COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“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."

Friday, August 31, 2012

Facts are stubborn things



Shikha Dalmia|Aug. 30, 2012 10:07 am
Paul Ryan must have hit a home run last night – otherwise liberals wouldn’t be going bonkers right now. No sooner did he move his tingle-inducing chassis off the stage than the liberal blogosphere erupted in outrage, accusing him of being a maligner and a liar.  
But what did Ryan say that was so bad? He falsely accused President Obama of promising during a campaign stop to keep a Government Motor plant in Janesville, Wisconsin -- Ryan’s district – open, but then letting it close once he got elected. Liberals, however, claim that the plant was already closed when President Obama delivered his remarks.
This prompted the Puffington Post to huff: “Paul Ryan Misleads With His Plant Closure Tale.” Commenters on Daily Kos’s open thread titled “Paul Ryan Blames Obama for a GM Plant Closed Under Bush” went all snarky. “If they just completely ignore Bush altogether they can make all the right wingers believe that before Obama took office everything was fantastic,” scoffed one.
Now, I actually think that the plant story was the silliest part of Ryan’s otherwise stellar speech. Holding presidents responsible for the fate of individual auto plants is idiotic in and of itself – but especially so if in your very next breath you are going to say that you’d “take freedom…any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.”
But, then again, Obama did kinda ask for it. This is what he said in the speech that Ryan alluded to:
And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years.  The question is not whether a clean energy economy is in our future, it’s where it will thrive.  I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that’s the future I’ll fight for as your President. 
In saying that “this plant will be here for another hundred years” when he is our president, he was suggesting that under him the plant would have some kind of a future. Ryan’s Big Lie then is that instead of saying the president “suggested” he said the president “promised” he’d keep the plant open? So sue him!
But, as it turns out, the plant wasn’t closed when Obama gave his speech on Feb 13, 2008. It was open. The liberals are challenging Ryan based on an Aug 16 story by David Shepardson, The Detroit News’ auto reporter that said “the plant halted production in December 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office.” But, as best as I can tell, Shepardson got it wrong. The decision to close the plant was made under Bush. However, the plant was not slated to close till the summer of 2009 – nearly a year and a half after Obama spoke and six months after he assumed office.
Here’s what GazetteXtra.com, a Janesville paper, reported on Feb 2, 2009:
Full-size sport utility vehicle production has ended at the local General Motors plant, but medium-duty truck production is continuing—not starting—in Janesville.
And it likely will continue into May, when the lights finally go off in the facility that has been producing vehicles since 1923.
When GM officials announced last June that SUV production would cease in Janesville, they also said that medium-duty truck production would conclude by the end of 2009, or sooner if market conditions dictate.
What’s more, the administration actually did consider keeping the Janesville plant alive after it nationalized GM by commandeering the bankruptcy process. According to Shepardson’s story:
In June 2009, GM considered three sites to locate a small car: its Orion plant in Michigan; Janesville, Wis.; and a Spring Hill, Tenn., plant slated to close in November. GM picked Orion and later reopened Spring Hill.
Now why would Obama choose to close the only plant he had actively “suggested” he’d keep open? Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that it was in Ryan's (Republican) hometown? Just askin…

102 comments:

  1. .

    Now, I actually think that the plant story was the silliest part of Ryan’s otherwise stellar speech. Holding presidents responsible for the fate of individual auto plants is idiotic in and of itself – but especially so if in your very next breath you are going to say that you’d “take freedom…any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.”


    I agree.

    Ryan's argument is as silly's as Obama's suggestion that with government support the plant might stay open for a 100 years.

    You have to wonder if Harvard offers those PolSci majors a course in bloviating.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  2. .

    I can't ever remember saying anything negative about Clint Eastwood, either as an actor, a director, or a man; however, after seeing clips of his speech last night, I can only say IMO he should withdraw and enjoy his money and his rep. He appeared to embarrass himself last night. Just my opinion.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eastwood is evil and/or a con man and liar because he is successful and wealthy, according to some on this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I actually thought he was funny. I also thought Rubio knocked it out of the park.

    The dim party of division and hate has their party next week. Yawn.

    ReplyDelete
  5. No, the worst part was when Ryan claimed Congress sent "Simpson-Bowles" to the President when it never got out of Committee, thanks in part to Ryan voting against it, and fighting it tooth and nail.

    Also, trashing the President for cutting Medicare payments to Providers (not beneficiaries) when his OWN PLAN Does the Same.

    He's a sleaze.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Besides, it was Romney that OPPOSED THE AUTO BAILOUT. While Obama was keeping the wheels on, literally, the Mittster was saying "let'em go bankrupt."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are still going bankrupt.

      Delete
    2. That's not going to help our seven States in northern Mexico.

      Delete
    3. No they aren't. They Are losing money in Europe.

      Delete
    4. Besides, that's not the point. On one hand the pubs are saying "you should have let them go bankrupt," and on the other hand Ryan's saying, "you didn't help the factory in MY district."

      I know "consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," but Damn.

      Delete
    5. Getting better with age, Ruf. Now you are quoting Emerson!

      Delete
  7. Ryan didn't run for Senator for a reason; the people of Wisconsin have been watching his bullshit for a while, now, and his internal polling told him he couldn't get elected statewide. I think Obama will still carry Wisconsin. He may not get reelected, but he'll carry Wisconsin.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Right now, about 5% of those that voted for Obama are having a hard time remembering "why." Another three or four percent are "squishy," at best. They Do know that gasoline is $3.82/gal, and the economy is firmly rooted in the "stinky" range.

    They've heard that we're in "recovery," but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it. These aren't hard-core Dems, or Republicans. They're pretty easy to sway. If things stay pretty much as they are I believe they'll ease on over into the Romney camp, and the pubs will retake the white house, and, possibly, the Senate.

    Obama is going to have to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, or he's going back to Chicago. And, I'm not talking about "having a good debate." I'm talking "shake up the shit" stuff. The "Trend" is not his Friend.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have to agree with Ann Romney saying that Clint took the edge off their messaging.

    That the planners of the Party would have been better off with Clint earlier in the evening and the tear rendering and humanizing Olympians performing in his time slot.

    Even the Mitt video would have been a better introduction than Clint's meandering monolog. Such as it was.

    Romney's speech was the best of those I've seen him make. Not breaking out his rendition of "America the Beautiful" made my day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Deuce is putting up really good posts of late. Continually amazes a dirt farmer like me.

    No one seems neutral on Eastwood. I've talked to folks this morning....no one is saying, well, it was OK....either great or shitty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clint had a few funny lines, not doubt of that

      I don't think he advanced Mitt's election chances, though.
      They say that the broadcast TV viewers missed the Olympians.

      That is to bad for the GOP, they were the highlight of the show, as far as humanizing Mitt goes.

      Delete
    2. Clint may have knocked down the 'no can mock Obama' deal with that empty chair.

      An empty suit, an empty chair.....that's our President at work!......

      Delete
  11. But in some respects, the situation is even bleaker than that. The types of jobs that have come back so far don’t seem to be paying as well as those that were lost.

    A new report (pdf) from the National Employment Law Project finds that low-wage jobs, paying $13.83 per hour or less, have dominated the recovery to date. In many cases, they appear to be replacing higher-paying jobs that were lost in the first place.

    The NELP report finds that mid-wage jobs, paying between $13.83 and $21.13 per hour, made up about 60 percent of the jobs lost during the recession. But those mid-wage jobs have made up just 27 percent of the jobs gained during the recovery to date. By contrast, low-paying jobs have constituted roughly 58 percent of the jobs gained since 2010:


    Losing Income

    Perhaps the Second Biggest Crisis we have is the "Skills Gap." Bush signed, and Obama pushed forward a very good FTA with S. Korea, but the House Pubs fought it, and fought it, and fought it, over the "Jobs Retraining" portion, an, actually, very small expense connected with the Free Trade portion.

    They think they're arguing their own self-interest, and in the short term they are. But, long term . . . . . . . . . well, they didn't get the moniker "party of stuped" for nuthin.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm right now trying to get our old Nissan signed up for the LCSC jobs retraining program know as auto mechanics clinic. They need cars to work on, labor free, even get a cut on the parts. How can this be happening in enemy occupied territory like Idaho?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Election 2012 Obama Romney RCP Average
    National Polls 46.4 45.9 Obama +0.5

    The red and blue lines are converging.....

    BubblePlumbPolling has it now Romney +6.

    ReplyDelete
  14. .

    BubblePlumbPolling?

    Aren't those the guys who also rent out bounce houses and inflatable water slides for childrens' events?

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're thinking of BubblePlumbers, the sub of Souls, which was sued by the State of Michigan for water fraud.

      Delete
    2. .

      Water fraud?

      What, they were selling fake water?

      .

      Delete
    3. Yup, that and a lot of other stuff. Said they had pure 20,000 year old water from the last ice age, or some shit. Turned out it was bottled from Detroit tap water. This was from before I acquired the company and cleaned it up. Previous owner was a real work of art, I can tell you.

      Delete
  15. (NEWSER) – A federal judge today struck down a new Ohio law that forbids early voting in the three days before Election Day for non-military voters, the Toledo Blade reports. Ohio has long allowed voters to cast absentee ballots by mail or in person starting 35 days before the election, but the law, passed last year, would set a deadline of 6pm on Friday to do so, for everyone except military members.

    The Obama administration challenged the law, saying it arbitrarily gave the military special treatment, and the judge agreed. "Restoring in-person early voting to all Ohio voters through the Monday before Election Day does not deprive (military) voters," he wrote in his decision. "Instead, and more importantly, it places all Ohio voters on equal standing." Ohio's lawyers had argued that many laws already grant military voters special privileges, and that local boards needed the three-day respite to prepare for the election, the AP reports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a real popular deal amongst the black churches called "souls to the polls." They load up all the old women after Sunday Services, and get'em to vote. That's what the Ohio pubs were trying to put a crimp into.

      Delete
    2. Prolly hit the rest homes too, the park benches, the prisoners on parole, Emergency Rooms, and the graveyards.

      Delete
    3. They not only take them to vote, but they tell them HOW to vote also.

      Delete
    4. :)

      I seriously doubt that they have to tell too many of them old black women how to vote. Their main problem is getting to the polls.

      Delete
  16. Look at this - line up of speakers at the Islamo-Democratic Convention is simply awful.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2012/08/31/confirmed-line-up-of-speakers-at-democratic-convention-is-simply-terrible/

    What a bunch of losers.

    But, rumor has it, they may have a 'mystery speaker' too.

    It, if we are really lucky, it could even be Rufus!.

    ReplyDelete
  17. China, and Germany are being dragged down by the non-German EU countries. Brazil is being drug down by a slowing China.

    All this is going to ease demand for petroleum, possibly enough for us to muddle through. If we can keep the idiot republicans out of power for another four years. Just 4 more years, Jeebus; just 4 more years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How about, like, oh, maybe, drilling for our own. Like in the Gulf, maybe, where the Chinese are, or maybe all over in Alaska, where nobody goes, even off of Kerry's coastal paradise, and the Kennedy Compound, heaven forbid, even off California, Washington and Oregon, and completing the pipeline from Canada, and going gangbusters in the Dakotas?

      What you want is for USA to be at the mercy of developments overseas, it seems.

      Delete
    2. If you will go here

      EIA Data

      You will see that we produced 154,002 Million Barrels of Oil in Bush's last year in office.

      You will, also, notice that this June we produced 187,003 Million Barrels.

      That is a difference of 1,100,033 Barrels of Oil/Day.

      Delete
    3. Oh, btw, those Chinese wells off of Cuba?

      They came up drier than Aunt Jennies drawers.

      Delete
    4. And that pipeline? They never stopped working on it. The section around the sandhills, and the section that crosses the border will, most likely, be completed in the Spring, or early Summer.

      Delete
    5. Both of those numbers were "June" numbers, btw.

      Now, the gummint cannot force the Kaleeforneeans and the Floridians to drill off their coast if they don' wanna.

      As for Alaska: Shell oil has discovered something interesting about the Chuksi Sea; there's a damned lot of ice up there, and it's damned hard to get anything done.

      Despite what the asshole pubs, and their oil co masters are saying, we're drilling like hell in the U.S. BUT, we Still Import about 9 Million Bbls of oil/day.

      We need those higher mileage cars (which Mitt Romney opposes,) and that cellulosic ethanol (that Mitt Romney, also, now opposes.)

      Delete
    6. I could re-butt all that, but what's the use.

      At least the Chinese are trying. And the bastard oil companies too.

      That new oil came from private land.

      etc.

      Takes too much time.

      I have a pick-up truck drawing to win at the Casino tonight. Got to get prepared.

      Low MPG sucker. Four wheel drive. Air, power, auto, beads, trinkets, tank of gas/ethanol, the works.....

      My dream rig.

      Delete
    7. You can't "rebut" shit, because you have no idea what you're talking about.

      Delete
    8. Now, now, Ruf, don't let the truth get under your skin.

      To recognize truth as it are strummed on the blue guitar is the first step to health.

      Delete
    9. You mean, the "truth" that we're producing a Million + Bbl/day More than we were when Obama came into office? That Truth?

      Delete
    10. Or, the "Truth" that we're still importing nine million bbls of oil/day? Maybe That Truth?

      Delete
    11. Or, maybe, the "Truth" that the oil companies have millions of acres of Public land under lease that they haven't bothered to stick a drill bit into? Because, maybe, all the Good leases are on Private land?

      Delete
  18. An authentic artist takes on Obama - meaningful painting, the Obamanation -

    video of the artist explaining his work here -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyv5EovqoJo&feature=player_embedded#!

    Excellent!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Move your mouse over the painting, and read the artists thoughts on the right -

    http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/artwork/view_zoom/423

    ReplyDelete
  20. Abortion survivor reveals the true Obama voting record - video -

    http://www.americanthinker.com/video/2012/08/abortion_survivor_reveals_the_true_obama_voting_record.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/look_who_parks_their_cash_at_bain_88KSQrw8BXciEidja2ZQXN

    ReplyDelete
  22. You must admit, it's a little more than funny, all these cities, unions, and universities parking their money with Bain. There must be some kind of lesson here. If you want to make money, invest with Romney, if you want to throw it away, you go with Obama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Advice from our amoral agriculturist from the land of big potato, if you're a sleazy fund manager who wants to make sleazy money, invest in a company like Bain whose business practices can best be descibed as...well...pretty damn sleazy.

      The problem is the history of Bain over the time Romney was there says that, on net, the only winners at Bain were the owners and top management. Most others, investors, the campanies that were taken over, the workers that were dumped, the banks, and the government (you and me) ended up contributing generously to Romney's quarter billion net worth.

      And with respect to the Olympics he brags about, he did that on someone else's dime also, ours. He got $1.5 billion in subsidies from the government, more than the previous seven Olympics combined, $675,000 per athlete compared to the previous average of $11,000 per athlete. Heck, I think even a fuzzy thinker like you could put on a pretty good show given that kind of money.

      Think of all the free T-shirts you could have handed out.

      .

      Delete
    2. blah,blah,blah

      Why are the unions and universities invested in Bain?

      Delete
  23. They said the same thing about Bernie Madoff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really stupid comment, Rufus.

      Delete
    2. Not at all, there were many people who would have given testimony to Mr Madoff's business acumen, prior to his business practices becoming known to the public.

      Many of his investors sung his praises, until they didn't.

      Delete
  24. Did it ever cross anyone's mind that Romney probably faces double taxation? I bet he does. Bain itself pays taxes, then the dividends going out to all these lefty entities are taxed too, including Romney's dividends.

    ReplyDelete
  25. How in the hell can you be "double-taxed" when your company is in the Caymans (no taxes,) and your money never leaves there. He's just another Crook.

    ReplyDelete
  26. .

    The Detroit International Jazz Festival is running here over the Labor Day weekend, and Sonny Rollins was the headliner yesterday. The guy is 82 and has slowed a bit from the 1970's but he still sounds sweet.

    Sonny Rollins

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Finally somebody posts something meaningful.

      Delete
  27. Mr Romney is not being "double taxed" ...

    He and Bain personify "Big Business".

    Here is what he tells US about "Big Business" and taxes

    Big business is doing fine in many places - they get the loans they need, they can deal with all the regulation," said Romney, ...

    Romney then added that the reason that big businesses are "doing fine in many places" is because they are able to invest their money in "tax havens."

    "They know how to find ways to get through the tax code, save money by putting various things in the places where there are low tax havens around the world for their businesses"...


    Make no mistake about it, Mr Romney knows how to evade the US tax system. In fact he touts that personal experience as part of his qualifications for being President.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Additionally, while Romney said tax havens were helping businesses succeed during his remarks tonight, the candidate's own personal finances have come under scrutiny after it was revealed that some of his investments were placed in offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands.

      Delete
    2. The private equity firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made use of arcane techniques in several of its Cayman Islands-based funds to avoid U.S. taxes, according to a trove of Bain Capital's private audit and finance records made public on the website Gawker today.

      The audited financial statements of one of the Cayman Islands funds make note of the use of "blocker" entities, which are used to help retirement accounts and nonprofit entities avoid some taxes.

      Financial statements for another fund note that it "intends to conduct its operations so it will … not be subject to United States federal income or withholding tax ..."

      Those details emerge on the statements of two funds in which Romney still holds a sizeable investment, according to the financial disclosure statements he filed when he announced his bid for president.

      The publication of the Bain Documents on the Gawker website could rekindle debate about Romney's role at the company, and specifically about Bain's decision to domicile many of its funds in offshore locations known as tax havens.

      Critics say Romney's investments in these funds offer just the latest example of how wealthy Americans can shelter their investments to limit the amount they pay in taxes.

      "The only reason they structure it that way is to avoid tax," said Rebecca Wilkins, senior counsel with the group Citizens for Tax Justice. "It just confirms what everyone already believes about the tax system -- that it's rigged. That the rules are rigged to favor the well off."

      Delete
    3. blah,blah,blah

      Again, Romney did not write the tax code. Bain does what the accountants say to do, take advantage of the tax code best they can. They actually have a legal duty to the stockholders to do that. Every equity firm in the country does the same.

      Rufus tells us above that the money never ever leaves the Caymans. An odd thing, a strange strategy, to put one's money in an eternal black hole.

      Delete
    4. Not at all a strange thing.

      Take out living expenses, say $10 to $20 million per year, pay the minimum tax upon it, let the rest grow in the foreign tax haven.

      That Mr Romney and Ryan campaign on further lowering taxes upon those using the tax havens, just part of their program of hypocrisy.

      That the tax havens exist in US tax policy, another part of the policy agenda which must be address to get the economy of the US on an even keel.

      Delete
  28. RASMUSSEN: ROMNEY 47% OBAMA 44%...
    GALLUP: ROMNEY 47% OBAMA 46%...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Rasmussen further reports

    53% Think Obama Will Win, 33% Predict Romney
    The race may be neck-and-neck in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll, but voters by 20 points predict that President Obama will be reelected. Republicans are expected to keep control of the House of Representatives, but voters are evenly divided over the future of the Senate.

    Fifty-three percent (53%) of Likely U.S. Voters think, regardless of who they want to win, that the president is most likely to be the winner in November.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Rasmussen, again ...

    Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 states but is largely unknown to the nation’s voters.

    A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 16% of Likely U.S. Voters have a favorable opinion of Johnson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only 16% know who he is. He doesn't take himself seriously, so why should anyone else ?

      He is not relevant.

      Delete
    2. 16% view him favorably, 20% do not.

      Relevancy is a matter of perception.
      He knows he's not going to win, why should he pretend otherwise?

      It a question of policy preferences, instead of choosing the lessor evil.

      Delete
    3. Only to you, Rat. Moral victories are for losers. Voting on principle is silly when those you are voting for have none. He has no revelance.

      Delete
  31. And by the way, when did it become immoral to use the US Tax Code to one's advantage? I do the same thing. How? 1031 tax exchanges. I don't even see the money from a sale. It goes into the hands of a Facilitator, as required by the code, on the advice of my accountant and lawyer. Then, I buy some other real estate that brings in more income than baling alfalfa. Perfectly legal, and sane and rational too. To avoid a tax against the passage of time. You'd probably do the same thing, unless you didn't have kids and had a terminal disease. Then, you might say the hell with it and go to Vegas. The Libertarians are always moaning about the government taking their money. Many of them don't want a tax code at all, feeling their money isn't any of the government's business.

    Robert Frost: "We are socialist now. He have an income tax, don't we?"

    It's just a matter of how socialist we are.

    I've heard people talk about just leaving the country, heading to Panama, never coming back. That sort of thing. They don't like the tax code.

    Not a great Romney fan here, just so much better than the opposition.

    Rufus is for Obama, who if he had his way, would simply take all your money, to dole out as he pleases.

    You don't like the tax code, talk to your congressman, like everyone else does, year after year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is not a question of morality, dimwit.

      It is a question of electability when the legal actions a politician takes are made public knowledge.

      Delete
    2. While the reality of it is ...

      That under the Obama Administration the revenue of the Federal Government, as a percentage of GDP has not been lower in the past 60 years. Running at 15.2% according to ex-Sentaor Simpson.

      Obama has not taken a larger slice of anyone's money, as compared to Ronald Reagan, Bush Jr or Senior.

      He has cut taxes for everyone, especially those that earn payroll income.

      Delete
    3. Ah, you admit it's legal, and everyone does it.

      He has an obligation to his stockholders.

      Unions, teachers, municipalities, universities, cops, firemen, all invested in Bain.

      Delete
    4. .

      Bob, up above you ask why do universities and unions invest with him. Perhaps, it's because they are interested in ordinary results and lack the conscience to care where they get them, or maybe they like the risks involved from all that leverage, or maybe they actually believe that the internal rates of return claimed by Bain Capital will actually flow through to them.

      See what these Wall Street Journal reporters have to say about Bain Capital performance.

      All Beta, No Alpha


      As you point out, what Romney did was legal. If someone wants to accept high risk as an offset to the rewards they get, that is up to them. I also don't fault him for the stories about his team leading the charge for outsourcing jobs. He took advantage of a trend that proved inevitable. Hopefully, that trend will reverse itself and the jobs will start coming back.

      However, His claim that he is a job creator is also BS. In exchange for the jobs he created at Staples, he ended up putting many more small business stationary stores and their personell out of work.

      No, what I object to and what you excuse is the completely amoral way he went about the business. You can say, hell, everyone does it. But if history is any guide, if the guy becomes president, you simply leave yourself open for him to stick it to you next.

      I posted a couple articles from Rolling Stone the other day. They were pretty long and with your attention span I didn't really expect you to get through them but they pretty much explain, using examples from his time at Bain and Bain Capital what you can expect from the man. It isn't pretty.

      .

      Delete
    5. No, boobie, I do not admit "everyone" does it.

      Mr Romney says that "Big Business" does it. Not "Everyone".
      In fact if you look into it, he says that "Small Business" cannot "do it".

      He admits the tax code is unfair to the little guy, but does not propose a method to rectify that situation.
      Except to give more tax cuts to the rich, and wealthiest of US.

      The Ryan budget proposal would cut Mr Romney's tax rate to under 1%, he said he sign that legislation if presented to him. He owns it now.

      He'd cut taxes and increase discretionary military spending, while leaving the major entitlements intact. The Romney/Ryan budget does not decrease the deficit, nor pay down the Federal debt.

      Delete
    6. Get in there and change the tax code, crapper.

      You can do it, if anybody can.

      You da man, crapper.

      Quirk, Romney is a piker compared to Obama in outsourcing jobs.

      I posted an article about that, if you recall.

      I don't like the idea of outsourcing jobs anymore than anyone else.

      Bob, up above you ask why do universities and unions invest with him. Perhaps, it's because they are interested in ordinary results and lack the conscience to care where they get them, or maybe they like the risks involved from all that leverage, or maybe they actually believe that the internal rates of return claimed by Bain Capital will actually flow through to them.

      This is all b.s., pleasantly expressed.

      Delete
    7. And so, after I retired, I got a mangy mutt to keep me company, a tail wagger who would suck up to me, and lick my hand. One day, as I was walking my beloved pet on a lease, going around the block, the crapper is coming the other way. We stop. I begin to exchange pleasantries, when I hear -

      "Boobie, that mutt is half Swede, and half son of a bitch."

      "Indeed", says I, "and that makes him related to the both of us."

      Delete
    8. .

      Quirk, Romney is a piker compared to Obama in outsourcing jobs.

      I posted an article about that, if you recall



      If it was from The American Thinker I'm sure I missed it. However, I'm sure I didn't miss much. The very concept of Obama outsourcing jobs overseas is ludicrous. And I already said I didn't blame Romney for the outsourcing the Dems like to blame him for.

      What I do blame him for is his amoral approach to business. In the 80's he would have been known as a corporate raider, a real world Gordon Gecko.

      The fact that he tells you what he is going to do to you if elected and that you still support him is amazing. You are the Chip Diller of Potatoville.

      .

      Delete
    9. .

      This is all b.s., pleasantly expressed.


      How so?

      .

      Delete
  32. Also, let us recall, that according to my accountant's report, under the previous management, Souls never paid any taxes at all, neither federal, state, local, not even property taxes. Everything went to the then CEO's salary.

    You'd try to do the same, if you a winner like Souls.

    ReplyDelete


  33. Electoral College Count @ RCP

    Obama/Biden 221
    Toss Ups 126
    Romney/Ryan 191

    Rasmussen reports ..
    Electoral College
    Obama: 247 - Romney: 196 - Toss-up: 95



    Forty-eight percent (48%) trust Romney more than Obama on the election’s top issue, the economy. Forty-four percent (44%) trust the president more. The good news for Romney is that he still has the edge on this issue. The good news for Obama is that Romney’s advantage has been shrinking over the last few months.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Rufus would swoon dead away -


    The Blog
    Biden Does Retail Politics
    Kisses supporter on lips.
    4:00 PM, Aug 31, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER
    Single Page Print Larger Text Smaller Text Alerts


    Interesting details from Vice President Joe Biden's campaign trip today. From the pool report:

    At 2:30, Biden stopped at Antone's Italian Grill, a slightly swankier-than-average, food booth. "I just ate lunch," Biden said before considering the options on the menu and then asking the staff for their recommendation. They suggested the $6 fried cheese -- balls of fried cheese, with tomato sauce and pasta. "This is a meal," he said, after being handed the plate. "Holy mackerel." He handed over a $20 bill and didn't ask for any change. "Good recommendation, man," he said after tasting the dish.

    Biden posed for a few photos with the food in hand, before passing it off to an aide. He kept on greeting fairgoers, including a little boy with a dark blonde buzz cut. "I used to have hair like that. Look what happened," he said.

    One woman, who the pool later identified as Bev Kalmer, of Poland, Ohio, told the VP: "Welcome to Ohio." His response: "I've been waitin' all day to be here."

    She said "You gotta keep the chair" to him -- a reference to Clint Eastwood's speech last night at the RNC -- and he gave her a kiss right on the lips. She swooned. Asked if she wants Biden to run for president in 2016, she told the pool: "I don't know. We've got to keep the chair." She paused. "You got that? The invisible chair."

    ReplyDelete
  35. All this pants on fire politics is bullshit -

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/pants-on-fire-politics

    ReplyDelete
  36. I saved on my income taxes last night by not winning the pick-up truck.

    Always thinking ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  37. In a Post-Convention Bump, Romney Draws Huge Crowds in Cincinnati
    By JEREMY W. PETERS

    CINCINNATI – A crowd of thousands cheered Mitt Romney at a rally here during the opening leg of a cross-country campaign swing on Saturday, testing for the first time whether he can sustain political momentum coming out of the Republican National Convention.

    A line of people that stretched for five city blocks awaited Mr. Romney as his motorcade pulled into the Union Terminal. Inside there were so many people that the campaign had to redirect a few hundred of them into a small overflow room, where they crammed in shoulder to shoulder.

    Mr. Romney has often failed to spark much of a connection with his audiences, and enthusiasm for him along the campaign trail has often been in short supply.

    But inside a soaring Art Deco-styled rotunda here, the candidate, joined by Senator Rob Portman and Representative John Boehner, the House speaker, delivered a vigorous and sharply focused speech that sent the audience into ear-splitting roars.

    Mr. Romney added new punch lines to his denunciation of President Obama’s first term as a betrayal of the promises he made and a failure to lead.

    “One of the promises he made was he was going to create more jobs. And today, 23 million people are out of work or stopped looking for work or underemployed,” Mr Romney said. “Let me tell you, if you have a coach that’s 0 and 23 million, you say it’s time to get a new coach. It’s time for America to see a winning season again, and we’re going to bring it to them.”

    ReplyDelete
  38. Stimulus money goes to pay for Obama ads --

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/house_probes_stim_money_to_msnbc_for_ads.html

    Who'd a thunk it?

    ReplyDelete
  39. The real reason Ruf has become a democrat -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE7E9jsdwr0

    ReplyDelete
  40. .

    I thought this was kind of interesting.

    The first part might just be because the first two geometric sysbols are common ones that I would think most people would choose. However, the second part is kinda cool.

    America's Got Talent

    .

    ReplyDelete
  41. I love Quirk's smile at 2:16!

    How much you rip 'em off for a gig like that, Quirk?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Did your daughter forget to give you your meds again, Bob?

      As noted by the following posts, you are stuttering again. And since there was no post on this stream at 2:16, I can only surmise that you are suffering from TIA, tremens, or one of your unique wackadoodle attacks.

      .

      .

      Delete

  42. According to a recent report from the venture capital firm DBL Investors, the U.S. coal, oil, gas, and nuclear industries have cumulatively taken in more than $630 billion in tax credits, land grants, R&D programs, and direct investments from the government. That far surpasses the roughly $50 billion in government renewable energy investments (wind, solar PV, solar thermal, geothermal, biofuels) through these same mechanisms over the decades, according to the report.

    But when renewable energy is given similar incentives — helping double the penetration of non-hydro renewable electricity since 2008 — the energy free-marketeers come out of hiding and lament how we’re supposedly “picking winners and losers.”

    The Republican party’s platform released this week is a perfect example:

    Clean Technica (http://s.tt/1mgCP)

    $630 Billion for me, but None for Thee

    ReplyDelete
  43. The mills of the gods grind slowly
    But exceedingly fine*
    A face like Ozymandias
    Grins blankly into space*
    Made of sand the winds
    And the rain begin to erase
    The potter is displeased
    With his work
    Smashes the pot
    Makes new with wetted clay*
    The workers work frantically
    To save the face
    One other day
    The mills of the angry gods
    Grind slowly
    But exceedingly fine
    And the winds and the rain
    Are patient
    Like time



    *very early Hemingway
    *Shelley
    *old testament reference

    ReplyDelete
  44. WORKERS FRANTIC TO SAVE OBAMA SAND STATUE
    (from Drudge)

    The mills of the gods grind slowly
    But exceedingly fine*
    A face like Ozymandias
    Grins blankly into space*
    Made of sand the winds
    And the rain begin to erase
    The potter is displeased
    With his work
    Smashes the pot
    Makes new with wetted clay*
    The workers work frantically
    To save the face
    One other day
    The mills of the angry gods
    Grind slowly
    But exceedingly fine
    And the winds and the rain
    Are patient
    Like time



    *very early Hemingway
    *Shelley
    *old testament reference



    http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/sep/1/rains-wash-away-mount-obama/

    ReplyDelete
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