Morning Must Reads: Contrast

Cuomo must’ve slashed $ from his self-imposed marriage budget….

“House Republicans prebut Obama on taxes.”
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Good to see that the Republicans are serious about reducing the national debt they’ve decided is important when they’re no longer in the White House. If it’s frustrating for some of you conservatives that the Democrats are so protective of so called entitlement programs, understand that it’s equally frustrating for the rest of us that the Republicans think that all taxes are evil and are in denial about a few basic facts: the nation has thrived when taxes were higher than they are now and that higher taxes do actually equal higher revenue to pay down that debt. If Republicans can demand that Democrats accept spending cuts then at the very least they should be open to the idea of higher taxes.

Pakistan Demands Expulsion of the CIA: Sign of a Break with the U.S.?
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by Times’s Robert Baer, former Middle East CIA field officer
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“Pakistan has asked the CIA to all but shut down its operations in the country, demanding that the U.S. intelligence agency pull out 335 officers and contractors currently based there. Included in that number are special-forces advisers to the Pakistani security forces. Even in the worst days of the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the U.S. regularly declared each other’s spies persona non grata, there was never an expulsion on this scale. And let’s not forget that Pakistan is supposedly an ally.”

Actually the debt and deficit are different and the debt won’t begin to be reduced until the deficits are dealt with.
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However, “Deficits don’t matter,” Richard Cheney. You can be assured that will again be true the next time we have a Republican President.

“few basic facts: the nation has thrived when taxes were higher than they are now and that higher taxes do actually equal higher revenue to pay down that debt.”

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Stretching the truth and facts a little there, yes?
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Let me help you out a little.
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During the Clinton years, taxes were raised. BUT, spending was also curtailed to the point that revenues exceeded spending, resulting in paying down the nation’s debt.
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Simply put, no deficits = no debt.
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Which goes to the FACT that this nation and our government, both Republicans and Democrats have a SPENDING problem, not a revenue problem.

Update on Japan’s Fukushima melt-down
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“The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer “negligible,” according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. The NGO is advising pregnant women and infants against “risky behaviour,” such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves.
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CRIIRAD says its information note is not limited to the situation in France and is applicable to other European countries, as the level of air contamination is currently the same in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, for instance.
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Data for the west coast of the United States, which received the Fukushima radioactive fallout 6-10 days before France, reveals that levels of radioactive iodine-131 concentration are 8-10 times higher there, the institute says.

I say that Obama just goes right out and n0ominates Warren for the job.

I say that Obama just goes right out and nominates Warren for the job.

Thug life.

Police are keeping a watchful eye on Sen. Sharon Carson’s home after the legislator received a threatening phone call about her stand on right-to-work legislation from a man who identified himself as Newmarket Republican Town Committee Chairman Joe Barton on Sunday morning.[...]
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“I tried to have a civil conversation with him,” Sen. Carson said. “But that was virtually impossible. He was very, very angry.”
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According to the senator, Barton then began making threats over the phone, stating: “I know where you live, and I’m coming to get you.”

“That’s when I hung up,” Sen. Carson said.
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Immediately afterward, the senator and her husband, Greg Carson, filed a report with the Londonderry Police Department. A uniformed officer arrived at the couple’s residence within minutes.
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Carson would not share the email with the New Hampshire Union Leader, but said Barton’s anger seemed to have stemmed from her stance on the right-to-work bill, which the senator doesn’t support.
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Carson said Barton was “very angry about my refusal to support this issue.”

As an example of how serious the Republicans are about spending, Lindsay Graham is furious that money to do a study to dredge the port of Charleston was cut in the compromise that -

Graham said he was so disappointed by the lack of federal funding, despite aggressive lobbying of congressional leaders and the White House, that he would attempt to “tie the Senate in knots” and hold up Obama administration nominations.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20110413/NEWS/304130006/Lindsey-Graham-vows-battle-as-port-fails-to-get-funding

Cut, cut, cut — unless it is in my district. South Carolina shouldn’t have to come up with the $50,000 for the study. Of course the feds (that is us) will be paying for the actual project. But once again, that doesn’t matter – tax cuts, tax cuts, but spend on my projects.

So RustFreep, you ADMIT that a fair combo of cuts/spending increases helped to eliminate the deficit. Welcome to reality!
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And your side was as adamant against Clinton’s plan then as they are BO’s now. It took Chelsea’s future mother-in-law to break the statemate in the House; ‘paid for it with her job, but she did the right thing.
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“No deficits = no debt”
WRONG. The debt was still high, even in the Clinton years. The annual budget carries deficits–the debt is an accumulation of all of our spending.

Major CEO Donor To Walker Charged With Two Felony Counts Of Illegal Campaign Contributions
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“A top donor to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) gubernatorial campaign has been charged with multiple violations of campaign finance law, reports the Associated Press. Prosecutors today have charged William Gardner, the CEO of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Company, with one count of excessive political donations and another related to unlawful political contributions. Prosecutors claim Gardner used his employees and family members to funnel $44,000 to Walker during the GOP primary. He is accused of then illegally reimbursing the donors with company money. Walker has returned the contributions. Notably, prosecutors charged Gardner because the law prohibits direct donations from corporations to candidate committees. However, the Citizens United decision allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts in support of a candidate for office. If Gardner had funneled the company donations through a group like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or another front group, or if his company had taken out ads in support of Walker, his actions would not have attracted legal scrutiny.”

RE 1KW: Baby, either you wore me out last night or I’m just not interested in what you have to say today.

Boehner is allegedly spooking Wall Street execs by asking about the brink. It’s not yet clear what he wants.
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Looks like The Boehner Uncertainty Principle needs some redefinition…that, or some acknowledgment that it’s always been a sham argument…

Freep, you’re conveniently about the unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy that Republicans insisted upon. Two long term wars, an additional “kinetic military action”, and an economic stimulus package certain didn’t help on the spending front but it’s amazing what happens to the US financial outlook when you roll back those unfunded tax cuts. It makes one wonder what would happen if the corporate tax code were reworked so big companies like GE actually paid some taxes…

“He will not accept a plan that doesn’t ask the rich to pay more, both by raising marginal income tax rates back to pre-2003 levels”
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He was against those tax cuts before he was for them before he was against them. We have Abbott & Costello in the WH

It’s not a sucker punch if you know it’s coming.

The far-right ideologues in the House seek to starve the federal government to the point where it can no longer fulfill its constitutional duty to promote the general welfare. I don’t mean to sound apocalyptic, but that’s what this struggle comes down to.
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Their inspired tactic — which has worked so well that they would be crazy to abandon it — has been to take a wildly extreme position and stick to it with the obstinacy of a mule. When Democrats offer to negotiate, Republicans increase their demands. The result is that they shift the battlefield and end up fighting on terrain so friendly that they literally can’t lose.
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So an initial GOP call for $32 billion in cuts was raised to $61 billion — a ridiculously impossible number. Of course they didn’t get it — but they got almost two-thirds of the way there.
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Democrats, including President Obama, continue to play by the old art-of-the-possible rules. Bless their hearts. They caucus, they cogitate, they ruminate, they make reasonable concessions and ultimately come up with a result that everyone, surely, should be able to live with. Then they get hit with the next sucker punch.
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Obama, I fear, is about to repeat the pattern.

“So RustFreep, you ADMIT that a fair combo of cuts/spending increases helped to eliminate the deficit. Welcome to reality!”

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No I do not agree with that statement at all.
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If you mean tax increases, then yes any blind pig would know that increasing taxes without increasing spending eventually would lower the deficits or debt.
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If you are talking about overall debt with entitlement programs included such as Medicare and Medicaid, then yes again, we are spending way too much on both of these programs, and where healthcare reform in the form of Obamacare will not eliminate this long term debt that is actually a “PROJECTION” of debt.
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That is why Ryan has made the proposals to the 2012 budget. To take those projections, which are a no brainer that this country cannot sustain that much debt.
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People are living longer. People will have to help pay for some of the cost of the healthcare needs, ie, raise the age when full Medicare benefits kick in.

Since it has become clear that the Repubs are going to play games with the debt ceiling, the market has been going down. I was advised to invest in some stocks and I’m waiting to see what happens. If a teeny investor like me feels that way, the larger ones are likely doing the same thing, or taking profits before the fall.

The Wall Street executives say even pushing close to the deadline — or talking about it — could have grave consequences in the marketplace.

“They don’t seem to understand that you can’t put everything back in the box. Once that fear of default is in the markets, it doesn’t just go away. We’ll be paying the price for years in higher rates,” said one executive.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53094.html#ixzz1JPl1S8I5

Let’s hope that Obama draws the line just as firmly as Boehner did.
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My point is this:
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Most Americans don’t like the idea that a trainwreck is going to occur. I understand that. The problem is that one side (the GOP) has made it clear that people making over 250k a year won’t have to help carry the burden of reducing the deficit. They’ve said it already: they will not even talk about it.
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Ok, fair enough.
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So if Obama, who has previously stated that his primary goal is to ensure that the American people (read middle class) doesn’t get hurt, how will he handle it?
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After all, Boehner made their position clear; everyone knows what the GOP position is, but because Obama has been giving ground steadily in the past on budgets and taxes, know one knows when or where he will really draw the line.
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There are several things to consider:
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1. Reelection
He can position himself for reelection, but if he does not do so in a manner that will make Americans proud to be Democrats he will not have any help whatsoever in serving out a second term.
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2. Equity
We are now approaching the point where equity is an issue; tax reform won’t take place overnight, but budgets will and revenues have to come from somewhere. The choices are now clear: The GOP says I will have to pay more. The richest Americans won’t. It is now clear, and it is time for Obama tonight to draw his own lines in the sand.
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3. Politics of Opinion
There really are no more choices; the GOP has staked out one, and the only way to address the equity issue described above is for the POTUS to make known his position, make it known forcefully, and do not surrender the territory marked out. This is important, perhaps the most important of all, because if the GOP refuses to move from their position, there will eventually come a time where we will necessarily have to have this trainwreck. He will have to risk it, and let the American people decide the outcome.
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I don’t expect Obama to attack the GOP, he never does, but I think a good idea might be to watch how forcefully he draws the lines, because that is going to indicate whether he is poised to give in or not.
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Obama needs to give us Democrats something we can take home, otherwise, of what use is a second term?

Crap – I meant to say a fair combo of spending cuts and tax increases. Not that it would change RustFreep’s mind…but for clarification.

“Decoupling our corporations”

As you may know, Toyota has many plants in the United States. This kind of regional diversification has to be good for the company in the wake of the Japanese earthquake, right? Even though the Japanese plants are in trouble the US ones can up production, hopefully making as many cars as the Japanese-based plants can’t, balancing out what is a scary time for the company.
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Well, no. The US ones can’t run without specific parts from Japan, and since they aren’t independent but instead part of a global supply chain a shock anywhere hits a shock everywhere. So even though there are Toyota plants in the United States there will be shutdowns and reduced time for the United States based plants because key components only made in Japan are being rationed.
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Barry Lynn presented this risk in his excellent book Cornered. When I met him for coffee once he showed me a small piece that attaches to an engine that, as a result of a previous Japanese earthquake, couldn’t be made anymore at the one plant. Since that one plant made 80%+ of all of them it sent shockwaves across the entire manufacturing base.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLS625Ux9cc&feature=player_embedded

Finance readers might note his idea is explicitly based on the idea of the system engineering concept of tight coupling. [...] In this sense, it explicitly links the fragility of the financial system to the fragility of our production more broadly. It’s a fascinating, and important linkage to be made.

The video at the above link ‘splains it better than the text of the blog post.

Heck, everything’s a projection! But there’s no doubt that Clinton’s appoach worked and should be considered again. Instead, all we get from neocons is promises of Armageddon if W’s tax cuts are eliminated.

Boehner is allegedly spooking Wall Street execs by asking about the brink. It’s not yet clear what he wants.

Did you follow the link to the Zero Hedge item?

[Quoting Reuters:] Prolonging negotiations past mid-May when Washington will hit its debt limit could give Republicans more leverage to secure big spending cuts, but it could worry investors as the country runs up against a possible default. The Republicans said they would act before that happened.

Basically the GOP is using the economy as a hostage, while reassuring their Wall Street buddies in a stage whisper that they don’t seriously intend to shoot the hostage. Of course, when someone is fooling around with a loaded gun …

And if you’re asking what the GOP wants in exchange for releasing the hostage — well, same things they always want:
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Tax cuts for rich people.
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Roll back environmental protections.
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Defund science research.
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Less money for children, the poor, etc.

Violence in Iraq killed 20 people and injured 37 on Monday
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In Khan Bani Saad, a city in the eastern Diyala Province, two roadside bombs exploded, killing 10 and wounding two..
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Separately, an Iraqi police officer was killed and his driver critically wounded Monday when a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded in a northeast Baghdad neighborhood..
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In Falluja, the explosions of a roadside bomb and two car bombs killed six and wounded 23..
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Meanwhile, in southeastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb explosion in a commercial area killed three civilians and wounded 11 others..
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One person was seriously hurt in another explosion in central Baghdad.
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Government figures show the death toll in Iraqi violence has been rising. In March, 247 Iraqis were killed, up from 197 people in February. Another 370 people were wounded in March.

Graphic that demonstrates the real impact of the Ryan cut plan.

http://www.cbpp.org/images/cms/4-7-11bud.jpg

That means that, despite proposing $4.3 trillion in what would be the most severe and wrenching budget cuts in U.S. history — two-thirds of which would come from programs for people of low or moderate incomes — the plan barely reduces deficits at all over the next decade. That’s because his budget cuts are offset by $4.2 trillion in tax cuts that would go disproportionately to those at the top. In essence, at least for the next decade, this plan is far less a blueprint for addressing deficits and far more a proposal to redistribute large amounts of resources from those at the bottom to those at the top.

But, rah rah for the plan from the GOP – never forget what they want is to make government totally disfunctional by cutting spending and give more tax breaks to the wealthy. If the press were a little more honest about the effects of all this instead of parroting the GOP position, maybe middle class people would have a better understanding of what this does to them.

Maybe they’re just waiting for the jobs that the GOP promised pre-election.

Medicare costs are getting out of control. Having (future) seniors pay the costs out of pocket (or not because they can’t afoord to or are not able to get insurance anymore) does not solve the underlying issue and will result in, due to lack of healthcare in the latter years, result in earlier deaths in at least my generation (yes, I am younger than 54).
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Second, as a whole we live longer, however if you look at the age and income level distribution charts 3 and 4:
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/workingpapers/wp108.html
you will see that the top earners live longer, the lower earners not so much. Again a redistribution of wealth to the haves from the havenots.

Actually grape, that is a good enough explanation for me. It is a common modern pitfall in manufacturing. It’s just cheaper and more efficient as Mr. Ford taught us many years ago to have a person, group, facility, whatever… to make 1 piece over and over again rather than go through the costs of retooling and reequipping the same resources for a new task. So organizations large enough will devote resources permanently to create said unit. The problem as your post states is what happens when a piece of the manufacturing chain is suddenly removed. The result is a major disruption in the supply chain. I can regale you with boring tales of my youth in manufacturing where supply shortages of a nameless widget cost non-unionized laborers their jobs simply from a 2 week delay of parts.

As grape pointed out –
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After the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake in 2007, all the nation’s 12 major automakers had to suspend operations as engine manufacturers were damaged by the quake. After that experience, automakers decentralized their auto parts suppliers.
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However, MCU production remained concentrated at Renesas following the restructuring of the world semiconductor industry, which has now become the Achilles’ heel of automakers.
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Renesas Electronics Corp., headquartered in Kawasaki, holds 42 percent of global market share in microcomputer units (MCUs), which are indispensable for controlling automotive engines and other systems.
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The company’s main production facility, the Naka factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, was damaged in the quake. Since then, automakers dependent on Renesas components in Japan and around the world have crossed industry boundaries and are trying to give the semiconductor firm a hand to help it resume production as soon as possible.
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Renesas possesses just seven weeks of inventory–enough to last until the end of May–but it said MCU production could partially resume only in early July or later.
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As automakers order MCUs for many of their models, auto factories will be forced to halt production if Renesas runs out of stock.
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“There’s not a car that doesn’t have a Renesas MCU installed that holds a top share in the global market,” an industry source said.

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T110412004991.htm

“…all we get from neocons is promises of Armageddon if W’s tax cuts are eliminated.”
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Actually, all we get is a bunch of meaningless or down right stupid bromides that have been pounded into their heads by the “conservative” lie machine: “…we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem!!” Just as analysis is published showing that if we simply let revenues return to booming 90s levels, deficit spending practically disappears. See also: “government is too big, government has to live within it’s means, free-markets, small government, blah, blah, blah.”

All the Republicans, not just Paul Ryan, are oh-so-brave to propose such a plan. You just gotta admire them. I plan to salute them as the truck to the funny farm goes by.
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Except, as Ivy points out, they’re not crazy at all. This is exactly what they want to do. They mean every word.
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It’s cojones-check time for Obama. Be afraid. Be very afraid

When Past Comments and Speeches Come Back To Haunt YOU!!!
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Isn’t this amazing???
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House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer has joined President Obama in conceding that he blundered by voting against an increase to the government’s debt ceiling.
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“I have voted against the debt limit in the past. That was a mistake,” Hoyer (Md.), the second-ranking House Democrat, said in an unprompted admission to reporters on Tuesday.
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His comment came two days after White House adviser David Plouffe said Obama made a mistake by voting against raising the debt ceiling when he was a senator.

Left On The Side-lines To Rot – Where ‘O Where Is Obambi?
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While the US of A’s crack group of politicians bicker back and forth with each other over our debt, here is what China is doing.
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SANYA, China (AP) — The leaders of the world’s largest emerging economies gather this week in southern China for what could be a watershed moment in their quest for a bigger say in the global financial architecture.

Thursday’s summit comes at a crucial moment for the expanded five-member bloc known as the BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and, for the first time, South Africa.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma will attend.

With the G-20 group of major economies seeking to remake parts of the global financial architecture, it’s time for the BRICS to test whether they can overcome internal differences and act as a bloc pursuing common interests.

OK let’s see THEM pluck off the bad guys in land they can’t even control.

GE to return $3.2 billion to US Treasury
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Facing criticism over the amount of taxes it pays, General Electric announced it will repay its entire $3.2 billion tax refund to the US Treasury on April 18.
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GE uses a series of foreign tax havens that the company says are legal and that led to an enormous refund for the 2010 tax year.
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The company earned $11 billion in 2010 on revenue of $150 billion.

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Gee, isn’t that special?? Uh oh, there goes Obama’s campaign contribution (political bribe money).

He’s never been “for” them and said as much when they passed the extension. It was a concession made to end Republican hostage taking. And he said as much when they passed the extension.

Transparency and Political Promises – Broken Promises Indeed
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I suppose we can now he not only lies, but he is a pathological liar to boot.

Straight Talk with Ron Paul
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You’re such a frothing at the mouth forum troll it’s laughable.

Listening To George Soros’ Hench”man” Samantha Power
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(Reuters) – The United States plans a new push to promote comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, suggesting a stronger U.S. hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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President Barack Obama will lay out U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks, Clinton told Arab and U.S. policy makers in a speech that placed particular emphasis on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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Good ‘ol Georgie Soros will be so proud!!!

Well you’re nothing if not consistent. Consistently, maddeningly inconsistent, that is.
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You pick on BO because he attended an economic summit in Brazil…now you’re mad at him for NOT attending an economic summit in China.
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Last I checked, the US is NOT an “emerging” economy.
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So I draw no other conclusion than you just hate the guy. Period.

So How Much Has The Deficit Grown Just Since The First Of The Year – 2011?
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You Got It!! 16% BIGGER…..YES WE CAN

“Note to Democrats: you can negotiate from a position of strength. Americans aren’t buying what Republicans are selling.”

The top line of the new USA Today/Gallup poll offers a fairly predictable result: Americans are closely split on “significant” cuts in domestic spending. A narrow plurality (47%) opposes the idea, but nearly as many (45%) support it. The partisan gap is enormous — by 2-to-1 margin, Dems oppose more cuts; by the same margin, Republicans support them.

That’s not the interesting part. This is.

[Poll respondents] overwhelmingly oppose making major changes to Medicare. By 2-to-1, they support minor changes or none at all to control costs, rather than major changes or a complete overhaul. Even a third of Republicans say the government should not try to control the costs of Medicare.

Just yesterday, the NYT noted that Republicans “are calculating that the political ground has shifted, making the public, concerned about the mounting national debt, receptive to proposals” to reshape Medicare. Leading GOP voices have been pressing this point for weeks.
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They’re completely wrong, and just as importantly, they’re on the wrong side of public opinion. Americans aren’t “receptive” to radical Medicare changes; the mainstream wants the exact opposite.
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And then there was this gem:

[Poll respondents] favor imposing higher taxes on families with household incomes of $250,000 and above, as Obama has endorsed: 59% support the idea, 37% oppose it.

So, let’s review. Americans, by wide margins, want Medicare left alone and higher taxes on the wealthy. Republicans want Medicare eliminated and massive tax breaks for the wealthy.

You’re such a frothing at the mouth forum troll it’s laughable.

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An you are an A$$WIPE. Your point?
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And, as you suggest, if Democrats give ground on any of those things it will be because they choose to. There’s no hostage in this negotiation because everyone know that Republicans will vote to raise the debt ceiling, because the banksters told them they must.

This one’s for Rusty Rod, Freep, and the rest of the birthers:
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I think the thing that p!sses me off the most about the birtherism and the coverage is that no one will come out and state that what is obviously motivating this crap is racism. Period. End of story.
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If Obama was white, we wouldn’t be politely rebutting lunatics questioning his birth certificate for four f—ing years. But because he is black, we can spend tens of thousands of hours listening to drooling idiots wonder whether or not he is a real Murrikan.
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It’s really that simple.

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Emphasis mine.
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http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/04/12/birtherism/

OMG GEORGE SOROS!
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This has been your Morning Moment of Paranoia from Rusty Rod. Tune in tomorrow for his next installment.

Well, ooops. That press release as reported by AP was a hoax.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/ge-press-release-hoax-2011-4

“An you are an A$$WIPE. Your point?”
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Temper, temper, Rod….vulgarity is frowned upon here on Swampland. Let’s keep it clean, and try to exercise a modicum of self control. For a change.

“He’s never been “for” them and said as much when they passed the extension.”
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That’s the problem. He keeps supporting compromises he’s says he’s against.
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It doesn’t really matter what Obama’s ‘for’. When you concede at every turn to the opposition, you’ll end up with a lot of stuff you’re not ‘for’. At what point is it simply surrendering all that you stand for faux political expedience?
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I know Freep’s comment is based on the usual rightwing “OMG! SocialistMarxoFascistMuslim in the White House!”, but I’m starting to agree with his characterization of Abbot and Costello. Only without so much Abbot.

“the unfunded tax cuts ”

Why is the left learning impaired on this. tax cuts cannot be “unfunded” unless all of the income is handed out by the government. That may be the goal of the left but ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S MONEY.

Most conservatives consider LG to be as conservative as David Brooks

World Nut Daily.

Trump’s claim was based on a series of stories on the right-wing and Birther news outlet, WorldNetDaily. I emailed WND editor and CEO Joseph Farah 90 minutes before my story was published to ask if he thought Trump’s comments were accurate, and whether WND had evidence to back it up. After my piece came out, Farah angrily emailed me to take issue with my characterization of WND as “a discredited birther website.” Our subsequent email exchange — in which Farah acknowledged that WND publishes “some misinformation by columnists,” which he claimed all opinion journals do — is telling for what it says about the standards of one of the most influential news websites on the right.[...]
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Now, WorldNetDaily regularly publishes falsehoods (e.g. about Obama’s birthplace) and wild conspiracy theories (e.g. about Democratic plans to create concentration camps) that have earned the site criticism even on the right. The organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference, for example, rejected Farah’s request to host a Birther panel at the annual event in 2009. That said, WND is influential. Its stories regularly find their way onto the big cable channels (Trump’s “$2 million” claim is a good example) and even get picked up by members of Congress.
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In any case, I wrote back to Farah with just one example, the latest, of WND’s credibility problem. That would be this column by WND’s Jack Cashill on “Barack Obama’s missing year.” The lead of the column aimed to debunk a famous photo of a young Obama flanked by his grandparents on a bench in New York City. As proof, Cashill embedded a YouTube video that purported to show that Obama had been photoshopped into the picture, and that the real image included only Obama’s grandparents.
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Unfortunately for Cashill the supposed “genuine” image — the one without Obama — was itself a sloppy photoshop job that still included part of Obama’s knee between his grandparents. This was pointed out by Media Matters about eight hours after Cashill’s column was published on WND.

Oh, you’re just being a racist for mentioning others’ racist motivations.
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White is the new black, you know.

“ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S MONEY.”
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Another nonsenseical line from Freeps, we are the government so by your logic it is not our money. Get a brain and then start to use it!

“Since it has become clear that the Repubs are going to play games with the debt ceiling, the market has been going down.”
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The market has gone down because the Street beleives the “deficit reduction” is a sham, debt an deficits will be higher and high food, and energy prices will slow the economy. The IMF cut its growth forecast.

“ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S MONEY”
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Who do you think the government is?
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that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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- Abrham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

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I’m guessing Freep probably thinks Lincoln was a socialist, too. I mean, OMG, he liked government!
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When the right wing stops characterizing the government as akin to some foreign enemy, instead of hard working, tax paying Americans, I’ll start taking them seriously. Until then, it’s like listening to schoolkids complain about the teachers.

“He’s never been “for” them and said as much when they passed the extension”
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Which he signed and claimed credit in doing. So is he gutless, without principle or just in way over his head?

“…tax cuts cannot be “unfunded” unless all of the income is handed out by the government.”
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Down right stupid. Keep ‘em coming, I bet you’ve got a million of ‘em.

Did you mean to link to this, grape?
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http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/558369/new_poll%3A_americans_aren%27t_buying_what_the_gop%27s_selling_–_dems_should_take_note/

Nope. This:
.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/028925.php

“And if you’re asking what the GOP wants in exchange for releasing the hostage — well, same things they always want:”
.
You forgot starving grandma and throwing old people in to the street. The same fear tactics fro the Demo playbook.

And what does the left want: higher taxes, gut defense and spend more money.

The difference? What the left wants actually happens. We heard the fear-mongering before with medicare reform and welfare reform and guess what? nobody died and nobody starved.

I didn’t say Graham was conservative. I said he wasn’t serious about cutting if it was in his district.

Weapons of Nut Destruction??

Michael Scherer thinks WND is “institutional kin” to Fox News.
.
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/10/08/what-even-the-white-house-likes-about-fox-news/
.
What does that say about WND and/or Fox News?

Being half-Caucasian doesn’t count, then?

Good stuff, no matter where it’s found

“Being half-Caucasian doesn’t count, then?”
.
That just means you’re half-oppressed

“Which he signed and claimed credit in doing. So is he gutless, without principle or just in way over his head?”
.
I know you’re just doing your mindless insult thing, but I’m going to give you a serious answer.
.
He is a radical centrist. He’s seeks compromise at every turn, and at all times is trying to make everyone happy while making no one happy. It’s not a matter of being gutless or unprincipled. These are his principles. And I say ‘radical’ because his taking of a centrist position is more important than doing the right thing. Those who cling to their ideology over pragmatism (hint hint) are ‘radicals’ no matter their placement on the ideological spectrum.
.
It’s like saying ‘”all taxes are bad!” or “all spending cuts are evil!” If that’s your position, you’re a radical. The only thing to discuss is whether you’re a rightwing radical or a leftwing one.

“We heard the fear-mongering before with medicare reform and welfare reform and guess what? nobody died and nobody starved.”
.
Yeah, it was pretty disgusting.

This year, the GOP is claiming that health care reform will “gut” Medicare. If seniors don’t vote their way, the poor dears will find themselves languishing on gurneys for months waiting to see their G.P.s. Typical is the claim of a TV spot from America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry group, that millions of seniors will see their Medicare slashed by Congress. “Is it right to ask 10 million seniors on Medicare Advantage for more than their fair share?” inquires the commercial. Another ad by the 60 Plus Association, ostensibly a seniors advocacy group which is in fact funded by the pharmaceutical industry, charges that health care reform will be paid for “on the backs of America’s seniors by cutting more than $500 billion from Medicare.”

Imagine if they were really screwing with the future of Medicare for seniors.

Ryan has taken this cynical hypocrisy to its logical conclusion. He wants to replace Medicare with an exchange and subsidies system that would, in broad contours, resemble the Affordable Care Act. But the savings he projects would come less from competition than from simple cutbacks to care and benefits. If he succeeds, it’s the end of Medicare and the end of the Great Society.

.
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/consumer-reporter/how-scared-should-seniors-be-about-medicare-cuts/694/
.
http://www.healthcare-now.org/%EF%BB%BF%EF%BB%BFpaul-ryans-plan-to-destroy-medicare/

$50,000 that his own state controlled by the GOP will not fund. The Savannah Harbor study is is being funded by the Federal budget. His State will loose out in a very big way if his harbor is not dredged, but Savannah is.
.
The fact that the State will not fund the study for $50,000 is the stupidity of the TP in that State.

“Another nonsenseical line from Freeps, we are the government so by your logic it is not our money>

Talk about nonsense. By that logic ObamaCare was rejected in November, oppose closing Gitmo, oppose trial of terrorists in the US, oppose gun control,and favor banning federal funding of abortion.

I expect you will not get on board and support those since that is the wishes of the people (government)

Heresy!

“He is a radical centrist. He’s seeks compromise at every turn, and at all times is trying to make everyone happy while making no one happy. It’s not a matter of being gutless or unprincipled. These are his principles”
.
Radical centrist is an oxymoron.And his principles are to be unprincipled. There is no need to insult you, you post will do that.

You are delusional, only the house switched from D to R in 2010, senate and WH are still in Dem control. Which means that your list does not make sense. By your logic in 2008 we really should have increased the tax rates to pre-Bush era, have at least a public option if not medicare for all…. This list can go on and on as well. You don’t make sense, then come up with claims that are unfounded and then point to the libs as not doing their homework. You are a fool!

“Radical centrist is an oxymoron.”
.
That whooshing sound you just heard was my point going over your head.

“The far-right ideologues in the House seek to starve the federal government to the point where it can no longer fulfill its constitutional duty to promote the general welfare”
.
Funding NPR is general welfare or Stimulus dollars are being spent on mascot costumes, electric golf carts, and a university study examining how much alcohol college freshmen women require before agreeing to casual sex. or Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.or n energy and water bill presented in December includes $13 million for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers museum..
..
Only the looney left thinks that by cutting a $1.4 trillion budget and items like above would curb the government from promoting general welfare. What you want is to promote spending. Does the general welfare clause cover spending our grandchildren into oblivion?

In all fairness to Freeinpa, I understand what he is talking about. “Unfunded tax cuts” is just a terrible term and from his viewpoint deals with a particular mindset. The money comes from the people, and it is not the government’s money. The problem is that we Americans want government services and we don’t want to pay for them. We elect Democrats because they promise to give us government services. We elect Republicans because we don’t want to pay for them.

The problem is that conservatives live under the delusion that how much government services they use. They seem to believe the only job of the government is law & order and defense. Almost anything other than that is a waste. Do you own a house? The mortgage interest deduction is a government subsidy to boost home ownership and distorts the housing market. Do you drive a car? How do you think the roads are paved?

You want to talk about wealth distribution? What is social security but wealth distribution from the young to the old. Socalism medical care? What do you think medicare is? It is socialism pure and simple.

I don’t see any politician, Republican or Democrat campaigning to get rid of those things (except maybe Ron Paul). Which means every politician in Washington, even Rand Paul is a “Socialist”. It is just a question of degree.

Being half-Caucasian doesn’t count, then?
.
Not trying to offend anyone, buy when has it? You get someone of mixed ethnicity like Obama and all some right-wingers see is
.

Obama just said the we have been accumulating debt at an alarming rate. He is NOW a Tea Party member.
.
This guy is just too much.
.
How about we get a priintout of where all that “stimulus” went? How many billions went to fill the holes in state’s public employee pensions?

liberalhater – Yes, we would not want any federal tax dollars going to support someone’s retirement that has worked for the public all of their career and is counting on this money. Forget the fact that in many cases the greedy legislators in these states, many of whom are Republican, raided these pension funds to pay for tax breaks for the rich and other such nonsense.

I’d rather not.
.
We are there because we know they can’t handle their own affairs without ending up like Afghanistan, or worse, nuked by India. Both of which will rock the world economies far worse than the Japan disasters.

And of course, the article mentions nothing of Samantha Power, let alone George Soros.
.
I concur, just another day in the life of Rusty, perpetually in fear of an old man.

freeinpa@2.10,
.
Liberals believe that the productive should be grateful for any crumbs remaining after the government has it’s way with their paychecks.
.
They do not truly believe that we are the government. They are convinced that only liberals have the wisdom to make decisions for the rest of us. So, naturally, they should control all the money because the rest of us are too benighted to be trusted with it

Obama’s December 2010 position on tax increases is now inoperative. The new position is that he needs to squeeze taxpayers for more money for him and his minions to spend profligately.
.
Remember people, for every dollar in new taxes the politicians will spend three.

Dear Delusional, their haven’t been any tax breaks for the rich or anybody else on the left coast since 1978.
.
Public employees are retiring at 55 with pensions over $100,000 per year.
.
Most public employees aren’t breaking their backs.

I think you’re delusional as to who is delusional. No tax breaks since 1978? So what are the Bush tax cuts?
.
I’d also love to see some kind of source on public employees retiring with over $100k/year pensions. Until then you’re just making things up.

Obama talked about how there is only 12% of the budget that is discretionary spending. That’s because billions have to go to servicing the debt. WHEN interest rates rise, the amount will explode. The whole US economy is like a homeowner that took out one of those 50 year interest only adjustable rate loans at the top of the real estate market.
.
When you are over leveraged, all it takes is a small rise in interest rates to burst your bubble. But, that will never happen…

npo, you can’t make this stuff up.
.
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/02/11/number-of-100000-retirees-skyrocket-in-teacher-pension-system/75286/
.
Reread with spelling correct: there haven’t been any tax breaks for the rich or anybody else on the left coast since 1978.
.
I am talking about the State of California here. I don’t think that they even let Bush cross the State line.

Liberals believe that the productive should be grateful for any crumbs remaining after the government has it’s way with their paycheck.

.
Paulie,
,
I have two relatives who are psychologists. Your strange delusion that you can read minds is a symptom of severe mental illness.
.
Second, start thinking critically.
.
Person A owns has a low income, owns an old car, saves money by spending most of his time at home with the wife.
.
Person B has a new car, a high income, goes out very frequently with his wife and children because he can afford to do so.
.
Which one benefits more from roads?
.
Person B – the one with a higher income.
.
Person A uses a bank account for the little savings he has between paychecks.
.
Person B is invested in private equity, owning a part of several businesses in the middle of town right near highways, train stations, about twenty miles from an international airport where it is very easy for consumers and workers to get to his locations.
.
Who benefits more?
.
Person B.
.
Person A rents his home, has ten to twenty year old furniture, only his wife’s wedding ring for jewelry, a five year old computer and two, plain, eight year old TVs at home.
.
Owning equity in several businesses, Person B’s companies have a great deal of inventory which may be stolen as well as cash the businesses handle.His wife owns about $1,500 worth of jewelry, his car is worth about $50,000 second hand. He has two one year old desktops, a two year old laptop, an IPhone, an IPad and, three high def large flat screen TVs all with surround sound, two stereo systems (including one for his pre-teen daughter in her room since she hates her parents old music) and a second car his wife uses with a resale value of $15,000.
.
Who benefits from law enforcement more?
.
Who benefits from the fire department more?
.
With the local schools having taught all of the employees at the businesses he owns equity in, doesn’t person B, also, benefit more from the public school system?
.
Yes.
.
If person A gets food poisoning the evening or the day of a workday, he will lose eight hours work at $14 per hour.
.
If person B gets food poisoning, he will miss eight hours of work at $125 per hour.
.
Who benefits more from the health department making sure we do not get food poisoning?
.
Person B.
.
I could go on and on about his even much longer than I have, but, even down to the military preventing a foreign invasion of the US, those who have more, benefit more from government protection from outside forces.
.
This, also, applies to the EPA, the SEC and the FDIC among many others.
.
So, who should pay more?
.
The ones who benefit more.
.
If these services are not adding value to this country, take your ass to a third world country without all of these services and see if you can make a dime.
.
Except for some manufacturing where cutting wages, safety and environmental protection consist of most of the difference, your rate of return in government free third world countries is far lower.

From your link:

Note, however, that the data does not indicate the final position held by the retirees. Some of the people on the list may have retired as school administrators, not front-line teachers, thereby boosting their benefits.

Your entire premise, therefore, is inherently flawed. If you don’t know the specifics as to why people have that large a pension, then all you are doing is taking a number entirely out of context.
.

I am talking about the State of California here. I don’t think that they even let Bush cross the State line.

So do federal tax cuts not affect resident’s of California? How do the Bush tax cuts not count? Or are you moving the goal posts?

“Liberals believe that the productive should be grateful for any crumbs remaining after the government has it’s way with their paychecks.”
.
“[T]he productive”?
.
Oh, you mean like this guy:
.
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/04/13/morning-must-reads-contrast/comment-page-1/#comment-267576

“Does the general welfare clause cover spending our grandchildren into oblivion?”
.
To paraphrase (and be more accurate), we don’t have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem.

Freak,
.
You give me no choice but to give you such a name when you have such an allergic reaction to using links and doing more than making declarative statements with no references to why you say what you say.
.

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for economic growth in the U.S. amid rising commodity prices and downgraded its outlook for Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, a German government official said.

Deficit reduction strategies in the U.S. and Japan lack credibility, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook, the German official told reporters in Berlin today on condition of anonymity because the report will be published in Washington later today. The IMF, which forecast 3 percent U.S. growth this year in January, left its latest projection for global growth unchanged, the German official said, without giving time-frames.
.
[...]
While the likelihood of a double-dip economic slump have decreased, risks to growth mean the world economy is more likely to disappoint than to beat expectations, the German official cited the IMF as saying. Commodity-price shocks, especially oil, have emerged as a new risk to global economic expansion, the official said

.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-11/imf-lowers-economic-growth-forecasts-for-u-s-japan-german-official-says.html
.
Offering to raise taxes would have added to the credibility of the deficit.
.
Yet, you cherry pick and do not even link to the source.

Not that Freak will pay attention to reason, but…
.
1) Obama promised German-style health care. The Republicans and yellow bellied blue dogs wanted no health care reform (just tort reform to make sure that large businesses and negligent doctors or health insurance companies could screw people with impunity). He delivered: Nixoncare/Dolecare/Romneycare – something nobody loves and is not more tolerable to it’s opponents than a complete overhaul, which is what he promised.
.
2)The stimulus package. Liberals wanted FDR. Conservatives wanted to cut government. He delivered half of a stimulus package which brought us to half as much unemployment as we would have had, but more than we did have.
.
3)He promised to close down Gitmo, have a stepped redeployment from Iraq and to continue our efforts in Afghanistan. He mostly removed our troops from Iraq.
.
Those are the top three issues from the top of my head, but, Obama is Mr. Compromise.
.
Worse yet, every single time he compromises, Republicans get angrier and angrier for not having a complete victory and liberals lose enthusiasm for him.
.
He’s right there with with one foot on each side of the double yellow line between the dead raccoon and the dead skunk – in the middle of the road equally annoying both sides and making nobody happy with him.

Stimulus dollars are being spent on mascot costumes, electric golf carts, and a university study examining how much alcohol college freshmen women require before agreeing to casual sex. or Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job….

.
Did you confuse reality with the plot of a porn movie you’ve been watching?
.
I am not an expert on porn, but, I would think that if there was porn for Republicans, drunk college girls having sex and Chinese hookers getting drunk would probably be a pretty good idea for a plot.
.
Republicans could jerk off and then take the plot and use it online to act like jerk offs.

npo, I don’t care if they retired as King of California. No public employee should receive a $100,000 pension.
.
In the last few years, we have over 24,000 public education employees retiring at over $75,000 a year??? WTF? You think that they were all such great administrators that they deserve to retire in luxury? Don’t forget that they can go right back and find another state job and in ten years have another fat pension. All the while collecting bank.
.
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/02/11/number-of-100000-retirees-skyrocket-in-teacher-pension-system/75286/
.
“Combined you’re looking at 24,811 retired California teachers earning more than $75,000. “

From Rusty’s link:
.

The page you’ve requested has been moved or taken off the site.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

There are several ways you can find the information you need:

Search the TIME Archive

Help Desk
Find out answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Click here to visit the help desk.

Home Page
Return to the TIME.com home page.

.
But, then, again, about as uninformative as usual.

Much as he drives me crazy with his tourettes, Chris Matthews has mentioned several times on his show and has had others agree, the birther issue is all about racism. Gloria Borge disagrees but she is Gloria Borge.

For the crazy, right wing, reactionary file:
.
http://wonkette.com/442890/michele-bachmann-going-to-serve-only-one-term-as-president-reinstall-mubarak
.
Bachmann Going To Serve Only One Term As President, Reinstall Mubarak
,
Whew! Only one term.
.
She thinks President Obama should have intervened in Egypt to take down the protestors.
“He wasn’t perfect, but [former Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak was one of the best friends that we had in the Middle East region,” Bachmann said. “When Mubarak was in trouble, where was the president? He was sitting on his hands and let Mubarak fall.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/04/photoshop-disasters-birther-edition.html
.

World Net Daily’s Jack Cashill, best known for claiming that Bill Ayers ghost-authored Obama’s book, is promoting a new conspiracy theory. Cashill says that the picture on the left, of Obama with his grandparents, is a forgery. Unfortunately for Cashill, what he describes as the original photograph (right) still contains the president’s knee. Pareene bait:

What was Barack Obama’s knee doing in New York, while the rest of him was in Pakistan, and Indonesia? Dealing drugs? Why are mainstream journalists afraid to ask tough questions about the president’s detachable knee? The people have a right to know!

.
Take a look at the pictures, pre and after photo shopping. Really good example of rw stupidity.

.
Blue Gal clears up the birther thing with graphics, movin’ pictures, and constitutional facts for the functionally illiterate.

Why shouldn’t they? You have absolutely no context but a number and as a result your entire hypothesis is flawed from the get go.
.
What were they doing (and making) before they retired? When did they retire? Your assumption that all of these people retired at 55 and have that large a pension is absurd until you show some proof of that as well.
.
I’m not supporting one side or another; what I’m saying is that we don’t know enough about the situation as a whole to go around making baseless comments like “No public employee should receive a $100k pension.”

“Combined you’re looking at 24,811 retired California teachers earning more than $75,000. “
.
The average income for somebody with a Master’s degree as of 2003 is $78,541.
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States
.
Most municipalities require a master’s degree to teach in public schools
.
In 2009, the median income in California was $58,931 compared to the national average of $44,389.
.
$58,931 /$44,389 = 1.32760369 of the national average.
.
So, an average master’s degree holder in California would earn (1.32760369 * $78,541)$104,271.321
.
IOW: California teachers are forgoing at least $29,271.32 per year by teaching instead of working for a private, for profit company.
.
Yet Psychiatric Meltodwn is still angry since he wants them to be slaves working for nothing.
.
Psychiatric Meltdown’s plan is to send California National Guard troops to the college campuses, capture seniors, force them to get a master’s degree in teaching and imprison them for 40 years while they teach in exchange for bread, water and not getting whipped.

“Remember people, for every dollar in new taxes the politicians will spend three.”
.

Remember people, for actual fact Paulie will lie three times..
.
Fixed it for ya.

When you are over leveraged, all it takes is a small rise in interest rates to burst your bubble. But, that will never happen…

.
But treasury bonds are fixed rate.
.
So, when interest rates are this super low, any financial adviser would tell you that if you ever need to borrow money at a fixed rate – now is the ultimate best time.
.
Thanks for pointing that you psychiatric meltdown.

Something upon which we hear little reporting:
.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110401/ts_yblog_thelookout/japan-nuke-workers-have-committed-themselves-to-die-if-necessary
.
Japan nuke workers ‘have committed themselves to die if necessary’
.

The mother of one of the atomic “samurai” working to bring Japan’s stricken nuclear plant under control has said her son and his colleagues expect to die as a result of their efforts. Meanwhile, there are reports that additional workers are being offered big money to dash into the radiation-drenched heart of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, perform a job, then withdraw.
.
There are also indications that the workers aren’t being provided with some crucial safety equipment. Japan’s interior minister said that not all of the workers were given lead sheeting to protect themselves from the floor–which may be contaminated by radiation–while sleeping.
.
“My son has been sleeping on a desk because he is afraid to lie on the floor. But they say high radioactivity is everywhere and I think this will not save him,” said the mother.

.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110405/ts_yblog_thelookout/japanese-nuclear-plant-worker-discusses-choice-to-sacrifice-his-life
.
Japanese nuclear plant worker discusses choice to sacrifice his life
.

“To be honest, no one wants to go,” Kohno told De Freytas. “Radiation levels at the plant are unbelievably high compared with normal conditions. I know that when I go this time, I will return with a body no longer capable of work at a nuclear plant.”
.
Kohno told De Freytas that as a single man with no children, he felt obligated to answer the call and join the team that the media has dubbed the “Fukushima Fifty.” Better that he face the risk, he explained, so as to spare his colleagues who have dependents counting on them. Besides, he added, the workers in the plant are his brothers and sisters, and he feels an allegiance to them.

.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/05/japanese-public-workers-h_n_845029.html
.
Japanese Public Worker’s Heroic Final Moments
.

Miki Endo, a 25-year-old public worker, saved thousands of lives in Minami Sanriku, one of the Japanese cities hardest hit by the tsunami.

.
How unRandian of them all.
.
http://waronyou.com/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=20736.0
.
Tepco, a typical outsourcer:
.

The elite engineers and highly skilled unionized workers at the top of the labor pyramid, who work for the blue-chip giants that build and operate Japanese nuclear power plants, are carefully monitored and protected from radiation exposure. However, the majority of nuclear plant workers are employed by subcontractors or their subcontractors, an arrangement that allows big corporations to avoid major layoffs of their own people in hard times. Critics say this system diffuses accountability, makes it impossible to keep tabs on the health of workers and places responsibility for safety with smaller, less visible and financially weaker companies.The workers at the bottom of the socioeconomic food chain–including those allegedly hired by the day from skid rows–receive the least safety education and the highest radiation doses. According to data from Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission, of the 71,376 Japanese who are employed in the nuclear power industry, 63,420, or almost 89%, work for subcontractors. It is these employees who receive more than 90% of all radiation exposure.
.
He] tried very hard to form a union in order to improve their working contitions, because of the fact that the amount of radiation dosage was one of the criteria for evaluating the workers. But he failed, and finally resigned from the company…Being afraid of pressure from the electric company, he does not reveal his real name.

Patrick, did you take an extra large bong hit?
.
You don’t need a master’s degree to teach in California, or any other state that I know of. A four year liberal arts degree is what qualifies you to teach k-12. You can even teach at some universities with a 4 year degree.
.
So, according to you and npo, all 24,811 teacher’s pension fund retirees had master’s degrees and were highly paid administrators.
.
So, the 24,811 that recently retired at over $75,000 each will cost the taxpayer’s over 1.869 billion a year. If they live for 30 years that’s over 56 Billion dollars. AND, that’s just in the teacher’s retirement fund. It doesn’t include the thousands of other state employees.
.
If you have 20,000 retirees a year at $75000 plus that’s 1.5 billion every year.
.
The WHOLE California budget for this year is 86.6 billion.
.
Still don’t think there is a problem? These pension’s are unfunded liabilities.

Sure Patrick, why don’t you propose that the Treasury roll ALL its debt into long term Treasury Bonds, all 14 trillion or so and sell them to?
.
And, do you think that those investors might just think: Why would the US want to sell all it’s debt in long term treasuries? Why they must be expecting interest rates to rise. I demand a higher return.
.
You are nothing, if not a dolt, Patrick.

“did you take an extra large bong hit?
.
I never smoked weed in my life. One weed smoker I knew used to watch Rush Limbaugh all day. He, also, didn’t work, lived off his wife’s income and blamed liberals for everything..
.
So, ever since then I have done my best to stay away from stoners.
.
“You don’t need a master’s degree to teach in California, or any other state that I know of.”
.
Then you don’t know New York, New Jersey, Connecticut or Massachusetts.
.

At least four out of 10 of California’s 305,000 teachers have a master’s degree or higher, according to a 2003-04 survey by the National Center of Education Statistics. The proportion is almost certainly higher today. (Nationally the proportion of teachers with more than a bachelor’s degree has risen from 40 percent in 1987 [PDF], to 43 percent in 1999-2000 and 49 percent in 2007-08, but no recent breakdowns are available by state.

.
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/1b-teacher-compensation-under-attack-6958
.
You, also, do not know crap about California schools.
.
So, boot up some more heroine while watching Glenn Beck.

“Why would the US want to sell all it’s debt in long term treasuries?”
.
100% of the US deficit is treasury bonds!
.
What do you think, that we borrow it from a really, really big bank?
.
Do you think that the president waits to speak to a loan officer?
.
You do not even know what the US debt is.
.
The debt ceiling debate is about agreeing to pay interest on T Bonds.

So Psychiatric Meltdown,
.
I am asking you again, why is paying teachers over $29,000 less than the private sector for the same education a bad deal for California.
.
It’s a bad deal for underpaid California teachers.
.
I mean that’s a weak union.
.
They should be making the same amount as their private sector counterparts!

Psychiatric Meltodwn,
.
Is there anything else you would like some help understanding now that I have taught you what the US deficit is and that teachers in your state as well as four of them near me have either all or most of their teachers having master’s degrees just like I said.
.
I can teach you about introductory macroeconomics such as the Keynesian fiscal money multiplier which is why for the past 80 years we have been increasing government spending during unemployment and ought to wait until boom times to decrease it.
.
I’ll teach you for free.
.
Ask all you want.

I had no idea that the American management system was so successfully exported to Japan.
.
Republicans should be tearful with pride.

Patrick, Keynesian economics doesn’t work. Did you notice that the stimulus failed?
.
And the debt of the US is spread out from short term T BILLS remember that term? to longer Treasury Bonds.
The Fed in its infinite wisdom has issued fewer longer term 30 year Treasury BONDS and sells the Bonds and Bills throughout the year. If interest rates rise in the future and the United States has not paid off its debt, in addition to the current borrowing, we will have to sell new issues at a higher interest rate. Do we have any plans to pay off our debt that you know of? Right now the Treasury is buying back its own debt. Have you heard of QE2? Hint: it’s not a ship.
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Having a Master’s degree doesn’t make you a better instructor. It just makes you higher paid.
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patricksartor@30.1,
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If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, skippy.

“Patrick, Keynesian economics doesn’t work. Did you notice that the stimulus failed?”
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You mean like, in 2010 when we had 25% unemployment?
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Imagine this:
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You are on board a ship.
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It is starting to sink.
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Half of the people are screaming to bail out all of the water.
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The other half are screaming to not bail out any of the water.
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The captain is Mr. Compromise.
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So, he has his crew take out half the pumps.
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From there half of the water is removed.
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So, everybody is unhappy.
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A stimulus package is to a pump what water is to unemployment.
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Obama, the doormat for Republicans to wipe their feet on, had done about half of what many Economists believed was needed to bring unemployment down by both compensating for decreased state and local spending and much of the lost private sector spending.
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So, instead of shooting up to the 1932 levels of 25% unemployment we went to 9% and have been very slowly dropping down.
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Keynesian economics came about from observing the success of the Roosevelt administration (to a far lesser extent at the very beginning and far more modestly the two years Hoover had a Democratic congress from 1930 through 1932) and has been prove to work over and over again for 80 years.
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But, if you do half of stimulus package, you get half of the decrease in potential unemployment.
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“Having a Master’s degree doesn’t make you a better instructor. It just makes you higher paid.”
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It, also, means that you would be better paid if you took those two years, all of those student loans, got an MBA instead and made $150,000 a year instead of $75,000 teaching. It means that you are foregoing more income because of your love of teaching over your love for a good paycheck.
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If you think that courses on teaching are not as effective as you would like them to be, that is a totally different topic.
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To go into that, please tell us exactly how to teach a person to become a teacher and, if you are correct, please share this with universities across America.
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If you have no idea how to make teachers more effective,then stop your babbling about how much you hate teachers.

“. If interest rates rise in the future and the United States has not paid off its debt, in addition to the current borrowing, we will have to sell new issues at a higher interest rate.”
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As a general rule, interest rates go up after unemployment goes down and after corporate and household revenues go up.
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So, by the time the interest rates go up, if we do not lower the tax rate IRS revenues will go up by the same amount.
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If the treasury is selling more short term bonds than long term, that means that they anticipate interest rates dropping in the short term.
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All I know is that I do not have a PhD in Economics, do not work as a professional economist and they do.
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So, we may see interest rates go down slightly more before they go up again.

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, skippy.”
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You mean
If the federal government ain’t broke don’t fix it, skippy?
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Considering that for decades after World War II we had a higher deficit to GDP ratio than we do now, the federal government isn’t broke.
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But your ratio is the opposite.
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After tax increases politicians fear increasing spending since they know constituents will be worried that it will mean another tax increase while, after a tax cut, politicians feel free to spend, spend spend as the Republican House and Senate did under Bush.

So, according to you and npo, all 24,811 teacher’s pension fund retirees had master’s degrees and were highly paid administrators.

Did I say that? Or is that just your straw man?
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My entire point, which you either ignored or missed entirely, is that you don’t know why these people have these pensions. You have absolutely no context to the situation, at all. You know that X amount of people make $Y per year in pension. You don’t know what they were making before they retired, what they were doing when they retired, what age they retired, how long they had been in the system before they retired, or anything else.
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I’ll say it again, your entire hypthothesis is flawed. You said “Public employees are retiring at 55 with pensions over $100,000 per year,” but have yet to show any actual evidence to back up this statement. You combined two separate facts, that they are able to retire at 55 (if they so choose) and that some have $100k pensions, and like Rusty after his afternoon drink(s) went into a blind rage without actually knowing anything about the situation.
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I’m not saying that they should have pensions that large nor am I saying that they shouldn’t. I am saying that you and I both don’t know enough about the situation to make those statements.
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Your entire argument is an emotional appeal lacking of any specifics. The pensions are an unfunded liability that’s too large a part of the budget. Why? Why is it unfunded? Why is there so much? How does that compare to the salaries of all those still working? How many are still working? Etc. You know none of that.