Thursday, February 26, 2009
Old man Potter
I did watch the entire speach last night. Mr. President has obvious charisma; you almost want to buy into it. Some of it started to sound pretty good. But then the words "carbon market caps", "deficit we inherited", tax increases on the "2% of the wealthiest americans" and mostly "shape our world" broke my reverie and brought me back to reality. I crushed out old man Potter's cigar and told him what he could do with his smoke and mirrors plan for my future.
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64 comments:
Smoke and mirrors brother,smoke and mirrors.
For some of us smoke and mirrors brings back all kinds of memories.
Sean, 'his', the Mr. Presidents voice alone makes me shriek. Every other person that I know says that he has some sort of charisma. I have not seen it myself. but whom am I? And the other half of think he is a shmuck. I was asked today at work if I listened to his speech last night. I told them no.
Ric, you gotta listen - carefully. Get your own impression and then listen to tht pundits, columnists and 'newsmen'. But, you gotta listen or read it your self as well.
Sean, I will try! As much as it pains me, I will try!
I think the president is clueless what is really going on with our economy.I think he is still drunk off his own koolaid.However if he can pull off these tax cuts then we'll see. Truthfully, I think Obama was put forth by a concerted effort of the extreme left wing. I think he might have rose to the challenge and said"Hey I can do this".Sad that American politics have sunk this low.I don't trust him and I don't care for the policies he has supported so far in his career. But I pray that he doesn't screw up our country and our way of life.
Sean, in the interest of fairness what did you think of the GOP's official response to the President's address. In case you missed it you can probably find it here: Google News
He has charisma,handsome and intellectual. A lot of you have serious problems and issues with him. He just started.Give him a chance.Ric his voice is deep and sincere.Not a shriek at all.I think you men are jealous,Ha Ha Ha!!!Our situation is due to the past administrations...We are deep in poop but,not because of Obama.Be real man and woman alike.Don't kick him before he's down.It's only February...The dean circle gang has for the most part are now total conservatives.Where have the Hippies gone?
Good riddance to the hippies.Damn freaks.Please don't lump me in with that group. I grew up in Deans Circle but was NEVER a hippie.Like the earlier post with the picture of some of us at Inarajan pool.Doug said "The young republicans".You betcha. I don;t know president Obama personally.He seems like a nice enough guy.I don't like his policies thus far. He hasn't impressed me.You like him? You go girl. Thats your right. I think we could have done better.
Ric, Matt, Sean. So what is your alternative plan for getting out of the recession. I mean if you can come up with something better, lets pass the word on to the president. Problem is the Republicans couldn't so here we are with the stimulus package. SO Sean do you fall into the 2%? Even Warren Buffet feels that it is a scandal that his secretary pays proportionately more in taxes then he does. In fact he offered millions to any rich person that could prove their situation was not the same and you know what, no one came forward yet to collect the millions but hey maybe if you are in the upper 2% you might have a shot. Matt "not a hippie" just missed it by a generation and lets face it some of us just weren't cool enough.
Well I don't think hippies were cool anyways. I don't think a lot of people know what hippies were. Having long hair didn't make you a hippy. It was a way of life.I don't think any of us met the criteria. We were to materialistic. As far as the economy,we are at war and why or how isn't the issue at this point in time. You can't spend your way out of a recession.1)cut costs. Every senator or congressman doesn't need a big staff or a gov provided vehicle.They can drive themselves to work just like me. How many fax/copy machines/cell phones are being used at our expense? 2)I wasn't against the stimulous package per se but I think every one can agree that there is a lot of unnecesary pork in it.Trim the fat{I don't need to give examples,we've already gone over them}. 3} our tax code is way to complicated. Simplify it. I like the idea of a flat tax. Just because you're "rich" doesn't mean you are some how causing a larger burden on the government and need to pay more. It's the other way around. The rich provide the jobs.So back off of them. 4} Get back to ramping up manufacturing in this country. How? glad you asked. Cut the unions stranglehold on the workers. You{the federal gov) make available grants, and low interest loans to any start up manufacturer who is non-union.Or make the program available to union companies that sever union ties. Also an abatement of corp. taxes for a 3 year period(thats how long your allowed to claim zero on your federal taxes before you have to claim something or go out of buisness.I know}. You know why the Japanese auto makers started kicking our asses? Not because they didn't pay their worker shit because they took care of their workers in the first place.Mazda set up a day care center in their plant and women and young mothers could work and bring their young kids and see them on their breaks and spend lunch with them. Both parents could work. And not have to pay for daycare and saved on gas and travel expenses. Think about the auto industry bailout,loan, or whatever you want to call it. The non union Toyota,Hyundai,Nissan workers in Tennesee and elsewhere in the south that make an average of $15 an hour(which by the way is a really good wage there} are subsidising the union workers that are making an average of $20+ dollars an hour. Thats bass ackwards. Look Juliet you like Obama cool.Your man won, why keep beating us up over it? He won already.You asked a question and I tried my best to answer it. If you don't like my answer sorry. It is what it is.
All I see when I watch his speaches is his head on a swivel.. left-right, left-right, left- right, left-right, while his voice drones on and on with his marxist socialist propaganda. Not once has he looked me in the eye, and told me how he is going to screw the hell out of my country. Has he ever looked you in the eyes? I honestly don't believe he can, because then we will see him for who he really is.
Nope, he has never looked into my eyes. But then I have never been face-to-face with him before. An interesting feature about that television box thingy in your living room is that you can see him but he can't see you.
He can't see us but he knows where millions of eyes are... inside that little camera thingy right in front of his face... looking at him. C'mon rac, you gotta admit he's avoiding having you look into his eyes. left-right, left-right, left-right... avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid.... A sign of someone deceitful, who has something major to hide.
No, I can't admit that Dave. What I see is a well trained public speaker working the room with his eyes. It is a fundamental element of the craft.
What the President gave was an address to Congress not a speech to Dave and Robert. Just like the press conference you guys were so critical of his primary audience was the people in the room.
I guess maybe you were more comfortable with Jindal's rebuttal. Even though by all accounts it was one of the worst political speeches ever delivered at least he "looked you in the eye". At least you guys have that going for you.
Juliet - I do not believe that the spend-o-rama we are seeing with the stimulus package and the omnibus bill what's coming are the way to go, certainly. There is no argument that these are anything but a realization of the liberal laundry list for the past decade. Everything is in here. There is no thought to whether they are good for our recovery, little evidence that any thought went into the actual amounts and no clear explaination of how they will save 4 million, er, make that 3.5 million jobs. (In January the number was 4, not it is down to 3.5 - what happened? Did anyone even notice?). Can you show any historical evidence that simply spending by a government has corrected a recession?
It has been shown, over and over, that reducing the tax burden increases investment, hiring and even tax revenues (see Reagen and Bush tax cuts). Every dollar (or billion dollars) that are spent by the government are dollars that are not spent by our corporations and citizens. When we, the people, choose where to spend our money, then we - the people - help decide which products, merchants, corporations and technologies will thrive. And, necessarily, which ones will not. This is the free market and it is what this country was founded and grew on. The federal government does not have a bag of money saved up that it can use to bail out anyone. The 800 billion doesn't even exist, rather the feds are taking a mortgage out on our future earnings. They are deciding - on your behalf - where to spend money you haven't even made yet, or worse will simply never make.
I'm certainly not in the top 2%. With luck, no scratch that, with hard work, dedication, conviction I probably could be in this percentile some day. But then, I suppose I could expect to be reviled, ridiculed and hated me as the current top 2%. And why, because they've chosen to make something of themselves, become successful? Rather, we should be thanking them. Many of us can't seem to survive without their 'largess'.
I'm not sure what you mean about Warren Buffet. If he isn't paying millions in federal taxes, I'd be very surprised. And, certainly, there is no reason he cannot simply pay more if he feels somehow scandalous. He isn't required to take deductions at all. There is no crime in that.
As for Jindal's rebuttal - I heard substance without much style. We talked of lowering taxes on working families (like mine), cutting small business taxes, creating incentives for businesses to hire and invest, etc. His point is that the American PEOPLE are the answer, not the government. That is substance I can buy into. Perhaps the "replublicans couldn't" come up with something better because they were locked out of the back rooms where this package was drummed up. As for Obama's speech, it was just the opposite - style with no substance. I think that's all his is - a stylish speech giver. He has never acted "boldly and swiftly" on his own, he has never run a business, he has never created any jobs and he has never had to own up to the results of any decision (advocating isn't being on the hook for a decision, is it?).
Perhaps our housing recover should simply be the same one Obama employed for his own house. Just have someone else pay for the part of the lot you can't afford on your own.
It is so good to have a younger brother that is so frick'n smart! I envy you Sean. Wish I had your intellect. I do enjoy your (every) commentary! When I read what you write, I know to sit down with my seat belt on, as I attempt to absorb this all, ...all the while attempting to enjoy my night-cap!
Sean,
actually there is a historical reference to government spending lessening the severity of recession.
It was called The New Deal. When FDR took office from the Hoover administration in 1932 he at first resisted his and his advisor's inclination to infuse federal money into the economy. By 1933 non farm unemployment reached 25%. With the advent of New Deal funding in '33 and it's associated infrastructure and Civilian Conservation Corps projects non farm unemployment dropped to around 10% by 1937. At that point fears of large federal budget deficits led to reduced New Deal funding and within a year non farm unemployment rose again to near 17%.
It was not until the country was on full war footing that the economy recovered. After the war there was another contraction and an associating rise in unemployment as government spending again dropped dramatically. Unemployment levels were of course exacerbated by large numbers of men coming back home.
These numbers would indicate that federal money can act as a short term impetus for reducing unemployment.
This begs the question of sustainability. Obviously the government (us) cannot spend our way out of every recession indefinitely without severe inflationary pressure.
The hope is that a jump started economy will eventually lead to greater money supply in the consumer sector and spending and investment in the private sector.
Oops, I forgo to spell check, dang-it. was it pretty bad?
My bad
DRL,
how in the world does this prove your "analogy". The Depression started in 1929. It was three years in the making before Roosevelt took office. Initial attempts at balancing the budget to ease the Depression were disastrous. It was in 1933 that the decision was made that spending would hopefully stir the economy from its four year funk. To an extent it did. When the funding dried up four years later back down the economy went. Wartime spending four years later again lifted hiring.
Read what I wrote. Dispute the numbers with your own. Please do not use the injection of your alternate reality as verifiable fact and expect to be taken seriously
What's really laughable is your reference to trickle down economics. This is really a nice way of saying we're going to piss on you and tell you it's raining.
The savaging of the middle class began with Reagan and continues to this day.
I guess you think it's swell that all those $8 an hour Wal Mart jobs that have been created will keep us all busy in our golden years.
You say you hate any reference to the "premier" socialist FDR. Why exactly? Does he somehow not measure up to your standard of guiding the Republic through two of its more mortal crises in its history.
I see no justification for drawing ridiculous parallels between American Presidents and villains of world history.
Let them stand or fall on their own.
I do however find humor in the stirring in the loins that is evident in some whenever the names "Regan" or "Bush" are invoked.
DRL. It is OK to misspell. I do it often myself. Scholars say that those that misspell words are often more intelligent than those that spell correctly. Those that misspell often think quicker than they write. That is why they misspell. Also, there is no correlation between intelligence proper English spelling.
Ric,
what "scholars" are those? Certainly not those that value effective written communication. Everyone misspells words. It is possible for one to look back over what they've composed before submission and check for content and accuracy, if for no other reason than to let their fingers catch up with their really fast brains.
Hey look not that this is what this post was about but since we're kind of on the subject, Don't pick on DRL for his spelling. Isn't that kind of small of you? I know he brought it up but it's because he's self concious about it. It may not bother him but it bothers me. You can go back and re-read what you wrote but if it looks the same as when you wrote it you think it's OK. Maybe it looks correct to him. Just Saying. OK I'll but out now.
Matt,
well you're right about one thing. This was not an issue until he chose to take exception with how others sometime communicate. I never said a word about it on this blog before that, in jest or otherwise.
Like you say, he brought it up.
So who's the small one?
Doug, that is just it. I brought up prophanity (which most feel is an insult), and you brought up my state as a person, because of my knowledge of the English language. It was not just the spelling, but the grammar. Remember? If you meant no insult, I said I would take it that way. You have not said one way or the other, so I will take it as an insult. Just as Juliet has and I believe never will, apologize for her cruel use of words directed to my family on by behalf.
For the rest of you, my IT guru at work put spell check on my tool bar. That will not help my grammar, and only will work when I remember to use it.
So what? No more jokes about midgets and goats(Beastiality).Damn that was funny stuff.No more eating dog jokes?(hateful content,ethnic origin?)etc.etc. Shit now we're all in trouble because if you go back and re-read the whole blog, the whole thing is a violation.Well it was fun while it lasted. This is just silly. Whatever.
How about Fag jokes(I'm sorry,I mean sexually challenged).Shoot this sucks I don't know what to talk about. I'm a redneck,inbred,bigoted,uneducated,misinformed,retarded,talkradio listening,no opinion of my own,not enough tax paying,un-enlightened,planet killing,squeezing last penny pinching,Asshole and thank god(oh wait scratch that,thank the flying spaghetti monster)that you are here to show me the errors of my ways.Well it's been fun folks. Time to fold up the tent amd move on to the next town.The gigs up! The libs are on to us!Does that offend you Juliet?GOOD!
So Juliet, will you accept my truce (I cant spell that word). I will no longer say what offends you, if you nolonger offend me?
I really want to get back to having fun. I will behave if you do. And I want to.
Juliet, it is clear that there is no loved lost between you and DRL. But grow up girl.
My advice to you DRL is to never respond to Juliet's comments again brother. She's just attempting drawing you in deep where she wants you. A bette person walks away. Your a better man than that. Just ignore her.
Ah but what fun would that be?Looks like the turning of the worm!
I like when the shoe is on the other foot.Hehehehe.
..me too Mat! ;)
OK, I have come to conclude that you must watch what you write or post(censorship). (I may be offended by what you say, boo hoo.). There are one or more 'nut-jobs' out there that may feel or get AFFENDED , or you may hurt their FEELINGS. You can't do that if you are politically correct.
I say grow up and Screw political correctness.!
Wow,You guys are really serious. Juliet,you make a valid point.I wish Alice would log on to defend you.I believe in you.Your an intellectual woman that I look up to:)
Wah,Wah,Wah. Hahahhaha.I'm half German(Kalb,Veal) and I could care less.As a matter of fact I'm half Danish as well and had I been alive in WwII I would probably have been a Nazi.Their bad people and this is true and the agony that they inflicted upon the world is sad.But what is really sad is how all of a sudden you can't say the word.Nazi. Whatever.It's time to get over it already.It's like calling someone a Mother F****R. It doesn't mean anyhing.Grow up already sheesh.
The only time I ever hear, "wah, wah, wah", is when you know who has her female friend come a knocking once a month (no offence to yah honey bunns). Matheeeew, I am Swedish (Larson), but am also Irish and Danish too (Ghormely). Don't mess with Scandinavian blood (the Vikings that we are) unless you want retaliation!
Mathew, with your Danish blood, no wander you take no sh-t! I love that part of you man!
Matt and Ric,
Please don't take what I said about anyone's ancestors to heart. I have told Ric this before. I am not Swedish, I am American. That is it, nothing more. If we went to war against Sweden, I would be happy to fight against them. There are many diverse ethnic groups amongst us. That means nothing. What does, is who's allegiance you hold. If it is not that of the United States of America, you are not our "friend". You may not be our enemy, but any allegiance to anything else is wrong. Nothing wrong with being proud of ones heritage, going back to the land of our fathers, but where does your allegiance fall?. So, if you are (I can't say it, but if you go straight west of Poland, you will run smack dab into it, NOT Czech or Slovakia) and proud of your heritage, great, celebrate October fest. But, raise the American flag in the morning. I, by the way have flown the American flag outside my house every day since 9/11. I flew it on special occasions before that, but until we have suppressed our enemies, it will fly 24/7.
Joanna, Hi, long time no see.
I do have a few questions for you. Do not answer them if it will upset you. I don't want to go there.
What valid point did she make?
What defence does she need?
If she is intellectual, what would you consider Steve? Steve was a great friend of yours and he was called stupid (well it was something like, "intilectually stupid" or something like that). He was my brother, and I went to his defence. Why couldn't you?
I made several true apologies and one truce offer, she would not forgive me. I would forgive her, as a Christian, without a second thought. Where are her religious beliefs? Where is her forgiveness? If it is someone like her that you believe in, then where is there any foundation for belief?
Like I said, I did not come back on to upset anyone, but to simply ask you about what she said about Steve, and your defence of her.
I look forward to seeing you with some positive/funny posts and comments in the future.
Enjoy
Dealing With Manipulative People http://www.rickross.com/reference/brainwashing/brainwashing11.html
Read the section on Guilt-tripping
Dealing with people.
Matthew 6:14&15
Read the section on forgiveness.
"Whether Amanda has come to believe her own distortions is almost irrelevant. She manipulates you because you believe that she believes it and allow that supposed belief to serve as an excuse for her undisciplined aggression."
Denial – This is when the aggressor refuses to admit that they've done something harmful or hurtful when they clearly have. It's a way they lie (to themselves as well as to others) about their aggressive intentions. This "Who... Me?" tactic is a way of "playing innocent," and invites the victim to feel unjustified in confronting the aggressor about the inappropriateness of a behavior. It's also the way the aggressor gives him/herself permission to keep right on doing what they want to do. This denial is not the same kind of denial that a person who has just lost a loved one and can't quite bear to accept the pain and reality of the loss engages in. That type of denial really is mostly a "defense" against unbearable hurt and anxiety. Rather, this type of denial is not primarily a "defense" but a maneuver the aggressor uses to get others to back off, back down or maybe even feel guilty themselves for insinuating he's doing something wrong.
Last three post were from: Dealing With Manipulative People
An Excerpt from the book: In Sheep's Clothing
By George K. Simon
Google's cache, nothing ever goes away on the Internet drl. Your comments that you made to Joanna about Steve and my alleged attack on him are not true. He was never on this blog and I never made any comments about his being anti-intellectual, because he died some time ago. It is really sad that you would use his memory in this way to try to induce some sort of sympathy and guilt in Joanna as a justification for your behavior. A classic tactic of an agressive manipulator. Comments I make are easily traced and provable. I have my copies and well, blog comments, they are cached. Even though the pages of the blog have changed or been deleted there is still a traceable record. Also you maybe interested to know that when you post on this blog site the content becomes available to blog spot to do with as they wish.
Now about that "valid point" you asked Joanna to clarify I think it goes something like this: Comments that infer racism, bigotry and slander are not okay.
Isn't that funny, I was talking to you Joanna, and here comes someone else to talk.
Not part of this conversation! Wow!!!
Any way, Joanna I hope all is good. I have been off the blog for a while, and do miss you. You have always had a nice look on a situation. I may not have always agreed, but like Paul, you seem to enjoy life. You are alot like my sister Desi when it comes to how you look at people. Keep commenting, and I had no intention of upsetting you or anyone. I am sorry I did, and have opoligised. The comments that followed mine were not dealing with the person that left them. I was talking about when she said my "family".... well that consisted of Steve, he is still family. She said how Desi had to stay home with us (which was a lie, all of us older kids watched our two younger sister and brother. Desi is just a year older, that does not make a baby sitter) and that we were a problem for Desi. Any way I remember lots of time spent at your houses, spending the night and having lots of fun. Please don't let anything I have said, or disagreed with spoil any of our memories. Steve was best friends with Dean. I may not be the best person in the world, but lets just go on, Okay?
drl you wrote "sn't that funny, I was talking to you Joanna, and here comes someone else to talk" this is a public forum. If you make false statements about someone in a public forum you can be sure that they will most likely respond to them. If you only want to talk to one person than probably email is a more appropriate communication option. Drl you wrote"I was talking about when she said my "family".... well that consisted of Steve, he is still family." I did not say this. I said your kin and clarified it to Sean and Ric who were posting on that blog thread. Please get your facts in order. You brought up Desi and Steve in that thread.
Diversion – A moving target is hard to hit. When we try to pin a manipulator down or try to keep a discussion focused on a single issue or behavior we don't like, he's expert at knowing how to change the subject, dodge the issue or in some way throw us a curve. Manipulators use distraction and diversion techniques to keep the focus off their behavior, move us off-track, and keep themselves free to promote their self-serving hidden agendas.http://www.rickross.com/reference/brainwashing/brainwashing11.html
14.For if you forgive a men when they sin against you, your Hevanly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you do not forgive men there sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Rick Ross Institute for the study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements.
Juliet has now crossed the line of pure hatred to insulting miss diagnoses of mental illness and association of groups or listed below:
Jamestown
Polygamist groups
Heavens Gate Cult
Landmark Education
Hate Group and extremest
Skinheads
KKK
Aryan Brotherhood
The one thing I will say, is that the Word of God is much more powerful than that of the Rick Ross Institute.
I will be happy to stay on one subject with you, but you will not answer to my questions.
Do you believe in the Word of God (Holy Bible)? If you do, you would have asked.
You have now publicly diagnosed me with several mental problems. You base them off an institution which studies destructive cults, controversial groups and movements. You have based my emotional state on information gathered at this site and you own background. I am in no way connected, affiliated or associate with any of these fore noted groups. Can you prove that I have association with them? If you accuse me, you had better have proof! I have asked you many questions that you will not answer.
I have publicly apologized to you. I, at your request, removed any insulting words to you. I have waved the white flag and asked for a truce. When I answered a question you asked to RAC or Dave in the past, you told me it was not meant for me. When I asked Joanna a question, you butted in. Why the double standard on your part?
I now demand a public apology from you.
You have threatened the blog with shutting it down, if that is you final intent, then that will be up to you. You are the only one on here that wants that. I have never attempted to publicly diagnose your mental state. You have me, and you stand behind your diagnosis with you work in the "Patient Psych Nursing". I would think that would make you (in at least you own mind) able to diagnose me.
If you wish to stay on any one topic, I will be glad. You however can't. Lets have it out, if that is what you wish.
The next move is yours, make it.
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