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."

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Rep. Paul Ryan - Can you imagine Paul Ryan debating Joe Biden?

106 comments:

  1. I'm up all night watching the sky. The moon, Venus (I thought it was Mars at first) and Jupiter are putting on a marvelous show. And, the Perseid Meteor Shower is beginning.

    Look for Venus and Jupiter – the sky’s brightest and second-brightest planets – respectively, still near each other and dazzling us in the eastern predawn darkness and morning twilight. Also watch for Mercury, the innermost planet, to join up with Venus and Jupiter in the morning sky around the time of the Perseid meteor shower, which will peak in the second weekend of August 2012.

    http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury

    Ryan is no Sarah Palin, that's for sure. But I think he ought to be able to handle Biden easily enough. She did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I'm up all night watching the sky.


      I keep telling you,

      "It's not falling."

      .

      Delete
  2. Don't Fear Paul Ryan

    By Rich Lowry - August 10, 2012

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    If you are a Republican political consultant, you are almost professionally obliged to be appalled at the prospect of Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate.


    That the hypercautious Romney is seriously considering the House Budget Committee chairman counts as one of the biggest surprises of a campaign almost entirely lacking in them. In political terms, picking Ryan is presumed to be like hanging out with the No. 2 of an al Qaeda affiliate somewhere in the badlands of the Middle East. He’s a high-value target.


    Ryan’s offense is proposing serious reform of entitlements, as part of a budget that puts federal obligations on a sustainable path. He’s already featured in one attack ad, pushing an old lady in a wheelchair off a cliff.

    There’s no doubt that the heart of the Ryan budget, Medicare premium support, is a major political risk. But the GOP is wedded to it. House Republicans passed the Ryan budget — twice. Romney himself endorsed it. He is already a “little bit pregnant” on Medicare.


    The Democrats’ assault over Medicare will be ferocious, not to mention lowdown and dishonest. They’ve already all but accused Romney of killing someone, and they haven’t even gotten around to Medicare. When the barrage starts, Romney won’t be able to duck and cover. He’ll have to win the argument — or at least hold his own.


    This is the broader point. Romney has to carry the argument to President Obama. The state of the economy alone isn’t enough to convince people that Romney has better ideas to create jobs. Neither is his resume. Romney needs to make the case for his program, and perhaps no one is better suited to contribute to this effort than Ryan.


    Ryan is an ideologue in the best sense of the term. He is motivated by ideas and knows what he believes and why. But he’s not blinkered. He is an explainer and a persuader.


    Before there was a House-passed Ryan budget, there was Ryan meeting with Republican freshmen, convincing them that true fiscal restraint was impossible without addressing entitlements. When the House took up and passed his budget, there was Ryan plugging for it, as comfortable with Charlie Rose as Rush Limbaugh.

    On top of Medicare, worried Republicans fear Romney becoming too identified with House Republicans. But anyone looking at Ryan for two minutes will realize he runs completely counter to the stereotype of the wild-eyed House Republican. He is invariably civil, sure-footed and good-natured.


    The presidential debate would not become all about the budget, as some anxious Republicans fear. The economy remains the biggest issue, and Ryan has always been clear that his budget is best understood as a tool of growth rather than an expression of austerity.


    At the end of the day, Ryan is not such an odd match for Romney. It would be characteristic for Romney to consider his VP choice as an employment decision. And characteristic for him to hire a wonky young talent. If Ryan had been into finance instead of politics back in the 1990s, you could easily see Romney picking him up for Bain Capital.


    Romney is, at bottom, a data-driven technocrat. The question has always been whether he wants to bring that skill to managing the federal government — or transforming it. If he chooses Ryan, the answer is inarguably transforming it. Ryan would be Romney’s adjutant in the most consequential turnaround operation of the former Massachusetts governor’s career.


    He would inject a jolt of energy into the campaign and reorient the debate around policy. The Romney campaign doesn’t have to be reckless. It does have to have a pulse. It doesn’t have to commit ideological hara-kiri. It does have to have an unmistakable substantive content.


    At times, it has seemed that the Romney team has embarked on an audacious experiment to see if it’s possible to run a presidential campaign devoid of real interest. With the choice of Ryan, that would change in an instant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ryan is too smart, too much of a gentleman. Romney and Paul believe that the argument they make is the right one and everyone will see it. They fail to realize that the US electorate is not that smart and is used to believing what the media feeds them. Romney needs a VP that will club the living shit out of Biden and Obama.

    Christie would be more outrageous, more caustic and take no prisoners. He is a Jersey big city kind of pol that takes no prisoners. Jersey up against Chicago. I’ll take Jersey. But Wisconsin? NFW

    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      Ryan is too smart, too much of a gentleman.


      Sometimes, Deuce, you leave me metagrabolized. A gentleman? Possibly, if you say so. Too smart? Too smart by half I would say.

      This guarantees I won't be voting for Romney. I still won't be voting for Obama, but if anything could have pushed me there this is it.

      I could wax poetic on Ryan for the next hour but I have to leave for a golf outing.

      Still, I would love to see what Rufus has to say about this guy when he sees it.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      As for the Ryan budget, more of the same from D.C., all hat and no cattle.

      So much for reasonable policy. As Lowry says above, Ryan is an ideologue. He's says in a good way. Hasn't the last decade presented us with enough ideologues?

      .

      Delete
    3. Trouble with Christie is one looks at his gut, and begins to laugh. He's Falstaff. Once this type of thought gets going.....well, shit...hehe...that son bitch is fatter than Michael Moore...heh...I've never seen such a tub....guy could sway and sink an aircraft carrier....heh he'd sink Santa's slay... would take 100 reindeer to......hehehe...could the nation afford to feed him?....

      Delete
    4. Make it 36 holes, Quirk, you're impossible to please.

      Delete
    5. Bitch bitch bitch Quirk.

      What does your budget look like?

      Where would you cut, tax, spend.

      Seriously, what would you suggest?

      Oh I forgot - do nothing at all.

      All hat, and no cattle?

      You don't even have the hat.

      Delete
  4. Romney needs Jersey Fats, Not Wisconsin Facts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'd need Fork Lift Two to get his ass out of bed in the morning.

      Delete
  5. I feel like I just took a "stupid pill." I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. It's like a million thoughts are swirling through my head, and it all just comes out to, "Huh? Why?"

    I'm sure I'll get my speech back later, today, but right now, I just want coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Christie is the guy to take the liposuction machine to the budget. But Sarah would do the same, and with her the message is artfully and attractively matched to the message, so alluring that one wonders how God could have created such a creature...

    You guys are hard to please, and mock and diss the best thing the Republican Party has had in decades.

    She wasn't afraid to say "pal-ing around with terrorists", she wasn't afraid to suggest it's fair game to look into the swindler's background....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She wasn't afraid to say Obama was as phoney as a styrofoam pillar. Everyone else treated him like an English Lord.

      Delete
  7. Inasmuch as I've already declared for the other team, I think I'll just sit back and let the Pubs have their day.


    If I can. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can't so don't try.

      Here's Ryan slicing and dicing the dick, the styrofoam dick, from Kenya -

      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/ryan_and_obama_have_mixed_it_up_before.html

      Delete
  8. First One Coming On-line

    VERO BEACH, Fla., Aug. 9, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Today INEOS Bio announced that its joint-venture project, INEOS New Planet BioEnergy (INPB) has been granted Parts 79 and 80 registration from the U.S. EPA for the production and sale of advanced bioethanol from non-food waste materials. The notice of registration came after the successful completion of the construction of the Indian River BioEnergy Center (Center) and as the facility nears production. The Center is the first large-scale project in the United States to receive registrations for a facility using non-food vegetative waste materials (vegetative and yard waste) to produce cellulosic ethanol. Construction on the Center was completed in June and the facility is currently undergoing commissioning. The Center is scheduled to begin production of advanced bioethanol in the 3rd Quarter. When the Center is at full production, it will produce eight million gallons (24kta) of advanced bioethanol and six megawatts (gross) of renewable power annually from renewable biomass including local yard, vegetative and agricultural wastes. INEOS Bio has plans to run municipal solid waste at the Center after the initial start-up.

    "We have completed this new facility on schedule and on budget and look forward to further . . . . . . .. .


    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/09/2942259/ineos-bio-facility-receives-registrations.html#storylink=cpy

    Miami Herald article

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, I have a choice; Do I want to send my grandkids off to fight for oil in the Middleeast, or do I want to send them to Fla to turn trash into ethanol?

      Do I vote Obama? Or Romney?

      Progressive? Or Tea Party?

      Delete
    2. So, what's best for my own county?

      We all send a weekly $50.00 Check to King Saud's Swiss Bank Account, or we give that check (or less) to some Local guys, and gals, to turn our corn stalks, and Municipal Waste into a higher octane, non-polluting fuel?

      Delete
    3. This is the No. 1 Reason why I Can't vote for a Republican this year.

      They're on the wrong side of the most important issue.

      We can't afford to "double-down on stupid." It's time to move on.

      Delete
  9. The vast majority when polled by FOX News are "undecided" about Paul Ryan.
    Folks just do not know him, or of him.

    Voted for Medicare Part B, before he wanted to privatize Medicare.
    Go from the Federals paying 80% to paying 60% of each seniors coverage.

    How that plays in Peoria, may well be based on who tells the tale.

    Mitt is now joined at the hip with the Ryan/Romney budget.
    The MSM will pontificate upon the entitlement rollbacks and tax cuts for the wealthy, in detail.

    Duck & Cover.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This looks like another self-inflicted wound to me. The Mittster was doing okay with Seniors prior to this. We'll see what happens when, as you say, those Seniors start to get a handle on the Ryan Medicare Plan.

      Delete
    2. Doubling the seniors portion of their Medicare expenses...
      ... my own folks would go from a $400 per month insurance expense to an $800 expense.
      $4,800 per year increase in personal mandates, a tough nut to swallow for ideology.

      How that plays out as the main GOP plank in the election campaign remains to seen.
      My dad, he hates Obama enough to vote for Romney, regardless.
      Mom, in the secrecy of the voting booth, could well leave it blank, or vote for Gary Johnson.

      Delete
    3. Right now, Ryan is polling high with Seniors, according to Rasmussen.

      How well he'll be polling in a couple of months, we'll see.

      Delete
  10. I'd think the Seniors would stick with Romney, seeing as how they don't much care for Obama's Death Panels, with them as the Bullseye. And Romney has 'promised' to get rid of that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All save Rufus, who doesn't want to be saved, and wants 'to go now'.

      Delete
    2. Death Panels, Dumbo? Make those old folks pay for 40% of their healthcare expenses; you'll see what "death panels" look like.

      Delete
  11. Thou tottering hasty-witted baggage!

    You speak unskilfully: or, if your knowledge be more, it is much darkened in your malice.

    False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

    Thou fobbing clapper-clawed fustilarian!

    ReplyDelete
  12. No doubt there are many Democrats rubbing their hands in glee in contemplation of reviving some version of the ad that featured an actor playing Paul Ryan pushing a grandmother in a wheelchair off a cliff. But the smarter ones are worried.

    The smarter democrats would not include Rufus.

    Ryan was judged to have already had the better of President Obama in televised exchanges on Obamacare. His debate with Joe Biden this October might well be remembered as cruel and unusual punishment for dim vice presidents. Recall that Sarah Palin fought a much more engaged Joe Biden to a draw in their 2008 vice-presidential debate.

    Cruel and unusual punishment for Biden is on the way.

    First, if Ryan is an extremist and his proposals are so unpopular, how has he won election seven times in a Democratic district? His lowest share of the vote was 57 percent — in his first race. He routinely wins over two-thirds of the vote. When Obama swept the nation in 2008, he carried Ryan’s district by four points. But at the same time, Ryan won reelection with 65 percent of the vote, meaning that a fifth of Obama voters also voted for him.

    Ryan puts Wisconsin in play.

    “I have held hundreds of town-hall meetings in my district explaining why we have to take bold reform steps, and I’ve found treating people like adults works,” he told me. “All those ads pushing elderly woman off the cliffs don’t work anymore if you lay out the problem.”

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/313732/smart-democrats-should-be-worried-john-fund

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First off, I'm not a Democrat; I'm just voting that way "this" year.

      Second, I didn't say it was a "good" pick, or a bad pick. I said, "We'll see."

      Delete
  13. Rasmussen: Ryan favorability 39/25, 52/29 among … seniors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Old" people like nice-looking, young men - until they find out they want to cut their Medicare.

      As I said, "We'll see."

      Delete
    2. "Old" people like 'presentable' (Biden's words) blacks, until they find out they want to kill them.

      Delete
    3. Bob, Obama doesn't want to kill you, and you know it. You just can't stand the idea of a black president.

      Everyone understands; you can put the "wants to kill me" canard to rest. It's tiresome.

      Delete
    4. Nope. I would have voted for Condi, or Powell(at one time) etcetc., many another.

      You are not paying attention. What you are going to get is the British system written large, where they are at 133,000 per year and counting.

      Delete
    5. Obama/Romneycare has no similarity to the British/Canadian Systems. You know that.

      Delete
    6. They have the greatest similarity to the very successful "Swiss" System.

      Delete
  14. Bob
    In case you didn't notice, ole Ruf just pulled the race card on you. That is what liberal Dims do when it comes to Obama. It is the only thing they have.

    The fact that Lib Dims dont like the pick might mean it was the perfect choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gag, aren't you the one that said yesterday that "you were going to vote for the WHITE guy?" And, invited others to do the same?

      Delete
    2. And, btw, it was Bob that made reference to "presentable blacks," wasn't it?

      Delete
    3. That's right. I am not part of his constituency and you aren't either, your just to blind to see it.

      He doesn't give one happy shit about your or your grand kids who I guess from your comments you are going to make enlist.

      Delete
    4. Obama's pulling troops out - amidst wails, and gnashing of teeth of the Republicans.


      Obama's trying to get Training/Education Programs passed.

      Romney only seems interested in lower taxes for the 0.01%, and Swiss Bank Accounts.

      Delete
    5. Uwww that was a high hard one. Ouch!

      Delete
    6. I did notice, Gag, and I got to thinking, since my criticism of Obama tracks that of Doug nearly exactly, that must make Doug a racist too!

      It was Biden that made the orignial reference to 'presentable', I was mocking Biden. Indeed Obama, despite the floppy ears, and his whole family are very handsome, though Michelle needs to watch the weight and what she wears sometimes. Though I shouldn't talk, because I need to do that too.

      Delete
  15. Obama is playing you and all the other whites that will vote for him like a fiddle. Get use to it Ruf. He loves your guilt.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Guilt, schmildth, Gag. That's silly. I've given my reasons for voting Democratic this year. The four big ones are:

    1) Renewable Energy

    2) Taxes

    3) Healthcare

    4) The Pub propensity for Mideast Wars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't expect you to admit it Ruf. First and second step to recovery is bottoming out and then admitting you have a problem. :-))))

      Delete
    2. I thought we were discussing politics, not my internet addiction. :)

      Delete
    3. If you'd just trust us, we'd be able to get your bubbles back in plumb.

      But you have to take that first big step.....

      Delete
  17. That PGA course in S C is playing tough.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bumber sticker:

    Don't piss me off. I'm running out of places to hide bodies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bumper sticker:

      The voices, the voices said:
      Look to your guns


      Seen at the corner of 21st Street and Main, here.

      Delete
  19. Michelle Malkin sings the praises of Ryan - (Malkin must be a racist)

    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/08/11/this-is-what-forward-really-looks-like/

    Also found on this page: the dramatic and eerie --

    She's Back: Nancy Pelosi Identifies The Voices in Her Head

    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/08/09/voices-nancy-pelosi-head/


    "Eleanor Roosevelt would have been there too, but she was traveling with Hillary."

    heh :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Malkin sings the praises of Ryan?

      Heck, the Atlas Society likes Paul Ryan.

      Ryan's economic vision is based on the objectivist principles of Ayn Rand. Need one say more?

      .

      Delete
    2. At an Atlas Society meeting celebrating Ayn Rand's life in 2005, Ryan said that "The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand",[30] and "I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are, and what my beliefs are. It's inspired me so much that it's required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff."[31] In response to criticism from Catholic leaders over his budget and Medicare proposals, in 2012 Ryan distanced himself from Rand's Objectivist philosophy.[32][33] wiki

      Well at least he isn't a Marxist, like Obama. Nor a muslim. Says he's a Catholic.

      How one can be both Catholic and Randian is a transcendent metaphysical mystery the explanation of which is best left to someone other than myself.

      But he can do his numbers, and add and subtract. Neither Obama or Biden are capable of that.

      Delete
    3. .

      ...in 2012 Ryan distanced himself from Rand's Objectivist philosophy.[32][33] wiki


      Gee, that was convenient.


      How one can be both Catholic and Randian is a transcendent metaphysical mystery the explanation of which is best left to someone other than myself.


      Well, that goes without saying.


      But he can do his numbers, and add and subtract. Neither Obama or Biden are capable of that.


      Have you even looked at the details of the Ryan budget? Lordy, sometimes you make me want to spit.

      .

      Delete
  20. .

    I recall an article in Reason magazine that showed a study that argued that Wikipedia tends to be more accurate and up to date than Encyclopedia Brittanica.

    On the Other Hand


    Orwell taught us that if actual history makes you uncomfortable, merely revise or redact it.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stalin would simply edit earlier photos deleting those he had offed. This is a good tactic too. Memories are short. Photos are forever.

      Delete
  21. Buttered popcorn linked to Alzheimers -

    http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/08/10/butter-popcorn-chemical-linked-to-alzheimers/

    Things are getting serious for me. I'm not supposed to eat grapefruit, for instance. And just today, my wife told me my beloved ice tea is linked to kidney stones. Steaks are too expensive, and when barbecued have carcinogens. McDonald's is not PC. And we don't have a Chick-fil-A is this area. I'm going to have to start living on the stream catch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Well, if you base it on your catch at least you will lose some weight.


      Have you tried for food stamps?

      .

      Delete
    2. No, but I am thinking of going H2O and alfalfa leaf. I could put one of those 1200 lb bales on the porch, would last all winter.

      Delete
  22. Top of the Perseid Meteor Shower tonight. Take a look about 3:00 am.

    Here's where to look -

    http://www.examiner.com/article/perseid-meteor-shower-2012-video-shows-where-to-look-for-planetary-alignment

    ReplyDelete
  23. Here is a really nice set of charts to help understand what the economy is, aside from the partisan noise, actually doing.

    Tim Duys Fed Watch

    Sometimes it helps to have a cup of coffee, sit down in a quiet place, and go through the numbers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you have a Big, Political Point to make this page probably won't be your cup o' tea.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, like some dumb-ass Socialist Scum like YOU showing NO connection of those numbers to the SPENDING by your heros in the Kremlin, er,
      Washington DC.

      Delete
  24. This is my favorite Economics website. Not a lot of political hyping, just the numbers (usually in pretty usable context,) day in and day out.

    Calculated Risk

    ReplyDelete
  25. Looks like the end of the road for our nuclear developer, Rufus --



    by Associated Press

    KTVB.COM

    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 1:47 PM

    Related:

    SEC lawyers: 'There's no question' AEHI broke laws

    BOISE, Idaho -- A would-be Idaho nuclear developer hasn't paid $700,000 in legal bills, according to a law firm that's asking a federal judge for permission to withdraw from defending the company in the case being pursued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    K&L Gates attorney Barry Hartman in Washington, D.C., told U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge this week that Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. hasn't paid his firm's bills since February.

    Hartman told Lodge that AEHI president Don Gillispie had been warned repeatedly to pay up.

    Gillispie has several other lawyers, too.

    SEC lawyers allege Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. executives including Gillispie broke laws governing publicly-traded companies by selling securities through unregistered, illegal transactions.

    Eagle, Idaho-

    ReplyDelete
  26. Nuclear is a great power source, but people just aren't smart enough to do it safely. Not yet, at least.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. San Onofre, in California, probably came fairl close to "blowing." I'm not anti-nuclear, but people just aren't wired to think within the risk tolerances required to operate such powerful machinery.

      Delete
    2. An ex: Fukushima - built in a location, and in a way, that it was vulnerble to an event that they knew happened every couple of hundred years, or so. Figuring a life-expectancy of a plant like that is 50 or 60 years, that was just an extraordinary risk.

      Those Calif nukes are sitting on top of some of the worst fault lines in the world. Ridiculous risk.

      Our brains just don't seem to be capable of thinking-through risks of the magnitude of a Nuclear Meltdown. We're just not ready for prime-time, yet, it seems.

      Delete
  27. I'm more convinced than ever that our greatest challenge is the cessation of growth in world petroleum supplies.

    You can't grow an economy without growth in "energy." Not over the long term. Sure, we can "tread water" for awhile by becoming more efficient, but, eventually, we have to increase our "supply."

    Oil is going to take awhile to replace. Just think of the utility of gasoline/diesel, and the energy contained within just a gallon of the stuff. Enough energy to push a car at 50 miles an hour for 40 miles, or farther.

    Is it any wonder that a steadily expanding supply of the stuff powered the world's economy to such heights? Now we have to begin to replace it. And, fight th political power of those who control it.

    Dem, or Pub, this is going to be a long, hard slog.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Rufus IISun Aug 12, 09:15:00 AM EDT

    "If you have a Big, Political Point to make this page probably won't be your cup o' tea."

    ---

    Yeah, like some dumb-ass Socialist Scum like YOU showing NO connection of those numbers to the SPENDING by your heros in the Kremlin, er,
    Washington DC.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Got a Solar Water Heater Rufass?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Our Diesel Chevette got 50 mpg @ 70 mph.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. is going down not because of safety but because the CEO/managers were crooks.

    Reminds a little of the pickle SoulsRUs was in before I took over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...guy two houses down from us had a cool shoe repair shop in front:

      ...that lathe-like thing with all the tools spinning away:
      Wire brush, Buffer, Sander, etc.
      And of course, the hood.
      ...pre-EPA

      Delete
    2. I guess you could say I re-booted the company. Sucker wasn't worth a broken shoe-lace when the previous owner went into hiding.

      Delete
  32. "No Political Point to make"

    I love the greyed-out areas corresponding to supposed correlation between GOP Presidents and economic fuck ups.

    Har de har, har!

    ReplyDelete
  33. The third chart is interesting. It shows Real Gov. Spending to be down since Bush left office.

    Graphs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly my point:

      It attributes to BUSH, spending that the Dems authorized that
      BUSH did not SIGN.

      ...bho did.

      Same as the great LAFFER does.

      ...laughter follows, among those with functioning brains.

      Delete
    2. You better look again. Real Gov. Spending is lower, Today, than it was in 2008. That is solidly in the Bush Years.

      Delete
  34. you know:

    ...father of the "Laughter Curve"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not ALWAYS wrong, of course, like the rest of sinners, excepting Socialist Suck-Up RufAss:

      Arthur Laffer: The Real 'Stimulus' Record

      In country after country, increased government spending acted more like a depressant than a stimulant.

      Delete
    2. .

      Ol Art is a dick. He falls into the American Thinker class of political punditry.

      .

      Delete
  35. It's interesting that Laffer refers to the $600.00 Tax Rebate as "stimulus spending."

    ReplyDelete
  36. Maugeri thinks the tipping point will be 2015. Until then, the oil market will be “highly volatile” and “prone to extreme movements in opposite directions.” But after 2015, Maugeri predicts a “glut of oil,” which could lead to a fall, or even a “collapse,” in prices.

    http://blogs.reuters.com/chrystia-freeland/2012/08/09/the-coming-glut-in-oil-%E2%80%93-and-its-impact/


    "I'm more convinced than ever that our greatest challenge is the cessation of growth in world petroleum supplies."
    --Rufass

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maugeri is an Oil Man. Rufus is just an interested observer.

      You want some interesting reading, go back just five or six years, and read what Yergin, Maugeria, EIA, IEA, et al were saying about Oil Supplies in the year of our Lord, 2012.

      They were all at least 10 Million barrels/day higher than we are in actuallity. Oh, Rufus said we'd be "flat."

      Delete
    2. And, I will double goddamned guarantee you, there will Not be an oil glut in 2015. In fact, the inexorable decline will have set in by then.

      And, that's only part of the story. The other very important part is accelerating demand in the Developing Economies, esp. China.

      Delete
    3. I knew that would get you fired up.

      Delete
  37. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  38. When Mr Reagan took US into the trillion dollar debt debacle, along with the largest tax increase in history, up to that time ... Setting the stage for future debt funded stimulus.

    Well who argues that wasn't economic stimulus, just military preparedness.

    As Mr Nixon said, Keynes Rules.

    Embraced by every Administration since, as with Mr Reagan, so too under Bush/Cheney.

    The two most hated men by the GOP, the ones that balanced the Federal budget, put US on the road to fiscal surplus and had to be demonized and removed.

    Clinton/Gingrich.

    Go sequester!

    Let's see who blinks first on that, implementing the Tea Party's signature achievement to date.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Europe's in recession. Japan is in recession. And, the U.S. is teetering on the edge of recession. Brazil, and India have slowed to a walk, and even China is slowing rapidly.

    And, yet,

    Gasoline is back to $3.70, and rising.

    But, we're going to be awash in "Rainbow Stew" by 2015.

    An oilman said so.

    ReplyDelete
  40. .

    Reminds a little of the pickle SoulsRUs was in before I took over.



    This week on America's Most Wanted, Bob Petersen who's aliases include 'Boobie', 'The Hick', 'Mr. Glimmer', and 'Commando'.

    He is wanted for fraud, extortion, and felony delusions of grandeur. The fugitive, known only by the name 'Bob' by his friend Dale who is currently being detained in the federal prison in Leavenworth on conspiracy charges (technically on incitement to ‘conspiracy theories’ charges), is said to have been at various times a greeter at the Souls-R-Us Tanning Salon in Boise, Idaho, a 'custodian' at the Souls-R-Us mega-warehouse in Coeur d’Alene, and to have held various other menial jobs in and around Moscow, Idaho.

    Bob is a product of the 'welfare reform' programs of the late 90's that resulted in states across the US closing down mental health facilities and dumping inmates onto the streets due to budgetary shortfalls. He was originally hired by Souls-R-Us in 2009 as part of their groundbreaking "Hire the Mentally Challenged and Get Them off the Streets" program. He was fired a short while later for pilfering restroom supplies. Since then he has been living under the delusion that he is somehow owner of Souls-R-Us, the very company that tried to help him.

    In the words of Peter Chip, manager of the Idaho mega-warehouse, "It's a sad case. We are proud of the "Get Them off the Street" program. It has been a great success. Unfortunately, Bob was just one of those guys that can't help but slip through the cracks. It's a real trajedy. I worry about his daughter and her horse."

    In addition to the theft and delusions of grandeur charges, Bob is also being sought on exhortation charges for demanding 'two' t-shirts instead of the standard one on t-shirt' night at the local casino. Federal charges are also pending on fraud charges involving collecting subsidies for not planting alfalfa while secretly planting alfalfa to support his new H20 and alfalfa diet.

    There are also existing 'cease and desist' court orders issued against Bob for stalking in the case of Sarah Palin and for harassment in the cases of Souls-R-Us and the Pancake House restaurant chain.

    Authorities state that Bob is a known English major and purportedly panhandles to cover his poetry habit. While his thoughts are muddled and dangerous he is not thought to be a serious physical threat to anyone but himself.

    If you know anything of this man, please report it to local authorities, the USDA, Idaho Fish and Game, or Ash Brick, bounty hunter.

    .

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    Replies
    1. I had nothing to do with the Pancake House Affair.

      And Dale has been at the VA with pneumonia. He survived, being a tough old bird, by God's grace and Martin Luther.

      Delete
    2. Hope he gets better. Just don't give him our address. :)

      Delete
    3. ...by God's grace and Martin Luther.

      And Federal tax dollars at work.
      Dale is at the VA hospital?

      Seems certain that his pneumonia was not a Service related injury.
      Just another Federal Welfare case.

      Delete
    4. Oh noes, you don' suppose they'll "death panel" him?

      Delete
    5. .

      As a follow-up to our previous story on the delusional "Commando Bob", we have recieved unconfirmed reports that max-security detainee, Dale, has been move from Leavenworth prison to an unspecified VA hospital due to health concerns.

      Since this tip comes from a usually unreliable source, we cannot confirm it at this time. However, it is our understanding that bounty hunter, Ash Brick, is acting on this lead.

      .

      Delete
    6. I brought him home the other day. He is with me. At the Casino. But, you don't know which Casino. Hahahaha

      Delete
  41. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  42. Poll: What was the Obamateurism of the Week?


    Asks supporters to find businesses to support his "you didn't build that" argument 44.97% (2,047 votes)


    “It’s Romney Hood.” 11.75% (535 votes)


    Tweets about "his" middle-class tax cut that is really Bush's from 2003 20.83% (948 votes)


    7 weeks since taking questions from anyone but donors 22.45% (1,022 votes)



    Total Votes: 4,552


    Hot Air

    ReplyDelete