Politics
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- ********0
Ok, ill cut him some slack and we can agree to disagree and in a years time we can come back here and see how hes doing. maybe in year two he can stand up like a man, and stop blaming Bush! When he looses re-election will he blame bush for that too!!!
and please dont compare Obama to JFK...he couldnt even hold Tedd Kennedys empty cutty sark bottle!!!
you were all sold a lie...keep on believing, ill cut him slack..what a joke.....
Noble peace prize........wow...what a joke!- < obviously more in it for himself than the people. i blame you more than he.version3
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The most expensive real estate deal of its kind in American property annals collapsed today.
http://www.realestatechannel.com…
"We have never seen anything like this in a civilized society. Even if one sees a modest price increase, that there has been a sharp increase in sales of used housing and that much of the downside is taken out, there are dark clouds on the horizon" -- Harald Magnus Andreassen in First Securities
- You'd think Blackrock would just go to their Chinese investors and get the cash.Mimio
- ********0
I hardly see an Obama bumper sticker anymore.
- I see a few Bush/Cheney 04 stickers around. Does that mean they were good?Mimio
- I suppose it does in the minds of the bumper sticker owners.********
- That's because it's bad for body paint to keep them on for a long time.luckyorphan
- come up to portland I still see them everyday, you wont see one on any of my rides 'cause I don't advertise but I still support the man.fooler2
- boobs0
Who does more to keep the price of cheeba down?
- Pot clubs. I find that these clubs have become legalized dealers.********
- And the difference between legal pot houses and bars that serve alcohol is...?luckyorphan
- Oh right. Alcohol turns people into assholes. Pot, on the other hand, chills everyone out.luckyorphan
- Of course, both make people stupid.luckyorphan
- Pot clubs. I find that these clubs have become legalized dealers.
- luckyorphan0
Had a thought the other day:
Separate taxation into two categories.
Tax earned income at a very very low rate, because it is earned. If you bust yer ass, you should keep almost all of it.
Then, tax income through interest at a very high rate, because it is not earned. Income earned through interest is not money from work. It is money from money, and that comes from the institutions build by the society at large. So, there should be some income from interest, but since it largely comes from the society, the bulk of the interest should be given back to the society.
To simplify, earn a dollar, get taxed at 5%. Gain a dollar through interest, and get taxed at 65%.
I'm sure there are flaws, and I'm curious as to what both the right and left would say they are.
Discuss.
- Just a thought.luckyorphan
- abolish all taxes. institute a federal sales tax. you consume more, you are taxed more.johndiggity
- you are in effect fiscally rewarded for being smart about resource consumption.johndiggity
- and one less way politicians can pit the classes against one another for their own gain.johndiggity
- Yeh that doesn't work because it affects the poor greatly, and the rich barely at all.luckyorphan
- how? the rich spend more than the poor.johndiggity
- When the rich spend $100k on a boat, they don't really feel it, because it's only a small % of their wealth.luckyorphan
- Gah, I can't explain it here...lemme link yah.luckyorphan
- luckyorphan0
SumWurk said something above that requires addressing:
"I personally don't know a single person you would consider 'wealthy' who didn't start with absolutely nothing. Probably an anomaly, but still the thought that people can't work their way into a higher socio-economic position is complete bullshit."
Two words: Paris Hilton.
Please refer to the following documentary, "Born Rich" by Jamie Johnson – heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune.
"I live in a country that everyone wants to believe is a meritocracy. We want to think that everyone earns what they have. I guess if it makes you feel better, keep telling yourself that."
"What did I do to earn the kind of money I will get tonight [on my 21st birthday] at midnight? All I did was inherit it."
Jamie Johnson
– Director of "Born Rich" and heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune.Stay Informed.
- Pretty incredible look at the unearned wealth in this country.luckyorphan
- How the other 1/2 live,
must nice. I shed a tear.utopian - that's a pretty small other half.luckyorphan
- luckyorphan0
^ Correction. That quote was attributed to SumWurk. My apologies. It was stated by mathinc, who is a solid guy. Just comes from a different ideology. ;)
Cheers.
- i disagree... mathinc is a bit more spongy than solid... like a stale marshmallow at bestPonyBoy
- We all have our crunchy centers, don't we. ;)luckyorphan
- LOL @ PonyBoyutopian
- mathinc0
^^ Hey lucky, thanks for the endorsement! :)
No I do know that there are some people born in wealth, I just personally don't know any. But for some levity, Johnson & Johnson, the founder was Robert Woods Johnson and he 'worked 12 hour days to try to invent aseptic surgery equipment. By 1878, the firm was making $10,000 a month (or in 2006 dollars $214,000.)' I'd say that a majority of people who have gotten 'wealthy' in this country worked their ass off to get there. Just look at the top Americans in Forbes Richest list:
Bill gates - His family was upper middle class; his father was a prominent lawyer, his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a national bank president.
Warren Buffett - 'Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in a barber shop. Within months, they owned three machines in different locations.'
Lawrence Ellison (Oracle) - Ellison grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in Chicago's South Shore middle-class Jewish neighborhood.
Then you've got a shit load of Waltons (Wal-Mart) who inherited. But still, the top three Americans were all self-made. The only one of the three who started off with some money is Bill Gates and he still had to work his ass off to do what he did. Point is, the socio-economic levels in this country are still very accessible if you work hard, innovate and make smart choices.
- Everybody works their ass off to get rich. People like P hilton are frowned upon. The more inspiration story every is Chris Garnder.********
- Gardner.********
- The American Dream is dead. Hardwork does NOT pay-off. One must steal, commit fraud or inherit wealth to get ahead.utopian
- Well that's cheery. I can tell you with certainty that you're lying to yourself, and others.mathinc
- Well, lying is a strong word.luckyorphan
- There's a lot of truth in the statement that The American Dream is on the ropes at best, and out of reach for many.luckyorphan
- american dream dead? tell that to the internet rich kidsBattleAxe
- Everybody works their ass off to get rich. People like P hilton are frowned upon. The more inspiration story every is Chris Garnder.
- ukit0
President Obama will call for a three-year freeze in spending on many domestic programs, and for increases no greater than inflation after that, an initiative intended to signal his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit, administration officials said Monday.
Republicans were quick to mock the freeze proposal. “Given Washington Democrats’ unprecedented spending binge, this is like announcing you’re going on a diet after winning a pie-eating contest,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/2…
Top Republicans on Wednesday were hostile toward President Obama’s plan to create a bipartisan commission on cutting projected deficits, raising doubts about the prospects of a main piece of his budget strategy.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate, was evasive when pressed by reporters at the Capitol. “I’m not going to decide today what we’re going to do in the future,” he said. But the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, seemed to suggest that Republicans might not take their allotted seats on a commission.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/2…
What the hell do these Congressional Republicans stand for anyway? These guys have been bitching and whining all year about the deficit (as though they had no part in creating it the past 10 years). It seems like Boehner and McConnell don't give a shit about anything except making Obama look bad so they can get back in power and start collecting the lobbyist checks.
- luckyorphan0
For those who enjoyed "Born Rich" (see above), Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson directed another film in '06 called "The One Percent" about the people in the top one percent of the US who controls 40% of the country's wealth.
"Even though the last 28 years have brought America the greatest economic boom in the history of finance, most of the rewards have gone to those that are already at the top of the ladder."
Worth a viewing, regardless of perspective.
- utopian0
Had a thought the other day:
Use the trillions of dollars being used to fight two wars in the Middle East that we will never win and use the trillions to fix and finance the deplorable U.S. healthcare and educational systems.
Just a thought...
- i wouldn't call healtcare deplorable - education... hell yes, deplorable... but healthcare needs to be affordablePonyBoy
- the prices / premiums are deplorable is all i'm saying... but the technology and available care is quite good whereas...PonyBoy
- ... the public ed. system is ass from the inside out... teachers not taken care of... bureaucrats first - kids / teachers secondPonyBoy
- I agree with PB(&J). My roommate is dating this girl who works for the LAUSD (LA School District).. the ineptitude is insanemathinc
- and besides that, she can't even cook. ZING! But no seriously, it's a fucking black hole of bureaucracy. Unions andmathinc
- administrators eat up so much off the top. Also something she told me I thought was pretty fucked up.. the school district is responsiblemathinc
- responsible for the child the minute they walk out their door. If the kid gets tripped by a bum on the sidewalk outside his housemathinc
- the parents can sue the school. With that kind of liability.. they're begging for lawsuits.mathinc
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Ukit
Why do democrats like to think that the U.S. healthcare and educational systems are deplorable (in you own words)????Granted the education system could use some work, but our healthcare system is actually the BEST in the world. Please be reminded, and take some pride for once.
- Please explain how it is the "best."Mimio
- Please Mimio. Do I REALLY have to explain this to you? Geeez!********
- ... or can I say "one of the best"? Would this satisfy you? :-)********
- I said "please." Oblige me.Mimio
- Well, you could always seek medical treatment in Haiti, I suppose.********
- Is that the next alternative?Mimio
- http://www.nytimes.c…Mimio
- http://online.wsj.co…Mimio
- Excellent links, Mimio. Thanks for that. Very educational. (And contrary to many posts on here, I mean that)luckyorphan
- Why are you asking me when I never brought this up LOL?ukit
- ********0
NEW POLL: Americans say terrorism is #1 concern
How does Obama address this given his very weak war disposition?
- By introducing body scanners at airports, troop surge in Afghanistan, and increase military funding to Paksitan?Khurram
- amongst other thigns...Khurram
- bullshitBonSeff
- Hahaha, that's a faaaaaarrrr stretch there... I mean, installing body scanners? LOL!********
- is that not what they are doing? duh to me! lol, i thought they were to help fight terrorism lol, boy, is my face red!Khurram
- What is the source of the poll?luckyorphan
- bullshit #1 concern is Colts or SaintsBattleAxe
- Mimio0
That's funny... the dozen or so polls over the last week I've read say the economy & unemployment are the biggest concerns.
- Khurram0
Do you really love your country, SumWurk?
- GeorgesII0
BREAKING NEWS:
78% of american believe in made up stats
- Khurram0
Ask me another questions SumWurk!
- post that pic of you with that whale.
I'm sumwurkGeorgesII - Do you enjoy terrorism?********
- Whale?********
- georges: what pic with what whale??? there was a pic of me doing a really hot slim 21 year old in the alley of club doing the roundsKhurram
- SumWurk - no. That was easy!Khurram
- oh, you mean that pic of me with your mom. That was destroyed at the request of your mother :PKhurram
- Khurram, so sorry for tagging you with a racial profile. Please tell me your favorite 3 things in life.********
- post that pic of you with that whale.