The Politics Thread - please direct all related posts here..

[richardhutnik]

Well, I got out of my surgery two days ago and am home.

I really wonder where I would be now, if it wasn't for Medicaid (I probably would still be suffering the rest of my life with perpetual leg problems that wouldn't enable me to sleep). I am on my way to recovery now. I hope to be able to be about again within a month, and maybe get something going, besides illegally selling cigarettes outside of bars.

And another thing has be wondering. Why would individuals who are hard core partisan GOP, actually care what is going on in the world and what others do? If where people are in life is based entirely on self-reliance, who cares what Washington or anyone else does? If you are all that, you don't need to worry about anything else, do you? Whatever Washington does or doesn't do shouldn't impact your chance at success, right?

- Rich

[richardhutnik]

It would be nice if how politicians get busted, is due to an agreed upon set of standards, rather than claims of hypocrisy. These claims are made in an attempt to grab power, rather than what is needed to determine suitability for running the government.

- Rich

[richardhutnik]

What suckers believe Fox News is a friend to him or what he stands for? Look at the horrible spin they did on the announcement of the CPAC straw poll win:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaIh0GzMawE[/youtube]

The reaction they used was from the 2010 CPAC poll he also won, which had a large number of Romney supporters in attendance. And before people think that was doctored or some mistake, here is Fox News own account posting it up on YouTube, saying the reaction was mixed:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTR5JV8PUo[/youtube]

- Rich

[NYK 455]

What suckers believe Fox News is a friend to him or what he stands for? Look at the horrible spin they did on the announcement of the CPAC straw poll win:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaIh0GzMawE[/youtube]

The reaction they used was from the 2010 CPAC poll he also won, which had a large number of Romney supporters in attendance. And before people think that was doctored or some mistake, here is Fox News own account posting it up on YouTube, saying the reaction was mixed:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTR5JV8PUo[/youtube]

- Rich

Dirty.

[rsavaj]

Im so glad the Muslim er I mean Christian, I mean Commander in chief is tacitly in favor of this....all I can say is wow. I mean I could say more, plenty more but Ive already made it clear what I think of him.

Why does what religion he subscribes to matter?

[richardhutnik]

Im so glad the Muslim er I mean Christian, I mean Commander in chief is tacitly in favor of this....all I can say is wow. I mean I could say more, plenty more but Ive already made it clear what I think of him.

Why does what religion he subscribes to matter?

"Muslim" is the new black.

- Rich

[mugzi]

Im so glad the Muslim er I mean Christian, I mean Commander in chief is tacitly in favor of this....all I can say is wow. I mean I could say more, plenty more but Ive already made it clear what I think of him.

Why does what religion he subscribes to matter?

"Muslim" is the new black.

- Rich

Oh like "libertarian" is the new liberal? You are such a race baiting hypocrite it disgusts me.

[mugzi]

Well, I got out of my surgery two days ago and am home.

I really wonder where I would be now, if it wasn't for Medicaid (I probably would still be suffering the rest of my life with perpetual leg problems that wouldn't enable me to sleep). I am on my way to recovery now. I hope to be able to be about again within a month, and maybe get something going, besides illegally selling cigarettes outside of bars.

And another thing has be wondering. Why would individuals who are hard core partisan GOP, actually care what is going on in the world and what others do? If where people are in life is based entirely on self-reliance, who cares what Washington or anyone else does? If you are all that, you don't need to worry about anything else, do you? Whatever Washington does or doesn't do shouldn't impact your chance at success, right?

- Rich

You need to get on your knees and thank God that you live in a country where tax payers like myself and others who actually earn enough to pay for the entitlement programs you take for granted exist. You really are a piece of work.

Here's a real African American politician who I'd be happy to call my president. Start shaking in your commie boots Wingo.




Herman Cain, Raises Yes He Can, At Tea Party Event
Bayou buzz news ^ | 2/21/11 | JEFF CROUERE


Herman Cain wowed a jammed packed crowd of hundreds of tea party activists. Cain addressed the Northshore Tea Party on a host of important issues, such as the “broke” federal government, the importance of faith in America today and his potential run for the White House in 2012.

If the enthusiastic response at the Northshore Tea Party is any indication of the reaction Cain is receiving from across the nation, the former radio broadcaster and corporate CEO will jump into the wide open race for the Republican nomination.

At the current time, Cain is not an official candidate and is “exploring” the race. He said that he is considering the race because of his concern for his grandchildren and what type of country will await future generations. He quit his radio show to travel across the country and meet with Americans. He has formed a presidential exploratory committee to gauge support and raise funds. In the past few weeks, he has been extremely busy and is in demand as a keynote speaker.

Before speaking to the Northshore Tea Party event, Cain addressed a huge crowd in Madison, Wisconsin. Cain supports the budget cuts announced by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. He believes that decisive action is necessary to prevent the state from becoming “dead broke.” According to Cain, tough decisions are also needed at the federal level, but politicians seldom do the right thing.

It is refreshing to hear from a potential presidential candidate who is not a politician. Cain has spent years in the business world, serving as an executive with the National Restaurant Association and as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. He believes his skills at turning around failing corporations can be used to change the misguided policies of our federal government.

Considering how poorly our elected officials have dealt with our nation’s predicaments, it is quite refreshing to note that Cain is not a politician. He certainly can’t do any worse than the elected officials who usually just create bigger problems. Our country has seen quite enough of politicians in Washington since most of them are too timid to take the bold action necessary to correct our fiscal dilemmas. A political outsider will be more independent and more likely to make forceful decisions. As an African American conservative, Cain might even be able to recruit more African Americans to the Republican Party.

Cain is also a devout Christian who is not bashful about expressing his faith. In his Northshore Tea Party speech, he faulted President Obama for claiming that the United States is not a “Christian nation.” He said, “I’ve got news for you, Mr. President. We are a Judeo-Christian nation and we’re going to keep it that way.”

He also credited the Founding Fathers for penning that “great document, the Declaration of Independence.” Once again, Cain noted his differences with President Obama, stating, “Unlike our current President and others, I do not believe it (the Declaration of Independence) needs to be rewritten or I do not believe you need to leave out ‘endowed by their Creator.’”

Herman Cain speaks from his heart and is an excellent communicator. Unlike some of the potential GOP presidential candidates, he has a keen intellect, passion and is very persuasive. In his Mandeville address, he spoke for approximately 30 minutes without any notes or teleprompter. Clearly, his considerable skills have been honed by years as a radio talk show host on Atlanta’s WSB.

With a wide open GOP presidential field, Cain is likely to catch fire and become a top tier candidate. Republicans need someone who will be able to go toe to toe with Obama and match his liberal philosophy with strong conservative convictions. Cain has the zeal, the speaking ability and the good old fashioned common sense to connect with the American people. Republican voters should give him every consideration. In fact there is no reason why Herman Cain should not be at the very top of the list.

[HarthorneWingo]

Im so glad the Muslim er I mean Christian, I mean Commander in chief is tacitly in favor of this....all I can say is wow. I mean I could say more, plenty more but Ive already made it clear what I think of him.

Oh like "libertarian" is the new liberal? You are such a race baiting hypocrite it disgusts me.

Mugzi, that's pretty funny. You calling Rich a race baiter after who make that comment about Obama's alleged religion. Why don't you just come out and call him a Arab? Isn't that how you really feel? Be honest.

[mugzi]

First of all Dicky is a coward who put me on ignore cause he was tired of being embarrassed in this thread by me. So the only reason I responded to him was because I hoped he'd see my comment and respond, which I doubt he will.

Arab? As far as I can tell Obama is half Caucasian, half african american, now if you want to get into semantics about africans having arab roots thats another conversation. Frankly I could care less, people of all races have intermingled so anyone can make a genealogical argument if they so chose.

But you like all liberals love to pull the race card because its one of the few cards you have to play. But it doesn't work on someone like me because I'm not a racist, in fact I abhor race. I'm white, and honestly I don't care for my own race all that much. Sure I know good white people, but I view white people like I view humanity as a whole, deeply flawed and violent.

Obama to me is nothing more than a plant. The question is whose plant is he? It's to easy to say Soros, because that's the devil everyone knows. No, it goes deeper than that. Way deeper. This man has done everything in his power to conceal his high school, college records, from the papers he's written to his grades, to the source of his funding for the private high school he went to in Hawaii, to the colleges he attended. Why? What's so important that it has to be hidden from the public?

And you're damn right I don't believe he's a natural born citizen. Did you know that he went to Pakistan in the early 80s when Americans were not permitted to travel there? How did he do that if he was a natural born us citizen?

Your poster boy is a fraud and a crypto Marxist fascist, and I can't wait until Jan 13', because he'll be like 20 million other people in this country- unemployed.

[HarthorneWingo]

First of all Dicky is a coward who put me on ignore cause he was tired of being embarrassed in this thread by me. So the only reason I responded to him was because I hoped he'd see my comment and respond, which I doubt he will.

Arab? As far as I can tell Obama is half Caucasian, half african american, now if you want to get into semantics about africans having arab roots thats another conversation. Frankly I could care less, people of all races have intermingled so anyone can make a genealogical argument if they so chose.

But you like all liberals love to pull the race card because its one of the few cards you have to play. But it doesn't work on someone like me because I'm not a racist, in fact I abhor race. I'm white, and honestly I don't care for my own race all that much. Sure I know good white people, but I view white people like I view humanity as a whole, deeply flawed and violent.

Obama to me is nothing more than a plant. The question is whose plant is he? It's to easy to say Soros, because that's the devil everyone knows. No, it goes deeper than that. Way deeper. This man has done everything in his power to conceal his high school, college records, from the papers he's written to his grades, to the source of his funding for the private high school he went to in Hawaii, to the colleges he attended. Why? What's so important that it has to be hidden from the public?

And you're damn right I don't believe he's a natural born citizen. Did you know that he went to Pakistan in the early 80s when Americans were not permitted to travel there? How did he do that if he was a natural born us citizen?

Your poster boy is a fraud and a crypto Marxist fascist, and I can't wait until Jan 13', because he'll be like 20 million other people in this country- unemployed.

All you Fox News conservatives get off on calling him Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, and he's a Muslim, a communist, a socialist, a Nazi, a Marxist, a fascist, a terrorist, yada, yada, yada.

Who can take any you seriously with this type of insane ranting?

[mugzi]

Funny I wonder who can take anyone who advocates murdering unborn children, large scale entitlement programs that pander to minorities in order to create a permanent voting block, lax immigration policies, socialized medicine, man made global warm...oops i mean climate change, seriously.

You want to point fingers Wingo I have so much more to laugh at you about, liberalism truly is a mental disorder.

[mugzi]

Here's a little insight into the Comrade in Chiefs foreign policy...

Obama Retreats, Ahmadinejad Advances
American Thinker ^ | February 22, 2011 | James Lewis


When Saddam Hussein's tank battalions brutally invaded Kuwait in 1992, the United States was able to knock Saddam's Air Force out of the sky in a matter of days. In the subsequent tank battles the United States ruled the air. After kicking Saddam out of Kuwait we maintained a no-fly zone over half of Iraq for the next six years, thereby stabilizing the Gulf on both sides. Where the USAF and USN ruled the skies Saddam could not launch a single plane or missile. The world's oil supply was protected, allowing European leftists to drive their cars at reasonable gas prices to noisy demonstrations to scream and rage at us, all because Uncle Sam was the good cop and kept them free.
Being the good cop has been our role for sixty years, ever since World War II; it's the single biggest reason we haven't had a World War III. Yet.


But Obama is now stopping the United States from being the good cop to keep the peace in the Middle East. Pax Americana is in retreat, step by step, and truly barbaric regimes are rearing their ugly heads all the way from Myanmar to the tip of South America. This administration is either grossly incompetent in foreign affairs, or it is genuinely self-destructive; it doesn't matter which. In the case of the mob-staged coup d'etat against Mubarak, Obama seemed more malevolent than ignorant, but the result is still the same. Egypt's reactionary Muslim Brotherhood is even now picking up all the chips Obama has lost in the latest farce. In Tahrir Square the new Ayatollah Khomeini of Egypt just came back from exile and addressed a million shouting supporters. Google's little twitter mobber Ghonim was kept off the stage. Only the US press was assaulted. The next time will be worse.

We are witnessing an exact copy of Jimmy Carter's abandonment of a pro-Western and fairly enlightened Iran in 1979. Carter allowed the first radical Islamist power to consolidate in the Middle East; more than a million people died in the war that followed. Jimmy still maintains his innocence, just as he's telling us now there's nothing to fear from the Muslim Bros, in spite of their famous five Rules for Islamic Radicals. They make Alinsky look like a guppy next to a Great White shark.

Obama has now pushing our thirty-year ally Hosni Mubarak out of power, letting the biggest country in the Middle East be radicalized. Meanwhile Turkey has fallen to another offshoot the Muslim Brotherhood. Gaza is under the thumb of Hamas after Israel gave in to US pressure to retreat, Lebanon is now run by Hezbollah, and Syria is allied with Ahmadinejad. No wonder all the bad guys are celebrating.

Every time Obama retreats, Ahmadinejad advances, step by step, like a chess master playing against a panicked rookie. You can see checkmate coming way ahead of time.

The United States still has overwhelming military and political power, but under Obama we have retreated from the Gulf, leaving the Saudis in a panic, ready to import nukes from Pakistan; we have retreated from our promise to defend Europe against Iranian and Russian missiles, and now we have allowed the biggest Arab power, Egypt, to be overthrown by what looks to be another Islamist radical fanatic, who will place Egypt on a war footing with Israel and the West.

In the last two years of Obama we given up five strategic bottlenecks, count ‘em:

1. The Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's oil flows. The Iranians have dug in very deep with ship-targeting missiles on their side of the Strait, and it will be like Iwo Jima to get them out of there. They can close the Strait any time they feel like it.

2. The Suez Canal, thereby putting pressure on the Mediterranean.

3. Somalia and the Atlantic bulge of Africa, where Somali pirates (protected by the Islamist forces in Somalia) are still free to blackmail world shipping.

4. Israel and its more peaceful Arab neighbors --- Lebanon, Egypt, and soon, perhaps, Jordan.

5. The missile flight routes from Iran to Europe.

At the same time the Obama administration has blocked and sabotaged domestic oil production.

This is a chess game in which we are simultaneously being threatened in five different places on the board, and we keep sacrificing our own pieces for no net gain.

After dithering for a week, the Egyptians are now allowing two Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. There they can link up with Turkey and Syria, two big military powers controlled by radical Muslim ideologies. Or they can fire ship-borne missiles at Israeli vessels the next time Turkey stages another Mavi Marmara provocation. Or, for that matter, they can threaten US naval fleets that have protected free trade in the Med since the end of World War Two. All it takes is a single suicide attack against a US carrier, and the Iranians have carried out numerous suicide attacks in their war against Saddam. Or just a single dirty bomb on a freighter, to create worldwide panic and plunge the world into an economic freeze.

If Obama has any rational strategy, I assume it is to pressure Israel into a "peace agreement' with major territorial concessions. If Obama can time that just before the next election he may get enough media glorification to win a second term.

The trouble is that America has now abandoned three major Middle East powers to the radicals: Iran, Turkey, and Egypt. How much can you trust a superpower that will walk away from a 30 year ally like Mubarak? Only until Obama figures out another way to screw an ally -- maybe Taiwan as a favor to China. Why would the Israelis and Jordanians trust Obama's peace agreement if the US voluntarily weakens its control? Why would Europe trust in American defenses of their oil supply, even though they keep disarming themselves?

The Israelis are left with two unpalatable choices. One is to strike Iran, as the center of aggression in the Middle East today. The trouble with that is that without full American cooperation, Turkey and Egypt may sabotage an Israel strike, with their powerful armed forces that may soon be in the hands of radicals. Israel can also explode a nuclear bomb as a warning, which it is bound to do if Iran explodes a bomb (now predicted for 2012-2015). But those are last-resort measures.

The second option is to hold tight and wait, hoping that Obama will lose the next election and that a better US government will follow. There is little doubt that cyberwarfare is constantly going on in secret, with Stuxnet 2.0 and 3.0 being launched. There are no doubt Iranian counter-attacks, maybe with the help of China and North Korea. We may never know that.

Wars are dynamic, and what's going on right now is the first cyberwar in history, with a hot war to follow if Iran threatens to go nuclear. So far we have seen no indication that Obama is an effective defender of American and Western values. In public he has seemed comfortable with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Turkey, and with Ahmadinejad in Iran. This administration makes a specialty of proclaiming American weakness and moral inferiority.

That seems objectively insane, but that's what we see. Obama has indicated no real concern about our long-time allies. You can be very sure that the Chinese, North Koreans, Japanese, Russians, Iranians, and now the Sunni radicals in Turkey and Pakistan are taking careful notice. Obama just announced negotiations with the Taliban, who gave Al Qaida safe haven in Afghanistan to kill Americans on 9/11. Al Qaida is proclaiming victory in Egypt.

The United States is in retreat, step by step. Ahmadinejad has surrounded our ally Israel on almost all sides (Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, perhaps Egypt) as well as in the Mediterranean with the Turkish armed forces and Iranian war ships transiting the Suez Canal.

Obama is clearly letting it all happen, as no other American president has ever done. Europe has weakened itself immensely, and cannot defend itself. It lacks the will to do so, and increasingly, it lacks the military power. If they can't rely on us, they will look to Russia to be their new imperial master.

This is the biggest Western gamble since the Hitler appeasement policy of the 1930s. I don't know where the first major aggression will explode, but we are inviting attack on multiple fronts. We are playing the Weak Horse in Osama bin Laden's famous phrase. There is no need to do so, because we still have the raw military and political power. But we are signaling retreat and weakness all over the world, and the wolves and vultures are circling closer and closer.

[HarthorneWingo]

What do you got to say to this, mugz? I guess now the private sector doesn't know what it's talking about either.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 7045.story

Report: GOP budget cuts would hit U.S. economy
Goldman Sachs analysis says Republicans' $61 billion in cuts would trim U.S. economic growth by half this year. Rep. John Boehner and others reject the report.

By Lisa Mascaro, Washington Bureau
February 23, 2011, 5:14 p.m.

Reporting from Washington —
Spending cuts approved by House Republicans would act as a drag on the U.S. economy, according to a Wall Street analysis that put new pressure on the political debate in Washington.

The report by the investment firm Goldman Sachs said the cuts would reduce the growth in gross domestic product by up to 2 percentage points this year, essentially cutting in half the nation's projected economic growth for 2011.

The analysis, prepared for the firm's clients, represents the first independent economic assessment of the congressional budget fight, which could lead to a government shutdown as early as next week.

Nonetheless, Republicans are unlikely to easily retreat from their insistence on more than $60 billion in reductions in federal spending as a condition of continuing funding for the government through the rest of the year.

A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said the Goldman Sachs report represented "the same outdated Washington mind-set," comparing it to the thinking behind the 2009 Recovery Act that released federal funds to counter the effects of the recession.

But Democrats seized on the report as a validation of their arguments against the Republican cuts.

"Just as the economy is beginning to pick up a little steam, the Republican budget would snuff out any chance of recovery," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are near deadlock on the spending issue, with their positions hardening this week.

Democrats have rejected the $61 billion in reductions, which would affect every state and virtually every domestic aspect of federal government operations, as too severe. Instead, they have proposed a temporary spending freeze as they negotiate deeper cuts.

Congress must pass a spending bill by March 4, when a stop-gap funding measure expires, to avoid a shutdown. But House Republican leaders are under pressure from their conservative base not to give in.

"They're saying they can't go back to the caucus with anything less," an aide familiar with the negotiations between congressional leaders said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. "If they went through a shutdown … then the caucus would at least feel they tried."

Boehner's spokesman rejected that characterization, saying Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has only proposed a spending freeze.

"It's up to Sen. Reid to tell Americans what, if anything, he's willing to cut," said the spokesman, Michael Steel. "At this point, the House has done its work by passing a [continuing resolution], and the Senate has done nothing."

The Goldman Sachs analysis says the cuts would reduce the country's economic growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage points for the year.

A smaller budget reduction of $25 billion, if approved as a compromise, would have a lower effect, reducing growth by 1 percentage point. The effects would fade over time, the report says.

"Fiscal drag is quickly emerging as a focus," the Goldman Sachs report says. It says the spending cuts are "the most important near-term risk."

The report concludes that although a government shutdown would result in an additional hit, that outcome is less likely.

While politicians reacted quickly to the findings, the view among economists was mixed.

"It would be a meaningful hit to GDP this spring and summer," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, who has advised Republicans and Democrats.

Zandi said he would prefer spending cuts next year, as the economy shows further improvement. "I just wouldn't do anything that would forestall that kind of job creation that we need," he said.

But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office who has advised Republicans, said the projections were excessive.

"It's way too high," he said. He estimated the drag on economic growth from the House-approved cuts at no more than 0.2 percentage point.

[richardhutnik]

Im so glad the Muslim er I mean Christian, I mean Commander in chief is tacitly in favor of this....all I can say is wow. I mean I could say more, plenty more but Ive already made it clear what I think of him.

Oh like "libertarian" is the new liberal? You are such a race baiting hypocrite it disgusts me.

Mugzi, that's pretty funny. You calling Rich a race baiter after who make that comment about Obama's alleged religion. Why don't you just come out and call him a Arab? Isn't that how you really feel? Be honest.

Since when is "Muslim" a racist slur, unless someone has racist thinking? What I do know is fears of Obama incarnate themselves in the buzzword "Muslim". After 9/11 is is ok to end up fearing someone because they are Muslim, so Obama being different, it is OK to fear him by saying he is Muslim and coming up with some nonsense Manchurian Candidate spin that goes right up there with "9/11 is an inside job".

If anyone feels "race baited" by "Muslim is the new black" then they have issues. For one thing, the one level "X is the new black" apparently goes over the head here. And yes, I am saying that individuals are hiding behind the Muslim slur because it a place where African Americans were. Muslims are now attacked because of their beliefs and targets of xenophobic hatred and fear that African Americans (and other darker skinned minorities) have faced.

- Rich

[HarthorneWingo]

My family is Muslim, so I don't see it that way, but ignorant people here in American equate being Muslim with being a terrorist.

I don't know what else to tell you.

Beside, why are you asking me that question? Shouldn't you be asking mugzi that question?

[richardhutnik]

:lol:

What do you got to say to this, mugz? I guess now the private sector doesn't know what it's talking about either.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 7045.story

Report: GOP budget cuts would hit U.S. economy
Goldman Sachs analysis says Republicans' $61 billion in cuts would trim U.S. economic growth by half this year. Rep. John Boehner and others reject the report.

By Lisa Mascaro, Washington Bureau
February 23, 2011, 5:14 p.m.

Hey Hawthorne, when you reply to Mugzi and he is yammering about me, it would be ideal if you reply like this. It saves me from reading the bile that Mugzi spews. It is astonishing that Mugzi is one of the few individuals I have to killfilter. Of all the people I run into, there is only one other person whose spin on the world is so hostile and toxic that it is best to avoid them. That would be my father, who likely should be institutionalized.

Well, just like tax increases can cause a drag on the economy, so can reduction of government spending. It is less money flowing in the economy, so it is expected. A third way is to have the basic structure of the economy rot and fall apart, with individuals not sufficiently trained and not able to keep up with changes to. Destroying the manufacturing base can also play part. Having people not healthy is another way to cause a drag. Like, with myself, if I didn't get the surgery, I would still be laid up. I may of also permanently lose feeling in my foot by not getting it treated early enough. Also a nation of thieves would kill any economic growth.

- Rich

[richardhutnik]

Looks like Libya may be the next nation to fall under the wave of Democratization going on in the mideast. Protests were also planned for China to.

Drudge is a most interesting read. His Libertarian side is in favor of the whole democratization wave, so he reports on this stuff.

- Rich

[richardhutnik]

My family is Muslim, so I don't see it that way, but ignorant people here in American equate being Muslim with being a terrorist.

I don't know what else to tell you.

Beside, why are you asking me that question? Shouldn't you be asking mugzi that question?

I was replying to the entire post, since it came up. I was charged with "race baiting" there. I was just discussing what was irregardless of who it was from. And my question was a bit rhetorical.

- Rich

[HarthorneWingo]

:lol:

What do you got to say to this, mugz? I guess now the private sector doesn't know what it's talking about either.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 7045.story

Report: GOP budget cuts would hit U.S. economy
Goldman Sachs analysis says Republicans' $61 billion in cuts would trim U.S. economic growth by half this year. Rep. John Boehner and others reject the report.

By Lisa Mascaro, Washington Bureau
February 23, 2011, 5:14 p.m.

Hey Hawthorne, when you reply to Mugzi and he is yammering about me, it would be ideal if you reply like this. It saves me from reading the bile that Mugzi spews. It is astonishing that Mugzi is one of the few individuals I have to killfilter. Of all the people I run into, there is only one other person whose spin on the world is so hostile and toxic that it is best to avoid them. That would be my father, who likely should be institutionalized.

Well, just like tax increases can cause a drag on the economy, so can reduction of government spending. It is less money flowing in the economy, so it is expected. A third way is to have the basic structure of the economy rot and fall apart, with individuals not sufficiently trained and not able to keep up with changes to. Destroying the manufacturing base can also play part. Having people not healthy is another way to cause a drag. Like, with myself, if I didn't get the surgery, I would still be laid up. I may of also permanently lose feeling in my foot by not getting it treated early enough. Also a nation of thieves would kill any economic growth.

- Rich

I don't think a 3.5% tax increase on the rich would drag the economy (while a tax increase on the middle class would). I think it would have opposite effect (see e.g. Clinton administration). The government could use that money for infrastructure improvements (which we are in dire need of), which would create jobs for middle class people, which would give them money to spend, which would improve the economy. We should also be building a high-speed rail system. But the republicans have no interest in that.

The rich have gotten their tax cuts for almost ten years now. The economy (thanks to Obama) has made a recovery, but the rich are sitting on that money and not hiring.