Every day I visit tons of website, forums, and social networks for all types of topics, most of which are technology based in some sort of form. This election cycle has really brought out the best of the liberal “group think” mentality regarding Obama. On just about every social network Obama is praised as “the one” and any hint of disagreement with his policies or ideals is immediately responded with accusations of racism, or just plain insults. Anybody who wants to claim that liberals are tolerant to others, please give me a shout because I can quickly debunk that. Even here on our network of sites, there have been insults tossed at the slightest hint of either supporting McCain, or being against Obama. I’m certainly not saying conservatives don’t dish out their fair share, but the mentality of liberals has once again bordered on the insane and hateful.
It’s tough being a proud conservative, as I will say what I think regardless of what the group and mob mentality is. The real shame is so many people, especially bloggers in the tech area, are afraid to do the same. I have received so many private notes and comments in support of standing up for conservatism, it’s almost crazy. The best comparison I can make is how conservative actors in Hollywood are often ridiculed or turned down for roles because of their conservative beliefs, and the same mentality is going on right now in the blogosphere. Conservative bloggers, some of which can be considered A-list are having to remain silent about their thoughts on Obama and McCain, simply because they are afraid of retribution from their employers or just not being able to pickup work from other sites. It’s a shame, and it’s more telling about liberals than it is anything.
I am a conservative, I don’t like Obama, and I will never let anyone intimidate me because of that.
Bull. Brad was losing and he kicked everyone out of his sandbox...and we all know it.
Yes, it was. And you'll find it is not the DNC saying this, but the overwhelming majority of every financial analyst around the world taking this position. Remember, many of the Democrats are caught up in this as well. The DNC is avoiding this position just like the RNC is.
But, if you'd like a full dissertation on economics, I would be glad to educate you. But for now, do a little research into the deregulation of the asset to debt leveraging ratios of these new financial companies before and after deregulation. The Great Depression laws were enacted to make sure that every bank had a healthy ratio of debt to hard assets for liquidity reasons. With deregulation these ratios skyrocketed to unsustainable levels and eventually, the notes were called in - ergo financial collapse because NO ONE wanted to eat their losses. Combined with Bushco's gutting of all of the agencies of government in 2000, we were left with NO regulation and NO oversight throughout the government for the past 8 years.
Pure groundless hyperbole. Beneath you to say the least.
Actually, no, and it's $250,000. At least get your CORE facts straight before you spin.
Those "non-productive members of society" you keep ranting on about amount to a fraction of the people in this country. And whether or not they make enough money to pay INCOME taxes, they do pay sales taxes, etc. etc. every day. And those goods and services they purchase drive the economy all the way up the ladder. Their money just goes right back into the system one way or another, the same way a highway project or other public works project does. There are MANY WAYS politicians grease the wheels of the economy on a daily basis, from defense contracts to pork to public works to welfare. It's the way our world works, as long as everything is in balance.
Don't recall knowing that but I'm glad you feel that you know what 'we all' know.
Biden has already reduced that figure to $150,000 in a recent interview and as yet I haven't heard a rebutal from Obama.
I don't need education in liberals economics. Blaming "deregulation" is pure talking points, nothing else.
Um....no. But thanks for trying.
I can list the 0bama lies and compare them to Clintons. I just need to schedule a week or two off first.
Keep up with the news, Biden lowered it to $150,000 yesterday. It doesn't matter, because we know everyone will be hit with tax increases with 0bama.
Local sales tax goes local in most cases, we are talking federal income here. Regardless, I would love to weight the amount of local taxes they pay in, and size it up against what they cost tax payers in police expenses, etc.
Poor people, non-productive members of society DO NOT PAY taxes. Giving them tax breaks is a lie, it's welfare.
If people love 0bama's distribution plan so much, they should just voluntarily send more of their money into the government.
I SAID that Bush and the neocons are responsible for CAPITALIZING on the fear of 9-11 instead of standing up to lead the nation in the spirit of "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".
I will NOT live my life in fear of crazies off their meds or nutters like Osama bin Laden. New York is one of my two favorite cities on Earth. They were ATTACKED by loons and it SUCKED. And innocent people died, which was horrible for them and their families, etc.
But their tragic loss does not end this NATION, nor its freedoms, nor its ideals.
No, it took Bushco and the neocons to turn a simple terrorist attack into an excuse for...
the preemptive invasion of Iraq
unprecedented war profiteering and graft for Cheney's company and others
the suspension of human rights dating back centuries
the suspension of treaties of war which we once championed
the arrival of Big Brother via warrantless wiretaps, eavesdropping on American citizens calls, internet etc.
the torture of prisoners in manners that we once had Nazis EXECUTED for at Nuremburg
the vast redistribution of wealth from future American productivity into the now offshore Friends of Bush
the takeover of the Justice Department by unqualified religious bottom rung academic zealots
the sacking of the upper levels of every government agency, replaced by purely political cronies of Bush
$6 trillion dollars in new debt (a NET increase that is more than every other President COMBINED)
the collapse of the US dollar
the collapse of untold trillions of dollars of wealth in the stock market
etc. etc. etc.
So yeah, I'm pissed. My big question has to be why aren't you?! And why would you waste a breath on defending this ignoramus pawn of a President?
George W. Bush is the one President I have REFUSED to meet with over the past twenty years - because I saw through him from day one.
How about you? Are the blinders still on?
We are. We're voting for him, after all. Or have you not been paying attention to the polls?
Why are you angry that top corporations make expensive efforts to shelter their income and their shareholders gains? They are doing exactly what you suggest Brad should do. They have hired powered tax people as you would suggest and find every advantage they can within the framework that CONGRESS gives them. Are there those that go beyond legal? Undoubtedly, but that is true in the private sector as well. They simply play the hand they are dealt as do you. Do you really believe that top corporations pay zero?.
Here is a list of what the top corporations paid:
http://www.forbes.com/2004/04/15/cx_aw_0415bigpay.html
The rest of your responses to my post were all non-responses and evasions. Pity, I was looking forward to some factually based intellectual discourse to support your positions.
So? What about a little bit of compassion for those who are less fortunate galls you so?
Regardless, the tax breaks are for the middle class, by your own admission it means nothing for the poor and I maintain the wealthy can afford the slight hike...sure as hell WAY better than they've tolerated the collapse of their portfolios and property values the past month or so.
For all the money people think they made under Bushco, only the ones who took it overseas got away with it. Everyone else was played for a sucker by this real estate pyramid scheme.
Sad that it has come to this but our capatlistic ways can't continue anymore without some socialistic band aids. The poker game is over. The winners cashed out and now the pot is less all that money. There isn't any new money to bring to the game unless you borrow from the winners...and so on.
Because they do it by moving operations off shore. If you make your money here, you should pay your taxes here.
How about we choose something that reflects the CURRENT Bushco world, instead of something from 2004 which reflects data from 2001/2...ahem.
Like this... http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/12/news/economy/corporate_taxes/
This represents how the world has been laid out in their favor over the past 8 years.
Precisely.
Hehe, yeah, I was tweaking him there.
I'm basing this number on what's PUBLISHED on Obama's site regarding his plans. Odds are that Biden just got the number wrong from memory. Palin, McCain, and Bush do that daily and I try to avoid pretending misquotes or gotchas representa ANY of their actual positions.
So, based on the published plans and the other 99% of discussions of this number, I gotta say it's still actually $250,000.
Regardless, the house and senate will change all of this anyway in an effort to find common ground. So this number is only Obama's stated target not the ultimate result, of course.
Wow, you managed to blame everything on Bush. Good job with that.
Polls are not votes. Besides, I would bet over 90% of 0bama supporters have no idea what they are getting themselves into. But then again, these are people who want to scrounge off the government.
I have addressed your DNC talking points that have been debunked 1000 times over. I'm not going to change your mind as you will never change mine.
Compassion can be done through charity or good will, not the seizing of my paycheck.
Stealing from the productive members of society is not a solution. There are plenty of other things that can be done, but we are now dealing with people who are lazy.
From the CNN article.
Lets remember these small businesses will have to pay more taxes under "the 0", and therefore more jobs will be lost.
First of all, I am not a Bush fan. What I argue against is the constant blaming of everything that ever happened on Bush as if Congress did not exist and the extreme Michael Moore type claims. I think it will be an interesting question down the road in history as to whether the war in Iraq was good or bad for this country. Just like the press under Lincoln condemned him as the worst president and the civil war was a disaster. All that as changed quite a bit with time and distance from the violence of the period. YOur list included quite a few folks to blame and it seems just to simplistic to blame everything on Bush in a neat little bundle. Just as in your blaming of Nancy P for not making it clear to the people of the Bush veto powers, you forgot to mention all the democrats that voted with the Republcans both in the first and second term.
I certainly agree that the Bush adminstration has violated the Republican fiscal conservative principals and the small government is better principal and that is why I am not a Bush fan at all. The problem that I have with the BUsh bashing agrument is simple. IF he is really the week moron that liberals says he is, it is quite difficult to explain how he got elected twice and how he controlled all the other geniuses in Congress to weave his evil web. The incredible Dick Cheney monster is then created to expain it. And the Democrats pretend they were are a not part of it all. iI just don't believe that such a simplistic solution as its all Bush's fault is helpful to getting anything resolved and the country united. He really isn't a king although dems like to pretend that he made himself one and they just couldn't stop him.
Agree, but we need a fix. People aren't going to like the fix not matter what it is.
Trickle down doesn't work because greed causes the theory to collapse. Greenspan admitted the other day that is why he failed. He underestimated greed.
Think of it as borrowing from the Wealthier percentages so we can go back to reduced taxes, less spending, etc. Spending isn't going to be as rampant as Conseravatives make out Obamas presidency to ( possibly) be. There isn't going to be any money to spend. We are a country on the edge of bankruptcy. We will get used to the lack of federal assistance and possibly turn a deficit into a surplus once again.
I only pinned the blame on his administration for what they were directly responsible for. Care to prove me wrong on a single one of those assertions? Go for it.
There are plenty of other things that can be done, but we are now dealing with people who are lazy.
Excuse me?! You honestly think the vast majority of the American public (you know, the ones voting for Obama next week) is "lazy" and "scrounging off the government"?! The ones working two jobs just to get by where one used to suffice? The ones who have to go bankrupt because it turns out their health insurance isn't worth the paper the plan was printed on? The ones who just lost a huge portion of their retirement savings due to the Wall Street gamblers finally having their bad loans called?
Guess what. The vast majority of my hard-working, quite intelligent, tax paying, educated colleagues, peers, and employees are voting for Obama too.
I'm not sure where you came up with the idea that America is a "welfare state" society, but compared to the rest of the free world, we're downright stingy when it comes to taking care of our own.
Kenwas and Night Train, you make good points that I actually agree with to some measure, but I've also addressed the issues of a gridlocked Congress, Actual President Cheney, and Bush as an affable patsy in previous dissertations on this thread. I just wanted you to know I appreciated your positions and the cogent manner in which you presented them.
Absolute bullshit. [insert smiley for holding nose]
At least you've shown your membership card in the coming Thugocracy. You would've made a perfect Brown Shirt.
I do have compassion for the less fortunate and I give money to those I feel need it the most. I would give more if the mob(the U.S. government and their goons, the IRS) didn't take their cut first. I earned that money and I should decide who it goes to.
I read your article. Did you? It begins
"Nearly two-thirds of U.S. companies and 68% of foreign corporations do not pay federal income taxes, according to a congressional report released Tuesday "
It explains that most of these were small businesses that paid heavy state tax and therefore reportred zero income, etc. You were talking about the top US companies.
The article concludes"
"
U.S. politicians disagree about how much income tax the government should levy on corporations. Currently the rate is 35%, but most foreign governments have set their rates below the U.S. level.
"The U.S. corporate tax rate stayed the same while foreign countries have drifted down, which increases the incentive for companies to report income in other countries," said Toder. "If the U.S. drops the rate to 30% but closes other tax loopholes, that may ultimately generate more tax revenue for the government."
Which is exactly the opposite of waht Obama intends to do.
I guess it really is pointless to try to discuss it when you just repeat the same sentence, and can't see that someone else feels the same as you except that he sees you as being in the Catbird's seat.
Ditto and right back at ya! Have a fine day! We'll all figure out how to keep the boat afloat eventually.
Guys against tax increase...
How are we supposed to pay for country debt and Iraq war without any tax increase? Midas touch?
No we MUST have tax increase. Not tax cuts or keep current system.
I just don't know why you guys keep wanting expensive things like Iraq war and not pay for it.
No, Obama wants to close the loopholes to. And if that happened, you might see a broader tax cut overall, because income would go up into the federal coffers.
Either way, it should be interesting to see what REALLY happens with the new administration.
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