CNN poll finds — surprise!! — a divided country
CNN released a new poll last week with some interesting numbers. For example, pollsters asked whether it would be good or bad for the country that Republicans will control the U.S. House of Representatives: 51 percent said it will be good, 42 percent said it will be bad.
That would seem to be pretty good news for the GOP. However, CNN also asked a similar question in 2006, when Democrats took over the House. Four years ago, 67 percent said the Democratic takeover would be good for the country, and only 24 percent said it would be bad. So voters are a lot less optimistic about the impact of GOP control.
But that’s just liberal CNN, right? Well, not quite. It turns out that CNN also asked that question after the 1994 takeover of the House by Newt Gingrich and the Republicans. In that poll, 50 percent of Americans said the GOP takeover would be good for the country, while just 26 percent said it would be bad.
So it seems that House Republicans in 2011 face an unusual amount of public skepticism about their leadership.
The latest CNN poll also asked voters whether they hoped President Obama’s policies would succeed or fail. Overall, 61 percent said they hoped his policies would succeed; 27 percent admitted they hoped his policies failed. The breakdown by party affiliation was stark:
Republicans are rooting against Obama’s success (27/61 percent) while the country as a whole is rooting for him by an identical margin (61/27 percent). (The breakdown by region was also interesting. The percentage hoping that Obama’s policies would work was by far lowest in the South (52 percent).)
That raises an obvious question: How do Republican hopes for an Obama failure compare to Democratic hopes for a failure by President Bush? I dug around a bit, and discovered that in August 2006, Fox News pollsters had asked that very question.
Survey says:
– Jay Bookman
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489 comments Add your comment
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
2:52 pm
Common
“Only his ancestry is questionable”
And now here you go trying to bring evolution into it! Troublemaker…
Del
December 30th, 2010
2:53 pm
Scout, I enlisted a few years before the S.H.T.F. At that time Congress was all worked up about recruit maltreatment at MCRD P.I. and San Diego. Some of the grand standing Congressman during that era swore up and down that they were going to change Marine Corps training culture. It has never happened and won’t happen to any aspect of traditional culture regardless of how many bills are passed for whatever reason. Congress would have to disband the Marine Corps and that has been tried before with zero success. Politicians put their trousers on one leg at a time like the rest of us, so they’ll die too just like the rest of us but the Corps will continue to live in the same way it has since November 10, 1775. Never give up, Never say die…Semper Fi
Finn McCool
December 30th, 2010
2:54 pm
Republicans will be MUCH happier wiping Boehner’s tears away for the next 2 years!
ANY other Congressmen: “Somebody – please – get – that – man – a – hanky.”
Boehner: “Oh, thank you Nancy, very kind of you…..”
Paulo977
December 30th, 2010
2:55 pm
ApostasyUSA
“Liberals who, ironically enough, are usually the only types of leaders in government who have ever done good things for the majority of the people of the United States of America.” OF COURSE!
The irony is that republicans make use of the benefits happily !
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
2:56 pm
Josef
He did say he was going to Lower Al. for New Years (for some reason he thinks it’s kinda like Vegas LOL)
So I figure he will be visitin relations. So he can ask them where his long form BC is.
And whether or not his parents were related at birth LOL
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
2:56 pm
JohnnyReb
“San Franciso has announced completion of free WiFi in all their public housing”
Is that for each apartment or for specific locations within the complex?
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2010
2:58 pm
“Is that for each apartment or for specific locations within the complex?”
If it’s WiFi – it’s going to be “hotspots” scattered around. “Wi” stands for “wireless” – so it doesn’t need to be in each apartment.
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
2:58 pm
BADA
He’ll be looking into alligator and muskrat futures!
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
3:00 pm
JReb
Atlanta could claim to have free WiFi in all their public housing complexes too. All one has to do is jack the signal from Clear.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:01 pm
Vinny
December 30th, 2010
12:15 pm
Jay,
Furthermore, didn’t Obama state more or less that he would unite the country? That didn’t work out very well now, did it?
As long as smart people such as yourself follow Lord Limbaugh’s edicts, then nothing will get done. If the workplace conducted it’s affairs that way, you would receive a pink slip for listening to someone who isn’t your supervisor. Unless, you work for a company that condones not respecting your BLACK supervisor. Hey, America IS run like that. Even though kunservatives tried to make us hate France, they continue to corner the market on SABOTAGE!
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
3:01 pm
Doggone
Thanks for the clarification…all this stuff is w-a-a-y beyond me.
If that’s the case, it may not be such a bad idea, speaking as a teacher now…
Finn McCool
December 30th, 2010
3:02 pm
Paolo is right,
Democrats make use of federal benefits and support them
Republicans make use of federal benefits and bitch about them and call users “leeches”.
Del
December 30th, 2010
3:03 pm
Scout,
Most who went to Vietnam were volunteers. I believe it was close to 80%. Of those who received their draft notice and went through the induction process there probably were some who purposely failed the test in order to avoid service.
HDB
December 30th, 2010
3:04 pm
HAPPY NEW YEAR, all!!
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:05 pm
Josef – now that the wifi will be in place they won’t have any EXCUSE not to learn. Also no more the dog ate my homework and we had to eat the dog (new republican plan to feed the hungry)
LOL
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2010
3:06 pm
“it may not be such a bad idea, speaking as a teacher now”
WiFi is a pretty good idea, but it’s a problem looking for a solution. It is NOT secure (even though it’s supposed to be) – as people have sadly found out when their data was stolen as it was transmitted. I use it when I travel, but I don’t access things like my bank account. I don’t access stuff like that on my cell phone either. And that’s why I will always have a land line.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 30th, 2010
3:07 pm
Scout from earlier
On unity during WWII. Point taken but I believe that period is as close as we’ll ever come to “unity”, for any period of a few years.
The thing we need most is a media outlet that minimizes the partisanship, and relays facts. It might be boring to watch, but that’s what we need. There’s far too much opinion being passed as factual news nowadays.
I’d agree with that but there’s no money in it, so we aren’t likely to see it.
He still hasn’t answered the question about how buying and selling stocks helps the companies creates jobs.
I still haven’t figured out how stocks have anything to do with the company, after the initial IPO.
He’ll be looking into alligator and muskrat futures!
I wouldn’t think alligators and/or muskrats would have much of a future, anywhere near the Gulf Coast.
As to the country being as seriously divided now as it’s ever been, I just don’t agree with that. We’ve fought 2 1/2 civil wars already and we’re aren’t close to going there, yet.
Jay
December 30th, 2010
3:07 pm
JohnnyReb, I for one won’t support such a bailout.
The only conditions under which such a thing should even be considered is AFTER state officials make the difficult spending/revenue decisions to put them back on the road to solvency. Once that’s done, if they need a temporary loan at market rates to see them through the short term (see the New York City example at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947546,00.html ), I might consider it.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:08 pm
Paulo977
December 30th, 2010
2:55 pm
ApostasyUSA
“Liberals who, ironically enough, are usually the only types of leaders in government who have ever done good things for the majority of the people of the United States of America.” OF COURSE!
The irony is that republicans make use of the benefits happily !
Paulo,republicans don’t partake in handouts and government assistance,until they need it!!!! Why do kunservatives hate that minorities do the same thing when they NEED to? H-A-T-E-R-A-T-I-O-N=The act of hating at all costs. Also see republican.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
3:11 pm
Del
It wasn’t as high as 80%…
http://www.vvof.org/factsvnv.htm
Draftees vs. Volunteers:
25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees. (66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII.)
Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.
http://www.mrfa.org/vnstats.htm
Draftees vs. volunteers: 25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees. (66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII)
Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.
Those sites have some interesting facts that I was not aware of about Vietnam. I had an uncle who served as a Marine over there. He never once mentioned it before he died.
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2010
3:12 pm
“Also no more the dog ate my homework ”
No…now it’s the aether ate my homework!
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
3:15 pm
common
That was what I was thinking, but I hadn’t considered the Republican plan to feed the hungry…
Doggone…
I’m pretty much like you on the information on the computer…I like all this new stuff, I just don’t trust it…of course, Unmentionable says I still don’t think Gutenberg was such a good idea!
Hillbilly
“I wouldn’t think alligators and/or muskrats would have much of a future, anywhere near the Gulf Coast.”
There’s that, too…
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:15 pm
Kunservatives!
How would you describe a LIBERAL who uses his daddy’s influence to get
a temporary gig in the Nat’l Guard to avoid active duty in Vietnam?
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
3:16 pm
My point on the WiFi in public housing is, how can a city who can’t meet their contractual financial obligations justify spending money to put WiFi in public housing? If the city was rolling in the green, yes, but they are not. They continue to make stupid decisions. If the Federal Govnmt bails them out, then everyone else pays for their bad decisions, plus they won’t change. They must be forced to change.
I agree with Jay @ 3:07.
Del
December 30th, 2010
3:17 pm
SoCo,
Many did what was called the voluntary draft. A significant majority did volunteer and it was close to 80% counting those in the volunteer draft.
False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR)
December 30th, 2010
3:19 pm
Happy New Years Jay and Everyone!
BTW RB – I like the word anosognosia. It’s kinda like “active stupid”.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
3:20 pm
Del
I think those sights count voluntary drafts as drafts. I haven’t seen a breakdown that divided voluntary drafts from other draftees. I tip my hat to all you guys and ladies who served over there, regardless of whether it was voluntary or not. Not too many get to stare into the eyes of hell and live to tell about it.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:23 pm
JohnnyReb
Think about it,before you can get on to a hotspot in most scenarios,you have to have a PASSWORD. Suppose there is no such restriction with this service,and the “trash” of the neighborhood logged on to communicate with other “trash”.Who says Uncle Sam(a white man who has NOTHING to do with Barack Obama) can’t/won’t use his powers to KEEP AMERICA SAFE?
That should make kunservatives feel good about themselves,no need for nooses or klan robes!!!! You would love it,admit it!!
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
3:24 pm
All the Republicans have to do to win over the hearts and souls of their constituency is to cut taxes while raising revenues while keeping social security as is while eliminating the new healthcare legislation while getting rid of illegal immigrants while fighting untold new wars while getting jobs for everyone while implementing tort reform while campaigning for 2012… amongst other things. Piece of cake.
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
3:24 pm
JohnnyReb
@ 3:16
Thanks…now I understand your objection better…again, as a teacher, I see it as a good investment.
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
3:26 pm
Jay, I don’t see raising taxes in New York a workable option for them this time. They, like California, continue to run rich citizens and businesses out of the city/state due to taxes/fees. I have not verified, but on one of the talk radio shows it was stated that 1 percent of New York taxpayers are paying 50 percent of the taxes.
getalife
December 30th, 2010
3:27 pm
Divided we failed.
Happy New Year.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
How would you describe a LIBERAL who uses his daddy’s influence to get
a temporary gig in the Nat’l Guard to avoid active duty in Vietnam?
Most everybody I knew back then, who had strings to pull, pulled them to get out of going to Vietnam, regardless of their politics or even if they had no political beliefs at all. No group had a monopoly on that.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
TaxPayer@3:24 pm
Piece of cake and another tax cut
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
“it was stated that 1 percent of New York taxpayers are paying 50 percent of the taxes”
What percentage of the monetary resources do they control? What the percentage of the population is means nothing. If they control 50% of the monetary resources they SHOULD be paying at least 50% of the taxes.
Darwin
December 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
Republicans want Obama to fail? Now really….
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:30 pm
HD@3:28 pm
Dan Quayle?
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
3:32 pm
Josef, if the city/state gives laptops to the school children in the public housing, then yes there is opportunity for good. However, it would be “good” if the city can meet their pension obligations, which they cannot. Difficult decisions must be made. Unfortunately, those decisions should have been no WiFi and renegotiation of pension contracts before forced to do so under bankruptcy.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:33 pm
New York is also one of those states that run from wealthy (NYC (Manhattan)) to upstate whch in some areas is very poor.
It’s kind of like saying that minimum wage may pay your bills in South Ga. but try living in Atlanta on it.
Jay
December 30th, 2010
3:33 pm
Yeah, Johnny, all the rich people are fleeing NYC.
That’s why the AVERAGE APARTMENT is selling for about $1.4 million in Manhattan.
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
3:34 pm
Doggone @ 3:28 – stated like a true Progressive; always with their hands in someone elses pockets.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 30th, 2010
3:37 pm
Common Sense
I never knew him but I knew several people who joined the National Guard to get out of being drafted. In my part of Georgia, you pretty well had to know somebody, in order to get on the NG list. There were way more people trying to get in the Georgia National Guard, than they had slots to fill. I also knew a couple people who when they did receive their draft notice, went and joined the Air Force or Navy, in hopes they’d get easier duty. They may not have gotten easier duty but that’s what they thought.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
3:37 pm
If it were not for the fact that we have so many poor people that do not pay enough taxes but instead consume tax dollars, we would not have any taxing issues. So, we just need to get rid of poor people. We should ship them all off to India where they can get jobs with American corporations and then they could carry their own weight.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:38 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe
The question was “How would you describe a LIBERAL who uses his daddy’s influence to get a temporary gig in the Nat’l Guard to avoid active duty in Vietnam?” The point I was trying to make was a liberal can’t run for public office and be a poser without being dragged through the mud. A kunservative CAN and will be accepted later in life for being a poser(GWBush,Ronald Reagan,John Wayne).
You knew the point I was trying to make.Others did as well.
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
3:41 pm
Jay, the high cost of an apartment does not mean the rich and businesses are not moving out. It does mean there are enough rich people who will still pay for an apartment in Manhattan – the newly rich entertainers among them. The price is high because there are no cow pastures on which to build more.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:41 pm
JohnnyReb@3:32 pm
Josef, if the city/state gives laptops to the school children in the public housing, then yes there is opportunity for good. However, it would be “good” if the city can meet their pension obligations, which they cannot. Difficult decisions must be made. Unfortunately, those decisions should have been no WiFi and renegotiation of pension contracts before forced to do so under bankruptcy.
—————————————-
NC is trying to lead the nation in laptops for High School students. The laptops were donated by the manufacturer and monitored by the schools. That said not all kids live in the projects so that they might have an advantage over students without wifi at home. Although if they put wifi in the libraries instead that might get the kids inside the doors occasionally and give all equal access..
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
3:43 pm
The price is high because there are no cow pastures on which to build more.
So long as they don’t expect to get a 99 cent value meal served up, then the state could just ban poor people and get that tax distribution more to their liking.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
3:44 pm
This article was referenced earlier today, and I think should be brought up again with the talk about wealth control and taxes. Here’s one statement that got my attention.
We now live in a country in which the bottom 40 percent (120 million people) owns just 0.3 percent of the wealth. Data of this kind make one feel that one is participating in a vast psychological experiment: Just how much inequality can free people endure?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/a-new-years-resolution-fo_b_802480.html
It’s interesting to see when you look at the report where he drew his figures from. It’s rather eye opening.
http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_589.pdf
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:47 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe@3:37 pm
Yep. My brother joined the navy in ‘65 went to Nam as a corpsman. Was there during Tet in Da Nang, yep that was a great choice on his part LOL.
He made it back but he doesn’t speak much of the time he spent there.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
3:47 pm
If people cannot make enough money to pay their fair share of the taxes, then they should be thrown in prison until they can.
Kamchak
December 30th, 2010
3:48 pm
I have not verified, but on one of the talk radio shows it was stated that…
Well there you have it, no need to verify because talk-radio is the standard bearer for quality journalism.
Oy to the vey.
Jay
December 30th, 2010
3:49 pm
The only way apartment prices could be that high is if rich people want to live there.
As to the Nat’l Guard and Bush, I never got involved in the did he/didn’t he controversy. The truth was never clear either way, and it also didn’t matter.
But I do think it’s quite clear that he got into the Guard because he was a congressman’s son. The blame for that falls less on Bush for taking advantage of that out than on the country as a whole for tolerating such blatant unfairness. (Back in the Civil War days, remember, rich men could pay somebody to be drafted on their behalf.
As the Washington Post described Bush’s admission to the Guard:
It was May 27, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment from the draft at a time when Americans were dying in combat at the rate of 350 a week. The unit Bush wanted to join offered him the chance to fulfill his military commitment at a base in Texas. It was seen as an escape route from Vietnam by many men his age, and usually had a long waiting list.
Bush had scored only 25 percent on a “pilot aptitude” test, the lowest acceptable grade. But his father was then a congressman from Houston, and the commanders of the Texas Guard clearly had an appreciation of politics.
Bush was sworn in as an airman the same day he applied. His commander, Col. Walter B. “Buck” Staudt, was apparently so pleased to have a VIP’s son in his unit that he later staged a special ceremony so he could have his picture taken administering the oath, instead of the captain who actually had sworn Bush in. Later, when Bush was commissioned a second lieutenant by another subordinate, Staudt again staged a special ceremony for the cameras, this time with Bush’s father the congressman – a supporter of the Vietnam War – standing proudly in the background.
Bush’s father went on to run for senator in 1970 against Lloyd Bentsen Jr. – a prominent Texas Democrat whose own son had been placed in the same Texas Guard unit by the same Col. Staudt around the same time as Bush. On Election Day, before the polls closed, Guard commanders nominated both George W. Bush and Lloyd Bentsen III for promotion to first lieutenant – even as the elder Bentsen was defeating the elder Bush.
People just didn’t walk in off the street and join the Guard. MOST people, anyway.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 30th, 2010
3:49 pm
HDB: When Bush FAILED, America LOST!!
———————-
To the extent that’s true, it’s because our President Bush had America’s best interests at heart, so any failure on his part would be a loss for America.
That isn’t the case with Obozo. When Obozo loses, it’s a good thing for America. Unless you’re the type who cheers “America’s chickens coming home to roost”, like Obozo’s spiritual mentor.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 30th, 2010
3:50 pm
Another thing that’s clear about Bush’s guard service is that news organizations had to forge documents to denigrate it.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:52 pm
JohnnyReb
Stick to taters,maters,and hootin’ an hollerin’!!!! If you were really on the cutting edge of what’s right, then why not suggest politicians take a pay cut? Maybe,only liberals take a pay cut! Happy?
The dynamics for Atlanta are a lot like NYC,or any huge city, the rich will/can live anywhere they want.Period.Poorer people can’t live wherever they choose.Period. Not difficult to understand.Stop drinking the “Too big to fail” kool-aid.More kunservative BS!!!!
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
3:56 pm
Why shouldn’t a burger flipper pay as much in taxes as a hedge fund manager. It is only fair since they are both individuals with the same opportunities to achieve all that they can be. Maybe a flat dollar amount per person. Surely even the most staunch conservative would agree that such as system of taxation would be as fair as one could ever dream of. Then all we need do is decide on an amount that everyone considers to be fair. Maybe $100 per year. Would that be deemed acceptable.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
3:59 pm
TaxPayer
I have several emails from recruiters for HP-India (Chennai).
I am thinking that they need someone who speaks English to work with the customers here but can work with their site in India.
Interesting that they are recruiting in the US though.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
3:59 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout
Didn’t GHWBush bailout a bank his pig-faced son Jeb Bush was involved with?
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 30th, 2010
4:00 pm
Perhaps we should just send in whatever amount we like. And we could direct whatever amount we think appropriate to each government department. Don’t like Defense? Zero it out!
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 30th, 2010
4:00 pm
People just didn’t walk in off the street and join the Guard.
No argument with that but I knew a lot who tried it.
Common Sense
I know a guy that I’ve known my entire life (he’s a few years older than me). We aren’t actually related but he might as well be my cousin. I knew he had been in Vietnam and I knew he goes to the VA all along, but one day I happened to see a Purple Heart tag on his truck. Later on I was talking to one of his siblings and said that I never knew he got a Purple Heart. They said, “He’s got three of them”. As well and as long as I’ve known him, I’ve never once heard him refer to anything, to do with his time in service.
Dusty
December 30th, 2010
4:01 pm
Well, whoopee another divided country a la polls, papers and peoples!! So what’s new? Nothing! So I decided to take my own poll!! (No graphs. This is free stuff so what did ya expect?)
Out at the birdfeeder, I asked: Is Bookman trying to divide the country or not? Surprise!
Fifty percent (50% to you anosognostics) said WHOOOO? PLain as day. The other fifty percent (50% to you anosos) said “He’s a dirty bird!” Now even the unbalanced can miss that this is a well balanced poll of uninformed participants which means unequivocally that the country is falling apart and we know who did it. (See unaccompaning jigsaw bar codes.)
The guilty ones are perfectly clear to those who can read beyond Mother Goose. The dirty birds are killing us and it’s a bird in the Bush and Obama is a baby goose about to be gandered…
So peck that one to pieces while I make another impartial and important Poll de Poulet.!! Somebody oughta do it. Not that crooked CNN, babee!!
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
4:04 pm
Dusty
Yeah,and Limbaugh and FOXNEWS are bringing America together!
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2010
4:04 pm
Depressed wages returning customer service jobs to Georgia
By 11 a.m. Wednesday 40 people in Norcross had signed up to interview for five jobs paying as little as $8 an hour without benefits.
Their desire for low-paying, previously outsourced customer service work speaks volumes about Georgia’s economy, the future of employment in the United States and the seismic changes underway in an increasingly globalized economy.
Mercedes Lassiter of Lawrenceville was first in line at the state-run Gwinnett Career Center. She was a customer service representative for three years until her Atlanta employer outsourced her job to India earlier this decade.
Lassiter, in essence, tried to get her old job back Wednesday, albeit with less pay and benefits.
“So many people have been unemployed for so many years, and so many companies outsourced work overseas that we need to bring the jobs back here,” said Lassiter, 45.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:04 pm
Of course if you believe that all taxes should be eliminated and all government functions eliminated, then there is no need to discuss the notion of a fair tax for each person to pay.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:08 pm
I do find it odd that the Republicans seem to be operating in Grinch mode instead of joyously proclaiming all the great and wonderous things that their newly elected Republicans are going to be doing. Things like making jobs for us all and lowering our taxes and getting rid of that nasty healthcare legislation and making it a sin to get an abortion and an even bigger sin to be gay. Where’s all the GOP cheer.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 30th, 2010
4:11 pm
The cheer is in the fact that nothing gets through Congress unless the Republican house passes it.
Democrat spendfest over.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:13 pm
Soothsayer,
I just hope those people taking those $8/hr jobs show a little gratitude by paying their fair share of the taxes, like those unappreciated hedge fund managers do. Now, if we can only establish what their fair share of the taxes should be. Perhaps $20,000 per year even though that paltry amount would still pale in comparison to what we expect from the poor hedge fund manager. It’s a start though.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
4:14 pm
josef @ 2:34
I was thinking something more like “pansy pink” ?
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:16 pm
Nothing will get through the house without the blessing of the Republican party. I wonder if that will be a lockstep blessing or if those ranks might start showing signs of strain especially when it comes time to approve a budget that includes more deficit spending. Perhaps a bigger tax cut is in order.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
4:16 pm
Sooth
An interesting exerpt from your link:
But economists and others question whether a U.S. economy built on a foundation of service-oriented jobs — in call centers, malls, hotels, hospitals, schools, governments — is healthy.
In 1998, for example, 72.8 percent of Americans worked in the service industry. By 2018, that will be 78.8 percent of the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“We will have a very polarized workplace future in that we will have jobs growing at the bottom and at the top — and the jobs at the lower end are growing much faster,” Cornell’s Batt said. “Many of these jobs do not provide a living wage and the rising inequality breeds resentment among families who may not be able to make ends meet. That creates very, very difficult social and political problems for the United States.”
Guess we’ll be a nation of burger flippers and CEO’s with not much inbetween. Oh well, the plan to do away with the middle class seems to be progressing much better than expected.
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2010
4:18 pm
Mrs. Fischel runs a meat and cheese shop. Business has steadily declined over several years now. To make matters worse, management has raised her rent, to make up for the other merchants who have closed shops or who are behind in their payments. The third level of this mall is completely dead, and the second is barely hanging on. Just this week, Payless Shoes as well as G&G, Unica and Sunshine Blues, all clothing stores, have gone belly up.
Fischel’s son, a recent graduate of law school, has moved back home from Orange County. He has no job, only mushrooming debts from student loans and credit cards. He loved California and never expected to live in Philly again. It used to be that once you moved out, you stayed out. It was an American right of passage. By 2006, however, two thirds of American college graduates were already returning to their parents. Now, the number is up to 85%.
Right you are TaxPayer. Worry not, however, because when the Repugnican’ts win the White House in 2012 they’re going to “fix” all of this!
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
4:19 pm
Fox News just reported over 300 NY City sanitaiton workers make over 100K per year before overtime. Jay, maybe they are buying those 1.4mil apartments!
Big Jim – I ate frozen popsicles made from kool aid when I was in Thailand in 66 launching bombers and tankers. Were you a glimmer in your father’s eye by then?
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2010
4:21 pm
SoCo: I quipped with my haircut lady that we’ll be a nation who cuts each other’s hair! BTW, poor Mrs. Fischel’s son above labored long and hard in law school only to find that entry-level law work is now outsourced to India.
Dusty
December 30th, 2010
4:22 pm
Big Jim, 4:04
Is you a dirty bird? Of course Limbaugh and Fox are bringing America together? You thought CNN (Cannot Neutralize Nothing) would do it? You’ve been paying off the wrong Democrats.
AmVet
December 30th, 2010
4:22 pm
Bush had scored only 25 percent on a “pilot aptitude” test, the lowest acceptable grade.
Perhaps the quintessential commentary on his entire public life.
Connected, but not very competent…
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
4:26 pm
I didn’t realize the Liberal defense had retreated so – discussing Bush’s guard time. I’ll change the subject and rev you up. Obama had Fibbs announce he is staying on vacation a day longer because he wants to spend time with the family. Since when was time on the golf course spending time with the family?
Dusty
December 30th, 2010
4:29 pm
AmVet,
Perhaps you would tell us what you made on the “Bicycle” aptitude test? Maybe that is why you were put in charge of the carrier pigeon division.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
4:30 pm
Del:
Check this out …………..
Gunny Ermey gets really angry !
http://www.breitbart.tv/full-metal-jackets-r-lee-ermey-rips-into-obama-administration/
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:35 pm
Those poor government workers in NY making only 100k before overtime. I’ll bet they don’t pay nearly enough in taxes once you compare what they pay to what those poor hedge fund managers are forced to pay. We need to come up with something fairer. Perhaps those government workers should just plain quit and go to work in the private industry so they can pay taxes instead of consume taxes. That would be fair. Government workers all across the nation should do the same especially those million dollar soldiers. I mean, talk about a markup. Private industry can provide that security service for a fraction of the cost because private industry is just so much more efficient at everything.
carlosgvv
December 30th, 2010
4:37 pm
Barry
You are absolutely fixated with calling Obama an “idiot messiah”. I have never heard any Obama supporter refer to him as a messiah, and he certainly is not an idiot. So, I can’t help wondering from what goofy right-wing source did you get that? Or, did your delusional mind just make it up?
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
4:37 pm
AmVet-good one!
Dusty-Cannot Neutralize Nothing?
Dusty=LCD(Lowest Common Denominator)
Dusty
December 30th, 2010
4:38 pm
SoCo,
I had a delightful lunch at BurgerKing today and the employees were all HAPPY. I was not quite as happy because the Whopper Junior had risen in price, striking a blow to my budget. But I struck back by ordering a spiced chicken dollar burger which was a good move. Delightful repast!!
This is just to let you know that conservatives always know how to economize. “Chicken out” is not always bad news.
WillieRae
December 30th, 2010
4:39 pm
Take the underlying division in the country seriously. Casual langage that demonizes opponents and personal assaults to achieve ideological ends are dividing us more and more deeply. I sure hope Mr. Bookman has a mirror.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
4:39 pm
carlosgvv
These folks are lost.Even I know idiot messiah is a cleaner way of saying the N word.
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
4:41 pm
After all,why don’t they call him INTELLIGENT? That would be too much like right,sorry, correct.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
4:42 pm
Fox News just reported over 300 NY City sanitaiton workers make over 100K per year before overtime.
Imagine how many officers in NYPD make over 100k per year. They make 90k after 5.5 years on the job before overtime. There’s gotta be hundreds with more than 5.5 years under their belts.
http://www.nypdrecruit.com/NYPD_BenefitsOverview.aspx
I wonder how long those 300 sanitation workers have been working on their jobs…
Big Jim
December 30th, 2010
4:42 pm
Dusty,why would anyone admit they went to Burger King?
Eddie
December 30th, 2010
4:43 pm
Wipe that poo eating grin off your face Bookman.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:44 pm
Any others out there dabbling in the stock market. I’m looking for my next batch of investments for next year. Any good ideas out there. I’m not interested in banks or munis. Those are bad bets going forward. Any good pharmaceuticals. ABT perhaps.
bjork
December 30th, 2010
4:44 pm
Proof positive there are more decent Americans then cynical ones…. Oprah 7.5 mill/Beck 2+ mill
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2010
4:44 pm
“Doggone @ 3:28 – stated like a true Progressive”
or, in other words, you don’t know how much of the wealth that one percent controls. Why can’t you just man up and admit it, instead of trying to side-step the question?
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
4:44 pm
I had a delightful lunch at BurgerKing today and the employees were all HAPPY.
I think anyone who has a job nowadays are HAPPY. It doesn’t matter where. Just be glad that you have enough to afford to eat out, even if it is Burger King. That’s considered a luxury to those working for minimum wage.
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2010
4:45 pm
New Blow to Music as Concerts Fizzle
Ticket Sales Fell 12% Globally in 2010; High Prices Jeopardize One of Industry’s Few Bright Spots.
In the latest blow to the beleaguered music industry, revenue from its chief bright spot, concert tours, declined sharply in 2010, as strapped consumers stayed away in droves and aging acts failed to make up for a thin crop of young superstars.
Ethan Smith says that concert ticket sales are fizzling, a troubling sign for what had been one of the music industry’s brighter areas.
The box-office take for the 50 biggest grossing tours in the world fell 12% to $2.93 billion, from $3.34 billion in 2009, according to Pollstar, a trade magazine considered the leading monitor of ticket sales.
In North America, the drop was even more pronounced, with a 15% decline to $1.69 billion.
Underscoring how the industry leans on aging but tried-and-true acts, Bon Jovi’s 53-city tour was the biggest in the world this year, grossing $201.1 million.
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2010
4:49 pm
Big Jim: where have you been? Welcome to the blog!
Dusty
December 30th, 2010
4:49 pm
BIG JIM,
AmVet is always telling “good ones”, the same ones over and over. His numerous variations on “Bush did it” are worth at least a run on WikiLeaks. Be the biggest at the bottom. That’s good ol’ AmVet..
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
4:51 pm
“idiot” can mean more than mentally deficient, for example, someone who acts in a significantly counterproductive way. I say that fits Obama very well.
Obama crowned himself the messiah when he announced to be the one we have been waiting for.
carlosgvv
December 30th, 2010
4:53 pm
Big Jim
Absolutely right on all counts. Some people, like Barry, are just beyond reaching.
TaxPayer
December 30th, 2010
4:53 pm
Well I see both JohnnyReb and Lil Barry worship an “idiot messiah.” How quaint.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2010
4:53 pm
Obama crowned himself the messiah when he announced to be the one we have been waiting for.
Ok, somebody’s got to get the story straight. All this time, I thought he was the messiah because that’s what Liberals claimed he was supposed to be. Now, he announced it himself. Either way, the only people who have referred to him as any kind of messiah are conservatives. Makes one wonder, doesn’t it???
JohnnyReb
December 30th, 2010
4:55 pm
Doggone – how much money one has or makes has nothing to do with how much tax he “should” pay. “Should pay,” meaning you make much more than me and therefore you should pay more taxes than I, is a liberal/progressive ideology. Disagreeing with that is not side stepping anything.