Shopping at Amazon?
Wait! If you click on one of the Amazon links below first, HCN will get a percentage of anything you purchase for 24 hours!
Open predictions
Our local book authors
User login
Who's online
There are currently 8 members and 90 guests online.
Currently online
Recent Recommendations
.
No cash.
No jobs.
Please don't die, Kevin!
Briggs is one of the best fixed-income strategists around. Been at it a long time and has a lot of market knowledge and common sense.
Above and below, consecutively. I only say that because we're 4 months from elections.
(FB poll)
You really wanted to title this "Dude: Where's My Jobs?", didn't you?
In normal times wouldn't the employment rate be closely correlated
to money velocity ?
Outsider wrote:
Where zillions of dollars will be spent fighting over who gets to... suck up to Wall Street and try to preserve the status quo.
That's the last time I write words of wisdom and come clean about one of my zillion failings.
You're not supposed to AGREE with me
Is that an IQ point on post number one?
sporkfed wrote:
Not when it's running away from you...
Jobs is a four letter word.
Under controlled conditions of interest rates, inflation and fiscal policy, the economy does as it damn pleases.
CR yer wrong !
Our esteemed commentator bets on -
PENSIONS PENSIONS PENSIONS !
All mp has to do is threatened & we got all nerdy and geeky and polite.
Idiot Quotient
Hold my
Where zillions of dollars will be spent fighting over who gets to... suck up to Wall Street and try to preserve the status quo.
Yeah. Depressing.
Looking at it from the bright side, you won't be disappointed.
Where zillions of dollars will be spent fighting over who gets to... suck up to Wall Street and try to preserve the status quo.
I'm glad the electoral votes for my state have already been submitted so I don't have to put up with all of the ads...
PENSIONS PENSIONS PENSIONS !
What's a pension?
lawyerliz wrote:
I'm always nerdy and geeky.
"PENSIONS PENSIONS PENSIONS !
What's a pension?"
What they have in those socialist countries.
Or if you're a politician.
But it will stimulate the economy! Imagine, repub billionaires stimulating the economy!
lawyerliz wrote:
Imagine if it had been Conjure...
Pensions?
Something the other guy has that we want to take away.
I'm always nerdy and geeky.
We already know that.
Outsider wrote:
Something I hope to bilk for 30+ years when I get one some time in the 2050s. I only have to live that long and hope the state remains solvent...
So what's the consensus for under the table jobs....
Outsider wrote:
I'm also pedantic.
lawyerliz wrote:
We still have the capacity for intelligent and informed discussion, we've just gotten lazy
I have lived that long. . . At least I'll collect something.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
You have the capacity for intelligent and informed discussion. I'm just here for the second hand smoke.
I'm also pedantic.
No you're not.
Rajesh wrote:
Not always the keenest bud but it gets the job done
Lots of under the table jobs, in Florida. Wait, that's just a baseless assumption. . .
Outsider wrote:
Am so. I'm also compulsive.
Lots of under the table jobs, in Florida.
Drug dealers?
lawyerliz wrote:
The Republicans believe prostitutes should be obscene and not seen (especially the male ones): private initiative.
Real wages, real wages, real wages.
Rajesh wrote:
I'm passive. No dammit I'm aggressive. I think I'm conflicted. Sometimes convicted. I just might be addicted.
I suppose. But I wasn't thinking of drug dealers.
Here are some comments from Goldman Sachs...
I'm passive. No dammit I'm aggressive. I think I'm conflicted. Sometimes convicted. I just might be addicted.
Now we're afflicted.
Outsider wrote:
Just as mp predicted
I'm wondering if it would be wise to take a lump sum if offered instead of monthly
payments to protect against possible default of the pension. Normally I would say
no but these aren't normal times.
lawyerliz wrote:
Buy this book or we'll shoot this fat cat.
In honor of nova.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Having an intelligent discussion about an absurd situation is difficult. Macro-economic news has lost its intrinsic value. Now everything is interpreted in terms of its contribution to QE expectations. A positive jobs report may in fact be a "bad" thing.
You're leaving. Now I'm restricted.
BOSTON (CBS) – He says it became an obsession, but a 35-year-old dream became a reality for a Milford man as he paid off his mortgage with pennies.
“It started out as a joke,” says Thomas Daigle. “I said I’m going to pay the last mortgage payment off on this place in pennies.”
Milford Man Pays Off Mortgage With 800 Pounds Of Pennies « CBS Boston
Anybody seen shill?
Anybody seen shill?
I think he'd pay his off with gold coins.
Since we are all required to purchase health care insurance I think we should force all pensioners to purchase pension insurance. Price should be risk based and I would expect public pension insurance to reflect funding deficiencies and municipal solvency.
Think of all the jobs this new industry will create.
Goldman Sachs would prefer that everyone have a job. But they would prefer to destroy wages in favor of corporate profits.
gruntled wrote:
Our Markets are Glorious!1!!
Seriously, it's completely absurd to watch the economy attempt to operate at ZIRP.
sporkfed wrote:
Buy Your Pension
I'm obsessed.
China may miss 2012 trade growth target: vice premier
| Reuters
Think of all the jobs this new industry will create.
They should just get 401K's like the rest of us. You get a matching contribution up until x%...totally portable if they leave. Offer an insured cd option for people who are afraid of the markets.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
"Multiple equilibriums"
I saw the headline Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! and thought he was back. Don't do that to me. I almost called Pavel.
I don't think it's an extraordinary assertion that if we have Scandinavian levels of taxation we can have the Scandinavian levels of social spending that the boomers are going to require.
Medicare is an immense time bomb, but even their profits are not due to actual consumption of hard wealth, just rents all the way down, and these service rents will be redistributed into the wider economy too.
The boomers are going to consume services. We have a service economy. It's got the potential to be great, if we can pay for it via taxation.
(cuz their pension funds, including the SSTF, aren't going to last through the 2020s, but we're going to have boomers to support until 2050 or so).
United States Ranks At The Bottom In Total Taxation
The bottom line in this -- and any -- economy is simply wealth consumed vs wealth created. If all the boomers want to diesel up their Prevosts and cruise the country 24/7, we're going to have a problem. But if they sit at home watching HLN and go out to Outback every week, we might be doing OK.
I almost called Pavel.
A 'healthy' reserve army of the unemployed is good for the stock market.
Who picked Japan to default after Greece?
UPDATE 1-Japan's Azumi: govt could run out of cash by Oct
| Reuters
Then it would have read;
Jobs 2.0! Jobs 2.0! Jobs 2.0!
Funny group tonight. Sometimes you just have to let off steam.
God willing & the creek don't rise, see you all tomorrow.
Christie will veto 15 gm
. Republicans defeat decriminalization in NY.
Heckuva job,
sporkfed wrote:
Size of the lump sum is also a function of the discount factor used to bring forward the stream of payments... it is very low these days which scales up the lump sum payments...
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Confused... Did Bloomberg ban bongs over 8 ounces?
Gov. Cuomo was pushing some decrim. that the R's shot down. I don't know the details.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
I live around the corner from a head shop. It's hard for me to take this seriously.
You do have a point about the elderly being service consumers. All they do is shop, watch entertainment, play golf, do hobbies, and wait for their busy kids to visit. Of course, a ton of them end up housebound, then have to downsize, move to assisted living, then the nursing home, and finally hospice.
So go straight to the ER and checkout with the M.I. after running around the golf course chasing after their mistress, while the trophy wife checks out the ER doc.
2030 seems so far away, and yet it will be here before we know it. I will be 64 years old, and just less than half of the boomers will be gone. Getting those 18 years from here to there will be very very very interesting.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Taking a lump sum payment if the pension doesn't have a COLA
might make sense if you could find a liquid asset that rose with inflation.
Hard to hedge against potential losses these days.
There are people serving long sentences for marijuana in NY.
YouTube - Phil Ochs- Outside A Small Circle of Friends
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; A Judge's Plea for Pot - NY Times
Keep up the fight, Gus.
Citizen AllenM wrote:
My girlfriend's mom is finally going into assisted living. After trying to sell her condo for two years, the family manged to find a buyer. It will mean the end of the live-in help and the nurse who stops by to administer insulin. All of the caregivers are older.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
me head 'urts ! My head hurts - Imgur
that will be a useful reminder for me not to engage with you. Good luck with your views - got a petition out ? I'll sign it.
2030 is to 2012 as 2012 is to 1994
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Yes, and it's a patent absurdity. You can smell the weed on some blocks, and the cops do not care, unless of course it's during a stop-and-frisk. Meanwhile, every single person I know was fall-down drunk yesterday.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
just read where Ray Allen is going to the Heat?
hope that cueball SOB wins zero championships...!
...
and Iggy Pop signed with the Lakers... WTF.
I know, and it just seems like yesterday. The really funny part is I think I will run an downsizing service for the elderly, sell them down and move 'em out!
Phoenix is the graveyard of stuff.
Someday this war's gonna end...
my thesis is that we simply HAVE to raise taxes to match our spending.
"Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing -- after they have exhausted all other possibilities"
higher taxes are deflationary to some extent, which can be countered by strategic printing.
Perhaps the Fed taking the SSA's treasuries off their hands would be the right mix . . .
Duke of Con Dao wrote:
Cueball already won one with the Celtics, also known as the team that signed Jason Terry instead of him.
On that last point, here is the Times' take:
Steve Nash Heads to Lakers, Leaving Knicks in Lurch - NY Times
Um, Steve Nash was never going to the Knicks.
Whiskey wrote:
Everyone up here thought he was going to the Rapters.
Not that many. Most are part-time (pin money) ... Some are totally illegal - dopers and bookie.
Just not that many.
the great One Jeremy Lin has been talking to the Nuggets... LOL
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
So did everyone down here. The organization was clearly all-in on Nash, right down to whom they drafted. It was a solid plan, and if they could've signed him and traded for Gasol, then between Nash, Gasol, and that Lithuanian guy, they would've had a fighting chance against the Heat.
I remember when Ray ray played for M'walkE bucks
had they had one more player they could've gotten past the Pacers
in Reggie's day...
Duke of Con Dao wrote:
He accepted a deal with the Rockets, but the Knicks have the right to match. Since it's the Knicks, and since they already signed Jason Kidd, they will of course match the offer.
Jeremy Lin accepts Rockets' $29 million offer; Knicks likely to match - Yahoo! Sports
So, who's up for Katie Perry's new movie?
We will need to raise taxes, which if we do it right will keep money flowing. Right now everything is backstopped with large federal flows of new debt to meet large flows of capital that needs a "safe" home from the rest of the world.
What will essentially have to happen is that large federal debt will be paid back over a very long term, at very low rates, by higher taxes on the domestic economy, along with wage inflation.
Wages are the key, once they start rising when we have enough of the boomers offloaded out of the productive economy, then we can finally grow out of this mess. Five years? Ten years? I dunno when.
Meanwhile, we still have big eurosplat to go, and the fiscal austerity insanity to live through.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Working Bad?
29 mil for Lin?
the guy can't drive to his left, has no explosive step off the dribble, and typically like many Chinese players
can't take body blows (well, until HGH and some 'roids) ... Ivy League? does that make the
NBA material?
methinks not!
There's only so much fan disgust they can risk...
I'm going to cook some
and get my gf caught up with Breaking Bad
Thats why he's only getting 29m instead of 98m.
Apparently that amount is quite high.
Its austerity NBA style.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Isiah Thomas is available now that he was fired from his coaching job at FIU...
Citizen AllenM wrote:
You might be on to something...
Baby Boomers Divorce Rate Skyrocketing « CBS Boston
Does :mindbleach: come in 3d strength?
In the public sector, I'm seeing an increase in job listings. When vacancies occur is when wages and benefits tend to be rolled back for new hires, such as increasing the employee's pension contribution. In my experience, HR doesn't open a recruitment unless management intends to fill positions, though vacancies can and will be frozen mid-recruitment if the economy slacks off significantly.
Over time, new hires who came in during austerity will outnumber the long-time incumbents, and outvote them into contracts that distribute the pain more equitably, forcing long-timers into retirement.
Duke of Con Dao wrote:
Yes, the Knicks need the explosive step of Jason Kidd to blow past defenders. Also, aren't you just playing into the overused stereotype of Ivy League NBA players of Chinese ancestry?
Poor Zeke. Magic knew to get out of coaching as soon as it turned sour.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Ooh, it's in 3D? I'm so in!
SKK, have you ever considered that Winston Churchill was probably a bastard? Randolph contracted syphilis at a very early age and was almost certainly infertile. Jenny Randolph liked to play the field, and Winnie looked a lot like Otto Von Bismarck...
"Over time, new hires who came in during austerity will outnumber the long-time incumbents, and outvote them into contracts that distribute the pain more equitably, forcing long-timers into retirement."
I would be surprised if that happens.
My friend is working at a university. They were offered two optiobs to save money. Everyone take a pay cut. Or x% below a certain seniority (by years) are laid off.
Guess which option won the vote?
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
As soon as what turned sour? The CBA? The time he lost in the first round of the playoffs with a Pacers team that was as talented as any team in the league? Maybe you're referring to the Eddy Curry or Steve Francis trades.
Feckless Ness wrote:
Got any leads?
MattFea wrote:
What a bummer.
I believe pension plans covered under PBGC do pay premiums. The actuarial analysis might be weak and insufficient but they do pay.
Municipal and other gov't plans? No idea if they are rolled in there or not. Or the just assume they can tax to pay.
There is a big difference between health insurance and pensions though. If I don't have health insurance and no money and step in front of a bus - they take me to the hospital and treat me - and the rest of us pay.
If I retire and don't have a pension - the rest of us pay little or nothing. Maybe some welfare. Maybe.
We feel obliged to provide emergency treatment to people who are ill whether they can pay or not. We absolutely do not feel obliged to pay for their retirement if they have no pension. Homeless are living proof of that.
did I mention Lin's defensive prowess?
...
yeah Jason Kidd... perhaps he's going play a Casey Stengel mentoring role?
hope he goes back to that bleach blonde look he sported on the Suns!
Good night, y'all. I hope no one drafts Renaldo Balkman over Rajon Rondo.
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Will you miss me when I'm gone? Aint gonna make it to 2030.
Feckless Ness wrote:
Do you really think so? And even if the contracts distribute pain more equitably, how does that force long-termers into retirement?
By then retirement benefits won't kick in until 74. 2040 FTW.
Tom Stone wrote:
Sure looks like his papa to me:
Google Image Result for http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/randolph-churchill.jpg%3Fw%3D360%26h%3D240%26crop%3D1
Agronox wrote:
governmentjobs.com
Petrol up 3 cents a litre today
91 octane (regular) petrol: NZ$1.999/litre = NZ$7.57/US Gallon = US$6.08/US Gallon
Sure, you get an honorary mention when someone writes this place up as part of their PhD thesis on ad hoc online communities in response to economic crisis.
I will miss most of you, as I am starting my diet to outlive most of you.
Meanwhile, have to get the kid into the shower.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Feckless Ness wrote:
Look at the young Otto.
Those are offered as alternatives BUT if the pension was part of an agreement made years ago - a contract - then there are only two ways you break them: 1. Via negotiation and mutual agreement or 2. Bankruptcy of the party paying the pension. Courts have pretty much bitch slapped any organization that refuses to pay but can. That includes companies that fail to allocate or municipalities that fail to tax to pay them.
You can't unilaterally change a contract without some kind of due process even if that contract was ill advised.
You think you can screw the kiddies forever? Har. Just wait until they leave you sitting in your bedpan for a while.
Pensions will be paid, and you might just be surprised at how it gets done.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Magic? Earvin?
Comrade Troyski wrote:
You don't just find an extra trillion or so lying between the cushions. Have you actually run the numbers?
poic wrote:
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Hah! With your attitude? I'm spotting you 10 years and I'm even odds.
Big hurdle. Paging Mo Flation, Mo Flation you are wanted at the courtesy desk....
dryfly wrote:
Expect a lot of bankruptcies then, because I can't see any negotiation getting off the ground. What would be the motive of the party owed a pension to negotiate?
sm_landlord wrote:
I've seen it happen. Those closer to retirement want better retirement formulas; those newer to the job would rather have raises. Majority rules.
Let's say the vote is for increasing health insurance vs. raises. Retirement is based on final year or final 3-years of compensation, so if you're close to retirement, you want the raise. If you are younger and insuring a family, you may want the insurance.
edit: If employees are paying different % share of their retirement, and the vote is for everybody to pay the same %, it would be a pay cut to the long-timers. I've seen employees retire to lock in their highest compensation upon which pension is calculated.
sm_landlord wrote:
To salvage something from nothing?
They consume medical services like a sumovabitch. Labor intensive services at that.
dryfly wrote:
Social contract excepted.
dryfly wrote:
Between pensions and student loan debt, I think the economy might just suffocate without decent (say 4-8%) inflation for a few years.
Rajesh wrote:
I'm so F'ing tired of people running out of money .... WTF?
Tom Stone wrote:
Looked at many google images of both. I think 'twas Randy.
Yeah, well here in Arizona, they actually wrote the pensions are inviolable under the state constitution, and now the Republicans want to actually try and change the constitution to gut the pensions. Given the folks in their sights are all judges, prison guards and public safety folks who all carry guns, to be followed by teachers, I think they are insane. We will modestly raise taxes and pay the freight.
Full on insanity spread by the Cato folks has poisoned a lot of minds, and set them against anyone who they think is doing better than they are doing. Crab bucket mentality.
As I pointed out to some of the high Republican leadership, they hardly have a union problem now, but in the future they will have unions from hell. Ten years ago they had managed to carve off the Police Unions to support the R party, but I believe the response is now just short of total war.
So, enraging folks who are already basically voluntary union members to politicize their jobs is going to work out well, right?
I hope to retire before it blows sky high. It will eventually make a poisonous work environment.
Someday this war's gonna end...
TJ and The Bear wrote:
I don't think they would see it that way, unless BK of the payer was taken seriously. And it still wouldn't be nothing, since some deal like GM would be cooked up, money would be printed as necessary, etc.
10 years? Right now, without major changes I am probably good for 20 years, and with the changes about 30 more years. 124/78 last time I gave blood.
That is all I can expect from the hand I have been dealt. Gotta drop sugar and calories. Everything else is good. Damn slowing down metabolism.
Someday this war's gonna end...
There are some - but not that many. I have family in IRS. Also some who used to work tax white collar crime at DOJ - they know they are out there and have pretty good ways of reeling black market types in. If you are willing to go totally to ground - own nothing but bling - you can get away with it for a longtime. Otherwise no. Tough life though.
MattFea wrote:
==> In two thirds of these cases, the woman is the one who said it was time to end the marriage.
Why does God give women so much testosterone (as they get older) -- men live in fear ... which actually made me wonder the other day why more women don't run wall street banks; WTF's up with that, the women should be ripping apart their bosses:
YouTube - Blondie - "Rip Her To Shreds" 1978
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Get your gubmint hands off my eviction process!
Just pulled two pizza dough balls out of the fridge to warm up...
Feckless Ness wrote:
Fair enough. I have gotten a few anglophiles to turn bright red by suggesting it. My best effort along those lines was getting a fake front page of the Chronicle printed with an article claiming DNA tests proved Confucius was a Jew. I substituted it for the real one and got it into the hands of a Chinese woman I was acquainted with...
Me too. I've seen that with two tiered contracts. The newbies can't wait to get what the elders got. They don't want shared pain - they want their share of gain.
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Promised my wife I'd make it to 100, though she'll probably regret it when she's dealing with the bedpans.
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Then watch all the senior police, fire, teachers, and other public employees make for the exits to lock in their pensions. People joke about public employees, but the impact on services and quality of life following a mass exodus of the most experienced workers would be immeasurable.
Antipodes wrote:
FAMILY BLOG!!!!!
Here's to the jobs report and the ongoing
-- the 
from all the FED 
is really paying off 
Die in the saddle with the boots on.
The self-righteous blog police jumped all over dawg about the HuffPost article but gave Huff a pass on exploiting ths article:
British 14-Year-Old, Urged To Get Breast Implants...
Follow: 14-Year-Old Breast Implants, Britney Marshall, Britney Marshall Boobs, Britney Marshall Breast Implants, Britney Marshall Sisters Breast Implants, Breast Enhancement, Breast Implants, British Girl Breast Implants, Photo Galleries, Style News
Chantal and her four other daughters collectively own £50,000 worth of fake breasts, with sizes ranging from 32DD (21-year-old Ripley) to 34HH (27-year-old Terri). But Britney's au naturel... for now. The "brainy" one of the family, Britney told the Sun, "Maybe I’ll decide to get them too and start saving in a few years. But for now I want to focus on my school work."
Below, a photo of Britney and her mother Chantal.
Britney Marshall, British 14-Year-Old, Urged To Get Breast Implants By Mother (PHOTO)
Antipodes wrote:
Clearly not a follower of Citizen AllenM's diet. Didn't you have pizza yesterday?
Fed has an infinite number of them. Only question is what will they buy.
Yeah, well, they think that is a good idea.
I think they are nuts. The willingness to stir up people and make them angry is beyond belief.
The enemies they have been making the last four years will assure them of a long long long time in minority over time. Out of state money is so fleeting compared to people who will be there a long time and hate you with the ability to mobilize quite a few people.
I am just trying to get out by 2023- my end date is nearly in sight.
Someday this war's gonna end...
What is your problem? Go argue on the Huffpost blog.
dryfly wrote:
He wasn't suggesting taxing the Fed, and so far the Fed's largesse hasn't extended to most taxpayers.
merchants of fear wrote:
What the fuck are you babbling about?
merchants of fear wrote:
In my defense, I wasn't around for that. I can get all self-righteous now, if it makes you happy.
That was how it was done in Rust Belt. See the steel industry. Equity thought they could kick the pensioners aside and not pay. That was right, they could - but only after equity values went poof in BK first.
EDIT: why negotiate? PBGC pays between 30 and 50 cents on the dollar.
merchants of fear wrote:
Interesting spin you put on slandering a fourteen year old. It wasn't about the article, it was his characterization of her. Self righteous? Odd that you should use that term.
Feckless Ness wrote:
"Immeasurable" to many people means "nonexistent."
Tom Stone wrote:
I still tape all the little plunger thingies on the telephone hooks at the office every April 1st. Phone rings, they pick up the handset, say "hello," phone still ringing...
What is your problem? Go argue on the Huffpost blog.
Well I mentioned what seemed to be the 'problem'... so you are the boss here... if the question doesn't interest you, you don't have to compulsively respond... telling me where to go talk about this is not your job, Mr. 1st amendment supporter...
Feckless Ness wrote:
PG and E got rid of a bunch of senior engineers last year. The institutional knowledge that went out the door with them is irreplaceable. Tanta spoke of the back office gals with rhinestone glases who were shown the door when they eliminated risk, I still see the effects Senior underwriters today have as much knowledge (If they are good) as someone ending their probationary period did in 2001.
YouTube - Mitt Romney First Introducing the Individual Mandate at Heritage in Jan. 2006
Don't have to.
Can go on as long as dollars are accepted.... That is a long time but not forever.
MoF, don't waste your time. Later.
Stroke out foot on the accelerator turbo diesel airborne making the eleven o'clock news.
Interesting spin you put on slandering a fourteen year old. It wasn't about the article, it was his characterization of her. Self righteous? Odd that you should use that term.
dawg was already fried for his comments... I was actually talking about another issue... read comment again... is this crap that HuffPost is peddling?
Feckless Ness wrote:
I didn't catch Citizen AllenM's diet?
I mixed up enough dough for four pizzas a couple days ago. Two pizzas last night and two pizzas for tonight.
Am I restricting your speech somehow?
merchants of fear wrote:
What are you babbling about?
merchants of fear wrote:
Go get a room with dawg, mof. This is a loser, but I suspect you'll ride Niagra down to the bottom. Realize that you're or your pal was posting about a 14 year old. Huff has nothing to do with it; I spit on them and the rest of the media that covered this crap.
If you want to make it a question of your own (or my) political correctness. . . I can't help you and obviously nothing I or anyone else will write will stop you.
I will suggest that you wait until you have a 14 year old girl who is in the media and I'll get back to you on that one when she comes to you about this coverage in the media or HCN.
Sometimes even the righties might want to consider the wisdom of the golden rule and STFU. Sorry; I had two boys.
merchants of fear wrote:
I read your comment. It doesn't parse any other way. Your issue about exploitation is valid, your lead-in is ridiculous. I didn't jump in on RD because there were too many others with the cudgel. In addition, I thought it wasn't truly indicative of his nature. But once the fur is flying,...
When did someone here "give [HuffPo] a pass"? You understand what an active verb is, don't you?
Self righteous? Odd that you should use that term.
I know I need to get with the program... let the laws fail... and instead, let's not call Huff trash what it is... and argue about some garbage called journalism...
merchants of fear wrote:
I'm throwing up in my mouth and will sign off.
If you want to defend vilifying a 14 year old for what Huff and Dawg have commented, I despair, but you're young.
I pray you don't have a 14 year old who is covered in the media and in comments on a blog. I thought we were better than this. Night all.
Google 'YouTube Hwy 29 airborn SUV' ... Fun stuff.
When did someone here "give [HuffPo] a pass"?
Well you just said take this topic to HuffPost as you seemed to want to pass talking about it.
Drop it. Not that important.
I see HCN is its usual self, sorry I even clicked on it...evening.
After you implied that I "gave them a pass". I made no comment about HuffPo. It's a stupid and intrusive 'news' item. Don't conflate the article with the insulting comment posted about the girl (with no evidence, of course), however. Not the same offense.
Slow news day.
Seriously - we are in a holding pattern. Events moving at the speed of a glacier. When it breaks - if it breaks - folks will focus more on 'events'. Until then enjoy ...
I'm throwing up in my mouth and will sign off.
If you want to defend vilifying a 14 year old for what Huff and Dawg have commented, I despair, but you're young.
I pray you don't have a 14 year old who is covered in the media and in comments on a blog. I thought we were better than this. Night all.
Wrong. You get things wrong sometimes. Completely wrong, so there's something wrong with you.
I'm talking about HuffPost running this trash (that brings the comments).
I posted it as an example of journalism trash.
local news played it the other night. I will definitely be on the look out for expansion buckling next week.
dryfly wrote:
I agree that the Fed can monetize spending until the cows come home, but that wasn't his argument. He thinks that there's money to be had elsewhere that can be taxed to cover existing spending, and there just isn't.
merchants of fear wrote:
Exactly. Self righteous. You are clearly insinuating that we on the other side do not care. Further, instead of focusing on the first part of your comment, you're electing to broaden the scope to include garbage journalism. You have my permission to call the Huff Post trash,...but to start with a casual insult,...
But perhaps you didn't realize calling someone self righteous was insulting.
I see HCN is its usual self, sorry I even clicked on it...evening.
Come back.
I'll only talk about Huff trash over at Huff as requested by the moderator here.
Tax break!
VW Finds 1 Share Saves $1.1 Billion in Tax With Loophole - Bloomberg
merchants of fear wrote:
I don't think you know what that word means.
I drove over that patch of hwy the next day - after they had broken it all up to get it flat again. I hadn't even seen the vid yet but knew that was what happened. There were 4 or 5 places like that on that 100 mile stretch of hwy...
They will try taxing first - won't work - next will come monetization. Then inflation. Probably a few attempts at austerity from time to time before the
come out and cycle repeats. Be a process and take time but it will happen.
None of it will be good.
But perhaps you didn't realize calling someone self righteous was insulting.
Well it appeared a pretty good spanking was issued. The comments were regrettable.
I have argued with you before. Let's argue about something more important.
I was attacked so bad here before I signed off for good a few years ago. I came back and decided to try and use better links.
The attacks in the past by regulars here have been vicious. So I react to these attacks even if they are called for because they aren't always called for... so point is comments are watched and moderators (which could be self-appointed) take steps to control what's said here...
dryfly wrote:
That's the way I see it as well.
I don't think you know what that word means.
The feeling I get from you is you were verbally abused in the past.
Whee... a little song and dance, good for the soul... unfortunately this prole has to work in the morning so I had to stop myself after a few glutenous Boulevards
Is the flamewar in abeyance?
dryfly wrote:
I'm not ready to give up hope yet. We've come out of worse scrapes money-wise. I suppose the question is, "how far has the rot spread to the nation politically?" Because the economics of it really aren't that bad.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Are you so dim you can't tell hostilities have ceased?
I think you are confused. Also, there is no moderator here, most of the time. Has someone told you what you may or may not say?
sdtfs wrote:
indeed I am!
Sometimes you come across as naive and then someone has to laboriously explain something obvious like moderation can come from self-appointed vigilante 'moderators'... so having an exchange with you sometimes seems like spending time with an energy vampire...
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Okay,...just so scone won't have have a weeping fit,...1 2 3 Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya,...
everybody!
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Are you trying to take away my First Amendment rights? Are you forcing me to "have an exchange"?
Uh, no. It can't.
merchants of fear wrote:
It would not be so bad if he were Mathilda May.
Are you trying to take away my First Amendment rights? Are you forcing me to "have an exchange"?
moderation can come from self-appointed vigilante 'moderators'
Uh, no. It can't.
Let's take a 'time out' on this for 24 hours and see if it's important to discuss tomorrow.
well, whatever, boys, just don't burn the place down
You brought it up.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Me, too. Early day tomorrow, got to pick up my nephew at the airport.
Wonder what ever happened to barfly? Re-assignment?
Reasonable, respectful and deescalating. As much as I hope it works...
kind of hard to maintain a banana republic when you are gutting the pensions of the people who protect you from the peasants. our dumb as a sack of shit oligarchs are glorious.
PS: socialism is coming.
I've heard David Freeman-Mitford mentioned, Tom. Half-seriously.
merchants of fear wrote:
There is nothing wrong with me. Read Dawg's comments, compare with Huffpost. Then tell me that my calling out either one is wrong.
You will argue with a post, as long as it is me. I did not defend Huff Post. I did not defend Dawg. You defended Dawg's comments for some misgotten reason and somehow conflated it with HuffPost. And when I pointed this out, you keep--for some reason--insisting for some twisted reason in you little head that I'm defending Huff Post.
Let me put this to you real clearly, so even you can figure this out. Dawg's comments were below him. HuffPost and any media's coverage were not defensible, although it's within their rights to cover it since her despicable Mom apparently gave it to the media. In conflating my criticism of Dawg with a defense of the Huff Post, you're either an idiot or maliciously twisting my argument. I'm only posting this so this is so clear that even you can't misinterpret it, although I'm sure you'll figure out a way to show that I'm maligning the poor girl.
Give it up. Read my posts. Or--what the hell--show how somehow I'm defending the Huff Post. I've never, ever ignored anyone, but if you can't figure the above out, then I won't ignore you, I'll just scroll past anything you post. Have you no shame, sir?
anyone still up at this hour?
the joys of living on the left coast now... it's only 10:30!
I'm still up.
mbw.
MBW wrote:
Is it safe?
Again I did not defend dawg's comments... I was taking a shot at the Huff article... the article seemed suspect as to intent. No, I have only disagreed with you a few times and it was a mistake each time, trust me. You have this condescending attitude that gets in the way of the exchange.
Example: you're either an idiot or maliciously twisting my argument...
Actually you are twisting my argument which is known as 'turning the tables'... and actually a tactic used to deflect an argument.
Then you do this shaming thing: Have you no shame, sir?
This was a Huff article that drew some bad comments. Not the end of the world. No need for over-reaction as to my criticism of Huff. Others jumped on dawg.
Let's take a time-out on it as there were misunderstandings between us and it only seems to escalate on the slippery slope of walking on eggshells with you.
no
Corporate Profits After Tax (CP) - FRED - St. Louis Fed
a trillion right there.
The reason the TNX is 1.6% right now is not because there's not enough money in the system. Quite the opposite. it's all collected at the top.
Taxes to GDP are in the mid-20s now. In countries with functional political systems, it's up around 45%.
Now, we can argue whether or not we USians are able to get ourselves to "eat our peas" in Obama's words.
Contrary to Republican predictions of ultimate doom in the early 1990s, the Clinton tax rises did not in fact destroy the economy.
(Uncle Greenspan and the rise of China may have helped us out there)
The low taxation this country is "enjoying" now is a political phenomenon and not an economic limitation.
It's safe as long as you don't threaten any egos so no.
"Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote on Thu, 7/5/2012 - 10:34 pm (in reply to...)
reply
MBW wrote:
anyone still up at this hour?
Is it safe?"
I'm pretty sure HG and Volker went to bed so I'd say yes.
So my contribution to CR as a housing blog... after four months of watching PDX prices, I gave in and started to allow that maybe we should move to Corvallis or Eugene... prices are substantially lower -- not just a little, but a lot... rents too. What would cost us $3500 to rent in PDX (4-5 BRs, good school district), in Eugene is almost comparable to what we paid in upstate NY the past 3 years (also university town prices), but still 40-50% less than PDX. I can't figure out what's going on there - people are listing their homes at 2007-8 prices, and most are not selling. The few that are listed 30% less (realistic numbers) get snatched up immediately - mostly by "investors". Unemployment rates amongst the five largest cities are pretty comparable - and yeah, I love Portland. But beginning to think the hype isn't worth it.
Any city with a Trader Joes is OK by me!
You seem not to want to acknowledge your provocative comment that "The self-righteous blog police jumped on dawg". Then you claim you aren't defending dawg. You can't make an erroneous comment like that then just say "forget the whole thing". Retract it or defend it.
Does Eugene have a TJs? My hometown in Maine did not, but I still loved it.
merchants of fear wrote:
We're in agreement, then, about the girl, whether she's villified by Huff or Dawg.
I'll buy you a Starbucks then, since it's just scoring debating points about who said what about about the girl. The rest--what you think about me or vice versa--doesn't matter, in the big picture.
yuan wrote:
Yes. Yes they are.
http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/louisiana-revelation-school-voucher-funding-it-s-not-just-for-christians
Google Maps
Comrade Troyski wrote:
United States Government Revenue History - Charts
Government Revenue in the United States has steadily increased from 7 percent of GDP in 1902 to over 35 percent today.
Check out the second chart; no matter what the rates are set at income taxes have remained below 20% since the 40's.
We're in agreement, then, about the girl, whether she's villified by Huff or Dawg.
Right. Meaning correct. I agree. (just wanted to make sure there was no confusion.)
so tomorrow I get up bright and early and fly to SFO, then drive to Monterey - for less than a day. Why? Because I bought my mom (actually, MIL) a cell phone (because her land line is screwed up and she won't allow AT&T inside her house to fix it) and she doesn't know how to properly charge it and turn it back on. I call, and the thing is dead. I know she's alive, as I've called the senior rides service that drives her back and forth to her class every morning. But I still can't reach her, and it's distracting me from study for the damn bar. So that's how I'm spending one of my precious days. But I love her, silly Luddite.
Why didn't you say so then, instead of defending dawg, as you did?
MBW wrote:
Eugene has one, as does Portland Maine.
This is the bullshit the right throws at us every time this topic comes up, yes. We can set the tax code to yield the income we desire.
US dollars are out there and we are far, far from that Laffer Curve jazz.
Share of the Nation’s Income Earned by the Top 1 Percent
The 1% are robbing us blind and paying people to lie to us about tax policy.
It's worked pretty well and I don't expect any attempts to break through the institutional defenses they've been creating since the Powell Memo thing 40 years ago now.
MBW wrote:
It's been 9 months, but I think my AgedP has figured out the cellphone thing. I'm still going up tomorrow after work to check.
And good for you, MBW.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Seriously???? I must tell the spouse (he's there now with the kids.) It didn't when we left, although I've heard rumors. Must have gone into the space where Whole Foods was (they've since moved, so he told me today.) Now I'm homesick.
If you chart wealth instead of income, it's even worse, as I recall.
MBW wrote:
Just getting ready to cook dinner.
You seem not to want to acknowledge your provocative comment that "The self-righteous blog police jumped on dawg". Then you claim you aren't defending dawg. You can't make an erroneous comment like that then just say "forget the whole thing". Retract it or defend it.
I was having an exchange with robj.
Just finished my response.
What I see from you is a control freakery thing plus you were not able to put this on hold.
I wasn't defending dawg at all as I explained to Robj. This was a criticism of an article.
We all police each other, right? There's no official moderator.
You lie in wait to attack dawg it seems as you have a resentment about him that's unresolved.
So let's discuss that.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Oh, so despite the tax rates varying dramatically from Kennedy to Reagan to Clinton to Bush (and all in between)... the numbers lie???
MBW wrote:
Yep -- check their website.
I've got three (3) near me, but damned if I can even get in the parking lot.
Antipodes wrote:
Since I moved into a hotel-flat with an actual kitchen last week, I've cooked every night. But tonight, I just didn't feel like it. So like the good NDN I am, I ordered take out from Famous Dave's. Now I wished I'd have cooked that organic skirt steak I picked up at Whole Paycheck.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
I suppose it depends on where one falls on the chart, but I think I can safely say for 99.9% of HCN, the wealth chart is much, much, much worse. A HCN's reach should exceed his/her grasp, however. I think I posted the chart in a galaxy long ago.
Why didn't you say so then, instead of defending dawg, as you did?
I didn't defend dawg. That was your perception of it.
I decided to focus on the Huff piece that elicits all kinds of comments.
merchants of fear wrote:
Bullshit. If you claim the people who "jumped on" him were "self-righteous" you are defending his words by implication. My response was appropriate. Do you believe that someone who sexually insults a 14-year-old (with or without proof) is not an asshole?
merchants of fear wrote:
Is that your retraction or your defense?
FRED Graph - FRED - St. Louis Fed
says those numbers aren't the whole story.
Congress set the tax law and got the revenue they wanted to get in the manner they wanted to get.
Other countries collect 40-50%. They don't have magic tax machines, they just tax people more, a lot more.
All about timing - if I even try and get into the one in Monterey anytime after 3, not happening. Same with the one in Hollywood in PDX. But generally, between 10-2 is good, although packed with moms/kidlings. But most people, um, work those hours.
So can anyone tell me which is better - Corvallis or Eugene?
and robj, thanks. and good on you too, checking in.
MBW wrote:
Now, that sounds delicious.
Antipodes wrote:
One of my favorite cuts of beef. I have a good friend who is a pasture-raised rancher, and she saves them for me. Although, she's 2500 miles away now, so guess it's time to find a new source.
Didn't post this one, but now I have to read it over the weekend at Maw's place. The distribution graph on p. 9 pretty much says all that needs to be said.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2011/201151/201151pap.pdf
Comrade Troyski wrote:
charles hugh smith-The Real-World Middle Class Tax Rate: 75%
p.s.: BTW, I'm never trying to incite you as much as make you logically defend your positions. The better you do, the more chance you have of convincing me & others.
Graph: Federal Government Current Receipts (FGRECPT)/Personal Income (PI) - FRED - St. Louis Fed
shows the current Federal tax rate on incomes. We could do 5% higher. 5% x $14T is $700B/yr.
Yes it would "suck".
Thing is, TCMDODNS sucks more.
Then there's corporate, payroll, state & local tax burdens that need to be raised.
The money is out there and isn't going anywhere, either. We're pretty f'in far from George Harrison's song lyric.
And I also think taxes can't just be raised on the upper 1% -- it is true that they don't have the income to yield more than $300B or so.
We need to raise taxes across the board, on everyone.
Bullshit. If you claim the people who "jumped on" him were "self-righteous" you are defending his words by implication. My response was appropriate. Do you believe that someone who sexually insults a 14-year-old (with or without proof) is not an asshole?
The self-righteous label doesn't bother me personally. We are all self righteous at times. I'm being self righteous criticizing the Huff piece. You dish out the criticism of the money managers. There's right and wrong and we like to call folks on it.
You are doing a classic control manipulation maneuver now by trying to make me say something in your terms. So this is a control tactic. You are trying to set me up to fail. Really an abuse tactic. If I say 'no' to your demands, then I'm guilty I guess of defending dawg. If I say what you want me to say, I guess you have exonerated me. Rob wanted me to agree with him and I did. So why do I have to jump through your hoops? I believe you are playing verbal games with me.
Just think about the law as you're driving. Calmly and without freaking out. If you can do that you'll be fine.
70% of passing the bar is not freaking out.
The other 30% is doing what the bar review people told you to do so your answers look like everybody else's answers.
That includes practice answering essay questions on paper with time limits, exactly the way you will do it in the exam. The critical thing for the essay questions is not how much you know, it's knowing the physical limitations on what you can write within the time allowed.
albrt wrote:
That's very good advice based on my experience. Write what needs to be said, as if you only had so much paper to write upon for each answer.
albrt wrote:
Thanks, Albrt. I did a bunch of practice essays today, but I still think that I've puttered away too much time and don't have enough time left to learn everything. But then my friends from Stanford just started their bar prep ten days ago, and they have the freakin' Cali bar to pass. I keep saying to myself, "minimum competency". And my MBE scores are in the 75-80% range for the subjects I've done, so that's a little less pressure. But, geez, I wish I could focus on this thing. Probably the most important test of my life.
you were not able to put this on hold.
Is that your retraction or your defense?
No, I think it's your obsessive compulsiveness and lack of impulse control... plus the other stuff I just talked about re: control tactics... I don't need to retract or defend myself as it's been discussed and settled so your are beating a dead horse for other reasons you can't control within yourself... from what I see anyway...
robj wrote:
See if you can work 'exponentialism' in there some where too.
MBW wrote:
I took doctoral exams, not the bar, so it's not quite the same. But after distilling everything from notebooks to outlines to cards, when I pretty much knew the cards and got nauseous about repeating them from memory, I figured it was time to take the test and get the stupid thing over with.
guess I should sleep a bit before the flight/drive tomorrow.
robj wrote:
From the conclusion:
THAT also tells a great deal about where the wealth is.
So in other words, your bullshit has been called out, and you (understandably) don't like being cornered by your own foolishness. The fact is the whole thing was finished until you made your foolish, insulting remark. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Neither do I. You can't tell me to drop it and then complain about self-righteous blog police. I will drop it if you retract it. I will argue it if you choose to defend it. I don't give a shit whether your label bothers you. It bothers me. Your call.
picosec wrote:
I don't think the Fed wanted to scratch around too deeply in that manure pile (ie. of the top 1%), but the report says a lot, nonetheless. Inherited wealth versus entrepreneurial would be an interesting additive, but I'm not going to get too greedy.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Yeah, and like that would have no effect on the economy whatsoever. You can't simply multiply x times y and assume you'll get that revenue; history shows that never happens.
Besides, since you (along with the rest of us) decry the problems plaguing our government why are you so willing to indulge their excesses?
We need to raise taxes across the board, on everyone.
IOW, "the taxpayer beatings will continue until morale improves."
Good luck. Statutes of limitations was very important in NY, for some reason. There is a trick to the Multistate, if you're having trouble...
merchants of fear wrote:
Who settled it? When?
robj wrote:
I left off the very last sentence of the conclusion:
And perhaps my comment should have been:
CHS counting health costs is a nice rhetorical trick.
Yes, we need to fix our health system, but those rents being extracted aren't leaving the system, the end up in the top 10%'s personal income, and is partially how the 1% is moving away from everyone else.
Romney's paying 15% in taxes, right?
There's your problem right there. The rich are just seeing their capital collect yield in a compounding manner.
We can either have half our 80 million seniors eat catfood starting in 2025 or we can raise taxes on the 1% (5% more like).
The top 1% are collecting $1.7T of the national income. 10% more from them would be $170B.
The next 4% are collecting $1.3T of the national income. 5% more from them would be $65B.
So there's around $250B/yr from the 5%.
Corporations are collecting $1.5T+/yr in profits. Another $500B/yr from them seems about right.
We need to raise FICA 4% from where it is now probably and double the medicare tax too, another 3%.
Per capita disposable income has almost doubled since 1995:
Graph: Disposable Personal Income (DSPI)*1000000/Total Population: All Ages including Armed Forces Overseas (POP) - FRED - St. Louis Fed
The tax base is there. Raising taxes is unpleasant (just ask the Japanese, who are facing a 5% rise in the consumption tax), but the alternatives are in fact worse in the long run.
As long as we keep running trillion dollar deficits we won't be able to see normal interest yields.
So in other words, your bullshit has been called out, and you (understandably) don't like being cornered by your own foolishness. The fact is the whole thing was finished until you made your foolish, insulting remark. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Neither do I. You can't tell me to drop it and then complain about self-righteous blog police. I will drop it if you retract it. I will argue it if you choose to defend it. I don't give a shit whether your label bothers you. It bothers me. Your call.
What are you talking about? We have been over the entire thing.
robj wrote:
The "death of the middle class" series linked here recently nicely shows how the Fed itself accelerated the more recent wealth concentration via their QE rescue of the wealthy (mostly invested in stocks & bonds) vs. the not-so-wealthy (mostly invested in their own homes).
Clinton proved it doesn't, actually.
Propose your cuts.
I think we need to cut $40B/yr every year from the DOD, starting now. This will reduce their take of the national weal to $400B/yr in 10 years.
That with my tax raises will close the fiscal hole we're in.
Leviathan isn't going away. We either fix it, or enter some pretty f-ing scary times, times that I WILL be missing by getting my ass out of here.
Who settled it? When?
What are we trying to settle?
Sorry, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs died.
We now have no Jobs and and no Hope.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Reversing the regulatory capture endemic in the US specifically and across the west in general is the challenge. It may not be possible without a systems collapse, if at all.
In the mean time, sloganeering about rentiers is useless at best ... imo.
picosec wrote:
There's got to be a pony in that manure pile, somewhere.
So in other words, your bullshit has been called out...
What bullshit? You act like a blog bully.
merchants of fear wrote:
Not at all. I object to "self-righteous blog police" and "jumped on". Your defense is that you don't object to "self-righteous"? I do. So "we" have not settled anything.
If you passed a reasonable range of classes in law school you don't need to memorize much at all. Just the handful of things the bar instructors point out as being unusual in your state plus the simplest mnemonic acronyms. And you only need to know those well enough to make your answers blend in with everyone else.
Seriously, sitting through each class once and studying the outline of each class for two hours should be enough knowledge to pass.
After that it's all about understanding the physical limitations and making sure you can execute.
merchants of fear - What bullshit? You act like a blog bully.
Act? You do have a problem between reality and acting.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Clinton proved nothing other than he was in the right place at the right time... and he squandered that.
Real Disposable Personal Income: Per capita (A229RX0) - FRED - St. Louis Fed
shows a new tax regime might knock us back to the mid-1990s, income-wise.
I fail to see the problem with that.
Granted, home values and rents would feel pressure to retreat back to the mid-1990s too, but that's a
The fact is the whole thing was finished until you made your foolish, insulting remark.
Let's talk about all your foolish, insulting remarks. You can't even see your own verbal abuse habits.
Which is a bad sign.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Some kind of collapse is almost inevitable.
You do have a problem between reality and acting.
well you don't know about the concept of walking on eggshells. trying to wind this down, ya know.
No, let's talk about your statement above. You keep trying to weasel out of your words.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Without an energy magic bullet ... yes.
If someone rudely insults a 14-year old girl, I'll call him an asshole. You call that abuse? Uh...
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Have you read Contrary Investor's latest monthly missive? The derivative holdings of the TBTF have grown 40% since the crash.
There are more than a few fuses burning out there...
His focus on closing the budget hole he inherited from 12 years of Reaganism's "Deficits Don't Matter" was the right thing to do.
We didn't need a lockbox in 2000, what we needed was to keep Republicans away from power.
We failed, and they destroyed my country.
Thanks, Ralph.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Yup ... regulatory capture and diminishing returns. It's a 2 front fiasco.
I highly recommend this book ...
Amazon.com: Drilling Down: The Gulf Oil Debacle and Our Energy Dilemma (9781441976765): Joseph A. Tainter, Tadeusz W. Patzek: Books
Am I the only one who thinks measuring by disposable income after 30'Fin years of of selling your soul in debt just does not add up to a full deck?
Your defense is that you don't object to "self-righteous"? I do. So "we" have not settled anything.
self-right·eous (s lf r ch s). adj. 1. Piously sure of one's own righteousness;
moralistic. 2. Exhibiting pious self-assurance: self-righteous remarks.
www.thefreedictionary.com/self-righteous
Ok what's a better way for me to describe it? This may not be the best description if it's considered an insult.
Did this discussion have to do with moral behavior? Did those making the comments come from a standard of right and wrong they would follow for themselves in what dawg said?
Getting something for nothing is the cancer in any economic system. It's what killed the Soviets, and it's killing us.
Literally at times.
I don't know which sector is pocketing the bigger rents, health-care or real estate.
I can estimate the health care rents by comparing our per-capita costs to the NHS.
Our are $5000 higher, so that's around $1.5T in health care rents.
Are we all paying $1.5T in ground rents? That, too is $5000 per capita, or $400/person/month.
Seems about right, especially factoring in the ground rents in commercial that are incorporated in retail prices.
Comrade Troyski - what we needed was to keep Republicans away from power.
So Clinton gutting banking regulations was a good thing.
Ahh hell, the list could go on and on. The parties are not here for us, why are you still pretending they are?
If someone rudely insults a 14-year old girl, I'll call him an asshole. You call that abuse? Uh...
C'mon, that's not what I have been calling abusive... you're being guarded and evasive... you want my permission to call dawg an asshole... you don't need my permission... you do what you may have no power over... and then you seek to validate it or have it validated...
you mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramm–Leach–Bliley_Act
Those were all Republicans. Gramm was McCain's economic advisor (he of the "mental recession / nation of whiners" infamy).
It wasn't the regulations that killed us under Bush, it was that administration's desire to repeat the S&L crisis, only 10-fold this time around.
WaPo: Regulatory Failure at the Office of Thrift Supervision