What if Obama does raise taxes on the rich? Then what?

I agree. I’m sick of arguing the obvious. We need to start addressing the size of the government. Multiple agencies doing the same job. Layers of bureaucrats on top of bureaucrats. Pass every freaking tax you can and afterwards we’ll clean up what’s left. I guess, we’re going to have to learn the hard way.

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It’s simple, really, Kyle: we tried the exact opposite — lowering tax rates on the wealthy and not spending enough on infrastructure — and it failed miserably. So let’s go back to what worked before, regardless of whether you believe it’s a “plan”.

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First Obama is not going to raise taxes. Taxes will be raised by the combined actions of the House and Senate and then with the signature of the President.

Obama has never spent a nickle that was not approved by Congress.

We have been trying The Plan of low revenue and increased spending since January 1981. The result is the $14 Trillion Plus national debt we now “enjoy”. Lets all give ourselves a pat on the back.

As I see it we have two chores we need to do. First stop the slid into more debt. The New Plan should be to reduce the size of the federal government. I see no one, Republican or Democrat, issuing plans to reduce the size of government. The Plan is to reduce the amount paid out in entitlements and reduce the spending on education, at a time when we are producing one of the planet’s more ignorant work forces. But that is it.

Second, re-write the tax code. Every tax return pays, pick a number, say 18%, period. No ands, buts or ifs or deductions for the new dog collar. GE pays 18%, uncle Fred pays 18% and Kyle and I pay 18%. And Warren Buffet gets to pays his 18% along with his secretary. But this Plan requires a “tax increase” on GE, half of Congress has signed Grover’s Pledge, so this plan will not happen.

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Kyle says he doesn’t agree that Obama is trying to destroy the economy or ruin the country, yet repeatedly admits he doesn’t know why Obama DOES this or that, doesn’t know why he THINKS this and that, and even on the things he seems sure of, it’s pure educated guess.
The point is, Obama’s not trying to ‘destroy the economy’. He’s trying to diminish America’s confidence in Free Enterprise and Capitalism, and the Constitution. He’s not trying to ‘ruin the country’. He’s trying to create enough doubt, chaos, and suffering to allow for this confidence to be broken, thus bringing on ‘fundamental transformation’.
I’m pretty certain it wouldn’t be a Libertarian’s paradise.

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When you write “tax increase” don’t forget to add ‘from the lowest rate any of us have ever seen”. I know it’s just a typo on your part.

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I wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes if I had the confidence that my money would be used wisely. When the government makes a genuine effort to reduce fraud and wasteful spending, it can raise taxes. That day will never come.

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We’ve had tax cuts for the investor class and deregulation over the past decade and look where that landed us. High deficits and floundering economy. Isn’t the definition of insanity when you keep doing the same things and expecting different results? Or is that just the definition of stupid?

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I find it interesting that you continue to trade in meaningless, soundbite poli-speak, and yellow journalism. “tax the rich” has become the right’s “remember the Maine”. the very phrase suggests elitism and priviledge for one class, at the expense of the rest. I remain dumbfounded by the shills who support “the rich” as if people become “rich” in some social bubble. married couples earning $250,000 are not “the rich”. “the rich” are the billionaires and multi-millionaires who either inherited their wealth, or benefited from the DE-REGULATION of Wall Street. did you see the Forbes list of 100 richests Americans? every one has benefited from “regulation” (as if civil and criminal codes do not “regulate” the behavior of others? does not the 15% tax pate for “capital gains” or “investment income” as opposed to 23, 28 or 35% for earned income constitute a “regulation”? seriously, the profound lack of intellectual effort put forth by the right is depressing.

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Great op-ed piece Wingfield. But you’ve left out the most important piece. Obama loves the limelight – the power, the financial windfall, and all the perks that go with the job. That’s his goal and driving force – to win re-election. Bash the rich doesn’t need supportive evidence for the majority out there. Beating that drum is all that it will take to bring in the votes.

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Kyle, raising the taxes IS plan B. Plan A was for the lower taxes and less federal mandates and more tax incentives to raise the rate of job creation. It didn’t work. Business owners, banks, etc, have sat on the money they saved and NOT CREATED JOBS. So, now it is time for plan B. Plan C could get VERY ugly.

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Kyle and the rest of you nonconservative right wing fanatics know that the tax rates on everyone are too low and that the Bush tax cuts helped get us into this mess to start with. Why can’t one Republican, just one, admit that?? To hear Kyle tell it, all we need to do is reelect President Bush and everyone will have a job, the deficit will go away, and candy will fall from the sky. The class warfare that Kyle and his kind like to talk about actually started in 1980 and the rich are winning the war while America loses.

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Ronnie:

What deregulation? Could you please name one regulatory scheme that has been eliminated in the past decade? What industy has been deregulated? Can you name one? Just one.

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@KyleKlyeGoAway — spot on. In one of the few cases in recent times Kyle has not cut and pasted a quarter to half is ‘blog’ from another source, although he is using other things written for the written addition etc which again proves he is basically lazy and not a journalist. The thought behind the article is a different issue (or the lack of thought).
Pitiful. Journalism? Really?

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Why not give him his tax increase with a “trigger” that says it goes into effect for every year following certification by the Administration that the USG successfully spent as much or less than they took in? Such a tax would expire for the following year if the Executive failed to balance expenditures with revenues in any year.

Dare him to veto that.

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I forgot to mention that by law the increased revenue could only be used to buy down public debt.

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Kyle, you realize that b/c you remotely say anything bad about Obama, you are racist right? I don’t like Obama, so I must be racist too? At least that is the general attitude of the population. This is the “change” everyone(or the blacks) wanted, so I hope they are happy. And the blacks are. It doesn’t matter how bad this country gets, “man I’m black, the president is black, yyyeaaaahhhhhh ni**a.” That’s how they talk everyday and they know it.

President Obama is inexperienced and has absolutely no clue what he is doing. His display of arrogancy is to cover up for his embarrassment of being inexperienced. It is NOT the government’s responsibility to create jobs. However, they can try to create an environment that is good for creating jobs. Lowering corporate tax will allow companies to hire workers. Implementing the fair tax will allow people more freedom with their money to buy goods. If we purchase goods, companies will make more goods. Companies start producing more goods, chances are they might need workers. As a result, people will go to work. Simple concept huh?

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DeborahinAthens, Aurelius, JF McNamara: How true you all are. Again those die hard GOP’er have nothing of a plan other than to say No will not go along with this nor that. Where is the GOP plan oops they have none as does the GOP Candidates who hope to be President. It seems that every GOP’er wants to attack the President for what he proposes. I have yet to see Mitch or John put out a plan to help produce JOBS and reduce the deceits. Yet the only thing you hear from them is we should not be raising taxes on business to create JOBS. If they have the money to which I believe they do it’s not going to force them to create jobs if we go with the GOP plan. They will just hoard the money as they are now.

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A simple solution to our Social Security and Medicare under funding and pending bankruptcy.

1) Take the CAP off of WAGES. I know, this is actually a tax increase, but folks something!!!!! has to be done and it’ll probably include raising taxes. Take all the additional money raised and put in a separate trust fund……do not mix it in with the general funds!!!!!! Our politicians will only spend it. This will not only help Social Security, it will help to shore up Medicare because part of the percentage we pay is for Medicare.
2) Eliminate COLAS for the next ten years. Everyone has to share in the FIX.
3) Raise the Medicare deductible by $100.00/year
4) Immediately institute a 2% National Sales Tax. Some of you may have seen this on O’Reilly. This TAX will be paid by EVERYONE, including the estimated Trillion Dollar underground economy. Put this money in the newly established Social Security Trust Fund mentioned in 1) above. DO NOT mix it with the general funds. All of this money should be for future generations.
5) On a selected date, put all monies collected for Social Security in the newly established trust fund and on a selected date, start paying all Social Security Benefits from this fund. This will stop the RAIDING of SS funds by our corrupt politicians.

I think our crooked politicians will begin to see that this country, my Beloved “United States of America” will have to stop all of the deficit spending.

Remember to VOTE on November 6, 2012 and VOTE RESPONSIBLY

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The problem is the class war fare that is being thrown around. A family making $250,000 is not rich, well off yes, but not rich-especially if they live in certain areas of the country. I believe that the idea that one can work hard and make a good living is under attack. People that make $250,000 aren’t using the same amount of services that those that make less do. Shoot what about the people that pay no taxes or get back more than what they put in-something that needs to stop. If you only pay a few thousand in taxes and get an extra two or three grand back, isn’t there a problem with that. You see there really are some that aren’t paying their fair share-what ever the means.

The economy is stagnate because of the housing market. I didn’t buy more of a home than I could afford, but because of the foreclosures in my neighborhood, the values have dropped a 1/3, even with the money that we’ve put into updating our home. Banks are partly to blame, as are the homeowners who bit off more than they could chew.

Many were trying to keep up with the Jones’ and simply couldn’t afford it. Where are these people to blame about their finances? My family didn’t do that and don’t carry the debt loads of many Americans. Yet we hear nothing about this, only that it’s just the bank’s fault-which simply is not true.

Taxing corporations makes me laugh. Are people so stupid as to not realize that the consumer will be the ones paying those increased taxes? Corporations all have the same tax relief measures. Oil and gas companies have an 8% profit margin. Much of what you pay at the pump goes to the state and federal government and not the oil company. Gas stations cannot stand alone to be profitable, they need to have a convenience store to pay employees and give the owners a profit. The prices of goods have increase greatly already, because of the increase of materials and such.

The money that has been spent on these shovel ready jobs has again been wasted and will only benefit labor unions, and not many workers for the amount of money that will be spent.

I hope that those that make under $200,000 realize that they’ll be the next rich, and therefore will have their money taken from them next. I also hope that Obama realizes that go ahead and tax me more, but that will mean that I will not be spending money on clothes, on lawn service, for a pool membership, to museum memberships, to give to charities, and on continuing to fix up my home. The government can take from me, and I will adjust my spending, so that we don’t go in debt and think of ways that we don’t make so much money, so that we can keep more of what we make.

I’ve taken classes by Bill Ayers, and I am not sure if the O’bama will be happy until we’re all on the government payroll in either the form of working or welfare. I fear for the country that I thought was free, as our freedoms keep getting taken away slowly.

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For one thing – we can try to get you right wing fanatics to stop the mindless spending on the defense industry machine and stop invading countries and spending BILLIONS of dollars without paying for it.

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Bingo. I was ready for this argument to be over with the debt ceiling debate. Once Obama zings it to the rich with no boost in revenues from the rich, he is out of ammunition. So… disarm him.

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Good job Kyle, you really have the libs fired up today!!! Most of these bloggers are just pathetic. They are trying sooo hard to defend this incompetent man we have as president. Obama is so far over his head its funny.

The libs are scared(as they should be). People are finally seeing the light. The Dems are going to get crushed in 2012. Not just Obama, but the Senate and House as well

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When the baby boomers die our country will shrink back to normal levels. We will not need as many governement services (Medicare and Social Security – How BIG and wasteful are these departments?????) WE’ll do away with entitlements for the elderly and this country will finally be able to move forward instead of hanging on to the “good ol’ days” when everything went to crap!

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Kyle – Why do you ignor the part of Obama’s propsal that DOES reduce government? You are a typical republican that has selective hearing with no processing skills whatsoever.

Any economist (or even a house wife that keeps a household budget) knows that one must address INCOME as well as EXPENSES.

BY THE WAY….. Reagon did prove that “trickle down” economics don’t work. However, current republicans still march to that drum!

FINALLY – Obama didn’t start AT ALL with “wanting” to tax the wealthy. His initial proposal was to SIMPLY stop the tax breaks they had been given under Bush in order to force them to pay their fair share. And, in that I agree 100%. However it has been the republicans/tea party that has dug in their heels so deeply to allow the most wealthy to CONTINUE to become more wealthy through this recession (see yesterday’s ajc article)!!!!

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$10 cookies and $16 muffins? I repeat……..when the government gets serious about reducing fraud and wasteful spending, it will have a stronger case for increased taxes.

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Reduce spending and institute a consumption tax. Emphasis on reduce spending.

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UcantCLA, if by 5% tax on every transaction, you mean to include multi-billion dollar hedge fund trades, I am all for it. out economy is in a mess because we have transitioned from a manufacturing/export economy to a financial (paper-shuffling)/import economy. as such, as Bruce lamented; “…these jobs are going boy, and they ain’t coming back…” in addition (the double-dip, as it were), the new income (capital gains, investment income, etc.) is taxed at a lower rate than the blue collar (manufacturing) income of an auto worker, factory worker, over-the road trucker hauling the goods to ports, retailers, etc.). the family farms that once sustained America have been replaced by HUGE corporate farms, which do not pay taxes and often benefit from obscene tax breaks and corporate welfare. seriously, Kyle, did you sleep in ECON?

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dbell

For me, a fair share would be, in gereral, a flat tax rate for a family of four making $40,000.00 per yer or more. What do you think?

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Ayn rant is spot on

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This, from Mark Cuban’s blog (http://blogmaverick.com/), as a counterpoint to Kyle’s (and every other Republicrazy’s) wrong-headed notions about taxes:
3. Taxes Vs  Job Creation
 
There is an ongoing refrain from some that any increase in Taxes will have a negative impact on investment and job creation. Not true in 99.99pct of cases. Never has been. Never will be.  First the .01% times where it may be true. Potentially, a person could have some amount of money less than what they need to start a company because they paid say 1k dollars more in taxes this year than they did last year.  This could happen and I’m sure it has happened. but its the exception that proves the rule.
 
Now the rule…
 
People driven to succeed are driven to succeed. People driven by money are driven by money. People driven to compete, compete.  We live in a country that puts an emphasis on achievement. Not just financial achievement. The ability to set goals and achieve them. We celebrate and reward those that accomplish their goals. It is part of the very fabric of what makes this country so amazingly unique.
 
Those of us who are driven by money have a number that we strive for. People like me. (If you want to learn more about people like me, read this).  We want to be a millionaire. Once we become a millionaire, some of us want more. Some of us don’t. But once you hit the first number you begin to make decisions in your life about how you might get to the next number or just use what you have to make your life (and possibly the life of others) better.
 
Others set goals and define success and achievement in any number of ways. In no cases do any of them examine the tax rate. In fact, I would be willing to bet that 99pct of us completely ignore the tax rate. Why ? Because we know that the rewards we all value the most came as the result of our efforts. Something that no tax rate is going to take away from us.
 
 The risk of starting a business . The risk of making an investment in the sweat equity of someone else’s efforts. The risk of starting a charity. The risk of taking a new job. The risk of adding a new employee, etc, etc, etc.  I have NEVER met a motivated person  who has said they would not chase their goals  because of tax rates.
 
Personal achievement is not the only motivating factor that over-rides taxation.  Business to business competition ALWAYS over-rides taxation. If you own or run a business you have to best your competitors.  As long as they pay under the same tax structure as your business, it’s all about who can do a better job. Not what the tax rate is.
 
Of course none of this is going to stop big companies from arguing that higher taxes impacts job creation. Of course they are going to argue it. The less they pay in taxes, the higher their earnings per share and the greater the value of their stock and options.  If a big company needs employees to stay competitive in their industry(s) you better believe they are going to hire that person no matter what it takes. They will find the money some how. Even if it means lowering their political contributions and lobbying costs or bringing in cash held overseas.
 
This is a country that competes to win. That is not going to change.

In fact, follow this logic. Its counter intuitive, but its absolutely true.  The higher the tax rate on income the more risks us money chasers have to take in order to hit our number.  If you want that number, you are going to go for it. Period, end of story. More risk, more companies started, more people hired.”

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Yeah were 14 trillion dollars in debt . 42 cents of every dollar just goes to pay interest on our deficit . Seeing neither party is willing to compromise on what gets cut we had better raise taxes . Actually people in suits should probably be looking for change in our couches while we are at work . Then what Kyle ? How about Japan , Korea , and Germany make due without our military and we take care of our selves before we sell treasuries to raise money for other countries betterment . If Israel can have a socialized healthcare system they don’t need three billion annually in aid from us .

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The extremely rich aren’t productive. They are parasitic leeches sucking the money out of the rest of us because they can, because they have so much money. They don’t do anything but get richer themselves. It’s not beneficial to anyone else. Many of them would be called criminals if they earned less and didn’t have such good lawyers working for them.

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“I know that, even by the White House’s own projections, this soak-the-rich strategy won’t come close to balancing the budget — especially when it’s used to justify increasing spending even further.”

Money quote, Kyle.

Good column. Anything that brings out the libs in such massive outrage must really hit them in a soft spot.

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“It is rather amazing that Kyle would think that people should be interested in what he does not know.”

And yet, you’re here posting about it.

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OK, here it is for all of you “TAX THE RICH” folks…..

o • THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100…

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this…

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7..
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do..

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20″. Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,”but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!”

“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, as many are considering where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

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DBell, I like what you say but I do think there’s more to the mortgage debacle than just the folks trying to keep up with the Jones’ by taking on more debt than they could afford.

In my experience, the deregulation of the banking industry led to the extreme instances of Mortgage Fraud and Speculative Investment which then created the artificially inflated housing values that let “The Jones Families” pull far more value out of real estate than the properties were actually worth.

Now before anyone comments with their opinion, let me explain a few facts about Mortgage Fraud & resultant Foreclosure. In Georgia, there are several zip codes that were in the top 10 for mortgage fraud in the country. I live in zip code 30310 and we were the worst in the state. In my neighborhood of 1200 houses, 1/3 of them were victimized by fraud at least one time and many were used for fraud multiple times by the same individuals.

For those of you who are not familiar with Mortgage Fraud, in short, it is an instance where a real estate transaction is conducted with false or deliberately inaccurate information for the purpose of receiving more revenue from a sale than the property is worth. Fraud happened because there was little to no oversight by the banks and the federal agencies that underwrite the mortgages. Fraud happens when the seller, buyer, appraiser, lender and others deliberately falsify records. It is a felony both at the state and federal level. I have spoken at a GREFPAC conference, appeared in Federal Court at the request of the prosecutor so that I could speak on behalf of the community and I have contributed to an article authored by a UGA professor on the methods to research and remediate fraud.

One example of a fraud transaction is with a new construction house that was sold by the same person two times in less than a year. Both times the house was sold, the buyer was the same. The county records show that the seller acquired the house for $50k and then sold it the following week for $280k. A month later, the original seller re-purchased the same property for $50k and sold it to the same buyer 8 months later for $315k. Nobody ever moved into the house until it foreclosed again and sold to a different party. This was the typical amount of fraud I’ve seen ($250+k per transaction). When you multiply this number by the number of houses that have frauded in just this one zip code (360), you can see how much in mortgages were allowed to be taken from banks without proper oversight.

When the fraud was at it’s peak, the banks used the fraudulent comps as justification to lend more money to honest owners. That’s how the housing crash started. Folks were robbing banks without guns and with the consent of the banks.

We saw the temporary increase in property taxes because of the artificially inflated values and now the county taxes are at their lowest in decades. With reduced tax revenues, we are faced with cuts to services and programs. While I am happy to have less than $500 in property taxes in my Atlanta house, I know that I am not paying enough to ensure that the city and county continue to serve the citizens. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to do until the market recovers and we get some sense to the banking industry…either voluntary or forced by regulation.

The greed of some coupled with the lack of oversight and responsible lending by others has caused the crash of a global economy.

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DeborahinAthens 8:00am “Bush shed jobs by the hundreds of thousands, the numbers of which establish the base of our unemployment numbers today.”

My question to you ~ How many people did you personally know that lost their jobs during the Bush years? – I personally knew no one. In the last three years I have 3 family members and countless friends who lost their jobs and have been looking diligently. Open your eyes. Things are not getting better ~ they are far worse. My “out of work” friends will tell you the same…..

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Kyle, your economic knowledge is surpassed only by your crappy writing. Go back to writing about something of which you have some knowledge,whatever that may be.

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Tiberius,

“JF, you think maybe that those corporations are using money people freely gave to them in exchange for a product they used?

As opposed to having it taken from them?”

Its always the one who hurls insults who has no point.

The government is providing service for the tax money that you pay. You have a military, interstates, a functioning government, social security, and many other programs that you benefit from.

You have a choice to not pay the taxes. I hear that Hartsfield Jackson provides you with many other alternatives to the United States of America. The government isn’t forcing you to stay or forcing you to pay the money for the services that you receive from them.

Here is a warning though. You will probably pay more whereever you go, and you will miss living in the greatest country in the history of the world. We won’t miss you one bit though.

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If you know anyone that works for the government, it is no surprise that money is wasted. A relative of mine retired from a federal agency at 55 years old and is collecting more that $90,000/year plus full medical benefits (I should also add that he’s really not the sharpest knife in the drawer and wouldn’t last 1 week in a corporate environment). On top of the hefty pension, his federal government agency miscalculated the early retirement numbers and didn’t train enough younger people to backfill the retirees jobs. A year latter they hired my uncle back and a rate of $100,000/year. So this guy is double dipping (collecting a $90,0000/yr pension plus a $100,000/yr consultant fee). Instead of investing this $100,000 to a retiree, why didn’t this government agency use this train college graduates? Increasing/decreasings taxes is not the problem. There are hundreds of useless government agencies (outside of medicare and social security) that can be run more efficiently.

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everybody needs to pay a fair tax. the government needs to be “right-sized” so that money is no longer wasted. nobody should be “soaked”. until 80% of americans have some skin in the game the tax system will not be fair nor will enough people care about how efficiently their government is being run and they will not care about how many free loaders are on the take. CUT SPENDING, DOWNSIZE BLOATED FEDERAL AGENCIES and DEPARTMENTS. For every tax dollar increase there should be a minimum of $3 cut. the waste is there and a lot has already been identified. $16 donuts, $500 million loans to green energy companies who are bankrupt, and Cowboy poetry festivals should not be taxpayer backed. Face it both parties have done this to us and that is why the tea party has gained so much strength so quickly– “Taxed Enough Already” for sure.

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I’m confused about the Obama/Buffet plan of increasing captial gains tax. How will this help the middle class? Most responsible middle class citizens have invested company 401Ks (through stocks), so increasing capital gains tax will only hurt middle class retirees and young people trying to save for their retirement. In addition, if capital gains from investments are taxed at a higher rate, why would people want to invest in US? Wouldn’t this hurt the overall economy if investors go elsewhere. How would that be good for growing jobs?

I’d love an Obama support to explain how increasing capital gains taxes will be good for middle class America???

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Kyle, good column, but you seem confused as to why Barry Oblamer keeps doubling down on his failed policies. You just need to listen to what he says and what he has written, social justice, is his primary focus. He realizes the people he is trying to help, the poor and uneducated, can not ever be on top in a true capitalist environment. The only way to insure equality for all is to bring the top down and bring the bottom up, but there is a limit to how far you can bring the bottom up quickly. It is much easier to bring the top down.

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What I can’t figure out is how we have members of congress that were elected to serve the people who’s only priority is to make sure the Obama doesn’t get re-elected. If any of us were to make the failure of our peers or our executives our job’s priority, we’d be out of a job.

If you look at balancing the federal budget like you would balancing your personal budget, how many of you would look only at what expenses you could cut? Wouldn’t you also look at how you could make more money? I know of some folks who have taken on a 2nd job in order to make ends meet. They don’t squander on luxuries and they work as hard as they can as a family to make ends meet.

Our government is working as hard as they can to work against each other. One part insists that they can balance the budget by cutting spending while the other wants to do the equivalent of getting a 2nd job by raising taxes. The one thing that seems to be missing from the congress’ attempt to balance the budget is the entire concept of “balance.” There has to be some give and some take that makes the most sense and serves the people and the nation as fairly as possible.

The president appears to believe that by capitulating to all sides, he’ll help everyone get along. That only works when you’re dealing with rational people. Negotiating with the politicians (both currently in office and those running for office) is about as fruitful as trying to negotiate with a teenager. The teen doesn’t care enough about anything except getting what they want, regardless of whether it’s beneficial to them or their family. If you’ve ever had an difficult adolescent, you’ll see the comparisons. Facts and reality don’t matter. The only thing that matters is getting what they want.

It’s past time that our government (Congress & POTUS) figure out that if they only work for themselves and their party, the rest of the country is going to be left in the cold with no money, no education and no future.

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JF—–”small instances of waste?” Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! See Malcor @10AM. Also, my brother works for the government and in his annual review he was told to not work so hard. He was making everyone else look bad. What?!!!!! The millions and millions of dollars wasted annually on poor productivity is not a small instance of waste.

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Rafe Hollister
September 22nd, 2011
10:10 am

When Bush doubled down on his policies, the nation went into a major recession…and you did not complain!! It’s not that the poor and uneducated can’t get to the top in a capitalistic society….it’s that the FOUNDATION of a capitalistic society is only as strong as the WEAKEST among us! If the foundation isn’t sturdy, the society falls!! For those at the top, insulating thenselves from the issues of those beneath them will only generate further animosity!! Are you advocating a Darwinian society…for that’s where we’re on the verge of going……??

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malcor @10:00 am

Everything you reported here happens in the private sector as well.

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Amen, Malcor. The charitable giving for Obama in the years before he ran for office was pathetic. Now he gives more bc he knows the amount is being scrutinized, not because he wants to. Look it up Obama supporters.

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I enjoy reading this column because it opens my mind to other’s knowledge and views. When you attack, not debate, you show your true colors. Personal attacks on the writer are juvenile. To the few that write on that level ~ raise your game. Your ignorance is showing.

Benjamin Franklin said it best “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do”

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malcor, put down the Kool-Aid. increasing capital gains will not “help the middle class” because helping the middle class is not the goal. it will INCREASE REVENUE which (in theory) will ALLOW THE US TO PAY DOWN ITS DEBT. get it? there will also need to be spending cuts and a more feasible approach to the budget process, but your post reflects the “class warfare” nonsense being proferred by the right.

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John @ 10:19. I don’t get your point. If I know a private sector company is behaving unethically, I can choose to not do business with them. Not so with the government. It takes my money and down the toilet it goes. People like JF can mock expensive cookies and muffins all day long, but it does not change the fact that the money for the muffins came from a hard working tax payer.

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mom of 3
September 22nd, 2011
10:21 am

Have you considered that Obama’s *disposable* income has increased to a level that he CAN give more to charity!!??

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HDB 10:10 am
I am truly sorry you lost your job. It is not just my family and friends that I am concerned for, it is everyone who has to deal with losing their employment, their home and often their pride.

Please clear up for me your dateline. 9/11 did greatly effect employment, but it was in 2001 and two years later when you found work was 2003. I am grateful that you and others were able to find work. But in the ensuing years 2003 – 2011 tell me about their job history. Did all of them continue to work in those jobs or were some let go due to the economy, and are again looking for work. The numbers reflect the latter.

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Tiberius….nice post.

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John…..and you think executives set their own salaries and bonuses?

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mom of 3 @10:31 am “If I know a private sector company is behaving unethically, I can choose to not do business with them. Not so with the government. It takes my money and down the toilet it goes.”

In what fantasy do you live? What is one of the most successful companies in this country: ATT. What is a company in that field people complain most about? ATT. What is the biggest or one of the biggest banks? Bank of America. What bank has been shown most to behave unethically? Bank of America.

And the money the government takes from you goes down to toilet? Are you using highways, air traffic? Do you get benefit from scientific research? Would you refuse government help if natural disaster struck you? Do you mind being defended by the military?

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Halftrack

“If anyone has looked at the (O’Reilly Factor) the last 2 nights would see exactly how the Math comes out. The rich are paying most of the Income Taxes now. ”

One thing you conveniently left out (which I’m sure O’Reilly left out as well) is who is taking home most of the income. Give me several million dollars and year and I’d gladly pay more in income taxes than someone making $30,000. You also are not looking at the disparity of income between the working class and executives…executive pay has risen hugely over the last 20-30 years while working class wages have pretty much stayed stagnant.

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Taxes increased->->Deficit will go down->->Jobs will be created….That’s about it…Lots of BABY BOOMERS retiring anyway..Taxes are going to HAVE to go up, regardless…

The question AFTER the tax increase is: HOW MUCH SPENDING DOES THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT TO CUT…The BABY BOOMERS WON’T cut Social Security or Medicare…that only leaves defense, basically….I personally wouldn’t object to a defense spending FREEZE…any more than that would start costing jobs….It is time to stop subsidizing energy…renewables are basically, at this point, on a level playing field with oil and gas….We’re going to HAVE to study coal, because oil will be gone in 47.4 years and nat. gas in 74.7 years……

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UGA 1999

“John…..and you think executives set their own salaries and bonuses?”

Boards do…and who sits on the boards? Their friends…executives sits on the boards of each others’ companies.

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John…..you are all about conspiracy theories arent you. WHO ARE THE BOARD? MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS WHO OWN A STAKE IN THE SUCCESS OF THE COMPANY AND THE EXECUTIVE!!!

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“I don’t agree with those who think his intention is to destroy the economy or ruin the country.”

Doesn’t matter if that’s his lead intention or not, he and the his socialist backers are doing it. Frankly, I think he and the left are all about take-take-take, as much as they can get away with. He’s led a still on-going open-season raid on the US Treasury and an open assault on our freedoms Constitutional protections; what his intentions are matter little to those of us on the hook for the bill.

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redneck….”idiots”…that is all you can come up with? NICE!

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Not just idiots, that would be banal…….IDEALOGICAL idiots…..

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UGA 1999

Show me anywhere in my post where I said I’m against someone being successful?

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Redneck…..again you might as well start slinging the “I am rubber you are glue” banter. I wouldnt expect anything more from you.

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UGA 1999

September 22nd, 2011
10:58 am
“redneck…please tell me how increasing taxes “creates jobs”?”

Let me approach your query from this vantagepoint:

By closing loopholes and increasing taxes, an entity would work towards finding the most effective methods to REDUCE their tax liability. By HIRING more employees, the labor costs would summarily REDUCE their tax liability. The incentive to hire MORE people would be increased, the tax base would be BROADENED….and EVERYONE’S taxes could decline!!

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UGA 1999

Why are you against the working class and poor in this country? Don’t you think the working class deserve enough income to feed and clothe their families as well as put a roof over their heads? Do you think the working class should be thrown out on the streets due to being laid off and unable to find a job through no fault of their own?

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UGA 1999

Do yourself a favor and look at corporate boards…google those members and see if they are executives themselves in other companies.

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John…..I am sure they are. No problem with me.

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“Cutting educational spending isn’t good for the nation in that we will NOT be developing the workforce needed for the next decades;”

I have yet to see where ANY spending on education has been cut, HDB. In fact, its risen exponentially over the years and we have dumber people to show for it.

They’re called “liberals”.

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HDB….”A nation is only as stong as the weakest among us”…..THAT IS EXACTLY WHY OBAMA MUST GO!

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John….yeah and we are still at 9.2% unemployment! Great job Barack!

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dbell

“The government (Barney Frank and posse) felt that everyone should be able to own a home. ”

Isn’t is George W. Bush and Republicans who kept and continue to keep calling for an ownership society? It’s the derivative market (lack of regulations) that took the financial industry much further down…remember AIG, ect.?

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John….an ownership society does not mean everyone should own a home. It means they should take ownership of their decisions and lives.

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What a fool,

Giving the government more money to spend. This is like placing a cocaine addict in a locked room full of cocaine and asking him to escape.

These millionaires and billionaires make up only .02% of taxpayers but pay over 35% of tax revenue. While you are at it go ahead and take all there money. It will not make a difference in the long term on the deficit. How about the other 50% that pay NO federal income tax. When are they going to pay their far share.

We need the fair tax. Everyone pays when they purchase goods and services, coupled with a balanced budget amendment.(This would also do away with the IRS.Wounder what the savings would be here.

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I’ll admit it: There’s a part of me that wants President Obama to FAIL.

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Sounds like you are saying this, Kyle: I’ll admit it: There’s a part of me that wants President Obama to FAIL so we can show him he is wrong. No matter what that failure costs the country.

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OK TO ALL OF THE LEFT LEANING MINDS ON THIS BLOG….

ANSWER ME THIS….Last time Obama ran on a premise of Hope and Change. What is he going to run with this time? Honest question.

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” Iam certain he believes that a more muscular central government is in the public’s best interest.”

Actually, do you really believe that, Kyle? Or might it be that he fears a beefed up government is the only way to protect the little people. That those “benevolent associations” you love so well might not step up and take care of the poor, especially if they are a different color or nationality?

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It’s simple, really, Kyle: we tried the exact opposite — lowering tax rates on the wealthy and not spending enough on infrastructure — and it failed miserably. So let’s go back to what worked before, regardless of whether you believe it’s a “plan”.

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The fact is that the Repubs may take the Senate as well…Clean sweep.

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UGA 1999

Really UGA, do some research. From the Daily Beast…

“President George W. Bush championed the concept when he was running for re-election in 2004, envisioning a world in which every American family owned a house and a stock portfolio, and government stayed out of the way of the American Dream.”

From USA Today…

“In a bid to boost minority homeownership, President Bush will ask Congress for authority to eliminate the down-payment requirement for Federal Housing Administration loans.

In announcing the plan Monday at a home builders show in Las Vegas, Federal Housing Commissioner John Weicher called the proposal the “most significant FHA initiative in more than a decade.” It would lead to 150,000 first-time owners annually, he said.

Nothing-down options are available on the private mortgage market, but, in general, they require the borrower to have pristine credit. Bush’s proposed change would extend the nothing-down option to borrowers with blemished credit.”

Noticed the last statement…it was Bush who proposed extending the nothing-down option to borrowers with blemished credit.

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HDB….I feel the correct way to approach the unemployment and governmental financial gap is to control spending and place tarriffs on any good made overseas.

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UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
11:33 am

“catlady….why can the poor not take care of theirselves? ”
“The fact is that the Repubs may take the Senate as well…Clean sweep.”

First: many of the poor do NOT have the support systems that would allow self-sufficiency! Note that the preopnderance of the poor are in Appalachia….NOT urban America!! Many of those with mental illnesses who were PREVIOUSLY maintained in state facilities are NOW on the street and homeless!! If society were not as Darwinian and would find methodologies to attack the issues of as adequate (not permanent) safety net…..THEN could this nation bring itself out of its decline!!

As long as government is DIVIDED (Republican Congress, Democratic President…or vice versa)….I’d have no issue…for unicameral control (last time, total Republican) is what screwed up the nation!!!

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“You need to talk to teachers!! Having been RAISED by a teacher, they are persistently complaining abot the lack of funding for adequate books and supplies”

“Complaining about” does not equal “actual budget cuts”, HDB

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UGA 1999 @11:08 am “I own two businesses and your math is way off. IF you are going to raise my taxes I am going to hire less and raise the price of my goods and services. Doing much more damage to the economy.”

This is exactly the stuff (to be polite) that the Republicans and business owners are trying to sell. Increase their tax and they will not hire people, will raise prices. As if there were no competition. As if those who would hire people and did not raise prices did not capture more of the market and make up for the lower profit per product.
Why is it that these people always seem to believe that the tax they are paying now is the exact maximum they should pay?

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MarkV….LIke it or not it is true.

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“Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 24, 1963, message to Congress

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Do you guys think Hillary is going to make a run against obama for the democratic nomination?

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“The teachers are complaining about what they’ve SEEN….there HAVE been budget cuts…..when teachers are being laid off because the budgets have been cut…..what would you surmise??”

Again, HDB, where have budgets been CUT? Where is there any school system that has received LESS money than in previous years?

Hasn’t happened.

If they can’t spend the money we keep giving them wisely, then that is THEIR problem.

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I may be wrong, but taxes were raised on the rich during Bill Clinton’s watch and we balanced the budget. Kyle, the “cut taxes and more jobs will appear” argument is old and results do not bear it out.
In fact zero jobs were created because of it. As a small business owner, I can state emphatically that I never have hired anyone as a result of tax cuts. I always SAVE that extra money for the rainy days that I know always happen when you own a business. I do think Fair Tax is just that and support it as a community resident and small business owner. In the meantime, make all pay the same rate with no loopholes; I can’t afford a lobbying firm or a battery of lawyers to look for loopholes in our tax law to benefit my business.

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Zeb….did we have a democratic or republican congress at that time? Barack Obama is not Bill Clinton. And many other things have changes since his time.

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Man, I’m so happy to be out of Georgia with this backward thinking. You so called Republicans who are out of work, no healthcare, lost or losing your unemployment insurance, and probably or in the process of losing your housing, AND are still supporting the “Republican” platform, really confuse me. They just announced they WILL NOT support the Jobs bill. They will let the government shut down (remember we lost our AAA rating), They will let the post office go broke…all in the name of power.

Please place your tin foil hats back on, and return to your spin merchant…

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Steve From Dalton

In 1963, the top tax rate was 91%….big difference from the 35% it is today, don’t you think?

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John,

Trickle down economics. This is like giving a cocaine addict large amounts of cocaine and asking him to share it.

The key word here is ” given” It wasn’t given to them They “Earned” it

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Will some of you actually educate yourselfs. This is getting bad and before to long it will be impossible to turn around. Taxes are not the problem. The problems facing this country are all the regulations that the democrats have put on companies over the last 6 years. Some of your are correct when you say the president cant spend a penny but with the democrates holding both the house and senate, they passed everything they little hearts desired and this country went straight down hill. The stimulus was handed over to Obama and his democrat shareholders, but the taxpayers paid dearly. There was no shovel ready jobs. Over 500 million was given to one of Obamas doners who set up a company to help low income people insulate their homes. Out of the 500 million grant money, 1 home was taken care of and 5 executives got some very attractive salaries out of it. I dont believe that the compay is in business any longer.

Then we have the same democrat politicians who paid a union contractor 5 million to put windows in a government building. The contractor installed the windows backwards. Guess what the cost was to fix it. Yes another 8 million. Should that not have been under warranty? Not when its union labor. Funny how the cost to fix is almost twice the amount to install in the first place.

We have got to get these regulations out of our government, The EPA and the DOE has got to go and our private industry has got to be left alone to grow this economy. You cant continue to kill business with all these regulations. Like VA and the coal mines. Obama and the democrats have every intention of shutting them down. How many more jobs will be lost there. Enough is enough. Do some homework people. You want to work you need to vote Obama out of office and let some of the conservative people take the government apart and stop these regulations that are making us a 3rd world country. This is serious, you your own homework. All this is verifiable. Just do the research.

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Your Idiot Messiah inherited a recovery in 2009 and now we’re talking about another recession already.

Idiot Messiah: Incompetent America-hating failure.

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John- Numbers change but the econonmics remain the same. Give me one country that ever taxed and spent itself back into prosperity? Keynesian economics do not work.

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get on with it, here is your homework; find a dictionary and look up the word irony. you implore readers to “educate yourselfs” and follow your plea with perhaps the dumbest, base-level neo-con talking point in the history of blogging.

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UcantCLA – Agreed. The best way to create revenue for the government is to have a national sales tax. If .05 on the dollar is the number then I’m ok with that. If your worried about the “poor” then essential food and prescription drugs are exempt. Coke, beer, wine, candy bars and the like are not exempt. Eggs, cheese, milk, meat and maybe some other things are tax exempt. This will hit tourists and the “illegals”

There is too much fraud in the systems we have in place across the board. If you make 10 bucks an hour there is no way you should have 3 or 4 flat screens in your home… It just doesn’t compute.

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UGA 1999

“did we have a democratic or republican congress at that time? Barack Obama is not Bill Clinton. And many other things have changes since his time.”

Like how you change your tune when facts are presented. You, like other conservatives, believe tax policy (ie, lower taxes) in all cases creates jobs…calling it trickle down economics (Voodoo Economics according to Bush 1) but when presented with the facts, your response is there were many other things that were different.

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All that would be fine if you could actually count on the republicans in congress to undo what Obama will enact. The history of the republicans is clear. Even when they control both houses and the white house they just make things worse. Possibly with a Ron Paul presidency there might be enough of a mandate from the people to actually force the hands of these small government wannabees, and maybe we will see plenty of incumbent republicans losing in the primaries to republicans that actually care about free markets, small government, etc. but that is a big if.

Without fundamental economic principles that point the RIGHT way to economic prosperity, failed democratic policies will just be replaced by failed republican policies. Without principled representatives, the pressures from the parasitic corporations and others that feed at the federal trough will overwhelm any hope for real restoration of a free economy. None of the presidential candidates other than Ron Paul are working to educate the citizens on what freedom is really about and why it is the only path to economic and social prosperity.

Ron Paul 2012.

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UGA 1999–because folks like you tell all of us it is the blacks and latinos that are sucking the teat of government!

catlady, UGA PhD 1995

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Tiber,

Regarding education spending cuts.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1214

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Tax implications are not the reason my two family members who own their own businesses are not hiring. They will not hire until they see how Obamacare will impact their bottom line. Right now, as a cost cutting measure they hire people who are insured by their spouses.

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“I don’t know if he believes his tax maneuvers will have an effect that’s opposite of what basic economics suggests”

I don’t know what basic economic theory you are referring to. Perhaps it is the notion that reducing taxes for wealthy individuals and corporations will create jobs, because they are the ones who create jobs. This totally ignores basic business sense. It assumes that companies are just waiting to hire if only the government would free up some of their money. But, companies don’t hire because they get some extra cash. If or wealthy individuals find themselves recipients of extra cash (tax cuts), they first try to figure out how much of it they can keep. That is not greed, that is just business. On the other hand, there is one thing that will lead organizations to hire. If demand for their products or services exceeds their ability to deliver, then they will hire or lose that business to a competitor. There are plenty of people who believe that this keynsian idea is wrong or outdated, but that stance seems illogical to me. I will hire more people when demand dictates that I need them so I can make more money. There are exceptions, where organizations make strategic hires, but those are very much in the minority. So, how do we create this demand? Put money in the hands of people who have no choice except to spend it. History has shown that wealth does not trickle down, in fact it moves in the other direction.

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Tiberius @11:57 am: “Because they know business, where you don’t.”

So many things you know about other people – in your fantasy.

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Obama is the worst President in American History!!!! Nobody is even close! OMG!!!!!!! Obama Must Go!!!

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“Okay…do we all agree that there was massive JOB KILLING under CURRENT tax policy of lower taxes as well as regulatory structure that was in place during the previous administration?”

No, there are people who do not agree, even though it is true.

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Barry, way to attack the individual instead of the argument.

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“No, there are people who do not agree. Period.

Fixed your typo, MarkV. No thanks needed.

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Bill, it was a two-fer.

You’re welcome.

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Barry, How is making profit by riding someone else’s insurance morally or ethically different from welfare?

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And customer demand doesn’t exist without jobs (or theft of the taxpayers property).

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Tiberius @ 12:51 pm
Thanks for silliness would not be contemplated..

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OK, so a blogger can refer to me as a “greedy SOB”, but I cannot advise him of a better use of his time? hey Kyle… oh nevermind.

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Sarah….see that is what you are not understanding. The president is doing his best to ensure America does not succeed.

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KW, save you time. you want to ban me, ban me. this is America; First Amendment and all that. I need to know if you are opposed to certain words, the concepts they represent, or *’s. are you telling me words like “idiot” (barry’s personal favorite) and the aforementioned SOB are somehow less offensive? for the record, I find them more offensive, because they reveal a cowardly parsing or semantic ruse, which is typical of bloggers of that ilk.

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Sarah, I can’t really believe you really feel Barry is sincere. If Michelle would have donated the money she spent on her latest new bracelets, $42,000 diamond encrusted, she could have gotten two or three poor kids out of those horrible DC public schools and sent them to school with Shashia and Malia.

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Lil’ Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)

By your definition, we are all freeloaders. Who has not received any good or service from the federal government (public education, police, fire, highways, gas, the list goes on) paid for by taxpayers.

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1. This billionaires became billionaires with the help of this country and its laws… Time for them to pay a little back.

2. If tax cuts for millionaires create jobs, how many jobs are the Bush tax cuts creating right now?

I say it’s time to go back to the Clinton era tax rates and fix this broken country. It’s going to take all of us… not just the middle class.

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Not so Fast….the fed is waiting on you to send them your check anytime now. Feel Free.

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Rafe Hollister

“No such luck on Barry’s Porkulus bill, no money paid back, much money stolen and misappropriated, and no jobs created.”

Did the financial industry, bailed out by Bush, pay back every penny? Didn’t Chrysler and GM pay, at least some, back? Remember Bush bailed out the financial industry which caused all this mess in the first place.

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John….bailing out the financial industry is NOT what caused this mess. How can someone be so ignorant???

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John….agreed…some much more than others.

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UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
1:23 pm

What caused this mess IS multiple in fault…..

1) Repeal of Glass-Stegal by Phil Gramm
2) Weakening of Congressional oversight
3) S&L Scandal of the 80s
4) Deregulation of certain industries

Much can be traced to Republican ideologies…although blame is BOTH sided in nature and scope….

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Tiberius, and as you are not Kyle, an employee of Cox Enterprises, Constitutional Law expert, or a member of the thought police; I have no interest in your armchair opinions (related to me). feel free to continue to post whatever political comments you like.

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John, yes the financial industry and banks paid back the TARP. No, Gov Motors and Chrysler have not paid back all of the money Barry gave them. They did pay their union debts however.

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Joe, I don’t need to be any of those things in order to point out that your so-called First Amendment rights end at Kyle’s doorstep.

So take your poutrage and . . .

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Joe….$800billion/$1 Trillion is what Obama spends before he eats breakfast.

So now you have a problem with capitalism?

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UGA 1999, I mentioned this early, perhaps to you. GOOGLE Gary Johnson (underdog libertarian participating in tonights GOP debate). check out what he said about the contemporary GOP (and how he refuses to venerate Reagan, as in his opinion, Reagan started this mess).

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Tiberius, agree to disagree. rights either exist, or they do not. as I said, if Kyle wants to ban me, he is within HIS right as blog moderator/hall monitor, but his right as an ajc columnist and my rights under the First Amendment are mutually exclusive (because as you have noted, I can simply start my own blog, or use post my ideas on other blogs). for the record, you take on “what caused this mess” is worthy of a compliment.

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Rafe Hollister
September 22nd, 2011
1:08 pm
“HDB, I’ve been out being productive, but you mentioned a recession in 2001, well, that has to be a Clinton recession, since Bush had only been in office one month.”

The IT bubble popped right before 9/11…in August…..a full 7 months after Clinton left office!! As an IT professional, I was in the middle of it…then 9/11….and over 25,000 people at my then-employer (United Airlines) were laid off!! Are you conservatives fond of saying that the officeholder OWNS the economy???

“You don’t even hold Barry Oblamer responsible for this depression and he has been in office for nearly 3 years. Can’t have it both ways.”
The results of this depression ORIGINATED in the Bush Years….and it’s evident that the GOP is doing EVERYTHING it can do to sabotage a possible recovery! Yes, Obama owns it now…..but it also takes CONGRESS to get things working…and the GOP/Tea Party isn’t helping!! Since Obama has been elected, I’ve begun to recover the income that I LOST in the Bush Years!!

UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
1:33 pm
“HDB….nice selective memory you have. Your share the same character flaws as your messiah Obama.”

Not selective…factual!! Check your history…and you’ll see that Republicans were in control when the national economy went into turmoil!!

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UGA 1999, what caused the meltdown and the bailouts were anything but capitalism. surely they taught you as much at UGA? laws, by definition are “regulations” so the regulation vs. dergulation canard means nothing in any “market” save complete anarchy (in which case, guns generally trump butter, as it were). re: Johnson, interesting you refer to him as a “nut”. all this “nut” did was build a $150 million construction business from scratch, become a GOP governor in a 3/2 Democratics state, reduce the number of civil service jobs, while private sector job growth INCREASED, AND he vetoed over 700 spending bills sent to his desk; 1/3 which were sent by GOP lawmakers. yeah, keep dismissing “nuts” like Johnson and keep venerating deficits don’t matter faux conservatives like Reagan and Bush.

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Joe….Johnson sounds like one of the evil rich. haha. Too bad he will never have a shot at getting in the white house. Hmmmm I wonder why?

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UGA 1999

September 22nd, 2011
1:47 pm
“HDB…then by your calcuations the GOP would have the presidency now. Correct? Are you saying that Obama is a repub?”

Obama is more of a centrist than a liberal! In some cases, he’s floundered…but in others, he’s done well! When Republicans state that their mission os for Obama to be a “one-term President” while simultaneously IGNORING national issues, I wonder WHO’S the antagonist….and who’s the national defender!! It’s been REPUBLICAN ideology that has the economy screwed up…..and an ENLIGHTENMENT is needed — for BOTH parties!!!

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With incorrect visions of the past, perhaps we should give people advocating tax increases and screaming about the “Bush Tax Cuts” exactly what they want. Let us let the 2001 tax cuts completely expire (not just in part, but completely since the argument is that the prior tax rates produced a balanced budget) – which they will do at the end of 2012 absent new legislation. And before everyone shouts for joy, keep in mind that for a working couple earning $105,000 per year, their tax rate will jump from the current 25% to 31% (costing them thousands), and couples earning $158,000 per year will see their rate jump from 28% to 36% (impacting them even more). Of course, for those couples earning less than $100,000, the financial devastation is even greater – but who cares if people are hurt by the increases, won’t it balance the budget, clean the air, restore our place in the world, and bring about the Second Coming??.

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UGA 1999

“What about the parasites that took out loans that they knew they could not afford?”

Are you talking about the parasites (in the financial and housing industry) who preyed on these people? I’m not an expert in the housing market, so when I bought my home I counted on the experts (my realtor, mortgage broker, home inspector, appraiser, etc) to educate me and help me understand it all…from what I can afford to trends, etc. I made a sound choice only because I had good people steering me in the right direction. There were some unscrupulous practices going on for quiet some time and lots of money being made until it all imploded.

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Just a thought–it’s going to be kind of tough for you to argue that someone paying in the mid-five-figures in income taxes is a freeloader. Making that case against the free-cell-phone crowd is juuuust a bit more reasonable.

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Barry, I asked you about ethics and morality and your responded with what you think is good business. Of course, you had to throw in and insult at the end.

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“Please show me where I was wrong….”

Gladly!

“1) Repeal of Glass-Stegall by Phil Gramm (GOP) – that allowed investment banks carte blanc and no oversight by financial regulators….now no Lehman Brothers, Bear-Sterns…..and a near-collapse of the financial industry and the US economic system….”

Partially correct. Blaming Phil Gramm and Phil Gramm (as well as the GOP) alone is not correct. Repeal had to go through a divided Congress to pass. 38 Democrat Senators voted with 52 GOP Senators on the repeal.

“2) Weakening of Congressional oversight – by Congress’s ddsire to deregulate, they also ELIMINATED much of the industry oversight…and ENFORCEMENT of statutes……”

Big whiff on this one. It was actually less the decrease in government oversight than it was a complete re-configuring of the investment game. What used to be a long-term, strategic market has been turned into a short-term, get-rich-quick, Vegas-style betting scheme. And guess who made this happen? Not Wall St., but MAIN Street with their desires to grow 401k and retirement monies faster and higher than previously thought of. This unleashed previously unheard of amounts of capital into a marketplace that didn’t need it and shouldn’t have used it.

“3) S&L Scandal of the 80s – Charles Keating, Neil Bush….this was the precursor of what happened in 2007……”

Old news. Just more Blame Bush Syndrome.

“4) Deregulation of certain industries – note the price INCREASES of natural gas and certain utilities since deregulation.”

Everything increases over time when government is involved with it. Deregulation merely slows the increases.

Now, what you missed was Fannie and Freddie buying all those sub-prime loans and selling them to investment firms, thereby flooding the market with bad paper. You missed the CRA which began, however slowly, the changing of the way banks were allowed to view risky investments. You missed a burgeoning national debt and deficit out of control. And the dozens of other reasons too numerous to detail here that all go together to affect a national and world economy.

But other than that, you were spot-on!

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UGA1999. let me guess, you want UGA to fire Mark Richt

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UGA, you are correct. The bailing out of the financial industry did not cause this mess. Deregulation of the financial industry led to the need for them to be bailed out. That is what caused the problem.

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Steve From Dalton

“what got us in the mess we are in was a little piece of Legislation from 1997 called the “Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending” This led to No income no assest (NINA). one of the co-sponsers was Barney Frank-The same Barney Frank that was behind the Frank-Dodd bill that further complicated matters.”

No such piece of legislation in 1997 called that…do a google search and you’ll see for yourself…2007 yes but not 1997.

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@uga1999 @ 2:07pm – that Troy Davis was executed is a failure of the judicial system (not to mention a collective moral failure and disgrace for all of us) since there exists at least a reasonable question as to his guilt. Whether or not he is to blame is completely irrelevant to the issue in question. I’m not even remotely surprised by your inability to make the distinction – you Georgians are a bloodthirsty lot (especially when it is a black man’s blood).

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KyleGoAway….there was NO reasonable doubt. There were NINE witnesses and proof that he had shot someone else in the same night. DONE DEAL SLEEP TIGHT!

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UGA 1999

“John….haha always playing the victim.”

Did you read my post? Where did I say I was a victim? Just the opposite…I said I have good people who steered my in the right direction.

But tell me, if someone who is not an attorney gets bad legal advice from an attorney and follows that advice, do you blame the person receiving the legal advice or the attorney giving the bad advice? What about medical advice…patient’s fault for following bad advice from a medical expert?

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UGA, Then this act could not have been the cause, the damage was done by 2007.

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Bill….Hey I didnt say it did or didnt. I was just confirming the 2007 year.

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Uga,
Your argument that John did not adequately educate himself is arrogant at best. Few of us are expert in anything, and none of us are expert in everything. We all need advice. When you need legal advice do you go to a lawyer? If you have a plumbing problem do you call a plumber, or do you first learn all there is to know about plumbing?

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@ uga 1999 @ 227pm – it may have been a black man who killed officer mcphail. Or it could have been a white woman. Or a Chinese hermaphrodite. We will never know for sure, and that’s exactly the point. What we do know is that the state of Georgia (like the great state of Texas) murdered someone late last night who it is possible was innocent of the crime for which he was killed. That can never be undone. Remember also this (in light of your glib smugness): karma can be a real bitch.

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“Why is it too much to ask the rich to be vested in our country?”

They already are. They already pay more taxes as a percentage of income than anyone else does.

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“What we do know is that the state of Georgia (like the great state of Texas) murdered someone late last night”

Technically, murder is a crime according to the state. Execution is the state carrying out a sentence for the crime.

Therefore, your classification of an execution being a murder is just so much horse-swill.

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Kyle….9 people saw him do it. All it takes is 1! Guilty….

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John…no but we should do research and get advice from multiple sources.

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Tiberius – Your lightning rod of hate!
September 22nd, 2011
2:13 pm

“Now, what you missed was Fannie and Freddie buying all those sub-prime loans and selling them to investment firms, thereby flooding the market with bad paper. You missed the CRA which began, however slowly, the changing of the way banks were allowed to view risky investments. You missed a burgeoning national debt and deficit out of control. And the dozens of other reasons too numerous to detail here that all go together to affect a national and world economy.”

You’re off a bit….let me expound:

1) Mortgages backed by Fannie and Freddie had LOWER default rates than those created by mortgage BROKERS! Fannie and Freddie were caught in a situation that required government assistance. Note the number of bank failures during the Bush years…particularly here in GEORGIA!!

2) The CRA’s primary requirement was that banks make loans in the COMMUNITIES THAT THEY SERVED…particularly minority communities! The baks’ reaction to this: close branches is predominately minority neighborhoods! Prime example: BofA closed a branch that served Stewart-Lakewood for YEARS! The CRA did NOT make lendingf institutions change their lending/credit REQUIREMENTS! Because banks were already making money off of those who were credit-worthy, they went (for lack of a better term) “bottom-feeding” to see what profits they could get….thereby, the “subprime” market!! When AIG insured the preponderance of mortgage-backed securities…and the real estate market declined, banks started calling in their insurance options…and AIG couldn’t cover!!

Note tax cuts during WARTIME cut revenue that was needed to run the WAR…so the US borrowed from China….first time that taxes weren’t RAISED to cover the war effort!!

The S&L Scandal of the 80s with Charles Keating and Neil Bush as an unindicted co-conspirator was the precursor of what we went through with TARP…..to set the record (from wikipedia):

In the 1980s, Keating ran American Continental Corporation and the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, and took advantage of loosened restrictions on banking investments. His enterprises began to suffer financial problems and were investigated by federal regulators. His association with, and financial contributions to, five U.S. senators to argue for preferential treatment from the regulators led to them being dubbed the Keating Five. When Lincoln failed in 1989, it cost the federal government over $3 billion and about 23,000 customers were left with worthless bonds. In the early 1990s, Keating was convicted in both federal and state courts of many counts of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. He served four and a half years in prison before those convictions were overturned in 1996. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to a more limited set of wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud counts, and was sentenced to the time he had already served.

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@Tiberius @238pm – I suspect you’d feel differently if it was you they strapped to the gurney. Then again, you may be too blinded by your self-professed hate.

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UGA1999, hope you didn’t attend UGA law school. 9 people “testified” that Davis was the shooter (and 7 of the 9 have since recanted). when we establish a system which can guarantee people will not lie in court; we can execute convicted criminals. the very fact that 7 or 9 witnesses have said they lied (or are lying about lying) suggests the system is flawed. the death penalty is a political tool, not a punitive tool.

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Joe…..#1 that was 20 years ago. They could possibly have some unassured confidence now about the event. The fact is that during the trial they said they SAW Troy Davis do it. What about the other 2. Still plenty of evidence to convict and sentence to death. Slam Dunk.
Those other 7 should now be charged with perjury.

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@uga1999 @249pm – I assure you you and I are anything but ‘brothers’. We don’t even belong to the same subset of humanity.

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UGA1999, then it is the “truth” as opposed to the outcome of a trial that “justifies” capital punishment in your mind? as I have said, I’d feel better if the executed the 7 witnesses who now say they lied, before executing Troy Davis. and c’mon, one of the witnesses is the alleged shooter. at the very least, the state should execute him as well, as he was there, he merely ratted out Davis ’cause the cops got to him first.

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Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:43 pm

RE: Troy Davis: Wholeheartedly AGREE!!

UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:51 pm

When the prepondrance of the evidence raises doubt (note 7 out of 9 recanted), and a person is executed under that cloud of doubt, it raises concern about the entire system!! Also note that eyewitness testimony is NOT the most reliable!!

Be it also known that the Supreme Court set such a HIGH standard (proof of innocence rather than the PRESUMPTION of innocence…even if convicted) on Davis re-examination that such a burden couldn’t have been met!!

If mistakes WERE made….they CAN’T be corrected now!!!

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HDB….they had 20 years to correct the mistakes. There werent any.

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@uga1999 @255pm – [sic]. You may want to reread your last sentence. Also, might I suggest reading comprehension lessons and a private college on your next go-round?

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UGA 1999, I don’t know about Davis didn’t see him do it. What do you think the executioner is going to say when St. Peter asks about his “murder”? You think he is any less guilty than Davis and if he killed an innocent man he is guiltier. If Davis is guilty he probably thought he had some right to kill too. I was black, he was white, he was out to get me. Everybody on death row had an excuse. Of course I am just an old liberal who has no knowledge of the Bible and certainly wouldn’t want to tell a far right his way around the Bible.

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Funny, no one is mentioning that Carter started the Sub Prime Loan Program, Clinton, tweaked it allowing anyone with a pulse to get a home loan, while ACORN enforced it.

During GW term many times regulations was attempted only to be quashed by the Dembicels saying how great a job the current administration was doing at the helm of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae.

Go back and do your research folks, check out the You Tube videos of the Dembicels defending the administration of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae.

Don’t leave out the fact that Clinton was the reason the bubble burst, just before leaving office he went after Microsoft, followed with SEC changes which eliminated small IPO’s, after which capital investors pulled money back and the Tech Bubble burst, Dropping the Tech sector by 30% that initial month.

Then right after GW came in we had 911, why did Clinton not capture Osama when he was offered up by Syria, oh he was too busy hiding cigars.

One other thing, what happened to the transparency that was promised us, did anyone see any CSPAN coverage of Boama, were the earmarks removed like promised, no back room deals were cut so the Dembicels could save BO from looking like a fool, never mind that the majority of Americans were against it or that the majority of Congress really had no clue what was in it.

Did the Stupidus Bill create millions of jobs and keep unemployment below 8%…

Proof is in the pudding, or the inability of a community organizer to run a company much less a country.

One Bad A#$ Mistake America, and now we have a new opportunity to take back this country before BO destroys it and contiues his path to the Socialist States of America.

Here are more facts.

What is going to happen to unemployment once the tax cuts end for small business…More lay offs. Do you really think a business owner is going to eat it, no it will be passed on.

What are employees and employers going to do in October when it is time to make changes for group insurance…The reality of Obama care will hit…wait and see…

With Obama care what incentive is there for a new college student to become a specialty type of doctor…How are all the vacancies by the current departing medical professionals going to be replaced…From India…From China…but not from US..

What about the Nuclear treaty, Russia can pull out at any time, but Obama stated that we are not going to build any new or more modern nukes while every other country will. Our military can just clean out the cob webs and hope our aging missiles will fire.

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Joe….one less mouth we have to feed.

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Dear Non-Profits organizations, my wife and I currently donate a significant number of dollars to you. Should Obama get his tax increases on us we will reduce our charitable giving to cover our ‘revenue loss’. Also, local retailers should be warned we will spend less money, so those of you working retail also be warned, you might lose your job since we won’t be buying as much which will in turn affect your employers ability to pay you… there’s more but I think you get the point. My savings and retirement plans are not going to be what I cut, it will be ‘discretionary spending’.

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Umm, how did this blog turn from financial shenanigans to the Troy Davis saga? No way the two are related. ‘KW, lots of name calling going on today. GUess that old saying “a hurt dog hollers loudest” has some truth to it.
Fair tax. Consumption tax (if there’s no income tax, wouldn’t there be more $$$ in people’s pockets to spend?) And looking at people shopping, spending everything they have and more seems to be the way to go these days. After all, it’s how our gov’t operates, right?
Back on track now y’all. Don’t make ole dad come down there….

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UGA1999, OK, now we’re getting somewhere (3:19). if it’s about overcrowded prisons, or the fact that taxpayers pay the tabs for criminals; then let’s have THAT conversation. do you hear yourself? the idea that we should execute criminals to save money actually makes sense on some really, really base level (think abortion); but again, we get back to the question of “reasonable doubt”). heck the way the system works now, they might as well just hold a lottery once a year, and if you are a convicted murderer; you get executed.

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He had GWR on his hand. Witnesses from the previous shooting that night as well as the cop killing. Case closed. Sleep well.

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The folks, who are getting the free stuff, don’t like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff. The folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop, and the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting! Now… The people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist. So… The people who are GETTING the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff, and giving them the free stuff in the first place. We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.
Some voters have figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that, in 2012.

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For the record…..I believe that execution should be reserved for crimes so severe that the criminal shouldnt be allowed to live. Also there should be such a load of evidence to do away with all doubt. Both were there in this case.

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Folks, Troy Davis is dead. Nothing you say or argue wil change that fact. This blog is about raising taxes on the rich. Back on subject now???

GT, if you’ve ever watched an abortion of a later term fetus, you may change your mind. I wouldn’t wish that sight on anyone though.

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UGA1999, all the GWR proves that he was involved in another shooting/crime earlier in the evening. to my knowledge the illegal (or legal) discharge of a firearm is not a capital offense (actually, I guess it now is)

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Y’all are hopelessly stubborn. You make my ex look like Ghandi….

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a dad, and Officer MacPhail is dead, and no execution will change that fact. re: abortion, my point was; if we execute criminals for financial reasons (less mouths to feed), we are no better than those who abort fetuses for the same reason. has nothing to do with guilt or innocence on the part of either party; and Troy Davis would not be the first “wrong place at the wrong time” person to die at the hands of the state. ever heard of Kathryn Johnson?

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UGA1999, one more then I gotta go’ being capable of murder is not proof that he killed MacPhail. shell casings fired from the same weapon is not proof he killed MacPhail. show me a murder weapon. show me DNA evidence. if he “killed someone else” earlier in the night why was he sentenced to death for the MacPhail shooting, and not the other homicide? perhaps because MacPhail was a police officer? as if the life of a police officer is worth more than “someone else’s” life.

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UGA 1999, since I have never killed anybody that is one I didn’t worry about reading too closely. I guess that would be a good excuse for this prison guard when he wakes up at Heaven’s door. You see St. Peter I thought it said Thy with it was talking about thall, now let me in before I kill some more people.

However we read the first word the killing part is still in there and it doesn’t say a word about any age limits or our opinion of the human we kill.

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@uga 1999 @326 – that’s funny. Hilarious, actually. Hint: I’m a scholar of (United States) constitutional law. I’m more than comfortable with my “learn[ing] up on [my] judicial system knowledge” [sic], [sic] and yet more [sic].

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GT….I assume you are a vegitarian as well?

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Republicans are getting what they want…let everyone take care of themselves and get them off the government teat…starting with the states who need disaster relief.

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@uga 1999 @336pm – go check out ‘the china study’; vegitarianism [sic] is actually quite good for you.

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@uga 1999 @337pm – your doubts, no matter how strong your convictions of same might be, can’t change reality as it is.

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Kyle…I know it is good for you but you failed to answer my question. Are you a vegitarian?

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@uga 1999 @344 – you directed the question to gt, not me (see, again, suggestion, above, re: reading comprehension and private college). Since it has been redirected to me, I’ll play: not yet, but I’m moving in that direction (see, again, suggestion, above, re: the china study). Heading to a meeting now, so … ta.

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A dad….dont bother they wont get it.

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Kyle wrote, “The $447 billion piece of legislation he proposed earlier this month was not so much a jobs bill as it was a tax increase-justification bill.”

Have any of the comments above pointed out that 60 percent of Obama’s “tax increase-justification bill” are tax cuts?

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Dow now down 470 points!

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@ a dad @354 – you’d think we all – or at least most of us – would agree on climate change, too. Alas, a sizable portion of our elected officials think it is a hoax. Slick Rick: how have your prayer festivals helped out (I) with rain in your state and (II) our economy? Not so well, huh?

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Kyle there is a Plan B; it was/is the plan to continue to slash taxes on business and the wealthy. Has that worked? It is a yes or no question, something a republican can’t answer w/o blaming something else. So…….is it yeas or no????? No blaming now!

Why don’t we slash taxes for those under $200K to zero. Then the businesses and wealthy can take over this counrtry and pay for all the programs they want, but you cannot touch entitlements!

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I just think this execution or any execution is a moral issue. If this entire In God we Trust is just to get votes admit it. I notice Bush backed off some of his rock solid beliefs after he was out of the White House. He said the Bible can not be interpreted word for word as an actual happening. I guess in that light, kill could have four or five different meanings; the trouble is when you change that word the abortion issue changes too. It is a slippery slope and the main reason we kill is for our own satisfaction, kind of like having sex. The best I can tell though, God allows sex in certain situations, can’t remember any details about what killing is good and what is bad, so I guess killing is worse than sex.

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What if the GOP gets it’s way and taxes are NOT raised on the uber-wealthy? What then? Squeeze it all out of the middle-class so the large majority of what little money IS being spent dwindles to nothing? The majority of the country’s wealth is already sitting stagnant in the form of record profits reaped by these “job creators” who are not and have not been creating jobs. Suck what little the middle-class is presently circulating out of them and our economy is truly and completely over.

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Delay didn’t have a nut house to round up like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Jack Nicholson looks healthy compared to some of these guys. The House looks like it has gotten into a run down neighborhood.

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“most ignorant/mis-informed/ill-informed among us.” Yup, that b me. Just kidding. I said I wasn’t 100% convinced. That doesn’t mean I completely discount global warming/climate change/etc. And I look back at recorded weather when massive events like Krakatoa, Pinatubo, etc. occurred as well as paying attentio to seasonale vents like hurricanes, etc. Not convinced 100% simply means there may be more at play, some of it nature in origin. See, we can agree and have discorse without resorting to name calling, you weiner! Just kidding. Got to run boys and girls. Kyle W, keep up the fun.

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What if the GOP gets it’s way and taxes are NOT raised on the uber-wealthy?
————-

The federal government might have to get by on $3 trillion a year.

Oh the humanity!!

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@ a dad – you strike me as a rational, reasonable, thoughtful and well-considered fellow and I apologize if you thought I was referring to you. I was speaking instead about the (often rabid) wholesale deniers. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that both Kyle and uga 1999 might be among them.

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Kyle – nah, just messing with you. I tend to have a somewhat smart@ssed, slightly sarcastic sense of humor but I’m most harmless. Wouldn’t be offended in the least even if you were laughing at me. Indeed, why should I be the only one not doing so….
CJ, thanks. I still think we’re hosed though. Personally, I believe it all started with Gordon Gecko’s
Greed is Good” line.
Gee, can’t wait to see what KW writes about for tomorrow. Later y’all.

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It will have no meaningful effect on the economy other than to lower the deficit. These people aren’t hiring anyway so let’s even out the tax code. If they don’t like it, let them move; surely some european country would gladly take them on for 60% of their gross. Or maybe they can move to someplace that has no taxes..other than a military dictatorship to exact an unknown “tax” such as your head or all you own whenever it suits them. I say tax the heck outta them.

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What you’ve laid out will never happen Kyle and you know it. I’m sure you had fun fomenting the socialist liberals into a hopeful tizzy but you know full well this is all a political ploy coming from a loser, a one term blunder, who is desperate to hold onto power that is slipping away from him very quickly.

ZERObama – Keep the fork at the ready Kyle, he’ll be done very soon.

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If Obozo really wanted to raise taxes on the productive class, he’d have done it when he had a filibuster-proof Congress. This is just stinkbait for the bottom feeders, i.e. his base.

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Obama hasn’t a clue.

For three years he has been pursuing a big government, low growth agenda. He is hostile to the free market and apparently frightened of the notion that someone should make a profit apart from the largesse of the feds.

No wonder we are mired in economic failure. Obama’s no growth agenda is working. Just not for us.

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Idiot Messiah: “At some point, you’ve made enough money”.

Looks like Waheema got it about right.

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Jack @7:57 pm
You mean Obama will kill them by raising their taxes a litle bit?

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I’ll admit it: There’s a part of me that wants President Obama to get every last tax increase he proposed this week.

I’ll admit to a version of that. I’d like to see President Obama get every last tax increase he proposed this week IN SOMEONE ELSE’S COUNTRY.

I’m as puzzled as you are about this crusade of his to foment anger toward Republicans and the rich.

Maybe I just nailed the point unwittingly.

I think only in rare cases actually, that Barack Obama says on air exactly what he thinks and admits it outright. Quotes such as these include, “sense of fairness,” “distribution of wealth” –to Joe the Plumber, “I’m sorry for my country” –to dozens of tin-pot dictators or “Goddam America” –what he heard in Church for 20 years. I don’t think Obama’s actual goal, to accomplish these things would get very much play with the public were they not obfuscated by the media. Why indeed, if raising taxes to lower the deficit is such an important principle of his, did he not raise them with the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Truly, he seems to choose domestic policies of convenience and political expediency as a sole criterion. His foreign policy is even murkier than Bush, Carter or really anyone in the modern era–and that says a lot.

So, why ask why with Obama. Let’s just prep for ending his disastrous “leadership” in 14 months with someone who promises to not just replace his policies but repeal them.

I think the walls are starting to come down on Barack Obama. Not only is he an ideologue, but more and more people are beginning to realize that he is incompetent too.

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Dora @ 5:55,

Thanks for the open threat.

Thanks to the Founders of this country who wrote firearm ownership into the constitution to allow ordinary people to repel open and hostile threats to life, liberty and property.

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Obama Rewrites ‘No Child’ Law

By LAURA MECKLER and STEPHANIE BANCHERO

President Barack Obama is set to replace key planks of former President George W. Bush’s signature No Child Left Behind education law, allowing many schools to escape looming punishment if their states adopt a new set of standards.

Under the new system, which Mr. Obama plans to announce Friday, states would qualify for a waiver from existing rules by requiring, among other things, that evaluations of teachers and principals be linked to the results of student tests and other measures of performance.

“Our administration will provide flexibility from the law in exchange for a real commitment to undertake change,” Mr. Obama said Thursday in a statement.
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Remember the old days when laws were passed by Congress, rather than by putzhead fascist dictator wannabes?

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TRS can help you settle back taxes regardless of how much you owe and get your taxes on the right track by establishing a resolution road map. http://bit.ly/pb1lpg

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my neighbors 4 dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than obama

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