texas wages.
I had to Google that one. Ed King. Never heard of him!
CNN columnist John P. Avlon thinks the GOP has a problem:
“That Bachmann can eclipse a candidate like Pawlenty in a swing state like Iowa points to a major problem in the Republican Party … factional fault lines are rumbling; dividers are crowding out uniters. …
“Even Perry’s … entry highlights this problem. He is a charismatic check-the-box candidate — a social conservative and a fiscal conservative, a pro-business Southern governor beloved by both evangelicals and the tea party. But as Republican consultant Mike Murphy said on ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, ‘I don’t know a senior, experienced, real consultant in the party … who doesn’t think that Perry is a … weak candidate in the general election.’ …
“[T]here is a sense of overconfidence creeping into some conservative circles. The thinking seems to be that they can throw almost any base-pleasing, pledge-signing, ideological purist up and still win the presidency. But … elections … are won by the candidate who connects with moderates and the middle class. The combination of overheated right-wing ideology and theology alienates these … voters.”
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINIO.....?hpt=hp_c1
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Avlon goes on to predict that Bachmann, if she won the GOP nomination, would be swamped in “a landslide that would make Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater in 1964 look small.” Avlon leaves us with these words:
As the columnist Jack Newfield once wrote, “ignoring electability is the fingerprint of fanaticism.”
@8 Is there an implication herein that this is something they would never have seen Jon Huntsman do? That is, other than for the reason that if he’s a truly observant Mormon, he wouldn’t be drinking coffee?
# 28: One factor in job creation in Texas has been to deprive workers of Workman’s Compensation benefits.
I’m not sure when this took place, so I don’t know whether to blame Perry directly or not. But clearly, he hasn’t made any efforts to change it.
But please note that we are not talking about simply a reduction of benefits. We are talking about employers having the right to “opt out” of the workman’s compensation system by requiring the workers to sign a “waiver” as a condition of their employment, which restricts worker’s rights to whatever health insurance the employer deems to provide.
During the high-water mark of the Iraq insurgency, truckers were asked to fly to Texas (at their own expense) for job interviews, at which point they would be told they were working for a company which was a subsidiary of Haliburton, sign the documents, and you will get paid “big money” to drive trucks in Iraq (just like you do at home). The comparatively higher pay in a struggling economy was a big inducement, but when they get shot or hurt by an IED their benefits are almost nothing. Their employment is terminated, they have to pay the COBRA payments to keep benefits flowing, and it only pays the bare minimum of medical bills, not lost wages, long-term disability, etc.
A couple of years ago an engineer who was looking for a job told me that he was told he had to fly to Texas to talk to them about it – we figured out pretty quickly it was the same sort of scheme.
By the way, Perry’s got people flooding the right wing discussions with claims that during his administration, Texas has “created” more jobs than the rest of the U.S. combined.
I don’t know where those figures are coming from, but I expect that they are complete B.S., circulated by anonymous posters and callers to talk shows so that Perry can claim ignorance of the claims if he is called upon it.
Lee, Carl;
When posting an open thread, could you do a bit more to identify it? Such as “Open Thread-Monday”, or “Open Thread-Sunday Night”? We’ve got people commenting on two open threads which are back-to-back right now, and it’s a bit confusing.
You too? I was just wishing Open threads could be marked with a date. “Open Tread August 15, 2011.”
# 35: Or to make it shorter, you could call use the other date format – “Open Thread 15AUG2011”. We use this at work to avoid confusion due to the different formats used by other countries.
I’m no fan of Pawlenty, but I’ve really got to wonder at the Republican process. They’ve got a straw poll in Iowa of about 11,000 voters, with the top-two splitting a bit less than 9,000 votes between them in a close match. The third-place winner, with some 2,500 votes (rought estimate) drops out the next day, saying there was “no clear path to the nomination”. But those at the bottom – Cain, Gingrich, etc., are still sticking in (so far), despite coming in very far behind.
The press is already calling it a race between Romeny and Perry, even though Perry wasn’t in the straw poll. In the meantime, Sarah Palin is still rumored to be considering a run.
So I’m thinking, that even if you had a viable national candidate, one that 75% or more of the American electorate overall would approve, there is probably no way they could get past the Iowa straw poll, where a few thousand Iowans would decide whether or not they should even run.
No wonder they end up with so many crazy candidates – you have to be crazy to play that game.
@27
Nice try at deflection. Last I checked, I’m pretty sure rich people pay taxes…and a lot more than you or I. So in order for warren to be a patriot, he needs to be forced to pay more? Why doesn’t he just nut up and lead by example? Talk is cheap mr buffett. Whether the rich should pay more is not the question….the question is if warren feels like he should be paying more, then who the fuck is stopping him?
Apprently warrens conscience and sense of duty only go so far as producing a few sound bytes….otherwise he would whip out his checkbook.
@37 rhp6033,
It is not so much a Republican process which stuck the fork in T-Paw as it is our common money primary process and the fact the T-Paw was a really lousy candidate.
T-Paw generated no buzz and no cash, and after T-Paw invested himself in the Straw Poll and sucked a**, the prospect of T-Paw ever being capable of being competitive went to zero.
But look on the bright side, neither Newticles or Cain dropped out, so that’s good for the economy!
# 38: Buffet’s whipped out his checkbook quite enough, thank you, for charitable causes. He’s smart enough to know that if he gives his money to the government, wingnuts like you would argue that he’s paid your share, so you shouldn’t have to contribute at all.
I think the defining moment for him came when he realized his secratary was paying more in taxes than he was.
But Buffet’s always invested for the long-term, and that shows up in the companies in which he has invested. He’s never looked just at quarterly earnings, as so many investers do nowdays. And he knows that stability is the key to investing and prosperity.
The up-and-down roller coaster ride on which the Republicans keep insisting on putting the American economy is one of the biggest problems investors face. Sure, the day traders might make a killing (or lose their shirts), but it’s terrible for business owners who want to invest for the long term.
Funny how many wingnuts are so quickly dismissing Buffet (a multi-billionaire with a track record going back five decades), because he doesn’t follow their gospel of zero taxes and no regulations. But they cheer Bachman when she claims that her husband’s small clinic, which survives in part on federal aid, demonstrates that they know how to “create jobs and run a government”.
Waiting for some pundit to refer to the “Backman-Perry Overdrive” in five, four, three, two….”
YOU ARE SO STUPID…
Buffet is speaking out because:
1) the tax system is unfair. The people working for him who are a lot less well-off are REQUIRED to pay taxes at a HIGHER rate than he is or people like him.
2) He’s concerned for his country. It’s clearly on a fiscally unsustainable path.
3) That “concern” isn’t going to be addressed UNLESS EVERYONE OF MEANS PITCHES IN. That means they are REQUIRED BY LAW to pitch in for the fancy military, nasa, epa, hud, education, interest on the debt for two wars, etc.
Notice that he said lower income people who live from paycheck to paycheck should continue to receive their current 2 percent payroll tax break until the economy is back on its feet.
Now if only he’d say something about corporate taxes. Contributing only 8 percent to the federal coffers is too freaking low.
The “just pay more” “argument” is IDIOTIC – IT DOESN”T SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
At this point, my money’s on Perry as the Republican nominee. Romney just won’t be able to get past his Morman religion to win the Evangelical Republican vote, in the face of (yet another) Republican candidate (Perry) who claims that God has already annointed him to be President.
Bachman will give Romney a run for the nomination, right up to the early summer of 2012. She might endorse him if he gives her the VP slot, but if not I could see her actually making a third-party run for the nomination – which would be enjoyable theatre for the rest of us.
Scary Perry..
@2,
“…how come all the capitalist countries are up to their necks in hock to communist China?”
Because the governemnt in China can do whatever the fuck it wants to do. If that means making a killing on manufacturing stuff and selling it to Wal-Mart while their people are shit upon, then so be it. The Chinese government does whatever the fuck they want to do with the capitalist profits it makes regardless of how th Chinese people are faring.
The government in China would last about 3 seconds in this country before we shot the piss out of ’em and threw their bodies in the shitter.
Question: why does the govenrment of China want to conquer Tibet? What have the Tibetans got that the Chinese government could possibly want?
Howard Shulz thinks we shouldn’t give politicians any more money. He says he’s upset over how the debt ceiling was handled.
He doesn’t say it, of course, but if everyone followed his advice, he would probably say
“Gee, I can’t believe they actually fell for it! That’s the oldest trick in the book! Now the money I contribute will go twice as far!”
# 42: You hit on a good point – Buffett is concerned about the country, first and foremost. Trolls here are only concerned that they want to pay nothing in taxes, and screw the rest of the country.
@40
Could rhpee be more stupid?
Warren tells us that he shoulp pay more taxes, but then rhpee tells us that warren is too smart to give his money to the govt.
Make up your fucking mind.
And we aren’t talking about charity numbnuts.
@47
I don’t mind paying taxes…so long as the tax money is used wisely and everyone..I mean everyone..even rujaxoff and ylbleeder…pay their share as well….no more free ride for the stupid and the lazy.
Stupid @ 48: Buffet’s the one calling for higher taxes. You are the one trying to make it a voluntary donation. I simply pointed out that Buffet’s ALREADY making voluntary donations, and yet he’s still calling for higher taxes.
It’s you who is confused.
Hmmm, Perry made what might be a slip of the tounge in the media rounds this morning.
“Perry recently told Time magazine that he reached out to Bush early in his decision-making process on whether or not to vie for the White House. According to Carrie Dan at NBC News, the GOP hopeful said on Monday that the country needs a president who is “in love with America.”
Last week Romney stepped into it when he claimed that “corporations are people too”, a little video clip which is sure to be replayed over and over again if he ever gets the nomination.
But this little slip by Perry also offers fertile ground – we can play that clip, right next to the one where he calls for Texas to seceed from the Union.
This makes such a great interview or debate question, it writes itself:
Governor Perry, you said when you entered this race that American needed a candidate who was in love with America. But less than two years ago you called for Texas to seceed from the United States. How can a candidate say he loves America and wants to leave it at the same time?
The Seattle Times has an editorial this afternoon about Rachel.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....achel.html
Rachel’s birthday wish fund is now just shy of $1.1 million.
http://www.mycharitywater.org/.....n_id=16396
Wow, I didn’t know this:
“At 5 years old, she decided to have her long hair cut and donated to Locks of Love, a charity that makes wigs for children with cancer. … After her hair was cut, she grew it out so she could do it again. … After she died, her parents fittingly had her hair cut and given to Locks of Love, and her organs were donated to children in need.”
http://www.lasvegassun.com/new.....death-act/
So, she did more than raise money for clean water. She also gave life to sick kids.
@43 “At this point, my money’s on Perry as the Republican nominee. ”
There’s a certain temptation to think that so, but you may not be giving enough credit to the eastern moneyed establishment’s desire for self-preservation.
@55 Little Rachel started something very special. It’s about more than clean water now. Others have found something in her personal story of selflessness and in what’s unfolded since her death that they needed very much.
You go girl!
http://www.mycharitywater.org/.....n_id=16396
The Official Story
The corporate media outlets are picking up on the tale of a Bush Versus Perry Texas blood feud. I remain skeptical. What could be more convenient for an aspiring Texas governor than the common knowledge that Perry, a guy undistinguishable in the public’s mind from George W. Bush, is an enemy of the failed president and probable war criminal? It’s all so convenient. The story has an air of juicy gossip, Texas style “Dallas” money fights and class warfare between the rich and hyper rich. How juicy! How inside baseball! How fortuitous for the backers of Governor Good Hair! I suspect that the financial supporters of Perry and backers of W’s career are the same gang. There may well be some stylistic differences between the two uber-righties, but I think you would have a hard time slipping a cigarette paper between them. Their constituencies are identical. I think the days of Hunt style oilmen fighting with their peers for domination are passing fast and being updated with a more rational and PR savvy gang of the banker/broker/speculator class.
Drinking Steve Stupid Solution again?
Let me answer your question with another question… Why are countries like Greece, Portugal, Italy and Ireland in the financial state their in right now? It isn’t because of their military spending!
When you figger it out let us know!
If capitalism is so bad, Delta has a direct flight to Beijing you can catch any day of the week! Book your ticket now Michael!
There you go again Michael. Stupid Steve’s Solution really works well with your body chemistry. It dulls the mind and removes chronological reality from the imbiber!
There is one very large difference here. The slobbering lover affair Obummer has with the Libtardo MSM still portrays Obummer as “the messiah” in certain quarters. Ezra Klein, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd, Richard Cohen, Eugene Robinson and etc. immediately come to mind (without the HA crazed databaze). Most columnists like these types were continuously attacking President Reagan during the 1980s.
Stop drinking and start thinking.
Bartertown asked
headless lucy replied
EXACTLY. So how does taxing the rich solve our debt problems.
Wait a minute… Let’s tax the rich. It would remove one more arrow from Obummer’s depleted quiver.
I agree with Pat Buchanan
I posted a list of rich hollyweird types who attended Obummer’s 2008 SF campaign donations and also the recent 2011 $37,600 a plate dinner Obummer just had last week. I think rich DUMMOCRAPTS should write large checks to the US Treasury now.
But as headless lucy said, it won’t solve Obummer’s spending crisis!
Roger Dumb Rabbit wrote above
This comment ripped off from the link I guess…
Well Roger Dumb Rabbit if you are going to call “bullshit” on Perry’s job claims then you are calling “bullshit” on Obummer’s job claims.
ROTFLMBBAO!
Jay Carney is Obummer’s daily mouthpiece on the economy with the whitey house presser. When the jobs numbers come out each month who runs up to the podium when it looks good? Obummer and Carney. Obummer reading from TOTUS while Carney reads from his notes. Who is missing when the numbers are not so good? Obummer is because Carney still has to hold the daily whitey house presser.
So if you remove the Texas jobs from the US jobs numbers, Obummer’s job creation record SUCKS even more.
Oh my the arschloch came by. Let’s discuss it’s comments…
Seems Forbes agrees with you to a point. If you are Obummer’s good friend GE you don’t pay taxes, so it’s unfair. But if you are the hated Oil Companies you pay tons of taxes.
So relating to
Irv Kupiceterrr… headless lucy’s claim “it’s a zero sum game”, seems GE pays ZERO to the give tax sum game! Even the hated WalMart paid way 710 Billion Percent more taxes than GE!Now onto the rich DUMMOCRAPT Americans. I say write a big million or billion dollar check to the US Treasury now! Nothing is stopping them. We know George Soros gave back tens of millions invested in his comapny so he would not have to be under Dodd-Frank rules yet I don’t hear anyone complaining about that.
Exactly what S&P said about entitlements and the main reason we were downgraded under Obummer’s watch. That never happened before. Continually adding 8% a year to the previous budget’s baseline for entitlements is fiscally unsustainable.
Since the rich pay how much again in federal taxes arschloch? You can use your crazed databaze to look up what I posted. How many Americans pay no federal income tax arschloch?
The rest of your comment is definitely a smelly fart from you, all arschloch!
Rachel’s mother was on the NBC Today Show this morning and donations have poured in as a result, now topping $1,116,000.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/.....9#44158079
I believe that there is good reason why Rachel’s cause is still going strong. People want more than to just talk about hope and change, they want to do something about it.
You can make hope and change real by going here,
http://www.mycharitywater.org/.....n_id=16396
Her mother’s interview with Matt Lauer has generated a nice surge in donations to Rachel’s cause. It’s now over $1,125,000.
To convey the scope of the benefits of Rachel’s fund drive, Roger has stated that it’s enough to bring clean water to a population equivalent to the city of Bellingham. Looked at another way, the number of people helped so far exceeds the combined populations of Algona, Benton City, Black Diamond, Blaine, Buckley, Carnation, Castle Rock, Chelan, Cle Elum, Forks, Granite Falls, Langley, Leavenworth, Long Beach, Newport, Nooksack, Oakville, Oroville, Palouse, Raymond, Roslyn, Soap Lake, Sumas, Westport and Zillah.
@50
To the US Treasury? Link please…
Buffet doesn’t have to take all his available deductions to lower his taxes. But he does.
Buffet doesn’t have to get paid primarily in dividends and stock (taxed as capital gains) with a small $100k salary (taxed as income). But he does.
re 68: Then we’ll have to do as Buffet suggests and change the tax code so that he and all the other uber wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
Warren Buffett doesn’t have to write opinion pieces explaining that you are a chump if you don’t want to tax the wealthy at a higher rate, but he does.
So, if you don’t mind, I’ll take the advice of a billionaire over yours.
Yo Steve,
Been tardy in getting back to you, but have been trying to juggle schedule for the golf tourny.
its just not gonna happen – I will out of town and cannot get out of it.
Sorry brotha, you are gonna have to play for me on this one.
# 67: You knew what I meant. He’s already donating to worthy causes, with a considerable portion of his wealth. By doing so, he’s helping to solve problems which the government doesn’t have to spend money to solve. He’s advocating higher taxes on top of this charitable giving.
And why anyone would still listen to Pat Buchanan is beyond me. He started his career as a speech writer for Richard Nixon, and he hasn’t progressed much since then. But I think he and Bachmann should become good buddies, she should follow his example and become a third-party candidate in 2012.
@70 That’s OK. I thought it’d be good to ask you first. I’ll tip a glass to you that day for the thought as well as for your support for Rachel.
@71
You sttill can’t answser the question: why doesn’t he just put his money where his mouth is and send the feds a bilion dollar check?
Or better yet, why isn’t he taking his billions and starting up companies left and right and employing people? He won’t because he is full of shit about being a patriot and blah blah blah…all talk and no walk
Warren is full of shit…..I willl bet you that his accountants look for every single loophole they can in order to avoid paying taxes.
Now I rather like what schultz has to say: fuck the politicians and don’t send any of them any money. I like that indeed.
@72
Thanks steve….here’s to raising another million
Why should he? Wingnuts like you would then argue that taxes should be lowered again, since revenues (including his “contribution”) are already reducing the deficit. Then next year we are right back where we started. If you had your way, Buffet could give his entire fortune to the government, and you would still argue for more tax cuts and we would be back to where we were before in a short time.
Buffet is an old-timer who made money in long-term investments, and he’s smart enough not to fall for that trick. He’s calling on his fellow billionaires to support his campaign for higher taxes on themselves, and to use their influence to end this destructive cycle of tax cuts and deficit explosions, followed by budget cuts on the poor and middle class, then repeating itself.
Funny how the wingnuts all praise Donald Trump as a “financial genious” when he criticizes the President, but when Buffet, who has earned his money the hard way over the long term tells them they are full of BS, they turn on him like a pack of rabid wolves.
@75
Lol…nice strawman…but you fail if that’s the best you c,an come up with.
Why isn’t he starting up new businesses and hiring people?
Funny how warren and the rest of the progressive robots who want higher taxes, never seem to want to pay up on their own wthout being forced to by mommy govt. You people rfeally can’t do nything for yourselves can you?
The idiot @ 63 breaks the world record on stupid:
AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN..
Buffet and those like him pay 17 percent on their income – their hired help pays an average of 36 percent..
That is UNFAIR.
WOW some corporations pay a lot of taxes. Good on ’em. WHO HELL SAID I HAD A PROBLEM WITH THAT?
The corporate sector as a whole contributes 8-9 percent to the FEDERAL COFFERS. TOO FREAKING LOW.
How we going to pay off the stupid wars you cheer lead for when Republicans are in charge under that state of things?
Oh this one is fun!
You’re talking about health care inflation right? Stupid morons like you celebrate that Americans pay twice what other OECD countries pay for the health care you’d get in Slovenia.
MAN ARE YOU STUPID! STAY THAT WAY! IT’S ENTERTAINING!
The puddybitch’s blather makes me want to puke.