So for the next presidential election will the republican candidate try to distant themselves from Bush and try to make the "people" believe he will be different. If so, are people stupid enough to believe them? I guess I can see the candidate saying "I am not like Bush", even though they supported everything he did until he got unpopular.
5/29/2006 2:35:15 AM
I thought we prohibited new users from starting threads
5/29/2006 2:47:45 AM
I'm sorry, I guess I should just talk about the same stuff you "veterans" talk about........ I'm 100% sure that 9/11 was planned by the government. I have the evidence. Clearly the governemt planted bombs in the world trade center that went off as soon as the airplanes hit........ I guess if you talk about real issues here you just get insulted and only people that spend all day on tww are allowed to start threads. Sorry
5/29/2006 2:54:21 AM
haha
5/29/2006 4:08:41 AM
^^that's just salisburyboy and a couple of jackasses who are unable to unclench their lips from his ballsand your thread is still retarded and not really worth discussing.
5/29/2006 5:25:30 AM
i guess that you'll never learn if nobody explains it to you...Yes, the GOP candidate will likely distance himself from the President. Yes, people are stupid enough to believe all kinds of stuff. However, McCain and Giuliani (the 2 front runners as of right now) are actually very different from the President.In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that the GOP nominee will be very different from President Bush.
5/29/2006 7:17:22 AM
5/29/2006 9:36:02 AM
^^Different in what way? You gotta elaborate because I see all Republicans as being very similar to Bush in at least one way: EXTRA MONEY FOR THE RICHEST AND THE CORPORATIONS!!! WOO HOO!
5/29/2006 9:49:26 AM
^corporations, sure. but richest? that's just libelous -- you've clearly got it confused w/ teh L3ft and their fatcats...(although w/ typically 75%+ of Congressional L3fties voting for corporate bailouts and other silliness like the airline bill, I'm not sure the corporations argument is all that valid either...)
5/29/2006 9:54:35 AM
5/29/2006 9:57:54 AM
5/29/2006 10:09:08 AM
5/29/2006 11:31:12 AM
5/29/2006 11:33:15 AM
TGD, I don't really think that Giuliani will get the GOP nod, but from the poll I saw yesterday, he and McCain are in first and second place, respectively.
5/29/2006 11:54:31 AM
perhaps im wrong but those tax charts look pretty dumb to me. top 1%, 16.1% income, 33.7% taxnext 4%, subtract the top 1% from 5 = 14.9% income & 20.1% tax next 5%, sub 5 from 10 = 11.2% income & 11.9% taxnext 15%, sub 10 from 25 = 22.6% income & 18.2% taxnext 25% = 21.4% income & 12.6% taxso they only ppl pulling significantly above their income % are the top 5% (top 10 just barely). i dont see it as all that bad considering.logically, the poor cant afford to pay all that much in taxes or they'll be even more screwed than they are at min wage or similar. they also make abysmal ammounts compared to the top %'s so it isnt surprising that they dont pull a large percentage. if we want to argue 0 sum, that has to be made up somewhere so the rich are taking one for the team. we could get into the type of ppl in that category, but id rather not.so is there something wrong with my math, cuz it is early and im prone to mistakes.[Edited on May 29, 2006 at 12:47 PM. Reason : .]
5/29/2006 12:47:13 PM
Your analysis of the graph looks reasonable. My reasoning here is not to argue that the rich are over nor under taxed. My point was merely to show what has changed in the recent history of Republican dominance, namely that the rich are paying more than ever, both literally and relatively.
5/29/2006 12:58:58 PM
5/29/2006 1:30:29 PM
^that's just b/c you're still a very dogmatic L3ftie ---
5/29/2006 1:36:29 PM
^^
5/29/2006 1:37:12 PM
well im just making judgements on that chart bridget. i dont follow tax codes enough to know the historical percentages (except generally large swings).
5/29/2006 3:02:19 PM
i'm pretty sure the american people aren't dumb enough to vote for a republican president for atleast another 4 years after the 2008 elections
5/29/2006 3:24:11 PM
^^ Whatever you believe their fair share is, they are paying less share today than they were in 2001. So, if their share was reasonable under clinton then it is decidedly more reasonable today.
5/29/2006 3:29:51 PM
Bush's tax policy is one of the worse things to attack him on. Most people are paying lower taxes, and that's all they see and care about.
5/29/2006 3:34:05 PM
i thought only the richer people were seeing lower taxes?
5/29/2006 3:38:51 PM
IIRC everyone is seeing lower taxes. The complaints are usually that the tax burden has shifted away slightly from the richer people to the middle class.
5/29/2006 3:44:28 PM
5/29/2006 3:50:35 PM
5/29/2006 4:10:57 PM
I do not support ssjamind's elitism.
5/29/2006 4:25:42 PM
5/29/2006 4:28:23 PM
Wow, BridgetSPK, why the hostility? I said "IF" you believed things were fair under clinton then you must continue to believe they are fair. If, as it seems, you feel the poor were fucked under Clinton then obviously you still believe they are Fucked. Calm the fuck down, ranting and raving doesn't breed intelligent discussion. The growth in inequality has nothing to do with the republican tax policy and everything to do with relative shortages in the labor market. You can tax the educated more but it won't make the poor get paid higher wages (if anything it will only further depress their wages). My mistake here was to think we were talking about tax policy and not your vision of economic fairness.
5/29/2006 4:30:23 PM
my comments were only to note that the chart was deceptive in its construction to make it look like the poor have it easy. i dont think that the poor are overly taxed as it is, but shifting policy to get rid of taxes altogether or make it more "fair" for the rich seem pointless to me.
5/29/2006 4:49:05 PM
LoneSnark, I've been extremely hostile towards you for some time now. It started to get really bad when you suggested that the market would naturally solve our enviornmental problems.From your posts, I glean that you have no values. You're just obsessed with economics and the beauty of the market. Your brilliant yet autistic view of the world frightens me. Perhaps I don't read enough of your posts or something...?[Edited on May 29, 2006 at 4:52 PM. Reason : sss]
5/29/2006 4:49:18 PM
5/29/2006 6:12:36 PM
5/29/2006 6:17:07 PM
Which is part of the reason I say that:
5/29/2006 6:35:10 PM
I love how everyone talks about "the poor" and "the rich"... like once you get stuck in one bracket, you're not going anywhere. This isn't Europe folks...---
5/29/2006 6:59:47 PM
5/29/2006 7:14:11 PM
^Actually it sounds exactly like what you're talking about.
5/29/2006 7:18:43 PM
No, they totally do. They're not evil, horrible people or anything like you envision me thinking, but they are there.I specifically described welfare as a whipping boy because it's not really the problem, but people love to hate on it. I mean, it is, but it's not the big problem. There isn't all that much fat to trim there in my opinion--a good number of people on the welfare rolls are people I don't mind helping. So no, it is not really what I'm talking about (for the most part...of course there is SOME fat to trim there, but it's lower priority).The big problem is how we crush people for making money, and then hammer them some more when they do smart things with their money (i.e., capital gains tax, which i absolutely loathe). You're taxed when you earn money, taxed again on the same money when you spend it, taxed again for ownership of things that you bought with money you'd already been taxed on when you earned it AND spent it, taxed when you invest it and put it to work for you, and finally taxed again when you die and leave it to your family or friends. We waste an ENORMOUS amount of money on Social Security (I bet many, or maybe even most people have more money withheld from their paycheck for SS than they do income taxes), which is all but worthless. Furthermore, our method of extorting those ridiculous taxes is a horrible, wasteful, total clusterfuck that hardly anyone understands. Furthermore, the truly rich (i don't mean 100k/year or 250k/year, I mean the RICH RICH, although 250k/year is more than enough to get REALLY RICH if you do the right things with your money) shelter lots of their income and dodge a lot of those taxes anyway...it's the upper middle class who takes a fearsome beating.
5/29/2006 7:41:55 PM
5/29/2006 7:45:46 PM
the stock market has averaged, what, 11%?if you put $400/month into it for 35 years (start at age 25, retire at 60), you will have almost $2 million, even if you never make a dollar from house appreciation, never save a dollar from your paycheck other than that $400 investment, never inherit a penny, and never invest in any other asset (and never put forth any effort into beating the market, and just put all of your money into a total market index fund)you don't have to be Warren fucking Buffett...I know just enough to be dangerous, and that alone is enough to be better than the vast majority of the population (and basically every poor person on the planet), and enough to make me filthy rich one day, because I invest much more than that figure every month (and learn more about what I'm doing all along)[Edited on May 29, 2006 at 7:54 PM. Reason : asdfasd][Edited on May 29, 2006 at 7:56 PM. Reason : asdf][Edited on May 29, 2006 at 7:58 PM. Reason : and it's not like I make tons of money]
5/29/2006 7:53:46 PM
5/29/2006 8:12:43 PM
Holy shit, I just went out to get some beer and was about to come back to apologize for devolving into angry, feelings-based "arguments." I haven't read all of what you wrote yet, theDuke, but it looks like you didn't devolve with me. Thanks for that. I will need to collect my thoughts and respond. I will say now though that I got a little sick feeling when I read about you "climbing to the top." I also don't like this "better than" nonsense.As far as your retirement plans go, I totally feel you. My Vanguard's doing alright. I hope to get another job so my parents can start contributing to it again.[Edited on May 29, 2006 at 8:15 PM. Reason : sss]
5/29/2006 8:15:29 PM
5/29/2006 8:23:40 PM
5/29/2006 8:52:38 PM
5/29/2006 9:39:42 PM
well, i wouldn't mind seeing a tiered licensing system, based on to what ability you have been trained and have demonstrated proficiency at, and what sort of vehicle you're driving (and maybe how many accidents you've caused).it would allow capable drivers with the right vehicles to go faster in the right places, and give people an incentive to get more proficient at driving and be more careful.regardless, i'm more concerned with how hard Uncle Sam screws us financially. At the end of the day, you can drive about how you want if you spend enough money on tickets, lawyers, insurance, and radar detectors, so it all boils down to the almighty dollar anyway.[Edited on May 29, 2006 at 10:18 PM. Reason : asdf]
5/29/2006 10:14:26 PM
5/29/2006 10:22:33 PM
aside from a couple grammar/spelling mistakes, i see nothing that justifies this thread being called "retarded"
5/29/2006 10:28:52 PM
5/29/2006 10:33:21 PM