Where do conservatives think we can slash the federal budget?
John Sides, a political science professor at George Washington University, dove deep into the results of a 2008 survey conducted as part of the American National Election Studies. He came back with something fascinating. (The ANES is an ambitious effort to probe the evolving thoughts of the American electorate over time. After the ‘08 elections, for example, ANES researchers conducted more than 2,000 face-to-face interviews.)
In one question, respondents were asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 7, from extreme liberal to extreme conservative. In another question, they were asked whether they would support a reduction or elimination of federal spending in any of 12 different categories, from public education to highways.
Sides first identified those respondents who said they were conservative or very conservative. He then compiled that group’s answers to the question about possible cuts in federal spending. The results were posted at Salon, along with the following chart:
About 50 percent of self-identified conservatives said they would like to cut or eliminate foreign aid; roughly 35 percent said they would like to cut or eliminate welfare. About 20 percent said they’d cut or eliminate funding for child care.
But the most part, when offered specific spending areas to cut or eliminate, a majority of self-identified conservatives balked. (I tried to assemble a similar analysis of how self-identified liberals answered the question, but ANES posts only raw, undifferentiated data, and frankly I lack the capacity to tease out the answer to that question. Perhaps Sites or other scholars can conduct that research.)
I did, however, dig out a Kaiser Foundation study that helps put the Sides research into context. While it dates back to 1995, I doubt the results would have changed much over time. In the Kaiser survey, Americans were given a list of six programs and asked to identify the two areas in which the federal government spent the most money. (The possible choices were defense, interest on the debt, foreign aid, welfare, Social Security and health.)
The two choices mentioned most often as big-budget items were foreign aid (41 percent) and welfare (40 percent) (See Table 16). Those also happen to be the two areas in which conservatives are most eager to cut.
So you’ve got two areas in which the public thinks we spend huge amounts of money, and you’ve got conservatives eager to make substantial cuts in both areas. Theoretically, we seem to have a formula for cutting the deficit significantly. But there’s a problem.
In 2009, the federal government spent all of $22.1 billion on international development and humanitarian assistance, i.e, non-military foreign aid. (See Table 3.2, Item 151) That’s a mere 0.06 percent of the $3.5 trillion budget.
If you define welfare as a combination of federal housing assistance such as Section 8, plus food stamps and TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), the federal government spent $173 billion last year, or 4.9 percent of the budget, on welfare. (See Table 3.2, Items 604, 605. For TANF number, see here.)
In other words, if you take the two areas most often cited for cuts by conservatives and you eliminate them entirely, you will have cut federal spending by 5.5 percent.
Then what do we do?
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341 comments Add your comment
Midori
February 25th, 2010
6:02 pm
FIRST!!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:03 pm
Yeah, I didn’t think we wanted to talk about health care, oh wait, there’s a cut we could make.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:06 pm
When Washington was recently snowed in they told non-essential personnel to stay home. Why do we have non-essential personnel in government?
For that matter why do we have an FDA or DEA or DOE etc? Close down Fannie and Freddie. Phase out Medicare and Social Security.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:07 pm
Really Reporter? You mean 650 comments about health care left you panting for more?
Paul
February 25th, 2010
6:08 pm
Old myths die hard. Foreign aid. Welfare. Sheesh.
Defense. Big time. Agriculture. Big time. Mandate a 20% cut in other programs //with no reduction in core mission services.// SS/Medicaid. Minor tweaking will produce great long-term results.
I think it’s a relatively safe, unsubstantiated bet to say Libs haven’t a clue where to cut. They recoil at SS reform. They increase Defense by billions each year. They pay off agribusiness bribes. Just to keep things in perspective.
Midori
February 25th, 2010
6:08 pm
“panting for more”
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:08 pm
Jay B,
Have you subtracted the comments that weren’t about health care from down there?
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:08 pm
RW, if you ran on that platform you’d get 2 percent of the vote.
If Palin ran on that platform, she might get 4 percent.
OK, maybe 24.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:09 pm
Lord no, RW.
getalife
February 25th, 2010
6:10 pm
“Phase out Medicare and Social Security.”
That is the con goal.
Why in the world would a senior vote for that?
Paul
February 25th, 2010
6:11 pm
RW-(the original)
“Non essential” is a poor choice on the part of the gov’t. I believe it means “personnel without whom we could not deliver core services, even for a day.” For example, in a hospital it might be the person who conducts wellness talks for people identified at risk for diabetes. Someone not in the ‘non essential category’ would be the emergency room physician. Pulling him or her for a day would shut it down.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:12 pm
Jay B,
Was your question “where could we cut” or was your question “what could a politician run on cutting and have a chance of being elected?” I may have misread your article but I thought it was the former.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:15 pm
If a politician can’t get elected on it, RW, it ain’t gonna happen. I’ll confess to being frustrated by that too at times, but it is the reality in which we live.
Proposing cuts that will get a politician beat is a useless exercise.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:15 pm
Paul,
I spend huge chunks of my time within the inner workings of government agencies and “non-essential” isn’t nearly as bad a choice of words as you might think unless you want to change it to “totally unnecessary” employees.
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
6:18 pm
jewcowboy From downstairs
**No, he wasn’t elected because he was the great orator. That is just a bonus.**
Sadly enough, considering his performance in his actual role as leader of the free world, his fractured, substandard skills at speaking without a teleprompter is actually a bonus.
But I will admit, put on that Egyptian eye make-up like he was wearing today, strap on that Sony ECM77 lapel mike that will pick up that deep voice, hire some crapslingers to write him a really pretty speech and you have all the requirements for a democratic leader. A pretty man that talks reeeeal pretty. That’s all it takes, and sadly enough, that’s all he has. It’s just almost been embarrassing to see how he falls apart without that prompter.
**Bipartisanship is not pretending you are not the one in power and handing over everything to the party not in power. **
It’s also not holding secret meetings that exclude the Republicans.
**Perhaps many of the Republicans would be more familiar with the term ‘extortion’**
Extortion? You do understand that the democrats have had the unchallenged majority for over a year, don’t you? That’s sort of like me threatening to kill my dog if you don’t send me a thousand dollars. That’s not a lot of bargaining power.
**The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.**
I wonder who wrote that for him to read off a teleprompter?
**Because so far he is doing what he said he would do.**
So you and Glenn Beck agree. I think he lied a lot. He lied when he said that he didn’t know that Wright was a racist. I knew he was a racist when I heard the first five minutes of his speech at Morehouse.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:19 pm
If a politician can’t get elected on it, RW, it ain’t gonna happen
No kidding. So if your question was what can a politician run on cutting what was the point of your article? You ended up berating conservatives for wanting to cut something that turned out to be a small amount, but maybe they were only answering realistically rather than ideologically.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
6:19 pm
Oh, joy! Asked for some real stats last night on the jobs created and didn’t get any, but be careful what you ask for, tonight we got it in spades on this one…nice purty graphs and figures galore…!
Seriously, though, this does present a pretty good picture (for those who don’t read a lot) about the Conservative outlook…I find it interesting, my own “special interest”–that the conservatives aren’t out to ideologically cut education spending and neither or liberals, and yet…well, just come in the teacher’s lounge…lotta talk and little action…
samuel
February 25th, 2010
6:19 pm
Most people are ignorant when it comes to the federal budget. Social Security, Defense, health care (Medicare and Medicaid) and interest on the national debt make up about 80% of the federal budget from year to year. Even before reform, welfare was never a big part of the federal budget……..I watched the end of the health care summit today and I was struck by how the Republicans think that malpractice costs are the biggest driver of health care cost increases. According to the Congressional Budget Office, malpractice reform will save $54 billion over 10 years, which in a $2 trillion a year health care industry is about 1/4 of 1% of total health care costs every year……..On a lighter note, I noticed that Obama didn’t use a teleprompter today, just as he didn’t in his previous debate with House Repblicans. So much for the teleprompter-in-chief.
Paul
February 25th, 2010
6:21 pm
RW-(the original)
Which is what led to my 20 percent wisecrack. Programs always build up overhead that’s pretty much ‘nice stuff we do for ourselves.’
And I wasn’t excluding Cons from my “Libs don’t have a clue what to cut.”
Okay, I’ll modify it: they both do. They just won’t, for a variety of reasons. And I’ll wager many voters recognize that – which makes them even more frustrated and angry.
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
6:25 pm
Getalife
**That is the con goal. Why in the world would a senior vote for that?**
This year was the first year SS gave out more than they took in. Doesn’t matter who’s goal it is, it doesn’t matter who will vote for it. The baby boomers will break the bank. It is yet another insolvent government program that will either die or kill the country.
If all the numbers are correct and we will live as long as predicted, it’s going to take almost 100 trillion bucks to pay all the boomers. The total wealth of the country is 50 trillion. I’m pretty sure that China is not going to loan us another 50 trillion.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:26 pm
Don’t get into a snit, Bookman, I’ve been waiting on your comment concerning health care.
Pretty good beating we put on obozo, wasn’t it?
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:27 pm
Paul,
I didn’t read the 20% as a wisecrack. I thought it was a good start.
Paul
February 25th, 2010
6:29 pm
samuel
As long as politicians hide behind ‘it’s but a small percent of the total’ when speaking of billions and billions of expenditures that don’t have to be, we won’t make progress.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
6:29 pm
PAUL
Don’t have a clue what to cut? EDUCATION!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
February 25th, 2010
6:30 pm
Well, we need to get rid of this foreign aid. We put our troops in countrys all over the world to protect the countries. They ought to pay us.
I’m kind of suprized all those Conservatives were against cuts in SS and Medicare. You sure they didn’t poll a bunch of libruls?
And I still say all those old geezers could go back to work and stop using SS and Medicare welfare. Heck, it would be alot cheaper to buy them Hover-rounds than pay them cash every month. If they’re a little slow at the WalMart cash registers, I got the time to wait. I’m a Compassionate Conservative.
And it seems to me we could just fire about half the guvmint workers. Heck, wipe out the IRS and we’ll all be happy.
Now, I ain’t in favor of cutting anything in defense. Without wars we’d be in a awful fix. All the people working at Boeing and Lockheed and Xe or whatever they call theirselfs these days would be fired. And we’d be paying unemployment out the wazoo. Not to mention what would happen to all the soldiers and Marines we got shooting up ragheads these days.
Well, there’s the thoughts of a Conservative that’s one of the real deep Thinkers on this blog. I know other people on here will have ideas of their own. Have a good night everybody.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:30 pm
The Department of Education! Gone, raze the whole building to the ground and replace it with “green” space, where hobos can camp out for free!
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
6:32 pm
Reporter
**Pretty good beating we put on obozo, wasn’t it?**
Brutal. It would have been fun to watch if it wasn’t the President of the United States. How arrogant would you need to be in order to go on national TV after knowing how much the public hates this bill and go up against people like Lamar Alexander, thinking that you were going to come out ahead?
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:32 pm
I watched the first half, Reporter, and thought he did quite well. But then, how you and I thought he did is kind of beside the point. Our conclusions were probably set before the things even started.
I have to say, though: Swamper’s claim that Obama proved himself hopeless without a teleprompter had no basis whatsoever from what I saw. Regardless of what you think of merits of the exchange, etc., he again showed himself very adept on his feet, just as he did in the presidential debates and in the meeting with House Republicans.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:33 pm
The US Postal Service! Ever heard of email? Fedex? UPS?
kayaker 71
February 25th, 2010
6:34 pm
No Congress will cut funding for Medicare, Defense, Welfare spending and Social Security. That’s political suicide. These make up about 70% or so of our budget. We only have about 30% to work with if you eliminate the major entitlements to the aged, retired and active duty military and all of the so called pork that these guys pass. So of the sacred cows are not to be bothered, what’s to cut? The people in Greece are pondering that same question as they riot in the streets, rebel at their entitlement cuts as the government goes broke……. same thing in California. 17B dollar shortfall. Entitlement programs, aid to the poor, paying for all of the illegals needs, retirement plans from the state that defy description….. it is breaking California just like it will break the federal government. When states spend more for entitlement programs, someone has to pay.
Bloated and unnecessary Federal agencies.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:35 pm
Well, Bookman apparently has low expectations, just sayin…
He was thoroughly outclassed.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:36 pm
Post Office? At the very least cut out Saturday service and maybe midweek too.
Department of Education? That was a Contract With American promise 16 years ago, but the Republicans made no effort to carry it out even when they had total control.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:36 pm
AmTrak! Off the rails and in the dumpster.
Hitchhike if you must, losers.
ty webb
February 25th, 2010
6:37 pm
Cut all of the above.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:38 pm
A politician running on eliminating public sector unions might have a chance and once that was done it would be a lot easier to start real cuts, but as has been mentioned above we’re not going to anything with Medicare and Social Security so we’re going under anyway.
LibCon 2010
February 25th, 2010
6:38 pm
And I wasn’t excluding Cons from my “Libs don’t have a clue what to cut.”
And that’s why I said “cons and libs…” to begin with.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:38 pm
Come on man, every time the Repugs even start looking into the DOE, liberals howl and rend their garments, libeling us as child abusers.
Who wants to face that torrent?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:41 pm
ACORN!
ty webb
February 25th, 2010
6:41 pm
If my “jet packs for everyone” idea takes off(no pun intended), we’ll never have to build another highway.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:41 pm
Post Office? At the very least cut out Saturday service and maybe midweek too.
Every time I hear that I hear that “people” just won’t stand for it, but I’ve never met anybody that didn’t work for the Post Office that said that. Do you know who these “people” are? It seems to me that M-W-F is more than enough.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:42 pm
Yeah Swamper, and how about the beating that Cumberland College put on Georgia Tech back in 1916!
They beat those engineers by what, zero to 222?
Seriously. It takes some seriously blinding animosity to believe that Obama was thrashed on style points.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
6:44 pm
I, for one, am not opposed to getting rid of the Department of Education. Responding to their mandated horsesh*t reports takes waaaay too much time out of my day that could better be spent serving my students and families. Y’all don’t know the half of it unless you’re in the public schools or share bed, bath, bankbook and blankets with somebody who is…take the whole lot of ‘em from the local school board all the way up to the feds and put ‘em in stocks in the public square…but, then, I’m just a malcontent down at the bottom, what I and my peers here have to say is totally immmaterial…OY! The Dark Ages are anew upon us and we just keep on cutting, furloughing, closing, etc…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:46 pm
By the way, I was thinking about on commenting on just that subject.
Look at your list^^, strike up the sweet stirring patriotic music Protecting The Environment, let us all hold hands.
Who in their right mind would object to protecting the environment (children singing in the background.)
Now try calling it environmental terrorism, like it is.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:46 pm
on and on, geez
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:47 pm
Gee Reporter, so the conservatives wilt in the face of liberal criticism…
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
6:49 pm
Jay
*Swamper’s claim that Obama proved himself hopeless without a teleprompter had no basis whatsoever from what I saw.**
I will admit that he was better than usual. Not even in the same league with Sarah Palin and good old boy Lamar stumbled not a word (as usual), but other than his general lack of media training, he did OK.
I think he wears waaaay too much eye makeup (I think he is using a make-up person that has always worked in standard definition. Watch him on a 1080p HD and he looks like a drag queen) and if you watch the sides of his face, you can see him gritting his teeth when he is confronted. My biggest problem is that he was touted as the next MLK or JFK as far as orators, but like everything else, it was a lie. A year into his presidency and he is at best, average at thinking on his feet. And of course, so was GW Bush, but he was called an idiot because he was as bad as Obama
I’m sure you watch the pundit shows. Other than the hosts, none of those people have prompters and they NEVER stumble or stutter. He is confrontational and tends to lose his thoughts in his anger at being questioned. It’s almost like he is being graded on a curve. “Well no, he didn’t get his point across very well, but he didn’t stumble too much” That doesn’t seem like it should be the standard for the greatest orator since MLK.
Ramblin' Wreck
February 25th, 2010
6:51 pm
They beat those engineers by what, zero to 222?
Now that’s a whoopin’.
Paul
February 25th, 2010
6:52 pm
RW-(the original)
25%’s a good start –
BTW – asking the head of an agency to cut N% and give up money and power: don’t take any of those recommendations. Tell the head “those things are not touchable. Come back with other items that comprise the N%.” The second or third iteration – now you’re getting somewhere.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:52 pm
If it was just criticism…
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been called a racist because of political disagreements, just sayin…
Bill O'Reilly
February 25th, 2010
6:52 pm
Sarah,
Get an education. Perhaps a local 2-year community college.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
6:54 pm
IR/YW
The “friendliest” president yet to the cause of environmentalism was Richard Nixon. For the love of G-d, environmental protection is a conservative issue…conservation, conserve…?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:54 pm
I know one thing for sure about today’s summit/ presidential puppet show, Health Care is dead on arrival.
Long live Capitalism!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
6:55 pm
yosef, dude- Nixon didn’t mobilize the goony army against CO2, you know what I mean?
Paul
February 25th, 2010
6:56 pm
josef nix 6:29
“Don’t have a clue what to cut? EDUCATION!”
As long as we exempt teachers I may just go along -
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
6:56 pm
“Raise your hand if you’ve ever been called a racist because of political disagreements, just sayin…”
You can count me in that category…
Free the Coal Foundation
February 25th, 2010
6:57 pm
Don’t let our nation’s coal live its life in the dark, dank ground. Set it free. Call you Congressmen and tell them to free the coal. Do it for the environment.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
6:58 pm
Department of Education? That was a Contract With American promise 16 years ago,
Jay B,
Are you sure about that? I didn’t remember it being one of the articles of the contract and I don’t see it in there
Finn McCool
February 25th, 2010
6:59 pm
Republican are just dumbfounded to see a President who can actually string together 2 or more sentences without a speechwriter close by.
samuel
February 25th, 2010
6:59 pm
Whiner@6:36pm, I’ve taken Amtrak to New York and in Southern California. It sure beats hitchiking.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
6:59 pm
PAUL
Axe everything above the local school, its principal and its staff…put the money somewhere besides filling the pocketbooks of those coming in in designer suits, driving nazimobiles, with pieces of paper from Mail In U telling us on the front lines what we “have to do” so they can keep slopping at the trough of the public coffer…
Never guess what’s on the work screen, would ya!
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:00 pm
Free the Coal Foundation–
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
7:01 pm
Aid to the poor, sniff, boo hoo, that’s another good one, seeing how we know define the poor as a couple with an 80K income, 200K in the bank and a yacht anchored the lake.
Aid to dummycrat voters, Bookman, try that label.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
7:01 pm
You’re right, RW. I misremembered.
It was Ronald Reagan who promised to abolish it. My bad, thanks for the heads up.
Bud Wiser
February 25th, 2010
7:02 pm
Jay
February 25th, 2010
6:32 pm
I watched the first half, Reporter, and thought he did quite well. But then, how you and I thought he did is kind of beside the point. Our conclusions were probably set before the things even started.
I have to say, though: Swamper’s claim that Obama proved himself hopeless without a teleprompter had no basis whatsoever from what I saw….
Then you must have changed the dial after the introductions.
Knowing he was not going to have his little telly probably made me watch as much as I could stomach, just to see how he did.
Frankly I was surprised. He was even more pathetic than I thought with the continual rambling while lecturing his captive audience, always coming back to previous strings of thought, a very lot of repetition.
He sounded more like a college professor in his first (and hopefully last) semester, feeling the ropes. Since the “hope and change” campaign-like rhetoric would have proven useless, he made himself appear more irrelevant and useless than even his drooling puppy-lovesick admirers will admit….come on losers, say it, he reminded you and made you feel those first emotions of shock and sadness when you realised that Santa wasn’t real.
I would have expected more, even from an ignorant sap like Obama, a WHOLE LOT more.
But, you can elect anyone president these days apparently; you can also put lipstick on a pig, dress it up real nice, and in the words of Harry Reid, give it a “non-negro dialect”, but in the end, it is still a pig.
And the president.
Aren’t you proud now, America?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
7:03 pm
sam- I’ve flown to So Cal and NY and it sure beats riding someone else’s tax money.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:04 pm
Finn–
Look, don’t get carried away. The man’s speech is peppered with all matter of contorted syntax, informal usages in a formal setting, incorrect pronunciations and lexical errors…sometimes it’s him and sometimes it’s his speech writers…I’m not talking about his impromptu usages, but his ex officio statements…
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
7:08 pm
Jay
**Seriously. It takes some seriously blinding animosity to believe that Obama was thrashed on style points.**
Oh he’s Mister Style. We just need a leader. Yes, a leader that can bring the two sides together.
I was amazed at how many times both sides said that the two sides were close. There are so many good ideas being offered by the Republicans and they were explained very well today, That was bad for the bill.
Price transparency is becoming an internet industry. I know of a site that will be in action within a month that will enable any employee to go to a web site, get a list of doctors that treat their particular ailment and choose, based on everything from price to criminal convictions. This will cause competition between providers, bringing down costs. This is just one idea that is a giant DUH?!?!?
This is the opportunity to actually have real Health Care Reform, but making this a giant payoff for the blue states and the unions, while ignoring some really fantastic ideas is not the way to do it. With the American People wanting it like they do, how badly would the democrats need to be doing to blow this?
They are dissolving medical savings plans. I’ve had one for years. It’s fantastic.
This is not health care reform. This is the worst of Washington. Everything that Johnny Carson, David Letterman and every other comedian made jokes about is this bill. But I would agree about Obama’s performance if he had stopped arguing and started listening, but he never did.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
7:11 pm
You’re welcome.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
7:18 pm
Farm subsidies, for real.
Hillbilly Deluxe
February 25th, 2010
7:19 pm
But then, how you and I thought he did is kind of beside the point. Our conclusions were probably set before the things even started.
That’s probably true of over 90% of the people.
As an outsider looking in, I’d be for getting rid of the Department of Education. First of all, I think the only role the Federal Government should have in education is to make sure no one is excluded from getting an education. It should be handled at the state level or even better, the local level. From where I sit, looks like far too much money is spent on administration at all levels, even locally.
And I’ve said before, I’d like to see an end to all tax breaks and subsidies. If you give a break to one business, it’s going to be to the detriment of another. Don’t give ‘em any money, tax ‘em all the same and let them sort it out.
Fly the Friendly Skies
February 25th, 2010
7:19 pm
I’ve flown to So Cal and NY and it sure beats riding someone else’s tax money
Because no tax money is involved in any way with flying.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
7:20 pm
Agreed, Reporter.
But you’d have to convince that “fiscal conservative” Saxby Chambliss first.
Let me know how that one goes.
Bush 2012
February 25th, 2010
7:22 pm
I promise if I’m elected for a third term that I will not make Dick work so hard.
samuel
February 25th, 2010
7:22 pm
Whiner@7:03pm, I too have flown to New York (I’ve been more than once), San Francisco and Los Angeles. I’ve also flown to London, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Oh yeah, I’ve also taken the Eurostar from London to Paris. Love those taxpayer funded airports and train stations.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
7:24 pm
I will if you work on obozo and Illinois, the king and queen of farm subsidies.
United Peanut Producers
February 25th, 2010
7:24 pm
Awww nuts! I’m in the wrong place. Can someone direct me to the legume blog.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:25 pm
Hillbilly
When the matter of the federal government’s role in public education came up with the founding fathers, the liberals threw a hissy, expressing a fear that such would be the antithesis of the experiment at hand and citing the Prussian pioneering of a free, mandatory education as an example, Ole Frederick William I’s creation of such to produce “a good soldier for the state.” Well, we see what that experiment produced…
md
February 25th, 2010
7:28 pm
Lets start with little things like the Un (good ole boy club/click) and NATO, pull our troops home unless paid to stay, and every fed agency/dept by same percentage.
But nothing will get done until it has to be done, then probably too late.
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
7:30 pm
Completely off subject
I’m not a yankee fan and certainly not a Jeter fan, but good for Jeter.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-jeter022410&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
it’s nice to know that some people just love the game and have some team loyalty. (and the millions)
United Peanut Producers
February 25th, 2010
7:30 pm
You could save a fortune if you would quit spending so much time and money inspecting stuff. Your average ordinary everyday capitalists are quite capable of self-control. They would never let their love of money blind them.
md
February 25th, 2010
7:33 pm
“Your average ordinary everyday capitalists”
That would be most all of us in some form or fashion, we are corporations.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:33 pm
Peanut
Caveat emptor….
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
February 25th, 2010
7:38 pm
josef
**Caveat emptor….**
You like them fish eggs?
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:40 pm
Swamper…
Mick
February 25th, 2010
7:44 pm
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
6:25 pm
**If all the numbers are correct and we will live as long as predicted, it’s going to take almost 100 trillion bucks to pay all the boomers. The total wealth of the country is 50 trillion. I’m pretty sure that China is not going to loan us another 50 trillion**
I don’t care if it does cost 100 trillion – you better damn well believe we are worth whatever the cost!!! I don’t know about you but I’ve paid my dues along with millions of others and the rug will not be pulled out because of spineless jellyfish gov’t is bad scaremongers.
United Peanut Producers
February 25th, 2010
7:46 pm
Salmonella for sale. Guaranteed fresh.
Hillbilly Deluxe
February 25th, 2010
7:48 pm
Josef
I believe in free public education but think it would be better controlled at the local level. My views are a little out of the norm, I guess, but I think there is way too much emphasis on standarized tests. But then again, I think we should bring back the Blue Back Speller. I knew people who studied it 3 or 4 years that were more literate than some high school graduates that I know today.
Jay
February 25th, 2010
7:48 pm
“I’m not a yankee fan and certainly not a Jeter fan, but good for Jeter. it’s nice to know that some people just love the game and have some team loyalty. (and the millions)”
Agreed on all counts. As a lifelong BoSox fan, I’m a lifelong Yankee hater. But i have to admit enormous respect for Jeter. Damn him.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:49 pm
Mick–
Much agreed. When I taught high school and my students wanted to know why I was such a hardnose on making them perform at the top, I told them, “because you’re my Social Security check.”
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:51 pm
Red Alert! Jay says he is a Yankee hater…oh, wait, that’s the team. Oh, sh*t, just when I was ready to hold out an olive branch
DoggoneGA
February 25th, 2010
7:52 pm
“because you’re my Social Security check.”
or, to bring it closer to home: “be nice to your kids…they’ll choose your nursing home”
Drew
February 25th, 2010
7:53 pm
As usual, the difference between conservatives and liberals isn’t how much they want to spend. It’s how much debt they want to incur. Conservatives will charge it until our creditors cut up the card, as proven by their debt-financed Medicare Part D. Liberals will pay cash for what they buy, as proven by their willingness to raise the necessary revenue for health care reform.
“They are dissolving medical savings plans. I’ve had one for years. It’s fantastic.”
How are they “dissolving” those plans? Oh yeah, by requiring that your insurance pay for at least 70% of your medical care. Who knew that so many of those “fantastic” plans made money by taking your money when you’re healthy and not reimbursing you when you’re sick?
Darn those Democrats and their refusal to allow insurance companies to part fools with their money. Don’t they know that’s the American way?
@@
February 25th, 2010
7:55 pm
Let’s get rid of the IRS!
I haven’t a clue, but here’s a cool way to check out the more obscured spending.
Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It’s Spent
Rectangles in the chart are sized according to the amount of spending for that category. Color shows the change in spending from 2010.
Big gifts come in little boxes.
mike
February 25th, 2010
7:57 pm
Where do liberals think we are going to get the money for new entitlement programs?
@@
February 25th, 2010
7:57 pm
Oops! dropped part of my post.
Consolidate! There seems to be a lot of unnecessary piling on.
I’m outta here.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
7:59 pm
Doggone…
And a chipper good evening to you! You’re so right in that one…somewhere along the line our generation (the boomers) got the idea we were going to live forever and never have need of assisted living of any sort “the end for which the first was made..”
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
8:00 pm
mike
“Where do liberals think we are going to get the money for new entitlement programs?”
Another shift at the mint?
Jay
February 25th, 2010
8:04 pm
disturbing story out of your neck of the woods, Josef:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/us/25orleans.html
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
8:17 pm
JAY
Thanks for the link and the info (as well as other favors, BTW). Folks down home say we’ll never get the real story of what happened. While I’m more than ready to lay much of it to the local culture, still and all, it was a lesson in the breakdown of society in a time of serious catastrophe, and, I fear, we are not learning the lessons. The government, DC to City Hall was a total and unmitigated failure. The Mississippi Gulf Coast came through better than others, in my opinion, from the lessons they learned from Camille: you’re on your own for at least three days. Be prepared.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
8:35 pm
Hillbilly
I’m of the Isaac Harby School on matters of education, The whole purpose of education is to produce a product to serve the needs of the local community. It is up to the local community’s leaders to determine the needs of that community and to oversee the schools to see that those needs are met.
I was blessed to have received a part of my education in what was a mill town, but one with a strong 1920s-30s “socialist bent.” The mill was a hardwood flooring plant, the main department store in town was a “company store,” much of the housing “company housing…” but, you get the picture, The executives informed the school system each year how many of which category of employee it would need…X number of clerks, X number of mechanics, chemists, bookkeepers. secretaries and what have you…the schools were expected to meet those needs with the best and brightest…the management’s wives taught in the schools…the company was a success. A lot of my perspective on life and the roles of labor and capital come from that experience…
A good example of that in the present day can be found in Dalton where the carpet companies and the local education system have a good working relationship based on much the same principles as the ones I grew up under.
U Maroon
February 25th, 2010
8:35 pm
medicaid = welfare
Milldred Towner
February 25th, 2010
8:40 pm
I sold my soles to the company store. Because I needed milk for the little ones more than I needed protection from the elements for the toes. The good old days of indentured servitude for life.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
8:42 pm
U Maroon
The Interstate freeway system = welfare
The Fire Department = welfare
The Police Department = welfare
The Military = welfare
That’s well + fare
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
8:44 pm
Mildred–
That has to do with the overwhelming majority of corporations, as I said, I was blessed to be witness to what can be done when the company has a moral compass…it can be done…
Hillbilly Deluxe
February 25th, 2010
8:47 pm
Point of interest. To be eligible for Medicaid you have to have assets of less than $2000. Most likely if you own a car you don’t qualify.
U Must Be the Maroon
February 25th, 2010
8:52 pm
… if you think the military & police = welfare
getalife
February 25th, 2010
8:54 pm
It was all fun and games until the orange man scared grandma.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
9:00 pm
maroon
they are there for the public well fare and paid for from the public coffer to provide that…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
9:01 pm
Which is not, I think, good news for the president. Mr. Obama will not have helped himself by his manner. The summit highlighted, even showcased, something unappealing and unhelpful there, a tendency to attempt to show dominance and command by patronizing, even subtly bullying, even trimming. All people in public life have moments like this—most people do, in whatever walk—but you’re not supposed to have them when you’re trying to sway minds, reach out and build support.
Which left me doubting that was what he was actually trying to do.
When you’ve lost Peggy Noonan, you’ve lost the squish moderates, just sayin….
getalife
February 25th, 2010
9:03 pm
It was a trap.
TGT
February 25th, 2010
9:03 pm
Any serious talk of cuts must include Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. As of 2008, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid make up 42% of the federal budget. Medicare alone has $36 trillion in unfunded liabilities. Also, according to the 2009 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report, the combined unfunded liability of these two programs has reached nearly $107 trillion in today’s dollars. Medicare and Social Security trust funds will be exhausted in 2017 and 2037, respectively.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
9:27 pm
What a day from hell.
From the Artist Formerly Known As God:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K6_ZtTcMQI
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
9:30 pm
Slash and Privatize: How House GOP’s Shadow Budget Eliminates Deficit … In About 50 Years
So the “party of Fiscal responsibility” would take another 50 years to get us back to where we were 10 years ago, before the greedy idiots of Wall Street nearly sent us into another great depression. The same greedy idiots that these guys want to hand our Social Security and Medicare funds over to.
Uh, no thanks.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/one-gopers-budget-vision-social-security-and-medicare-benefit-cuts.php
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
9:34 pm
“Any serious talk of cuts must include Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”
TGT–You are right on the money. Unfortunately, as was pointed out earlier tonight, trying to get elected on that platform is pretty much a guaranteed loss at the polls. The Senior Citizens are one of the most organized voting blocks there are, and they’re not going to accept any cuts ever.
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
9:35 pm
Bruno–
Hey! That bad, eh? Wouldn’t say mine was on the worst circle, but I’m certainly on the Sixth…
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
9:38 pm
The bottom line is that SS was never intended to be a person’s sole source of income at retirement. The current group of retirees draw far, far more than they ever put in. The easiest fix, of course, is to simply keep raising the minimum age for participation. But even that draws criticism from civil rights activists since most “minorities” have a significantly shorter life span and thus end up funding whitey.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
9:38 pm
GOP Rep. Dean Heller Claims Extending Unemployment Benefits Is Creating ‘Hobos.’
republicants don’t do economics well, and always fail at cause and effect. You don’t NOT create jobs and CUT OFF unemployment benefits at the same time. Mr. Geller, this is what would help usher in the Second Great Depression by stunting recovery.
The stupid is great in this one.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/25/gop-rep-hobo/
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
9:41 pm
So those nasty conservatives don’t know where to cut? Do the liberals know where to get the new taxes?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
9:42 pm
Once again, on this very day, obozo reinforces the undeniable fact that we were aware of over a year ago, and why we voted for McSicko, that he is nothing more than a stooge, a political hack, a puppet, who’s only strength is regurgitating ignorant mindless talking points that OTHER PEOPLE HAVE WRITTEN FOR HIM.
Just sayin….
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
9:44 pm
Democrats say the TALK is OVER.
Here is the republicants “objections”…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4
josef nix
February 25th, 2010
9:54 pm
That time…gotta go hit the hay…at least tomorrow is Friday…report finished, too…thanks for the vent space here this p.m. Needed it…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 25th, 2010
9:58 pm
Hey, at least every cave dweller, tree swinger, spastic, bone in the noser, zipperhead, tard and troglodyte now has hope of becoming the President of the United States, that’s something, isn’t it?
Maybe the libs will adopt YOU next time around, simpleton!
Finn McCool
February 25th, 2010
9:59 pm
Obama to Cantor and his paper prop: “Health care is complicated. We can pretend that it’s not, but it is.”
Maybe Obama could bring some crayons for the republicans next time. In case they get bored they could color awhile.
Republicans,
Sit back, relax, and let the adults do the work. We’ll call you when we need to vote on something uncomplicated that they can wrap their minds around.
Moderate Line
February 25th, 2010
10:06 pm
I an afraiid we will not see any serious consideration on balancing the budget until we are forced which includes increasing taxes or cutting spending. When that occurs we will have a serious reduction in the standard of living.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 25th, 2010
10:08 pm
Getting the government deficit down is going to take a strong mix of action. Its about a number of changes. Its about smart government. There is a definite need for regulation – keep lead out of toys, make sure products and food is safe, etc.
Where to begin? Taxes – eliminate the tax cuts to the rich. We have a progressive system and the rich have every reason to pay for the benefits the derive from bailouts and more. Reinstate estate taxes. Raise capital gains taxes. Simplify the tax code.
Cut spending. Close unneeded military bases, dont force the military to buy equipment they say they dont need. Eliminate DADT which forces out well trained military personnel who cost thousands to train. Eliminate no-bid contracts. Get rid of Blackwater (or Xe) and demand back the millions that they obtained by fraud.
Pass healthcare which will according to the CBO, save the government money and look into more cost savings in healthcare. Start focusing healthcare on wellness and part of that means increasing regulation and oversight of our food supply and product testing which is making us sick.
Del
February 25th, 2010
10:13 pm
Golly…Salon we can all depend on unbiased commentary from Salon. Keep doing the biological function in one hand and wishing in the other but be careful not to rub your hands together or you may not like to see what you have all over your wishes.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
10:14 pm
I’m neither for large government nor small government – I’m for smart government.
For eight years we had stupid government and it nearly ran our country into a ditch. We’ll be lucky to emerge from the Shrub Recession anytime soon. Meanwhile, conservatives who have rediscovered libertarianism sound more and more like anarchists, wailing about the end of America while demonizing even the most benign government policy proposals. Their concerns have become so hysterical as to be absurd.
I, for one, am happy to pay taxes as long as I think the money is being spent wisely. I’m not wild about funding a vast military-industrial complex whose expensive bombs neither educate our young nor add anything to our infrastructure. Yet I’m glad to contribute to our highways, our parks, our law enforcement, our emergency responders, our social safety net (pitifully limited though it may be) and the best legal system in the world. The tea partiers who whine about taxes seem to be railing against civilization and order. They are rejecting a social contract that doesn’t place the individual on a pedestal but rather forges a balance between individual liberty and the common good. After the financial markets melted down, Alan Greenspan admitted that the core assumption of his entire financial life had been wrong. Markets are not perfectly self-regulating. They don’t always get it right. What conservatives and the tea partiers fail to understand is that individuals are also not perfectly self-regulating. Most of us humans are not fully rational adults, but rather complex adolescents that often make bad, short-sighted choices. For that reason, smart government is the embodiment of pragmatic compassion.
Programs like Social Security exist because we recognize that if we leave retirement decisions to individuals, many of them will make bad choices that fail. Without a safety net such people would perish, so we collectively established a system that decreases liberty but increases security, and this was a wise choice. It has become clear that this logic should be extended to health care. If that means a slight increase in taxes in the future, that doesn’t bother me. I don’t see government as a sinister boogeyman bent on controlling every aspect of my life. Smart government is the embodiment of our collective wisdom, fine-tuning the mix between liberty and the common good.
President Obama and the Democratic party are trying to adjust this mix, especially when it comes to the broken and greed-driven health insurance industry. Conservatives and the GOP have no real policy proposals because they dream of doing away with government and letting individuals fend for themselves – which merely sounds like a recipe for chaos and suffering.
JOHN ODD OWL
February 25th, 2010
10:14 pm
Cut spending… Cut spending… Cut this, Cut that… The neo-con naysayers of doom have surrendered. They’ve given up the ghost. Apparently those unemployment extension checks have made these loafers lazy. The reason you Gen X-ers and Gen Y-ers pay such high SS payroll tax and fed. income tax is because you and your parents voted for Reagan, Bush-1, Gingrich Revolution, and Bush/Cheney. They’re the ones who doubled your taxes in every category. Your problem lies in the fact that you listen to what Republicans say and ignore what they do !!! You big house middle classers who vote Republican are penny wise and pound foolish. presumptuous arrogance ooze from the pores of the “X” and “Y” generations like puss from a festering sore. I am a product of the 60’s. We babyboomers are 75 million strong and we’re approaching the age of retirement. That means that you gen X-ers and gen Y-ers must pay for our SS pension, medicare, medicaid and all the other social programs that we enjoy today. You middle class people allowed the Republican politicians to dump the tax burden in your lap. Rich people only pay SS payroll taxes on the first $115.000 they earn. I’ve paid into the system for more than 40 years and i’m going to get everything coming to me by collecting for about 40 years. So all of you gen X and Y need to find a second job so you can pay more taxes so i can enjoy my golden years. LOL
TnGelding
February 25th, 2010
10:19 pm
Freeze all spending and reduce the Pentagon to a triangle like Newt suggested 20 years ago. Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse from Medicaid and Medicare would save at least $150 billion. Letting people die (death with dignity) would save tens of billions more. And collecting taxes owed under current law would bring in at least $500 billion. Simplifying the tax code would save another $500 billion. And a one time tax amnesty should bring in up to a trillion dollars. Legalizing drugs should be a net $200 billion bonanza.
We’ve got to get the debt under control or it, not health care, is going to be our ruin.
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
10:21 pm
Jenifer
Well said!
TnGelding
February 25th, 2010
10:21 pm
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
10:14 pm
Great stuff, thanks.
TnGelding
February 25th, 2010
10:22 pm
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
10:21 pm
Scary!
Del
February 25th, 2010
10:22 pm
Sure didn’t resemble adults to me or at least those adults who have the best interest of America in mind. Looked more like spoiled little brats who cave into peer pressure and just have to go along to get along amongst there little narrow group led by the commander and chief narcissist. Yeah I’m talking about the dumocrats at this little theatrical performance today. November will weed out this trash in our government.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
10:23 pm
Hi Kamchak & TnGelding,
Thanks!
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
10:24 pm
TnGelding
Mick
February 25th, 2010
10:34 pm
Jenifer – couldn’t have said it any better-
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:35 pm
Third time is the charm?
It’s not nice to plagiarise.
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
10:38 pm
Jenifer
That 10:14 was quite a piece of writing. I’d have to give you a polite golf clap for that one!!
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
10:39 pm
RW
Just when I thought something meaningful was said… You went and ruined it for me.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
10:40 pm
Out of curiosity, are even ONE of you Libs here tonight concerned about the unsustainable level of spending that is going on in Washington right now?
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:41 pm
SoCo,
When someone that has never written anything like what they suddenly post doesn’t it set off your BS meter? Considering your career choice I would hope it would and if you look at my 10:35 you’ll see that it set off mine.
Good to see you by the way. Do they have doing double duty in the air?
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
10:42 pm
“It’s not nice to plagiarise.”
RW–I knew without a doubt that Jenifer didn’t write that post, and even googled some of the phrases to find the source, but couldn’t track it down. Good detective work.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
10:42 pm
RW
Thanks for the expose’ you win the sherlock holmes revelation of the day..
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:43 pm
Oops! I was still typing when you responded SoCo. I need one of those gizmo’s like Jay B has that let’s me see what people are typing before they post.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:44 pm
Mick,
Is there a prize? I so hate honorary awards….
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
10:45 pm
Alright, I figured it out–just gotta google the whole thing to narrow down the search. The phrase searching creates too many near matches.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:46 pm
Bruno,
S/he did change Bush to Shrub so maybe that counts as original work.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:47 pm
Bruno,
Phrases usually work just fine as long as you put them in quotes.
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
10:48 pm
Out of curiosity, are even ONE of you Libs here tonight concerned about the unsustainable level of spending that is going on in Washington right now?
I’ll let James Galbraith field that one.
It would appear however that apostasy is an acquired taste. In The New American Economy Bruce ladles it out with gusto, and with a message that should cause an entire generation of the American Right true heartburn. The message? That John Maynard Keynes was really one of their own.
John Maynard Keynes? The John Maynard Keynes? How can this possibly be?
Bruce’s dark secret, here exposed, is that he is primarily a historian. He has a keen interest in the musty words of thinkers from a past day, and he actually goes off to read them. A good part of The New American Economy concerns itself with the old American economy–the economy that collapsed in the Depression and that was revived-or, more accurately, rebuilt-in the New Deal.
Though English, Keynes was central to the ferment of New Deal ideas. Bruce here admirably introduces him as, among other things, the greatest enemy communism had in those years. Why? Because Keynes understood that if capitalism were not saved, revolution would result — and because he felt that revolution would be worse. Drastic measures were therefore justified, whatever the business leaders of the day thought. As Bruce notes, this assessment agrees with one made decades back by my father, who characterized FDR’s motives in similar terms.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
10:49 pm
RW
You already own the best prize – busting someone out; but hey if you’re ever in miami the first three rounds are on me..
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
10:50 pm
I never said I did. It expresses my feelings completely, and to me, that’s all that matters.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
10:52 pm
“I need one of those gizmo’s like Jay B has that let’s me see what people are typing before they post.”
Over on the old W2W blog, one of the regulars named JokesOn was able to give the technical explanation of how the blogs go from your keyboard to your own screen then to everyone else’s screens. Because of that sequencing, timing errors sometimes appear in the “final” product. It also explains why some of your own posts can be viewed from your computer, but no one else’s. I believe you previously stated that it was some type of intentional action by the blog when that happens, but it’s not according to JokesOn.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
10:53 pm
jenifer – I inferred that they were your words..take your lumps and move on… I still dig your posts and links..
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
10:53 pm
Mick,
I prefer the West coast having spent all my formative summers around Indian Rocks Beach, but for three rounds I’m there!
/unless you meant Miami, Ohio in which case I’ll see you at the Rally in the Alley in Columbus where they lose all track of that round thing.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
10:54 pm
“I never said I did. It expresses my feelings completely, and to me, that’s all that matters.”
I would say that it’s standard protocol to attribute quotes, even on blogs. To not give any attribution implies that you wrote it yourself. But don’t worry, Jen, your Admiration Society won’t mind a bit, and the conservatives saw through it from the beginning.
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
10:55 pm
Jenifer
Put it in quotes or slanties next time.
It’s not like you are the only one who has done this
Mick
February 25th, 2010
10:57 pm
**conservatives saw through it from the beginning**
Let’s not get carried away and pile on..
RW
Yes its miami FLA.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
10:58 pm
“jenifer – I inferred that they were your words..take your lumps and move on… I still dig your posts and links..”
I can’t help what you infer, and, believe me, there are no lumps.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
10:59 pm
“if you’re ever in miami the first three rounds are on me..”
The first three rounds. Holy Toledo, how many more can you go after that?? Usually one is my limit, two max.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
11:00 pm
Bruno,
I said that there is code that allows the blog server to ban you but make your posts still appear as if they were published and there is. I never said I thought anybody at the AJC was capable of implementing that code.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:00 pm
“It’s not like you are the only one who has done this”
Oh I know, Kamchak, the biggest critics here are the ones who do it regularly.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:01 pm
“I never said I did.”
No quotation marks says you did.
Pitiful.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:02 pm
jenifer – so you are saying that you don’t think your post was misleading or maybe leading one to believe that they were YOUR original thoughts and words?
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:03 pm
“I would say that it’s standard protocol to attribute quotes, even on blogs. To not give any attribution implies that you wrote it yourself. But don’t worry, Jen, your Admiration Society won’t mind a bit, and the conservatives saw through it from the beginning.”
As if I would listen to you, HA!
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:03 pm
RW
In the words of Jesse Jackson, I was trying to “keep hope alive”. I’ve been reading from time to time, but decided to cut back on posting. There’s way too much bitterness here at times. I’m choosing to stay positive and work on keeping us safe. I’ll let the partisans bicker back and forth. Words mean nothing without action to sustain them.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:04 pm
“I can’t help what you infer, and, believe me, there are no lumps.”
Now THAT sounds like the Jen we’ve all grown to know and love.
“Yes its miami FLA.”
Ya know, Mick, about 10 times a year I ask myself, why are you still living in GA and not Miami? I keep hearing that the property taxes and insurance are astronomical compared to GA. I’m still only paying about $1400 property taxes per year in Gwinnett, and a little more in Cobb. My sisters in NJ pay around $6000 to $7000. I have no idea what my sister in San Fran must be paying.
“Let’s not get carried away and pile on..”
Aw, c’mon, Mick, why deny a guy the cheap glory?
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:05 pm
“jenifer – so you are saying that you don’t think your post was misleading or maybe leading one to believe that they were YOUR original thoughts and words?”
What I am saying is the writer’s words perfectly match the way I feel. Now if that’s difficult for you, or anyone else, to deal with, that’s your problem, not mine.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:07 pm
““I never said I did.”
No quotation marks says you did.
Pitiful.”
Boo-hoo! Need a hanky?
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:08 pm
“As if I would listen to you, HA!”
Someone is just itching for a good spanking, I see.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
11:11 pm
SoCo,
Every time I see/hear that my mind heads right to some of the few times SNL is funny anymore. The Jesse stuff never gets old.
Jenifer,
It’s one thing to accidentally post somebody else’s words, it’s another to start accepting compliments on them with no acknowledgment.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
10:23 pm
Hi Kamchak & TnGelding,
Thanks!
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:11 pm
Jenifer – I am disappointed cause when I read that post I was with those thoughts too but I also thought you authored them. If you can’t see why that might matter, well…..
md
February 25th, 2010
11:12 pm
“Ya know, Mick, about 10 times a year I ask myself, why are you still living in GA and not Miami? I keep hearing that the property taxes and insurance are astronomical compared to GA.”
I did a comparison not too long ago and it came out about even if you were still paying income tax since Fl has no state income tax. South Ga coast has a lot of the same benefits as north Fl if one is looking to escape the madness of the atl and put up with a little cooler winter if not still paying tax as the insurance drops significantly north of the St Marys river.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:14 pm
The sad part is she doesn’t get it, or seem to care, oh well.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:15 pm
I will, from time to time, post words that I did not write. If I happen upon something that I agree with, I will post it. If you want to read my posts, please do so. If you don’t want to read my posts, please don’t. It’s as simple as that.
I know many of you do the same, whether you admit it or not. I’m cool with that.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:16 pm
md
Here is the secret of living in miami – don’t! Live on miami beach and RENT. You can get unbelieveable deals for under $1000. No property tax, no insurance, its a renters dream. Plus it full of young, vibrant people who speak english.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:18 pm
“Because Keynes understood that if capitalism were not saved, revolution would result — and because he felt that revolution would be worse.”
Big yawn, Kamchak. For every economist who still believes in Keynesian economic theory/policy, I can show you one who disagrees. In the final analysis, New Deal policies likely extended the Great Depression many years beyond what it should have been if the government hadn’t taken such an intrusive role.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:18 pm
“I know many of you do the same, whether you admit it or not. I’m cool with that.”
Big BS there, Jen. Keep trying.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:19 pm
RW
A double, one more and its a hat trick..
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
11:20 pm
Jenifer,
If it was your personae to post unattributed comments or even excerpt articles without linking it would be viewed as an honest mistake even after your 10:23, but you’re known for almost always spamming the board with links and never adding anything of your own so spare us the “they do it too” BS.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:20 pm
“It’s one thing to accidentally post somebody else’s words, it’s another to start accepting compliments on them with no acknowledgment.”
How could a person accidentally post someone else’s words? Geez…
And Kamchak and TnGelding don’t seem to be upset, so I have to wonder…why are you?
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
11:21 pm
The sad part is she doesn’t get it, or seem to care, oh well.
OH MY GOD!
Jenifer posted something and didn’t acknowledge credit to someone else!
The sadness is ALMOST UNBEARABLE!
WOE IS ME!
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:22 pm
RW
We’ve been sending officers to the Southern border because of all the drug stuff. I haven’t offered my services for that assignment yet, and hopefully they won’t start picking at random. I always tend to get picked for stuff that I don’t want to do. I’ve been brushing up on more Immigration law to boost my chances at becoming an instructor. It takes up a good bit of my free time, but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run. I’ll have to start putting my $.02 more often so people don’t forget about me.
I was trying to pull up Jesse’s green eggs and ham on youtube, but the site isn’t playing well with others this evening.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:23 pm
“Jenifer – I am disappointed cause when I read that post I was with those thoughts too but I also thought you authored them. If you can’t see why that might matter, well…..”
Mick, they were my thoughts as well, that’s why I posted them.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:24 pm
Mick,
If thats the secret, might want to keep it to yourself or you’ll suddenly be overrun by folks from jersey
.
I left the atl awhile back when it kept getting bigger and more congested. Found a nice place (not telling) that actually has a much better (for me) quality of life. Sitting in a car 2-4 hours a day just getting to work was no longer an option. I never thought I’d leave atl, but now wonder what took me so long.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:24 pm
“since Fl has no state income tax.”
Well, I guess that might even things out if I was pulling down YOUR bucks, md. I’m a licensed doc, but non-md.
BTW, J A Solar jumped up .30 to get back above $5.00 today. Made me feel a little better. That First Solar stock has taken a huge beating lately, though. They’re the company that the Chinese government is backing directly.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:25 pm
“The sad part is she doesn’t get it, or seem to care, oh well.
OH MY GOD!
Jenifer posted something and didn’t acknowledge credit to someone else!
The sadness is ALMOST UNBEARABLE!
WOE IS ME!”
Exactly. The crybabies do this all the time, but won’t admit it.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:27 pm
Jenifer – How hard would it have been to say sorry? I think RW was pretty cool the way he brought it to our attention. I guess I’m just old school and will be till I’m extinct. Case closed.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:28 pm
Nice to know my drama is minor compared to the drama king.
Kamchak
February 25th, 2010
11:28 pm
For every economist who still believes in Keynesian economic theory/policy, I can show you one who disagrees.
It’s painfully obvious that you didn’t get or read what Galbraith was talking about. Bruce Bartlett is a supply-sider who wrote a book looking at the history of Keynes from the supply-side point of view.
Geez.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
11:28 pm
SoCo,
Lot’s of people in the agencies I work with have been running A.M. duties even though most of them are more qualified to spot an oak fungus so I was kind of hoping they were sending someone like you, that I trust to know what they’re doing, on these assignments.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:30 pm
“Jenifer – How hard would it have been to say sorry? I think RW was pretty cool the way he brought it to our attention. I guess I’m just old school and will be till I’m extinct. Case closed.”
Why would I say I’m sorry? I’m not. As I said before, if I find words that express my feelings, I will post them. Grow up, Mick.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:31 pm
md
Have a place in melbourne (space coast) great town. Jersey people grumble and threaten to move all the time but never get around to it, thankfully.
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:32 pm
RW
They called up a few of ours too. I don’t know how long it will go on, but I put my name on that list. Haven’t heard the outcome yet.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:32 pm
“Here is the secret of living in miami – don’t! Live on miami beach and RENT. You can get unbelieveable deals for under $1000. No property tax, no insurance, its a renters dream. Plus it full of young, vibrant people who speak english.”
And I keep wondering if the topless beaches full of models would ever get “old”. What say you, Mick?
I had a great time hanging in SoBe in 2008 while on hiatus from work. I hooked up with a Dominican girl that I met online. Quite an experience to say the least…..
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:33 pm
**Grow up, Mick**
really?
md
February 25th, 2010
11:33 pm
“Well, I guess that might even things out if I was pulling down YOUR bucks, md.”
Careful with assumptions, you know the saying.
Self made middle class through and through, and like Mick still appreciate the smaller things in life ( that our newer generations seem to have never learned)
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:35 pm
“**Grow up, Mick**
really?”
Really.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:36 pm
Here’s a musical tribute to Jenifer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2e4NlnLr28
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:37 pm
Bruno
I love miami beach, been going there since high school. Back then it was populated by old retired paeople from up north. Today, it seems perpetually youthful. Still swim in the ocean until I hear the jaws music then I know its time to get out.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:38 pm
Jenifer – OK if you say so…
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:39 pm
md
What do you consider newer generations? I’ve clawed my way up towards a decent middle class level. Did it before I hit 35 too.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:39 pm
SC–Picked up an air marshal as a client recently down in Henry. From the size and skin tone of the guy, at first I thought it might be you. He guessed that you work under Customs since you’re not TSA.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:40 pm
I see the dems are well represented here tonight – Mick (the level headed Blue Dog?) and then the other one.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:42 pm
“Here’s a musical tribute to Jenifer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2e4NlnLr28”
I’m not sorry, but I must say, I do love this song! Thanks.
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:42 pm
Bruno
Yeah, I work under CBP. I was TSA as a screener, but that was a few years ago. I know a few marshals from interactions at the airport. Don’t know if any of them are in Henry though.
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
11:43 pm
SoCo,
I’ve got mixed feelings. If I was on traveling I’d love to know they had you running that route, but otherwise I think too much of you to hope you were there.
/Lefty alert….that sentiment above is packed with at least 12 things that can be attacked, try not to miss any.
Goodnight y’all!
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:43 pm
**(the level headed Blue Dog?) **
Please, I defy any label. The older I get, the more emancipated I am from labels, religion, golf, etc..
md
February 25th, 2010
11:44 pm
sc,
That “newer generations” was a not to well placed play on Mick’s “old school” post.
Smaller things in life like chivalry, manners, common courtesy, etc
RW-(the original)
February 25th, 2010
11:45 pm
And a typo or seven!
G’night
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:46 pm
Don’t think you can miss this cat, SC. I teased him that it might be hard to go incognito with his build. Super nice guy. Played pro ball.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:46 pm
After Rep. Resigns In Sex Scandal, Georgia County Elects GOPer Who Had Affair With Mother-In-Law
This made TPM! Wow! I’m impressed!
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/georgia_county_elects_republican_who_slept_with_mother_in_law.php
md
February 25th, 2010
11:47 pm
“Please, I defy any label. The older I get, the more emancipated I am from labels, religion, golf, etc..”
Whether I’m right or wrong, I see you to the right of the left. Means your more open minded than others on here.
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:49 pm
RW
If I were there, it would be to protect those who keep the economy moving. If I can’t do that, whether in the air or on the ground, we’re in for a long, long economic recovery. I’m just trying to move things along a little faster.
Understood md. I can appreciate anyone young or older who takes charge and do what they have to do to make it.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:50 pm
“I’m not sorry, but I must say, I do love this song! Thanks.”
No prob. I’ll even make you an honorary conservative blogger for a day. Then you can put up anti-Obama links instead.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:52 pm
**I see you to the right of the left.**
No, you misinterpret – I am the chao’s theory – not predictable. Doesn’t matter anyway, I call em like I see um and there are a lot of opinions I respect here but there are far more fools.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:52 pm
“I can appreciate anyone young or older who takes charge and do what they have to do to make it.”
We choose everything we do, seems too many don’t know that.
Jenifer
February 25th, 2010
11:53 pm
“No prob. I’ll even make you an honorary conservative blogger for a day. Then you can put up anti-Obama links instead.”
Never happen. Thanks anyway though.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:53 pm
Quit talking that smack, Mick You’re pinko all the way.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:55 pm
Here’s one of my favorite EJ songs, Jen. Touch a chord with you at all?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tRgYfQ48A0
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:55 pm
What the hell is a pinko?
Southern Comfort
February 25th, 2010
11:56 pm
md
That is a sad fact of life. Personally, I refuse to give anyone control over my life or happiness. If I make it or fail, I want it to be my own doing and not someone elses.
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:57 pm
pinko = commie
Bruno
February 25th, 2010
11:57 pm
But a lovable pinko, Mick.
Mick
February 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
SC
Learned the bass line to a new song this past week “I feel good” by the godfather of soul. The drumming and vocals are the key.
md
February 25th, 2010
11:59 pm
” Personally, I refuse to give anyone control over my life or happiness. If I make it or fail, I want it to be my own doing and not someone elses.”
Need more like you sc, and good luck.
I’m off.
E. Morris
February 26th, 2010
12:02 am
Anything that doesn’t support the current ultra-conservative belief that the government’s sole purpose is to maximize the earning potential of corporations at the expense of the consumer and worker must go!
At some point, the right-wingers forgot that Smith’s view of the free market involved mutually beneficial exchange between producer and consumer, and came to believe that “free market” means “make as much money as possible, by any means necessary”. Even if such a philosophy is ultimately unsustainable…let’s enjoy it while it lasts before our entire economy collapses.
Jenifer
February 26th, 2010
12:02 am
“Here’s one of my favorite EJ songs, Jen. Touch a chord with you at all?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tRgYfQ48A0”
I can’t think of any Elton John I don’t like. Daniel is probably my favorite. Elton’s pure genius.
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:02 am
I can see, very well…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vvRN09HZ_4
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:03 am
Take my word, I’m a Madman, don’t you know…….
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
12:03 am
Mick
If you can “hit it on the one”, you’ll have no problem with any of his stuff. I learned to control my hi-hat listening to him.
md
Thanks for the compliment. I think there’d be more like me if people would open their eyes to the opportunities in front of them.
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
12:04 am
Think I’m gonna take off myself. See y’all later…
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:05 am
Daniel is one of those songs that they played 10 gazillion times when it came out in the 70s. Somehow, I never got tired of it the way I usually might given the overplay.
I’m guessing you were born circa 1960, maybe 1958 given your love of Elvis?
Jenifer
February 26th, 2010
12:06 am
It’s been fun, but I’m hitting the sack. Got a busy day tomorrow. Goodnight all.
Mick
February 26th, 2010
12:07 am
Bruno – I take that as an insult..careful or I might sic vinny or rocco on you then you will be sleeping peacefully with the fishes..
Jenifer
February 26th, 2010
12:08 am
“I’m guessing you were born circa 1960, maybe 1958 given your love of Elvis?”
1953. And I do love Elvis, oh yeah!
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:09 am
LOL @ Mick. Ah, you were from the soft part of Jersey…..
Mick
February 26th, 2010
12:10 am
**soft part of Jersey**
Keep digging your hole, its not personal just business..
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:10 am
How about you, Jen– (in Joe Piscopo voice) I’m from Jersey. You from Jersey? What exit?
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:21 am
Here’s a little gem for the morning crew on the JB blog jsut to get your day off to a great start (press # 7):
http://www.archive.org/details/gd1975-09-28.mtx.seamons.102155.sbeok.flac16
Y’all can thank me later. BTW, does Reporter really get up at 5:30 AM, or is that when he drags in after hitting the bars all night?
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
12:23 am
“If you get confused, listen to the music play……..”
Jerry–forever.
ken
February 26th, 2010
12:51 am
BECAUSE I AM THE PRESIDENT, what an a@@
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 26th, 2010
5:55 am
Backroom dummycrat policy on the front page of the AJC-
Summit fails to bridge divide
Obama says Democrats may push bill through on their own, face voters. -Urinal
They formulated these headlines two weeks ago, just sayin….
TnGelding
February 26th, 2010
6:39 am
ken
February 26th, 2010
12:51 am
Makes you kind of envious, doesn’t it? And also the moderator.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 26th, 2010
5:55 am
Look for a few independent Repubs to take up the cause.
Gordon
February 26th, 2010
6:40 am
Everything should be looked at, but we’re going nowhere until the big 3 entitlement programs are cut. That’s where the big money is. Defense is big, too.
jt
February 26th, 2010
6:41 am
There will be no end as long as people keep voting for the R&D party.
I am sorry to have to report that the 1,000th U.S. soldier has now died in the misnamed Operation Enduring Freedom.
Australia 11
Belgium 1
Canada 140
Czech 3
Denmark 31
Estonia 7
Finland 1
France 40
Germany 34
Hungary 2
Italy 22
Jordan 1
Latvia 3
Lithuania 1
NATO 3
Netherlands 21
Norway 5
Not yet reported 1
Poland 16
Portugal 2
Romania 12
South Korea 1
Spain 28
Sweden 4
Turkey 2
UK 265
US 1007
Ron Paul would stop the madness.
USinUK
February 26th, 2010
6:45 am
g’morning all!
with all due respect, jt … while I’m sure Ron Paul is a nice guy, no one person can just stop this particular madness.
Rightwing Troll
February 26th, 2010
6:55 am
Start at the top with foriegn aid, bigtime. Why do we send bazillions to Israel each year, when we can’t afford our own government?
USinUK
February 26th, 2010
6:58 am
Sorry, folks … I’m a huge fan of foreign aid – I think that the pittance of an investment that we make not only means the difference between life and death for many parts of the world, I think it also helps maintain stability in many countries.
my £0.02.
Normal
February 26th, 2010
7:23 am
Happy Friday, everyone. It’s a Grandkid weekend for me!
I’m sorry I got into this one late, but if the best Congress can do, as Jay says, cut only 5.5% off the budget then we really do need to raise taxes to bring in the revenue. Maybe the conservatives would be good with it if we call it a tithe.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
7:24 am
G’morning, USinUK
To restate my position:
Look at programs with a lot of personnel to administer. They incur not only current year costs but accrue costs (retirement, medical) that will be paid after the person retires and will last until they die. Programs like foreign aid are low down in that respect.
Look at total cost. Defense, agriculture were mentioned earlier and eat great chunks.
Look at programs where growth is built in, such as SS and Medicare. Extend retirement age. Increase taxes.
It’s not difficult, our elected officials know how. They value their careers more than our welfare.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
7:25 am
Normal
God wants a tenth, the government wants three times that. Figures!
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:29 am
Our Jenifer gets a lot of crap, some of it justified, for being overly partisan and argumentative, but her utterly centered, reasonable contribution @ 10.14pm addresses the issues presented in Jay’s post better than anyone else’s, and I just wanted to add my “amen” the the existing chorus.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:30 am
I wasn’t excluding Cons from my “Libs don’t have a clue what to cut.”
Okay, I’ll modify it: they both do. They just won’t, for a variety of reasons. And I’ll wager many voters recognize that – which makes them even more frustrated and angry.
Sure, but the real question I’ve not yet seen answered here is why do Americans get quite so frustrated and angry? Every other functioning nation on Earth has similar governing organizations with their own issues of waste and inefficiency; there isn’t a hierarchical organization anywhere without room for improvement, and those that’ve protected themselves via a cozy relationship with the elected officials that fund them present a special challenge for citizens to keep in check. Everywhere. Not just here in the US.
But why do we Americans get so bat-crap crazy over this? Are we the only citizens who struggle to make ends meet, who try to provide an more viable path to prosperity for our children, who worry about our own retirement, and who wonder if the investment made in public services and infrastructure is really worth it? Of course not; so why does it seem to consume some of us with such irrational anger? Why are those who remain irrationally angry receive such care and feeding from certain echelons of power (and I do not single out the right wing, here–of course the left nurtures its own base similarly when it suits them.)
I do not have an adequate answer for this–I could reach back to our founding documentation, the DoI, that is so feisty and angry, that perhaps certain elements of our citizenry were destined to remain irrational going forward, but I don’t really know if that’s sound reasoning.
Anyone else got something better?
DAVID: AJC Truth Detector
February 26th, 2010
7:33 am
JAY………..I AM A CONCERVATIVE………& the arrogant BOOKMAN….is telling me……how I think…….DON’T NEED AN ARROGANT SOCIALIST LIKE Bookman
ty webb
February 26th, 2010
7:37 am
Standsfordecibels,
you do realize that jenifer lifted that entire comment(10:14) from soemone else without qouting or citing the original author. Makes you wonder if her last name might be Biden.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:38 am
Well damn. scanning the rest of last night’s comments, I see now RW is going to be all over me like ugly on a monkey for not recognizing Jen’s appropriation–of another commenter at some blog, of all things.
C’est le merde. Have at it, RW. Got it coming to me now.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:39 am
oops, sorry, RW, looks like ty beat ya to the punch.
ty webb
February 26th, 2010
7:41 am
std,
that’s alright it’s early.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:41 am
I AM A CONCERVATIVE………& the arrogant BOOKMAN…
I am assuming that this “David” is a member of the Merkin Patriot Fan Club.
Only not anywhere near as funny or accomplished as good ol’ Merkin, of course.
Doggone/GA
February 26th, 2010
7:44 am
“I am assuming that this “David” is a member “…
And I’m wondering if he’ll ever figure out that if he doesn’t like to be told what he “thinks” all he has to do is not read it.
Dave R.
February 26th, 2010
7:44 am
The sad part is that most of us recognized that her post was far too deep to be one she authored. Jenifer is more of the “one-liner with a link” poster who usually can’t put together a couple of sentences to make her point. Just as she showed when she got caught.
jimmy62
February 26th, 2010
7:47 am
Tie SS to life expectancy. Here’s the thing… No matter how you couch it, right now young people who can barely find work are paying for the retirement of baby boomers who have had it historically good. It’s a bad deal for the young, because few of us think we’ll get a dime for SS for ourselves. Tie it to life expectancy, as it was when it was originally created. Do that and we’ll have plenty of money. Till the public sector pensions explode, since cities and states across the country are seriously underfunded.
Notice the similarity of these two financial albatrosses around our neck? Both created and run by politicians and their bureaucrat lackeys. And both are about taking money from young people, in one case to give it to the old, and in the other to give it to government workers. Either way, it’s taking from the young to give to people who didn’t earn it.
USinUK
February 26th, 2010
7:49 am
hey Paul – feel like we haven’t chatted in ages! did you ever try that bread recipe???
I agree that top-heavy programs need to either be cut or “severly pruned” –
as you’ve no doubt heard me say before – the biggest problem is that the government agencies aren’t incented to cut their budgets from year to year (use it or lose it)
v racer
February 26th, 2010
7:51 am
You cut them because it is the right thing to do.
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
7:53 am
Normal
To piggyback on Paul’s, isn’t a tithe 10%? I don’t think the government would stop at just 10%, do you? Also, you’re going to be castigated for trying to confuse a tithe with a tax. That’s blasphemy!!!
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:54 am
And I’m wondering if he’ll ever figure out that if he doesn’t like to be told what he “thinks” all he has to do is not read it.
DGA, I really don’t think “David” actually hates Jay or the AJC. I think it’s parody.
Only it’s not very good, because it’s about the same thing every time. What makes Redneck Convert funny (to me, anyway, I realize he’s an acquired taste) is that he addresses the issues being raised and uses conservative talking points to diminish those same talking points in a manner fitting of a Colbert (or, if you will, a Sacha Baron Cohen.)
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:55 am
you’re going to be castigated for trying to confuse a tithe with a tax. That’s blasphemy!!!
It is? I doubt the original tithes were any more voluntary than modern day taxes.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:57 am
most of us recognized that her post was far too deep to be one she authored.
I think you went too far with the “far.” It was lifted from someone else’s stream-of-consciousness post to another newspaper’s opinion page, so it wasn’t completely out of character; which is my elongated way of saying forgive me for not recognizing the appropriation. I’m typically a far more cunning linguist.
.
.
(yeah, I hadda.)
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
7:58 am
Tie SS to life expectancy.
it is; it always has been.
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
7:59 am
Valid point, sfd…
Normal
February 26th, 2010
8:01 am
SoCo, how have you been? As for being castigated, I’ve been there for less.
Jay
February 26th, 2010
8:01 am
sfd, David is real, as is his anger.
Well
February 26th, 2010
8:01 am
Y’all quit talking about me.
Well
February 26th, 2010
8:02 am
Tie SS to life expectancy
You should get paid ’til you die.
El Jefe
February 26th, 2010
8:02 am
By taking it one small step at a time.
First off – All Congressmen, elected officials (except the President and Vice-President) all appointed officials shall be paid the median income of the United States. If the Country does well, they might do better.
Rightwing Troll
February 26th, 2010
8:03 am
“Sorry, folks … I’m a huge fan of foreign aid – I think that the pittance of an investment that we make not only means the difference between life and death for many parts of the world, I think it also helps maintain stability in many countries.”
But we need to take of our own country first, prosperity now, aid to others later. We simply can’t do it the other way around.
And, I actually believe DAVID is for real, a fine example of an educated “conservative”, angry now because he is told to be angry now, not angry from 2000 to 2008 because he was told NOT to be angry then… a true CONCERVITIVE if I’ve ever seen one…
Gerald West
February 26th, 2010
8:05 am
The deficit whiners are unthinking people being led on by fat-cat, Fox-style commentators. The true target of their hatred is not the deficit, but rather deficit spending by an administration headed by a mixed-race president.
There was nary a peep from the whiners when President Reagan initiated big-time, continuing deficits, and not much of a whimper when President Bush ended his term with a $22 trillion world-wide blowout, a $12 trillion national debt, and a $1.2 trillion annual budget deficit.
The deficit whiners are unable to cite any specific spending cuts that would bring the federal budget into balance. Every presidential candidate promises to cut spending and balance the budget if elected; none has succeeded in doing so. That’s because the non-essential spending is miniscule in comparison to the deficit.
There is no acceptable way to contain the budget deficit by spending cuts. The only tenable course of action is to grow the economy to cover necessary and proper federal expenditures. President Clinton, with the help of some Republicans in Congress, managed it in 7 years. Perhaps President Obama, with some Congressional support, could do it in the next 7 years. It’s our only hope!
America is falling behind and falling apart; the deficit whiners are accelerating the rush to ruin.
Well
February 26th, 2010
8:05 am
Rename all taxes as fees. Democrats will be happy with the semantics as will Republicans and we can all finally continue on our journey to achieve world peace before the end times.
Dave R.
February 26th, 2010
8:05 am
This post of mine has been awaiting moderation since 9:52 last night, but I think I found out why and changed a word:
If you don’t start by cutting the cost of programs such as Social Security, Medicare and the military and claim them as “untouchable”, you doom this country to fail within 50 years.
You cannot continue to have the producers of wealth carry the non-producers and expect that scenario to continue. At some point, the producers will stop creating wealth when they see that their efforts are no longer going to their pockets, but to others. It is the same scenario with so-called “sin” taxes. Eventually, the revenue stream you relied upon goes away because it gets too expensive to continue the “sin”, which is what you ultimately planned for. But the government never planned for the reduction in revenue as the “sins” decreased.
You can tiptoe all around this issue, but you cannot increase taxes enough to offset the spending and debt you have already incurred, and you cannot cut enough out of the budget unless you start to reform SS, medicare and military spending.
And this country won’t last another 50 years if we don’t face this reality now.
Rightwing Troll
February 26th, 2010
8:06 am
“It is? I doubt the original tithes were any more voluntary than modern day taxes.”
You are correct sir. The Church used to levy taxes like the Gubbimint does now, it was not voluntary, and it wasn’t put to the greater good.
You used to be able to simply buy your salvation, well, actually you still can, just send your SS check to the crying lady with the pink hair…
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
8:06 am
Normal
All is well here. I’ve been busy as usual. It’s hard trying to keep up with the blog sometimes. I’ll give you the rundown later on some time.
Jay
Might I suggest anger management classes for David. Either that, or give him the box set for the Incredible Hulk tv series. That show helped me learn to control my anger. Dude’s gonna have a Cheney or something.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:08 am
sfd, David is real, as is his anger.
well that certainly sucks.
Bud Wiser
February 26th, 2010
8:08 am
So you morons all goo and ahh over Jenifer’s “original” comments last night?
That was the most pitiful cut and paste garbage I have ever read, not to mention that the words flowed just a little too smoothly from such a previously angry, partisan, not-too-bright source.
You idiots will buy anything.
I’d offer you some swamp land in Florida, but I don’t own any…. besides, being a citizen from the state of Florida, you have to have a giant “MORON” tattoo on your forehead.
Dave R.
February 26th, 2010
8:09 am
Yes! Amazing what changing a word that resembles a cat’s foot to “tiptoe” can do on this blog . . .
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:10 am
You cannot continue to have the producers of wealth carry the non-producers and expect that scenario to continue.
again, this type of irrational nonsense–why do we coddle it in this country?
taxes as a percentage of GDP are rather low in the US compared to other nations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_as_percentage_of_GDP
Of course we can “expect that scenario to continue”–if these precious “producers” decide they’re actually going to emigrate to another nation, they’ll likely be forking over just as much if not more in taxes in their new home. You’re tilting at windmills, here.
Doggone/GA
February 26th, 2010
8:11 am
“Y’all quit talking about me”
Can’t be helped…after all, you’re a deep subject
Keep up the good fight!
February 26th, 2010
8:12 am
SFD, as always, when logical argument and discussion will not win the day, attack the speaker. Yes, Jenifer should have attributed her quote. Does that mean that the words have less import or are not valid? Absolutely not. The fact that they do not address them or Jay’s words demonstrates their weaknesses, just as the Republicants came to a round table yesterday rehearsed with a point of NO….start over and demonstrated to the American people that they would only continue to block for another 50 years the desires of the American people. They whine about wanting to be at the table then when they get there all they can do is demand “start over” and rejected Democratic overtures that said “we’ve adopted a number of Republican ideas, so lets discuss the issues.”
And isn’t it great when they purportedly quote founding fathers for their points, out of context and twisted for their purposes.
You cannot negotiate in good faith when the Republicants have an agenda of stopping anything, even the ideas they supposedly supported and have been shown to be hypocritical.
Keep up the good fight!
February 26th, 2010
8:14 am
Sorry SFD, that seems to attack and it is meant to support you in your support for the words posted by jenifer. Sorry for not being more precise in editing.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:15 am
changing a word that resembles a cat’s foot
huh? I am pretty sure I’ve called the likes of Reid and Bachus “pussies” in the past and had the post live to tell the tale.
Bob
February 26th, 2010
8:15 am
I can think od about 787billion in cuts. Since they had to pass a second stimulus the first must not be working to well.
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:16 am
Keep foreign aid. But send it to places that need help. Israel is well able to help themselves. Other countries don’t need our money to buy guns when their people are starving. Send business and agricultural advisors. The majority of people on this planet are subsistance farmers and live in poverty. Reducing poverty helps stablize political situations.
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
8:16 am
EJ
That 8:02 sounds pretty sensible to me. I could go for something like that. I’d even add that they should receive merit pay. The better they perform, the better they get paid. If they can’t accomplish anything, they don’t get paid.
Peadawg
February 26th, 2010
8:16 am
“Does that mean that the words have less import or are not valid? ”
When she took credit at the beginning before someone ratted her out…then no it’s not valid.
Dave R.
February 26th, 2010
8:17 am
sfd, are you not reading the stories about how company after company are just shutting doors rather than trying to continue to business in this climate? Do you not listen to the complaints of those who are just giving up about government interference, regulations and taxes?
It is not just taxes, but all the regulatory garbage and interference that everybody who owns a business has to deal with. And this economy just makes it worse.
No tilting at windmills here. Just cold, hard reality.
ty webb
February 26th, 2010
8:18 am
me thinks “keep up the good fight!” and jenifer may be one in the same as evidenced by the use of the word “republicant”. If they’re not the same person, then maybe they’re sharing the same brain.
@@
February 26th, 2010
8:20 am
what an a@@
Why thank you ken….lunges and squats.
Jenifer:
Why just the other night you were accusing me of spewing without attribution. At least I try. When I fail, I usually come back with the source.
(ISH) S=snicker
Paul
February 26th, 2010
8:20 am
G’morning, sfd 7:30
I think it may be a question of scale. Lots of families use credit cards. Lots carry a balance. Now talk to a spouse whose partner’s run up $50k in debt on an income of $35k. There comes a point when people hit the tipping point. What’s going on in Greece, Ireland and Portugal – where the countries have been forced to come to terms with their excessive debt – it illustrative.
Hi there, USinUK!
Been gone visiting a 2-week old grandson (okay, his parents, too!). . Just back last night. Stopped at the store on the way home for bread ingredients!
HEY! Where’s Bosch?!!? Dem Representative & Chairman of House Ways and Means Charlie Rangel finally admitted he’s a crook! Well, kinda…. seems he thinks it’s not his fault to accept bribes from lobbyists if his staff is stupid -
Well
February 26th, 2010
8:20 am
sfd, are you not reading the stories about how company after company are just shutting doors rather than trying to continue to business in this climate?
If we could only eliminate climate.
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:20 am
I think you guys are making too much of Jennifer’s quote. It is an anonymous blog. It isn’t as if she or any of us will receive Pulizers for our contributions. (Well, Jay could, I suppose.) Just take the words at face value and stop worrying about personalities. We will all get more out of the blog.
david wayne osedach
February 26th, 2010
8:21 am
Just imagine if we stopped all foreign aid. Every last dime. How terrifyingly worse things would be in Haiti right now.
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
8:21 am
Big cyberwave to USinUK. You’re back off my sh$t list–for now.
When you get a chance, maybe you can explain to some of your liberal cohorts why plagiarizing entire passages isn’t kosher, even on a blog.
Southern Comfort
February 26th, 2010
8:22 am
Well, y’all have fun spewing and getting moderated. It’s time for my morning coffee. See y’all later.
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:25 am
Hi Bruno, I guess you and I differ on the issue of quotes on blogs. I just follow the ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ line.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
8:26 am
@@
First we had In the News – lots of slanted posts, no comments. Then we had Mrs. Godzilla – less posts, added her original thoughts. Then Granny Godzilla with the announcement of the newbie. Now Jenifer – almost a neoIntheNews – waaaaay out there with some of the Mrs. G good commentary thrown in to keep people off balance.
So notice, no ITN, Mrs G or GG anymore…. but we have: Jenifer! Kinda like a reverse-evolutionary resurrection thing?
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:27 am
sfd, are you not reading the stories about how company after company are just shutting doors rather than trying to continue to business in this climate? Do you not listen to the complaints of those who are just giving up about government interference, regulations and taxes?
No, I am not not (did I get that right?) reading the stories; I try to keep up with the binness pages. However, anecdote /= data. I see nothing to suggest that America is uniquely hostile to business in general.
And most of the complaining I read on the Internets concerns the horrible, dreadful, OH NOES prospect of maybe raising the top marginal income tax rates to what they were under Clinton. Which really is a separate argument; I don’t think that’d impact actual business development one whit.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:28 am
oops. forgot to apply Teh Slanties to Dave R.’s quote @ my 8.27.
godless heathen
February 26th, 2010
8:28 am
I could cut the Federal Budget by 25% before lunch.
1690 Federal DOT employees make over $170,000 per year. I would start there. Cut them all to $100,000 or less. What are they going to do, go get real jobs?
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:30 am
I totally get that it is nice to develop relationships in a blog. What I don’t get is dwelling on the posts of people you disagree with. It really should not matter that someone changes their online name. We know there are trolls that do that. (Not saying Jennifer is a troll.) But if you don’t like a post, ignore it and get back to an interesting line of conversation.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:30 am
I can think od about 787billion in cuts.
Bob, are you going to give back the tax cut you received, as well, as part of that 787 billion?
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
8:32 am
“Hi Bruno, I guess you and I differ on the issue of quotes on blogs. I just follow the ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ line.”
In a way, I agree with you, Gale. I don’t take blogging quite as seriously as many here do. The brouhaha last night came about because the poster in question not only didn’t attribute the quote, but accepted congratulations on the brilliance of the post without any acknowledgment that the words were authored by someone else. Beyond that, it was just a lot of fun to razz her.
md
February 26th, 2010
8:32 am
Merit pay for congresspeople?
Only if it has a clawback provision.
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:33 am
Got it, Bruno. Thanks for enlightening me.
Keep up the good fight!
February 26th, 2010
8:35 am
Peadawg, are you capable of reasoned thought before you spew? Again, you attack the poster but not the thoughts or logic. So you are not for smart government? Which part of those words are invalid as to their import?
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:35 am
I could cut the Federal Budget by 25% before lunch.
1690 Federal DOT employees make over $170,000 per year. I would start there. Cut them all to $100,000 or less. What are they going to do, go get real jobs?
Let’s see–so you’ve managed to save a whopping 118 million.
You’ve got a ways to go. Unless you believe that our total budget is about 600 million dollars, in which case, go ahead and break for lunch.
Peadawg
February 26th, 2010
8:36 am
“So you are not for smart government?”
Of course I’m for smart government, geeze. I’m against plagiarizing and taking credit for a thought that wasn’t her own. Get it?
Bruno
February 26th, 2010
8:38 am
“Got it, Bruno. Thanks for enlightening me.”
Have a great day, Gale. I always enjoy your level-headed opinions.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 26th, 2010
8:39 am
SHOCK CNN POLL: MAJORITY SAY GOV’T THREAT TO RIGHTS…
Yeah, shocking to those at CNN, maybe.
The rest of us already know this.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
8:41 am
Gale
Might want to think about all the assumptions in your 8:30 -
ken R
February 26th, 2010
8:43 am
It’s a start.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
8:44 am
It’s not health care reform – it’s a jobs bill. 4 million, 400,000…. what’s the difference?
I think Spkr Pelosi’s trying to match VP Biden.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/02/25/pelosi_health_reform_will_create_400000_jobs_almost_immediately.html
md
February 26th, 2010
8:44 am
“Let’s see–so you’ve managed to save a whopping 118 million.”
Have to start somewhere. When congress considers several billion to be a rounding error, we got problems.
stands for decibels
February 26th, 2010
8:44 am
SHOCK CNN POLL: MAJORITY SAY GOV’T THREAT TO RIGHTS…
A modest proposal:
could we please please please ban people who copy/paste Sludge Report headlines?
And with that, I’m off to produce. Later, kids
Tall
February 26th, 2010
8:47 am
Mr. Bookman does raise a good question. Saxby Chambliss recently argued against closing an underused Dunwoody USPS branch. Neither side will want to make the hard choices. The currency and bond markets will do that for them(us). Recent activity in the Treasury bond auctions suggest a total lack of interest from foreign buyers. What this means is that if no one will buy U.S. soverign debt to fund the Federal Government’s spending, the Treasury will have to print money to pay for it. That results in a debased currency and runaway inflation until the bitter steps are taken to control it.
The situation in Greece, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain…is just an appetizer for what lies ahead in this country. California is in such bad shape that even Mexico won’t take it back.
There is a telling photo in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. A group of protestors is urging the Illinois state legislature to raise revenues in order to protect entitlement programs. I suspect the protestors don’t want their taxes raised. Clinging to our Second Amendment rights, as President Obama hinted, may be a good idea.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
8:48 am
sfd
Drudge merely copied and pasted CNN’s headline. You want to ban CNN?
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:49 am
Paul, I tend to be an idealist. I tend to take what people say at face value. Some might call me gullible. I do not think we have all that many different people posting what seem to be similar opinions. But then again, who am I to say there are not people who share opinions and even verbiage used to make their points. I either do or do not agree with the comment.
Gale
February 26th, 2010
8:51 am
Like dB, I have to leave to do real work. Have fun.
Keep up the good fight!
February 26th, 2010
8:54 am
Peadawg, still dont see your ironic twists. But since we agree on smart government with smart regulations (which means more when needed and effective enforcement of regulations), then you must be against helping those who have lost jobs and need food to feed their families. Or are you also for those programs too?
Paul
February 26th, 2010
8:55 am
Gale
I’ve had a bit of fun when Jenifer popped up and others dropped out. No need to assume dark motives or make anything serious out of it.
stw
February 26th, 2010
8:57 am
JAY: Congratulations, its seems as if everyone who subscribes to the AJC has blogged you today. Has the papers circulation topped 2,500 ??
godless heathen
February 26th, 2010
9:00 am
“Let’s see–so you’ve managed to save a whopping 118 million.”
But it only took 10 secs.
USinUK
February 26th, 2010
9:03 am
g’morning, Bruno!! hope you’re doing well
(and I’m glad to hear I’m off your list … )
RWT – “But we need to take of our own country first, prosperity now, aid to others later. We simply can’t do it the other way around”
considering the teeeeeeeniny amount that goes to Foreign Aid, I suggest to you that we DO help our own first
godless heathen
February 26th, 2010
9:07 am
118 million here, 118 million there. Pretty soon we are talking about real money,
Why should a recession be a time of unprecedented prosperity for Federal workers?
Kamchak
February 26th, 2010
9:07 am
The situation in Greece, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain…is just an appetizer for what lies ahead in this country.
Nope. That particular business is behind us.
As in the American subprime crisis and the implosion of the American International Group, financial derivatives played a role in the run-up of Greek debt. Instruments developed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and a wide range of other banks enabled politicians to mask additional borrowing in Greece, Italy and possibly elsewhere.
Paul
February 26th, 2010
9:14 am
Kamchak
Are you saying we don’t have a continuing debt crisis caused by appropriating far more than revenues because the subprime issue has passed?
Kamchak
February 26th, 2010
9:43 am
Kamchak
Are you saying we don’t have a continuing debt crisis caused by appropriating far more than revenues because the subprime issue has passed?
No, I am saying that Greece is only now coming to grips with the impetus of their current crisis. We’ve known for a while, and I believe that a large part of the Tea Party anger is driven by this, but that anger has been artfully diverted.
samuel
February 26th, 2010
9:54 am
For Republicans and conservatives concerned about budget deficits and national debt: http://www.omb.gov. After that, “Hstorical Tables”. After that Tables 1.3, 7.1 and 10.1. I’ll trust you conservatives to make your own conclusions. You can’t dispute facts.
reasonable
February 26th, 2010
12:09 pm
Having been away awhile, its nice to see that things have not changed. For the sake of sanity can we agree on certain definitions and facts in this discussion?
First, a deficit is merely where the budget’s expenses outpace its revenues for a year. At the risk of riling up some folks, there are times when running a deficit is a good thing, when the economy has turned sour, war, to pay for long term investments, etc: There are other times when a deficit is a bad thing, in a booming economy, repeated year in and year out deficits, deficts that are structural and lead to heavy loans to meet on-going obligations.
The real issue here is the long term debt encurred by the government. That is what economists are addressing when they talk about percent of GDP, the burden for future generations and the fears of lenders. You could balance the budget tomorrow and that would not change this underlying reality. Only surpluses such as we saw in 1999-2000 which could be applied to the debt will actually lower the debt percentage of GDP. Unfortunately, both parties have neglected the boom part of reduced spending to build up surpluses.
Anyone who has read Keynes’s work recognizes that he advocated cutting government expenditures or enhancing revenue in good times to build surpluses and increasing spending and cutting taxes in bad times to pump additional money into the economy. Its called countercyclical thory and was at the heart of his economic theory. Unfortunately, its good in theory but bad in practice as it is politically very difficult to increase revenues and cut spending in good times, a failing that both parties have exhibited since the 1980s.
This matters a great deal because too much focus on annual federal budget deficits rather than the underlying long term debt that has build up over many years and administrations masks the structural issues. That is why you hear economists talk of bending the cost curve and in 10 to 20 year cycles. Addressing this issue is not simply a matter of dealing with a budgetary deficit. Given the small percentage of discretionary funds available for cutting and the large amounts locked up in entitlement areas, the danger to the economy of sudden sharp yearly shifts in such a large economic entity as the federal budget, and the reality that the debt can not be addressed in a simple one shot deal, any changes will have to be gradual and directed toward reducing the long term expenditure picture.
Jay
February 26th, 2010
2:20 pm
M Percy, 2000 remains the appropriate base year, because Bush made his tax cuts retroactive to 2001. Therefore, 2000 was the last year before those cuts took effect.
However, let’s go ahead and use 2001 as the base. By then, the dot-com collapse had already occurred, which removes that excuse. Even then, gov’t revenue still did not recover to that 2001 level until 2006, five years later, and again it wasn’t by much.
Of course, the numbers I use in this post and the previous post take inflation into account. In other words, they reflect real revenue gain, not false revenue gain created by inflation. I used the same inflation-adjusted dollars in the Clinton-era numbers. Using the raw, unadjusted numbers would have made the Clinton post-tax-increase revenue growth even more impressive.
I took no issue with the spending figures. The discussion was about the claim that cutting taxes increases revenue, which it does not.
Jay
February 26th, 2010
2:41 pm
MPercy, explain your thinking for using 2003 as your base year.
2000 was the last year before the tax cuts.
2001 is the year of the tax cuts, and also is after the dot.com bust had played out. So I could see a logicial argument for it.
I see no logical argument for choosing 2003 as your base year.
And don’t you agree that using inflation-adjusted dollars is the only valid way to gauge it?
Stew Day
February 26th, 2010
11:12 pm
What our founding fathers never envisioned was a US government for the world–in charge of taking care of other countrys–let’s take care of our own problems first–Cut cut cut cut until we actually resemble a functioning government.
JB
March 2nd, 2010
12:51 pm
To Report @7:03 pm:
Wow, would love to see those highways and airports you built all by yourself in private-land without massive taxpayer dollars and oil subsidies…