Disqus - Latest Comments for PWT

Re: Joe Lieberman

PWT — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:44:35 -0000

I like the anti-semitism to be more up front.

Re: Joe Lieberman

PWT — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:26:48 -0000

For my taste, I'd have preferred to see Mr. Lieberman nailing a Medicare Buy-In Jesus to the cross, but that's just me...

Re: R.I.P Democratic Hopes for Permanent Majority

PWT — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:36:13 -0000

Are you saying, then, that I should vote for the least competent party because they will be able to bollix up the country less than the more competent, but still incompetent, party?

Re: Death threats for Obama

PWT — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:01:51 -0000

Nancy Pelosi would only step up to the plate if Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden were to perish at the same time or if Mr. Biden failed to replace himself as the VP.

Since Cheney was the VP and I believe that he was reviled much more than Mr. Bush, wouldn't one conclude that the death threats came from right-wingers? I mean, what left winger would have wanted to take out Bush for Cheney?

Re: The Guidofication of America

PWT — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:54:45 -0000

They don't call them 'Super Sugar Crisp' anymore, they took the sugar out of the name but not the cereal. Although, I think that adding the X into the cereal would expand their consumer base.

Re: Obama Speech: It’s Time to Bail Out Main Street

PWT — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:31:40 -0000

Sounds like we have a fiat currency crisis and we're all screwed.

Re: Obama Speech: It’s Time to Bail Out Main Street

PWT — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:48:22 -0000

Yeah, Bush did the initial coddling and Obama has continued it.

Perhaps, President Palin will put an end to it in 2012.

Re: Obama Speech: It’s Time to Bail Out Main Street

PWT — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:26:38 -0000

What tax breaks are you talking about for the 'rich'? The more money a person makes, the higher the tax liability, both in terms of gross amount and percentage of income.

It is up to congress to control spending. We've had Democrats in charge of congress since 2006. The Republicans did a crappy job prior to that, but that does not excuse the crappy job of controlling spending that the current congress has done.

I think that we went off the gold standard quite a while ago.

And, just one more point about taxes, an old story:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until on day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men --- the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too.
It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Re: Obama Speech: It’s Time to Bail Out Main Street

PWT — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:25:55 -0000

How can it be 'tricke-up' economics if the money is coming from the top in the first place?

What 'foundation' is crumbling?

How did we get here? I would point my finger at government meddling, perhaps you have a different explanation.

Re: Obama Must Finish Mr. Bush’s Work or ‘Marginalize’ the West: La Stampa of Italy

PWT — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:04:49 -0000

Those damnable 'neo-cons' sound an awful lot like environmentalists.

Re: Tim Gets Adept At Washington Speak

PWT — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:42:24 -0000

I'm not sure that the Tobin Tax is meant to apply to all securities transactions but rather only currency transactions.

Re: Supporting the President in a Time of War

PWT — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:32:52 -0000

I thought that dissent was the highest form of patriotism?

Re: Trade Health Care for More Stimulus?

PWT — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:37:45 -0000

Spending the money that I pay to the government in taxes in order to pay the bill for another's health care is not stimulating the economy. It is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Also, because the amount of taxes that I will have to pay annually will increase if the new healthcare package passes, I will have less money to purchase things for myself and my family which will negatively stimulate the economy.

It is not that the Obama administration has been asleep on this angle, it is just that they may have at least a minimal understanding of economics.

Re: So Where’s The Inflation?

PWT — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:34:22 -0000

You have to remember that it was a Democrat controlled congress that passed the original TARP and any subsequent bailouts. So, it was the Dems bailing out their Republican enemies' buddies on Wall Street. Man, those Dems must be stupid to get taken in like that, again, just like they were on Iraq. Third time is a charm though....

Re: 1983 All Over Again?

PWT — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:09 -0000

What you've all described are transfer payments, not jobs - aside from necessary services like, fire, police, military and education. If the government could create jobs, unemployment would be constant as the government should just be able to create the number of jobs required for a given population whenever necessary. The fact that this is not and has never been the case, proves that government can not and does not create jobs, it merely makes transfer payments.

Re: 1983 All Over Again?

PWT — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:08:28 -0000

He won't 'do' anything because he can't. Let me rephrase, it's not that Mr. Obama won't do anything about the jobs part of the economy, it's that he can't. To believe that the government can create jobs, is to ignore history. Government has never created one job, despite what was claimed for North Dakota's 99th Congressional District, and never will.

Re: From “No” to “Boo!”

PWT — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:12:45 -0000

Perhaps, the bill would have a better chance of passing if the democrats were able to allay some of the fears of the electorate that the republicans have been showcasing. In my view, that they don't, means that they can't. They've already lost the argument and will likely start referring to opponents of reform as fascists. The only unanswered question is whether it will die in committee or on the senate floor.

Re: Same-Sex Marriage Setback in Maine, Hope for the Future

PWT — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:49:54 -0000

Why doesn't 'limited government' apply to social issues as well? It seems hypocritical to me to scream 'tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts' one minute and then to try to keep the gays from marrying the next.

Re: Deja Vu: The Spanish Inquisition

PWT — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:02:18 -0000

The impact of the ad and the following legal challenges will probably have a more positive effect for the Christie campaign as more people view the ad to find out what it's all about.

Re: Ethics Probe Of 33 Lawmakers A Yawner

PWT — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:08:13 -0000

I'm sad to see that (R)s are falling behind their (D) counterparts in regards to corruption. Have they cleaned up their act or just gotten smarter about it?

Re: Get off your lazy duffs!!

PWT — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:04:54 -0000

"Paradyme" - that reminds me of a guy used to stand down in the Wall street area (Maiden Lane) most weekdays, his phrase was, "spare a dime?". - somehow sounds appropriate for this new paradigm.

Re: Dithering Before Sending Americans to Die

PWT — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:00:33 -0000

You know that a whole truckload of BS is about to be dumped when an author refers to military deferments in order to make a point about a critique of current events. You can be sure, too, that past military deferments is the entire scope of the authors argument. By the author's logic, I am unfit to comment on the situation in Afghanistan, as is he, from what I can read in his biography.

But the real point is that, to appear not to be 'dithering', Mr. Obama should address the charge. He should rebut the notion that he is dithering not by describing the meetings that he is holding or the consultations that he is getting, but rather by explaining the current strategy, explaining what effects, if any, delaying the implementation of the recommendations will have and what his overall goal is for Afghanistan. He has the rhetorical skills, especially compared to Cheney, he should use them.

Re: Under 200 Votes For Public Option ?

PWT — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:46:05 -0000

Exactly. What is important to know is: how many votes are there for the "punk-assed-bitch" P.O.?

Re: Lieberman Threatens to Join GOP Filibuster

PWT — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:02:29 -0000

Given that he is from CT, the insurance capital of the world, it is unlikely that he would consider voting for any form of public option. He knows where his bread is buttered and where his constituents work.

Re: Is the Smart Grid Coming at Last?

PWT — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:26:20 -0000

At least it is a start on what is billed as a $2,000,000,000,000 project.