Hugh_Hoy

And General Hershey was the guy who drafted me!

Old "Stonewall Hershey", they used to call him

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

By WARREN E. BUFFETT

Published: August 14, 2011

 

 

The other side of the coin is nicely presented here:

Why Warren Buffett is wrong (singling out the super-rich for more taxes is misguided) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2764504/posts This was originally posted by CNN.

 

HH

My father told me the US didn't really come out of the Great Depression until World War II, when the government spent money like mad and everyone had a job (or was in the military). At least the government back then knew how to make the country prosperous by fighting a war, instead of bankrupting it.

During WWII, unless you were severely handicapped, you worked if you wanted to eat. Plus, there wasn't that much to buy anyway.

HH

Rodman was/is a certifiable nut case. 55555555555 Did he give his speech in his wedding dress?

I recall watching a pro game maybe 10 years ago. Rodman didn't like a call (as usual) and head-bumped Ron Garretson, one of the officials. It was caught up close on TV. You could plainly see Garretson yell "Are you fucking crazy?" LOL (As a side note, I officiated a couple of college games with Ron's dad, Darrel Garretson. I was, at the time, torn before wanting to do pro basketball or pro baseball. Turned out, never made either a career...didn't want to spend 8 months out of the year living out of suitcases and going through airports 3-4 times per week.)

HH

I went back 2 pages to see if someone commented on it and didn't see it. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

I liked it. I liked the premise of how Caesar got his intelligence. the remake of the Planet of the Apes stunk. I was disappointed. The orginal was basically an allegory for the civil rights movment. At least that's what the professor in my film class said. lol.

Was "Rise" in Korean or Thai language? Any difficulty in interpreting grunts and groans? At any rate, "Apes" will be next on my list (unless my wife MUST see "The Help" first).

A few days ago saw "Cowboys and Aliens". Enjoyed it much more than I thought that I would. You younger fellas might not appreciate some of the story, having not been around in the 40's, 50's and early 60's when "cowboy and indian" movies were hot. Story moved along nicely and the acting was quite good. Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford did good jobs in portraying their characters (which were borrowed from the early westerns). Olivia Wilde was "HOT" One of the things that separated this flick from other sci fi celluloids was the the script actually followed classic film structure. That made for cohesiveness, smoothe transitions, and minimal reliance of unnecessary special effects to entertain the viewers. Is it playing in the LOS now? It's just a story...and I found entertaining on its own. No need to try to find/manufacture some message or moral. This last finding was most satisfying, although the usual "there's a little bad in every good man, and a little good in every bad man"; the meek will sometimes surprise you when the chips are down (borrowed from dozens of war flicks).

Graded thusly:

Originality by combining the late 1800's in the Southwest U.S. with Aliens and their advanced technology and killing machines. Not for kiddies unless u want them waking up several nights in a row from nightmares. Grade A

Acting: Grade A for the "stars" and the supporting cast. (You know, it's an axiom in the movie biz that you "show" action and emotion...not talk it. The script allowed that to take place.)

Location: State of New Mexico.

Recommended for fans of westerns and escapism for a couple of hours.

HH

Today, even a NYT columnist took swipes at Obama, comparing him to Jimmy Carter as an ineffectual leader. (As they expected better?)

HH

No worries, gold is over $1800!!!

 

Let the Fed keep printing the worthless paper, I'm not buying into it!!!

YES...My "eagles" are SOARING ! However, I think I recall a few weeks ago that you were very much in love with your silver.

HH

If I have it all wrong, then Barry Obama does too. First, his top-notch advisor blamed the falling NYSE/Dow Jones on the Tea Party; then Obama blamed it on Congress (leaving himself out of the equation); now he blames GWB for the deficit he inherited (and for which he campaigned strongly); now he blames Liberal policies in European countries. Like I said before, Demoncraps know no boundaries when pointing fingers and refusing to accept any responsiblity. It's in the DNA of Libtards.

Those guys in the boat: they among the 140 who paid $15,000 to get their photo taken with Obama yesterday? The guy is like OJ out looking for the real killer. Instead of working on the dizzying issues of the country, he's out campaigning. (Actually, wouldn't bother me one bit if he never returned to Washington, accept as part of a parade and seranaded by a dirge.) I can just imagine all of the GOP presidential hopefuls licking their chops when they read a preview of what some say will be Obama's defense of his policies. If Obama isn't politically DOA next year, the country will be.

As I said, the market didn't "crash":

"Stocks were rebounding the day after the Dow saw its largest drop since December 2008 as the market looked to the Federal Reserve to provide guidance about the weak economy when it delivers its rate decision Tuesday afternoon.

At 11:06 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) was up by 170 points, or 1.6%, at 10,979. The S&P 500 ($INX) was up by 24 points, or 2.2%, at 1,145. The Nasdaq ($COMPX) was rising by 66 points, or 2.8%, to 2,425."

HH

You still haven't got it. The world market is crashing because of the downgrading. The downgrading happened for three reasons:

the huge debt

the political instability forced by the GOP

The world market is not crashing and it won't crash. (But if it does, it will be the liberal European countries that cause such a mess when they default.) The rest is just libtard bullshit and not worth addressing.

HH

I've went from a conservative, socially moderate-ish Libertarian to a practically out and out Liberal. I do have some Libertarian ideals still.

 

Steve, Steve, Steve...you've lost the plot, my friend. I know that 90% of the Libtards on the board have left or slithered off unable to defend the initiatives of the Socialist Democrat members of Congress and Obama. But pleeeeeeeze don't feel obligated to fill the void they've left here.

Why?

 

I saw a Republican on TV saying the way out of this mess is to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. I used to buy that. I used to buy the 'they create the jobs' thing. Haven't thought that in a while.

So, if corporations and "wealthy" do not create jobs, what/who does?

 

 

The corporations that were failing, the banks, airlines, etc. weren't failing from onerous regs and high taxes. Yes, there are some bad regulations, especially in certain industries. No, they failed because they f*ked up. Pure and simple.

I think you are over-simplifying the reasons some corporations have failed. I lay a great deal of blame on the U.S. Government signing off on various trade agreements. That is, the playing field was never even to begin with, especially with regard to Asian countries. It was like Division 1 football teams agreeing to play NAIA football teams and letting the NAIA teams start play from the 20 yard line. It's given U.S. competitors a "short field" for years. To say that "onerous regs" are not to blame is both true and untrue. For instance, regs relating to environmental issues may not be necessarily onerous in themselves; but, they become "onerous" when the competition is not required to also comply with those regs. Same, same with respect to wages, benefits, health/safety issues. The U.S. government f'd up big time.

 

.. A lot of these companies moved production overseas and jobs overseas. They made money and got greedy.

 

I disagree. They moved production overseas so that they could compete with the foreign competitors which enjoyed lower production costs. Corporations are business entities, the purpose of which is to "make money", no? As to greed, regretably, that and envy seem to be almost human nature; humans are the investors in corporations, as you know.

 

Normal economic cycles where you had to have a downturn after a climb. Econ 101. We all learned that economies are not linear. They go up and down while trending up. Every freshman can tell you that. However, they use those downturns to say they are over regulated out of profits. Ford and others making SUVs and thinking short term and then when gas prices go against them its some how the fault of too much regulations and high taxes. Pure and utter bullsh*t. Bankruptcy laws changed to make it harder for the common man to declare bankruptcies but corporations can do it willy nilly and get empathy when they have to but for you and I, a social stigma? WTF?

 

How does Paris Hilton create jobs? Check out her business investments/portfolio. She's worth tens of millions. I've read that she's a billionaire. She's gonna hire an extra publicist if we cut her taxes? Who knows? And how many publicists must she hire to not have to pay more taxes? Why should she pay more than anybody else to enjoy the same rights, freedoms and opportunities that every citizen has? And do you have any idea how much in taxes she already pays?

 

The reason for the hatred of Obama is because he's not their man. Simple as that.

 

Again, I disagree. Sure he wasn't my man. But it is his policies and failure to lead, his instigation of class warfare, his failure on so many fronts while being successful in leading this country to it's lowest credit worthiness in decades. Add to that his arrogance and failure to admit mistakes. If anybody actually believed that he was going to change how Washington does business, they were the biggest fools on the planet. Maybe you recall during the election campaigns that I called him a flim-flam man (ala Professor Harold Hill in "The Music Man") He has proven himself to be just that. He's in over his head, unless he has a willful desire to bring this country to its knees.

 

The reasons we were given on why he would not be a good president didn't come to fruition.

 

And the reasons we were given on why he would be a good president didn't come to fruition either.

 

NOTHING will get done because the parties aren't arguing ideology.

 

Steve, I fear you have lost the plot. The parties are DEFINITELY arguing ideology. The conservatives are arguing against irresponsible spending on the part of the government and the increasing size and authority of the federal government. The libtards are arguing for just the opposite. Both sides are equally dug-in. It's a Mexican Standoff and nobody's blinking

HH

I guess you haven't read S & P's statement.

The first reason for the downgrading they state is of course the huge debt. The second reason, is the political instability of the past months, which as we all know was especially caused by the Tea Party part of the GOP. Third reason is that the government won't be able lower the debt only with cuts...

First, I've not only read statements attributed to S/P (and others), I saw the man in charge at S/P interviewed. So I'm quite aware of the reasoning. Second, as to your opinion as to the cause of "political instability", I'd say that you Libtards are just frothing at the mouth because people are pushing back at the liberal agenda that has further caused the perceived need to raise the debit ceiling. Make no mistake: this downgrading is based on the actions of the Libtards in Congress and our "community activist"/worst President in the history of the U.S. It's the Obama Downgrading.

HH

I didn't say I wouldn't vote for a Republican wanker. Couldn't help but be better than the current Democratic wanker. But a lot of folks would probably voter for the wanker they know over the wanker they don't.

 

Maybe we could all write in Dan Quayle.

Or Willie Sutton. He only robbed banks, not the citizenry.

By the way, David Assholerod, advisor to the Wanker-in-Chief, was on a news show this morning. He was trying to lay the bond downgrade on the Tea Party. LOL. What a comedian this pimp is. Shows how much afraid the libtards are of people with common sense (Tea Partyers). Libtards are scared to death of the Tea Party. 55555555555555 Friggin' classic !!! Demoncraps are like a vampire being held powerless by a cross. 5555555555555 The lifeblood of Libtards is money--other people's money. When that is denied them, they go fucking beserk. They wail, moan, writhe in pain. More than anything, their lies grow geometrically. I LOVE IT ! LONG LIVE THE TEA PARTY: "defenders of truth, justice and the American way." LOL.

HH

If the Republicans could come up with a decent candidate, the White House would be theirs. So far all I see are people I wouldn't trust to run a 7-Eleven.

You'd rather see Obama in the White House for 8 years? OMG ! I wouldn't even let him in my 7-11, much less run it.

HH

p.s. Why is his 50th birthday any more of a farking milestone than anyone else's?

I wouldn't lose any sleep if he wasn't around to celebrate his 51st.

HH

American Millionaires: 1,400 Paid No U.S. Income Taxes In 2009

 

 

My link

HH

Baseball manager Ozzie Guillen on Sean Penn and a couple other hot button topics. Interesting and even funny.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/news/Graham_Bensinger_InDepth/26116817#news/Graham_Bensinger_InDepth/26116817

Good old Ozzie...always good for stiring the pot. 555555555555555 I don't know if he believes what he says or thinks before he says it. But ya gotta love him !

HH

Another sign of the state of dysfunction of the political system of the USA:

 

Exactly what one can expect when the people allow a Federal government to get involved in every initiative/issue in such a large and diverse country. The country isn't too large; the role of the U.S. government is positively too large; the slogan "Kill The Beast" is a good one. Starve the Federal government until it needs to take on only the most necessary of roles: defense, interstate highways/coinage,etc. Leave the rest of the stuff, such as education and charitable assistance to the states and local governments.

HH

HH

You are mixing very different things: lowered requirements for students - which of course have nothing to do with socialism - and a school system so bad that hundreds of thousands of Amercians can't read properly. Buy the way leading school systems in the world can be found in Scandinavia, especially in Finland, i. e. in countries which have historically very strong public social security/health care systems (and which are doing very well, even Germans emigrate to Scandinavia for well paid jobs.)

 

I only noted education as being heavily influenced by "the left" and did not say "socialist".

 

Actually the definition of socialism of the US right has absolutely nothing to do with real Socialism.

 

To the extent that U.S. socialism is not as imbedded as in Europe, you are correct.

 

I am sorry to say, but you have no idea what you are talking about.

 

I sometimes wonder if that statement doesn't also apply to you.

 

... Among the industrialized countries the USA has the most capitalist and brutal darwinist system, with an almost complete disregard for the lower class, controlled by an incestious elite.** ...If you actually knew 5% of what you think you know about the U.S., you wouldn't say that.

 

It is interesting to see that ALL planned cuts are at the expense of the lower and middle class while the GOP even defeated closing loopholes and tax havens for the rich. Koch Industries, Wall Street e.g. virtually own 80% of the GOP candidates. They only do not control the Tea Party radicals and now they pay for it with falling stocks, e.g.

 

You seem to be ignorant of the costs involved (now and in the future of) continuing the socialists' never-ending hunger for "entitlements". Like I noted before, even if Obama's desire to raise taxes on the "rich", those increased taxes would only cover the deficit for about 10 days.

 

**It was funny so see how in the beginning Obama tried to appoint people, independent of high finance/K-Street/multinationals, for high ranking positions in the Government. ...

55555555555 Yeah, like Geithner, huh?

HH

I can't let that go.

Good...there's life in that old cranium yet ! But if you insist on leaving, I hope it's just a year of hibernation until our next federal/Presidential election campaigning is in full swing.

 

It just took me about 10 minutes to post that so do me a favor and leave out the personal stuff.

 

Ah, nothing personal CW. But when one posts opinions which are personal, I guess any comment on those opinions must could be taken personally,eh? Perhaps you could paraphrase how I might have responded less "personally".

HH

If the tax dodgers kept their money in the country perhaps the government wouldn't have to borrow so much?

 

Yep...the government could just steal it instead of borrowing.

 

Defence spending? Sure every country needs to defend itself but don't you think it's gone a little far? It basically looks like government spending to keep people employed.

 

Yep...gone too far in some cases. "Looks" aren't always what they seem.

 

 

The Wall Street bailouts protected the stock market and the 401Ks.

Not good precedent, IMO.

 

It all looks like the US version of socialism to me.

Maybe wishful thinking on your part, CW. But quite a stretch.

 

I'm done with this board BTW. Tired of logging in and out. I'm sure I will be greatly missed.

And ANOTHER liberal finds the kitchen too hot!!! 55555555555555

Socialism, generally, is evil.

 

But tax havens, defence spending and Wall Street bail outs are fine.

Tax havens are good to keep social shit hooks off your earned $.

Defense spending gave the US it's freedom more than once, beginning in 1776 5555555 And more than one country has benefited from US defense spending over the decades, no?

Wall Street bailouts? I'm not sure that those were a plank in conservative platforms. In fact, I don't think the Tea Party would approve at all. If so, I'd be surprised (though not the first time).

HH

Typical "lefty" generalizations which typically ignores that the US became a world power and one of the most influential nations on the planet in less than 200 years of existence WITHOUT socialist bullshit.

FYI, the social, economic, and educational problems did not begin in the USA until the left became popular. For instance, the concept of "social promotion" in schools. Oh, heavens, Johnny will feel bad if he doesn't get to be promoted to 4th grade when 98% of his classmates are. So promote Johnny for "social" reasons, never mind that he can't add, subtract or read at his grade level. Can't find work in your neighborhood? Socialists say, never mind. Sit at home on your ass. We'll take money from your neighbors to pay your utilities, rent/mortgage payments, food, etc. The result is a bunch of people (millions and millions) who become dependent on the socialists taking money from others and giving it to them for the mere reason that they can fog a mirror. Really instills a work ethic, huh? And really makes others want to improve themselves when they know the socialists will take away what others have worked for. Socialism binds and enslaves. Socialism, generally, is evil.

HH

“When he said ‘Yes, we can,’ it was politically clever, but he never defined what it is we can do. So we filled in those spaces — what we thought he meant — only to find we were disappointed, because none of those points was satisfied.â€

 

 

My link

And poor old Harry is surprised? He's a bigger fool than I previously thought. I'm surprised anybody even prints what he says; can't imagined who his audience might be. He is about as current as bongo drums.

HH

Apple Now Has More Cash Than The U.S. Government

 

STEVE JOBS FOR PREZ