A sunny Saturday OPEN thread
Shot by Dan at Grandin Gardins, on Grandin Road
“The Sun in London ran a front page declaring my bum a national treasure. I really did laugh at that. Its not like it can actually do anything, except wiggle.”
Kylie Minogue
I’m out in the sun today, folks. Will catch up with the comments later.
May 12, 2012 - 8:49 AM
I think sums up nicely the “vision” of republicans for what the United States should be: Republican rob from the “have-nots” to give to the “have-a-whole-lot.”
[Republicans] “…have insisted on preserving bloated military spending and unjustifiably low tax rates for the rich. That effort reached a nadir on Thursday when the House voted to prevent $55 billion in automatic cuts imposed on the Pentagon as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, choosing instead to make all those cuts, and much more, from domestic programs.”
“In all, the bill would cut $310 billion from domestic programs; a third of that comes out of programs that serve low- and moderate-income people. Other provisions would slash by half the budget of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was set up after the financial meltdown to protect consumers from predatory lending and other abuses, and reduce the pay of federal workers.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/opinion/the-human-cost-of-ideology.html?_r=2&hp
In reference to Kylie Minogue about her “bum” in the quote above, her museum wax figure was a hit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2044765/Rihannas-cheeky-wax-work-unveiled-Madame-Tussauds.html
“A sexy Kylie Minogue wax model caused controversy when it was unveiled in 2002. The singer was posed on all fours, dressed in a red silk basque and thigh-length leather boots, in racy underwear. The skirt on the figure reportedly had to be lengthened after fans kept lifting it up to look at her famous bottom.”
I’ve also heard that fans stole the wax figure’s panties on two different occasions.
That’s when you know you’ve made it!
A friend of mine from work has a 7 yr old son whose best friend was recently diagnosed with cancer. She posted a picture on Facebook a little while ago of both boys. They asked her husband to shave their heads today, they wanted to do it together. Praying that Elijah’s treatments will be successful and thankful for him that he has such a good friend.
Hope you used lots of sunscreen!!
A former student posted this on her Facebook page in response to recent comments by Rush about the President. A spot on analysis it seems to me.
“You cannot sit there with your umpteenth spouse (who was probably stolen from someone else) or blurting hate talk or judging others and even pretend to pretend you have a grip on values and scripture and “what God likes”.
Quit with the judging and get with the loving, because that is all you’ve been asked to do here.”
NY Times columnist Charles Blow has posted his column that will run tomorrow on Facebook. This is part of it.
“In an interview with Fox Radio on Thursday, Romney laughed as he said that he didn’t remember the incident, although he acknowledged that “back in high school, you know, I, I did some dumb things. And if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize.” He continued, “I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school, and some might have gone too far. And, for that, I apologize.”
“There is so much wrong with Romney’s response that I hardly know where to start.”
“But let’s start here: If the haircutting incident happened as described, it’s not a prank or hijinks or even simple bullying. It’s an assault.”
“Second, honorable men don’t chuckle at cruelty.”
“Third, if it happened, Romney’s explanation that he doesn’t remember it doesn’t ring true. It is a searing account in the telling and would have been even more so in the doing. How could such a thing simply melt into the milieu of other misbehavior? How could the screams of his classmate not echo even now?”
“Fourth, “if someone was hurt or offended, I apologize” isn’t a real apology. Even if no one felt hurt or offended, if you feel that you have done something wrong, you can apologize on that basis alone. Remorse is a sufficient motivator. Absolution is a sufficient objective. Whether the person who was wronged requests it is separate.”
“Lastly, this would have been an amazing teaching moment about the impact of bullying if Romney had seized it. That is what a real leader would have done. That is what we would expect any adult to do.”
I think sums up nicely the “vision” of republicans for what the United States should be: Republican rob from the “have-nots” to give to the “have-a-whole-lot.”
Somebody will be writing me a check? No? Then stop lying through your pie hole.
The troll without a soul is such a sad person.
#7 Pie hole? Still living decades ago?
9.”#7 Pie hole? Still living decades ago?”
gdad,
The movie “American Pie” redefined the term “pie hole” anyway. Sorry, I can’t post the hilarious, but inappropriate link.
Romney really stepped in it with his comment to Liberty students about “my religion and yours.” Look for some serious backpeddling starting in 3…2…1…
Romney really stepped in it with his comment to Liberty students about “my religion and yours.” Look for some serious backpeddling starting in 3…2…1…
Another trolling post from Poodle. If you notice, that’s all he does. Posts stuff designed to get negative reaction –nothing to do with serious discussion–the very definition of ‘troll’. Most of the leftwingers here are trolls by this definition.
#7 Pie hole? Still living decades ago?
Sorta like calling someone a “dolt” all the time, ain’t it, Gdad?
California’s budget deficit has swelled to a projected $16 billion — much larger than had been predicted just months ago.
http://news.yahoo.com/california-facing-higher-16-billion-shortfall-213905732–finance.html
I don’t understand it. Governor Moonbeam was going end all the problems by spending more and more–just like Paul Krugman wanted–and it didn’t work. And California get FAR more federal spending than our state.
I just thank my lucky stars I live in a well-managed state where conservatives have held the line on taxes and spending even in the good times. That is why we have avoided the brunt of the 0bama recession.
Debbie@3
Don’t know if you have seen this…but it seems likely that you are referring to this child..
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elijahdalton
I’ll be posting videos of his second grade classmates telling corny jokes. Trying to keep his spirits up through a very tough medical treatment.
We are in Hilton Head to see our youngest who just moved here to take a job as a golf pro and ran into Rick Beason. We got to catch up over a couple of drinks last night. Good stuff!
#10 I’m familiar with the movie and the scene, John W.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there…for a beautiful look at a beautiful brave young mom, search Lacey Buchanan at YouTube. Someone sent it to me yesterday and she and her baby are such a nice Mother’s Day story.
Angry (leftwing-organized) mobs are protesting “austerity” measures in Spain now. Paul Krugman says such protests are evidence austerity measures implemented the past year have failed.
But yet President Moron has been doing exactly what Krugman has suggested for the past four years, sinking $2 trillion in “jobs”, yet 0bama has lost net jobs.
Calfornia and Arnold, incidentally, have done exactly the things Krugman wanted. No austerity measures under Arnold who morphed into a liberal during his term. But yet Krugman is blaming Republicans for not raising taxes in California (which are already among the highest in the country).
Krugman as you recall is also the guy who said wars stimulate economies, except, well, Republican wars like Iraq which he says helped get us into the downturn we’re in.
Can anybody tell me why anybody would listen to this moron who has been wrong on EVERYTHING to date?
Oh yes. He has a nobel. So does 0bama. So did Arafat. Says a ton about the joke the nobel has become.
#14 As of 2005, California got 78 cents in federal money back for every dollar it paid, troll suzie. Virginia, OTOH, got $1.51. I wonder which state is getting the better deal? I wonder if that 50 percent return on the dollar has helped Virginia prosper any? In addition, in 2008, Virginia topped California for total federal contract dollars, although California BARELY went back ahead in 2009.
Dolt.
Suzie-
“And California get FAR more federal spending than our state.”
Well yeah, total money, of course. California is a tiny bit larger and has a few more people than Virginia. But as usual, you have no idea what you are talking about.
The relevant number is per capita federal spending. Only one state gets more federal money per capita than Virginia. One. Meanwhile, California gets less federal money per capita than the national average, coming in at 33rd in the country.
Yes, Mike Scott, that is the child that I’m referring to. In all of the pictures I’ve seen of him, even the ones taken in the hospital, he always has a big smile on his face. He appears to be a tough, brave little boy.
Mike Scott, those jokes are so sweet. It’s heartbreaking that a child so young has to go through this.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s on here. I hope you all have a great day.
Hey folks, life is far too short to waste giving any attention to the bile Suzie spews. Misery loves company, make the choice not to open the door for it.
#14 As of 2005, California got 78 cents in federal money back for every dollar it paid, troll suzie. Virginia, OTOH, got $1.51. I wonder which state is getting the better deal? I wonder if that 50 percent return on the dollar has helped Virginia prosper any? In addition, in 2008, Virginia topped California for total federal contract dollars, although California BARELY went back ahead in 2009.
That sounds a lot like the silly argument about conservative Craig County being bigger leeches than liberal Fairfax because of more per capita gov’t spending.
California is like 4-5 times bigger than VA.
Never allow leftwingers to handle stats. They tend to injure themselves.
“At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.”
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/05/12/bush-convicted-of-war-crimes-in-absentia/
I think I saw you down at the Gallop for the Greenways event yesterday, Dan. Were you there on your bike? By the time I crossed the street to speak to you, you had disappeared.
Lynda K,
I and Zach and my pal Ted rolled thru there about 2:30 but we weren’t down there after that.
#21 Notice that my stats mean much more than anything suzie said, so her only possibly reply is a personal insult.
#21 Oh, I see that Jason also schooled suzie on the federal funds thing.
Couldn’t have been you then, Dan… This was around race time at 5pm.
Oh, I see that Suzie also schooled Jason on the federal funds thing
Yep. I love when liberals bring up some bible belt malady stat (divorce, teen pregnancy, etc) like Kristen Gdad, and Jason did.
All I do is say “Washington DC” (#1 teen pregnancy, #1 per capita funding, #1 percentage of liberals, #51 divorce rate), and the argument is over.
http://news.yahoo.com/john-edwards-mistress-led-tabloid-grade-life-162633650.html
Media is trashing Edwards’ mistress pretty good. Edwards’ trail of lies and deceit is truly mind-boggling.
Wait a minute. He’s a leftwing trial lawyer politician. Who would expect anything different?
Of course Suzie thinks tax dollars should only go to good GOP run companies and good GOP run states. The rest of the “bastards” should be on their own.
Mike Scott, I know how hard Elijah’s illness is on his family. As his teacher, how are you doing?
This from the CIA’s most recent compilation of “Distribution of Family Income” – the GINI Index: “This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country …cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest.”
The MORE UNEQUAL a country’s income distribution – the HIGHER ITS GINI INDEX NUMBER will be.
If income were distributed with perfect EQUALITY = 0; if income were distributed with perfect INEQUALITY = 100
☻Sweden has the lowest and best numerical score with 23, followed by Montenegro (24.3), Hungary (24.7), and, Denmark (24.8).
☻The most unequal distribution of wealth is Namibia with a score of 70.7, followed by Seychelles (65.8), South Africa (65.0), and, Lesotho (63.2).
☻Where is American “exceptionalism” in this index? Where does the distribution of the American families’ income fall – our country that is held up worldwide as the shining beacon of equality? Not so great, as the United States has index score of 45.0 following Uruguay (45.5), and Bulgaria (45.3). Nations with scores lower (which means better) than the US are Guyana (44.6), Cameroon (44.6), and, Iran (44.5) – even the CIA has concluded that wealth disparity is greater in the US than in Tunisia or Egypt.
☻And where are our western allies in this index? Germany bests us with a score of 27.0, Canada scores 32.1; France 32.7; and, the United Kingdom with 34.0. Two of these countries, Canada and France, are routinely ridiculed by Republicans, however, by their scores alone, they are far better governments to their people than the US.
So for those who bash, misinterpret, and misunderstand the Occupy movement which has made exposure of the income inequality in the US a main principle – listen up:
they are right and you are wrong, according to our government’s own researchers at the CIA World Fact Book. Too often we live in a US centered world where news is premised on the myth of our exceptionalism, when in reality, and viewed through a reality
fact-based worldview, we are not.
[To go to this site, Google, CIA WORLDFACT BOOK GINI INDEX]
Debbie@36
I don’t know the family or the child well. I work with he and his classmates pretty frequently. Prior to teaching I was also involved in cancer care and in course of interacting with people who were potentially confronting an end of life possibility, I’ve developed a general perspective and set of principles that helped me work in that environment. That has carried over into subsequent events where friends and relatives have had cancer, including my own wife. Still, I always had the hardest time with cancers in children, especially those that were too young to be consoled. To them the whole treatment experience, strapped to table with some noisy robotic like machine spinning around them, was just a nightmare.
His classroom teacher lovers her students, and is also his home bound teacher. She thinks about he and his family frequently. I know it something weighing heavily on her mind.
RIP Duck Dunn:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2012-05-13/Donald-Dunn/54939734/1
#33 Yep, suzie shuffling and ducking some more.
#34 Now, wait a minute, I’ve been told by suzie before that the liberal MSM never writes stories like this about liberals. Guess the troll is wrong or lying again.Which one is it, troll suzie?
BTW, liberals on this blog have been calling Edwards a scumbag ever since this stuff started coming out.
☻Where is American “exceptionalism” in this index? Where does the distribution of the American families’ income fall – our country that is held up worldwide as the shining beacon of equality? Not so great, as the United States has index score of 45.0 following Uruguay (45.5), and Bulgaria (45.3). Nations with scores lower (which means better) than the US are Guyana (44.6), Cameroon (44.6), and, Iran (44.5) – even the CIA has concluded that wealth disparity is greater in the US than in Tunisia or Egypt.
☻And where are our western allies in this index? Germany bests us with a score of 27.0, Canada scores 32.1; France 32.7; and, the United Kingdom with 34.0. Two of these countries, Canada and France, are routinely ridiculed by Republicans, however, by their scores alone, they are far better governments to their people than the US.
The difference between the United States and Namibia or whatever the hell is that we have frigging super billionaires and millionaires in this country who skew the range. And my question is why should you give a sh*t? How is it hurting the poor if Bill Gates has $40 billion?
Sweden and Denmark are socialist countries. So what if there is a nice uniform band of mediocrity? How does that make a country better than if they had 100 more billionaires? It doesn’t.
As usual, the liberal premise is screwed up. Libs are just envious of high achievers and present the charade that it’s better for the rich to be cut down to size.
Another anti-capitalist talking point DESTROYED. But that’s what Suzie does best [hair toss].
“At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.”
Yet nothing on Monkey Boy for doing the exact same thing, huh? Odd.
“Sweden and Denmark are socialist countries. So what if there is a nice uniform band of mediocrity? How does that make a country better than if they had 100 more billionaires? It doesn’t.”
It doesn’t make a country “better.” It makes them more politically (and economically) stable. What made this country the No. 1 superpower on Earth was its huge (and now quickly evaporating) middle class, combined with its large population.
With the post above, Suzie has displayed actual mental illness. She’s on a suicide trip. She wants to die at the hands of the people she despises. It’s gonna happen.
President Obama issued “a detailed executive order on torture and related issues”.
“The executive order said that prisoners “shall in all circumstances be treated humanely and shall not be subjected to violence to life and person (including murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture), nor to outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment).” It also specifically nullifies interpretations of federal law on interrogations “issued by the Department of Justice between September 11, 2001, and January 20, 2009″ under President George W. Bush.”
There is no evidence that order has not been followed. President Obama is not a war criminal.
#42 most ill -informed posted comment is again typical nattering, blathering, and lack of intellect…in a world where her non-rational, name calling makes her a “winner”.
Delusional much?
President Obama issued “a detailed executive order on torture and related issues”.
…with loopholes so big you could drive a truck through them.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12041
OBL was captured using information obtained by torture. If Captain Moron is going to take credit for getting Bin Laden, he has to claim responsibility for the torture.
It does not necessarily hurt the poor if Bill Gates or 100 like him have $40 billion. It hurts the nation, in ways big and small when the balance between the haves and have-nots is so huge it looks obscene on a graph. That is not sustainable and shows a deliberate system that takes from the workers and gives to the rich and powerful. And it is wrong. We know this because conservatives and some of those billionaires have told us so.
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-charts-about-inequality-2011-11#the-share-of-national-income-going-to-the-top-1-has-doubled-since-1979-this-chart-really-says-it-all-1
Now, wait a minute, I’ve been told by suzie before that the liberal MSM never writes stories like this about liberals
They’ll only write about it when it’s impossible to ignore. It sure as hell wasn’t the MSM that broke this story, and if Edwards wasn’t expendable to the Democrats, they’d be doing their best to squash it.
If this very thing were happening to 0bama right now, does anyone think the MSM would report it? Hell no. They’d sit on it until A) somebody in the new media broke it or B) after the election at a point where it could no longer hurt 0bama.
Everybody here knows I’m right.
What made this country the No. 1 superpower on Earth was its huge (and now quickly evaporating) middle class, combined with its large population.
Where is the middle class supposedly going? How do you define middle class? And how could the fact that Bill Gates has a net worth of $40 billion possibly hurt the middle class as you say it has? Are you assuming wealth is a zero-sum game? it isn’t.
Once again, Dan has swallowed leftwing talking points without having any idea how to explain them. This places him among the first type of liberals I described–the Oprah-watchers who dutifully pass along talking points without considering for one minute if they make sense.
My guess is Bush, Cheney et al won’t be making any overseas trips anytime soon. Remember what happened to Noriega and Pinochet. Another travesty concerns Torture Yoo, who is still free to teach his brand of “law” to our college students.
#49 The MSM would be all over it and you know it.
It hurts the nation, in ways big and small when the balance between the haves and have-nots is so huge it looks obscene on a graph. That is not sustainable and shows a deliberate system that takes from the workers and gives to the rich and powerful.
1. How does it “hurt the nation”? Explain.
2. How does it hurt workers to have extra billionaires? Explain this.
3. If the “rich and powerful” are already billionaires, explain the mechanism by which you claim the workers are taken from and the billionaires are given to.
When you ask for the nuts and bolts of it, you find these parrots can’t explain any of this nonsense.
Whenever most ill-informed cannot factually dispute the knowledge we try to pass on – the first action is attack the “messenger” and then make allegations that cannot be substantiated…no links, no citations just the ranting of a terrible loser…
I continue to invite any liberal to explain why income inequality in the United States due to skewing by the super-high achievers is a bad thing. If Bill Gates moved to Roanoke, do you nuts think it would help or hurt the local economy? After all, his income would skew the hell out of the curve. it would push the so-called middle class and poor farther down on the graph. Do you people think this means they actually make less money?
We’re all waiting.
Suzie continues to post lies “OBL was captured using information obtained by torture” That is not true. It never was.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/03/osama-bin-laden-was-not-caught-because-of-torture-but-in-spite-of-it.html
Considering the contents of your gullet, it is gauche and boorish to speak of what ANYONE else has “swallowed”, Suzie.
It pisses them off SO much that Obama got OBL…
#50 the ever most ill-informed posted, “Where is the middle class supposedly going?”
Ohh, the ignorance. Here is where the middle class is going most ill-informed. I may have to very soon, change your designation to most ignorant, but you have some competition in that category, but you are moving up – your “winning”!
“The middle class in America is being systematically wiped out, and most people don’t even realize what is happening.
Every single year, millions more Americans fall out of the middle class and become dependent on the government. The United States once had the largest and most vibrant middle class in the history of the world, but now the middle class is rapidly shrinking and government dependence is at an all-time high.”
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/25-signs-that-middle-class-families-have-been-targeted-for-extinction#ixzz1unt4Vuaj
most ill-informed queried, “How do you define middle class? ”
As always too ignorant to do some research, so…
“Republican candidate Mitt Romney, meanwhile, has proposed eliminating “taxes on dividends, capital gains, and interest on middle class families.” He defines “middle class” as anyone with an adjusted gross income of under $200,000 – and acknowledges that such a proposal would affect “over 95 percent of American families.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/defining-the-middle-class/
Suzie, quit with the lies and misdirection. We HAVE answered those questions over and over and over. You just chose to ignore them.
“What improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the whole. No
society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.”
-Adam Smith, 1776
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth if Nations: Book I Chapter VIII, p.96, para. 36.
SOME income inequality is the incentive and motivator for a society. Ours has passed the tipping point and is dangerously close to leading to a revolt by the people who are being made more and more “miserable”.
The TP/GOP is NOT going to be able to sustain and defend their continued defense of tax cuts, and subsidies/incentives for the already wealthy and profiting people and companies who are “buying” that protection and having the tab placed on the backs of the working and the poor. The jig is up.
You cannot defend a system like that described in “Richistan”, a book by Robert Frank. He “observed that wealthy people have “built a self-contained world unto themselves, complete with their own health-care system (concierge doctors), travel network (NetJets, destination clubs), separate economy…and language (‘Who’s your household manager?’)”.
http://books.google.com/books?id=slDLwk_lJWQC&pg=PA8&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false
The inequality and the growth of ONLY the wealthiest sector will lead to civil unrest much bigger than losing an election or not being able to buy a politician. “Experience keeps a dear school, but a fool will learn in no other” ~Ben Franklin.
We are NOT going to keep taking this system.
For some more reasons and arguments that the truly wealthy (meaning not Suzie) should care about income and other inequality in our system:
http://www.economist.com/economics/by-invitation/questions/how_does_inequality_matter
Suzie,,,Why are you using Bill Gates as an example??
I thought your own income made Roanoke County
one of the richest counties east of the Mississippi?..
Something about a device put on school buses that
electricuted unruly kids or something ..Thats
at least how I envisioned you came into your riches.
Do all those buses use solar panels?
Hey Dan, who’s “them”? ‘Cause I for one, am freakin’ ecstatic that they got Osama. I’m glad the intel worked out, no matter how it was obtained or under which administration it was obtained. I’m also glad we had the assets in place to undertake the mission. And I’m glad Obama had the cajones to make the call. So at least one conservative isn’t resentful about it.
Oh and Sandi, your link is nothing more than a liberal opinion. It hardly disproves anything. It is no more than the typical partisan name-calling and fingerpointing we have all come to expect. It is as meaningless as a conservative opinion piece pointing out that neither 9/11 nor its aftermath would have ever happened if Clinton would have had the nerve to let our elite troops pull the trigger when they had OBLin their sights over ten years ago.
From Business Insider magazine:
http://www.businessinsider.com/22-statistics-that-prove-the-middle-class-is-being-systematically-wiped-out-of-existence-in-america-2010-7#83-percent-of-all-us-stocks-are-in-the-hands-of-1-percent-of-the-people-1
I doubt that Suzie has ever come within 100 yards of that book, Wealth of Nations.
Ours has passed the tipping point and is dangerously close to leading to a revolt by the people who are being made more and more “miserable”.
How are people made more miserable by the presence of rich people? Still waiting to hear how it would the poor people of Roanoke if Bill Gates moved down here and started spending money.
Hillary? Dan? Sandi? You people who are so eager to insult should be able to easily explain. Cat got your tongues? LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO
When you think of the guts it took to give that order. If the mission had been a failure, Obama would have suffered the same criticism and consequences as Carter’s Iran mission. The president could have set on his hands, but against the advice of his advisors he didn’t. This is the guy I voted for.
Just about fed up with this password crap.
Yo, Chuck. Ever see that old Twilight Zone where the guy had a chance to take out Hitler in the thirties? Same deal, so to you guys besides being a serial-adulterer Clinton is also mind reader?
The funny thiong is how Suzie and the Obama haters just cannot bring themselves to say that by the fact that Obama made a gutsy decision and the fact that our outstanding Seal Team, with all the backup it received
did their jobs, Osama Bin Laden was KILLED. The only word she can ever use is “captured”. We did not capture him. We do not have him in custody.
His ass is 1000 feet down in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
BREAKING NEWS:
Mitt Romney comes out for the right of corporations to marry.
Dan@12:21
Now that there’s funny. I don’t keer who ya are!
gutsy decision
As Mitt said, even Carter would have made that call. Special forces trained under Bush and using methods 0bama tried to undercut did the work. Monkey Boy went along for the ride, then jumped in to take credit. Despicable. True military people are outraged.
Maybe the leftwingers are thinking about the liberal elite college professors of Blacksburg screwing the poor–not letting them live in the city limits, not letting them have a Walmart to shop at. Is that what they mean economic inequity? Dan basically said those liberal elitist professors are going to die at the hands of the people they hate. It’s gonna happen.
I’m just trying to help the blog libs out here since NOT ONE of them is able to explain why income inequity is a bad thing.
Here’s an example of what most ill-informed would think is a good rich republican “American” role-model:
(CNET) Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship ahead of the company’s IPO, a move likely calculated to help him dodge capital-gains taxes, Bloomberg reported. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57432812-501465/facebook-co-founder-saverin-renounces-u.s-citizenship-ahead-of-ipo/
Now if he could only find his Chinese made American flag lapel pin…
Yeah Chuck, the charts, opinions and researchers I put up couldn’t possibly be of any value or refute the exactly NOTHING that Suzie has put up to back her contention.
I will reserve judgment on the possibility of yet another thing Clinton did wrong, but for a guy who has whined for 3 years over anyone blaming Bush for anything, that is pretty lame.
“As Mitt said, even Carter would have made that call.”
And Mitt’s safe in saying that because Carter DID make such a call on an operation that went disastrously in the Iranian desert. Its failure also cost Carter his re-election.
In at least one similar situation, Bush refused to give the order to get Al Qaeda leadership in a similar op. He lacked the courage. Obama didn’t. That’s the difference, and it’s a big one.
#69 most ill informed posted, “should be able to easily explain. ”
really? explain again? I have better luck explaining anything intellectual to my “pet rock”…
Don’t believe in income inequality? Well here’s some words from your hero, George W. Bush – the best president ‘evah’ in an interview with that bastion of “liberalism”, the Wall Street Journal :
In an interview […] with The Wall Street Journal, President Bush said, “First of all, our society has had INCOME INEQUALITY FOR A LONG TIME. Secondly, skills gaps yield income gaps. And what needs to be done about THE INEQUALITY OF INCOME is to make sure people have got good education, starting with young kids. That’s why No Child Left Behind is such an important component of making sure that America is competitive in the 21st century.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119215822413557069.html
my caps so you don’t miss your president’s point….
Even GWB believed that income inequality leads to economic and political instability.
Of course the RW “intellectuals” on this blog know better than any economist who is a Nobel laureate – just another egg-head elitist some will claim…versus their block headed
dogmatism.
“In an interview with IMF Survey online, Nobel laureate Stiglitz explained that while a country’s GDP might be increasing, it does not necessarily mean that life is getting better for all its citizens.
Countries should strive to achieve high, broad-based growth in order to avoid potential political instability triggered by increasing levels of inequality, economist Joseph Stiglitz told a Washington conference.”
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2011/int101111a.htm
Suzie is the constant broken record at a party. Why ask for evidence? You discard anything not generated in the heated closed minds of right wingers like yourself. Adam Smith does not matter, George Bush will not matter, economists will not matter, republican officials will not matter. You shame yourself, we just like to rub salt in it.
Income inequality inhibits economic growth. Invariably, the wealthy spend their money on political advantage, then use that to protect their wealth, which leaves a greater share of the burden of government falling on those with little money. As more of their money goes to taxes, they spend less in the economy, and growth suffers. As that happens, they get poorer, and political instability grows in the government.
Income inequality inhibits economic growth.
Really? So if all those rich professors making $200K weren’t in Blacksburg, that city would have better economic growth? What about all those goods and services these wealthy people buy and all the businesses that are created as a result? Without all those wealthy professors, Blacksburg wouldn’t be much different than Pearisburg or Narrows.
Invariably, the wealthy spend their money on political advantage, then use that to protect their wealth, which leaves a greater share of the burden of government falling on those with little money.
The rich pay the majority share of federal, state, and local taxes. yet you say their presence puts a greater burden on the poor. Explain how this is so. So I guess if only the rich would move away or disappear, the poor people would have to pay a smaller share of the tax burden according to you.
Dan is twisting himself into a pretzel, folks, trying to explain why 2+2=5. He’s just saying nonsensical things. Can any of you leftwingers help him out?
The challenge still remains open. HOW is income inequity in this country a bad thing for the poor and middle class. Come on. You people said it. Now defend it.
. As more of their money goes to taxes, they spend less in the economy, and growth suffers. As that happens, they get poorer, and political instability grows in the government.
Suzie is the constant broken record at a party. Why ask for evidence? You discard anything not generated in the heated closed minds of right wingers like yourself. Adam Smith does not matter, George Bush will not matter, economists will not matter, republican officials will not matter. You shame yourself, we just like to rub salt in it.
Once again, Sandi insults without answering the question. Same old. Same old. She hears the talking points and follows orders. Want to give it another stab? Explain why income inequity is a bad thing, Sandi.
Don’t believe in income inequality? Well here’s some words from your hero, George W. Bush – the best president ‘evah’ in an interview with that bastion of “liberalism”, the Wall Street Journal
Bush didn’t explain why he felt that way. But he’s not here. You are.
Hillary still can’t back up claim in her own words. Why not, hon?
Suzie:
76.”Maybe the leftwingers are thinking about the liberal elite college professors of Blacksburg screwing the poor–not letting them live in the city limits, not letting them have a Walmart to shop at. Is that what they mean economic inequity?”
While the lefties did organize against Wal-Mart and Sonic for that matter, the poor being run out of the “city” (better call it a town, Blacksburg folks are proud of that), is really just a function of the free market. From what I’ve seen, when the developers build new townhouses and duplexes on the sites of old trailer parks, they were leased lots and the park owner sold it. If the lot was owned, the lot owner would have to make that call. Yes, the town does help them, though. Blacksburg has tough town codes and vigorous enforcement. Also, they will not issue new occupancy permits for trailers and/or doublewides that are not HUD approved (pre-1976). Trailer parks in town are going to become a thing of the past, but it’s not the liberal professors running anyone out with torches. The all liberal town council, well that’s another story…..
Best non-password system yet! The comment went right through!
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12041
Yep….Meet the new boss…same as the old boss.
Obama knows that waterboarding, US style, isn’t torure; and in no way wants that taken away from him if he needs to use it. He also understands that his base, most of you guys and gals, cannot wrap their heads arpound it.
Protecting this country from it’s enemies is way different in reality than it is hypothetically, when all you’re doing is campaigning.
What you say campaigning does not equate to what you must do as a real leader…after you take office and get briefed on what we are
actually facing.
Props to Obama for using the drones, killing OBL, and having the good sense to keep the water flowing, if he deems it neccessary….despite the fact that his base is in denial about this subject.
Leslie Stahl….getting a lesson on life in the world of big boys and girls:
Jose Rodriguez: Well, I think that the cumulative effect of waterboarding and sleep deprivation and everything else that was done eventually got to him.
Lesley Stahl: So what happens? Does he break down? Does he weep? Does he fall apart?
Jose Rodriguez: No. He gets a good night’s sleep. He gets his Ensure. By the way, he was very heavy when he came to us and he lost 50 pounds. So–
Lesley Stahl: What his Ensure? You mean like people in the hospital who drink that stuff?
Jose Rodriguez: Yes. Dietary manipulation was part of these– our techniques.
Lesley Stahl: So sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation. I mean, this is Orwellian stuff. The United States doesn’t do that.
Jose Rodriguez: Well, we do.
The all liberal town council, well that’s another story…..
John W brings up an interesting point. Blacksburg’s ruling elite really can’t stand the sight of poor people. They ban the types of places where these people have to live and shop. See, college towns aren’t really the same as other prosperous areas where the real goods and services drive the economy. In Blacksburg where the ruling class is made up of entitled liberals living off the government and not really providing any goods or services, there is no incentive for them to look out for the poor. In other prosperous cities made up of conservative capitalists, they tend to look out for the working class folks who need good proximity to the workplace. In liberal bastions, they don’t care, because they don’t need them. In fact liberals don’t want to have anything to do with poor people. That’s why they pass these laws against them in Blacksburg
Liberals are the ones who truly hate the poor.
Donald Trump said it best: “Rich liberals will not stand for the slightest bit of inconvenience”. He then related the story of rich liberals living in his rent-controlled buildings, paying a tiny rent because it was mandated by city law. When Trump bought the buildings, he was not allowed to raise the rent, so he moved in homeless people nearby.
Well these rich liberals had a cow. They complained high and low to the city. THEY were not going to stand for living next door to the riff-raff. Trump’s story illustrated their hypocrisy so well. Liberals talk a great game, but their deeds never live up to the talk.
Suzie:
“That’s why they pass these laws against them in Blacksburg”
Actually, Suzie, I guarantee you that if Blacksburg’s neighbor, good ol’ conservative Christiansburg, could get a developer to buy up their poor areas for development, the town would be all about helping the redevelopment.
Those conservative capitalists that you’re taking about are the ones who live outside of town, buying big chucks of Blacksburg, and working with the town to develop it. Several of the last developments in Blacksburg like the condos on Mt. Tabor Road and Echols Village (which replaced a good part of the trailer park, BTW) are more modest and priced under $200,000. True investors are buying them up for student housing, but that’s what the market demands there.
As much as you want to make this librals hating the poor, it’s really the free market at work and those conservative capitalists have the biggest hand in it of all.
Jose Rodriguez is not credible. He is a war criminal about to make money off the torture he was allowed to inflict and he shames the memory of the service men who died while being tortured in prison camps. He shames America. We will pay for the likes of him for a long time to come. In the end, Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the terrorists won. They won so easily it was like New Orleans and Katrina quick. If he disobeyed the Executive Order Obama signed, he needs to be prosecuted not rewarded with book sales.
Suzie you can try to spin this as on the Town Council, but John W was right, the market drove the people from Blacksburg and any other city they did not want them in, they always do. Why do you think the City gets so much grief for allowing the homeless, the Rescue Mission and the slumlords to stay here? Who do they get that grief from? Only the liberals? Not damn hardly. Even when you KNOW the truth, you cannot tell it.
I have answered the question several times over Suzie, you just don’t like the answer. Maybe the written word is harder for you. Try this:
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html
“Rich liberals will not stand for the slightest bit of inconvenience”. He then related the story of rich liberals living in his rent-controlled buildings, paying a tiny rent because it was mandated by city law. When Trump bought the buildings, he was not allowed to raise the rent, so he moved in homeless people nearby.”
I know a lot of rich liberals and conservatives who don’t tolerate inconvenience well, but I think it has more to do with wether said people earned what they had or it was given to them. Those that had to earn it, tend to be more patient since they’ve dealt with inconvenience their whole life.
Awesome move by Trump! If the government wants to jam it’s stick in the market, just go to the theoretical extreme of what it’s asking for. Beautiful solution.
Trump never actually moved any homeless people into the building. And he ended up cutting deals with the existing tenants in the face of bunch of harassment charges brought by the tenants.
He threatened, but never did it. Which is Trump in a nutshell. Lots of talk.
Sandi Saunders:
“…the market drove the people from Blacksburg and any other city they did not want them in, they always do.”
It’s not the market wanting, personally, to get rid of the poor. It’s not some mission to get rid of the poor, there is always a quantifiable economic driver. If more money can be made on the same amount of land, they go for that. While the market may not want poor people on prime real estate that could make more money, it does want poor people living nearby. There are a lot of car lots, fast food restaurants, laudramats, cash advance places, pawn shops, and other businesses like Wal-Mart and Food Lion and others that occupy prime real estate and need the poor people to patronize them.
When the market is ignored and politics get involved (i.e. the town council and small minority handful of vocal locals), we see fiascos like Wal-Mart and Sonic being denied in Blacksburg when they would have been a HUGE sucess (in fairness, so would a Target or Sam’s). What did we get? First and Main with its designer stores no one can afford, more upscale dining, that students and $9.00/hr workers cannot afford, and space rental that merchants cannot afford. The place is a shiny new ghost town. Beamer’s Restaurant never got off the ground there. Books-A-Million couldn’t make it work either. Cl!x portrait studio moved accross the street. Etc, etc, etc.
I think it has more to do with wether said people earned what they had or it was given to them. Those that had to earn it, tend to be more patient since they’ve dealt with inconvenience their whole life.
Beautifully said and 100% right.
I think it has more to do with wether said people earned what they had or it was given to them. Those that had to earn it, tend to be more patient since they’ve dealt with inconvenience their whole life.
Suzie: Beautifully said and 100% right.
Except, Suzie believes that if poor people are given money by the government, they should pay taxes on it. But if rich people are given money by their ancestors, they should pay no taxes on that.
I have answered the question several times over Suzie, you just don’t like the answer. Maybe the written word is harder for you.
Sandi can’t explain it in her own words, because there is no explanation. She just hears it. Then repeats it.
There is NO evidence the super rich which skew the gap are responsible for anything but good in a country. The USSR and Cuba have proven that chasing away all the wealthy people doesn’t lift the population; it imprisons them in poverty and despair. The USSR and Cuba have also proven, along with every other dictatorship, that there can never be true equality. Human nature dictates that someone will always fill the power/wealth void. In those countries’ cases, they merely replaced capitalists with leftist dictators and their cadres.
Sandi’s guy is a classic WHO nutcase who equates Sweden and Iceland with the United States, as if you could.
But if rich people are given money by their ancestors, they should pay no taxes on that.
Dan thinks there should be equality with income, but not with tax rates.
Rich people pay nearly ALL the taxes, and 47% pay no federal income taxes. Dan thinks that’s fair.
“There is NO evidence the super rich which skew the gap are responsible for anything but good in a country. The USSR and Cuba have proven that chasing away all the wealthy people doesn’t lift the population; it imprisons them in poverty and despair. “
Ignore history and you run the risk of making yourself out to be an ignoramus. The USSR, formed out of a backwards, far-flung monarchy populated mostly by serfs, rose to become the #2 military superpower in the world in less than four decades. Duh. Did they do it the best way? No. Did an anti-freedom political system ultimately do them in? Yes, in large part. But they never would have been a superpower without the Russian Revolution. China, meanwhile, hasn’t fallen apart yet — we’re buying goods and borrowing from them.
Meanwhile, Haiti, which had a few very rich people and LOTS of poor, collapsed. The Duvalliers and their pals didn’t lift Haiti’s population. They exploited and economically raped it.
The USSR, formed out of a backwards, far-flung monarchy populated mostly by serfs, rose to become the #2 military superpower in the world in less than four decades. Duh
They were a military superpower and little else. Their people (the ones they didn’t exterminate) still lived in abject poverty and couldn’t even buy a piece of meat.
Dan thinks you can compare third-world countries with dictators who plunder the country to the United States with it’s billionaire capitalists who lift up all boats.
Let’s face it. This whole wealth inequality canard is yet another leftwing ploy to confiscate wealth from the achievers. Nothing else. That’s why none of the people on this blog can explain it.
Thanks for continuing to prove your ignorance Suzie. The issue is not about “chasing away all the wealthy people”, but the lack of a decent and growing society will do that anyway. Once a tipping point is reached, it is literally all downhill from there. What you are refusing to see will be the downfall of this nation you purport to care about. Proving of course, that you do not. Your POV literally defies logic.
most ill-informed, who has now morphed into most-ignorant – demands a response from me, well here it is.
Income inequality has been shown in link after link, fact after fact, defined and redefined down to your level, and yet you just don’t get it. I neither have the interest nor time to get you educated on this subject matter – and as I find you profoundly intellectually dishonest and absolutely bereft of any comprehension, why would I wish to waste my time? Unlike you, I don’t spend all day posting inane and unsubstantiated thoughts – I have a life – so when I don’t respond to your posts, they were either too stupid to address, or I am busy doing more meaningful things…is that clear enough for you,”hon”?
The issue is not about “chasing away all the wealthy people”, but the lack of a decent and growing society will do that anyway. Once a tipping point is reached, it is literally all downhill from there.
This is gobbledygook. What is your solution, Sandi, if it is not to chase away the wealthy? We’ve already proven socialist attempted wealth distribution has never worked.
I think you just like to bitch.
Income inequality has been shown in link after link, fact after fact, defined and redefined down to your level, and yet you just don’t get it. I neither have the interest nor time to get you educated on this subject matter – and as I find you profoundly intellectually dishonest and absolutely bereft of any comprehension, why would I wish to waste my time?
Nice non-answer, Hillary. This is a Sandi Saunders post. Dodging because you can’t answer and hurling insults.
Suzie:
“This is gobbledygook. What is your solution, Sandi, if it is not to chase away the wealthy? We’ve already proven socialist attempted wealth distribution has never worked.
I think you just like to bitch.”
As many times as I have taken the bait discussing stuff with her, I’ve never been wiling to just call it like it is. I may be feeding troll, but Suzie gets points for this one.
If the only thing you can post here is “the answer” then I am fairly certain a vote will prove that neither Suzie nor John Wilburn post anything beyond “gobbledygook” either. I have stated “my answer” for over 3 years. If you are too dim to grasp it, or too dishonest to realize it, that is not my problem. And for Suzie to say of ANYONE else “you just like to bitch” or complain of someone else “hurling insults”, is laughable, stupid beyond belief and psychotic, but it is not remotely right.
If you do not like getting your butt kicked in a discussion John Wilburn, bring facts, honesty and reality to it.