“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
How Acorn does it in California. Nice vote Senator Casey.
And Barack Obama's relationship with ACORN from CNN.
Ironically, that may depend on Anita MonCrief, a young black single mother who testified against ACORN but voted for Obama hopefully last year, and then became very disappointed with "Obama change."
...
It's too late to change the election result, but that does not mean the truth should not be told.
It needs to be generally understood, for America's sake, and Ms. MonCrief is uniquely able to tell it.
As Dave Wolf, a US and Israeli tax attorney from the capital's Hacohen Wolf Law Offices, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, "It's hard to live in Israel without an Israeli bank account - if you have an account at Bank Leumi, Hapoalim or some other Israeli bank, you stand to become listed as a criminal unless you register them with the IRS."
...
"You have to get your name into the program before the deadline," stressed Wolf. "It might be all legitimate - but you need a US tax attorney to register you and your activities for the past six years with the voluntary disclosure program.
It's serious, and it's a criminal offense, period."
There is a chance the latest scandals will convince Democrats that Acorn is too toxic a political partner. And President Barack Obama, who once ran a voter-registration program for an Acorn partner (Project Vote) and then worked for Acorn as a lawyer on key cases, has every incentive to distance himself further from the organization.
Former Acorn board members tell me the group has always been confident it will be protected. After the Nevada voter-registration fraud indictment last May, Bonnie Greathouse, Acorn's chief organizer in the state, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that "we've had bad publicity before" and survived.
"People always come forward to our defense. We're just community organizers, just like the president used to be."
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder requesting the investigation. He cited reports that ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, may "have been engaged in illegal activity" by aiding and abetting tax evasion, prostitution, human trafficking, fraud and conspiracy.
...
The Justice Department did not immediately comment on Johanns' letter.
...
ACORN has said only a handful of employees submitted false registration forms and did so in a bid to boost their pay.
Holder won't do shit. Kevin James noted that the San Bernardino DA COULD take action. Likewise for Maryland, but several commenters from there @ BC say it's way to corrupt to count on.
Sen. Max Baucus, a leader in the troubled effort in Congress to write a health care overhaul bill, has received more campaign donations from the health industry than any elected federal official except President Barack...
Loathsome Jimmy Carter, the fetid peanut of the presidency put it this way:
“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American," Carter said.
“Racism ... still exists and I think it has bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply.”
Check out this incredible list of ACORN front operations at just one location that Life Of found @ KOS after reading my Malkin list. Someone please explain to Dumbass (that would be me) why they posted scores of them to one address. Pure Lazyness/Sloppyness? --- Comments on Michelle Malkin, "What's missing from New York Times' coverage of ACORN"
But in one of the rare posts about it at the Daily Kos Asylum, one commenter actually listed the ACORN front operations at just one location – here’s the list, verbatim: “ACORN subsidiaries all located in 1024 Elysian Fields Ave, New Orleans 385 Palmetto Street Housing Fund Corp. 4415 San Jacinto Street Corp.
I first saw this Race charge in a Maureen Dowd op/ed on Sunday.
" Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t.
But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!
The outburst was unexpected from a milquetoast Republican backbencher from South Carolina who had attracted little media attention. Now it has made him an overnight right-wing hero, inspiring “You lie!” bumper stickers and T-shirts.
The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president. Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.
I’ve been loath to admit that the shrieking lunacy of the summer — the frantic efforts to paint our first black president as the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi; a cad who would snuff old people; a snake who would indoctrinate kids — had much to do with race.
I tended to agree with some Obama advisers that Democratic presidents typically have provoked a frothing response from paranoids — from Father Coughlin against F.D.R. to Joe McCarthy against Truman to the John Birchers against J.F.K. and the vast right-wing conspiracy against Bill Clinton.
But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it."
I've expressed my...surprise...at the stupidity of the debate and 2164th picture post yesterday is but one example of how inane many of the attacks have been so people search for some sort of reason for this foolishness. And its not really a silly happy kinda partisan foolishness but rather it appears to have some deep dark disturbed roots. Why do some folks hate him so much that they'd eagerly, happily, enthusiastically, latch onto some idiot claiming crack fed homosexual sex or the idea that Obama was born 'elsewhere'? I really don't know what drives folk so low - could be race. I mean, think about our nice mild mannered (well, sometimes) bobal and his past racial creeds advocating aborting black babies and all. You see that kind of shit and think...hmmmm, maybe race does have something to do with it.
Jimmah does make Rat look like a Rhodes' scholar. And to his credit, Rat does not wrap his animous in Bible verse.
I know an officer assigned to Carter's burial detail. Dog dung on the heels of boots will be the order of the day. The man is thoroughly despised. All this is bad form and unprofessional, to be sure; but volunteerism was abandoned for this duty, for very good reason: none could be found among officers.
What were we smoking when this guy ran for election and won? Trish is right: wasted years of a wasted generation.
Dowd's memory of politics is as short-lived as her love affair with Michael Douglas. Yes, Democrats did call Bush a liar...Good Grief! And you, ash, are pimping this piffle.
Rufus: What about the fiscal and Demographic Brick walls SS and Medibroke programs are headed for in the (not too distant) future. Have some laws the natural World been suspended? Will more of the same produce a better result?
As to history I think you've got history problems or reading problems. Sure Bush was called a liar, many times, but never when addressing a joint session of the Congress.
I have no idea what drives your hatred, could be race, I dunno, but your "America-Hating Marxist " says a lot - not about him, but you. It's loony wing-nut screwed in the ceiling kinda stuff. Carry on.
The race card is being played by all corners of the left. I wonder if they really think this way or is this merely hardball for them?
allen and man of "misdirection" use this tactic daily. One wonders if they really thinks that gibberish, or is it how they play the victim, just as the Blacks in America do?
Both have professional hustlers that play the victim card, when they are not victims, at all.
Remember those Oly ads? --- "It's the water, the water, the water, the water, That makes Olympia Beer, So refreshing, refreshing, refreshing, refreshing..." --- That Mississippi Muckwater produces a different result.
Ah, Doug, those folks that are always shrieking about "unfunded liablities" never refer to the monotonous 3% annual growth in GDP, and Tax Collections.
We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare. Never pay attention to political pundits espousing on future economic conditions in the middle of (1) a financial crisis, or (2) a big-time paradigm shift in political power, or, MOST ASSUREDLY, (3) A Combination of Both.
While the Isreal government has professional spies throughout the Federal Socialist infrastructure, many caught and convicted. Where there is smoke there is fire
While I have never read of a Pali spy caught and convicted by the US. No smoke, no fire, no threat to US.
While the Isrealis are a direct link to Russian intel services. Both culturally and physically.
"We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare... " --- It's about a Demographic Shift when the Ponzi scheme meets the brick wall of reality, Rufus.
re. trade, and all you who support Obama's move regarding China and tires:
The Chinese are looking at slapping some duties on Chicken imports from the US. Chicken you might say, what? Well, in China chickens feet are a delicacy, in the US, not really. Yet America eats a load of chickens and a chicken producer can 'subsidize' those chickens by getting some buck for what Americans would consider waste - the feet. Nice, efficient, free market. That may change, you try to protect you local union guys making the tires and you pay more for chicken.
"Doug, a $14 Trillion economy, growing at 3% will be a $112 Trillion economy in 72 years." --- Peak Oil or no Peak Oil. Educated populace or not. Patriots or Amerika-Hating uneducated hispanics or not. etc. as Trish would say, um, NO!
Surely you've seen the actuarial tables of worksers vs recipients of SS over time?
Sure I have, Doug. A knowledge of those actuarial tables and $3.95 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Look, we've always taken care of old folks. That ain't gonna change.
We used to take care of sick folks. That has changed a bit; and that's not good.
I don't want to do a whole book on economics, here; but it's all about "productivity." Our Productivity is increasing by leaps and bounds. We'll be fine.
Peak oil could be a short-term problem. I think, however, between the "Volt" technology, and biofuels we'll end up better than when we were sending a half a trillion/yr to Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
Moreover, since many of Obama’s czars are extreme radicals not that different from Van Jones, one would naturally conclude maybe that’s what the White House also believes. After all, you don’t hire people to represent your agenda who are that different from you politically. Not unless you are a fool or incompetent. And Obama can’t be one of those, could he…?
But Maher doesn’t seem to care about that.
Like a lot of lefties he’s outraged that black nationalist Van Jones who claimed “white people are poisoning minorities,” was forced to resign over a holiday weekend.
Here's the latest excuse from a leftist rag that engages in media malpractice, only when shamed into giving one, due to their ideological inability to report on the Van Jones story:
“This is not an excuse,” the managing editor of The New York Times said after offering the following excuse for completely missing the Van Jones story, except in a blog post: “Our Washington bureau was somewhat short-staffed during the height of the pre-Labor Day vacation period.”
Disaster struck Tachikawa on June 18, 1953 when a U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster II transport experienced an engine failure on takeoff, crashing shortly after. The accident claimed the lives of 129 people, and was the deadliest air disaster in history at the time.[3] (See List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, 1950-1974.)
With a runway only 1,500 m (4,900 ft) long, Tachikawa was not adequate for the largest aircraft, and the U.S. decided to extend the runway into the neighboring town of Sunagawa (now part of the city of Tachikawa). The July 8, 1957 Sunagawa Riots resulted in cancellation of the plan.[4] The U.S. instead developed Tama Airfield (the present-day Yokota Air Base) and moved its operations there. By 1969, the U.S. had largely left Tachikawa, and in 1977, after the end of the Vietnam War, it returned the base to Japanese control. --- Kid has a friend going to live there for a while. Reminded me of when I almost died taking off in a "flying coffin" from Tachikawa w/a load of coffins from 'Nam.
While I agree that the Palis have terror and hijackings in their tactical bag of tricks they have not attacked a US ship at sea and have not been caught spying upon US, as have the Isreals.
The Isreals are in the same class as the Norks and the Libyans, in that regard. A "Nation" that attacks US interests, at home and abroad.
"What we don't agree on is: I think you, and I should pay a little more in taxes in order to help the poor, and sick get health insurance." --- But every method proposed by political types results in worse healthcare for all the rest.
...and nowhere to go for Canucks, Sauds, and etc. and all of us.
But every method proposed by political types results in worse healthcare for all the rest.
I don't see where the bill that just came out of the "gang of six" will result in worse coverage "for us," Doug.
We may have slightly longer "wait times" to see a specialist for a couple of years, until the market catches up with the new "demand," but it will catch up.
In fact, if all this scrutiny were to actually result in a little "tort reform" we might not end up with "too much" higher costs.
"those folks that are always shrieking about "unfunded liablities" never refer to the monotonous 3% annual growth in GDP, and Tax Collections."
"a $14 Trillion economy, growing at 3% will be a $112 Trillion economy in 72 years."
These unfunded liabilities are in present dollars, are they not? If your $112 trillion economy was in present dollars then I think the point you make would be valid. But I remain unconvinced that it is.
To the extent that the $112 T GDP figure relies on increases in the population, then it's a wash because unfunded liabilities would also increase in direct proportion.
If the $112 T GDP figure relies on inflation then all you have done is pay your obligations in devalued dollars. (This is what is actually going to happen, in my opinion)
If the $112 T figure is to be a meaningful increase in the wealth generated per capita, then we would have to have significant increases in productivity via better tools and technique. From the reading I have done, I believe the consensus of opinion is that there are no longer going to be any large increases in productivity due to better technology and, further, that the "law of diminishing returns" has already set in.
And, so, Rufus, I must respectfully disagree with your point that we will have the wealth to pay for our existing programs, let alone adding "Obamacare" to the mix.
However, these are academic points and men of goodwill can disagree.
The real bone of contention I have with your support of Obama's healthcare initiative is philosophical.
A man, much wiser than me, once said:
"your freedom ends at MY pocketbook" Tue Aug 18, 03:44:00 PM EDT
He also said:
"We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare."
You may have missed an earlier comment on another thread but thanks again for the IDF girls vid with Katie Melua's Mockingbird Song. That was a real find.
"As Admiral "Bud" Edney, former NATO supreme allied commander, Atlantic; and commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic command, stated, "Only those with an ulterior motive can still cling to the conspiracy theories after Judge Jay Cristol's excellent coverage documents each detail that led to the tragic mistaken attack."
Our resident anti-Semite will continue to blather, but the verdict is in (13 times) - one rendered by honorable men - there was an ACCIDENTAL assault on the USS Liberty on 8 June 1967 by units of the IDF.
Victor, the $112 Trillion is in "Real" GDP growth. In other words, with inflation, removed.
I would expect the Nominal GDP in 2081 to be $896 Trillion, figuring 3% annual inflation.
Reminds me of the story that the head of the U.S. Patent Office, supposedly, recommended shutting down the office in 1896, because everything Worthwhile had already been invented.
It seems totally counter-intuitive to assume today's parabolic rise in knowledge, and technology would just, suddenly, stop.
Indeed, history informs us that the advancement of technology is an Accelerating force, not a declining force.
I'm sticking with my prediction: We'll have "Plenty" of money. (and, probably, too much time on our hands.)
As to the plenty of money argument I'm not convinced. Given the aging demographic just starting to enter into the high cost medical/social security phase there are very real pressures on expenditures. Heck, even many of the private pension funds are currently underfunded due to the recent market troubles coupled with their "contribution holidays" when they thought they were generously funded. The defined benefit plans appear to be suffering the most. I think there are real budget problems ahead (well currently as well) and as Canadians had to suffer in the recent past with increased taxes coupled with service cuts so too will the America of the future. It sucks, but that appears to be the hole you are in.
"It draws no distinction between the attacker and the attacked," Peres said. "The report essentially grants legitimacy to acts of terrorism, shooting and killing, and ignores the right and duty of any country to self defense, as outlined in the U.N. charter."
One of these days an Isreali government is going to also catch on and go full-tilt boogie on the bad guys. If you are going to get the name, you might as well have the fun of playing the game.
"Only those with an ulterior motive can still cling to the conspiracy theories"
i like this. regarding past topics where those 2 jokers were judging who was an american and who wasn't, if your roots go too far back then there is a good chance you were involved in some pretty nasty stuff. definately not worthy of bragging, but those types always make some bogus claim of having native american in there bloodline as to ensure thier claims of being more american.
thier lineage can almost always be traced back to some once nationalistic european country.
The Isreali military was either the most inept bunch of pumpkins in the Middle East, or they knew what they were doing.
Monitoring the US fleet and the F-4s that were launched in support.
If those multiple "white washes" are to be believed ... which many in "High Places" did not, rejecting the findings as politically motivated.
So then is the Mitchell Report, the one equating Isreali policies to Jim Crow to be believed. As the source of the investigation and findings is one and the same, the Federal government of the United States.
The US should not be suportive, in any manner, of folks that behave that way, based upon ethnicity or religious sect.
I am going to stick with 13 official versions of the USS Liberty incident. You can stick with any conspiracy theory you like.
If your rage is legitimate, you might spend some time trying to find how this ship found itself in harm's way in the first place. Now, that might be a line of inquiry worth pursuing. I doubt you will.
On the subject of aid to Israel, I am against it except under extraordinary conditions, e.g. supporting the US missions in the ME.
It wasn't a mistake, SS. What about when you didn't Capitalize, America? Was that a mistake?
Although I have picked many "bones" with Israel's actions on these pages, I've never failed to Capitalize the name of the country. And, I HAVE called Rat, Doug, and others, on misspelling America, and Israel.
"It wasn't a mistake, SS. What about when you didn't Capitalize, America? Was that a mistake?"
nope did it on purpose to make a point that this is not an english 101 class. it is supposed to be a bar where if you make a tizzy about stuff like grammer you'd get a bottle smashed over your head, possibley followed by a chair.
"It wasn't a mistake, SS. What about when you didn't Capitalize, America? Was that a mistake?"
nope did it on purpose to make a point that this is not an english 101 class. it is supposed to be a bar where if you make a tizzy about stuff like grammer you'd get a bottle smashed over your head, possibley followed by a chair.
Why, we're running out of "peak oil" as we speak, to be replaced by conventional oil as prices permit exploration and development. "Peak oil" will be a quaint hiccup in the history books, alongside the great global cooling scam, replaced now by globull warming, and worldwide famine predicted by the same folks in the 70s.
Your prediction re "Volt" technology, is less accurate. You hit your thumb on that one, I fear. I bet it will hurt when you sober up.
"Volt" = Kludge
Remember what happened to little Mat when the inconvenient question of batteries kept coming up?
"I just read that the Obama administation has announced that they will not recognize the Honduran Government that is Elected in November."
I hadn't seen that yet, rufus. We were kinda sorta anticipating that the admin would kinda sorta quietly officially recognize them after a concession by Zelaya and pray the whole thing never popped up above the fold ever again.
I don't even know who's been giving them guidance on Honduras but it sure hasn't come out of the embassy and probably not Foggy Bottom either. Someone who really grooves on OAS.
We don't get anything for it because its not going to exorcise any ghosts or alter the increasingly challenging political landscape down here.
On the economics, we will have to agree to disagree.
But you side stepped the moral issue.
I said:
"The real bone of contention I have with your support of Obama's healthcare initiative is philosophical.
A man, much wiser than me, once said:
"your freedom ends at MY pocketbook" Tue Aug 18, 03:44:00 PM EDT
He also said:
"We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare."
With respect: What do you mean "we", Kemo Sabe?"
In other words, Rufus, if my freedom ends at your pocketbook then why doesn't your freedom end at mine?
You wish that certain of your fellow citizens get taxpayer funded healthcare and you want to force the taxpayers to provide these funds.
Don't your fellow citizens have a right to keep their own money? Or do you think that the government actually owns a citizen's paycheck and that a citizen only "owns" what is left over?
Political, as opposed to military or commercial, relationships are always the most precarious and difficult to maintain. And we aren't aces at it to begin with.
(Guess we won't be calling on the Hondurans for any favors when the shit hits the fan. And being able to do so is at least half the point of the bother to begin with.)
"That is a fallacy, viktor. The State has every "Right" to your life, liberty and happiness."
and
"No, viktor, there are societal obligations that supersede your "Rights" to unencumbered economic freedom."
First of all, in my comment to Rufus,I didn't make any assertions, I only asked questions.
Second and most importantly, DR, you seem to be ignoring that pesky United States Declaration of Independence.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
How do you square this circle, DR?
Did I miss the U.S. Declaration of Obligations?
These are rhetorical questions, of course.
Cognitive dissonance: you ought to look it up and reflect on this and other matters.
Do you believe the federal government has a constitutional right to tax each citizen? They certainly are taxing and I don't see how you can accept the current taxing ability yet argue the opposite when it comes to health care.
trish said... "(Guess we won't be calling on the Hondurans for any favors when the shit hits the fan. And being able to do so is at least half the point of the bother to begin with.)" --- But you and 'Rat were with the Admin @ the giddyup. Called us wise men wrong. Jeesh
What I always said, doug, was that the tale would and could not be told until the elections were held.
We read rumors of what may or may not pan out as policy. I saw a course forward with regard the Hondos that allowed US to play both sides of the Latin divide. That opportunity still exists.
Viktor, it's a valid point. Don't overlook, however, that before they could get the Constitution framed George W was back on his white horse leading an Army out to W. Pennsylvania to put down the "Whiskey Tax Rebellion."
We all pay taxes, and we're all unhappy with the way some of those taxes are spent.
I think the country will be improved enough that you will, eventually say, "aw hell, it's probably worth it." I could be wrong.
I think it will improve the country enough that you, and your offspring will find it "easier" to make money in the future. I could be wrong.
I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future.
How deuce and whit chararcterize Mr. Obama has nothing to do with me, Israel, or the facts surrounding the attack on the USS Liberty.
You can characterize Israel any way you like. Today, I have called you only on your abuse of facts concerning the historical events of 8 June 1967.
Unless you have knowledge of other attacks by Israel on US ships-of- the-line, your use of the plural "ships" is as bogus as the rest of your rhetoric.
They can't allow him to stand for re-election, Ash. He's been effectively exiled and isn't coming home unless he submits to the Supreme Court. That's a done deal.
Which is why, for all concerned, the best outcome is a statement from Zelaya himself, conceding facts on the ground. And pursuing his second chapter in VH1's The Surreal Life.
No, allen, it is phraseology used to describe one or more. The Libyans attacking US aircraft and parts of the 6th Fleet(?).
The NorKs taking the Pueblo, the Isreals attempting to sink then board the Liberty.
Anyone concerned can google or ask.com the shhips name and learn the story for themselves, if they are not yet aware of this historic tale of Isreali treachery towards US, their supposed ally.
You too could google the Liberty incident and read all 13 official exonerating reports. That would, certainly, take the wind out of your sails and force you to find a new target though. A guy with your imagination should have no trouble finding a new story. In doing so you would at least give the impression of being less foolish and/or paranoid.
Pick any source there is, the Isreal Air Force and Navy attacked an easily recongnizable US ship. That is beyond dispute.
The lawyers argue about motive, the 34 dead US sailors speak volumes for the truth.
It was "one of the classic all-American cover-ups," said retired Admiral Thomas Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who spent a year investigating the attack ...
According to this senior Israeli lead pilot, he recognized the Liberty as American immediately, so informed his headquarters, and was told to ignore the American flag and continue his attack. He refused to do so and returned to base, where he was arrested.
Later, a dual-citizen Israeli major told survivors that he was in an Israeli war room where he heard that pilot's radio report. The attacking pilots and everyone in the Israeli war room knew that they were attacking an American ship, the major said. He recanted the statement only after he received threatening phone calls from Israel.
The pilot's protests also were heard by radio monitors in the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon. Then-U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dwight Porter has confirmed this. Porter told his story to syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak and offered to submit to further questioning by authorities. Unfortunately, no one in the U.S. government has any interest in hearing these first-person accounts of Israeli treachery. [Washington Report]
"I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future."" --- ...and if you elect me Prom Queen, I will steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Ash said... Where are these reports regarding the results of the upcoming election? Is Zelaya also allowed to stand for re-election? If not that's pretty bogus. --- ARE YOU REALLY AS FUCKING STUPID AS YOU REPEATEDLY PRETEND TO BE???
The plan does not call for a government-run insurance option, as advocated by President Obama and most Democrats, but would set up a system of nonprofit consumer-owned cooperatives to compete with private insurers -- a provision intended to appeal to Republicans who have railed against the "public option" in recent weeks.
"I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future."
I believe this, too, Rufus, with all my heart. The difference between us is one of method.
I believe in voluntary charity. You believe obligatory charity.
I believe obligatory charity is a perversion of genuine charity.
Ash said:
"Viktor,
Do you believe the federal government has a constitutional right to tax each citizen? They certainly are taxing and I don't see how you can accept the current taxing ability yet argue the opposite when it comes to health care."
The government has a legitimate right to tax U.S. citizens. But this right is limited by the enumerated powers found in Article 1, Section 8 of the United StatesConstitution, which spells out, specifically, the limited authority granted to the United States Congress.
"Congress may exercise only those powers that are granted to it by the Constitution, limited by the Bill of Rights and the other protections found in the Constitutional text." (Wiki)
Government mandated healthcare violates the Enumerated Powers. That Congress violates the Enumerated Powers all the time does not amend the Constitution.
Sources: McChrystal Wants Up to 40000 More Troops in Afghanistan FOXNews - James Rosen - 32 minutes ago Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, is privately requesting between 30000 and 40000 more troops, a request that has produced "sticker shock" and "huge resistance" among key lawmakers, sources told FOX News.
The Government collects about $3 Trillion/yr in taxes. This is, when all the lowballing bullshit is over going to cost about $200 Billion/yr.
You're probably looking at about a 7% increase in your tax bill. Of course, a lot of that won't come directly out of "Your"taxes. A lot of it will be indirect. But, it'll come.
So, if you're paying Uncle $10,000/yr in income taxes just figure it'll be $10,700.00, or $60.00/mo.
It won't be cheap, but we'll get a lot of it back in a better economy. Hopefully.
Tell us what LBJ told us what Medicare would cost, Rufus. Was his estimate high or low, given 20 20 hindsight. Was he off by a little, or by orders of magnitude. Never mind, we all know the answers, but maybe, just maybe history won't repeat? When pigs fly.
The fact that the FDIC is spotting massive trouble in the American banking system and covering it up should be massively worrisome to Americans. Because revelations regarding the truth about a US bank’s health only seem to occur after it fails, the favored handling of American banks with kid gloves by the FDIC should immediately beg the question, “How many more US banks are legitimately bankrupt today and just operating on fumes?” --- For many weeks in August, just four stocks accounted for as much as 40% of composite volume on the NYSE: Citigroup, Bank of America (BAC), Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM). In early 2007, Citigroup, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for roughly 1% -3% of NYSE volume, a far cry from its recent 35%+ collective weight of the composite NYSE volume. Remember that this huge volume anomaly persisted not just for one day but for weeks on end during August.
If Citigroup, Bank of America, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a pharmaceutical collective that just discovered a cure for cancer and AIDS, then such volume anomalies would make sense. However, such massive trading volumes, as a percent of composite volume for the entire NYSE index, makes zero sense for companies, that for all intents and purposes, are on government bailout lifelines. It makes no sense, that is, unless massive free-market intervention is occurring in an attempt to save these firms.
Conceived in liberty, America is a noble and unique experiment created by some of the most revolutionary and brilliant minds of the 18th century who made the bold leap from rule by an elite few (oligarchy) to a constitutional republic with checks and balances. Whereas most wars lead to losses in liberty, our founding fathers began, for the first time on earth, a government based on individual liberties and the rule of law.
...
2. I believe that individuals are naturally endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights which include the right to life, liberty, and property.
I believe in the sanctity of the human mind, and the natural, individual right to exercise religious freedom. As a congressman, I would vigorously defend the U.S. Constitution which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government.”
...
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty is about being truthful all the time. To become more honest is to always continue to seek the truth, speak the truth, and to always hold an open mind.
...
Values
1. Honesty
Honesty is about being truthful to the citizens of my district at all times, even if the truth is stark. When faced with fallacies and misdirection, as is often found in today’s DC and political arena, the truth becomes both a shield and a sword.
...
2. Reverence
I deeply revere the right to life, liberty, and property for each individual. Individuals have the right to live their own lives in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of others.
3. Hope
While this value has been turned into a cheap buzzword in past presidential campaigns, we must all hope and have faith in each other that if we remain true to our principles and live them out in the presence of adversity and force from our government. With the help of the people, as a Congressman I will help lead the redefining of our ‘res publica,’ OURRepublic, or translated from the Latin, our public affairs.
You are like a little terrier dog that sinks his teeth into something and blindly shakes away oblivious to the rest of the world.
Let me repeat for you:
THE MILITARY CREATED THE CONSTITUTION.
THE CONSTITUTION CANNOT BE ALTERED BY THE CITIZENS OF HONDURAS.
Therefore to keep harping on about what the constitution says is essentially saying yah, go military rule. A constitution unalterable by those who are supposed to abide by it is more like a strait jacket then a liberating foundational document.
The military tossed Zalaya because he suggested the constitution should be changed and now they've got a bit of a Mexican stand-off happening...I guess we should create a new name for it a "Honduran stand-off". Basically its a Military coup and not worth supporting. That is not democracy dude.
Viktor, I suggest you give up on Constitutional law 'cause that argument about the Bill of Rights not allowing health care reform is darn weak.
"Rufus, if my freedom ends at your pocketbook then why doesn't your freedom end at mine?
You wish that certain of your fellow citizens get taxpayer funded healthcare and you want to force the taxpayers to provide these funds.
Don't your fellow citizens have a right to keep their own money? Or do you think that the government actually owns a citizen's paycheck and that a citizen only "owns" what is left over?"
Rufus, you are avoiding addressing these issues, why?
A blog does not equal 13 official exonerating reports. We could, I suppose, consult Zelda, the good witch, for a definitive answer, if you are up to some tornado chasing.
On Sept. 13, As-Sahab media released an audio statement purportedly made by Osama bin Laden that was intended to address the American people on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In the message, the voice alleged to be that of bin Laden said the reason for the 9/11 attacks was U.S. support for Israel.
...
The airline security paradigm changed on 9/11. In spite of the recent statement by al Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid that al Qaeda retains the ability to conduct 9/11-style attacks, his boast simply does not ring true.
...
The 2006 liquid-bomb plot borrowed the elements of using liquid explosives and disguised individual components and attacking multiple aircraft at the same time from Bojinka. The 2006 plotters sought to smuggle their liquid explosives aboard using drink bottles instead of contact lens solution containers and planned to use different types of initiators.
"We are the boogeyman for the right-wing and its echo chambers," reads a self-serving statement released Saturday by ACORN's chief organizer, Bertha Lewis. What she didn't do is apologize for the appalling and possibly illegal behavior of ACORN employees, acknowledge that the organization has serious internal problems and vow to correct them, or do what she should have done as soon as the scandal was revealed: resign.
O'Keefe's hidden-camera methods are distasteful, and the extent to which his videos were edited is unknown. Their content is nonetheless devastating to ACORN -- so much so that the Senate voted overwhelmingly to withhold federal housing funds from the group.
That's a shame because ACORN does worthwhile work in poor communities, helping people avoid foreclosure, giving them tax help and, yes, registering them to vote. If ACORN is to survive and retain a shred of credibility, it needs to stop deflecting blame and clean house.
How do you feel about Iran and China and their voting? Would you call that Democracy? They vote but the clerics decide who can run in Iran and the one and only party poobah's decide who can run in China. They all claim a form constitutional (that's the rules) backing for such regimes. So goes Honduras.
Allen, if you're trying to get me to say there's some sort of "Religious" motivation, fugedaboutit. I think a country should have a "soul;" but it doesn't have anything to do with "magic men in the sky" listening to harps, and grading the celestial citizen wannabees.
Oh, and Allen, one, maybe the main, reason those people are "unproductive" is because they're sick, and can't get well.
Viktor, I appreciate your opposition. You're reasons are, absolutely, valid. We just disagree.
I think you will gain more(in the long run) than you will lose. But, that's just my opinion.
"Viktor, I suggest you give up on Constitutional law 'cause that argument about the Bill of Rights not allowing health care reform is darn weak."
I did not say that the Bill of Rights disallows healthcare reform. I said that the government has a legitimate right to tax U.S. citizens. But this right is limited by the enumerated powers found in Article 1, Section 8 of the United StatesConstitution, which spells out, specifically, the limited authority granted to the United States Congress.
and
Ash said:
"weak, and there is loads of precedent suggesting your assertion, viktor, is false."
Since you are incapable of grasping what I asserted (see above) then how can you state that there are "loads of precedent" proving this?
The precedents are as you alluded to in your comment:
"That Congress violates the Enumerated Powers all the time does not amend the Constitution."
I submit that the fact that the Congress has "violated", to use your phraseology, the constitution so often, represents, simply, an ample body of precedence.
All are able to challenge through the courts the constitutionality of just about anything. Good luck with your challenge.
Trish, yeah, "Sovereignnationsactthatway" but we, necessarily, must react as it affects US and the international community. You seem keen on, and advocate the efficacy of, intervening militarily in sovereign nations (Afghanistan, Iraq). I, on the other hand, prefer to respond non-militarily but decisively to propel useful change. Sovereignty should not be a crutch for abuse. Democracy is messy and often inefficient but I much prefer it over authoritarian top down governing. Do I think we should intervene militarily in Honduras to help them, no, but the responses of the current administration, and most of the rest of the world regarding Honduras seems appropriate. It is a tough nut, their stand-off, and we need to take a principled position.
I know not which occurred first – corrupted morals or corrupted government. In that same vein, I promise as your Congressman that I will do everything within my power to begin the process to amend the Constitution to limit the terms of both the Congress and the Senate as the term of the President is limited.
This would be a good place to start to stem the tide.
Happy Constitution Day and may God bless America even more than He already has.
Trish, yeah, "Sovereignnationsactthatway" but we, necessarily, must react as it affects US and the international community. You seem keen on, and advocate the efficacy of, intervening militarily in sovereign nations (Afghanistan, Iraq). I, on the other hand...
- Ash
...are sitting your fucking ass at home, churning out smarmy barbs to your fucking heart's content.
You are in your own way as awful as the right-wing political opportunists you oppose.
no smarmy barb intended but I'm simply trying to grasp at the fine lines that separate responses - when is force force? Can you really separate economic force from military force. Shades of gray really.
Israel struck a civilian population that remains under its control, it didn't fulfill its obligation to distinguish between civilians and militants and used military force disproportionate with the tangible threat to its own civilians. Air Force drones and helicopters fired deadly missiles at civilians, many of them children; the Tank Corps and Navy shelled civilian neighborhoods with weapons not designed for precision strikes; soldiers received orders to fire on rescue crews; others fired on civilians carrying white flags; and others killed people in or near their homes.
Troops used Gazans as human shields, soldiers detained civilians in abusive conditions, the army used white phosphorus shells in dense civilian areas and, on the eve of withdrawing, destroyed wide residential, industrial and agricultural areas.
There is only thing worse than denial - the admission that the IDF indeed acted as has been described, but that these actions are both normal and appropriate.
You, Ash ..are sitting your fucking ass at home, churning out smarmy barbs to your fucking heart's content.
Yea, Trish!
But, then you say...
You are in your own way as awful as the right-wing political opportunists you oppose.
...Like being a right-wing political opportunist was a bad thing? As opposed to being a (sniff) realist (unsniff) in a tenured DoS job, kicking the can down the road, but doing it with sophistication?
By the way, there was really no coup in Honduras. Right?
"Flying guys in the sky" is your schtick, not mine. My theology has never held such a view. Clearly, that religion which informed you did.
The problem you have is simple, you believe it possible to have civilization without the necessary predicates. It is not possible: "Where there is no law there is no sin." Other than this instance, you advance a world motivated by Darwinian fitness. If you demand an exception in this instance, you need a reason other than you feel like it.
By the way, FYI, I hold "religion" in about as much disdain as you. My reasons, however, have little to do with the primitive, superstitious vestiges to which you hold.
Religion and spirituality have about as much in common as artichokes and ardvaarks. You make the same error of discernment as the Inquisitors.
The guy that is in charge UNTIL THE COMING ELECTION is from the SAME PARTY as zfuck, it's just that he is playing by the rules, along with the supremes, the Constitution, the Army, and the Honduran People.
Ironically, that may depend on Anita MonCrief, a young black single mother who testified against ACORN but voted for Obama hopefully last year, and then became very disappointed with "Obama change."
ReplyDelete...
It's too late to change the election result, but that does not mean the truth should not be told.
It needs to be generally understood, for America's sake, and Ms. MonCrief is uniquely able to tell it.
Blogger Talks
Big Government » Blog Archive » ACORN Co-Founder Defends Group’s Integrity, Blasts ‘Unfair’ Critics
ReplyDelete---
Big Government » Blog Archive » Charlie Gibson on ACORN Scandal ‘I don’t even know about it.’
---
However, in an interview with Katie Couric, Charlie asserted that he can see an Oak Tree from his back porch.
For no particular reason, I despise Charlie Gibson more than ANYONE.
ReplyDeleteIRS Helpline
ReplyDeleteAs Dave Wolf, a US and Israeli tax attorney from the capital's Hacohen Wolf Law Offices, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, "It's hard to live in Israel without an Israeli bank account - if you have an account at Bank Leumi, Hapoalim or some other Israeli bank, you stand to become listed as a criminal unless you register them with the IRS."
ReplyDelete...
"You have to get your name into the program before the deadline," stressed Wolf. "It might be all legitimate - but you need a US tax attorney to register you and your activities for the past six years with the voluntary disclosure program.
It's serious, and it's a criminal offense, period."
US Expats
Acorn. So this is what community organization is all about.
ReplyDeleteThere is a chance the latest scandals will convince Democrats that Acorn is too toxic a political partner. And President Barack Obama, who once ran a voter-registration program for an Acorn partner (Project Vote) and then worked for Acorn as a lawyer on key cases, has every incentive to distance himself further from the organization.
ReplyDeleteFormer Acorn board members tell me the group has always been confident it will be protected. After the Nevada voter-registration fraud indictment last May, Bonnie Greathouse, Acorn's chief organizer in the state, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that "we've had bad publicity before" and survived.
"People always come forward to our defense. We're just community organizers, just like the president used to be."
Off the Rails
The woman in this video claims that she was playing the two, and that her husband is alive.
ReplyDeleteSen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder requesting the investigation. He cited reports that ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, may "have been engaged in illegal activity" by aiding and abetting tax evasion, prostitution, human trafficking, fraud and conspiracy.
ReplyDelete...
The Justice Department did not immediately comment on Johanns' letter.
...
ACORN has said only a handful of employees submitted false registration forms and did so in a bid to boost their pay.
Investigation of Acorn
Holder won't do shit.
ReplyDeleteKevin James noted that the San Bernardino DA COULD take action.
Likewise for Maryland, but several commenters from there @ BC say it's way to corrupt to count on.
What’s missing from the New York Times coverage of ACORN
ReplyDeleteTHE INFLUENCE GAME: Health interests fund senators
ReplyDeleteSen. Max Baucus, a leader in the troubled effort in Congress to write a health care overhaul bill, has received more campaign donations from the health industry than any elected federal official except President Barack...
Carter says Obama row is 'racist'
ReplyDeleteThe race card is being played by all corners of the left. I wonder if they really think this way or is this merely hardball for them?
Maybe Ash can enlighten us. Does the left really think this is about racism or are they merely using the charge to gain advantage?
Loathsome Jimmy Carter, the fetid peanut of the presidency put it this way:
ReplyDelete“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American," Carter said.
“Racism ... still exists and I think it has bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply.”
Re: Carter
ReplyDeleteOne must wonder what other thoughts trouble this fetid little man's dreams...other than Jews, of course.
Clearly, he is as contemptuous of his countrymen as he is Jews.
Let me be clear: Any animosity directed at Mr. Carter has nothing to do with his blackness...other than that of heart.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ol' Jimmah makes the Rat look like an "Israelophile."
ReplyDeleteCheck out this incredible list of ACORN front operations at just one location that Life Of found @ KOS after reading my Malkin list.
ReplyDeleteSomeone please explain to Dumbass (that would be me) why they posted scores of them to one address.
Pure Lazyness/Sloppyness?
---
Comments on Michelle Malkin, "What's missing from New York Times' coverage of ACORN"
But in one of the rare posts about it at the Daily Kos Asylum, one commenter actually listed the ACORN front operations at just one location – here’s the list, verbatim:
“ACORN subsidiaries all located in 1024 Elysian Fields Ave, New Orleans 385 Palmetto Street Housing Fund Corp.
4415 San Jacinto Street Corp.
Come on guys:
ReplyDeleteThey both only comment on Joos from time to time.
How would YOU feel if you were best Buds w/Arabfat and G_d stole him from you in the prime of his yut?
ReplyDeleteToo bad Arabfat didn't have Romneycare, right, Rufus?
ReplyDeleteThat would have pulled his tablecloth out of the fire.
I first saw this Race charge in a Maureen Dowd op/ed on Sunday.
ReplyDelete" Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t.
But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!
The outburst was unexpected from a milquetoast Republican backbencher from South Carolina who had attracted little media attention. Now it has made him an overnight right-wing hero, inspiring “You lie!” bumper stickers and T-shirts.
The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president. Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.
I’ve been loath to admit that the shrieking lunacy of the summer — the frantic efforts to paint our first black president as the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi; a cad who would snuff old people; a snake who would indoctrinate kids — had much to do with race.
I tended to agree with some Obama advisers that Democratic presidents typically have provoked a frothing response from paranoids — from Father Coughlin against F.D.R. to Joe McCarthy against Truman to the John Birchers against J.F.K. and the vast right-wing conspiracy against Bill Clinton.
But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=maureen%20dowd&st=cse
I've expressed my...surprise...at the stupidity of the debate and 2164th picture post yesterday is but one example of how inane many of the attacks have been so people search for some sort of reason for this foolishness. And its not really a silly happy kinda partisan foolishness but rather it appears to have some deep dark disturbed roots. Why do some folks hate him so much that they'd eagerly, happily, enthusiastically, latch onto some idiot claiming crack fed homosexual sex or the idea that Obama was born 'elsewhere'? I really don't know what drives folk so low - could be race. I mean, think about our nice mild mannered (well, sometimes) bobal and his past racial creeds advocating aborting black babies and all. You see that kind of shit and think...hmmmm, maybe race does have something to do with it.
Re: Rat the righteous gentile
ReplyDeleteAhem...I would not go that far ;-)
Jimmah does make Rat look like a Rhodes' scholar. And to his credit, Rat does not wrap his animous in Bible verse.
I know an officer assigned to Carter's burial detail. Dog dung on the heels of boots will be the order of the day. The man is thoroughly despised. All this is bad form and unprofessional, to be sure; but volunteerism was abandoned for this duty, for very good reason: none could be found among officers.
What were we smoking when this guy ran for election and won? Trish is right: wasted years of a wasted generation.
ash,
ReplyDeleteDowd's memory of politics is as short-lived as her love affair with Michael Douglas. Yes, Democrats did call Bush a liar...Good Grief! And you, ash, are pimping this piffle.
Rufus:
ReplyDeleteWhat about the fiscal and Demographic Brick walls SS and Medibroke programs are headed for in the (not too distant) future.
Have some laws the natural World been suspended?
Will more of the same produce a better result?
allen, whit asked.
ReplyDeleteAs to history I think you've got history problems or reading problems. Sure Bush was called a liar, many times, but never when addressing a joint session of the Congress.
" You see that kind of shit and think...hmmmm, maybe race does have something to do with it... "
ReplyDelete---
No, A_h,
YOU "think" garbage like that.
The rest of us know an America-Hating Marxist when we see one (and his many fellow-travelers) regardless of the color of his skin.
Hell, even Rufus sees it, even though he's been deprived of proper (mental) healthcare by the Kudzu State, or whatever it is.
ReplyDeleteDoug,
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what drives your hatred, could be race, I dunno, but your "America-Hating Marxist " says a lot - not about him, but you. It's loony wing-nut screwed in the ceiling kinda stuff. Carry on.
The race card is being played by all corners of the left. I wonder if they really think this way or is this merely hardball for them?
ReplyDeleteallen and man of "misdirection" use this tactic daily. One wonders if they really thinks that gibberish, or is it how they play the victim, just as the Blacks in America do?
Both have professional hustlers that play the victim card, when they are not victims, at all.
Remember those Oly ads?
ReplyDelete---
"It's the water,
the water,
the water,
the water,
That makes Olympia Beer,
So refreshing,
refreshing,
refreshing,
refreshing..."
---
That Mississippi Muckwater produces a different result.
Ah, Doug, those folks that are always shrieking about "unfunded liablities" never refer to the monotonous 3% annual growth in GDP, and Tax Collections.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare. Never pay attention to political pundits espousing on future economic conditions in the middle of (1) a financial crisis, or (2) a big-time paradigm shift in political power, or, MOST ASSUREDLY, (3) A Combination of Both.
Right, A_h,
ReplyDeleteMr. and Mrs. Dohrn,
Rev Wright,
Van Jones,
Amerika loving patriots through and through.
While the Isreal government has professional spies throughout the Federal Socialist infrastructure, many caught and convicted. Where there is smoke there is fire
ReplyDeleteWhile I have never read of a Pali spy caught and convicted by the US. No smoke, no fire, no threat to US.
While the Isrealis are a direct link to Russian intel services. Both culturally and physically.
You couldn't possibly surround yourself with the people Obama's surrounded himself with if you Weren't an America-hating Marxist.
ReplyDeleteBlack, white, or purple; that motherfucker is a Communist.
"We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare... "
ReplyDelete---
It's about a Demographic Shift when the Ponzi scheme meets the brick wall of reality, Rufus.
It just don't add up.
re. trade, and all you who support Obama's move regarding China and tires:
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese are looking at slapping some duties on Chicken imports from the US. Chicken you might say, what? Well, in China chickens feet are a delicacy, in the US, not really. Yet America eats a load of chickens and a chicken producer can 'subsidize' those chickens by getting some buck for what Americans would consider waste - the feet. Nice, efficient, free market. That may change, you try to protect you local union guys making the tires and you pay more for chicken.
As demonstrated by the Isreals selling US technology to the Chi-coms and UAV tech to the Russians.
ReplyDeleteSteal and sell, the Isreali stock and trade.
Okay, Doug, I've climbed others' asses for this. Spell the name of Our Country, correctly.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Rat, there are a lot of good folks that live in Israel; you should spell the name of their country correctly, also.
Man, A_h is one twisted mofo.
ReplyDeleteOughta have enforced sterilization of liberal professors.
Not a chance, rufus.
ReplyDeleteNot today or tomorrow.
Never again!
They are anti-American fucks, by their policy choices.
I was doing it for A_h, Rufus, but, my pleasure:
ReplyDeleteAMERICA,
(love it or leave it)
...fuckin nattering naboobs of negativity.
That would be "bobs," as in
ReplyDelete"al-Bob"
Doug, a $14 Trillion economy, growing at 3% will be a $112 Trillion economy in 72 years.
ReplyDelete...although A_h is also a certifiable BOOB.
ReplyDeleteThey attack US ships at sea, spy upon US and steal our secrets.
ReplyDeleteWhile claiming to be allies.
Lyin' fucks is all the Isrealis are
"Doug, a $14 Trillion economy, growing at 3% will be a $112 Trillion economy in 72 years."
ReplyDelete---
Peak Oil or no Peak Oil.
Educated populace or not.
Patriots or Amerika-Hating uneducated hispanics or not.
etc.
as Trish would say,
um, NO!
Surely you've seen the actuarial tables of worksers vs recipients of SS over time?
Sure I have, Doug. A knowledge of those actuarial tables and $3.95 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteLook, we've always taken care of old folks. That ain't gonna change.
We used to take care of sick folks. That has changed a bit; and that's not good.
I don't want to do a whole book on economics, here; but it's all about "productivity." Our Productivity is increasing by leaps and bounds. We'll be fine.
Peak oil could be a short-term problem. I think, however, between the "Volt" technology, and biofuels we'll end up better than when we were sending a half a trillion/yr to Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
For A_h:
ReplyDeleteBill Maher Crazy or Stupid?
Moreover, since many of Obama’s czars are extreme radicals not that different from Van Jones, one would naturally conclude maybe that’s what the White House also believes. After all, you don’t hire people to represent your agenda who are that different from you politically.
Not unless you are a fool or incompetent.
And Obama can’t be one of those, could he…?
But Maher doesn’t seem to care about that.
Like a lot of lefties he’s outraged that black nationalist Van Jones who claimed “white people are poisoning minorities,” was forced to resign over a holiday weekend.
"we'll end up better than when we were"
ReplyDelete---
Unless the upcoming transition becomes fatal before our rebirth.
It could get real crappy for awhile, Doug. But, I doubt it'll kill us.
ReplyDeleteCarter Claims 'Racist' Tone Against Obama...
ReplyDeleteum, no.
It's because you are white, deranged, and uglier than ever.
For A_h
ReplyDeleteShitty Litter Coverup
ReplyDeleteHere's the latest excuse from a leftist rag that engages in media malpractice, only when shamed into giving one, due to their ideological inability to report on the Van Jones story:
“This is not an excuse,” the managing editor of The New York Times said after offering the following excuse for completely missing the Van Jones story, except in a blog post:
“Our Washington bureau was somewhat short-staffed during the height of the pre-Labor Day vacation period.”
the rat bastard says:
ReplyDeleteWhile I have never read of a Pali spy caught and convicted by the US. No smoke, no fire, no threat to US.
lol a PALI SPY?
really rat you out do yourself...
a "palestinian spy"?
oh yeah...
Yep the palestinian people are not a threat to the people of the USA...
shh dont let's talk about HIJACKINGS to start...
hey rat, how black is your heart?
you dont talk issues...
you just throw rat turds...
as you say, I am a man of "substance" and you're a rat turd...
so keep it up you are just making your self look turder and turder everyday...
whereas, I, a man of substance, will point out YOUR misdirection, your turds and your lies...
Tachikawa_Airfield
ReplyDeleteDisaster struck Tachikawa on June 18, 1953 when a U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster II transport experienced an engine failure on takeoff, crashing shortly after. The accident claimed the lives of 129 people, and was the deadliest air disaster in history at the time.[3] (See List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft, 1950-1974.)
With a runway only 1,500 m (4,900 ft) long, Tachikawa was not adequate for the largest aircraft, and the U.S. decided to extend the runway into the neighboring town of Sunagawa (now part of the city of Tachikawa). The July 8, 1957 Sunagawa Riots resulted in cancellation of the plan.[4] The U.S. instead developed Tama Airfield (the present-day Yokota Air Base) and moved its operations there. By 1969, the U.S. had largely left Tachikawa, and in 1977, after the end of the Vietnam War, it returned the base to Japanese control.
---
Kid has a friend going to live there for a while.
Reminded me of when I almost died taking off in a "flying coffin" from Tachikawa w/a load of coffins from 'Nam.
Here ya go, Rufus:
ReplyDeleteRationing occurs now,
will occur under govt healthcare.
Which will accomplish said task more efficiently, the market, or our all-knowing betters in the Federal Govt?
Give me a break.
We'll have nowhere to go for quality healthcare.
While I agree that the Palis have terror and hijackings in their tactical bag of tricks they have not attacked a US ship at sea and have not been caught spying upon US, as have the Isreals.
ReplyDeleteThe Isreals are in the same class as the Norks and the Libyans, in that regard. A "Nation" that attacks US interests, at home and abroad.
Daniel Hannan:
ReplyDeleteOnly one thing could be less responsive than big Insurance Companies.
Even bigger centralized Government.
---
Guys walk around with giant hernias waiting to strangulate while they wait for British "Healthcare."
No thanks.
You keep throwing out the same "Strawman," Doug.
ReplyDeleteWe agree on "Government" Healthcare.
What we don't agree on is: I think you, and I should pay a little more in taxes in order to help the poor, and sick get health insurance.
You have every right to disagree with my position. You don't have to misrepresent it.
DumB.O.
ReplyDelete"What we don't agree on is: I think you, and I should pay a little more in taxes in order to help the poor, and sick get health insurance."
ReplyDelete---
But every method proposed by political types results in worse healthcare for all the rest.
...and nowhere to go for Canucks, Sauds, and etc.
and all of us.
But every method proposed by political types results in worse healthcare for all the rest.
ReplyDeleteI don't see where the bill that just came out of the "gang of six" will result in worse coverage "for us," Doug.
We may have slightly longer "wait times" to see a specialist for a couple of years, until the market catches up with the new "demand," but it will catch up.
In fact, if all this scrutiny were to actually result in a little "tort reform" we might not end up with "too much" higher costs.
Rufus
ReplyDelete"those folks that are always shrieking about "unfunded liablities" never refer to the monotonous 3% annual growth in GDP, and Tax Collections."
"a $14 Trillion economy, growing at 3% will be a $112 Trillion economy in 72 years."
These unfunded liabilities are in present dollars, are they not? If your $112 trillion economy was in present dollars then I think the point you make would be valid. But I remain unconvinced that it is.
To the extent that the $112 T GDP figure relies on increases in the population, then it's a wash because unfunded liabilities would also increase in direct proportion.
If the $112 T GDP figure relies on inflation then all you have done is pay your obligations in devalued dollars. (This is what is actually going to happen, in my opinion)
If the $112 T figure is to be a meaningful increase in the wealth generated per capita, then we would have to have significant increases in productivity via better tools and technique. From the reading I have done, I believe the consensus of opinion is that there are no longer going to be any large increases in productivity due to better technology and, further, that the "law of diminishing returns" has already set in.
And, so, Rufus, I must respectfully disagree with your point that we will have the wealth to pay for our existing programs, let alone adding "Obamacare" to the mix.
However, these are academic points and men of goodwill can disagree.
The real bone of contention I have with your support of Obama's healthcare initiative is philosophical.
A man, much wiser than me, once said:
"your freedom ends at MY pocketbook"
Tue Aug 18, 03:44:00 PM EDT
He also said:
"We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare."
With respect:
What do you mean "we", Kemo Sabe?
Allen
ReplyDeleteYou may have missed an earlier comment on another thread but thanks again for the IDF girls vid with Katie Melua's Mockingbird Song. That was a real find.
Re: USS Liberty
ReplyDelete10 (ten) (T-E-N) formal US investigations [the lastest by NSA (2003)]
3 (three) (T-H-R-E-E) formal Israeli investigations
Conclusion in EVERY case: Isreal exonerated
"As Admiral "Bud" Edney, former NATO supreme allied commander, Atlantic; and commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic command, stated, "Only those with an ulterior motive can still cling to the conspiracy theories after Judge Jay Cristol's excellent coverage documents each detail that led to the tragic mistaken attack."
Our resident anti-Semite will continue to blather, but the verdict is in (13 times) - one rendered by honorable men - there was an ACCIDENTAL assault on the USS Liberty on 8 June 1967 by units of the IDF.
End of story. War is not beanbag.
Another of scores of reports exonerating Israel
viktor,
ReplyDeleteThanks! I did see, but life intruded...sorry...best
Victor, the $112 Trillion is in "Real" GDP growth. In other words, with inflation, removed.
ReplyDeleteI would expect the Nominal GDP in 2081 to be $896 Trillion, figuring 3% annual inflation.
Reminds me of the story that the head of the U.S. Patent Office, supposedly, recommended shutting down the office in 1896, because everything Worthwhile had already been invented.
It seems totally counter-intuitive to assume today's parabolic rise in knowledge, and technology would just, suddenly, stop.
Indeed, history informs us that the advancement of technology is an Accelerating force, not a declining force.
I'm sticking with my prediction: We'll have "Plenty" of money. (and, probably, too much time on our hands.)
As to the plenty of money argument I'm not convinced. Given the aging demographic just starting to enter into the high cost medical/social security phase there are very real pressures on expenditures. Heck, even many of the private pension funds are currently underfunded due to the recent market troubles coupled with their "contribution holidays" when they thought they were generously funded. The defined benefit plans appear to be suffering the most. I think there are real budget problems ahead (well currently as well) and as Canadians had to suffer in the recent past with increased taxes coupled with service cuts so too will the America of the future. It sucks, but that appears to be the hole you are in.
ReplyDeleteFINALLY, even Peres has caught on:
ReplyDelete"It draws no distinction between the attacker and the attacked," Peres said. "The report essentially grants legitimacy to acts of terrorism, shooting and killing, and ignores the right and duty of any country to self defense, as outlined in the U.N. charter."
UNs latest pro-Palestinian mockery of justice
One of these days an Isreali government is going to also catch on and go full-tilt boogie on the bad guys. If you are going to get the name, you might as well have the fun of playing the game.
tick...tick...tick...waiting...
ReplyDelete"Only those with an ulterior motive can still cling to the conspiracy theories"
ReplyDeletei like this. regarding past topics where those 2 jokers were judging who was an american and who wasn't, if your roots go too far back then there is a good chance you were involved in some pretty nasty stuff. definately not worthy of bragging, but those types always make some bogus claim of having native american in there bloodline as to ensure thier claims of being more american.
thier lineage can almost always be traced back to some once nationalistic european country.
because I could
ReplyDelete...off to work...
allen, the US was not at war, with Isreal.
ReplyDeleteThe Isreali military was either the most inept bunch of pumpkins in the Middle East, or they knew what they were doing.
Monitoring the US fleet and the F-4s that were launched in support.
If those multiple "white washes" are to be believed ... which many in "High Places" did not, rejecting the findings as politically motivated.
So then is the Mitchell Report, the one equating Isreali policies to Jim Crow to be believed. As the source of the investigation and findings is one and the same, the Federal government of the United States.
The US should not be suportive, in any manner, of folks that behave that way, based upon ethnicity or religious sect.
You mean the Joker that wanted the name of his country Capitalized, and spelled correctly? That would be me.
ReplyDeleteYou want your country disparaged? Fine. Where do you live? I'll misspell the name of your country. I'm sure that'll make you feel better.
BTW, a friend of mine was an American Ranger that had to "walk" out of the Sinai when the Egyptians advanced beyond his position.
ReplyDeleteDR,
ReplyDeleteI am going to stick with 13 official versions of the USS Liberty incident. You can stick with any conspiracy theory you like.
If your rage is legitimate, you might spend some time trying to find how this ship found itself in harm's way in the first place. Now, that might be a line of inquiry worth pursuing. I doubt you will.
On the subject of aid to Israel, I am against it except under extraordinary conditions, e.g. supporting the US missions in the ME.
now now, im pretty sure it wasn't the what but rather the who. how does a grammer mistake equate to being a moocher? and if DR did the same thing?
ReplyDeletemost of us agree this is the best country in the world bar none so why get into such a tizzy with people that are in agreement?
It wasn't a mistake, SS. What about when you didn't Capitalize, America? Was that a mistake?
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have picked many "bones" with Israel's actions on these pages, I've never failed to Capitalize the name of the country. And, I HAVE called Rat, Doug, and others, on misspelling America, and Israel.
You stand by that, "White Wash", I'll stand by the Mitchell Report.
ReplyDeleteThe veracity of them are equal, as is the source. Our Government.
deuce equates photographic poses, I equate actions on the ground.
If the President can be equated with Hitler, because of an uplifted chin, why then Isreal is easily equated with NorK and Libya.
On a wide variety of specifics, from sectarian discrimination, not embracing the nuclear norm, and attacking US ships at sea.
"It wasn't a mistake, SS. What about when you didn't Capitalize, America? Was that a mistake?"
ReplyDeletenope did it on purpose to make a point that this is not an english 101 class. it is supposed to be a bar where if you make a tizzy about stuff like grammer you'd get a bottle smashed over your head, possibley followed by a chair.
so consider it done.
"It wasn't a mistake, SS. What about when you didn't Capitalize, America? Was that a mistake?"
ReplyDeletenope did it on purpose to make a point that this is not an english 101 class. it is supposed to be a bar where if you make a tizzy about stuff like grammer you'd get a bottle smashed over your head, possibley followed by a chair.
so consider it done.
I just read that the Obama administation has announced that they will not recognize the Honduran Government that is Elected in November.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you're telling me this cocksucker ain't a full-fledged Communist?
Shit.
...Peak oil could be a short-term problem.
ReplyDeleteYou hit it on the head, Rufus.
Why, we're running out of "peak oil" as we speak, to be replaced by conventional oil as prices permit exploration and development. "Peak oil" will be a quaint hiccup in the history books, alongside the great global cooling scam, replaced now by globull warming, and worldwide famine predicted by the same folks in the 70s.
Your prediction re "Volt" technology, is less accurate. You hit your thumb on that one, I fear. I bet it will hurt when you sober up.
"Volt" = Kludge
Remember what happened to little Mat when the inconvenient question of batteries kept coming up?
"I just read that the Obama administation has announced that they will not recognize the Honduran Government that is Elected in November."
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen that yet, rufus. We were kinda sorta anticipating that the admin would kinda sorta quietly officially recognize them after a concession by Zelaya and pray the whole thing never popped up above the fold ever again.
I don't even know who's been giving them guidance on Honduras but it sure hasn't come out of the embassy and probably not Foggy Bottom either. Someone who really grooves on OAS.
We don't get anything for it because its not going to exorcise any ghosts or alter the increasingly challenging political landscape down here.
Our Latin American friends are few. Always nice to hang onto the ones we do have because, as is the case everywhere else, they're easy to lose.
ReplyDeleteRufus
ReplyDeleteOn the economics, we will have to agree to disagree.
But you side stepped the moral issue.
I said:
"The real bone of contention I have with your support of Obama's healthcare initiative is philosophical.
A man, much wiser than me, once said:
"your freedom ends at MY pocketbook"
Tue Aug 18, 03:44:00 PM EDT
He also said:
"We'll have plenty of money to pay for healthcare."
With respect:
What do you mean "we", Kemo Sabe?"
In other words, Rufus, if my freedom ends at your pocketbook then why doesn't your freedom end at mine?
You wish that certain of your fellow citizens get taxpayer funded healthcare and you want to force the taxpayers to provide these funds.
Don't your fellow citizens have a right to keep their own money? Or do you think that the government actually owns a citizen's paycheck and that a citizen only "owns" what is left over?
I'm surprised there's no Zelaya bag man. Or maybe there is and he's just not biting.
ReplyDelete...they're easy to lose.
ReplyDeleteLike in the cartoon where the fat lady sits on her Chihuahua in her negligee...
Poor chihuahua!
ReplyDeleteThat is a fallacy, viktor. The State has every "Right" to your life, liberty and happiness.
ReplyDeleteIf it needs it.
Selective Service stands foremost in that regard. But the Income Tax seconds and confirms the motion.
No, viktor, there are societal obligations that supersede your "Rights" to unencumbered economic freedom.
Even if Atlas shrugs.
ReplyDeletePolitical, as opposed to military or commercial, relationships are always the most precarious and difficult to maintain. And we aren't aces at it to begin with.
ReplyDelete(Guess we won't be calling on the Hondurans for any favors when the shit hits the fan. And being able to do so is at least half the point of the bother to begin with.)
ReplyDeleteDR wrote:
ReplyDelete"That is a fallacy, viktor. The State has every "Right" to your life, liberty and happiness."
and
"No, viktor, there are societal obligations that supersede your "Rights" to unencumbered economic freedom."
First of all, in my comment to Rufus,I didn't make any assertions, I only asked questions.
Second and most importantly, DR, you seem to be ignoring that pesky United States Declaration of Independence.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
How do you square this circle, DR?
Did I miss the U.S. Declaration of Obligations?
These are rhetorical questions, of course.
Cognitive dissonance: you ought to look it up and reflect on this and other matters.
viktor,
ReplyDeleteDo you believe the federal government has a constitutional right to tax each citizen? They certainly are taxing and I don't see how you can accept the current taxing ability yet argue the opposite when it comes to health care.
trish said...
ReplyDelete"(Guess we won't be calling on the Hondurans for any favors when the shit hits the fan. And being able to do so is at least half the point of the bother to begin with.)"
---
But you and 'Rat were with the Admin @ the giddyup.
Called us wise men wrong.
Jeesh
What I always said, doug, was that the tale would and could not be told until the elections were held.
ReplyDeleteWe read rumors of what may or may not pan out as policy.
I saw a course forward with regard the Hondos that allowed US to play both sides of the Latin divide. That opportunity still exists.
Where are these reports regarding the results of the upcoming election? Is Zelaya also allowed to stand for re-election? If not that's pretty bogus.
ReplyDelete"But you and 'Rat were with the Admin @ the giddyup."
ReplyDeleteGuilty as charged.
But it's that whole US-Latin America stink that still lingers down here - and which Chavez exploits every damn day.
You don't know how difficult it remains, after all these years, to encourage its dissipation.
Viktor, it's a valid point. Don't overlook, however, that before they could get the Constitution framed George W was back on his white horse leading an Army out to W. Pennsylvania to put down the "Whiskey Tax Rebellion."
ReplyDeleteWe all pay taxes, and we're all unhappy with the way some of those taxes are spent.
I think the country will be improved enough that you will, eventually say, "aw hell, it's probably worth it." I could be wrong.
I think it will improve the country enough that you, and your offspring will find it "easier" to make money in the future. I could be wrong.
I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future.
Of that, I'm pretty sure I'm Not wrong.
DR,
ReplyDeleteHow deuce and whit chararcterize Mr. Obama has nothing to do with me, Israel, or the facts surrounding the attack on the USS Liberty.
You can characterize Israel any way you like. Today, I have called you only on your abuse of facts concerning the historical events of 8 June 1967.
Unless you have knowledge of other attacks by Israel on US ships-of- the-line, your use of the plural "ships" is as bogus as the rest of your rhetoric.
They can't allow him to stand for re-election, Ash. He's been effectively exiled and isn't coming home unless he submits to the Supreme Court. That's a done deal.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why, for all concerned, the best outcome is a statement from Zelaya himself, conceding facts on the ground. And pursuing his second chapter in VH1's The Surreal Life.
No, allen, it is phraseology used to describe one or more. The Libyans attacking US aircraft and parts of the 6th Fleet(?).
ReplyDeleteThe NorKs taking the Pueblo, the Isreals attempting to sink then board the Liberty.
Anyone concerned can google or ask.com the shhips name and learn the story for themselves, if they are not yet aware of this historic tale of Isreali treachery towards US, their supposed ally.
Or a statement from the government after the elections absolving him and his allies. And turning their heat and water back on.
ReplyDeleteThat could work.
DR,
ReplyDeleteYou too could google the Liberty incident and read all 13 official exonerating reports. That would, certainly, take the wind out of your sails and force you to find a new target though. A guy with your imagination should have no trouble finding a new story. In doing so you would at least give the impression of being less foolish and/or paranoid.
rufus, you wrote:
ReplyDelete"I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future."
I agree with you, for good reason.
Have you a reason?
The USS Liberty, a tale of Isreali treachery.
ReplyDeletePick any source there is, the Isreal Air Force and Navy attacked an easily recongnizable US ship. That is beyond dispute.
The lawyers argue about motive, the 34 dead US sailors speak volumes for the truth.
It was "one of the classic all-American cover-ups," said retired Admiral Thomas Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who spent a year investigating the attack ...
According to this senior Israeli lead pilot, he recognized the Liberty as American immediately, so informed his headquarters, and was told to ignore the American flag and continue his attack. He refused to do so and returned to base, where he was arrested.
Later, a dual-citizen Israeli major told survivors that he was in an Israeli war room where he heard that pilot's radio report. The attacking pilots and everyone in the Israeli war room knew that they were attacking an American ship, the major said. He recanted the statement only after he received threatening phone calls from Israel.
The pilot's protests also were heard by radio monitors in the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon. Then-U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dwight Porter has confirmed this. Porter told his story to syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak and offered to submit to further questioning by authorities. Unfortunately, no one in the U.S. government has any interest in hearing these first-person accounts of Israeli treachery. [Washington Report]
Allen, I think I answered that yesterday.
ReplyDeleteBut, in case you forgot: I think it would be a good thing for my country.
ReplyDelete"I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future.""
ReplyDelete---
...and if you elect me Prom Queen, I will steal from the rich and give to the poor.
...as if GOVERNMENTS allocate resources better than markets in a a people of goodwill and good faith.
ReplyDeleteDamn!
CINO
ReplyDelete...conservative
"You don't know how difficult it remains, after all these years, to encourage its dissipation."
ReplyDelete---
I can imagine, and appreciate your updates.
Ash said...
ReplyDeleteWhere are these reports regarding the results of the upcoming election? Is Zelaya also allowed to stand for re-election? If not that's pretty bogus.
---
ARE YOU REALLY AS FUCKING STUPID AS YOU REPEATEDLY PRETEND TO BE???
IT's specifically PROHIBITED, YOU HORSES ASS!
Mr. Brainless talking point hisself.
ReplyDeleteI think it will improve the country enough that you, and your offspring will find it "easier" to make money in the future. I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteI believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future.
Of that, I'm pretty sure I'm Not wrong.
You sound like a Methodist.
The plan does not call for a government-run insurance option, as advocated by President Obama and most Democrats, but would set up a system of nonprofit consumer-owned cooperatives to compete with private insurers -- a provision intended to appeal to Republicans who have railed against the "public option" in recent weeks.
ReplyDeleteRufus said:
ReplyDelete"I believe a country that helps its poorest, and sickest will be a happier, and More Secure Country in the future."
I believe this, too, Rufus, with all my heart. The difference between us is one of method.
I believe in voluntary charity. You believe obligatory charity.
I believe obligatory charity is a perversion of genuine charity.
Ash said:
"Viktor,
Do you believe the federal government has a constitutional right to tax each citizen? They certainly are taxing and I don't see how you can accept the current taxing ability yet argue the opposite when it comes to health care."
The government has a legitimate right to tax U.S. citizens. But this right is limited by the enumerated powers found in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which spells out, specifically, the limited authority granted to the United States Congress.
"Congress may exercise only those powers that are granted to it by the Constitution, limited by the Bill of Rights and the other protections found in the Constitutional text."
(Wiki)
Government mandated healthcare violates the Enumerated Powers. That Congress violates the Enumerated Powers all the time does not amend the Constitution.
Sources: McChrystal Wants Up to 40000 More Troops in Afghanistan
ReplyDeleteFOXNews - James Rosen - 32 minutes ago
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, is privately requesting between 30000 and 40000 more troops, a request that has produced "sticker shock" and "huge resistance" among key lawmakers, sources told FOX News.
The Government collects about $3 Trillion/yr in taxes. This is, when all the lowballing bullshit is over going to cost about $200 Billion/yr.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably looking at about a 7% increase in your tax bill. Of course, a lot of that won't come directly out of "Your"taxes. A lot of it will be indirect. But, it'll come.
So, if you're paying Uncle $10,000/yr in income taxes just figure it'll be $10,700.00, or $60.00/mo.
It won't be cheap, but we'll get a lot of it back in a better economy. Hopefully.
Tell us what LBJ told us what Medicare would cost, Rufus.
ReplyDeleteWas his estimate high or low, given 20 20 hindsight.
Was he off by a little, or by orders of magnitude.
Never mind, we all know the answers, but maybe, just maybe history won't repeat?
When pigs fly.
The Coming Consequences of Banking Fraud
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the FDIC is spotting massive trouble in the American banking system and covering it up should be massively worrisome to Americans. Because revelations regarding the truth about a US bank’s health only seem to occur after it fails, the favored handling of American banks with kid gloves by the FDIC should immediately beg the question, “How many more US banks are legitimately bankrupt today and just operating on fumes?”
---
For many weeks in August, just four stocks accounted for as much as 40% of composite volume on the NYSE: Citigroup, Bank of America (BAC), Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM). In early 2007, Citigroup, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for roughly 1% -3% of NYSE volume, a far cry from its recent 35%+ collective weight of the composite NYSE volume. Remember that this huge volume anomaly persisted not just for one day but for weeks on end during August.
If Citigroup, Bank of America, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a pharmaceutical collective that just discovered a cure for cancer and AIDS, then such volume anomalies would make sense.
However, such massive trading volumes, as a percent of composite volume for the entire NYSE index, makes zero sense for companies, that for all intents and purposes, are on government bailout lifelines. It makes no sense, that is, unless massive free-market intervention is occurring in an attempt to save these firms.
Principles
ReplyDelete1. America is Good.
Conceived in liberty, America is a noble and unique experiment created by some of the most revolutionary and brilliant minds of the 18th century who made the bold leap from rule by an elite few (oligarchy) to a constitutional republic with checks and balances. Whereas most wars lead to losses in liberty, our founding fathers began, for the first time on earth, a government based on individual liberties and the rule of law.
...
2. I believe that individuals are naturally endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights which include the right to life, liberty, and property.
I believe in the sanctity of the human mind, and the natural, individual right to exercise religious freedom. As a congressman, I would vigorously defend the U.S. Constitution which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government.”
...
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty is about being truthful all the time. To become more honest is to always continue to seek the truth, speak the truth, and to always hold an open mind.
...
Values
1. Honesty
Honesty is about being truthful to the citizens of my district at all times, even if the truth is stark. When faced with fallacies and misdirection, as is often found in today’s DC and political arena, the truth becomes both a shield and a sword.
...
2. Reverence
I deeply revere the right to life, liberty, and property for each individual. Individuals have the right to live their own lives in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of others.
3. Hope
While this value has been turned into a cheap buzzword in past presidential campaigns, we must all hope and have faith in each other that if we remain true to our principles and live them out in the presence of adversity and force from our government. With the help of the people, as a Congressman I will help lead the redefining of our ‘res publica,’ OURRepublic, or translated from the Latin, our public affairs.
Candidacy Statement
Doug,
ReplyDeleteYou are like a little terrier dog that sinks his teeth into something and blindly shakes away oblivious to the rest of the world.
Let me repeat for you:
THE MILITARY CREATED THE CONSTITUTION.
THE CONSTITUTION CANNOT BE ALTERED BY THE CITIZENS OF HONDURAS.
Therefore to keep harping on about what the constitution says is essentially saying yah, go military rule. A constitution unalterable by those who are supposed to abide by it is more like a strait jacket then a liberating foundational document.
The military tossed Zalaya because he suggested the constitution should be changed and now they've got a bit of a Mexican stand-off happening...I guess we should create a new name for it a "Honduran stand-off". Basically its a Military coup and not worth supporting. That is not democracy dude.
Viktor, I suggest you give up on Constitutional law 'cause that argument about the Bill of Rights not allowing health care reform is darn weak.
My final comment on this matter:
ReplyDeleteI repeat my 03:09 PM comment
"Rufus, if my freedom ends at your pocketbook then why doesn't your freedom end at mine?
You wish that certain of your fellow citizens get taxpayer funded healthcare and you want to force the taxpayers to provide these funds.
Don't your fellow citizens have a right to keep their own money? Or do you think that the government actually owns a citizen's paycheck and that a citizen only "owns" what is left over?"
Rufus, you are avoiding addressing these issues, why?
rufus,
ReplyDeleteWhy would kindness be a good thing for your country? Saying it is is not an explanation.
It seems counterintuitive to subsidize the unproductive.
Again, I agree that it would be a good.
weak, and there is loads of precedent suggesting your assertion, viktor, is false.
ReplyDeleteA blog does not equal 13 official exonerating reports. We could, I suppose, consult Zelda, the good witch, for a definitive answer, if you are up to some tornado chasing.
ReplyDeleteOn Sept. 13, As-Sahab media released an audio statement purportedly made by Osama bin Laden that was intended to address the American people on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In the message, the voice alleged to be that of bin Laden said the reason for the 9/11 attacks was U.S. support for Israel.
ReplyDelete...
The airline security paradigm changed on 9/11. In spite of the recent statement by al Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid that al Qaeda retains the ability to conduct 9/11-style attacks, his boast simply does not ring true.
...
The 2006 liquid-bomb plot borrowed the elements of using liquid explosives and disguised individual components and attacking multiple aircraft at the same time from Bojinka. The 2006 plotters sought to smuggle their liquid explosives aboard using drink bottles instead of contact lens solution containers and planned to use different types of initiators.
Aviation Security
so the consensus of the board of directors is that the behavior of ACORN representatives is unethical and perhaps unlawful?
ReplyDeleteis the staff of ACORN celebrating diversity?
"We are the boogeyman for the right-wing and its echo chambers," reads a self-serving statement released Saturday by ACORN's chief organizer, Bertha Lewis. What she didn't do is apologize for the appalling and possibly illegal behavior of ACORN employees, acknowledge that the organization has serious internal problems and vow to correct them, or do what she should have done as soon as the scandal was revealed: resign.
ReplyDeleteO'Keefe's hidden-camera methods are distasteful, and the extent to which his videos were edited is unknown. Their content is nonetheless devastating to ACORN -- so much so that the Senate voted overwhelmingly to withhold federal housing funds from the group.
That's a shame because ACORN does worthwhile work in poor communities, helping people avoid foreclosure, giving them tax help and, yes, registering them to vote. If ACORN is to survive and retain a shred of credibility, it needs to stop deflecting blame and clean house.
On Video
Doug,
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about Iran and China and their voting? Would you call that Democracy? They vote but the clerics decide who can run in Iran and the one and only party poobah's decide who can run in China. They all claim a form constitutional (that's the rules) backing for such regimes. So goes Honduras.
Allen, if you're trying to get me to say there's some sort of "Religious" motivation, fugedaboutit. I think a country should have a "soul;" but it doesn't have anything to do with "magic men in the sky" listening to harps, and grading the celestial citizen wannabees.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Allen, one, maybe the main, reason those people are "unproductive" is because they're sick, and can't get well.
Viktor, I appreciate your opposition. You're reasons are, absolutely, valid. We just disagree.
I think you will gain more(in the long run) than you will lose. But, that's just my opinion.
Phillip Garrido is accused of fathering two children with Ms Dugard.
ReplyDeleteA week ago, a bone fragment found on the adjacent property was said by police to be "probably human", but it was not clear how old it was.
Authorities have stressed that bones from Native Americans are often found in northern California.
Suspect's Home
Ash,
ReplyDeleteLet us together chant the State Department (Long May It Live and Prosper) Ohm:
Sovereignnationsactthatway-Soveriegnnationsactthatway-Sovereignnationsactthatway...
And they really do.
Ash said:
ReplyDelete"Viktor, I suggest you give up on Constitutional law 'cause that argument about the Bill of Rights not allowing health care reform is darn weak."
I did not say that the Bill of Rights disallows healthcare reform. I said that the government has a legitimate right to tax U.S. citizens. But this right is limited by the enumerated powers found in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which spells out, specifically, the limited authority granted to the United States Congress.
and
Ash said:
"weak, and there is loads of precedent suggesting your assertion, viktor, is false."
Since you are incapable of grasping what I asserted (see above) then how can you state that there are "loads of precedent" proving this?
I await your wisdom.
Ace o Spades reports that the diplomats are on their way to Poland, an Czechoslavakia to irrevocably Cancel the Missile Defense System.
ReplyDeleteThis motherfucker is the "Manchurian Muslim."
viktor,
ReplyDeleteThe precedents are as you alluded to in your comment:
"That Congress violates the Enumerated Powers all the time does not amend the Constitution."
I submit that the fact that the Congress has "violated", to use your phraseology, the constitution so often, represents, simply, an ample body of precedence.
All are able to challenge through the courts the constitutionality of just about anything. Good luck with your challenge.
Trish, yeah, "Sovereignnationsactthatway" but we, necessarily, must react as it affects US and the international community. You seem keen on, and advocate the efficacy of, intervening militarily in sovereign nations (Afghanistan, Iraq). I, on the other hand, prefer to respond non-militarily but decisively to propel useful change. Sovereignty should not be a crutch for abuse. Democracy is messy and often inefficient but I much prefer it over authoritarian top down governing. Do I think we should intervene militarily in Honduras to help them, no, but the responses of the current administration, and most of the rest of the world regarding Honduras seems appropriate. It is a tough nut, their stand-off, and we need to take a principled position.
I know not which occurred first – corrupted morals or corrupted government. In that same vein, I promise as your Congressman that I will do everything within my power to begin the process to amend the Constitution to limit the terms of both the Congress and the Senate as the term of the President is limited.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a good place to start to stem the tide.
Happy Constitution Day and may God bless America even more than He already has.
Constitution Day
Trish, yeah, "Sovereignnationsactthatway" but we, necessarily, must react as it affects US and the international community. You seem keen on, and advocate the efficacy of, intervening militarily in sovereign nations (Afghanistan, Iraq). I, on the other hand...
ReplyDelete- Ash
...are sitting your fucking ass at home, churning out smarmy barbs to your fucking heart's content.
You are in your own way as awful as the right-wing political opportunists you oppose.
no smarmy barb intended but I'm simply trying to grasp at the fine lines that separate responses - when is force force? Can you really separate economic force from military force. Shades of gray really.
ReplyDeleteIsrael struck a civilian population that remains under its control, it didn't fulfill its obligation to distinguish between civilians and militants and used military force disproportionate with the tangible threat to its own civilians. Air Force drones and helicopters fired deadly missiles at civilians, many of them children; the Tank Corps and Navy shelled civilian neighborhoods with weapons not designed for precision strikes; soldiers received orders to fire on rescue crews; others fired on civilians carrying white flags; and others killed people in or near their homes.
ReplyDeleteTroops used Gazans as human shields, soldiers detained civilians in abusive conditions, the army used white phosphorus shells in dense civilian areas and, on the eve of withdrawing, destroyed wide residential, industrial and agricultural areas.
There is only thing worse than denial - the admission that the IDF indeed acted as has been described, but that these actions are both normal and appropriate.
Gaza Report
You, Ash ..are sitting your fucking ass at home, churning out smarmy barbs to your fucking heart's content.
ReplyDeleteYea, Trish!
But, then you say...
You are in your own way as awful as the right-wing political opportunists you oppose.
...Like being a right-wing political opportunist was a bad thing? As opposed to being a (sniff) realist (unsniff) in a tenured DoS job, kicking the can down the road, but doing it with sophistication?
By the way, there was really no coup in Honduras. Right?
Nope.
ReplyDeleteNo, rufus, I am trying no such thing.
ReplyDelete"Flying guys in the sky" is your schtick, not mine. My theology has never held such a view. Clearly, that religion which informed you did.
The problem you have is simple, you believe it possible to have civilization without the necessary predicates. It is not possible: "Where there is no law there is no sin." Other than this instance, you advance a world motivated by Darwinian fitness. If you demand an exception in this instance, you need a reason other than you feel like it.
By the way, FYI, I hold "religion" in about as much disdain as you. My reasons, however, have little to do with the primitive, superstitious vestiges to which you hold.
Religion and spirituality have about as much in common as artichokes and ardvaarks. You make the same error of discernment as the Inquisitors.
You're overthinking it, Allen. I've supported many Social Programs.
ReplyDeleteI support Social Security (only one Republican voted for that.)
I support Medicare (I think maybe one or two Republicans voted for that.)
I support Medicaid, and SCHIP.
I supported Bush's Medicare Part D.
I support the School Lunch Program, and Head Start.
I'm a supporter of Pell Grants.
Are you picking up on a trend, here. I'm in favor of a well-fed, healthy, educated electorate.
I think it makes the country Stronger, and more Productive.
I want to be surrounded by Strong, Productive People. I think it makes me Safer.
"So goes Honduras."
ReplyDelete---
Right, Ashie:
The guy that is in charge UNTIL THE COMING ELECTION is from the SAME PARTY as zfuck, it's just that he is playing by the rules, along with the supremes, the Constitution, the Army, and the Honduran People.
Run along now, the grownups are talking.
I support Social Security (only one Republican voted for that.)
ReplyDeleteI support Medicare (I think maybe one or two Republicans voted for that.)
I support Medicaid, and SCHIP.
I supported Bush's Medicare Part D.
I support the School Lunch Program, and Head Start.
I'm a supporter of Pell Grants.
---
And you complain about Republicans being the stupid party!
Takes one to know one!