HorsesAss.Org

Open Thread 7/10

by — ,

– Jay Inslee’s first ad.

– I’ll blink when you register.

– The 7 PM Rule

– Publicola is back.

– In truth, the Lethal Presidency is a burgeoning manifestation of the executive branch that finds no adequate counterweight in either Congress or in the courts. It repeatedly asks for our trust, and gives assurances that it is using its awesome powers judiciously and wisely. Has it earned our trust? We don’t know. We are told that we can’t know. But we give it what it asks for, because it seems to keep us safe, and besides, it leaves us barely any choice..

– The problem, at least in part, probably has to do with the “wrong” people having secure, decently paying jobs that they don’t “deserve” which are paid for by taxes. Same old shit.

Comments

  1. 1

    How do you get Obama into a tie with Romney?

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....IUXuYXpxKg

    Why, you give the Democrats a 13 point edge over the GOP in your polling sample, that’s how.

    Guys, 2010 exit polls were 35% each party. And Gallup finds GOP voter enthusiasm this year is greater than that of the Democrat voters in swing states.

  2. 2

    How do you get Obama into a tie with Romney?

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....IUXuYXpxKg

    Why, you give the Democrats a 9 point edge over the GOP in your polling sample, that’s how.

    Guys, 2010 exit polls were 35% each party. And Gallup finds GOP voter enthusiasm this year is greater than that of the Democrat voters in swing states.

    Oh, and it was a registered voter poll. What happens if it’s likely voters instead?

    Rael? You around?

  3. 3

    Apologies for the double post. My browser hung up and I thought I had prevented the submission. Guess not.

    Info @ 1 is incorrect, corrected in @ 2.

  4. 4

    I guess if you can’t pass yourself off as competent based upon your 3 1/2 years holding the job, what you’re left with is trying to convince America that a guy who has been a successful executive at multiple levels in both private and public sector jobs isn’t qualified to do yours.

    There’s a reason why the Obama campaign is trying to disqualify Romney early on. Because if they don’t score an early knockout, it becomes harder to win over the late deciders as the election approaches.

    http://decoded.nationaljournal.....ma-sti.php

    Good luck with that, Barack.

  6. 6

    There’s something going on with comment posting – the page isn’t refreshing and showing posts posted – leading to double-posts like 1 & 2 above.

    Admins: something up? need fixing?

  7. 7

    I guess if you can’t pass yourself off as competent based upon your 3 1/2 years holding the job

    …or haven’t accomplished everything* in 3 1/2 years, mostly with a rabidly insane Republican House…

    what you’re left with is reminding America that the guy who won the Republican nut-job contest, er, primary, is a pandering, lying, offshore-bank-account-holding, Romneycare-inventing, unsuccessful Massachusetts governor who is best characterized as a job-destroying vulture capitalist dedicated to enriching the rich and creating a vast underclass of powerless worker drones.
    Fortunately, Obama’s best ally in transmitting this message is, shockingly, the out-of-touch, not-quite-human, Romney-bot himself.

    Sucks to be Republicans…

    *(Other than vastly improving access to health care, ending the Iraq war, killing OBL, saving GM, etc, etc…)

  8. 8

    I read that unions will have a reduced presence at the DNC convention this year and that Trumka is working on dissociating unions from Democrats, now that he’s figured out that water-carrying for unions isn’t a sound re-election strategy for Democrat politicians, and money spent trying to prop up the likes of Kathleen Falk and Jon Corzine has been money wasted.

    Seeing as unions spent $4B on elections over the 2005-2011 period, I suppose that reduced presence will be felt by the Democrats.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....TopStories

    I must admit that I am enjoying the schadenfreude of unions realizing that their survival depends on NOT supporting Democrats in the future. I guess that means they wasted that $4B supporting them in the recent past.

  9. 9

    Since I was thrown under the bus by my fellow democraps, here is what is happening with obama’s approval rating
    http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....-1044.html

    -2 in the poll of polls. Only an old FoxNews poll showing obama at +5 is holding him up. can’t get beyond 45-48% so now here comes class warfare. looks like obama is trying to fire up his base flogging greed in the name of fairness. folks want jobs, not rhetoric. how will raising taxes on job creators create more jobs? it won’t. obama is a low life SOB

  10. 10

    Who was the last Massachusetts governor to run for President?

    Dukakis?

    I’m reminded of him when I see Romney – purported competent technocrat, no human emotion, abrasive, grating interpersonal skills, can’t quite figure out how to connect with people he needs to vote for him…

    Sucks to be a Republican…

  11. 11

    @ 7

    24 months with a Democrat-controlled House, only 17 months with GOP-controlled House.

    Recall the period in which he had House control and 60 Senate votes. How much job-creating legislaiton was rammed through during that period, Lib Sci?

    Your spin that Obama is ineffective because of the GOP is not backed up by the facts. He had control and he used it for Obamacare.

  12. 12

    @ 10

    Last Massachusetts governor to run for president was Mitt Romney. 2008.

    Oh, and based on your description in @ 10, wouldn’t I infer instead that it sucks to be Dukakis? I’m pretty sure if Romney stood up in a tank, we’d see more than his head and neck, BTW.

  13. 13

    @ 5

    I noticed that some of my comments in yesterday’s Open Thread were deleted pursuant to your whines of despair over my format.

    You will be pleased to note, Lib Sci, that I will heretofore endeavor to include sharp commentary in all of my future posts, so as not to suffer the indignity of future deletions.

    Unintended consequences of your whining are a bitch, aren’t they, Lib Sci?

  15. 15

    Serial must get a bonus from his handlers for tying up the most posts at the top of the comment threads every day.

    Just two more months of this, and maybe he can afford the used X-Box he’s been eyeing.

  16. 16

    It seems they are making a movie of the last six months of Janet Joplin’s life.

    I think it will be a flop. No matter how accomplished the singer, Joplin’s voice was unique, it would be VERY hard to find a satisfactory equivilent. And if they did, they would have to feed her so much whisky to fine-tune it she would be nearly dead at the end of the shooting. Also, the last six months of Joplin’s life would be the most depressing thing to watch – a downhill slide of bad relationships, drugs, and whisky, without being offset by the highlights of her earlier days.

    It’s a shame, though. Even in her last months had some surprising skills (such as “Me and Bobby McGee”).

  17. 17

    In 2004, the Pentagon unveiled and began distribution of it’s digitalized grey pattern cammo uniforms. These designs had been under research and testing for – well, decades. The Pentagon announced it had a solution for the problem faced by troops who one minute were fighting in the Iraqi or Afgan deserts, and in the next minute were fightin in an urban environment.

    But now Stars and Stripes is reporting that the Pentagon is (slowly) responding to complaints from soldiers in the field, saying that it’s just not working. It took years to convince the top brass that a mistake had been made, but they finally agreed to replace the uniforms – at a cost of about 5 billion dollars. In it’s place will be a temporary camo design, more like that which is available commercially to hunters. (Side note: I never have understood hunters wearing camo, and then putting on a bright orange vest).

    Personally, I was never a big fan of the current camo uniforms. They looked too much like pajamas.

  18. 18

    re 13 & 14:

    “You will be pleased to note, Lib Sci, that I will heretofore endeavor to include sharp commentary in all of my future posts, so as not to suffer the indignity of future deletions.”

    “I guess this time it’s Obama wearing kneepads in front of his donors instead of the other way around.”

    Sharp commentary? See if you can enhance the meaning of your little jibe with the word ‘jeweled’.

  21. 21

    Unintended consequences of your whining are a bitch, aren’t they, Lib Sci?

    No, wrong again, asshole. You’ve merely been browbeaten into following the rules.

  22. 22

    A black boy born in 2001 has a one in three chance of going to prison in his lifetime and a Latino boy a one in six chance of the same fate. Michelle Alexander writes in her bestselling book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness that there are more adult African Americans under correctional control today than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.

    Black males have an imprisonment rate nearly seven times higher than white males, and Hispanic males have an imprisonment rate over twice that of white males.

    Mass incarceration is tearing fathers and mothers from children, and economically and politically disempowering millions by taking away the right to vote and ability to get a job and public benefits, in some states, after prison terms are served. One in nine black, one in 28 Hispanic and one in 57 white children have an incarcerated parent.

    The toxic cocktail of poverty, racial disparities in child serving systems, poor education, zero tolerance school discipline policies, racial profiling, unbridled prosecutorial discretion, and racial disparities in arrests and sentencing are funneling millions of young and older poor people of color, especially males, into dead end, powerless and hopeless lives.
    http://www.cagle.com/2012/07/e.....rceration/

    This raises all sorts of questions.

    Are black males just prone to doing illegal activities? I don’t think so, but I bet some do, like serial “Make fun of the looks of an African American girl” conservative probably do, because he looked at Travon Martin and saw a thug, and not a kid trying to defend himself from a nutcase with a gun.

    Is it that black males do not have the same educational and employment opportunities so they turn to illegal activities to make a buck? The conservatives have gutted the social safety nets so it’s not like they have a lot of fall back on.

    Is it that black males are prosecuted at a higher rate and a greater severity than others? There were anecdotal evidence that when whites used the “Kill At Will” defense, they got off, but if blacks tried to use that defense, they were convicted.

    And the big question, how do we change the system?

    In southern Oregon they solved this problem. In one county, the county was so conservative they didn’t pass the levy that paid for law enforcement so they let go of all the local cops and now rely on state paid cops and courts. They simply released 3/4s of the people in the jail. It could be a outlier sign of our future. Just don’t pay taxes and the problem gets solved.

  23. 23

    Pudnutz must be really really jealous that Cereal has stolen his thunder as the most obnoxiously prolific poster of drivel, delivered with a more honed sense of self-importance and self-congratulation.

  24. 24

    Serial Conservative @ 13,

    “I noticed that some of my comments in yesterday’s Open Thread were deleted pursuant to your whines of despair over my format.”

    It had nothing whatsoever to do with Liberal Scientist’s comments. He merely recognized that whenever I got around to perusing the comment thread, I would find your comments unacceptable.

    Sorry, Squirt. It was YOUR comments that deviated from the comment polity. Take some personal responsibility, here, asshole.

    And quit fucking whining…it’s pathetic.

  25. 25

    @1 Here’s our professional troll, Cereal, as always logging in 9 minutes after 8 am. Do they dock your pay if you show up for work 1 minute late?

  26. 26

    America’s elites have devised a sure-fire formula for success. No, it’s not working hard; that’s for saps and suckers. Here’s how they do it:

    “financial services professionals feel it’s at least sometimes necessary to do illegal or unethical things to be successful”

    http://marketday.msnbc.msn.com.....ccess?lite

    “Seventy students were involved in … cheating last month at … one of the country’s most prestigious … schools.”

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48.....ork_times/

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Nobody is making an honest buck anymore. Show me a one-percenter and I’ll show you a thief. There’s more wrong with this than just morality. Stealing is a zero-sum game. Our economy isn’t creating jobs because no one is interested in making honest dollars anymore.

  27. 27

    Black Lung is back, and it’s going gangbusters.

    Deadly black lung surges back in coal country

    Remember the minors killed in an explosion a couple of years or so ago? When they conducted autopsys, 24 were in a sufficient condition for them to autopsey the lungs. Of these 17 had one stage or another of black lung disease.

    Minors as young as thirty are reporting at least partial disability due to black lung disease. Many minors are permanantly disabled by the age of 50.

    What accounts for the increase? (1) widespread cheating on inspections and tests, going back to the early 1990’s; (2) insufficient or lax enforcement, in part due to budget constraints; (3) greater use of machines which extract more rock in search of smaller coal veins; (4) longer work hours, amounting to 600 more hours of work (and exposure) since 1969 when the current legislation was passed.

    I didn’t see it in the article, but another point would be the decline in union representation. That’s really the worker’s best protection when it comes to safety violations, the shop steward is part of the work crew and can immediately take action to elevate a safety concern – even calling a sudden walk-out, if necessary. But the coal mines have been taken over by companies which will close down union-operated mines and open non-union mines nearby, and anyone with a history of union activity need not apply for the new job.

  28. 28

    43 years after Congress enacted “black lung” reform, coal miners are still getting sick because mining companies and collusive regulators cheat on implementing the law.

    http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.c.....untry?lite

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: As always, it’s the workers who pay the price when greedy business owners break the law.

  29. 29

    This is what will happen to public servants everywhere if Cheap Labor Conservatives get their way.

    “in the city of Scranton, Pa., … the mayor announced … he would be cutting pay for police, firefighters, garbage collectors and other public workers to minimum wage”

    http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.co.....-wage?lite

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Of course, it would be a mistake to assume that Cheap Labor Conservatives will be satisfied with cutting the pay of cops, firemen, teachers, etc., to $7.25 an hour. The next step will be to repeal the law that increased the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. Then, they’ll repeal minimum wage altogether so these workers will have to work for nothing. Then, to keep them from walking off the job, indentured servitude will be reinstated, followed by slavery. What Cheap Labor Conservatives ultimately want is repeal of the Thirteenth Amendment.

  31. 31

    Wasn’t Obama counting on these Democrats staying Democrats?

    The pollsters sure are. How can you have a representative D +9 sample when D’s are becoming I’s?

    Independent Voter Surge Cuts Democrats’ Swing State Edge

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-edge.html

    When active and inactive voters are included, the Iowa data shows Republicans have gained about 40,000 registrants since December 2008, while Democrats lost about 70,000.

    Iowa’s a swing state, isn’t it?

  33. 33

    @30 Only 200 million? He’s a small fry. Nowadays, when 1%ers steal, they go for billions or trillions.

  35. 35

    @24 “And quit fucking whining…it’s pathetic.”

    Geez, Darryl, that’s their stock-in-trade. Take it away from them, they have nothing left. What would they do with themselves if they weren’t allowed to whine?

  36. 36

    @ 26

    Nice to see the retiree pronounce that no one is honest anymore.

    The reason that job creation isn’t better is that those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks that get us there, paying our taxes, and then coming home and turning on the tube/computer only to learn that we’re being accused of not paying our fair share.

    You have no idea how I earn my living, RR. I do so quite honestly. I’m not interested in a lower tax bill, just in seeing my taxes used competently once collected.

    It’s always easy to sit back and criticize the efforts of others. It’s a little more difficult to actually do the work and then be called dishonest by an anonymous, uninformed coward.

  37. 37

    @31

    Iowa’s a swing state, isn’t it?

    Yes, it’s a swing state BECAUSE it swings. If it didn’t swing like we’re seeing now it wouldn’t be a swing state. ’12 is shaping up to be the most boring presidential election ever, Iowa not swinging would make it even more boring than it already is.

    Btw, check out this headline:

    GOP frets about swing state toll on Romney from Bain attacks
    http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.c.....tacks?lite

    The above article and yours are both more noise than signal.

  39. 39

    – Jay Inslee’s first ad.

    I’m never impressed when politicos prattle on about their families. But, the rest of the ad was really good.

  40. 40

    The reason that job creation isn’t better is that those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks that get us there, paying our taxes, and then coming home and turning on the tube/computer only to learn that we’re being accused of not paying our fair share

    The 1% doesn’t create that many jobs. ;-)

  41. 41

    those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks

    HAHAHAHAHAAAHAAHAAAA!!!

    You put in 60-70 hours here…confirming that this is your work…but like I’ve posited before, you’re likely a low-level flunky, the nephew of some mid-level wig in the wingnut mothership, given this job to keep you from fucking up something important…

    …1%…

    BWHAHAHAHAAAA!!

  42. 42

    those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks

    Those of us in the working class are sick of putting in 60-70 hour work weeks, not having much to show for it at the end of the month, and then being told that we have to bail out 1%’ers in the finical sector who’ve done stupid shit and lost all their money.

  43. 43

    those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks

    Most of the %1 got their though inheritance and the rest do their “work” sitting behind a desk. You want to know what tired feels like trade places with a grocery checker for a week.

  44. 44

    @ 43

    So, desk work is, what, dishonest? Otherwise somehow unworthy of recognition as true effort? I said nothing about fatigue. My point was that a lot of the 1% got there, and remain there, through substantial input into their careers.

    I wonder if you have statistics on what percent of Americans earning $375K or above have worked to get there, vs. inherited. Truly would be interested in knowing where you got that ‘Most of the …’.

  45. 45

    “you’re likely a low-level flunky, the nephew of some mid-level wig in the wingnut mothership, given this job to keep you from fucking up something important…”

    Nailed it. Such a loser.

  46. 46

    ‘12 is shaping up to be the most boring presidential election ever

    Um, wouldn’t 1984 be closer to the top? There hasn’t been a more thorough ass-kicking in my lifetime than the one Reagan gave Mondale.

  47. 47

    @ 45

    Yup, that’s me. I sit around all day, typing away on my laptop, growing my lardass to unspeakable proportions, doing nothing positive for the economy, bloviating about my daily stock appreciation and how each and every dime I made was at the expense of some dumb Rethuglican. I botch facts, use inane analysis, and refer to myself as a lagomorph until people around me roll their eyes back in their heads and vomit.

    Oh, wait, that isn’t me……..

  48. 48

    @16 Don’t worry about the voice problem. Considering that it’s typical of the recording industry these days to use the audio equivalent of Photoshop to make a star out of some dork who couldn’t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow, it shouldn’t be much of a problem to morph the sweetest soprano on the planet into an approximation of Joplin…or for that matter to make her sound like Tom Waits.

  49. 49

    Fucktards like Bob are hoping to hit the trifecta, the elimination of inheritance, capital gains and dividend taxation. When his rich uncle dies, Bob hopes to lounge by the pool, clipping coupons, never paying taxes, including his spawn, generation after generation.

    Today, as we have done for so long, the right wants us to throw tax cuts at the rich in hope that these so-called “job creators” will create some jobs. After years of the Bush tax cuts, we can all see how well that worked out. We evidently didn’t give them enough. Horseshit.

    Here’s a novel idea idea, how about we give a tax break to real job creators for actual jobs created instead of tax breaks to all of the rich in the hope that one of them will create a job? Why reward those who do nothing? Besides, any teacher’s or firefighter’s pension fund will create more jobs in America than any rich fool lounging by the pool clipping coupons. Reward true job creation and you reward everybody who invests in America, from the 1% on down to the worker funding a pension or 401K.

  50. 50

    # 36: “The reason that job creation isn’t better is that those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks that get us there,…”

    Stop it! Your’ killing me! I can’t breath, I’m laughing so hard!

    The 1% never get that way on their own merits, and few of them ever worked real 60-70 hour workweeks, except on a few occasions. They get there because they had access to influential people, funding, and education which few others have – or they married into it.

    They like to congratulate and pat themselves on the back about how hard they work, but most of it is smoozing with fellow 1%’s at luncheons, dinners, on the golf course, and country clubs where they get together with the other 1% to complain about government regulations, unions, and how they can get more work for less money out of the working class.

    I mentioned this a couple of years or so ago. I was at a dinner put on by a major local employer, thanking us for buying from them. It was a nice dinner, at one of the handful of A+ restaurants in the city, and we were served steak of salmon (our choice), and as much wine as we wanted. Transportation was provided, just to make sure nobody got into trouble afterwards. This wasn’t a big deal for me, I only drink about half a glass of wine at these occassions during the toasts, just to be sociable – the rest of the time I drink water.

    Anyway, the driver of the van was going to transport myself and an upper-level executive from the company back to our cars. Mistaking me for someone like him, he loudly complained during the whole ride about how tired he was of eating steak dinners three nights a week, but he wasn’t going into the office until 10:00 a.m. because the dinner ran so late. I glanced at the driver, who was looking at us through the rear-view mirror, and I could tell he didn’t think much of the guy making those comments.

    Anyway, the driver dropped him off at his car first, and then went on to drop me off at my car. As we drove, I smiled at the driver and told him “Gee, it must be SO HARD to eat steak three nights a week!”. The driver cracked up. He said he hears those guys making comments like that every night, and complaining about how hard they work. He is holding down two jobs – he works from 6 AM to 3 PM at the plant, and then as an “outsourced” driver he works for the temp company from 4PM until – whenever the job is done, frequently midnight. Of course, he was doing this just to get by.

    So whenever someone defending the 1% pops up with this argument – that they work harder – I think of the executive and the driver.

    Oh, and by the way, anyone who is a true 1% isn’t posting on this blog. They wouldn’t get their hands dirty in arguments with the hoi paloi. They know they can influence politics much more effectively by attending a fundraiser and forking over just a small fraction of their daily disposable funds.

  51. 51

    @ 50

    See @ 36. Since you are mentioning my name at least be accurate. I specifically stated I did not want my taxes lowered. In fact, I am even OK with an increase. The increase should be across the board. I have stated this repeatedly.

    Why shouldn’t the middle class, the vast majority of which is employed, cover some of the costs of deficit reduction? If my rate would go up, say, 4%, couldn’t the middle class rate go up by 1.5 – 2%? You would have true deficit reduction if that happened. Serious deficit reduction.

    It wouldn’t get Obama re-elected, though, so it’s a nonstarter to even bring up (although I believe Bill Bradley did just that earlier this week).

    You have intentionally misquoted me previously, Doctor Steve. It beats arguing on merit, I suppose, but it demonstrates your weakness(es).

  53. 53

    Well, Serial Bob does have some English language skills, unlike Puddy. That makes me think he’s a recent college graduate, a member of the Young Republicans, and someone with money available figured they could give him this job to tide him over until his Uncle frees up a desk somewhere else.

  54. 54

    “So whenever someone defending the 1% pops up with this argument – that they work harder”

    It goes hand in hand with wingnut worship of the rich. They mock those who would choose to work extremely hard for a middle class existence and yet contribute to a better society, such as teachers and firefighters. They’re not trying to get rich, so they’re viewed as inferior, there’s something wrong with their priorities in life.

    For all his posts, the one message that Bob consistantly delivers loud and clear, besides his being a racist with fascist wet dreams, is that he’s a morally bankrupt individual. Sadly, wrapped up as he is in his narcissistic delusions, he’ll never see it. Gawd, what a wretched, fucked up existence his must be.

  55. 55

    Not recent. First person I voted for in a presidential election was Jimmy Carter.

    Hey, we all grow up.

  56. 56

    “You have intentionally misquoted me previously, Doctor Steve. It beats arguing on merit, I suppose”

    Um, your response is to RHP’s post, idiot.

  57. 57

    now we have jesse jackson jr. not leveling with his constituents on his purported & admitted health problems.
    we have obama with a last ditch effort using class warfare to polarize america and put his reelection above the country’s best interest.
    looks like leftistism has a half-life and it is near the end.
    obama is begging donors after bragging that he would get $1 billion in contributions. romney out fundraising him by almost 50% more in june.
    looks like desperation has set in.

  58. 58

    @11 –

    Recall the period in which he had House control and 60 Senate votes. How much job-creating legislaiton was rammed through during that period, Lib Sci?

    56 Democrat Senators is not 60 Senate Votes.

    But keep pretending, it is what you do best.

  59. 59

    Heh. Sheer right wing loon panic!

    Americans split evenly on the Supreme Court’s recent 5 to 4 decision upholding Obama’s health-care law, with 42 percent approving of the decision and 44 percent opposing it. But in a significant change, the legislation is now viewed less negatively than it was before the ruling. In the new survey, 47 percent support the law and 47 percent oppose it. In April, 39 percent backed it and 53 percent opposed it.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ory_1.html

  60. 60

    @11 how much job-creating legislation is being rammed through the house from 2010 on?

    Don’t raise taxes on the job creators, even though the job creators haven’t created any jobs over the last 4 years, but what difference does it really make, it’s all of Obama’s policies that are hurting the economy.

    Veto the full extension of the Bush Tax Cuts. Stick it to the American People for being so stupid. A great Xmas gift for everyone.

  61. 61

    @ 60

    So, in a bad economy, when jobs are not being created, you would penalize employers by raising their taxes?

    Isn’t that the taxation equivalent of ‘Beatings will continue until morale improves.’?

  62. 62

    Serial @ # 51: I didn’t mention your name in # 50. I presume you are talking about another post.

  63. 63

    @ 56

    Thank you. Response was to you. I used the wrong number.

    @ 49, not @ 50.

    Feel better, Doctor Steve?

  64. 64

    Heh. Scary Rick Perry shows what he’s good for:

    With a full 25 percent of those living in his state existing with zero patient protection and no real access to care—affordable or otherwise—how can Perry logically state the the Medicaid expansion, with the bill to be picked up almost exclusively by Uncle Sam, does not result in more affordable care or better patient protection? That simply makes no sense…not that Rick Perry has ever shown much in the way of concern when it comes to applying common sense in the face of a tasty political narrative designed to shine a little light on the publicity starved Texas governor.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/ri.....-your-own/

    What government by right wing idiots is all about.

  65. 65

    I’m outta here, at least for a while.

    By the end of the week I’ll be part of a $200 million (list prices) transfer of foreign money into the U.S., in return for shipment of high-technology U.S. made goods (well, mostly made in U.S.). How’s that for job creation? It works a lot better than sending U.S. jobs overseas and then selling the products back to U.S. consumers, as Mitt seems to favor.

    I’ll jump back on as I have the opportunity.

  66. 66

    @51 sounds like you are just realizing that GWB created all this deficit by lower taxes and not cutting spending, but actually increasing spending. Mitt Romney plans to do the same but on Steroids. You are niave you little one.

  67. 67

    No way is this guy going anywhere out of New Jersey:

    New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called the war on drugs a “failure” during a speech at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution on Monday, and tied his objection to the decades-long campaign to his anti-abortion stance.

    According to Christie, drug offenders in New Jersey are sent “back out on the street after their time of incarceration” with “no treatment.” He said this was the reason “why recidivism rates go up and why they don’t get better.”

    “For all first-time non-violent drug offenders, we have to make drug treatment mandatory,” Christie said. “Because, if you’re pro-life, as I am, you can’t be pro-life just in the womb. Every life is precious, and every one of God’s creatures can be redeemed, but they won’t be if we ignore them.”

    http://dailycaller.com/2012/07.....a-failure/

    First he appointed a Muslim judge and called right wingers nuts for foaming at the mouth about it and now he’s pro-life beyond the womb and for drug addicts to boot..

    Heh. The guy can’t keep to the right wing ding narrative. And he still needs to lose weight.

  69. 69

    “Thank you. Response was to you. I used the wrong number.”

    No problem. Your comments are so bland and non-sensical, it doesn’t really matter.

    “Why shouldn’t the middle class, the vast majority of which is employed, cover some of the costs of deficit reduction?”

    For the simple reason that the middle class is hurting right now. They may have a job, but they’ve realized a significant decline in personal wealth thanks to the epic failure of thirty years of economics. The president has the right idea.

    “You have intentionally misquoted me previously, Doctor Steve.”

    So fucking what, dipshit? I only clarify what you really mean with your wingnut weasel words. I expose you as the racist, fascist twit you are. That is why you have a problem with me.

    Besides, as I’ve told you before, I’m not a doctor, I’m an engineer. So fuck off, asswipe.

  71. 71

    Why shouldn’t the middle class, the vast majority of which is employed, cover some of the costs of deficit reduction?”

    Middle class wages have been flat since 1970..

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....des-making

    While the income of the top 0.1 % has gone up 358 percent.

    Raise middle class income and middle class people can then participate in deficit reduction. Until then you’ll just have to settle for their sons and daughters being cannon fodder for future right wing wars.

  72. 72

    re 61: “So, in a bad economy, when jobs are not being created, you would penalize employers by raising their taxes?”

    Yes. The only way that they should get a tax break is if they invest their profits in capital improvements in their U.S. facilities. That is the true way that corporate profits trickle down.

    You are really, really dumb.

  74. 74

    Hmm, it seems that Bob still can’t come up with an answer to Lib Sci’s question asking for five reasons a Romney presidency would be good for the country. No wonder Bob wants to talk about other shit. In lieu of a response from Bob, I’ll just repost the five reasons why Romney should be considered a dangerous sociopath and a man unfit to hold any public office.

    1. The torture of the unfortunate Seamus
    2. Organized a gang to bully a weaker student
    3. Impersonated authority figures
    4. Leads a religious cult
    5. Loves inflicting pain by firing people

    There’s more, but I stopped at five, which will suffice for a clinical diagnosis. Heh, Doctor Steve sez that Mitt’s a sociopath.

  75. 75

    @70 “my gaydar says Serial Conservative is gay too, not that it matters”

    Pedo would be Doctor Steve’s guess. Possibly still latent. Of course, it is only prudent to view every wingnut male one encounters as a pedophile or goatfucker until they somehow prove otherwise. Gawd, why anybody would leave a child or goat alone with a male wingnut beats the hell out of me. It’s begging for trouble.

  76. 76

    @ 70

    I should tell my wife, then. Nah, you’re wrong. But then, I thought YLB was a woman.

  77. 77

    The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds now stands at 16.5 percent, more than double the rate for the population at large (8.2 percent). For Latino youth, the rate is 20.5 percent, and for African-American youth, 30.2 percent.
    http://news.yahoo.com/youth-jo.....tment.html

    It ties into the statistic about incarnation rates. If you cannot get a legit job and you want money, you become creative. Ironic that when you are a millionaire, that’s called “financial services professionals feel it’s at least sometimes necessary to do illegal or unethical things to be successful”, when you are poor, it’s called illegal activities.

  79. 79

    Most of the %1 got their though inheritance and the rest do their “work” sitting behind a desk.

    Not quite… most of the 1% are the “working rich” who do indeed work hard at a variety of jobs… including non-desk jobs like teachers and construction. Doctors, lawyers, and managers make up a pretty big chunk:

    http://www.nytimes.com/package.....index.html

    A good number of them are in the highest tax bracket, and don’t do much fancy to dodge taxes… so they do get soaked on taxes. You need to be in the upper 0.5% at least before it’s worthwhile to hire tax lawyers to hide stuff.

    The reason that job creation isn’t better is that those of us who are the 1% are sick and tired of putting in the 60-70 hour workweeks that get us there, paying our taxes, and then coming home and turning on the tube/computer only to learn that we’re being accused of not paying our fair share.

    Oh phooey. Your argument is that the 1% don’t create jobs because their feelings are hurt? The 1% don’t currently create jobs because the 1% don’t historically create jobs. The middle class does.

  80. 80

    @ 79

    Thanks for finding although I suspect that someone would still suggest that the status was ill-gotten through marriage, nepotism, etc.

    I have an accountant and I’m not in the 0.5% range. My return runs 50+ pages with all the schedules and item lists. When it’s that complex, an accountant is a necessity. Geithner tried to use TurboTax, one of his earlier fails. There have been so many it’s hard to keep track.

  81. 81

    @79

    Most of the %1 got their though inheritance and the rest do their “work” sitting behind a desk.

    Not quite… most of the 1% are the “working rich” who do indeed work hard at a variety of jobs… including non-desk jobs like teachers and construction. Doctors, lawyers, and managers make up a pretty big chunk:

    According to your own link .9% of the top 1% work as teachers and there’s no way they got into the top 1% teaching 8th grade english. 1.8% of the 1% work at colleges and universities and if you were to poll those 1.8% you’d find that most of them grew up in well off households with college educated parents. If you look at who becomes doctors and surgeons, it’s largely the people who’s parents were already quite well off. I stand by my statement.

    There are always going to be statistical outliers.

  83. 83

    Hey Cereal – you going to DL tonight? Would love to meet in person…

  84. 84

    So, desk work is, what, dishonest?

    Well, our bloated finical services sector is more something to be held up as a cautionary tale than something to held up and shown to the world with pride.

  86. 86

    76. Serial Conservative spews:
    @ 70

    I should tell my wife, then. Nah, you’re wrong. But then, I thought YLB was a woman.

    07/10/2012 AT 12:56 PM

    more than a couple people have thought that YLBigot was female – gee, I wonder why that is….lol

  87. 87

    “you’d find that most of them grew up in well off households with college educated parents”

    Yes, the notes at the link pretty much say the same.

    I can tell you that when one is truly poor, it’s like you’re not even in the game, and to even be born on first base is something to dream about. Escaping extreme poverty isn’t impossible, but under many conditions in America it certainly is improbable. Those who make it are as much “outliers” as 1% teachers.

    I actually did know a couple of 1% educators from a summer at Lakeside. They gave up a good part of their summer to help poor kids and it was a wonderful experience, courtesy of the 1%. Although terrible things were to later follow, knowing that people like them believed in me was quite powerful. It still is. I had dinner a couple of years ago with a friend, a former superintendant of the Seattle School District, and learned that he knew those people, as well as TJ, a kid in my Lakeside class who went on to become the head administrator at Lakeside. I am grateful to them, those members of the 1%.

    There’s no need to hate the 1%, no more than any need to hate Christians. With both groups you have your good and decent folk, and then you have your fucked up right-wing extremists. I don’t like the idea of tossing the baby (and his or her vote) out with the bath water.

  88. 88

    “Paul Watson”

    I had to Google that one. Heh, I suppose if I had Googled “ego”, I might have found him as well.

    But I have to disagree with you, Max. I’d keep the rather cool-looking ship and throw the bloated douchebag overboard.

  89. 89

    86,

    “more than a couple people have thought that YLBigot was female – gee, I wonder why that is”

    Ummm…stupidity.

  90. 90

    @87

    I’ve got no issue with the 1%. I doubt I know any of them, but if you expand that out to the top 5% which is about $150K+ I know all sorts of people in that range.

    What I take issue with is: “I work hard” “I work 60+ hours a week” when it’s clear that the meaning is two fold, I work hard and these other people don’t.

    I also take issue with the people who think they did it all on their own, when they didn’t, and the notion that there’s 100% social and economic mobility in the this country when there clearly is not.

    And one last thing that I can’t exactly put into words at the moment, but contrast the difference between Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney. They both grew up wealthy and with every advantage in the world, they’re both still very wealthy, both Republican but they’re very different people in how they relate to other people and money. I wish I could word it better, but I like Huntsman and people like him and I can’t stand the Mitt Romney’s of the world.

  91. 91

    Re: 1% vs the rest of us.

    Check out rhp6033 @65, I’ve no idea about his wealth, but the odds say he’s one of us, and we’re the ones that bring the jobs. We’re the ones that bring the wealth.

    The 1% is best represented by Rmoney. When he had the chance to do good for his nation and his community, Rmoney offshored his money cuz all he cares about is himself.

  92. 92

    (Jumping back in during a 10 minute break):

    There is a bit of a problem in using the 1% in terms of “class warfare”. Some use it in terms of comparing who owns a share of the national assets. Some use it when categorizing all income, from all sources – which can be difficult if it’s not reported due to create off-shoring of wealth. Some use it when comparing the taxable income.

    When it comes to taxable income, I expect that some high-paying professionals who can’t escape being saddled with the label of “earned income” might be within those ranks. A surgeon, for example, might fit within that class. But once we get into the areas of total income, or share of wealth, then those ranks are by far populated with those who at least started out with family wealth.

    (Old joke: how do you become a billionare? First, you become a billionaire through inheritance. Variation: How do you become a Texas millionaire? You start by being a Texas Billionaire).

  93. 93

    # 91: I’m not wealthy by a long shot, and I’m just part of a team. But I’m proud to do work which benefits both America and American workers. If I had to make a living closing factories and out-sourcing jobs, I’d have to quit to avoid suicidal depression or admittance into a mental health facility.

    (Time’s up – meeting is re-starting).

  94. 94

    @79 Not so much teachers. I think you missed this qualification on the sidebar:

    “School teachers don’t earn enough to make the top 1 percent on their own, but many live in 1-percent households, primarily through marriage.”

    No doubt there are some educators in the 1% but they didn’t get that way teaching in high school or elementary school.

  95. 95

    89. Darryl spews:
    86,

    “more than a couple people have thought that YLBigot was female – gee, I wonder why that is”

    Ummm…stupidity.

    07/10/2012 AT 3:54 PM

    or maybe its because some people give off a very feminine vibe…

  96. 96

    88. Steve spews:
    “Paul Watson”

    I had to Google that one. Heh, I suppose if I had Googled “ego”, I might have found him as well.

    But I have to disagree with you, Max. I’d keep the rather cool-looking ship and throw the bloated douchebag overboard.

    07/10/2012 AT 3:48 PM

    Yep, I agree with ya on that one….Keep the boat, lose the bloated.

  99. 99

    Yawwwwwnn.. Nothing to see in this thread but right wingers playing dumbass..

    Getting tooooooo predictable.

  101. 101

    Yawwwwwnn.. Nothing to see in this thread but right wingers playing dumbass..

    Getting tooooooo predictable.

  102. 102

    Gman @ 98,

    “Daryll [sic], are you a [sic] Hassidic [sic] Jew?”

    Perhaps you mean “Darryl”?

    If so, the answer is no. I am not an Hasidic Jew. I’m Swedish.

    Are you drunk?

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