– Market forces are incredibly powerful. It’s amazing what can happen when they’re pushed in a certain direction through regulation.
– It’s time to end the Electoral College.
– Hollywood has run out of ideas.
– I was just telling Darryl at Drinking Liberally, that I probably link to too many bug things in the open threads. This post on zombie caterpillars will have to add to the number.
Anti-regulation folks argue that regulations are anti-business, raise business costs, etc. But that’s not entirely true. In many cases industries with a vested interest in the status quo are arguing against regulation, while businesses who would make money under the new regulations are lobbying in favor of the regulations. It’s more a case of “who’s ox is being gored”, than a pro or anti-business perspective.
In some cases regulation is incredibly efficient – by setting standards which level the playing field and decrease litigation costs by clearing up confusion, regulations actually aid businesses, as well as society at large.
Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Resigns Over Global Warming
Published September 14, 2011
Wow. Someone challenges the scammers who are sucking money out of the economy and creating hell for American businesses. I’ll bet that goofball Al Gore hates this guy, huh?
rhp-
Please give a couple specific examples of your theory that ” In many cases industries with a vested interest in the status quo are arguing against regulation, while businesses who would make money under the new regulations are lobbying in favor of the regulations.”
I can’t wait to see the details.
# 3: Gee, we covered that in undergraduate business classes which I took back in the 1970’s, and I’ve seen it occur numerous times since then – too many for me to even pull out from memory, since you tend to remember the expections to the rule, not additional instances of the rule being in effect. I still remember that my professor gave as an example a small collection of large companies which dominated the industry seeking to have greater capital requirements, bonds, reporting imposed un the industry. It didn’t cost them anything, they were big enough it wasn’t a factor for them. But it did create a rather large entry barrier against potential new competitors. Unfortunately, I forget the specfic example he gave at the time – but that was some 35 years or so ago.
One more recent example occured in the banking collapse of early 2009: the largest banks actually called for higher capital requirements, pointing the finger at “undercapitalized rogue banks” as being the cause of the collapse. Behind the scenes they were urging “stress tests” of the smaller banks, knowing it would cause some of them to fail and be vulnerable to an acquisition forced upon them by the FDIC. This resulted in a forced contraction of the market dominated by a few large players, and took away (at least temporarily) the threat posed by “local banks” which were marketing to customers based on personal contacts.
In my own industry (aerospace), you frequently see fights between different providers of electronic componants. Since all require FAA (and sometimes FCC) approval, there can be a lot of behind-the-scenes lobbying for one standard over another. The winner can push his opposition completely out of the market for the next decade or so, at least for that item.
In the cell phone industries, the big players bought up virtually all the available frequencies at auction back in the late 1990’s. This created a significant bar to any new competition entering the arena. One new company, however, (I forget the name right now) is seeking an end-run by using a frequency which is a bit uncomfortably close to that used by current GPS systems. The GPS companies are lobbying behind the scenes, but the visible conflict is being waged in front of the FAA, which is blocking the license based on concerns that the cell phones could interefere with aircraft GPS navigation systems. Local politics has come into play, with the cell phone company getting allies on the Hill (mostly Republicans) to argue that the FAA is “anti-business”, and imposing unnecessary barriers. The FAA says it’s a safety issue. I’ve been following the conflict in industry newsletters, but it makes the mainstream news from time-to-time, and it’s become part of the FAA re-authorization and funding dispute.
3 – I’ve known chemical companies to lobby to keep EPA registration on their molecules to keep foreign competition out of the U.S. market.
For the locals, it’s a cost of doing business. For the foreign outfits, it’s not worth the headache to pursue niche markets in the U.S.
2,3 – Why don’t you go back to your old moniker:
the ld/LD(iot)!
Hmmmm. Great country we’re living in right now:
http://www.care2.com/causes/1-.....verty.html
Let’s see what’s the child poverty rate in oh Denmark? 3 percent????
This is state of things that right wingers just love! Keep cutting that spending! Keep lowering those taxes on the rich!
# 4: I should point out that this is really a very old game, going back at least to the early days of the British Far East Tea Company, which was given a royal charter (and monopoly) to engange in the most profitable trades between the colonies and Britain. When direct trade between the colonies with one another and with other nations/colonies became profitable, they had their monopoly extended there, as well. This resulted in the Mercantile Acts, which had a lot more to do with John Hancock (a Boston shipping magnate) becoming an advocate of independence than the Tax Acts did.
These days, no company specifically asks for a monopoly. But they try to accomplish the same goal by having government use regulation in a manner which aids their own business to the exclusion of others, or raises costs/entry barriers to other businesses.
Speaking of the revolutionary days, most know that Benjamin Franklin was the first U.S. Postmaster. But what most don’t know is that before that, he held the contract from the British government as the royal postmaster for the colonies, which sometimes was passed back and forth between him and another printer, depending upon who had the most political influence at the time.
When Franklin had the contract, he would use the postal service to ship his newspapers to other colonies as “extra baggage”, at no cost to himself. If the express rider had room, he carried Franklin’s publications from Philadelphia throughout the colonies, adding to Franklin’s wealth and public celebrity.
But when the other printer got the contract, he would refuse to ship Franklin’s newspapers unless Franklin paid the express mail rate (which was cost-prohibitive), but then ship his own newspapers as “extra baggage”.
That’s just one of the reasons why royal commissions were so valued in those days – it gave immense advantages to the holder apart from the rather small salary it paid.
Of course, this is why some of the “Founding Fathers” (Morris, Hancock, Alexander) were “free trade” advocates. In the context of the times, however, it must be remembered that they were fighting against royal monopolies and government trade regulations in Britain, France, and the Spanish colonies (especially the Carribean). They had not problem with many other regulations, and fought for a standard currency, enactment and enforcement of standards, taxes for public facilities such as wharfs and roads which benefited trade, etc.
Others (such as John Adams, Jefferson, and at least initially, Thomas Paine) were wary of the wealthy “commercial interests”, and advocated some rather strict regulations on trade. During the war, inflationary pressures caused a virtual revolution-within-the-revolution in Philidelphia (and elsewhere), as the farmers and tradesmen rebelled against inflationary prices and the depreciation of the Continental currency by demanding an end to exports of food items and price controls.
This is why simplistic rantings by either side (but most frequently recently by the Tea Party) about free trade, founder’s intent, and anti-tax pledges reveals a very simplistic mis-understanding of history. The devil is in the details, and nothing substitutes for a well-rounded education through which one begins to appreciate the distinctions.
“Between 2000 and 2009 in King County, 19 cyclists and 238 pedestrians lost their lives to cars, while injuries sent another 423 cyclists and 1,656 pedestrians to our hospital wards for two days or more after being hit by cars.”
I have a couple of questions. First, how many of these cyclists and pedestrians were doing stupid and dangerous things like riding a bicycle by mingling with car traffic and going the wrong way or jaywalking in the middle of downtown blocks against the light in heavy traffic? Let’s face it, sometimes bike rides and pedestrians are just plain stupid.
Or worse. For example, the cyclist who, about a week ago, harassed Mrs. Rabbit at the public library by positioning himself in the middle of the driveway out of the parking lot and squatting there for several minutes, blocking her from leaving parking area, and grinning at her as if daring her to do something about it. I’m not suggesting she should have run over him (of course not); but what she should have done is picked up her cell phone and called the police. That guy deserved a citation and a court appearance, IMHO.
Some years ago, I was hit and knocked down in downtown crosswalks by aggressive cyclists, twice in three days. These were young, strong, beefy guys who roared through pedestrian-filled crosswalks at full speed, bowling people over, then screamed obscenities at the people they knocked down. These motherfuckers have poisoned my attitude toward cyclists ever since.
A 200-lb. gorilla with the brains of a mosquito on a bicycle doing 20 or 30 mph can cause serious injury to innocent people. And because they can, and because too many of these cyclists have the attitude that riding a bicycle gives them a license to commit what amounts to assault and battery against strangers, I believe cyclists should be required to get a license to ride their bikes in public streets and carry liability insurance, just like car drivers, so they can be identified and sued when they hurt people. Especially when they hurt people intentionally for no better reason than they’re motherfuckers.
As for the article Carl linked to shrieking that car drivers “should pay their way,” I’m under the impression that car drivers do pay their way — and, in addition, subsidize cyclists and transit riders. So far as I know, general tax revenues aren’t used for streets and roads; that money comes from dedicated transportation taxes, i.e. car tab fees and gas taxes. And, soon, tolls. Given that cyclists pay absolutely nothing to use public rights of way, and transit riders pay fares that are considerably less than the cost of providing the ride, this article comes off sounding like the eastern Washington freeloaders who want to “get Seattle off their backs.”
I don’t have it in for cyclists, transit riders, or pedestrians. Of course I don’t. I support the idea of subsidizing mass transit. This city couldn’t function without it. For every downtown office worker who can afford to pay for monthly parking for his Porsche in the underground garages of the Columbia Center and similar buildings, there are at least 20 office drones who ride the bus. Even if everyone was as rich as Croesus and could afford the Porsche and underground parking, there simply aren’t nearly enough parking spaces downtown to accomodate everyone who works there. Without the buses, the downtown office complexes and the businesses that depend on them would simply shut down because most downtown workers couldn’t get to work.
I do have it in for assholes with chips on their shoulders who go out of their way to jerk around strangers just because they feel like fucking with someone — whether they’re driving a car, riding a bike or skateboard, or pushing a baby stroller is immaterial. An asshole is an asshole. Asshole behavior doesn’t make the bicycle or car or skateboard guilty; it makes the asshole guilty.
I’m not against buses or bikes. I’m against assholes. This city has too damned many assholes. I’m for shipping them back to New York or Los Angeles or wherever the hell they came from.
# 12: And while they are at it, bicyclists should be required to attend the Ballard Driving Acadamy before they can get their license (hat tip to “Almost Live”).
Roger, it looks like one of your relatives is a hero:
Hero rabbit saves family, but dies in fire
LMFAO @ the Thtwanger’s “wars on cars” story.
its no wonder nobody takes the Thtwanger seriously, what joke that rag is.
“Seattle as a whole is now more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly fighting each other—car driver and nondriver. This antagonism traces directly to the creation of the modern car driver, a privileged individual ….”
What sheer, utter, bullshit. Antagonistic rhetoric like this isn’t going to get pedestrian and bicycle advocates any support from car drivers (which is most of us). Driving a car in Seattle is already a major hassle, and is rapidly becoming a more expensive one, with the city metering more and more streets, raising parking fees to gouge levels, and raising parking fines to raise money not for providing more parking spaces or improving the city’s potholed streets, but for balancing the city’s general fund.
I’m all for having representatives of various interests — drivers, cyclists, transit riders, pedestrians — sitting down and talking about constructive ways to meet everyone’s needs then taking their ideas to the city council.
The in-your-face, fuck-you, kiss-my-ass attitude displayed in this article won’t get that job done. It gratuitously antagonizes people, poisons the well, shuts down discussion, and creates unnecessary confrontation of the same sort we’re already seeing too much of on our streets and sidewalks.
@7
how many mexicans are pouring across Denmark’s border?
Bicyclist Deaths in 1998: 761
Bicyclist Deaths in 2009: 630
Way more bikes on the road in 2009 than in ’98.
Yes, cyclists do some stoopid, dangerous, stuff, and still not many of them get killed (and it’s typically not the stoopid stuff that gets them killed). Cycling is safe.
More people die prematurely from car exhaust than from cycling accidents.
I think the Electoral College should be ended, too. It was created to protect slavery and isn’t needed for that purpose anymore. It gives people living in places like North Dakota, Alaska, and Utah an unequal vote they don’t deserve and which runs counter to our democratic principles of “one man, one vote.” If we’re not going to get rid of the Electoral College, then we should at least adjust the representation so that it’s proportional; for example, by allocating Electors based solely on the number of House seats a state has. There’s no rational reason why the vote of a person living in South Dakota or Iowa should carry many times as much weight as that of someone living in New York or California. The Electoral College is fundamentally unfair to large-state voters for no good reason.
Another reason why we should get rid of the Electoral College, or at least equalize the voting power of voters living in various states, is because without the disproportionate voting power enjoyed by low-population states, no Republican would ever be elected president, and that would be good for America.
@18 “More people die prematurely from car exhaust than from cycling accidents.”
Electric cars will help that.*
* Yes, I know making electricity creates air pollution, although minimally so around here because most of our power comes from hydro, but at least you’re getting the pollution out of the cities and into areas where population is less concentrated. And replacing coal plants with natural gas generation will also help reduce air emissions. Electing Republicans will make air emissions worse because Republicans think the EPA should be abolished and clean air regulations should be repealed. If you don’t like air pollution, the worst thing you can do for the air is vote Republican. People who vote Republican deserve to choke on their own fumes.*
* Just kidding! Ann Coulter death joke. Instead of letting Republican voters choke on their fumes, we should fumigate them so they don’t choke the rest of us.
@17
Denmark’s had quite the hullaballoo over Islamic folks immigrating into the country for the last decade or so.
Denmark also has 5,564,219 people packed into 16,641 sq miles of space. It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. If I did live there I’d be saying “sorry no more room.”
Washington State has 71,300 sq miles of space with 6,724,540 people in it.
@17 If you like illegal immigration, vote Republican, because it’s businesses who want the cheap labor and it’s Republican politicians who are letting them in.
@14 That’s not all we do. Over 200,000 rabbits are used for animal testing every year in the U.S. alone.
http://www.aavs.org/site/c.bkL.....search.htm
Roger Rabbit Commentary: That’s a lot of rabbits to sacrifice for often-superficial human convenience; but what the hell, I can always make more rabbits. Just supply me with enough cute fluffy fertile female bunnies and I’ll make sure you’ll never run out of rabbits!
So Roger were these Birkenstock wearing Seattle DUMMOCRAPTS? You purposely left out where this knock-down happened.
It’s too bad about the hero rabbit who croaked in the fire after saving his human owners, but we of my species expect a certain number of casualties. We’re used to it. He led a cozy life while it lasted.
Corrected! Now it’s a very truthful statement.
Now why didn’t Roger DOPEY Rabbit post this from PMSNBC… Oh yeah it makes his DUMMOCRAPTS on HA look stupid…
Well there is Mary Landrieu (DUMMOCRAPT) of Big OIL
@23
that tired, old argument doesnt fly anymore…please try again.
@23
so called sanctuary cities like san franfreako and seattle are run by republicans?
Yet these truths never make it on HA, but Daily Kooks will.
Puddy wonders if the Solyndra Debacle will make Darryl’s Friday Night Comics?
Remember Puddy delivered the “news” the day it broke! Just ask the HA crazed databaze moron! He has all the posts.
Wait for it…
Seems like the democrats got their rears kicked in this weeks special elections.
ouch.
Found this on HuffPo. Barack ObamAA+ Damn that’s funny. In fact it’s…
Toooooooooooooooooooooo
Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Fuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnny
Barack ObamAA+
# 33: Enjoy it while you can. That N.Y. congressional district won’t exist in a few months, a victim of redistricting.
Oh, and I understand that the Republicans claimed the Democratic candidate was anti-Israel, which doesn’t go over well in an district which includes a fair number of orthodox jews. But the Democratic candidate was Jewish himself. Republicans have learned that as long as they have enough money behind them, they can pretty much tell any lie they want to tell, making enough noise to drown out their opponant’s attempts to clear the record.
@35 Republicans have learned that as long as they have enough money behind them, they can pretty much tell any lie they want to tell, making enough noise to drown out their opponant’s attempts to clear the record
—
Right, sure . . . but the HA faithful can see through the lies . . . exactly the way they saw so clearly through Obama during his campaign.
What a bunch of broken clocks . . .
It seems that a school in northern England has banned makeup for girls aged 13 to 16, and removed the mirrors from teh school bathrooms. Administrators claimed that girls were spending too much time in the bathroom, and it was causing social problems as well (bathroom cliques?) Now the teachers give daily inspections to ensure there is no makeup.
I think the heavy makeup bit is too extreme – I was a teenager in the late 60’s and early ’70’s when the “natural” look was in. And I sympathise with those who have severe acne or other skin problems which makeup might help conceal.
But the daily inspection bit reminds me of the dress code inspections we had in middle-school, where teachers would line up the girls and use a ruler to see if their skirts were too high above the knee, and check to see if boy’s hair was below the eyebrow, ear, or collar. What was funny was watching the girls pull their skirts low on their hips for the inspection, then promptly pull them high up on their waist immediately afterwards. For a while, you could get sent home just for wearing jeans or shorts, but by 9th grade they finally allowed jeans.
But the real badge of honor was if they announced that you needed to go home to shave – a real mark of manhood in what was then called “junior high school”. Some tried to apply charcoal taken from art class to mimic stubble, but that never worked.
And this is how Barack ObamAA+ loving leftist pinheads live in style…
So you HA morons gonna go after his money?
By equating him to Barack ObamAA+ and his sadministration policies? ABSOLUTELY nuthin wrong with that!
@35
shorter RHPee: lets hurry and make as many excuses as we can.
# 40: Gee, it seems you’ve been posting under multiple user ID’s over the past few days (it could be longer, I’ve been off the internet for a couple of weeks). Why?
“So Roger were these Birkenstock wearing Seattle DUMMOCRAPTS?”
No. One of them worked for a bicycle messenger service. The other was a civilian of unknown provenance, except I’m pretty sure at least one of his parents was a Republican, otherwise where did he learn to be an asshole?
“You purposely left out where this knock-down happened.”
I did? How about “downtown crosswalks.” That was in my comment. You want a fucking Bing map? And aerial photo? It was at 3rd and Pike.
Jackass.
@27 “Corrected! Now it’s a very truthful statement.”
Is that your idea of a joke? I like Ann Coulter’s sick twisted jokes better. At least she’s not boring.
@41
wrong again…I have not posted in the last day and a half or so…maybe even two days…
me thinks you have confused yourself on who I am.
tsk tsk….
@28 “Now why didn’t Roger DOPEY Rabbit post this from PMSNBC… Oh yeah it makes his DUMMOCRAPTS on HA look stupid…”
Because I’m not a rightwing propagandist, idiot. I leave that job to your ilk. As far as looking stupid goes, you stole that thunder …
Just so there’s no further misunderstanding about my role here, I’m a DEMOCRATIC party hack and a LIBERAL propagandist.
I don’t work for Republicans. They should do their own damn work. In fact, I don’t work at all. I just take money from Republicans through the useless activity of flipping stocks.
Anybody got any questions?
It looks like the GOP has finally rounded up a couple of “high profile” candidates to oppose Cantwell for the Senate in 2012.
First-term state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, is throwing his hat into the ring. But the word is he’s not going to give up his “day job” at the Senate. I’ll give him credit for good judgement on that count.
The other Republican candidate is a Bloomberg Televioins anchor in Hong Kong, although he claims Washington residence. I guess his years reading the teleprompter in Hong Kong gives him a unique perspective on issues which are important to Washington voters.
But hey – they at least finally found two warm bodies to justify holding a caucus!
Given the top-two primary system in Washington State, I’m wondering if the Democrats couldn’t run a candidate as well. Unless the Republicans find someone with significantly more gravitas to run, it’s entirely possible to end up with two Democratic candidates on the ballot. Then after the primary, the other Democratic candidate could choose not to campaign!
@47 “It looks like the GOP has finally rounded up a couple of ‘high profile’ candidates to oppose Cantwell for the Senate in 2012.”
Did they have to waterboard them?
Kewl, right in the heart of McDimWitt Zone!
@29 “please try again”
No. I don’t take orders from you.
Nahhh no thunder, but you ate through your 40 Flavors of Stupid today. Instead, I deliver the lightning all the time.
Finally talking about DUMMOCRAPTS in the present tense!
@50
actually, yes, you do.
@31 “Yet these truths never make it on HA”
If that’s so, then you don’t exist and your postings are invisible.
Actually, puddy’s postings are sort of invisible, because nobody reads of them.
@32 “Puddy wonders if the Solyndra Debacle will make Darryl’s Friday Night Comics?”
I doubt it. Darryl isn’t a rightwing propagandist, either. This isn’t a politically neutral blog. We’re all liberal partisans here.
@28
Actually, I posted a similar article the other day.
Is it possible for anyone to be a bigger idiot than puttbutt? I’ve never seen anyone work so hard at being stupid. He must be getting paid to post his crap. I can’t imagine anyone doing it free — it looks too much like work.
@29
Why not, Republican’s are still hiring every illegal they can get their hands on.
@53 You just answered my question @58. Thanks.
@32
Solyndra applied for federal aid under a Bush program. Obama was just continuing on a Bush program. Yes, the Obama admin screwed the pooch on Solyndra, but lets get the story straight.
There, fixed it. No charge this time – its a freebie.
@57
logic fail.
@63
Not really. Puddy’s wondering why we’re not posting stuff that we’ve actually posted. I’d say it’s a “logic fail” on Puddy’s part.
@38 I don’t discriminate. I fleece everybody. If Mr. Wahlberg wants to sell when I’m buying, or buy when I’m selling, I’ll take his money. Democrat money spends as good as Republican money.
@62 “We’re all partisan brainwashed lemmings here.”
I wish we were. I’d give a claw off my left hind leg to get Democrats to behave like Republicans. A crowd of liberals is a propagandist’s worst nightmare. You can’t get them to goose-step like good little Republican lemmings. That makes my job much harder.
@63 Maybe yours did.
Interesting article giving 5 reasons why Government should be run like a business. After all, the Feds/State/Local government is the biggest business in the country. If you think about each point and have 1/2 a brain, you can better understand why we are in the pickle we find ourselves today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....N0aGVn?x=0
rhp-
I understand your points about businesses utilizing regs to stifle competition. That should not be allowed either. We simply cannot be competitive under the current set of massive regs. I saw a story last night about farmers in Iowa spending an average of $23,000/permit. Plus all the time spent to apply and mess around with regulators. And many more permits are about to be required. It is choking the incentive out of private enterprise. Perhaps that is the idea…so government can control everything. That’s where we are heading. Small business is being choked to death.
Can’t you see that rhp?
> A crowd of liberals is a propagandist’s worst nightmare. You can’t get them to goose-step like good little Republican lemmings.
Isn’t that the truth? 30 months ago they were singing Obama’s praises and trumpeting him for their deliverance, now he’s all but persona non grata for most the HA faithful, at least those who are left. You’re absolutely right, ya just can’t trust their judgement.
And look at this farce.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ue16m.html
Revenue forecast down $1.4 BILLION in 3 months??
Gimmee a break. Makes you wonder what the original assumptions were and how political that was. Anything to not cut Union jobs, Union Salaries, Union Benefits, Union paid time-off. After all, it was the Union that bought and paid for Gregoire and the Legislature.
Now Gregoire has to beg the Feds for another bailout like last year. Just keep printing money and adding up that national debt! But don’t ever impact the Government Unions.
@69
Most of those permits are an example of this
And actually, the Obama admin has their DOJ looking into it. Unfortunately, big Ag’s friends in congress (both D and R) keep getting in the way of reforming the system.
Obama vs Rick Perry????
Sorry I’m voting Obama in a New York microsecond.
It sure does! All it really was, was an attempt to apply the past to the future. In fairly stable times that might work fairly well. Right now that’s a really bad idea.
@73
Can’t wait to see the ads filled homes in Texas going up in flames and Perry talking about Texas leaving the union.
It’ll be Mittens V. Obama.
Not as scary as Rick Perry by far but it’s still Obama in a plain old New York second.
How amusing that joke Romney twisting himself into a pretzel over “Romneycare”.
The guy is a complete embarrassment.
Link @68: Typical wingnut crap. Just meaningless generalizations. No specific suggestions, except to privatize the postal service. Wingnuts think privatizing is the solution to everything. (So far, privatizing hasn’t solved anything.)
Government is not a business. It doesn’t exist to make a profit, it exists to provide services — and these are often services businesses can’t provide at a profit because they’re inherently unprofitable. Rural mail delivery, for example. Subsidized irrigation for eastern Washington agriculture. Universal free public education (how’s that for a loss leader?). Sometimes government even spends money to make unprofitable private businesses profitable, such as through tax subsidies.
We don’t judge government services on profitability. We ask government to provide those services because we want them. Medic 1, for example.
People who think government can, or should, be “run like a business” don’t understand the role of government in society. They must have slept through their middle school civics class.
What’s embarrassing is watching a smart, middle of the road, Republican, try to fit in as an anti-intellectual member of the far right. Him and Huntsman should have come out at the start as what they really are instead of trying to get the Tea Baggers to like them.
Had Bob Dole, run on his record back in ’96, instead of trying to be the far-right, war hero, he probably would have beaten Clinton.
Could you all put a date stamp on the open threads? Like “Open thread – Thursday Sept 15”
I totally think it will be Perry vs Obama. Perry appeals to the Primary Republican voter.
For the last 30 or 40 years the future looked a hell of a lot like the past, so it was easy to base predictions of what was goning to happen on what had happened. But now, the future is going to look a hell of a lot different than the past and it’s going to do it in a hurry. You can’t use that model any more.
People in leadership positions in government, business, social and cultural stuff that can’t function in our new reality need to retire and get the fuck out of the way.
@80
I figure big money’s going to step in and take Perry down.
Washington Taxpayers Get Another $1.4 Billion Tax Cut
“Washington state is projected to collect around $1.4 billion less in tax revenue than expected between now and the end of June 2013, the state’s chief economist, Arun Raha, said Thursday. …
“There’s growing talk by Democrats, who control the House, Senate and governor’s office, of sending voters a tax package next year to try to avoid more cuts to health care and education. Republican leaders say they’re still opposed to such a move.
“‘How do you get more revenue out of people who still aren’t back to work?’ said Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, chairman of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ue16m.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Make no mistake about it, that $1.4 billion the state won’t collect from us is a tax cut. When the state collects less taxes, that means we pay less taxes. Washington residents have received billions of dollars of tax cuts ever since the Great Recession started, with no end in sight to the tax cuts.
I can answer that Republican’s question. It’s pretty simple. It’s not just the unemployed who are paying less taxes. Everybody is paying less taxes! State revenue has fallen far more than personal incomes. Many people who are still working, including those who are making more money than before, are paying less taxes because they’re saving or paying off debts instead of buying stuff. People who are working but don’ spend because they’re afraid of losing their jobs are paying less taxes because they’re buying less stuff. In our sales-tax-dependent state, that translates into tax cuts.
You don’t have to tax the unemployed to maintain schools and public services. Just don’t raise the sales tax; tax incomes instead. It’s easy to exempt unemployment benefits or set the income threshold high enough so the unemployed won’t be taxed.
There is ample justification to enact a state income tax on those earning over $200,000 a year, because this group is grossly undertaxed. They pay less than a fifth as much of their income to the state as the poor pay. A tax on incomes over $200,000 might hit a few of the unemployed, but anybody who’s making over $200K and is unemployed doesn’t need a fucking job anyway.
# 69: I also see your point – regulations need to have a rational reason for existing, be cost-effective in reaching their objective, and not be overly burdensome. That leaves us plenty of room to argue in between those parameters.
I merely wanted to point out that it’s often not a pro-business or anti-business issue – for every regulation, there’s somebody profiting by it, and somebody else who’s costs are increased. And I’m not talking about government employees. Follow the money before reacting to news stories planted by vested interests, or partison propoganda. The issue is frequently more complicated than it first appears.
Sometimes there is a malicious motive, sometimes it’s just a fact that regulations impact businesses differently, for better or for worse.
Heck, I had a friend who was a backyard mechanic, and he still blames the government’s requirements to install polution controls in vehicles in the 1970’s for putting him out of business. I never could get him to understand that he just has to adopt to changing circumstances and invest in some new diagnostic tools and learn the new systems, he just blamed those “damned government regulators” for depriving him of an income.
But I have to question the claim that business regulations make American industry unable to compete. Compete against whom? China? Europe? Japan? U.S. regulations are miniscule compared with what you see in those countries.
Of course, China is a special case – political patronage is the primary hurdle which a business owner has to navigate, with the right political connections there regulations aren’t really a problem. Without such connections, one regulation or another will be thrown into your path until you learn to play ball with the powers-that-be.
We’ve got a new farm/garden supply place that just opened near my place and it looks like it will do well. Small seed growers are doing well (the companies are small, not the seeds. Well, some of the seeds are probably small too.). Home healthcare stuff looks like it will do well in the next decade. There’s still money to be made.
@84
Who needs a backyard mechanic when oil changes are (well were anyway) cheap and cars go 100K miles before needing a tuneup?
Hmm… Are Burpee and Ball Canning publicly traded?
http://www.freshpreserving.com/home.aspx
Yup!
Ball Corporation (Public, NYSE:BLL)
Well.. What if they’re upside down on a million dollar plus mortgage???
Oh they’ve got a solution for that!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07.....9rich.html
“Just give it back to the bank”…
So much for personal responsibility!
90 – Yep, those are the “job creators” – they can’t be tied down by an upside down million dollar plus mortgage.
Just “give it back to the bank” so they can “create jobs”..
Ooops – they need a tax cut first!
Oh and that “Obamacare” that is such a job-killer in North Dakota???
Get rid of that – stat!
So, we’ve got working class peeps working their asses off in their gardens, canning and selling what they grow, and trying to stay in their homes and we’ve got the “rich” buying shit they couldn’t afford, living lavishly, and when they don’t feel like making the payments on what they owe they just walk away.
And our role models are supposed to be the rich? Fuck that.
> And our role models are supposed to be the rich?
Absolutely not! You should definitely model yourself after the YLB, who spends his days and nights glued to HA! In fact, it looks like you could teach Master YLB a thing or two!
Mittens?? The guy always was a joke. He destroyed jobs while enriching himself as a corporate raider. He tried to take that stink off as a middle of the road guv in MA – created ROMNEYCARE – the prototype of what Obama did.
Which by the way implemented ideas – like the insurance mandate – that Republicans have had since the 70’s or even earlier.
And then he totally made an ass of himself in the 2008 election. Continues to this day.
He is a JOKE. Nothing redeeming about him.
@93
I was going for the folks that are growing their own food and trying to pay what they owe, rather than just walking away from it.
93 – How’s that Obamacare working out killing jobs in North Dakota little troll?
Gee even in MA where ROMNEYCARE has been in effect for ages they’re only 16th from North Dakota.
Wow! Got any new talking points you heard on Rush today for us?
Gee at the end of last May, Vermont passed
(gasp)
SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE!!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....67573.html
Gee the job killing there is sinking that state like a stone.
At 5.7 percent unemployment (6th lowest in the nation) – they’ll pass ROMNEYCARE’s MA sometime soon I’m sure.
@88 Actually, that’s wrong. Ball Corp. doesn’t make the iconic canning jars anymore. The Kerr and Ball glass jars, and metal lids for same, currently are products of the Jarden Corp., which is a publicly traded company. There’s a feature story about Jarden in this week’s issue of Barron’s magazine.
W. Atlee Burpee & Co. is privately held.
Jarden’s well-known brands include Coleman camping equipment, Diamond matches, the U.S. Playing Card Co., Crock-Pot, K2 Sports, Marmot, Rawlings (think baseball gloves), Sevylor (think inflatable rafts), Shakespeare fishing tackle, and Stearns life vests.
@89 “Well.. What if they’re upside down on a million dollar plus mortgage???”
Doesn’t merit an exemption from paying state taxes.
@93 You’re full of shit. I make six figures, have no debts, don’t commute, sleep til noon every day, and fuck 50 cute fluffy female bunnies every day. I should be their role model. Humanity’s hubris is laughable. Everyone should be a lazy stock-flipping rabbit like me! I made $1,800 in the stock market today and didn’t do a damn thing to earn it. People simply gave it to me, and I simply took it.
@101
You’re gonna get creamed on the head with a cast iron skillet if Mrs. Rabbit sees that.
@98
Turns out that’s good news for me. I already own stock in Jarden.
@102 That’s what this is for.
http://www.planert-jewellery.c.....rabbit.jpg
@103 According to Barron’s, that stock’s a keeper.
Blue John @79,
I could start posting the dates in the title. Is there some reason why you think that would be helpful? It might be a little more effort, but not much; typically, I’m not 100% sure when I’m going to post these when I start. For instance, this one was going to go up yesterday, but I didn’t really have enough links until this morning. But as I say, it’s not a big deal to me one way or the other.
@101 I make six figures, have no debts, don’t commute, sleep til noon every day
Right, those morning posts up above look like they were written by someone who was fast asleep! As for the rest of those claims, well . . . !
The rabbit is full of shit as usual
Outdoor gear and fishing equipment are going to big in the next decade or so. I own some Marmot stuff and like it.
And with people doing more of their cooking at home cooking stuff’s a good bet.
“More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic.
“By contrast, homeowners with less lavish housing are much more likely to keep writing checks to their lender. About one in 12 mortgages below the million-dollar mark is delinquent.”
(Link @89)
Roger Rabbit Commentary: I’m not surprised. While traveling last year, I picked up this book at an airport newsstand to read on the plane:
http://www.amazon.com/Milliona.....038;sr=8-1
It’s written by a couple of academic types who study wealth patterns in the U.S. What they discovered from their data is:
A lot of people who live like millionaires aren’t millionaires.
52% of America’s millionaires live in houses worth less than $300,000.
They have uncovered the phenomenon of the “blue collar millionaire.” That’s right, more than half of America’s millionaires live in blue-collar neighborhoods and live blue-collar lifestyles.
People with flashy lifestyles typically have high incomes but little or no net worth, because they spend every dime they make. The truth is, no one ever got rich by spending.
There are people who make a lot of money but are perpetually broke because they can’t manage money or they blow it on lousy investments. A lot of doctors and lawyers fall in this category. They work hard and end up with nothing to show for it. That makes no sense to me.
How much you earn matters much less than what you do with what you do earn. If you spend it all you’ll end up with a lot of depreciating assets. If you want to be rich, get out of debt and stay out of debt, cut spending to the bone, and learn how to invest. I’ve made a lot of money in the stock market and I’ve never spent a penny of it; I just keep compounding it. I’m not a millionaire yet, but I’m gonna be.
@107 I don’t give a shit whether you believe me or not. I post free advice here that professionals charge $300 an hour for. If you don’t want it, that’s your problem.
# 110: The phrase I use is “house rich, cash poor”. I read that book about a decade ago, it has some pretty good insights.
Oh, and there’s a very good reason why the poor and middle class don’t default on their mortgage if there is any way they can avoid it. They know that it will effect their credit, which might make it impossible for them to buy a house within the next decade, and renting an apartment might become much more difficult. In other words, they know they stand a real chance of sliding into homelessness, and it scares them witless.
The rich, on the other hand, always have enough income to rent or buy another house. They might have cash in other investments, or just from their salary they can save up a 2K or more within a year or two, which can provide a 50% down payment on a modest house. At 50% down, nobody cares about your credit score, or if you defaulted recently.
> I post free advice here that professionals charge $300 an hour for
Thank god, since nobody could afford your endless torrent of blather even if it was $1 an hour!
> Thank god, since nobody…
> You should definitely model…
Wow! the funny name lower case troll speaks for everyone and blurts out orders like… well some right wingers we know very very well.
Is there an argument anywhere in his comments to be seen???
One wonders “who’s his daddy”???
> One wonders “who’s his daddy”???
Looking at your pic, we’re far more interested in knowing about YOUR daddy! Good fit, though!
> we’re far more interested
“We” ooooh scary vigilantes out there!
What are your orders son of daddy???
Heh.. Command me right wing ding masters!
@116
I would just ignore this troll, ylb.
117 – is this a warning lower case steven?
I’m sorry the entertainment value is too rich..
When he has an argument to make, I’ll…
well if it’s right wing I’ll do my best to blast it apart!
Sorry if your daddy or mommy models being right wing in this world and you come off here that way – I have little to no sympathy for you.
Funny I can think of only one halfway identifiable commenter who’s made an issue of my gravatar.
The only others have funny little names – mostly in lower case.
Now who’s their daddy I wonder?
Texas “justice” – it just keeps getting BETTER!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....65272.html
This is so fucking bad that not even the Roberts Supreme Court could KILL THIS GUY!
Texas is bat shit insane homicidal!
Want a real laugh read this…
Senility does wonderful things to a DUMMOCRAPT acting as a DOPEY Rabbit!
Nope you dope. Puddy wondering why Roger DOPEY Rabbit not posting a truth about Barack ObamAA+’s jobs plan when DUMMOCRAPTS don’t like it!
You’ve been to your carton of Steve’s Stupid Solution again!
Again everyone wonders why I say Michael@61 is drinking Steve’s Stupid Solution? ABC News Reported
See Michael? When you read the left wrong sites you are very much left wrong again!
Remember the King County Sheriff’s Budget? Remember how he forgot to correctly calculate the actual budget yet he parades all over all threads how much of a “financial genius” he is with his stocks?
Remember his Cuyahoga County fart about the county supervisors? Oops they be DUMMOCRAPTS back then?
Remember his screech over the word IF? There was no IF. IT HAPPENED!
Remember his Stafford County scream? Ooops DUMMOCRAPTS owned the toys.
Remember how he commented over Bernie Madoff before it was determined Bernie was all DUMMOCRAPT?
Yes Roger DOPEY Rabbit, a DUMMOCRAPTIC propogandist with no equal!
So why do DUMMOCRAPTS always turn to government as their “jobs solution” Roger DOPEY Rabbit? You are the DUMMOCRAPT propogandist here!
Roger DOPEY Rabbit farts
So why doesn’t a DUMMOCRAPT help out and write a check to Queen Chrissy’s treasury? Why do DUMMOCRAPTS cry about less revenues and the affect on leetle chilluns and not cough it up?
Oh…. they want someone else to pay. Hence Roger DOPEY Rabbit, LauraMae, serial arschloch plagiarizer and others like the class warfare games.
Uhhhh? Just like in Bill Clinton’s day. Right dope?
Oh yeah, Clinton proposed about 17 billion in spending at the start when the economy was still deep in the pits which Bob Dole killed in the Senate. Republicans can’t have a Dem prez handing out relief to people who need it. But after that, not so much right?
You’re so stupid you can’t see the reasoning for government intervention, right now, in these times?
I’ll give you one guess. You’ll pass I know.
Because you’re a total idiot.
Sorry stupid, a solution to the problem requires everyone to pitch in what is appropriate.
When everyone is back on their feet working – everyone benefits..
Why are you such a selfish prick?
Hey moron,
You agree with those Texas “psychologists”???
It looks like not even Clarence Thomas could abide that bullshit.
I wonder if his benefactor Harlan Crow in that great State is in agreement..
Can’t wait to see what the “dissents” say!
ROTFLMAO!!!
Since you brought up Willy Cigarman, maybe you should search your crazed databaze archives and see which lefty magazine claimed 1/2 of Willy’s “job creation” was $7/hr jobs.
Remember I posted it, can you find it? Well did you figure out which HA leftist called you monomaniacal yet?
EPIC DATABAZE FAYLE!
Let’s clarify…
DUMMOCRAPTS rejected Rossi and hoisted Queen Chrissy for another term. Therefore DUMMOCRAPTS should write the shortfall checks out of their pocket.
It was your class warfare arguments that erected the queen. Hence now it’s your “class” that needs to help her out in her time of need. Wait… you have no class and you occupy a couch 24x7x365.25 full of hate.
ROTFLRHMBBAO!
130 – Oh and the moron you voted for twice’s “jobs” were so much better.
WAAAAAAY overpriced crappy schools and clinics in Iraq/Afghanistan and a bunch of empty ticky tack houses here built by the cheapest labor wrong wingers could find at the Home Depot is his miserable legacy!
You did!
Over 239 times!
So you’ve come out of the closet at last after subscribing to a Seattle Health Care plan (“Group Death” per the extra chromosome wing dingy set) and sending your kids to a socialist campus in (gasp) Seattle!
You failed to train your spawn at proper “Republicrap” schools!
Rossi was rejected because he was BIAW SCUM! He was a sleaze bag!
Gregoire was nothing to write home about.
At least she was NOT Scott Walker II – no not Rossi, he’d try and fail miserably at that..
I’m talking MCKENNA!
Hey fool,
I bet those Texas “pychologists” are big fans of Jared Taylor.
LIKE YOU ARE!
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
@120 I agree (who wouldn’t?) SCOTUS should order a new sentencing phase, but based on the facts of the case, I think Mr. Buck is likely to get the same result from the next jury.
dope @121: You’re figuring out only now that I’m a partisan hack? I thought it was obvious.
@122 “Puddy wondering why Roger DOPEY Rabbit not posting a truth about Barack ObamAA+’s jobs plan when DUMMOCRAPTS don’t like it!”
Because I’m not a Republican.
Sheesh.
What an idiot.
Moving along, soon-to-be-ex-GOP-presidential-candidate Rick Perry called Social Security “a monstrous lie” and a “Ponzi scheme.” Here’s the conservative Economist magazine’s reply.
http://www.economist.com/blogs.....security-0
Guns Don’t Kill People Dep’t
“Sophia Cardona had just gone to the kitchen to fix a dinner … when she heard gunfire explode outside where … her relatives were relaxing. …
“Cardona’s pregnant granddaughter and 3-year-old great-granddaughter were hospitalized … and another young relative was dead ….
“Authorities on Thursday [said] a 19-year-old gang member … opened fire in retaliation after a male resident of the home … intervened earlier in the day when he saw the suspect hitting a woman outside a nearby market. …
“The attack was one of four shootings in San Bernardino between Monday night and Tuesday morning ….”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44.....nd_courts/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: As we all know, a gun is an inert object that’s harmless until activated by a homicidal maniac who has no regard for life. Therefore, this incident isn’t the gun’s fault. It’s the fault of the homicidal maniac’s who activated the gun! I may get in trouble with the NRA and GOP for saying this but I don’t think our government should let homicidal maniacs have guns. At the very least, this guy shouldn’t be allowed to have a gun again.
Watch Out For Corn Sugar!
Scientific research has linked high fructose corn syrup to obesity, diabetes and other health problems. This might cause some consumers to shy away from buying food products with this ingredient. So, the Corn Refiners Association is trying to fool these consumers by relabeling the ingredient “corn sugar.”
Without regulatory approval, they used the term “corn sugar” in TV ads and set up a website called “cornsugar.com” that claims “all the sugar you eat is the same.” You can see the website here:
http://tinyurl.com/43c4ojp
Now, the FDA has told the CRA to knock it off, and beet and cane sugar producers have sued the CRA alleging the term “corn sugar” is “false advertising.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44.....ss-retail/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: This is why we have 9% unemployment! If we ever want to have any jobs in this country, we’ve got to get government regulation off the backs of business, and pass tort reform to stop frivolous lawsuits! And repeal all consumer protection laws! If we want to unleash the job-creating power of American business, we’ve got to let business conduct business as usual! As the late great Calvin Coolidge said, “The business of America is business!”
After this week’s debate, nobody should take Rick Perry seriously as a contener for the GOP nomination anymore. His trashing of Social Security on national TV showed him up for what he is: An unelectable idiot.
But wait, there’s more:
“Since 9/11, the United States has been embroiled in wars and nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as involved in military operations around the globe from Pakistan and Libya to Yemen and Somalia.
“But … Rick Perry, does not appear to have a clear foreign policy. [His] statements on foreign policy … [have been] inconsistent, muddled, and sometimes contradictory.”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....nt-unclear
Roger Rabbit Commentary: It’s becoming painfully obvious this guy is a dilettante, not a serious candidate. He has already frightened away senior citizens in droves, and now he’s scaring the media. Mark my words, he’s a flash in the pan, and will fade fast. A few months from now people will say, “Perry who?”
Republicans don’t like government interference with business of any kind. They wince at the idea of government telling industry they have to accurately label the contents of food products. This is big government run amok, they say. If we want jobs, we’ve got to get government off the backs of businesses, they say.
The problem is, I have to know whether food products contain sucralose, because I’m allergic to that substance. So, I have to vote for the party that supports government regulation of food products.
Wrong again serial arschloch plagiarizer. In quantity and quality.
You need to check again… Your databaze has failed you.
# 136: Yes, the Supreme Court really had to take a stand here, in order to discourage prosecutors from trying to use such tainted testimony. If they punted on this one, then they would be telling prosecutors that they really don’t care if racially biased testimony by “experts” is used to put a black man to death.
Thios whole affair reminds me of a comment I occassionally heard back in my youth in the South. “Well, he’s a n*gg*r, he must have been guilty of something”. This was in response to (or defense of) lynchings. I thought those days were long behind us, but apparantly not.
And anybody who believes that blacks are more prone to violence than whites hasn’t spent any time near a trailer park in the South.
OH BTW serial arschloch plagiarizer, I just checked Google. Google has me and the other person calling you monomaniacal many more times.
Looks like your programming skillz suck like your politics.
Better try again!
Shorter DOPEY Rabbit… Well this is California and I excuse the DUMMOCRAPT led CA Legislature that allows guns to be rampantly bought and sold with little oversight on CA Libtardos.
I went to the death penalty reprive story and found “Dr. Walter Quijano, PHD” was the one used as the expert witness. Later he became a defense witness. Guess they paid better. Well well well serial arschloch plagiarizer he’s one of yo peeps. How do you pronounce that last name.
Seems he don’t like black peeps. Kinds of reminds me of North Pasadena, CA. You seem to know that place serial arschloch plagiarizer!
Heh. Prove it!
You’re so stupid it’s pathetic. Looks like you proved yourself a closet “leftist”.
And like manoffeces – a self hater!
You miserable dumbass.. The “expert witness” is hardly the point. Like you he’s just a paid tool.
It’s the freaking State of Texas who’ll do ANYTHING to KILL PEOPLE!
Heh. Nice place fools like you LOVE!
Hey moron (PuddyIdiot),
I’ve got nearly 500K comments in my database.
A search of “monomaniacal” brings up 257 uses.
Guess again how many are yours???
You “leftist” you!
ROTFLMAO!!!!
You still forget who is the alpha male here? Well it ain’t you moron! Just 257? Google says you are over 200+ short. ROTFLHRMBBAO!
I’ll post it when I’m ready but I have this wonderful reminder of your monomaniacal chronological lunacy
Guess who said this about you serial arschloch plagiarizer? Yes I have a lot of these and they will build up to the crescendo being called monomaniacal!
Wait for it… He’ll post!
Remember the arschloch posted 5 links in a row and I was quiet. Let’s see how fast he runs to the databaze. Just remember he needs to post a similar comment from a righty about Puddy like that one above otherwise
EPIC FAYLE!
Seems you is a bit short there serial arschloch plagiarizer Goldy’s blog up to 1109900 and counting.
IS that any way to speak of someone who could be in your family tree?
155 – zzzzZZZZzzzzz.. Wrong stupid..
Remember when Darryl reported under 500k a while back in a blog post???
Course not.. Go ahead and ask me to “prove it”. Make my day.
Internal counting systems are not to be relied on stupid.
The “bubble memory” is freaking KAPUT!
Nope and I don’t care. Seems you do!
ROTFLRHMBBAO!
And of course you have nothing to say about another leftist speaking about you in #154.
Sucks to be you. Lots of lefties think you suck. Maybe your next search on the crazed databaze should be “Why does ylb suck so much”
I have many more to go from over the years of HA blogs!
154 – What a coward – running away..
That 257 is 257 comments. So if your stupid “leftist” OCD ass says “monomaniacal” a dozen times in one comment – well I guess it’s more. Sue me.
Still too bad for you – 239 of the comments come from your silly ass. I’ll repeat SILLY!
MLF said that quote. If you comment it’s sunny outside or 2*2 equal 4 than even a broken clock like you tells the “truth” twice a day.
Such a fool. Sorry, lie down with dogs you get up with fleas. Same with liars.. You can’t shake off the stink fool of all the right wing bullshit you’ve repeated here – LIES. It’d take a dramatic change of heart and even then you’d have a long row to hoe after the “legacy” you’ve left here.
You fail again serial dumbass.
Yep. You don’t care about “truth”.. Thanks for playing serial dumbass!
Well I’ll give you the “truth” anyway fool!
http://horsesass.org/?p=34530
ROTFLMAO!! I don’t care what anyone thinks about me serial dumbass!
That you’d think I WOULD CARE says more about YOU than it could ever say about anything!
Go ahead. Continue to make a dumbass of yourself.
How stupid is this? In any red state there’s lots of people I’m cool with politically.
Unfortunately there’s many many many more whose views I don’t care for.
Cretins like YOU puddydumbass!
Texas is dominated by too many right wing jokes! And their bloodlust isn’t funny!