World Politics

[buckwheat]

Wow. I've been outed. 'No position' makes me quite an enigma.

Nader as president? Now there's a frightening thought.

Less oversight of MMS if McCain won? You didn't read the Rolling Stones piece did you? There is no oversight at MMS and hasn't been in some time, if ever, which goes a long way to making my point (which is lost on you).

Here I go out of my way to post something from a source you should consider credible and you don't even bother to read it.

Feel free to quote any post where I've argued for "no govt". Nevermind, I'll save you the effort. There is no post from me arguing for 'no govt.' As usual, you assign me a position which I do not hold. All in all, a pretty common Alinsky tactic from the hysterical left.

Party on.

Good lord, you're pathetic. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. No one is assigning those positions to you.

Why is a Nader Presidency frightening?

Keep arguing with strawmen.

Drill baby drill!

You trust industry more than govt.

Problem is, you don't realize, the govt. is you! If the govt is corrupt, it is a reflection of the majority which has been arguing for less regulation.

Keep on with your strawman argument that people who want regulation want corrupt agencies regulating. Guess who's behind the corruption? The big business you trust so much.

"Of the people, by the people, for the people." Excerpt from one of the few good Republicans.

You are a hysterical child.

 

[buckwheat]

i knew you couldn't resist

I couldn't resist what?

You bringing up something that proves my point?

Only in your convoluted world is this some kind of negative.

 

[buckwheat]

Your view is much too simplistic.

Table on Page 428 of this Macroeconomics text on google books.

Funny thing about your list is that the countries mentioned aren't even the largest offenders of 'governmental bloat'. In the link I quoted, Sweden tops the list in which their government spending accounts for over 55.4 percent of their economy. Denmark is at 55.2%. France at 53.8%. Belgium at 50%. Why, even those economic saviours of Europe, Germany, have their government account for 46.8% of spending for their entire economy. The US is at 36.4%, a full 10.4% less than Germany. Spain has a smaller governmental impact on the economy than Canada does and yet Canada is not deep in the throws of near 20 per cent unemployment like Spain is. How can you explain that away with your simplistic 'Big government produces economic ruin' equation?

You can look at the size of government issue in a few ways. One way would be to suggest that if a country is prospering than it requests or requires more social services in order to redistribute some wealth for those left behind. Another way would be with the idea that some services, such as health care for example, should not be open to the free market and should be in some way managed by the government. Both ways require and even demand the need for a larger government.

So to suggest big government is the problem without looking at some of the norms of a nation's civil mandate or even which sectors drive their economy is a bit narrow minded.

It's a waste of time talking to this guy.

 

[patricknd]

I couldn't resist what?

You bringing up something that proves my point?

Only in your convoluted world is this some kind of negative.

i knew you couldn't resist responding to what was so obviously a joke. but i guess it was obvious to everyone but you. mmmm........

 

[buckwheat]

i knew you couldn't resist responding to what was so obviously a joke. but i guess it was obvious to everyone but you. mmmm........

You're right. Ha!

Scott riles me up and I was projecting onto you.

 

[patricknd]

You're right. Ha!

Scott riles me up and I was projecting onto you.

i've found the debate between you two to be fairly interesting at times, which is probably why i did a little chain yanking.

 

[Anonymous]

I will defer to people smarter than me, but Paul Krugman argued a year ago that not having a small government saved the economic malaise from sliding into a second great depression.

Krugman - Averting the Worst.

Don't sell yourself short. I'm guessing you are smarter than Krugman.

 

[Anonymous]

You're right. Ha!

Scott riles me up and I was projecting onto you.

How could you get riled up by a lying schizo hysterical child who has no political position(all things you have called me recently)?

 

[Anonymous]

Your view is much too simplistic.

Table on Page 428 of this Macroeconomics text on google books.

Funny thing about your list is that the countries mentioned aren't even the largest offenders of 'governmental bloat'. In the link I quoted, Sweden tops the list in which their government spending accounts for over 55.4 percent of their economy. Denmark is at 55.2%. France at 53.8%. Belgium at 50%. Why, even the economic saviour of Europe, Germany, has their government account for 46.8% of spending for their entire economy. The US is at 36.4%, a full 10.4% less than Germany. Spain has a smaller governmental impact on the economy than Canada does and yet Canada is not deep in the throws of near 20 per cent unemployment like Spain is. How can you explain that away with your simplistic 'Big government produces economic ruin' equation?

You can look at the size of government issue in a few ways. One way would be to suggest that if a country is prospering than it requests or requires more social services in order to redistribute some wealth for those left behind. Another way would be with the idea that some services, such as health care for example, should not be open to the free market and should be in some way managed by the government. Both ways require and even demand the need for a larger government.

So to suggest big government is the problem without looking at some of the norms of a nation's civil mandate or even which sectors drive their economy is a bit narrow minded.

Sorry for the simplistic response. A version of this debate has been going on and off on this thread for the last 400 pages or so.

You can look at numbers any way you want. The thing that gets me about the US situation is the debt, the rate of increase in the debt and the projected debt going forward. We have an administration that is not pragmatic... they are idealogues. They are perfectly willing to spend borrowed money and do significant (at least short term) damage to the economic engine (cap and trade for example) as well as long term damage (tax increases, VAT tax that's being discussed, inflation and interest rates that will surely rise). There is no direction for economic recovery from this administration and business looks at these clowns and has no idea what to expect going forward.

The ability to spend money is established. The ability to help the economic engine that provides the money for the spending has not been established and it's becoming clear that this administration does not know how to do this.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey, lookey here. We have another great idea out of the Obama admin.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/12/AR2010061204152.html

Governments need a tax base to operate. Should'nt Obama be working on shoring up the tax base intead of borrowing another $50bn? In the absence of a thriving economy are we not just putting this problem off until next year?



Eh, what's another $Trillion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=an_hcY9YaJas&pos=10

Again, could'nt the US lessen this issue with an economy that's performing? Just a thought.



http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/SHUTDOWN-OF-NEW-YORK-STATE-GOVERNMENT-MAY-BE-AVOIDED-AS-A-KEY-VOTE-LOOMS-96267718.html

"Paterson has made it clear that borrowing to pay operating expenses is a big reason the state is in a fiscal crisis today, paying about $6 billion a year in borrowing costs a year. But he said he doesn't oppose doing so as a last resort."

Seems to be a re-occuring theme.

 

[trompe le monde]

Don't sell yourself short. I'm guessing you are smarter than Krugman.

That's very flattering but Kurgman does have a Nobel Prize in economics. I don't. Besides, those arguments have been repeated before, it's not I like generated them for the first time.

 

[Anonymous]

That's very flattering but Kurgman does have a Nobel Prize in economics. I don't. Besides, those arguments have been repeated before, it's not I like generated them for the first time.

In 1976 Milton Friedman was awarded a Nobel Prize in economics, yet Friedman's philosophy is routinely criticized by the left, just as Krugman is by the right. On and on it goes.

 

[buckwheat]

How could you get riled up by a lying schizo hysterical child who has no political position(all things you have called me recently)?

Sometimes I set aside the evidence and am hopeful.

The hope may be futile.

 

[buckwheat]

Drill baby, drill!

Hey, accidents happen.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

In other news, the US Gov has raised the spill estimate to between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels PER DAY.

So far, that's anywhere between 79M and 136M gallons spilled. The Exxon Valdez was about 11M gallons.

At least we're getting better at something.

 

[redtreviso]

Princess Leia

"""
"Do you think Tea Party is just people who are ****ed that there is an African American president?

Yup, and the fact that they chose to call themselves "teabaggers," which is slang for a certain act involving b***s. It sort of says a lot. I would say a mouthful. Looks like it's very upsetting for them, but he's brilliant. The thing is, he's half white but that's still not enough -- for them it's all white or f**k off. I think we don't deserve him and certainly teabaggers don't deserve him."
""

http://www.popeater.com/2010/06/14/carrie-fisher-interview-tea-party-star-wars-wishful-drinking/?ncid=webmail

 

[Anonymous]

Princess Leia

"""
"Do you think Tea Party is just people who are ****ed that there is an African American president?

Yup, and the fact that they chose to call themselves "teabaggers," which is slang for a certain act involving b***s. It sort of says a lot. I would say a mouthful. Looks like it's very upsetting for them, but he's brilliant. The thing is, he's half white but that's still not enough -- for them it's all white or f**k off. I think we don't deserve him and certainly teabaggers don't deserve him."
""

http://www.popeater.com/2010/06/14/carrie-fisher-interview-tea-party-star-wars-wishful-drinking/?ncid=webmail

I bet Obama is thrilled to have Ms. Fisher endorsing him.

From Wiki:

"In 2005, R. Gregory Stevens, a Republican operative and advisor, was found dead in Fisher's house due to an overdose of OxyContin compounded by obstructive sleep apnea.[23] In an interview, Fisher claimed that Stevens' ghost haunted her mansion. Fisher was unsettled by this: "I was a nut for a year," she explained, "and in that year I took drugs again."[24]

In an interview on National Public Radio in 2005, Fisher joked that she was afraid if she ever became senile she might begin to slip back into her Princess Leia character. Fisher has publicly discussed her problems with drugs, her battles with bipolar disorder, and overcoming an addiction to prescription medication, most notably on ABC's 20/20 and The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive with Stephen Fry for the BBC. She discussed her new memoir Wishful Drinking and various topics in it with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today on December 10, 2008.[25] This interview was followed by a similar appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on December 12, 2008 where she discussed her electroshock therapy treatments.[26] Fisher spoke about Wishful Drinking on NPR's Talk of the Nation on December 16, 2008.[27] She also spoke about her life and troubles on the NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on January 31, 2009."

I'm certainly no expert on the Tea Party but I am pretty sure that they did not choose to refer to themselves as 'Teabaggers.' That moniker is reserved for those individuals, mostly on the left, that ooze with class. That Ms. Fisher is confused about this is not terribly surprising.

 

[redtreviso]

I bet Obama is thrilled to have Ms. Fisher endorsing him.

From Wiki:

"In 2005, R. Gregory Stevens, a Republican operative and advisor, was found dead in Fisher's house due to an overdose of OxyContin compounded by obstructive sleep apnea.[23] In an interview, Fisher claimed that Stevens' ghost haunted her mansion. Fisher was unsettled by this: "I was a nut for a year," she explained, "and in that year I took drugs again."[24]

In an interview on National Public Radio in 2005, Fisher joked that she was afraid if she ever became senile she might begin to slip back into her Princess Leia character. Fisher has publicly discussed her problems with drugs, her battles with bipolar disorder, and overcoming an addiction to prescription medication, most notably on ABC's 20/20 and The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive with Stephen Fry for the BBC. She discussed her new memoir Wishful Drinking and various topics in it with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today on December 10, 2008.[25] This interview was followed by a similar appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on December 12, 2008 where she discussed her electroshock therapy treatments.[26] Fisher spoke about Wishful Drinking on NPR's Talk of the Nation on December 16, 2008.[27] She also spoke about her life and troubles on the NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on January 31, 2009."

I'm certainly no expert on the Tea Party but I am pretty sure that they did not choose to refer to themselves as 'Teabaggers.' That moniker is reserved for those individuals, mostly on the left, that ooze with class. That Ms. Fisher is confused about this is not terribly surprising.

I think it is someone else that is confused.

So what is your Freerepublic screen name?

 

[Anonymous]

I think it is someone else that is confused.

So what is your Freerepublic screen name?

Oh, how very clever of you. Connecting the dots can be so challenging.


Must be a slow news day resorting to popeater for something stimulating.

 

[redtreviso]

Oh, how very clever of you. Connecting the dots can be so challenging.


Must be a slow news day resorting to popeater for something stimulating.

Vote for Dana much? TBr

""Dornan: He is trying to justify why there are pictures of him in Afghanistan, holding an AK 47, wearing the patan hat, and in combat fatigues. Why was he in Afghanistan? Well, here is another statement that will be hard for people to absorb. On the July 4th weekend, at the home of the parents of the B1 pilot, Christopher Wachter, who almost killed Saddam Hussein on April 7th but effectively shut down the Hussein government, Dana Rohrabacher comes up and greets me. I said: “Dana, hello, I am very angry at you. I saw you on Fox News tell Brit Hume that you fought in Afghanistan. Dana, you know that you are a draft dodger. Your own dad told me that you broke his heart because you used an old high school X-ray to beat the draft. How dare you say you fought in Afghanistan?”

FP: Was Rohrabacher saying that this was during the Soviet occupation?

Dornan: That is what I asked him: “When was this? When you were at the Reagan White House?” And he replied that it was after he was elected to Congress. I couldn’t believe my ears because I know the person who took him there on a camping trip of a few days, and he’s claiming that he fought there.

So I challenged him and said: “So you did the Dan Rather thing and stuck your foot over the border or went in ten yards?” He replied, “I fought in Afghanistan and fired and killed Russian soldiers.” We all were shocked, since this was right in front of Christopher Wachter’s mother, Evan, her son Jason, another lady, and my son Mark who had the audio on on our camera and didn’t realize it. I said: “Dana, you’re over the top. This is beyond Walter Mitty; this is pathological lying.” """

 

[Anonymous]

Vote for Dana much? TBr

""Dornan: He is trying to justify why there are pictures of him in Afghanistan, holding an AK 47, wearing the patan hat, and in combat fatigues. Why was he in Afghanistan? Well, here is another statement that will be hard for people to absorb. On the July 4th weekend, at the home of the parents of the B1 pilot, Christopher Wachter, who almost killed Saddam Hussein on April 7th but effectively shut down the Hussein government, Dana Rohrabacher comes up and greets me. I said: “Dana, hello, I am very angry at you. I saw you on Fox News tell Brit Hume that you fought in Afghanistan. Dana, you know that you are a draft dodger. Your own dad told me that you broke his heart because you used an old high school X-ray to beat the draft. How dare you say you fought in Afghanistan?”

FP: Was Rohrabacher saying that this was during the Soviet occupation?

Dornan: That is what I asked him: “When was this? When you were at the Reagan White House?” And he replied that it was after he was elected to Congress. I couldn’t believe my ears because I know the person who took him there on a camping trip of a few days, and he’s claiming that he fought there.

So I challenged him and said: “So you did the Dan Rather thing and stuck your foot over the border or went in ten yards?” He replied, “I fought in Afghanistan and fired and killed Russian soldiers.” We all were shocked, since this was right in front of Christopher Wachter’s mother, Evan, her son Jason, another lady, and my son Mark who had the audio on on our camera and didn’t realize it. I said: “Dana, you’re over the top. This is beyond Walter Mitty; this is pathological lying.” """

Ah, I see. You and Ms. Fisher have some things in common.

 

[Wheels Go Round and Round]

don't know if this has been posted but it's interesting reading

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/report_obama_said_i_am_a_musli.html

 

[redtreviso]

don't know if this has been posted but it's interesting reading

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/report_obama_said_i_am_a_musli.html

Oh No! quick ..go tell Pam Geller!!!

 

[redtreviso]

2nd amendment remedies???

""Angle: I feel that the Second Amendment is the right to keep and bear arms for our citizenry. This not for someone who's in the military. This not for law enforcement. This is for us. And in fact when you read that Constitution and the founding fathers, they intended this to stop tyranny. This is for us when our government becomes tyrannical...

Manders: If we needed it at any time in history, it might be right now.

Angle: Well it's to defend ourselves. And you know, I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Amendment remedies. I hope the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems."""

 

[Anonymous]

2nd amendment remedies???

""Angle: I feel that the Second Amendment is the right to keep and bear arms for our citizenry. This not for someone who's in the military. This not for law enforcement. This is for us. And in fact when you read that Constitution and the founding fathers, they intended this to stop tyranny. This is for us when our government becomes tyrannical...

Manders: If we needed it at any time in history, it might be right now.

Angle: Well it's to defend ourselves. And you know, I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Amendment remedies. I hope the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems."""

Election 2010: Nevada Senate
Nevada Senate: Angle 50%, Reid 39%

Kinda says a lot about Harry Reid, does'nt it?

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/nevada/election_2010_nevada_senate