HorsesAss.Org

Open thread 8/6

by — ,

— King County Election Results, and links for all state counties.

— The King County parks levy passed with 69%!

— A new concept in the periodic table.

— Breaking: Transcript of al Qaeda’s worldwide conference call.

— MLA produces an official format for citing intellectual property contained in tweets.

— Fantasy Politics—2016: Weiner–Gore versus Boehner–Trump.

— The G.O.P.’s Insane “Leninist strategy”.

Comments

  1. 1

    Later this month, Sound Transit will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Tacoma LINK Light rail. The short line connects Tacoma Dome Station and Downtown Tacoma. There is talk of extending it, and if that is the case, I hope they start charging fates. The service is the only one directly operated by Sound Transit.

  2. 2

    Moline, Illinois is building a new station for Amtrak, even though Amtrak has never served the city.
    http://www.kwqc.com/story/2306.....ak-project

    I guess one needs a station before you have service, and Springfield is working on that. The goal is by the end of 2015. BNSF rails will be used Chicago-Princeton, and then branching off to the Quad Cities, on Iowa Interstate trackage, formerly Rock Island. Ironically, the Quad Cities along the Mississippi were served by one of the last two intercity passenger trains of the Rock Island, and those ended in 1978-79 when Springfield did not renew the subsidies. Probably a good idea to not keep the Rock Island Rocket going at the time, slow orders were the norm, kind of discouraging ridership.
    http://newstrib.com/main.asp?S.....leID=24218

  3. 3

    The fallout over the Lac Megantic disaster continues. First the Canadian regulators emergency order banning one man crews, then the FRA emergency order on leaving hazardous cargo unattended, now another action taken. Early today, the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic railway, announced that they would cease crude oil by rail shipments, and just now, it filed for bankruptcy. That was expected, the liability claims will be high.
    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/n.....story.html

  5. 5

    From the police blotter:

    “A Washington state man blamed his ex-girlfriend for his decision to attach a homemade explosive device to his dog’s collar Sunday morning. She ‘put the devil in it,’ he explained to police who came to his house following the explosion that killed the pup. He also clarified that he’d thrown his couch and other pieces of furniture onto his lawn after blowing up the dog because he was preparing for the rapture.”

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/c.....d-dog.html

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Sounds like a Republican. How many Democrats do you know who blow up demon-possessed puppies while waiting for the Rapture? Oh well, he can get his voting rights reinstated after he gets out of prison and pays the fines.

  7. 7

    6)As a circulator, Tacoma LINK being fare free makes sense. If it goes deeper into Tacoma, such as the planned Hilltop extension, might need to charge fares, to recoup some of the operating costs. I am not suggesting it be pro-rated, it would still be too short for that.

    http://blog.thenewstribune.com.....coma-link/
    I have seen the plan for added bus service between Tacoma and Olympia, and I would prefer extending SOUNDER there, if possible, in the future.

  9. 9

    Recently King County Metro signed a contract for trolleybus procurement. The options will be picked up by the San Francisco Municipal Railway.
    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....00586.html

    I liked King County Executive Constantine’s remarks. He said “These buses have a lot of fans, and he’s one of them”.

  10. 10

    More typically klownservative behavior:

    The Arizona Republic reports that during the President’s economic speech at a Phoenix high school on Tuesday, anti-Obama protesters outside of the school began singing “Bye Bye Black Sheep” at one point, with one holding a sign that said “Impeach the Half-White Muslim!”

    “He’s 47 percent Negro,” Ron Enderle, a 77-year-old protester, shouted.

    http://www.salon.com/2013/08/0.....rn_racist/

    Wow. Our goto klownservative fool for laughs around here surely approves.. If it stinks right he’s for it!

  11. 11

    Speaking of ObummerCare another 150 people just lost their jobs in Arkansas. Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor must be proud.

    The Affordable Care Act reduced national Medicare funding by $155 billion over a 10-year period that starts this year, Ryall said. He added that the fiscal impact on Arkansas was roughly $2 billion.

    Way to vote libtardos!

  12. 12

    So naturally here is commentary from Senator Pryor’s opponent Tom Cotton… Watch libtards try to tie him to Todd Akin because that’s what libtards do!

    Mark Pryor is the reason Obamacare is the law today. He could’ve stopped it, but he stood with Obama instead. Mark Pryor voted for Obama’s wasteful stimulus that added almost a trillion dollars to the debt, without lasting job growth. Mark Pryor voted for Obama’s amnesty plan for illegal immigrants that will hurt Arkansas families by driving up unemployment and driving down wages, without securing the border. Mark Pryor votes with Barack Obama over 90% of the time. Mark Pryor doesn’t put Arkansas first any more—Mark Pryor puts Barack Obama first.

  13. 13

    Now the libtards are at it again… Identity Politics run amok! Well it has to be Lawrence Summers being drummed out of Harvard for speaking candidly about possible differences in the number of men and women with high level ability in math. Butt hey if Cass Sunstein likes you it’s a slam dunk! You don’t remember Cass Sunstein?

    PuddyCommentary: Puddy met Summers and his assistant as we flew from DC to Frankfurt years ago. Yes he’s brusque like most Harvard ASSHole types. Puddy suggests someone who can fix the economy! Can either do it?

  14. 14

    From the linked to article in the post:

    The reason is that Republicans are following a strategy of withholding support for any bipartisan fixes to the law. They will vote to repeal or undermine Obamacare, but they won’t support any changes intended to improve its functioning. It’s a pure Leninist strategy — heighten the contradictions to help hasten the collapse they are certain is inevitable.

    But if Marx and Lenin taught us anything it is to understand history.

    GOP Expected To Thwart Obamacare Fix For Churches

    The United Methodist Church is urging lawmakers to support the bill, fearful that it may have to drop coverage under the status quo and let employees buy insurance on their own.

    “Absent this amendment it would be difficult for some churches to function as they are now,” said Tim Jost, a professor of health law at Washington and Lee University and expert on the Affordable Care Act, which he supports.

    Lenin’s and Trotsky’s contradiction heightening strategy could work in the post Tsar Provisional Government of Russia because that government was intent upon maintaining the status quo.
    The status quo in the USofA is the Chamber of Commerce.
    The strategy and tactics being employed by the TeaBagger Republicans shall surely hasten the collapse … of the Republican Party.

    The lessons of History are a bitch.

  16. 16

    @13 Uncle Puddles,
    I owe you an apology. I should have included the spike you offered me.

    Puddy suggests someone who can fix the economy! Can either do it?

    You mistakenly conceded that:
    1) Government not only has a role in ‘fixing the economy’, you, a brain dead troll for FREE MARKETS!, expect it.
    You’ll deny it after the fact, but there it is bro.

    A Chairperson of the Fed can only do so much when confronted with a liquidity trap (read Krugman, Baker or DeLong). What the Fed, which is ostensibly led by its Chairperson, is:
    a) Prevent worse things from happening. This can be done in this circumstance by raising the inflation target.
    b) Accept the Fed’s mandate to not only maintain stable monetary policy but to use the powers of the Fed to maintain full employment.
    (i) This mandate has been ignored by the Fed for 30 years, and we see the result
    (ii) The most effective monetary policy the Fed can utilize to achieve this objective in the face of the absence (because of Republican Congressional obstruction) of a fiscal policy to facilitate the objective is to give away money.

    Thanks for the spike set with your acknowledgement of a governmental role to “fix the economy”. Now, Troll on.

    ps edit: L. Summers is of the “Washington Consensus” which chose to discard the full employment mandate in the belief that full employment is derivative of unfettered financial institutions. That clearly does not work. ergo, LS unqualified regardless of his testicles, ovaries, both or neither.

  17. 17

    ) Government not only has a role in ‘fixing the economy’, you, a brain dead troll for FREE MARKETS!, expect it.

    Call a waaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmbulaaaaaaaaance for FlubScout. Obummer blew up the economy you moron! The rest of your rant is specious as always.

    Nuff SAID Sucka!

  18. 18

    I have seen the plan for added bus service between Tacoma and Olympia, and I would prefer extending SOUNDER there, if possible, in the future.

    That would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath. Moving the freaking station in closer to downtown Olympia, Tumwater and/or Lacey would also be great.

  26. 26

    22)Thanks. I watched a little, and got curious. Since the railroads are heavily union, it seemed odd. So I did a little searching. They petitioned the NLRB, but it may be that the NLRB does not have jurisdiction. The Railroads and airlines are covered by the Railway Labor Act, signed by President Coolidge. The National Mediation Board has jurisdiction on that. Perhaps terminal employees are not covered. It used to be that you needed a majority of the craft members to vote, and eligible voters who did not vote were counted as no votes, but that has changed under the Obama NMB, but a compromise with Congress increased the threshold to trigger the representation election.
    http://articles.chicagotribune.....al-workers

  27. 27

    Yesterday Darryl posted a thread in observance of an anniversary of sorts.

    Seems today is an anniversary as well:

    Statement by the President on the 15th Anniversary of the Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania

    On this day, we honor the families of the twelve Americans who lost their lives, and we join with the people and governments of Kenya and Tanzania honoring the sacrifices of the African victims of this heinous act, which killed over 200 and wounded over 5,000.

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-.....d-tanzania

    In a few days – August 20, to be exact – perhaps Darryl can post about the 15th anniversary of Clinton’s decision to bomb a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory in retaliation for the embassy bombings, if not to direct attention away from certain, um, domestic issues

    August 17, 1998: President Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury investigating his conduct. After the questioning at the White House is finished, Clinton goes on national TV to admit he had an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

    http://academic.brooklyn.cuny......meline.htm

    that he wanted to go away as quickly as possible.

    Initial claims that the Sudan bombing was targeted appropriately dissolved pretty quickly:

    In the Sudan, approximately 13 cruise missiles hit a pharmaceutical plant. The night watchman was killed.

    Days later, in the streets of Khartoum, Sudanese President al-Bashir led an anti-US march. Suddenly it seemed America was transformed from a victim of terrorism to an aggressor nation. And in the days following the bombing, the President’s National Security Advisor Samuel Berger faced a barrage of questions–especially on the Sudan attack. Reports quickly circulated that the Sudanese missile strike had hit a working pharmaceutical plant with no easily-proven link to bin Laden.

    FRONTLINE questioned National Security Advisor Sandy Berger about the attacks and he claimed they were justified. “Well, I believe we had solid knowledge that this facility was associated with chemical weapons,” said Berger. But on the day immediately following the missile strike, Berger had said that the camp was “producing chemical weapons.” Berger and others had backed away from their initial assertions about the camp as more evidence emerged.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/.....ation.html

    Perhaps this Fall Darryl can pay tribute to the 15 year anniversary of Sandy Berger’s refusal to give authorization for a strike on Osama bin Laden, whom the military/CIA felt was in their sights for an aerial bombing. He might even use the opportunity speculate on what might have been present in those sequestered documents Sandy Berger stuffed into his pants some years later.

    …

    The fight against Islamic extremism and associated terrorism has been a long one and won’t end any time soon. There is plenty of blame to go around for various failures, and huge mistakes were made well before January 20, 2001.

    We’ll make more in the future. It’s Obama’s turn, at present. Ignoring the obvious, such as a certain 9/11 anniversary last year, won’t help us.

    And partisan posts such as yesterday’s won’t do much more than further divide us.

  29. 29

    @24 There’s also the now-unused rail-end at the former Olympia Beer brewery, which would cause less traffic disruption than coming right into downtown Oly.

  30. 30

    Let’s review: The left leaning Center on Budget and Priorities claims:

    The United States went through its longest, and by most measures worst economic recession since the Great Depression between December 2007 and June 2009

    Well since the recession ended in June 2009, why has the number of workers in the workforce continued to drop? Why are labor unions screaming for Obummer to stop ObummerCare because it’s decimating the 40 hour work week for the middle class?

    Obummer’s own Labor Department’s most comprehensive alternative unemployment rate measure, it includes people who want to work but who have become discouraged from looking (they dropped out of the workforce you dummies) and people working part time because they can’t find full-time jobs is now updated through July 2013. This rate is a whopping 14.0%. 14% of the real workforce can’t find full time employment. Yes DUMMOCRAPTS own this economy! This value does not include HA’s unemployed moron because he likes sitting at home spewing from left wrong sites and creating worthless goto code! And Obummer touts a 7.4% unemployment rate?

    Obummer’s own Labor Department’s discussion on long term unemployment was interesting too. They claim it remains a significant concern. Well if Obummer fixed the economy why is this still happening? 37% of the 11.5 million people who were unemployed in July 2013 had been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer. This value does not include HA’s unemployed moron because he likes sitting at home spewing from left wrong sites and creating worthless goto code!

    Yeah DUMMOCRAPTS own the economy! Puddy remembers Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ own words: “We own the economy!”

    Oh yeah libtards forgot all about her!

    So to answer the leftist pinheads above… one simple word… FACTS

    19. Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit drops smelly pellets: Nothing of significance! Yes you are a liar!

    20. MarkStoooooooooopid’s dairrhea trail: Nothing of significance either. Did Puddy discuss any year? Nope you DOPE! Did MarkStoooooooooopid ASSume one. Yes, being a DOPE!

    21. Gman is constipated: There is something stuck up your butt so the ASS located brain can’t “think”!

    The Prosecution Rests Your Honor… Leftist idiots abound in Goldy’s NorthWest Division of Lunatic HorsesASS Moonbats! Look at the three whackamoles above!

  31. 31

    It’s like there’s an anniversary for something just about anywhere you look:


    IT’S INSTAPUNDIT’S 12TH BLOGGIVERSARY TODAY. Here’s the first post.

    Posted at 7:07 am by Glenn Reynolds

    Up tomorrow: 68th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki.

  32. 32

    Yup, it’s anniversary month, alright:

    Obama to mark ‘I Have a Dream’ anniversary with speech at Lincoln Memorial

    In the aftermath of the not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman last month, Obama said he feels a responsibility to convene conversations on race.

    http://www.politico.com/politi.....70141.html

    What could go wrong?

    I have a dream that 97% of new jobs created under a future president won’t be part-time.

    “Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,” said Keith Hall, a senior researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. “That is really remarkable.”

    Hall is no ordinary academic. He ran the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that puts out the monthly jobs report, from 2008 to 2012. Over the past six months, he said, the Household Survey shows 963,000 more people reporting that they were employed, and 936,000 of them reported they’re in part-time jobs.

    Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/201.....rylink=cpy

  37. 37

    @32
    You are right. It’s a broken system that relays on employers to pay for benefits when business dont exist to pay out benefits.
    Part time work pays no benefits at all. That seems perfect for businesses, the most worker for the least amount of pay. Companies are making the trade off between absenteeism and low moral vs increased profits.

    What do you propose as a conservative to provide benefits to minimum wage workers?

  38. 38

    I’ve been digging around for the why of the part time jobs report. There is very little thoughtful logical analysis posted online yet.
    I did find this interesting.

    “There are many workers out there available for work, so employers are able to hire at lower wages,” she said. “But if and when the momentum of recovery picks up, you’ll see the part-time percentages come back down and you’ll see overall wage growth as well.”

    Mayne noted that some high-paying jobs were casualties of the downturn, many of which will not be coming back despite the recovery, particularly for lower and middle skill level workers.

    “(Gone) are opportunities that there once were for people with lower levels of education to get “family sustaining” wages,” she said. “There is no indication that is going to change. There seems to be more education required now for (those positions).”
    http://www.deseretnews.com/art.....tml?pg=all

  39. 39

    @ 37

    You’re asking what I would do to give an unskilled, spotty-attending, disinterested entry-level staff member more?

    In this economy, I’d give that type of worker a pink slip, not an extra vacation week.

  40. 40

    This has all sorts of charts and graphs showing part time work spiked during the Great Recession and never went back down

    It is certainly possible that the Affordable Care Act is playing a role in employer decisions about full-time versus part-time employment.
    http://advisorperspectives.com.....oyment.php

  41. 41

    #39. Oh Ho! You are of the school of “Beatings will continue until Morale Improves” management.
    “Dang it serf, you should be grateful for your 27 hour a week minimum wage job! You need a paid sick day to take your kid to the emergency room? FIRED!”

    Mocking aside let me refine the question, What do you propose as a conservative to provide benefits to minimum wage workers out side of the employer system.

    Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits?

  42. 42

    @ 38

    There is very little thoughtful logical analysis posted online yet.

    I think there is a tremendous amount of logical analysis posted online and in dead-tree format.

    It’s just analysis you might not like.

    The economy is cyclical. Always has been. In a free society it always will be. Right now there is a phase that favors the employer and – exclusive of lower-unemployment regions like Seattle – is disadvantageous to a relatively unskilled employee and particularly to educated but unskilled young people.

    RR will be the first to tell you that the stock market is doing very well and that corporate profits are increasing, and people at the top echelon are seeing greater income and capital asset expansion.

    If that is happening and if the economy barely treads water – we’re barely, or perhaps not, keeping up with population growth with our new job creation – why do you think that employers have any incentive at all to do more for employees?

    That’s reality. Too many good workers need jobs and are willing to replace ones who move on. The long-term trend is for fewer employees and more automation and more technology so that fewer staff can do more work in their 40 hours.

    If you choose to disregard reality and ask @ 37 why those employers currently in an advantageous situation don’t voluntarily give up that advantage, then you will be disappointed that the responses you get don’t live up to your expectations.

    Perhaps alter your expectations to reflect reality.

  43. 43

    @ 41

    Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits?

    Clearly not. YLB can show you the way.

    Seriously, perhaps define ‘benefits’. How many ‘XXX is a human right’ items are you talking about? And if it’s outside the employer-granted arena, we’re not talking about employment, we are talking about social stuff.

  44. 44

    @ 41

    Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits?


    Totally different conversation, then.

    List the ‘benefits’ you are about to insist that you be given. ‘XXX is a Human Right.’ Go on. Make a list of all of the things you want others to give out in exchange for…..nothing, apparently.

    You want free stuff. Go ahead. Give us The Full YLB.

  46. 46

    dang, I wished I had time to respond, but I have to work for some pay and benefits.

  48. 48

    @ 41

    Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits?

    CNN President Jeff Zucker’s teenage son resigns from cushy consulting gig as ‘millennial adviser’ at Cory Booker start-up Waywire – Twitter critics blast hire as ‘gross nepotism alert’

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/n.....qvYsISlABO

    There must be a non-employment way to get some benefits to this poor soul.

    (Alternate headline: New Jersey Democrat candidate for US Senate behaving about as you’d expect)

  50. 50

    @ 49

    1. Is there redundancy in the rail system – who picks up the burden of shipping petroleum to that region?

    2. What happens to regional energy prices? We’re heading into heating-oil season.

  51. 51

    They say that they will continue operations, but have ceased hauling crude. The MMA made a good shortcut between Montreal and the Maritime provinces. Used to be Canadian Pacific, they spun it off. Until 1994, it hosted at the time, the last passenger trains in Maine, until the Downeaster started up. There is also Pan Am Railways, and the state of Maine had just startwd planning for this.

  52. 52

    In Maryland, Governor Martin O’Malley, has announced that the Purple line, a circumferential suburb to suburb light rail line will go forward, as a Public Private Partnership. It will connect several DC Metro lines, and MARC Commuter Rail lines. Commuters may not have to go through Downtown Washington DC’s transfer nodes, like Metro Center. This may be one of the few places where it could work. Denver had a suburb to suburb line, the G-Line, but it was suspended due to low ridership, but service from Downtown cobtinued over it, although it will resune service under current plans, with a connection to two other RTD lines.
    http://www.railwaygazette.com/.....oject.html

    The Purple Line could be a full circle, if Virginia came on board, but that has not happened yet. That’s not because of Governor McDonnell, he has been a supporter of Rail transportation in Virginia, including expansion of in state passenger trains.
    http://purplelinemd.com/en/abo.....urple-line

  53. 53

    One of the many problems in Detroit is that the two bus systems don’t work together. In Washington, we have multiple authorities that seem to duplicate, but have different purposes.(Metro does local service, Sound Transit is regional, but the missions do overlap) In Detroit, it seems different, with the Detroit Department of Transportation, and the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation. DDoT is the legacy of the Department of Street Railways, SMART came along later to coordinate bus service in Suburban Wayne County, as well as Oakland and Macomb counties. They may have a fix passed late last year. A new Regional Transportation Authority. I hope it has better funding sources. Borh SMART and DDoT are funded through millages on Property Tax Levies. A millage increases on property values that are not worth much.
    http://www.detroitnews.com/art.....candidates

    One tool the RTA may have, is they will control Federal grants, perhaps that would get the two to work together. It seems that the feud may be worse than Everett Transit vs. Community Transit, as the latter pair have ratcheted down the war of words, in fact, the City of Everett paid for a couple infill stations on the Swift line, and riders transfer between the two buses on the corridor.

    Although lawmakers in Lanaing are already trying to make the RTA infective through exemptions.
    http://www.freep.com/article/2.....re-transit

  54. 54

    Ed Asner has something to say.

    Of course, the “Conservatives” in here will be outraged. “How DARE you make those poor helpless billionaires pay taxes? They EARNED their money.

    You Fascists think you have all the answers, but all they really are, are snappy, sarcastic and self-serving retorts that your lawyers and your pocketed politicians write for you in advance. All you do is parrot the propaganda.

    And Serial Liar @39, why should I put any extra effort into working for you, if you won’t pay me enough to make my basic obligations every month, while you buy a new Mercedes every couple of years and whine about the mortgage and the taxes on that third house on Kaua’i?

    You know, trivial items like rent, and electricity and food and clothing, not to mention that little surprise like the $1800 auto repair or the $1200 new set of tires after driving on the old ones for three extra years. You pay me a lousy $1600 a month and then whine about how you can’t afford that two week skiing vacation in Aspen.

    Fuck YOU.

  56. 56

    @ 54

    You pay me a lousy $1600 a month

    I’ve sort of lost track, Deathfrogg, so maybe fill me in:

    That $1600 per month. Is it an employer paying it to you or are you still on the dole? ’cause if it’s the latter, you sound like one of the unemployed idiots who called in to the radio shows to complain that they didn’t get their $600 income tax rebate like they working next-door neighbor did.

    Further, Deathfrogg, if a miracle has since occurred and you did land a job, I’ve seen absolutely nothing you have written to give me any indication you possess sufficient neuronal circuitry to warrant anything more than minimum wage.

    Finally, people like Railfan and perhaps others would point out how those $1800 auto repair and $1200 tire costs would go away if you’d simply ride public transit.

  57. 57

    “If you’re going to take a hostage,” Schock says, “you gotta be willing to shoot it.” Another attendee quickly quipped, “kill it.”

    Heh.. The hostage that the occassionally klownservative Aaron Schock speaks is the October “trifecta” of debt limit, spending authority and budget votes..

    Of course his klownservative constituents are urging him to do whatever it takes to repeal PPACA..

    Schock comes off as the voice of reason compared to some of his batshit insane constituents. Compared to idiots like Ted Cruz, Rubio and any other bagger idiot in the House of Representatives he sounds almost sane.

  58. 58

    @43 Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits? The question has so many nuances and shades of grey.
    Obviously, if a person is wealthy, they can afford to pay for benefits out of pocket so that poor CNN President Jeff Zucker’s teenage son is covered.
    Children, some elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, they cannot afford to feed and house themselves on their own, we, as a society choose to provide for them. At least most of us do.

  59. 59

    @43 Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits? The question has so many nuances and shades of grey.

    Food and Shelter

    First some basic assumptions. This applies to people who want these things. If a person chooses to homeless of their own free will, then let them.
    As part of the social contract Americans have with our government and each other do we:
    Do we as Americas want to let our fellow citizens starve to death if for some reason, they cannot afford to pay for food? If not, making sure they have enough to eat will require taxes.
    Only the most heartless a-hole would say we should let people starve.

    But:
    Do we as Americas want to let our fellow citizens to be homeless if they cannot afford out of pocket for shelter? If not, providing them shelter will require taxes.
    Americans are willing to pay for emergency shelters but we sure do don’t like paying for shelters long term.
    We are perfectly willing to let people be homeless, especially if we think they are lazy.

    As part of the social contract, if we feed and house Americans, what does society get in return?

  60. 60

    @43 Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits? The question has so many nuances and shades of grey.

    Now for some of the fuzzy areas, education and health care

    As part of the social contract Americans have with government and each other do we:
    Do we as Americas want to let our fellow citizens be ignorant? We seem to be fine with stupid adults but we are willing to force education on the young, because we cannot wait until they are old enough to consent before we start to educate them. More specifically, does America think it’s acceptable to have an ignorant demographic because some parents were unable to afford an out of pocket education for their kids?

    Do we as Americas want to let our fellow citizens to die from treatable diseases and maimed or die due to treatable injury that they cannot afford to treat? If they had health care coverage but lost it because their illness meant they couldn’t work, should we let them die because we don’t want to pay to heal them?’

    As part of the social contract, if we educate and heal Americans, what does society get in return?

  61. 61

    Blaming the Affordable Care Act is misdirection. Employers claim they are not hiring or going to part time to avoid paying benefits. Logically then if you took the Affordable Care Act out of the equation, The same employers with nothing to force them to pay benefits, still wouldn’t be paying benefits to their workers.

    If a person cannot get employment or their work doesn’t offer benefits or enough pay to cover paying for benefits, food, shelter, healthcare, out of pocket, what is the conservative response? What should those people do? What should reflect reality?

  63. 63

    @ 60

    Careful there, bub. You said citizens. That’s racist. Leaves out too many ‘undocumented’ types.

    How much education? High school? Do we owe anyone who wants it the money to pursue a PhD in Critical Dance Studies?

    While we’re at it, apparently we need to add vehicle repair and maintenance costs to that list @ 54 so certain perpetually unemployed types don’t start feeling disrespected by the rest of us.

    You realize you’ve gone from wanting more for minimum wage workers to wanting to rework the whole social contract, right?

  64. 64

    61 – It’s pretty much useless to discuss such things with Dr. Dimbulb..

    Any blather he may offer up just boils down to:

    “I got mine. The rest of yous can go F yourselves..”

    Yep.. Confirmed in 63..

  65. 65

    @ 64

    I’m just looking for some context, YLB. New Costco tires for the minivan run less than $500 and the speed-rated Michelins I got for the Audi were $850, so I’m wondering why Deathfrogg is demanding @ 54 of his employer enough to pay for a $1200 set of tires. And that $1800 auto repair – leaves me wondering.

    Is it now a “basic human right” to go off-roading on the weekends and have the employer fix to pay for the busted suspension?

    I thought those were only written into union contracts. I’ve got to give that stuff to the PT chick who works at the Ballard McD’s, too?

  66. 66

    @43 Is working the ONLY way a person should get benefits?

    What qualifies as “working?’ When I quit my job to take care of my dying father and elderly mother for about a year was I “working?”

  67. 67

    @54. You raise a really touchy issue. How much wealth is too much? At what point does wealth become obscene?

    The ratio of CEO-to-worker pay has increased 1,000 percent since 1950, according to data from Bloomberg. Today Fortune 500 CEOs make 204 times regular workers on average, Bloomberg found. The ratio is up from 120-to-1 in 2000, 42-to-1 in 1980 and 20-to-1 in 1950.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....84623.html

    This version is even more extreme
    http://internationalpost.co/wp....._ratio.png

    For example, American society used to tax the top rate at 90%. Should we go back to that?
    The Wealthy hated it, but society in general was more stable. Is that an acceptable trade off?

  68. 68

    Do we owe anyone who wants it the money to pursue a PhD in Critical Dance Studies?

    No, but if they want to waste their own (student loans should count as OPM, not their money) they should be able to.

  69. 69

    You said citizens. That’s racist. Leaves out too many ‘undocumented’ types.
    I said that on purpose. I think illegals should have to follow the process to be citizens with all the privileges and responsibilities that includes. I don’t like cheaters of any stripe.
    If a company has to resort to illegals to be profitable, they don’t deserve to be in business in the first place.
    People who knowingly hire illegals, need to go to jail.

  70. 70

    @ 67

    For example, American society used to tax the top rate at 90%. Should we go back to that?
    The Wealthy hated it, but society in general was more stable. Is that an acceptable trade off?

    You recall, perhaps, incompletely. Remember all of those tax deductions that don’t exist anymore?

    Do we also go back to not using all of the things that may have been invented because of the enhanced after-tax value of entrepreneurship?

    Not that simple, friend.

  71. 71

    You realize you’ve gone from wanting more for minimum wage workers to wanting to rework the whole social contract, right?
    Actually this thread was wanting to understand why business are hiring part time workers.

    But Yes, it did get better. but what’s your point? When republican fight to gut food stamps and privatize education, that’s also reworking the social contract.

    Yes, let’s have a discussion on the American social contract. It’s long overdue.

  72. 72

    @ 68

    Michael:

    Certainly you were working. But is it reimbursable labor above and beyond what FMLA might give you, particularly if you chose to provide personal care when impersonal care by others would have been an alternative and you could have remained employed?

    That sounded cold, and I’m sorry for that. But if you made a choice, is it necessarily the responsibility of society to fund or underwrite it?

  73. 73

    @ 71

    Yes, let’s have a discussion on the American social contract. It’s long overdue.

    It’s certainly never been discussed here before, has it?

    C’mon. It’s more or less why HA exists, no?

  74. 74

    @70. Are you arguing that nobody invented anything when taxes were high on the rich?
    Is that Any Rynd argument that the wealth generators will just quit?
    Cause I’m going to have to keep quoting George Carlin:
    “Conservatives say if you don’t give the rich more money, they will lose their incentive to invest. As for the poor, they tell us they’ve lost all incentive because we’ve given them too much money.”

  75. 75

    I’m still looking forward to your answer to

    If a person cannot get employment or their work doesn’t offer benefits or enough pay to cover paying for benefits, food, shelter, healthcare, out of pocket, what is the conservative response? What should those people do? What should reflect reality?

  76. 76

    @ 74

    I’m arguing that it wasn’t anywhere close to 90% once the other stuff was factored in.

    I’m also arguing that technology advancements have accelerated and that part of the reason why might be that more of what’s earned is kept. Feel free to disagree. I do know that I’m cutting back and that my (indirect) goal is to earn little enough to not pay the top marginal rate, in response to the tax increase that took effect Jan 1. My direct goal is to work less. I have enough. I don’t need to die with the most toys.

    @ 75

    My answer is Thatcher’s “At some point you run out of other people’s money.” You just got done raising my marginal rate and my long-term capital gain and dividend rates. I’m not going to be all that receptive to another demand for more money from me. Cough up more yourself, then get back with me.

    My more appropriate response is that if more is needed, let’s all step up and cough up more. Shared sacrifice. Everyone should have skin in the game when more revenue is needed. That means you, too.

  77. 77

    @72

    alternative and you could have remained employed?

    Actually, I qualified as a paid family caregiver (I forget the exact term), but I chose not to take the money because I didn’t need it and I didn’t want DSHS anywhere near my family.

    That sounded cold, and I’m sorry for that. But if you made a choice, is it necessarily the responsibility of society to fund or underwrite it?

    It’s not cold at all. What should qualify as work and receive some sort of reimbursement is a very relevant question and not one that I have an answer for. Although personally, I think that my and my family’s level of wealth (we’re not rich, but we’re more than getting by) should have disqualified me.

    If you need help you should get at least some help. But, if you don’t need it you shouldn’t get it just because other people are getting it.

  78. 78

    My answer is Thatcher’s “At some point you run out of other people’s money.”

    Thatcher said that and then turned around and spent North Sea oil wealth as income. Cutting taxes and then borrowing like Reagan did or replacing spending with oil revenue isn’t sustainable or a good idea. Scotland has a bigger welfare state than England and is doing better than England right now because Scotland treated their share of North Sea oil wealth as wealth, not income. Thatcher and Reagan were full of crap.

  79. 79

    @ 78

    Thatcher and Reagan were full of crap.

    Well, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Jimmy Carter’s delayed plan for prosperity that had us in better shape in January 1989 than we were in January 1981, but have it your way.

    I think I’ve been pretty consistent for well over a year with my perspective that everyone should cough up, not just the rich. It’s easy to lay the burden on someone else. When it’s a shared burden we all have an interest in ensuring that our increased contributions are used wisely. It shouldn’t be just other people’s money. It should be some of your money, as well, if more is needed.

  80. 80

    @68 Since no one bit the hook…

    There are some things that while are good, like dance, they’re not critical, like CNA’s, nurses, teachers, and engineers. Take away state support for CNA programs and good luck trying to find well qualified people to take care of grandma. Takeaway state money from dance and our society is probably blander and poorer for it, but no one dies from a pressure sore. State spending should go to critical things first.

  82. 82

    @79

    I wasn’t singing the praises of Jimmy Carter and your post has nothing to do with what I said at @78.

    Reagan and Thatcher were practicing one more form of bubble economics (as did Clinton with the tech bubble and Bush II with housing) which led to crashes later on. The fact Scotland is currently doing much better than England can be traced back to Thatcherism, amongst other things.

  84. 84

    @ 82

    Please define the ‘crash(es)’ that occurred as a result of Reagan policies.

    Please define the ‘crash(es)’ that occurred as a result of Clinton’s policies and, to the extent possible, differentiate 2001’s downturn from what occurred as a result of 9/11 that year.

    I guess what I want to know is whether an expansion followed by a contraction was any different under those presidents, or after their terms, than other expansions and contractions.

  85. 85

    Hey check it out the Dot Com Bubble has its own Wikipedia page! Same with economic bubbles in general and the housing bubble!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R....._countries

    And here’s what I found under recessions:

    the debt accumulation of the 1980s, and growing consumer pessimism combined with the weakened economy to produce a brief recession.[43][44][45]

    That “brief” recession was lifted by Clinton era polices that allowed and encouraged working class people to buy a whole bunch of shit they didn’t need and couldn’t afford, laid the foundation for both the Dot Com and Housing Bubbles, and the endemic finical crimes of the Bush II era.

    Way to go, guys!

    See ya later, gotta go.

  87. 87

    Once again @ 63 SC repeats an outright lie propagated by the anti-education set.

    Do we owe anyone who wants it the money to pursue a PhD in Critical Dance Studies?

    That is a lie. I doubt anyone actually persues such a degree and it is entirely likely that nobody ever really has, and the whole “basket-weaving degree” thing is a mere attempt at making strawman arguments against ALL forms of education. Fascists will always propagate a completely hypothetical argument, then insist that such an easily dis-proven lie is proof of their position.

    You Fascists just pull shit out of your ass, shove it in peoples faces, and then react with extremely virulent arguments on how the FACTS are wrong, and their magic hypothetical argument is the only cogent one when someone with real knowledge of a subject demonstrates that you are basically just a liar and an asshole for repeating the lie.

    You are a liar. Simple as that. You are dismissed.

  88. 88

    Sitting on a train, headed back home after a long day. Started at 4am with 2 1/2 hour commute (on the train Railfan, for part of it), reading all the comments about work. But apparently you all have time to bullshit here and not work, especially the serial nut job who doesn’t want any division amongst us but the three posts later tells the rabbit to go eat some fried food as if he wants to unite with him.

    Guys there are a lot of important issues out there and none of them have you solved. But of course I understand that you can’t negotiate or reason with the party of fuck ups and nazi republicans.

  89. 89

    88)I have seen Lakewood Ford actually use their proximity to the station to offer a special. Need car serviced, they can do it while the customer is at work.

  90. 90

    I’ve been digging around for the why of the part time jobs report

    Well Fascist Pigsty… DONK websites won’t cover the truth! Gotta go deep as Al Davis would say!

    Remember y’all own the economy!

  91. 91

    Blaming the Affordable Care Act is misdirection. Employers claim they are not hiring or going to part time to avoid paying benefits.

    This was told to Obummer before it was passed. He ignored now reaping the whirlwind! Labor unions ignored it. Now they are also reaping the outcome of their Obummer brown shirt goosestepping votes. When you march with the morons you reap their actions!

  92. 92

    Continuing in the “We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it” arena

    ObamaCare ‘death panel’ faces growing opposition from Democrats

    Hmmm… They just finding this out? Remember how HA jackbooted thugs attacked Sarah Palin for identifying this back in 2010? Well Dr Howard Screech Dean admitted to this back in July. Remember HA morons? No? 24 hour mindless moron memory moonbattery disease?

    PALIN: I haven’t read his op-ed. I haven’t wasted my time on it. I think I, and others, wasted too much time listening to the liberal pundits a few years ago when they said that was the biggest lie of the year, my claim that death panels were a part of Obamacare and the rationing of health care services. And now that has been proven to be true. I guess I could say, ungraciously that I appreciate Howard Dean acknowledging it, finally.

    Wow it sux to be a DUMMOCRAPT goosestepping from the realities of ObummerCare!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

  93. 93

    Wow, where is all that anti-coal and anti-fracking money coming from? Shadowy locations…

    A major left-wing foundation has received tens of millions of dollars from a shadowy Bermudan company with ties to wealthy American hedge fund managers and distributed those funds to prominent liberal nonprofit groups. A sizable portion of the Sea Change Foundation’s revenue since 2011 has come from a single company, incorporated in Bermuda, called Klein Ltd. The company’s only officers are employees of a Bermuda law firm, and neither provided information on what Klein actually does.

    Documents filed with the Bermudan government suggest that the company exists only on paper.

    Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit’s kind of law firm… Shadowy and no one really knows what it actually does.

    Naaaaah it’s another of those phony scandals!

  94. 94

    When you discuss things with the HA morons you need to visit a site they can digest…

    Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Fort Hood, said the military was not calling the killings a terrorism incident, but rather a “workplace shooting incident”.

    “In his opening statement Major Nidal Hasan referred to himself as a Mujahideen, and he was fighting to create a perfect religion on earth. He admitted to being the shooter but he said, in effect, that he is a soldier in a war,” said Reynolds.

    Yet, Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit will continue to side with the Pentagon and Obummer saying this was a “workplace shooting incident”; even after Hasan readily admits it was a jihad!

    So sad for the dead soldiers and members of their immediate families.

    So sad for the wounded soldiers and members of their immediate families.

    So sad for those fired policeman and policewoman who were wounded in the line of duty.

    So sad for America who listed to Obummer prevaricate and then lie about looking for justice!

    So sad!

  95. 95

    Interesting in the upcoming Australian Elections, when it comes to Industrial Relations policies. The incumbant party will continue with it’s FairWork Australia policy, which replaced the previous Liberal policy called Work Choices. The Liberal/National Coalition is saying that they will not go back to their old policy, but keep the incumbant party policy, with minor changes.
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/fed.....relations/

    Right now, with a two party prefered vote of 52%, the Liberals have a chance of winning. IT depends on the unique characteristics of the Australian Election System. The pollsters base this key metric partly on preference flows from the laat election. There are new microparties this time around, such as the Bullet Trains for Australia Party and the Wikileaks Party. The latter will not win seats in either house, but their voters have to send their later choice votes somewhere, as this is not San Francisco, they have to rank every candidate(SF uses ranked voting, but they only tally the first three preferences), and parties give their supporters “How to Vote Cards” to navigate the ballot. Although for House races, the microparties don’t run in every seat.

  97. 97

    @ 87

    Do we owe anyone who wants it the money to pursue a PhD in Critical Dance Studies?

    That is a lie.

    Actually, it was a question. I really didn’t expect you to know the difference between a declarative statement and a question so your response is not a surprise.

    As to the lie:

    Critical Dance Studies – Ph.D.The program provides a base for research in the field of cultural and historical studies of dance. Consideration of all dimensions of dance, including digital culture, body politics, media studies, mobilization and class, ethnicity, sexuality and gender, and corporeal knowledge and choreography are considered. Offered by the Department of Dance in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. (UC Riverside)
    University of California

    If you google it you’ll find other universities offering this degree.

    About a year or so I read a piece about a guy with a PhD in Critical Dance Studies and close to $150,000 in debt, and no job prospect. Probably in the NYT but I can’t find the link anymore.

    Anyway, I use that degree for the purpose of commenting here since it seems so silly to pursue in this day and age unless the degree candidate is a silver-spooner.

  98. 98

    @89
    Back when I had a Ford, before some uninsured jackass in Red State Real America decided to run a stop and total my car for me, I used to drop my car off at Lakewood Ford, walk across the street and hop on an Express bus to wherever it was I needed to be that day.

  99. 99

    @ 98

    …uninsured jackass in Red State Real America decided to run a stop and total my car for me…

    Yawn.

    Spare us. Three years ago right here in the deep-blue Seattle area I had my building run into by an uninsured, drunk-driving, hit-and-run illegal immigrant. He hit two parked cars across the street before crossing the intersection and slamming into my building corner with a Ford Explorer.

    He ran and was caught several blocks away.

    Of course there was nothing I could go after for compensation.

    He is probably the type of minimum-wage worker that is lauded by everyone else @ 37 around here. I really should pay more taxes, or pay more something, so he can have better benefits so he can drink a higher grade of alcohol so his hangover won’t be so bad because of that bad headache he got when he hit the windshield because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and because he never fixed the airbag from when it deployed from his last uninsured at-fault accident.

    Sell it someplace else, sister.

  100. 100

    @ 76. I ask:
    If a person cannot get employment or their work doesn’t offer benefits or enough pay to cover paying for benefits, food, shelter, healthcare, out of pocket, what is the conservative response? What should those people do? What should reflect reality?

    Thanks for answering my question, this is what I learned from Serial “Won’t pay his debts” Conn’s response:
    “I really don’t care if they starve, they are not my problem. Go get money from anyone else, I need all the wealth I can get, Why can’t you see I’m the real victim here, not them.”

  101. 101

    Of course there was nothing I could go after for compensation.
    Serial “Can’t you see I’m the victim here?” Conn, you started the paragraph with “He is probably…” and then went on a rant about some fantasy thug who embodies all the things you hate and fear from your other comments here. Some taker who is living well by cheating while you suffer so much playing by the rules. Why can’t we see You are the Victim, and you should be compensated for it! Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.

  102. 102

    You Fascists just pull shit out of your ass, shove it in peoples faces, and then react with extremely virulent arguments on how the FACTS are wrong, and their magic hypothetical argument is the only cogent one when someone with real knowledge of a subject demonstrates that you are basically just a liar and an asshole for repeating the lie.

    Looks like Serial Conservative pull facts from Google, shoved in OWS Racist Fraggy’s face who reacted with extremely virulence to a factual argument on how the FACTS are extremely correct, and then thinks his magical hypothetical no-no-no fingers in his ears argument is the only cogent one when someone with real knowledge of a subject demonstrates that OWS Racist Fraggy is basically just a liar and an asshole for repeating his unfounded lie.

    Puddy clears the air!

  103. 103

    @99

    My guy was a Rock Ribbed Republican, except I guess it’s easier to pleach it than live it, since wasn’t exactly taking personal responsibility for anything and will full of lame excuses. He hit me, drove off, and was caught a short time later. Since I was injured in the wreck he was charged with felony hit and run. The morning his trial was to start I let everyone know that I was cool with them doing a plea deal for a lesser charge and he took the plea deal. I knew all along that I was going to OK the plea deal, but I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t scare the crap out the crap out the guy.

    illegal immigrant

    Sorry Serial, those immigrants are here because of jobs that are offered to them in industries that overwhelmingly support the political right. Stop hiring them and they wont be here. You guys own this issue. They’re also here because of trade and economic polices that right wingers and right wing mega-coroprations love that make life back home not so good.

    Besides, there are plenty of people like me on the left that would love to see a crack down on illegals. However, when the Obama Admin stepped up checking fields for illegal child Ag. Workers you righty’s howled. And you’re blaming us for the problem? Again, the right owns this issue and it’s simple, don’t hire them and they wont be here.

  104. 104

    We put anyone who knowingly hires illegals and their ability for jobs dries up and they won’t come here.

    We use that principle with drugs, we lock up people who buy illegal drugs, why not lock up people who employ illegal people?

  105. 105

    Oh no.. UpChuck Todd is scared he won’t be able to ask those dumb libtard biased questions in future debates. Except there is no “firewall” UpChuck. What a bunch of crockola… PMSNBC isn’t exactly a hard-news organization. In fact it’s so biased other libtard places have called them on it. Nothing to do with it? The giant firewall has enough open roadways allowing Brian Williams, nightly liberal news anchor, to visit 30 Rock for those “humorous” cameos for the Entertainment division’s UpChuck talks about. In the morning the Today show certainly straddles that firewall all the time.

    Yeah right, deal with it UpChuck!

  106. 106

    Some guy who wrote an e-book called “How I Saved Someone’s Life and Marriage and Family Problems Thru Communication” turned himself in to police after posting a photo of his wife’s dead body on Facebook.

    “The Miami-Dade Police Department, who are now investigating the case, said detectives found [her] dead from apparent gunshot wounds when they responded to the home.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....d%3D355563

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: You never can tell for sure who shouldn’t have guns, so maybe nobody should have guns. Except rabbits, of course, because we’re more responsible than humans. All you hominids are crazy.

  108. 108

    @107 To quote the great musical Chicago. “I shot 7 warning shots…Into…His…Chest.”

  109. 109

    @97 “About a year or so I read a piece about a guy with a PhD in Critical Dance Studies and close to $150,000 in debt, and no job prospect. Probably in the NYT but I can’t find the link anymore.”

    What if he’s the next Jerome Hines?

    “Anyway, I use that degree for the purpose of commenting here since it seems so silly to pursue in this day and age unless the degree candidate is a silver-spooner.”

    You’re the last person I would appoint as arbiter of what’s “silly.”

  110. 110

    Roger Rabbit Poll

    Who is more useful to society? Vote for A. or B.

    [ ] A. A guy with a Ph.D. in critical dance studies who owes $150,000 in student loans and has no job.

    [ ] B. A guy with a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering who has a job paying $150,000 a year designing smaller and more portable nuclear warheads.

  111. 111

    Amazing how long a transit railcar can last. Besides the ancient streetcars in San Francisco and New Orleans, other examples of long serving railcars are the 2200 series cars on the Chicago El and Subways. Bought in 1969, retired, today. Don’t know if these were in the montage opening or closing of Good Times, from what I saw of that, the rolling stock was even older, 1950s and before.
    http://www.transitchicago.com/.....cleId=3194

  113. 113

    Wow that’s one impressive poll Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit! Then,

    You’re the last person I would appoint as arbiter of what’s “silly.”

    Who did and left you a job? Well you are silly so let Puddy take that back! The beatdown occurred in #30!

    Stay Silly, SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit! Yeoman’s job there!

  115. 115

    @114,

    Why, have the same mentally ill teabaglicans who promised you Rmoney would win promised you things will be better for teabaglicans in 2014?

    Now tell us whose shit you are currently sucking and how much shit you sucked out of Rmoney’s ass.

  116. 116

    @113 “SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit!”

    The government agrees with you, and your taxes are now paying for my veteran’s disability benefits. Thanks! I appreciate your concern for my well-being. You are a true friend.

  117. 117

    It shouldn’t come as a big shock that the V.A. concluded a guy who thinks he’s a rabbit is some kind of lunatic. I used Puddy as a reference in my application for disability benefits, but they won’t tell me whether they contacted him. All I know is I’ve started getting V.A. checks in the mail.

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