These guys are cooler than we are!
147 Thoughts to “Open Thread…………………………………………Sunday, July 10”
Comments are closed.
Archives
Categories
Blogroll
- 9500Liberty
- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
All contents copyright Moonhowlings.net
Blogroll
- 9500Liberty
- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
“McConnell’s plan to give the president the power to unilaterally
raise the debt ceiling is devious, convoluted and cynical.
I love it.” (Derek Thompson – Atlantic Monthly)
“To understand Cantor, think Macbeth with all the vaulting ambition,
but none of the guilt.” (Ruth Marcus – Raleigh N&O)
It doesn’t matter who is is right or wrong, but who gets the blame?
The USA’s women’s soccer win over Brazil was one of the best
athletic contest I have seen in years – men or women’s.
Damn good team.
Think of it as BUY TWO GET ONE FREE.
I thought we were up to 4 wars? I’ve lost count.
I need to read up on McConnell’s plan because I think at first blush it’s a load of cat poo. Congress should not abdicate it’s duty because it’s hard.
“This group of 20 or 30 somethings, each one more beaming,
bight-eyed, polite, gritty and relentless than the next, presents
a sharp contrast to the rest of the contemporary sports landscape.”
(Mark Futterman, WSJ 7-13-2011)
Note that a key member of the team, Ali Kreiger, is from this area.
– Forest Park HS grad.
Marin, when do the babes go home? How about Mrs. M?
Big Dog, thanks for the updates. You are wonderful about keeping us informed, especially as events relate to local folks.
Big dog, are you doing the dance? Things are looking mighty good!
Nor has the Obama stimulus, or any of his other policies.
@Need to Know
“The editorial writer is somewhat truth-challenged. Bush II did not have a tax-cut related revenue problem, he had a spending problem that turned even many Republicans against him. ”
EXACTLY!
I am trying to figure out why we had 8 years of him if no one liked him.
As for any of the Obama policies working, I would say that is a matter of opinion.
I am still waiting for the great republican cure all that we were promised last fall to take place. I guess I will be having the same conversation this time next year.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58869.html
Look out! Republicans are mailing weasels – to each other!
Interesting interview of Michelle Bachmann by Bill O’Reilly.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1047911122001/bachmann-stands-strong-against-raising-debt-ceiling/?playlist_id=86923
AARP is on the move, activating all its members to call their congressman/woman to keep congress’s mitts off of SS and medicare. You press 1 to get connected.
I gave old Frank the message and threw in to take that extra from millionaires. Ah…life is good and an 8 buck a year lobbiest is a good thing.
I did apolgize to AARP a while back for sending back the ‘screw you’ reply when they contacted me when I turned a half century old. Its a good organization. They don’t want older Americans to have to eat dog food.
Is there any place that SS can cut back a little without nailing the workers of America? One place I question is people who haven’t worked getting half of the spouse’s SS amount while the spouse is alive. If you haven’t paid in, I am not so sure you are entitled to a spousal half. Divorced people can also take a spousal half while the spouse is still alive. Once they are dead, I don’t care but while living…someone convince me of a compelling reason.
Perhaps it is sour grapes on my part. I paid in to SS my entire working life, starting at age 16. I resent someone who has sat on their ass all those years getting half what I am getting just for breathing air. Once the spouse is dead, I don’t care but not before then.
You can also get half of your spouse’s SS if you had real low paying jobs or short time in the work force. You don’t have to be totally out of the system.
Moon,
It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of metrics. National Debt? Highest since WWII, and measured in TRILLIONS. Unemployment? Up. GDP growth? Anemic. More Americans on foodstamps or receiving some sort of government assistance now than in any time in our history. Housing industry, even deeper in the tank. Bush had us in two wars. Obama added a third. At least under Obama, gold prices have risen to historic highs, but that’s not really a good thing, is it? Operation Fast and Furious? A major scandle in the works here, one that I predict will lead directly to the Whitehouse, if Holder isn’t willing to go down alone. And Holder WILL go down as a result of this.
Since I know many Obama defenders will result to the default “blame Bush” argument. To them I ask, at what point does Obama actually become responsible for what happens? For the first two years of his presidency he had a total majority: Democrat house and senate. They could do whatever they wanted, and they did. It didn’t work. Obama’s presidency will be judged a failure, by every objective measure available.
Metrics don’t paint the full picture. It is very hard to distinguish lines between administrations. Why blame anyone? Since Obama was inaugurated the r lovers have been pointing fingers and blame gaming. They knew all the answers. I have yet to hear one single answer. Its real easy to find fault and offer no solutions.
At least Obama got in there, rolled up his sleeves and tried to normalize things after the Great Recession which still wasn’t over. I will blame Bush for things that happened on his watch but at what point does that just become oh so republican to do? I give the guy full accolades for his efforts at the end of his administration. He listened to the experts and did what he thought he had to do, regardless of party pressure.
@Moon-howler
“I am still waiting for the great republican cure all that we were promised last fall to take place. I guess I will be having the same conversation this time next year.
You do realize that the GOP holds a majority in the House, and the Democrats hold the Senate and the Oval Office, right? That’s 1/3 of the whole.
So why weren’t things made all puppies and icecream when the Dems held the House, Senate and Oval Office? What cure did we get from them? Bankruptcy. That’s what we got.
@Steve, loud and proud gets the attention. they have mine. I listened to the badgering and how they knew all the answers. I am waiting. I would like to see some of their ideas moved forward in the house. The one thirds argument can cut both ways.
We aren’t bankrupt. We have too much debt. We are still carrying WWII debt. We need to make a lot of changes. Some involve rewriting tax codes, fixing loopholes, and yes, hitting the very wealthy for a little more.
I suppose our difference in opinion has to do with the fact that I am a moderate and you are a conservative. I also am not a party member. (and I have been a member of both, at different times in my life) I am probably a Betty Ford/Barbara Bush type of Republican at heart, but those are from another era, I am very sorry to say.
USA 3
France 1
US women’s soccer team heads to the championship game!
Outstanding to hear. Go women!!!!
BD, McConnell is a tool. Anything less than cut, cap and balance is surrender. And these colors don’t run.
And one last thought: When was the last time the Democrats passed a budget, balanced or otherwise? Hint: it was over two years ago.
They didn’t bother to pass a budget, even when they controlled the Oval Office, House, and Senate. Did they? Nope. They just passed spending bills. Lot’s and lot’s of spending bills. They didn’t want to have to answer to the American people for a budget, so they punted.
@Moon-howler
“I suppose our difference in opinion has to do with the fact that I am a moderate and you are a conservative.”
I think it might go a bit deeper than this. I believe I am looking at this like a math problem, while you are looking at it like a PR problem.
The GOP has been offerring solutions. The Paul Ryan budget was offerred as a solution. It was poo-pooed up and down by the whitehouse and the Democrats, but they offer nothing in return…except “we gotta raise taxes.”
The house passed a plan that would cut 6 trillion. The Senate rejected it at the urging of Obama.
The latest offer from the GOP would cut $4.6 trillion, and would look at tax reforms as well. This has been rejected by the Senate.
Obama has said much regarding deficit reduction and entitlement reform. All sizzle. No steak.
Yes, we do need tax reform. But until the Democrats are willing to deal with the core issue (Out-of-control SPENDING), they have no justification to raise taxes.
Moody’s just put U.S. debt, Fannie and Freddie on review for possible downgrade. Index futures getting hit with the Hammer of Thor.
I missed the downgrade of Ireland to Junk. Wow.
Nero is playing his flute.
I heard it but I must have heard the wrong country, marin.
Kind of surprised no one is talking about the petition against the Dream Act legislation in Maryland. Seems like very big news to me, and the Washington Post is so flustered they seem to have an emargo against the story – they probably can’t think of a good way to spin it.
The petitioners collected enough signatures to block the Dream Act law from taking effect, and to put it up for statewide referendum in 2012. It seems a given that it will not pass, and this will provide objective evidence that even in a liberal state like Maryland, people want to take a harder rather than softer line on illegal immigration. Seems to me the climate is changing even in the people’s Republic of Maryland.
How can that work? How can the populace overrule the legislature?
The laws of the state say that if enough petitions are collected, on something that costs the state money, it goes to rererendum.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/01/marylands-dream-act-suspended-amid-petition-drive-for-referendum/
Wow. I had no idea. Does that law exist in VA?
Rick,
The Fox story omits this gem.
Elections officials said about 30 percent of the approved May 31 signatures came from registered Democrats.
😉
Reference http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/7/dream-act-opponents-force-vote-next-year/
MH, are you against referendums and recalls? Or, were you just asking a question on how it works?
I was just questioning how it worked. Recalls are all but impossible in VA. I had also never heard of overruling the Maryland legislature.
@Big Dog
US women played very well. Should be a great final against the Japanese, who really outplayed Sweden, 3-1.
You mean the American citizens in Maryland actually have a say? Wow, what a concept!
MH, http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Election_Information/Getting_a_Question_on_the_Ballot.html is a good source of information.
Thanks Marin.
Does anyone else think it is sort of sick puppy that someone bitched at me about Bachmann and her stance of gays when I hadn’t even brought up her obvious bias on the subject?
I am not sure she is really worth the bother.
Hannity, Hannity, Hannity. One of his guests said The folksin the SEC were so bad that they couldn’t find a prostitute in a whore house.
Is that sort of like calling the President a dick? Hannity said the president was full of crap.
Lets see if Faux News will ban that guy and Hannity.
Great point Steve, it is a math problem, very basic actually. You can cut the government to nothing and deal with the deficit, no one would argue that logic. However, the question becomes, what services do the people of a civil society forgoe in order to have a debt free government? Greenspan has said over and over , the Bush tax cuts were intended to sunset, they were not intended to be permanent, tax cuts are NOT deficit neutral.
What I find utterly shocking, is the lack of ability to compromise and freely problem solve without having to pay homage to the god of tax breaks. Reagan raised taxes, Bush senior raised taxes, if one cannot use all the tools available to solve a problem, those people should not be in a leadership role…..period. I find Cantors behavior embarrasing as a Virginian.
As for metrics, what if we just took the metrics from 2001 to 2008, would that be an accurate representation of the whole story? No, of course it is not.
http:www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/07/mitch-mcconnells-good-idea/241901/
Shrewd idea, sell-out or both?
I don’t like it, but it is better than a default.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/07/mitch-mcconnells-good-idea/241901/
@Elena
“As for metrics, what if we just took the metrics from 2001 to 2008, would that be an accurate representation of the whole story? No, of course it is not.”
It would be if you were using the objective metrics to measure the success of the Bush presidency.
As for tax code reform, I am all for it. Let’s look at it all. Loopholes, subsidies and rates. Also, if we must have a “progressive” system of taxation, then let’s make sure that everyone who has an income pays in something, even if it’s 0.5%. Get rid of the “earned income credit” where many who pay no Federal income tax what-so-ever, get a “refund” check back from the government. It isn’t a refund if they didn’t pay anything to begin with.
As far as extending the Bush era tax rates (let’s call them what they really are, a lower marginal rate than what was in place during the Clinton years), Obama didn’t have to do it. He and the Senate could have blocked it, and they would have expired. But Obama made the decision to extend them. So are these “Bush tax cuts” or “Obama maintains the status quo”? He also pushed for and got a temporary reduction in Social Security tax withholdings. This I couldn’t fathom. If the system is facing revenue shortfalls, why reduce the revenue, especially when much of the “trust fund” consists of IOU’s.
The main problem with what you have said, Steve, is that it is so partisan. I know you are an R. We get it. However, what is good for the country, not the party, should be the main question. I don’t care what the tax cuts are called. I never turn down a tax cut for myself. I would think that Bush would want to take credit for them. If Elena suddenly started calling them the Obama tax cuts there would be a hue and cry.
Earned income credit should go. I agree with you on that one. I think it is on payroll taxes paid in. I have no problem giving a person back the money they put in through payroll, if that is how it all shakes down when they do their taxes. I do mind giving them more back than they put in. It might have to do with some of the tax credits. I guess I feel that should just be a wash. If your employer holds back $3000, you loophole out of it and then have a tax credit, tough. Heads, you lose.
I do believe the millionaires ought to get slight 1-2 percent nudge upwards. Give them a tax break if they have created a job or 2. Sounds simple enough.
To all, I am simply not buying this ‘job creator’ crap any longer. Give the job creator a tax credit for it to offset the tax increase if that is what they are doing. That is fairly simple. Or—you can take it off the backs of medicare and social security and watch 50 million recipients kick some butt at election time.
http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/002169.htm
“Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”
Dick Cheney
(Unless,of course, a Democrat is in the White House)
@Moon-howler
“The main problem with what you have said, Steve, is that it is so partisan. I know you are an R. We get it. However, what is good for the country, not the party, should be the main question.”
What is partisan about pointing out the fact that Obama could have let the Bush-era rates expire, as both you and Elena have asserted was the original intent of the legislation, but chose to extend them? What is partisan about pointing out that from 2006-2010, both houses of Congress were controlled by the Democrats, and during the first 2 years of the Obama presidency, the Democrats controllled both the legislative and executive branches of government? These are objective facts, not partisan statements. Another objective fact is the economy began to slow in 2006, and gradually worsened through 2008. These years mark the last two years of the Bush presidency. These two years also mark the beginning of Pelosi and Reids leadership of the Congress. Budgets passed under this congress dramatically increased spending, and yes, Bush signed them. 2008-2010, years 100% under the leadership of the Democrat party. During this period, the economy continued to decline, and spending sky-rocketed. Also during this period, the Democratically controlled, veto-proof Congress failed to pass a budget. The did manage to pass massive spending bills, to include the stimulis package. Yet, the economy remained stagnent.
These are not partisan statements. These are facts. indisputable facts. The only thing even remotely partisan about them is it would appear that the Democrats are fiscally irresponsible, yet this assertion isn’t baseless…it is fully supported by facts.
I am an “R” for a reason. The reason is I have a degree in History, a minor in PolySci, and am quite competent in higher math. The only thing “Left” about me is I am “Left Brain Dominant”. The analytical, logical, rational type. A “splitter” not a “lumper” who sees distinctions. Big advantage over a “Right-Brain” type: The ability to see cause and effect and use previously accumulated, organized information to develop conclusions.
History teaches us many things. You can’t spend your way out of a recession (Japan). Low marginal tax rates result in economic growth (Reagan, JFK), grandiose social programs fail to solve the problem they were designed to solve (New Deal, Great Society, War on Poverty). Cradle-to-grave social programs will bankrupt a country (Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland). Centralized economies wither and die (USSR) or cause their people to starve (North Korea). When you have more people depending on the government, than working to support society, it will crumble from within (Rome). Failure to control your borders will result in your downfall (Rome)…I can go on and on. I know my history. I know that history will judge this period of Democrat control as one of decline, using the metrics stated earlier. Therefore, I will use these rational, objective facts and call this one: Obama, Reid and Pelosi have failed. Just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
-Sen. Barack Obama Mar. 20th 2006
*Unless of course the President requesting the increase happens to be me!
Cato, I know that you don’t believe there would be no debt if McCain had been elected. Why would you try to pull that one off. More Republican talking points?
Please go look at the debt chart, all while thinking about how we are probably still paying for the freaking atomic bomb and the Battle of the Bulge from WWII.
How can we blame Obama for that? Yea, his grandfather was in WWII under Patton. Yea, that’s the ticket. give me a break.
Just to satisfy my masochistic sense of curiosity, where would you place blame for the current unemployment numbers?
@Slow,
I would blame the Great Recession. It took over 10 years to pull out of the Great Depression. People are afraid to spend money. The real estate crisis still isn’t over.
The more doom and gloom portrayed, the harder it will be for people to relax. Unemployment will hang around until people start buying more.
@Steve Thomas
History? How many times does the left have to tell you that a document over 200 years old couldn’t possibly be relevant today? It’s too old! These ideas of limited government, truth, justice and national sovereignty, they have expiration dates! Ask any liberal, they’ll set you straight!
Palin Lies — #173
To make the point that a dollar doesn’t go as far as it did before, Sarah Palin said Todd paid $2.69 for a Slim Jim that not long ago cost 99 cents. According to ConAgra, a 99 cent Slim Jim still costs 99 cents. To her credit, at least she didn’t say Paul Revere paid 99 cents when he bought a Slim Jim, a pickled egg and a Big Gulp at the 7-11 when he took a break during the ride where he fired his rifle and rang his bell to warn the British that we were not going to let them take our guns.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/07/14/137854329/conagra-to-palin-cost-of-snapping-into-a-slim-jim-hasnt-spiked
So con-agra sets the prices in all the little stores that sell slim jims? You mean I should be able to walk into any 7-11 and pay the same price, regardless of where I am at? Even in Alaska, that has to import practically everything?
Both parties collude towards debt. The one (Democrat) says, give money to those who have less, and tax those who have most. The other (Republican) says, free up those who have most to create jobs, and stop subsidizing failure as heavily as we do. The compromise they strike is to give money to EVERYONE. They each look out for their political base.
Because neither party has any intellectual integrity, we are in a culture of deficit. The two party system is failing.
I can remember long ago on the blogs you tore me up for suggesting what you just suggested and you explained whya 3 party system wouldn’t work. I wish I could remember what you said but you were very convincing. @ Rick
I think both parties posture. I used to be an R until about 25 years ago. I got so I got tired of being embarrassed by them, especially the fringe element. (and this was even after Nixon). I was a D for a while. I got tired of them also. The locals could manage to lose a race if no one was running against them.
Its easier to be a free woman. If a good R or a good D comes along, I can vote for them with apologies to no one. I haven’t forgiven the D’s for not having any Mark Warner signs. I had to call campaign headquarters to get one.
So, voting for either party is a vote for the continued degradation and rape of America.
@Rick, not voting is even more of a vote towards degradation and rape of America. The extremists get to chose rather than the centrists.
Steve,
The tax cuts were tied to unemployment benefits. No tax break extension, no benefits for the unemployed, not really a choice. If our unemployment rate continues to be so abysmal, after the stimulus package AND another extension of tax breaks, why are you suggesting we do more of the same for taxes?
Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results!
Anyone who thinks that the Democratic Party is more fiscally responsible than the GOP should watch the episode of Frontline that aired a few weeks ago, that dealt with the way Clinton ceded control of the economy to Greenspan and Summers and Altman, who fought to keep the ‘derivatives” and nonsense “investments” that eventually lead to a massive crash. There’s no intellectual integrity in either party. The problems that surface are not because one party or the other effected control of the nation, but because of the corrupt collusion between the two.
This was the episode, it’s depressing but extremely enlightening –
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/view/
If you liked “Too Big To Fail”, you should definitely give this a watch. The portrait of Alan Greenspan is extremely damning – and clearly accurate. He gained power, used it to pursue his personal philosophy (objectivism) much in the manner of a religious zealot, and at the end of the day became a broken and failed man who realized his life was wasted.
Here it is and I give this my strongest recommendation. This may change your view of recent politics and history. No one’s been driving the train, for many years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3HmV43Zs-M
@Steve Thomas
If Slim Jims in Alaska sell for 2.7 times the retail price here in the lower 48 I’m renting a U-Haul, stopping by Costco, and then heading to Alaska … heck, with that rate of return on investment I could rent a jet and fly them in.
The patriots on the far that called President Obama a socialist and a Nazi and warned of death panels for granny and terror babies in the heartland are accusing the President of using scare tactics on what could happen if we hit the debt ceiling.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/07/13/137826812/bachmann-other-house-conservatives-accuse-obama-of-debt-scare-tactics
From Anvari.org:
Talk about Alaska food prices. A woman went to the store to buy a couple heads of lettuce, but when she saw the prices at $2.00 she told the grocer: “Do you know what you can do with this lettuce?”
“No thanks, lady, I’ve got a $2.00 cucumber up there now!”