JoltinJoe wrote:Before you resort to the simplest theory, you have to have a competition between two explanations each of which is supported by the evidence. Do you have an explanation why the first mass killings of the war by the Serbs were of Croation Catholics in Vukovar?D1B wrote:
Ockams razor.
dbackjon wrote:It is very clear that the mantra that taxing the wealthy higher is bad for the country and the economy is 100% bullshit.
We need to RAISE the top brackets - but the parties don't have the balls.
How is that "very clear"? Because you want some of what they've got?dbackjon wrote:It is very clear that the mantra that taxing the wealthy higher is bad for the country and the economy is 100% bullshit.
We need to RAISE the top brackets - but the parties don't have the balls.
You'll pardon me, but my football team is still PLAYING.....I don't peruse these "off season" threads very often.D1B wrote:Crickets from Tbag and Jizzfan....
It takes sloth and criminal intent - not balls - to steal from your neighbor.dbackjon wrote:It is very clear that the mantra that taxing the wealthy higher is bad for the country and the economy is 100% bullshit.
We need to RAISE the top brackets - but the parties don't have the balls.
CID1990 wrote:OF COURSE Europeans vote for their high taxes. They are voting themselves largesse, just as we are trying to do.
However, I do not want government taking care of me. I do not want government taking my money and building pig excrement studies programs with it. As long as I am not encroaching on other peoples' well being, I do not want government tellling me how I should live, what doctor I can see, whether or not my 8 year old child should be in a car seat, whether I should be wearing a seatbelt, where I can be buried, what color my house can be, how I must sell my house dirt cheap so that a Wal Mart can be built or a more convenient highway can be built, not to piss off my back deck, how much booze I can buy, not to smoke pot (although I don't), not to pull my own plug, that I must have insurance even if I can afford the effing damages or medical care, not to drive down a suburban neighborhood road at a certain time of day, et cetera et cetera et cetera ad nauseum.
Why do so many people think that they need government to wipe their collective asses for them? Why is there so much faith in the ability of government to do these things well? Pay for an army to keep the assholes out, fix the goddamn roads at night, and stay the fvck away from me. I can take care of myself. And before any of you nanny state pogues try telling me how great things are in Norway (which they are, by the way....with the exception of the confiscatory tax rates)..... I will remind you that they do not have to spend very much on national defense, because the US and Britain have guaranteed their security for 60 years now. Get rid of NATO and its obligations and then watch what happens to all the personal saunas and paid vacations in Norway. They will either have to spend more money on defense, or start teaching Russian in the montessori schools.
Oh, and while we're at it. STOP with the fvcking RIDICULOUS product safety warnings on consumer goods. If somebody sticks an umbrella up their ass, then they deserve the anal rupture. Stop insulting my intelligence and wasting ink putting warnings on sh!t. I happen to already know that a styrofoam cup in not a viable flotation device. I also know the fvcking coffee in that same cup is fvcking hot. If it wasn't I wouldn't buy my goddamned coffee there.
FVCK!
We fund it with just as much as they can pry out of our hands....mostly becuase we know that the "funding" will just go to some pet porkbarrel project intended to keep the powers that be....IN POWER.OSBF wrote:I've been wondering if Europeans have the outright hatred for their government than many Americans have for theirs. Do you hear Europeans droning on and on about how their govt fvcks up everything it touches?
I contend its a simple matter of funding level. We hold govt to lofty standards, but then refuse to give them the coin necessary to do what we demand. When I have to call 3 people to get the OK to buy paper for the copy machine and printers just to be sure the 40-50 bucks I need to spend is there, somethings wrong.
We have one of the lowest personal income tax rates among all industrialized nations on the globe. Last time I looked it up, only Mexico and a couple of others had lower personal income tax structure than we do.
We're looking at this the opposite way Europe does. They expect their government to be of the highest quality, and are willing to fund it accordingly. We expect very little from our government and fund it accordingly.
3. 300 million people which, like it or not, increases the amount of knuckleheads lacking in common sense and who can't or won't fend for themselves.Chizzang wrote:CID makes two great points:
1
As long as 65% of all of our Politicians are Lawyers - we're going to have problems... Warnings printed on coffee cups and fully 95% of that type of related bullsh!t is because we've created a society defined by lawyers - run by lawyers - and kept in it's present state by lawyers... lawyers defending lawyers working with lawyers to fight lawyers protecting lawyers... it's a mess
2
Federal Governments only get bigger: not once in the history of America has a president left office with a smaller government than he was inaugurated with... No matter if it's a Republican or a Democrat the results are similar
These are things I just don't see changing any time soon...
No, but I do hear productive Europeans bitching about the low-lifes who suck the government tit with no effort or intention of being or becoming productive.OSBF wrote:I've been wondering if Europeans have the outright hatred for their government than many Americans have for theirs. Do you hear Europeans droning on and on about how their govt fvcks up everything it touches?
I contend its a simple matter of funding level. We hold govt to lofty standards, but then refuse to give them the coin necessary to do what we demand. When I have to call 3 people to get the OK to buy paper for the copy machine and printers just to be sure the 40-50 bucks I need to spend is there, somethings wrong.
We have one of the lowest personal income tax rates among all industrialized nations on the globe. Last time I looked it up, only Mexico and a couple of others had lower personal income tax structure than we do.
We're looking at this the opposite way Europe does. They expect their government to be of the highest quality, and are willing to fund it accordingly. We expect very little from our government and fund it accordingly.
Personal and organizational corruption, sloth and left wing educational administrators and unions are the problems, not over-education.kalm wrote:3. 300 million people which, like it or not, increases the amount of knuckleheads lacking in common sense and who can't or won't fend for themselves.Chizzang wrote:CID makes two great points:
1
As long as 65% of all of our Politicians are Lawyers - we're going to have problems... Warnings printed on coffee cups and fully 95% of that type of related bullsh!t is because we've created a society defined by lawyers - run by lawyers - and kept in it's present state by lawyers... lawyers defending lawyers working with lawyers to fight lawyers protecting lawyers... it's a mess
2
Federal Governments only get bigger: not once in the history of America has a president left office with a smaller government than he was inaugurated with... No matter if it's a Republican or a Democrat the results are similar
These are things I just don't see changing any time soon...
It was a lot easier to write a rock solid consititution and collect low to zero income taxes when the country was comprised of a few educated landowners, some aboriginals, and women who couldn't vote.
native wrote:I disagree, but yours is a thoughtful and substantive post nonetheless, Cap'n.
kalm wrote: 3. 300 million people which, like it or not, increases the amount of knuckleheads lacking in common sense and who can't or won't fend for themselves.
Not at all, I'm pro boot-strap and responsibility. Unfortunately, the hoi polloi are simply not that driven. Do you think the working class has become smarter, more motivated, and more responsible during this era of Reaganomics? We've tried tax cutting, deregulation, and privatization and the working class simply saves less and/or goes into debt to maintain the same standard of living as their parents generation. Although I will add as a brief aside that rampant consumerism has also contributed to the problem, the catch 22 being that 3 ipods, cell phones, computers, and flat screen tv's in every home is also what drives the economy. (btw t-man that there's a little Galbraith Capitalism for ya)AZGrizFan wrote:kalm wrote: 3. 300 million people which, like it or not, increases the amount of knuckleheads lacking in common sense and who can't or won't fend for themselves.
Coming from a guy who's an ardent supporter of our government evolving into one which encourages behavior like this.
kalm wrote:Not at all, I'm pro boot-strap and responsibility. Unfortunately, the hoi polloi are simply not that driven. Do you think the working class has become smarter, more motivated, and more responsible during this era of Reaganomics? We've tried tax cutting, deregulation, and privatization and the working class simply saves less and/or goes into debt to maintain the same standard of living as their parents generation. Although I will add as a brief aside that rampant consumerism has also contributed to the problem, the catch 22 being that 3 ipods, cell phones, computers, and flat screen tv's in every home is also what drives the economy. (btw t-man that there's a little Galbraith Capitalism for ya)AZGrizFan wrote:
Coming from a guy who's an ardent supporter of our government evolving into one which encourages behavior like this.
In any event, please show me where privatization, tax cuts, and deregulation have provided sustainable, long term growth?
Makes sense since we're currently in a recession. What do the rates look like going back 30 years, or better yet, 60 years?AZGrizFan wrote:kalm wrote:
Not at all, I'm pro boot-strap and responsibility. Unfortunately, the hoi polloi are simply not that driven. Do you think the working class has become smarter, more motivated, and more responsible during this era of Reaganomics? We've tried tax cutting, deregulation, and privatization and the working class simply saves less and/or goes into debt to maintain the same standard of living as their parents generation. Although I will add as a brief aside that rampant consumerism has also contributed to the problem, the catch 22 being that 3 ipods, cell phones, computers, and flat screen tv's in every home is also what drives the economy. (btw t-man that there's a little Galbraith Capitalism for ya)
In any event, please show me where privatization, tax cuts, and deregulation have provided sustainable, long term growth?
P.S. Check the current savings rate in America.
kalm wrote:Makes sense since we're currently in a recession. What do the rates look like going back 30 years, or better yet, 60 years?AZGrizFan wrote:
P.S. Check the current savings rate in America.
I agree. My point is that many people prior to the recession, rather than saving money and/or living within their means were going into debt in order to maintain their standard of living.AZGrizFan wrote:kalm wrote:
Makes sense since we're currently in a recession. What do the rates look like going back 30 years, or better yet, 60 years?
There's been a paradigm shift in savings, kalm. The latest recession has changed people's perceptions and habits.
CID1990 wrote:Yes. We are a bunch of fat, sloppy goddamn consumers. That's all we do. Some pre-pubescent oversexed chick makes a fvcking music video and our own prepubescent kids just have to have it on their fvcking iPod. Go see the little jailbait in a fvcking 75 dollar a head jack-off fest. Then, to pay for all that sh!t, we have to not just work, but we have to work to pay off our stupid fvcking credit cards that we have to use to pay for all that garbage that nobody really needs. Plus, no self respecting family of four can possibly live in a house that has less than 25 fvcking rooms with a goddamn swimming pool and digital satellite.
We're like a bunch of goddamn animals at the zoo, waiting for our feeding and our fvcking antibiotic pill so we don't get hot spots and start eating each other ass first.
