"... frankly what I enjoyed most about Bain & Company, the consulting firm, was the analytical process of solving tough problems."
If a client invites you in and is ready to pay a lot of money for your counsel, it is not because you know their business better than they do. Of course, they know their business better than I ever would. But they’re looking for someone to understand their business challenges in a new light. And that presents an analytical challenge which is steep and exciting. And I love the thinking and the analyzing as much as anything.
Does America want to be Mitt Romney's client? Should we submit our tough problems to him for analysis? Well, if that's his thing, we should right now be looking at his analysis of our tough problems. There should be some amazing solutions laid out of the table for us to look at. Are we seeing that?
Any nation that wants to have good jobs and rising wages knows that the answer is to have, if you will, a strategy based on the five principles that form the basis of my economic policy. First, take advantage of our energy resources; two, provide the skills that our workers need through adult education and great schools; three, get trade to work for us by clamping down on cheaters like China and also opening up new markets for goods, like Latin America; four, taking steps to get America to a balanced budget; and five, being a champion of small business by holding down taxes on small business, getting regulation to work for small business, and getting health-care costs under control.
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198 comments:
We can skip past your motivation for this post and just answer the question. When you hire a consultant, you hire him. He may give you a free taste of high-level analysis, but before he starts turning wrenches, you pay him, or at least sign the contracts for the engagement.
IOW, he'll give you more specifics after he is elected. This is his basic country-fixing schema. If he told it to you in line items your eyes would glaze over and you'd be back to lipstick.
Those five points are pretty basic. I can't really see any argument there.
Mitt Romney -- technocrat
Doesn't really have any fundamental beliefs or foundational philosophy, but he's more competent and a better manager than the rest of us.
And it is largely because of that, and a campaign run on that, that Romney is NOT crushing Obama like he should be crushing an incumbent with such a disasterous economy.
I'm imaging that you don't need to hire a superman CEO to mouth platitudes. We all know he'll probably make more conservative choices, and the president more liberal choices. Everything is in the details. Mitt Romney probably made 10,000 decisions during his work on the Olympics, and apparently made them right. Do you trust him to get this right? Do you trust Mr. Obama?
Does America want to be Mitt Romney's client?
Preferable to that of being an Obama vassal......
Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
Then, when they fill in the missing parts with assumptions that are as favorable to Romney as absolutely possible, everyone agrees the plans are a bad idea.
I work in Consulting, and it seems every day RFPs are becoming more intricate. These days, many prospective clients want you to provide the finished product to them for "review" as part of the process of getting the job. Oh, it's in the guise of asking for 'quals' or 'sample deliverables', but one of the hardest parts of the job is preparing a pitch that gives enough information to prove you can do the job without giving so much that they believe they no longer need your services.
I remember an old Apple commercial where a couple of young people present this proposal and the potential client asks "How did you get these graphics?". The answer: "Hire us and we will will tell you".
We already know the current guy has no answers. We can hardly do worse than him.
Romney economics = economics, not gnome economics
Anerica could really use a guy in the WH that understands Business Case Analysis (Cost Benefit Analysis) and Total Cost of Ownership
Better somebody who solves problems than one who creates or, worse, aggravates them.
Andy R. said...
Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
He has a 59 point plan out, genius. You can go through it yourself.
Also, this is far preferable to how Obama would answer a similar question about his very limited work experience, which would probably go as follows:
I enjoy power without responsibility; I love making people dance to my tune, while living off their sweat on the fat of the land; I adore smashing edifices of society as if they were sand castles, and replacing them with mud pies of my own; and if they run and melt or if they look ugly, I hardly even need to wipe them out, I just build where the tide is making and everything gets swept clean without my lifting a finger. It's not like real people are affected.
So the method is well known for a good economy. The Chinese are following it.
But the confusion caused by MSM propaganda agendas sold as news in the USA creates the opportunity for Congress and friends to sell us out to the higest bidder. That is been our problem. Ergo: continued Tea Party pressure on old style Congress members is the primary solution.
"Does America want to be Mitt Romney's client? Should we submit our tough problems to him for analysis? Well, if that's his thing, we should right now be looking at his analysis of our tough problems. There should be some amazing solutions laid out of the table for us to look at. Are we seeing that?"
That's the wrong question.
The right question is, "Could he possibly be as bad as Obama?"
Once one answers the question honestly, "No," then the next question is, "Well, why aren't I voting for him?"
"He has a 59 point plan out, genius. You can go through it yourself."
No, the failed hat mannequin won't go through it himself.
He prefers his talking point, wrong as it is.
Hey - even though Harry Reid turned out to be kind-of right - it worked for Italy, kind-of.
BTW - for those of you who think I'm crazy for finding both candidates unelectable - well, I'm not alone.
And yet, and yet,...amongst all the horse race nonsense, you don't hear much about that. Because too few have an interest in seeing things as they are.
Oh well - "We The People" lose either way - because "We The People" never stepped-up and acted like "We The People," but as "We The People Who Like Being Followers (And 'Believe' What We're Told) So We Can Cheer Our Loser Louder".
I'll be handing out blindfolds and cigarettes in November,...
Sadly, I think much of the US still wants a boyfriend.
After 3 years of trillion dollar deficits, 8+% U3 unemployment (and 15% U6 unemployment), $3.50 per gallon gas, scandals like Solyndra and assaults on liberty like Fast and Furious, the level of stoopid required to say "Yes, I'll have 4 more years of the same" is incomprehensible to me.
Squirrels have more sense than that. A fucking planarium worm has more self-awareness and instinct for self-preservation than the average Obama supporter at this point.
AndyR, they have some amazing laser procedures out now, so if the issue is that Obama tramp-stamp you had inked in November 2008, it's not as permanent as you might think.
It is not possible to tell the American people what we need to do
AND
get elected.
See eg: reactions to minor adjustments [or proposals] to programs in France and Greece. We're no different.
Dear Gov. Romney,
Five points are too many to remember. Please shorten to two.
Sincerely,
American Voter
The alternative to Romney is Barack Obama.
I don't care about any crafted policy questions designed to get debate started. The only valid question is this: What can we do to stop the further decline of America?
Not voting for Obama is Job One.
33% of all Americans are on taxpayer-funded Welfare. If that does not embarrass or disgust you, you'd better search what's left of your soul.
There is NO case to be made in favor of a second term for Barack Obama. If he can't make it himself, who here can?
Liberals were convinced there could be nothing worse than Bush or McCain.
Then their guy proved them to be very, very wrong.
Romney may be a crackerjack analyst but the Presidency is a political role. It doesn't matter how sound his plans may be, if he can't get the American people to go along with them and Congress to act, they're useless. Sure it helps to have good ideas but you still have to sell them.
The current White House occupant has no good ideas and couldn't sell them if he did.
And AndyR--precisely which "independent analysts" would those be?
One big picture strategy (versus tactic) would be to reduce uncertainty for the private sector firms which are awash in cash. Yet they are not willing to spend because of the uncertainty of the regulatory apparatus in this country and the costs of Obamacare. Now there are many ways to accomplish the strategy but once that it done the strategy gets caught i the weeds and the focus shifts to arcane debates about the tactics.
Seems to me we are presented with a choice in November: between an incumbent who has fucked up the economy and our foreign policy beyond belief, and someone who has a record of success in several different environments--your choice.
Better a technocrat who has successfully turned some large enterprises around, than a 'community organizer' who simply exploited his glibidity and his race and his leftist credentials to advance through Harvard, then champion 'causes' in Chicago with heavy backing from the organized left, then advance politically with help from the Chicago machine.
Obama is an example of 'you didn't do it yourself' - he's a front man, a puppet of the organized academy, the MSM, the anticapitalist political world.
"Then their guy proved them to be very, very wrong."
Yes, but Obama will get, at minimum, 90% of the vote he got in '08.
Stupid like that is impossible to fix.
Stupid people are stupid because they do stupid things over and over again.
Smarter people learn from their mistakes.
Expecting stupid people to learn from their mistakes when there is scant evidence of their ability to do is, well, you get the point.
“Well, if that's his thing, we should right now be looking at his analysis of our tough problems. There should be some amazing solutions laid out of the table for us to look at. Are we seeing that?”
We can review the plan he posted on his website.
Some his bullet items are broad, but some are quite specific.
LauderdaleVet--you are assuming AndyR can read and comprehend. Probably a bad assumption.
The PDF I linked to is the "second tier" of bullets that correspond to the five in the article.
I bet the third tier would be even more interesting :)
What comes after "Give every access to a great school and quality teachers"? Vouchers?
I love capping federal spending and aligning compensation of federal workers with their private sector counterparts; after all, those are my taxes funding the paychecks, right?
The guy loves to think. Obama loves to scheme. Which will it be which will it be which wi......
Andy R. said...
Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
Then, when they fill in the missing parts with assumptions that are as favorable to Romney as absolutely possible, everyone agrees the plans are a bad idea.
God, you are such a fucking idiot. It's been out there for a long time you moron.
http://www.mittromney.com/sites/default/files/shared/BelieveInAmerica-PlanForJobsAndEconomicGrowth-Full.pdf
We can review the plan he posted on his website.
Unfortunately, for as long as I can recall, if a candidate or supporters have to refer to a website or (pre-web) booklet to find out what the candidate will do if elected, there's a message problem.
Hatboy: "...scored by independent analysts."
LOL!
It's even available for free on Amazon as an eBook. Kindle Edition. I think I'll grab that.
People looking for "amazing solutions" is what got Obama elected, because they fell for his line of crap instead of seeing the simple truth. It won't take an amazing solution, just some simple steps.
Does America want to be Mitt Romney's client?
And the alternative is? Oh wait. The alternative is Barack Hussein Obama. And look how well that has turned out over the last 4 years.
Remind me again, who voted for Barack Hussein Obama. Oh wait. Never mind.
Pete,
"The current White House occupant has no good ideas and couldn't sell them if he did"
No, but he can sell bullshit ideas pretty well. Remember 2008?
@Andy R: Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
The man has a 52 point plan. It's public. Why don't you do the smallest iota of research and go read about it yourself, you plodding clod.
I don't think his principles are very good.
1. Take advantage of energy resources is okay, if it means stop stopping them. If it means don't import, it's wrong. See trade below.
2. Great schools is okay if it means breaking the teachers' union and the administrative lock on politicians. It ought to mean private schools though. Let parents decide.
3. Trade cheaters is entirely wrong and stupid. More trade is good. Economics 101. Both sides benefit. What he has to figure out is that you hear from the workers that lose jobs but not from the rest who benefit from more choices and better prices. The latter outweigh the former by far. It would be bad to have a President that can't figure out why protectionism is horrible economics.
4. Regulations is okay but it's not business in general and not small business that's in trouble.
5. Health care costs are caused by insurance. Get rid of insurance and watch what happens to the price of medical care.
So he's not the economists' choice, except Obama is such an unqualified moron that you've got to go for Romney.
@ traditionalguy
"So the method is well known for a good economy. The Chinese are following it."
Yes and no. Yes it is well known. No the Chinese are not following it.
In reality the simple answer to a good economy: stop screwing with it. It'll recover on it's own. Just stop messing with it.
Mitt is a turn around guy. He takes things that are failing and turns them into successes. That's why I laugh at the dupes who think he "runs companies into the ground and profits!" Companies that are failing go to Bain in search of private funds and if Bain signs on, if they turn them around, they profit. They are mostly successful (but the risk is high and some for whatever reason, the market, can't be).
Government and a country are not the same thing as a company, but I think he will be thoughtful about what it takes to put the country on top vs. what ideological dream can I make come true for my party (like Obama and Obama-care - that was his priority).
Obama whines that "things were way worse" than I thought and it's not my fault things are crappy. Romney sees that as a challenge he won't shy away from and blame others for. Just like he quit his Bain job to save the winter Olympics. It was a challenge, not an impediment to his dreams.
Who do you want as you President. The guy who relishes a challenge or the guy holding on to his ivory tower dreams of a utopia?
Stupid people are stupid because they do stupid things over and over again.
Smarter people learn from their mistakes.
Yes, there is no helping the willfully stupid.
But the non-reasonable and willfully ignorant/partisan "smart'" people...some of whom hang out here... should to be shamed into correcting their horrible mistake.
But, unfortunately, they can't be shamed any more. Not after Clinton. Or Gore. Or Kerry. Or Obama. Or Recall Walker efforts.
If only they hadn't done away with shame during the Social Engineering phase of the Great Transformation... it used to be a powerful tool to school the ignorant and greedy.
33% of this country has no shame when the Welfare check arrives, and a significant number above that has no problem in letting that remain the case. Obama seeks to make it even easier to suck the teat.
But, hey, let's find ways to not vote for Romney!
@ rhhardin
1. 3. Trade cheaters is entirely wrong and stupid. More trade is good. Economics 101. ...
Wrong. The problem with China, as an example, is that they literally steal intellectual property and then turn around and try to sell those products as a competitor. That has to end.
Additionally since most, if not all, Chinese companies are partially or wholly owned by the Chinese government they have access to financing beyond what is available to American companies. And this allows them to conduct dumping on specific markets. It's how the Chinese now own the solar panel market, because they drove everyone else out of business.
2. 5. Health care costs are caused by insurance. Get rid of insurance and watch what happens to the price of medical care.
Health care costs are from crazy tort laws, government regulation, a separation between the benefitee and the payer (insurance) and increasingly sophisticated (and expensive) medical treatments.
You can't cut costs with cutting edge. And cutting edge is often preferred because of reduced side effects, fewer complications and lower potential for harm. C.f. tort laws above.
But, hey, let's find ways to not vote for Romney!
Take your sarcasm here and direct it to the Romney campaign.
With them, it is the opposite of Godfather III -- just when people think they will suck it up and go in, they push them back out.
There should be some amazing solutions laid out of the table for us to look at. Are we seeing that?
Hope and Change worked for the other guy.. didn't it?
Take your sarcasm here and direct it to the Romney campaign.
I have, repeatedly.
So, who are you voting for and why?
Romney's a problem solver and Obama's a grifter so it should be a no brainer. But Obama's black. A huge problem for all right thinking people and especially right thinking women. Right thinking men are too disgusted by the total fuckup that is Obama to vote for him a second time. But it's so terribly important for right thinking women to maintain that status unblemished and he did try and even though I proved I was a good person by making that first historical vote am I really a good person if I vote white and not right the second time around? It's gonna be one helluva agonizing decision for Althouse this time around, let me tellya.
@ed
Intellectual property: the Chinese still have to compete by making their product more attractive, something the IP holder doesn't do. That's the economic benefit. Compete on what the market wants, not on monopoly rent seeking.
Boldrin has the most accessible analysis Michele Boldrin
If the Chinese have a financing advantage, then they ought to use it. They only succeed by satisfying Americans.
The numbers work out as vastly more benefit than cost to Americans.
On health care, the economy spends more on cutting edge technology than it should. That has a huge cost in foregone choices. It's a form of rent-seeking, with the usual depressing effect on the standard of living of the nation.
BTW - for those of you who think I'm crazy for finding both candidates unelectable
One of them is going to be elected.
At this point, it seems the best approach would be to influence to the guy you believe is in your best interests. I have a hard time believing the delta between the two is so small it doesn't matter.
But I suppose that depends on what one finds important. To me, since I have kids, the issue of burdening them increasingly with our version of morality is evil. So I suppose I will have to pinch my nose and vote for the process guy.
Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
That cracks me up.
First, he has. Second, show me Harry Reid's budget. Or has it not been released for three years in a row?
Tool.
I'll take the Chinese trade policy reversed in our favor. That will explode the economic damn here and see millions of jobs onshored in a few months.
The best run retailer today may be COSTCO. That is the acronym for the Chinese Overseas Trading Company which is a subsidiary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
And that Army is not shrinking before our eyes like the USA's Army is doing.
Cheap energy and fair trade are 2 out of 5, and without them the Defense Department is kaput. And without the Defense Department, the fair trade is blocked. So cheap energy is IT.
Now who has dedicated his rule as POTUS to an undercover destruction of USA's cheap energy resources to make a harmless trace gas go away while it balloons in China for industrial their competivness???
So, who are you voting for and why?
Like I said, just as I think I might go against my word and possibly vote for him, he pushes me away.
Romney would rather lose the election than repudiate RomneyCare and his other non-conservative impulses.
This much is clear, conservatives will find an opponent in a President Romney, not a friend.
Chinese what? Snopes says fail.
show me Harry Reid's budget
Why should Reid show anyone a budget when Boehner and Ryan are going to continue spending at the sky-high levels of the last budget he did present?
Reid thinks that it is you who are the tool.
Reid not providing a budget isn't a failure on his part -- it is intentional strategy. If multiple years of continuing resolutions can turn that "one-time $800 billion stimulus plan" into a yearly $800 billion increase in expenditures, an increase approved by the Republicans, why should he present a budget?
This much is clear, conservatives will find an opponent in a President Romney, not a friend.
Cool. Noted. Romney will be a bigger opponent to cons than Obama.
Take your pessimism here and direct it to the Obama campaign...wait, never mind...they got it all already.
Have fun in November, pushing the button in favor of your own doom...out of "principle", no doubt.
...why should he present a budget?
'Cause it's the fucking law?
Oh, it's you...never mind..."principles" again.
So Romney gave a sound byte summary of his plan and for that we must deride him because he SAID he likes to analyze tough problems so where's the analysis. Weak tea.
Shorter Crack Emcee: I'm looking forward to being able to say 'I told you so' should anything (and I mean anything at all) go wrong during the Romney presidency.
In honor of Itoldyouso, here's some New Age shit from my favorite politician ever. http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/08/09/pelosi-no-really-ive-been-visited-by-the-spirits-of-famous-feminists/
I just flipped through Obama's BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE!!! That I downloaded several years ago after his ascendancy into office.
It was bad comedy then, it's worse now.
My favorite part of that whole thing was 'First, take advantage of our energy resources'
A little flicker of hope flickered down there where those flicker things happen, I don't understand the biology myself but I felt it inside.
I sure did. So much packed into those few words.
Like a few night ago way far north of here almost to Wyoming I passed by a place that made the railroad track train set boy in me perk up and notice, row upon row of perfectly new red trucks, stout sturdy tankers, like an elaborate HO train setup or matchbox toy collection of a maniac.
"Halburton?"
"Yep."
I would have preferred, "I'm going to stick it to the greens. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth."
That first quoted paragraph sounds like something Don Draper would say. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Andy R
Didn't you know?
Obama is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
Obama is the first example of someone winning the Presidency simply because they figured out ways to win elections... not by to his pointing to his relevant achievements, his successful legislative record, his executive private sector management experience, military leadership skills, or by any previous standard of competency or readiness for the job.
I cannot understand why anyone would pretend to seriously hold Romney to any of those criteria when he's running against the likes of a smooth Chicago thug who has none of those attributes, even after four years of holding the office he scammed his way into.
The solutions to our most pressing problems in government require no extraordinary analytical skills.
For Government: don't spend more money than you take in.
For the electorate: don't expect Government to solve your personal problems, and if you don't like what Government is doing with the power, then take it back.
However the solutions, while obvious, are not winning campaign strategies.
Pastafarian,
A fucking planarium worm has more self-awareness and instinct for self-preservation than the average Obama supporter at this point.
Yes, well, you can grind up a planarium worm, feed its remains to another planarium worm, and still end up with a worm with some residual memory of what the ground-up worm learned before you killed it. You cannot do that with some sectors of the electorate, even if you skip the grinding-up and cannibalism parts and go straight to "Remember this maze?" Remember where this path is supposed to go? Hey, dude, it was less than four years ago; c'mon, already. [prods worm's ass with stylus]"
Oh we survived 8 years of Bush. You'll survive 8 years of Obama.
How about getting behind him and showing some support?
Oh we survived 8 years of Bush.
Of course we did.
You'll survive 8 years of Obama.
Prove it.
How about getting behind him and showing some support?
Sure, as soon as he stops telling me to "Shut up, sit in the back" and refrains from referring to me as "the enemy".
So, never then.
Come November, lie back and think of Chicago.
p.s. Walker Indictment Updates?
Tom Spaulding,
Obama is the first example of someone winning the Presidency simply because they figured out ways to win elections... not by to his pointing to his relevant achievements, his successful legislative record, his executive private sector management experience, military leadership skills, or by any previous standard of competency or readiness for the job.
You know, I thought there'd be counterexamples, but I think you're right. Prior to winning the Presidency, what did the man actually do? Was there ever a President who had done less?
But, hey, at least he was not GWB, which is certainly worth a Presidency and a Nobel Peace Prize. When do I get mine?
garage mahal,
How about getting behind him and showing some support?
Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister (paraphrasing from memory): "It's necessary to get behind someone before you can stab him in the back."
[NB to FBI: I am talking about a BBC television series here. Just sayin'.]
Some of you ding dongs have obviously never worked in business or the stock market.
If you look at this like a business problem, too much disclosure up front poisons the well- it would be like running for office saying you will buy a piece of property and build a parking lot there. Guess what, the price on that property triples until it looks like you may win, then it triples again. Some things need to be held close until executed- not Obamacare style, because he shared everything with his buddies to their profit.
Romney fixed poorly managed companies for a living. The US Government is the biggest and most poorly managed company in the country. When you consider that his religion holds the US and the Americas in high scriptural regard, we will be in very good hands.
Romney's taxes can be seen in a similar light as well, too many tax returns released and then his business opponents will be able to use it against him and his companies, and there is probably some confidential info there too, like expenses related to buy-outs or salaries that are bound by confidentiality agreements.
Let's face it - Obama has never had a real job of any significance and he is kinda lazy IMO. Yet he finds the time to golf every other week and follows Fox News pretty closely based on his regular whining about its coverage of his lazy self. I wonder which Dem insider will be the first to write a tell-all that reports Obama is lazy and his wife has a huge chip on her shoulder.
Sure, as soon as he stops telling me to "Shut up, sit in the back" and refrains from referring to me as "the enemy".
Wow you have a personal relationship w/ POTUS eh?
Can someone link me to a scoring of the Romney jobs plan? I haven't found anything online yet. Thanks!
garage mahal said...
Oh we survived 8 years of Bush. You'll survive 8 years of Obama.
How about getting behind him and showing some support?
Too funny. During the Bush administration garage and the rest of the nutty left cheered fantasies of his assasination. Virtually every statement they made was based on lies and distortions no one could honestly believe. Remember Pelosi conspicuously showing up at the Michael Moore opening? But somehow now it's expected to support the President even when you disagree with him.
Whatever could have changed?
Sure, as soon as he stops telling me to "Shut up, sit in the back" and refrains from referring to me as "the enemy".
Wow you have a personal relationship w/ POTUS eh?
Not the one you wish you had, apparently. But role-playing is almost as good, eh?
Oh, wait...I get it. When Obama, President of Us All, demeans conservatives with the above statements, and I am a conservative, he's not really talking to me?
And when I point that out, you pretend that isn't what he means?
But then, did you actually survive Bush? I mean you said "we"...who is "we"? Did you have a personal relationship with Bush?
Obtuse Pedantry is your metier.
You do remain lovably pathetic, and I enjoy our chats, as I find them to be valuable prep work. I plan to volunteer to re-hab Welfare recipients and the mentally challenged at Mormonizing For America Camp, once President Romney takes office.
In the meantime, have some of these tasty Waffle Fries. And I'm gonna need that TPS report ..errrr... I mean Indictment Update on my desk by Monday.
Seems to me Obama and Romney are quite a bit alike, both arrogant about their ability to figure out solutions, both more comfortable in analysis than in persuading people one-on-one to go along with their program.
Can someone link me to a scoring of the Romney jobs plan? I haven't found anything online yet. Thanks!
No. Vote for Obama, it's so much easier.
You started out here: "Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts."
That was ignorant, uninformed and typical of an Obama voter. So then, once schooled, you want the scoring to be done for you. Why? Do it yourself, useful citizen. Make your own mind up. As if.
I'm tired of helping the clueless and I am canceling out your vote anyway.
Thanks!
Can someone link me to a scoring of the Obama jobs plan? I haven't found anything online yet. Thanks!
"Scoring" by "experts."
There's the way out of our problems.
Why not? It's how we got where we are now.
Yes sir. Trust those experts. They are doing such a great job.
Andy R...the best plan for Mitt is a bill to repeal every law Obama signed and every Fed Reg EPA and Labor have issued since Obama picked their Czars. Then cut expenditures to 2008 levels.
But Mitt will not agree to a mutual suicide pact of offending interest groups with him going first.
BTW,did you see the news that the Iranian Mullah's Atom Bomb is ready to incinerate Israel now? Surprise, surprise, Sgt Panetta.
Here you go, Andy.
Bottom line: I find that the reform would, if passed immediately, increase GDP relative to baseline by 5.4 percentage points over the next decade, while creating 6.8 million jobs.
And yes, it's a background paper provided to the Romney campaign. Nice to know they've consulted reputable economists.
I would say that the USPS situatiuon is a perfect example. They have skipped one $5B+ payment that was due to the US Treasury this month, and they will skip another of greater magnitude before the election.
They are a severely distressed, perhaps illiquid, entity, just like many Bain used to attempt to rescue. If Obama is re-elected, there will be a GM/Chrysler-like solution which makes sure the postal unions are taken care of, to the detriment of taxpayers. Romney should be ready on this topic and be loaded for bear when it comes up in the debates.
I think a crisp, clear analysis of the USPS situation would gain him a lot of support. The postal unions are essentially wedded to Obama, so you wouldn't expect to convert any of those votes, but they are a small portion of the electorate and a larger segment are taxpayers, who can see this thing coming down the track, and should be fearful of what Obama will do with this isue if he is still in the White House.
rhhardin -
"3. Trade cheaters is entirely wrong and stupid. More trade is good. Economics 101. Both sides benefit."
Wrong.
First, many conservative rubes fed on the "dangers of Smoot Hawley!" think free trade is a Core American Value. It isn't. It wasn't until WWII destroyed most of our competitors and we thoughtwe could toot that horn to our advantage.
Free trade idealogues have tried pounding it into our heads that 250 year old ideas of Ricardo are inerrant and never wrong - despite revolutionary changes in communications, finance, efficient transformation and 5 billion surplus people not around in Ricardo's time willing to work at abysmally low wages (because it is better than no jobs at all in the 3rd World nations grabbing US jobs)
Had the British industrial owners had better technology and support systems, they could have built their factories in America, then gutted them when the Indian labor force was trained up, then moved all the work out of India to cheap African locales, then maybe back to India or America once they were destitute enough to want to work for less than the Africans and "Comparative Advantage" would again prevail.
Had Ricardo realized that with magic planes and full technology transfer at the push of a button...the whole Portuguese wine industry could have moved to 8-9 other global locales with the same climate...and the low cost labor bidder would make the Chilean Madeira, the Chinese tawny Ports.
Fortunately, in America, we decided we would not be Britains temporary low cost labor pool and captive market for finished goods the Brits could make cheaper..as long as we swallowed their argument that "freedom means America grows the cotton and lumber for British mills" since Yanks can't compete without those hideous and evil tariffs that punish American consumers and the Brit Owners alike.
Does America want the surgeon or the hospice nurse?
To vote for Mitt Romney you have to have a sufficient level of optimism and enthusiasm for America.
Below a certain level of hopelessness it only makes sense to vote for the reelection of President Barack Obama, because he'll provide the best hospice care.
I think a crisp, clear analysis of the USPS situation would gain him a lot of support.
Can you be sure to get Andy a copy of that crisp, clear analysis?
Oh and garage mahal says: "Romney hates the Post Office! Indictments pending!"
Romney is irrelevant. We elected Obama to prove we're not racist anymore (seriously, was there another reason?) But if we make our first black president a one-term president, that will prove we're racist again. So Obama must and will be reelected.
Too funny. During the Bush administration garage and the rest of the nutty left cheered fantasies of his assasination.
You guys are too much. Really. It's amazing you win anything, anywhere.
You are a smart guy Andy--score them yourself and let us know your results
I'd really be interested in a whole thread devoted to the USPS problem. What's everyone's take on it? HR 1351 vs HR 2309? The 2006 PAEA? The way forward?
You guys are too much. Really. It's amazing you win anything, anywhere.
Not really. Consider the opposition: You.
BTW...Walker, Taxes Ranger on line 1....
The election will come down to an accusation from the Obama camp that.. in so many words..
'If you want to die.. go ahead and elect Romney.. Romney represents the white supremacist vote that killed all those people at the Sheik temple'.
And then Romney responds..
'If you want to die, go ahead and re-elect Obama.. Obama represents that really smart guy who could not find a job and shot dead all those people at the movie opening of Batman'.
Now, that's a tough choice, because as you might have heard by now, we are all going to die.. So the Vote is just about choosing who is going to do it.
If you are a Batman fan and you don't go to any church... you vote for Obama.. because Obama doesn't go to church and Obama liked Cat Woman, said she was the best thing about the movie..
But if you are a religious minority and you hate Batman you still vote for Obama because Batman is a 1% and Romney is a Mormon... and, as we all know, Mormons are crazy..
You want to know the sad part?
I'm trying really hard to make a parody... but how can I? when the "reality" is beyond it.
Romney says the best part of working at Bain was solving complex problems. If I go look at Bain and other examples in Romney's history such as the Olympics I find that he is good at solving complex problems. He actually gets results. The worst thing even his enemies can say about him is that he made lots of money doing it.
Obama hasn't said what the best part of being a community organizer is to my knowledge, but assuming it's typical liberal think I'll guess it's spreading the wealth around. If I look at his time as POTUS I see he has taken A LOT of money both borrowed from the ChiComs and from the taxpayers and spread it around to his backers and other useful idiots while opening every branch of the government to his socialist buddies using illegal and legal but highly questionable or unethical means. The best thing his friends can say about him is that so far he hasn't thrown them under the bus.
He actually gets results. The worst thing even his enemies can say about him is that he made lots of money doing it.
Yes. Romney succeeded and was rewarded for it.
Obama failed, and wants to reward his fellow failures by promising to take even more money from the successful Romney-types.
Go figure.
(This post pre-analyzed, scored and indictment-free.)
Latest CNN poll: PBO 52% Mittens 45%
Slip sliiii...din away......slip slidin awa....ay!
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliiiiii...ding away !!
Lets see? Republicans use the Wall Street bailout against Obama, although it began under Bush. And yet they block, in congress, and reform of Wall Street that they can. Republicans do there very best to make it business as usual for the same clowns that got us into this financial mess in the firest place. And now they are running a Wall Street insider as a candidate for President all the time talking as if the Democrats and Obama are "out of touch" with the misery this recession has caused "regular people". I do not know what is more amazing...the audacity of the lying and hypocrisy or the fact that so many people buy into it. I guess memory is a bad thing but self deception is worse. The Right Wing Media Machine has spent four years trying to convince people that it really was Obama, not Bush, that ran the economy and the country, into the weeds with the help of his venal associates in the Party. It shows the old Nazi idea that if you tell a lie long enough it becomes the truth is not dead among our good, God fearing, tax dodging friends on the Right.
Polls for Trolls?
I'll play:
Thursday, August 09, 2012
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 47% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns the vote from 43%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.
The president enjoyed a bounce immediately following release of last week’s job report. However, the bounce has faded, and the race is back to where it was just before Friday’s report.
Following that jobs report, consumer confidence fell to a new 2012 low yesterday and is barely above that low today. Just 24% believe the jobs market has improved over the past year, while 44% believe it has gotten worse.
Now go get your freakin' shinebox...
It shows the old Nazi idea that if you tell a lie long enough it becomes the truth is not dead among our good, God fearing, tax dodging friends on the Right.
Obama's got your pragmatic vote then?
Good.
Come back after the election.
CNN: "Among independent voters, the poll indicates President Obama has a 53%-42% lead"
Not looking good righties. Not good at all.
There is a very tiny part of me that almost feels sorry for you. But that goes away in just a few seconds.
garage mahal said...
Too funny. During the Bush administration garage and the rest of the nutty left cheered fantasies of his assasination.
You guys are too much. Really. It's amazing you win anything, anywhere.
Does garage think we forget who they are just because they wish we would? It is funny though: garage thinks it's too much that we remember the assasination fantasies, but not that his side had them in the first place. A more bizarre set of priorities would be hard invent.
And we're winning more often even in Fighting Bob LaFollette's state, the birthplace of American Progressivism. I love that. It smells like ... victory.
Does garage think we forget who they are just because they wish we would?
Sure, why don't you remind us what lefties openly fantasized about assassinating Bush and get back to us.
Rasmussen:
A president’s job approval rating is one of the best indicators for assessing his chances of reelection. Typically, the president’s job approval rating on Election Day will be close to the share of the vote he receives. Currently, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's job performance. Fifty percent-three (53%) at least somewhat disapprove .
Twenty-seven percent (27%) think the nation is generally heading in the right direction.
Hey Garage...you're a 27%er!!!
"Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts. "
As already mentioned above, this is a falsehood.
But more to the point, Obama's own claim about his plan? It already worked!
"Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts. "
Like Paul Ryan's budget plan ?
Idiot !
American Women just won Gold in Women's Football.
Obama says, "You didn't win that..."
Sure, why don't you remind us what lefties openly fantasized about assassinating Bush and get back to us.
Damn you are a helpless bunch of self-entitled whiners.
Lefty Hate Compilation>
"Hey Garage...you're a 27%er!!!"
I'm guessing, based upon the evidence, 27th percentile is just about the best Garage can do, ever.
"Lefty Hate Compilation" by........Michelle Malkin? Hahaha.
I won't click, so maybe you could just paste the names of lefties fantasizing about assassinating Bush.
Friend of yours, garage?
Don't know anyone named 404 Not Found. Or the second to last one named 404 Not Found.
Neither Hoover nor Roosevelt had much luck getting the US out of the depression. Hoover, by far, had the greater intelligence and problem solving ability, but he never found the handle to that problem. Roosevelt didn't have much luck either, but he was a far more gifted politician. He never figured out how to end the depression, but he certainly knew how to win re-eletion and build a winning political coaltion....I don't think this election is Hoover/Roosevelt redux. I'll vote for Romney. Still it's worth noting that in politics being right or being smart is rarely enough to win an election and never enough to govern.
Well at least we see how garage maintains his ignorance.
maybe you could just paste the names of lefties fantasizing about assassinating Bush.
How about pix?
Like this.
And this.
Or this.
Maybe you know this guy.
Or him?
Sorry I can't give you their names. Surveillance techniques weren't as good back then as they are now.
"Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts."
Do you think he could come up with one better than this --
Spending levels per year:
FY2012 - $3.624 trillion
FY2013 - $3.530 trillion
FY2014 - $3.476 trillion
FY2015 - $3.536 trillion
FY2016 - $3.690 trillion
FY2017 - $3.824 trillion
FY2018 - $3.977 trillion
FY2019 - $4.199 trillion
FY2020 - $4.409 trillion
FY2021 - $4.605 trillion
FY2022 - $4.888 trillion
or
$40.135 trillion over the next ten years
Think Romney could come up with a better plan than that monsterous spending machine? Of course, with spending that high, we'll be bankrupt long before 2020.
Hey Garage, when are you going to take your polling updates to the Twittersphere? That worked real well during the last recall election. Those polls showed a dead heat right up until the point Walker lambasted Barret by 7% after leading most of the night by double-digits.
Doesn't really have any fundamental beliefs or foundational philosophy
I'm not sure I know what the "fundamental beliefs or foundational philosophy" of Barack Obama is, or at least I did not know it in 2008. That didn't stop him getting elected though. You could say the same about George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush. I don't think that a persons "fundamental beliefs or foundational philosophy" has as much bearing on electoral success as you imagine it does.
"I won't click,..."
That's the ostrich strategy for avoiding cognitive dissonance.
Oops.
That's an SAT expression.
Let me restate that.
That's the ostrich's way of avoiding bad news.
Garage: I have never heard of Lefty assassination fantasies. Prove to me they exist, while I wait here, doing nothing.
Me: Here is the proof they exist
Garage: I'm not going to look at your icky proof. Not only do I know nothing of conservatives and their beliefs, I know nothing of my own beliefs and my fellow travelers hateful fantasies.
A guy who tries to taunt me with a CNN poll hides behind "I don't like your source, so I wil remain a clueless tool".
HaHaHaHa!
Too stupid to know about it in the first place, too ignorant not to demand proof of it, too lazy to find proof himself, too stupid to look at proof he demanded.
You fucking lose, I fucking win.
Again.
Get that shinebox,,,and don't forget the Walker Indictment Update.
Governor Walker, that is.
You could say the same about George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush.
Definitely not.
Definitely not, although he too had some technocrat qualities.
Not really.
Best thing garage mahal has written in weeks: "There is a very tiny part of me" (3:25pm).
wv: ganingle - sounds like a very tiny body part.
Garage. Please do give us an update on the pending indictment of Walker by the permanently seated super secret grand jury! It has been months since it was going to be days away so perhaps you can tell us the hang up. Have they uncovered even more malfeasance that we are not yet aware of? Tks.
"Obama - Campaigner Extraordinaire"
Fifty years from now, Presidential Historians will set to shining a big pile of shit that was the Obama Presidency.
Instead of focusing on what Obama did while in office, they will focus on what it was about our culture, and about Americans, that would cause us to leave our minds behind.
"Divide and Conquer" is a well known strategy.
Why?
Because it works!
Forget what follows at your own peril!
"A house divided cannot stand."
@ GM "Lefty Hate Compilation" by........Michelle Malkin? Hahaha.
Soooo ..... the screen shots are pjhotoshopped? Funny, (well, not really) I heard the Sandra Bernhard foam flecked rant on the intertubes when it came out.
(And I only glanced at the anti-Palin violence.)
While "consider the source" is often good advice, the facts of who said / wrote what and where -- the source the source is using --are soooo much easier in this electronic access era we live in.
Your responses are instructive. Don't let facts get in the way of your fantasy, GM.
It seems the simplest solution is to just hire Bain and keep Obama as president.
This has two benefits. First, having worked in an organization that had Bain give consulting advice, I think retaining the option to ignore that advice will prove invaluable. Second, we avoid insulting our closest allies.
"A house divided cannot stand."
That includes Althouse's "house".
We all know who the regular commenters are here, and we also know that the majority of those commenters lean conservative.
Why, on god's little green acre here at Althouse, would we ever wish to pummel down the minority opinions of people like garage or Andy or Cookie or Cedarford or Allie? I know I missed some, but I didn't miss that many!
And that right there, is a damn shame.
Don't know about you, but for as "fascinating" as I sometimes THINK I am, I'd just have to break the damn mirror if it really started to look and sound EXACTLY like me! ha ha
garage mahal said...
CNN: "Among independent voters, the poll indicates President Obama has a 53%-42% lead"
Not looking good righties. Not good at all.
Hysterical.
Why don't you tell us what the internals for that poll were, genius.
Journalist Peter Suderman well explained the apparent contradiction*.
*http://reason.com/blog/2012/02/08/mitt-romney-consultant-in-chief
Andy R. said...
Can someone link me to a scoring of the Romney jobs plan? I haven't found anything online yet.
Why don't you tell us what the scoring was of the "stimulus" Obama passed and tell us how that all worked out, clown?
garage mahal said...
Sure, why don't you remind us what lefties openly fantasized about assassinating Bush and get back to us.
What would be the point, you illiterate jackass?
Why don't you cite a single instance of conservatives wishing death on their political opponents.
Just one.
Because it is par for the course for the left to wish death on those they oppose politically.
Idiot.
garage mahal said...
CNN: "Among independent voters, the poll indicates President Obama has a 53%-42% lead"
Not looking good righties. Not good at all.
There is a very tiny part of me that almost feels sorry for you. But that goes away in just a few seconds.
You do realize that you are being lied to by CNN and these polls right? Oh wait. It's you. Move along then.
You grasping for any iota of scraps for favorable Urkel news is rofl.
garage mahal said...
Sure, why don't you remind us what lefties openly fantasized about assassinating Bush and get back to us
Liberal talker Mike Malloy suggests SEAL team assassinate Pres. Bush
Gore Vidal Wishes He Had “Murdered” President Bush
Now this is the part where you pretend:
A. they really didn't say that
or
B. They're not leftists
Of course you're an idiot.
We're a community here at Althouse's house, and I honestly believe we like each other, even if we don't always agree.
That's a lovely beginning. Let's build on that!
Hell, you know Althouse. She loves her money. If we aren't careful and respectful of our community, she'll tear down this house and build micro-mini apartments... with MIRRORS! :D
garage mahal said...
You guys are too much. Really. It's amazing you win anything, anywhere.
Um, "we" are not the ones pretending leftists didn't fantasize about killing President Bush.
But of course you never attempted to respond to that actual fact, you're busy typing incoherent sentences and drooling.
I know many Bain employees. They are fab. Ton's of gays.
I was offered a job many years ago as a Organization Design Consultant but declined because I would travel almost every week.
The offer was big bucks.
The one thing everyone in Boston knows is that Bain pays it's employees really well.
Not as well as Fidelity which pays the best in the city.
High Tech and Biotech pay next best in the great cities of Boston and Cambridge.
If you aren't making well over 100k here you likely won't make it will move to New Hampshire and deal with two hour commutes.
And it is not because of TAXES. We are actually in the middle of the country in terms of taxes.
tits.
Penny said...
We're a community here at Althouse's house, and I honestly believe we like each other, even if we don't always agree.
I think Meadehouse prefers a detached garage, but I get your "togetherness" message. Here, I plugged the jukebox for you again: link :)
The concept of "America" wanting is wanting.
Too broad.
Obscureness into idiocy.
But, that's how many, many people make a great living in the greatest country on God's green Earth, so why ask why the concept of "America" wanting is wanting?
You can get this Bush-assassination fantasy auto-delivered wirelessly to your Kindle for $7.99. But if I were you, I wouldn't.
No one? No one wants to fall into the trap?
OK, you got me. That was Paul Ryan's plan I posted earlier at 4:06 PM, where Ryan has proposed --
Spending levels per year:
FY2012 - $3.624 trillion
FY2013 - $3.530 trillion
FY2014 - $3.476 trillion
FY2015 - $3.536 trillion
FY2016 - $3.690 trillion
FY2017 - $3.824 trillion
FY2018 - $3.977 trillion
FY2019 - $4.199 trillion
FY2020 - $4.409 trillion
FY2021 - $4.605 trillion
FY2022 - $4.888 trillion
or
$40.135 trillion over the next ten years
or
Instead of Obama's 100 mph over the cliff, slowing down to 80 mph over the cliff.
"Why, on god's little green acre here at Althouse, would we ever wish to pummel down the minority opinions of people like garage or Andy or Cookie or Cedarford or Allie? I know I missed some, but I didn't miss that many!"
I don't really think the problem is on the right. If they post thoughtful opinions, I am ready to listen and comment.
I used to post regularly on Washington Monthly when Kevin Drum, a very serious guy, was the blogger. I remember when he investigated the rumors about Bush and the TANG. He came to the conclusion that there was nothing provable, although he would have liked there to be. A few months later, Dan Rather took his pratfall on TV.
After a while, I noticed that my comments were being deleted regularly. I complained to Kevin, whose e-mail I had. He replied it was out of his hands. Eventually, any comment of mine would be attacked with vile stuff. Then my comments would disappear and the replies would be left, making no sense, if they ever did.
The lefties there really got enraged because I had done a lengthy analysis of national health plans and they thought I should, therefore, support single payer. When I didn't and explained why, they went berserk.
Reasoning with lefties is mostly an exercise in futility. I find that most of them have nothing useful to say about economics. It is all about gay rights and racism, as if that would pay the bills.
Penny is right. Let's give Garage his due for consistency. In fact, there is no better indicator of the truth or predictor of elections than Garage's comments...if you know how to interpret them. It's not his fault if you can't figure out the code. I find him exceptionally useful myself.
garage mahal said...
Sure, why don't you remind us what lefties openly fantasized about assassinating Bush and get back to us.
garage: Here's some leftist fantasy. Enjoy.
http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=621
As for Mitt vs. Barry
I like Mitt's latest "Believe in the America you built and Build it again"
vs. We were the change we were waiting for and I had no idea how bad you guys were till I was elected.
Why thanks Penny! You are always a breath of fresh air and make this place hop with your wit. I think I love you. A girl crush and no I'm not a lesbian.
Penny said...
We're a community here at Althouse's house, and I honestly believe we like each other, even if we don't always agree.
It's bizarre to assert that list has any "like" in them. The best descriptions are hate, hate, insanity, disease, and simpering dishonesty. The conversations are better when they aren't ruined by that nonsense. I can't even think of a word to describe the implication that everyone else agrees, much less that they do so closely enough to be considered "mirror" images.
Thanks, bagoh. Love the Youngbloods!
But you knew that.
Awwww, and ditto, Allie! You're the kind of tough broad I admire for exactly and precisely who you are.
Soft and creamy on the inside works for most of us here. Don't ever forget that, lady.
Notquiteunbuckly...Seems to me you are on to something important.
REALLY important.
Penny co-knived...
Thanks, bagoh. Love the Youngbloods!
LOL!
I'd tell you to "flesh that out"....
But then MINDS tend to wander in unusual directions when someone says, "Flesh".
OK, so maybe we should "FLUSH" that out?
and get back to us
No.
Okay.
Death of a President 2006. They made a movie about it and then awarded the movie they made. Toronto Film Festival.
That was so hard to find.
[movie about assassinating president bush]
7,610,000 results 0.29 seconds
Keep twisting, Penny. You'll get there.
"Penny co-knived.."
Or sumthin' like that, chick. ;)
Let me guess?
You like the pomp of clanging swords at the Renaissance Fair?
Me?
I'm the wench... over there >
"Instead of Obama's 100 mph over the cliff, slowing down to 80 mph over the cliff."
If true (I hope for, and expect, somewhat better than that), it at least gives us a fighting chance.
Right now, we have none.
And relying upon 8 years of disaster to teach the morons a lesson is fine in theory, but: 1) they are immune to learning; 2) at the rate we're going, we'll have nothing left to protect.
Thanks, Obama voters!
Fucking morons.
Ahh, Garage? When C.Ahoy, prolly the politest, nicest, guy on the site calls you out, you might want to re-think your position. Just a suggestion.
And PLEASE don't make me flesh out my fluffy breasts while I am trying to potty train notquiteunbuck to flush.
A secretary at the Federal Reserve Bank was named Penny Wages. Her boss was manager of Money Department. trufax.
It's where they sorted the bills. Icky paper money. Similar sorters to the machines that separated checks in another department on another floor, except different.
I never worked in that department but I went in there every day and I knew everybody there. I was everywhere and I had access to everything and everybody. Secret guard places between floors, everything. Janitors, vice presidents, everybody. I worked in acquisitions and everybody needed me, none of the ladies like to do physical work so I did all of that, so I chose what to wear, dress down, dress up, nobody ever questioned because nobody else wanted to move a skid of paper, and I mean nobody. No banker wants to move a skid of copy paper or lift a bundle of 500 canvas money bags. That simple fact gave me power and freedom because I liked it. I'd do a thing like that for an hour and then get to a computer, and be all over the whole building, everybody else sat at computers all day and then went to the gym. I was like, wow, this place is mine, it was awesome. I loved that place, and they loved me too. I drop in sometimes and they allow me parking whenever I wish, which is like valuable downtown real estate. I'll tell you more about it some day. Penny Wages is hawt. Friendly too.
I, nor Other (being Romney here for your input needs) listened to James Farmer on On The Firing Line.
We be racist.
Some, in denial; others, not.
The discourse sparked if not sparkling isn't Katy Perry and hence unBuckley, stet stat QED !!!!
I, nor Other (being Romney here for your input needs) listened to James Farmer on On The Firing Line.
We be racist.
Some, in denial; others, not.
The discourse sparked if not sparkling isn't Katy Perry and hence unBuckley, stet stat QED !!!!
Garage is a very reliable commenter. If Garage says something is true, I have 99.9% confidence that that something is in fact false.
And vice versa.
My career at that place advanced nicely but that is not how I see my success there. After all that, they used me for thing that have nothing at all to do with my job. The longer I worked there the less of my actual job that I did, other people did that because they asked me to do something else.
Example.
Stop me if I told you this. A woman bugged me, bugged me about drawing pictures for an Easter coloring book. An activity for children of employees. I didn't want to do that. She persisted. She agreed to clear my desk if I would draw the pictures for the coloring book. Copyright problem with actual coloring book, is why they needed it, once the idea lodged it wasn't to be dislodged.
Now someone else is doing my ordinary job and I'm drawing pictures for children.
Three age groups. Three pictures each. 9 outline images fit for coloring Easter theme.
I began with simplest and elaborated.
An egg with Charlie Brown sweater zig zag in a basket to all iconography known to Easter that is not Religious, bunnies, chicks, baskets, tulips, etc.
It took a few hours. I stretched it out with a few cups of coffee. Took my time playing around. Drawing lines. Lines. Lines. Lines. I drew these before. Long time ago. It came back. I did all that before.
In my contemplation drawing those Easter pictures I was transported. I'm tiny and on my stomach on the carpet with crayons and a book. I ask Mum where the pictures come from. She said "five and dime" ? No. Before that. Where did the store get them? Who made them? "An artist made them." How does he know where to put the lines? I had trouble keeping in the lines, originating the lines seemed an impossible feat."That's what makes him an artist." Silly as it seems, that was a profound moment for me, I sat there coloring at about 3+1/2 or 4 years old thinking that the coloring book artist was a genius. I recalled my 4 year old amazement. And godmanit, now I'm him!
*snap*
She was well chuffed with the 9 pictures and that was that. Forgot about the whole thing.
Months later my boss is giving me the 'come here' finger and I just hate that. Who does that? So I followed. Silently. Just followed. To the elevator. I was thinking, "oh shit, what now?" It felt a bit like a death march to something dreadful. Still silent, she led me to another cavernous room that took up nearly a fourth of the whole second floor. It had been cleared out for reconstruction down to bare walls with a few free standing cubicle walls. Spread across all the flat surfaces surrounding the entire room were hundreds and hundreds of my Easter pictures all lined up having been judged for their coloring in a competition, and they were astounding. I had no idea there were that many children of employees. 400 employees so a lot of children and there they are all coloring my pictures. I was stunned at what they did to them. My boss was beaming.
Mitt Romney's success as a consultant is reflected in his personal wealth and his company's success.
OTOH, his success as a politician kind of stinks up the entire Bay state - starting with his MassCare fiasco. Unfortunately, he still thinks it works because down deep he is a liberal.
Do not misinterpret me. Mitt remains a far better alternative than the narcissist-in-charge. With the help of a Republican Congress, we at leat have a chance to turn the economy around.
"My boss was beaming."
Hardwood floors should beam!
Countertops should beam!
TIP: When your boss "beams"?
Run like hell!
Fucker thinks he's GOD!
Are there beams coming out of his eyes? Like the museum Buddah's?
As Penny said, "run like hell!" LMAO!
Wow, Allie, I forgot about that! lol
Penny, wouldn't it be fun to see a picture of Chip Ahoy's boss "beaming"? Aiming at Chip, with Chip beating feet down the hallway with a terrified expression on face?
Frankly, I imagined crepuscular rays, which are quite common.
Like bosses!
Anyway, my bedtime here.
Night night.
You know, the more I think about it: Fuck Me.
We ain't got anything to do with anybody.
Sorry for my wasting your time.
Truly.
Nite Penny!
The thing about Althouse is a friend of the devil is a friend of mine.
Daylight.
Chip Ahoy, thank you for your anecdotes, they're wonderful.
In this thread, I especially loved this:
In my contemplation drawing those Easter pictures I was transported. I'm tiny and on my stomach on the carpet with crayons and a book. I ask Mum where the pictures come from. She said "five and dime" ? No. Before that. Where did the store get them? Who made them? "An artist made them." How does he know where to put the lines? I had trouble keeping in the lines, originating the lines seemed an impossible feat."That's what makes him an artist." Silly as it seems, that was a profound moment for me, I sat there coloring at about 3+1/2 or 4 years old thinking that the coloring book artist was a genius. I recalled my 4 year old amazement. And godmanit, now I'm him!
relying upon 8 years of disaster to teach the morons a lesson
For many Obama voters, the last 3 years haven't been that bad, since the gravy train is at full speed and fully loaded. Apres moi, le deluge.
For many Obama voters, the last 3 years haven't been that bad, since the gravy train is at full speed and fully loaded.
Assume that the DC metro area is in full bubble mode--inflated house prices, overall employment--unless proven otherwise. This is also an easy way to explain the skewed favoritism of Obama which cuts across racial and economic lines.
Are we being told, by people who should know, that there is a major Constitutional disaster happening w/ the election of a non eligible non natural born Citizen as President? A "law prof" that votes for a British subject for President? There is no law, and no constitution when the President is illegal. Why do you think Corzine walks free, and the criminal bankers are being given trillions of our money?
Romney is another banker stooge, just in case he does win. He has plenty to attack the Usurper with, yet stays silent on Solyndra (and all the rest of the "green industry" money given to Obama suporters, who then went bankrupt), the criminal GM bailout, and subsequent IPO, "Fast and Furious", etc, etc. Obama, the Usurper, is EXACTLY whom the framers were preventing from the Presidency by requiring a natural born Citizen. He has no allegiance or attachment to this country, only to Marxist ideology.
How dare the "law prof" question the consultant effectiveness of Romney. for more than 4 years, she, a supposed "law prof" has failed to alert the American people to the Constitutional disaster of the Usurper, and even voted for him!!!! What kind of consultant is she? Althouse and the rest of her ilk should be ashamed.
Penny said...
"A house divided cannot stand."
That includes Althouse's "house".
We all know who the regular commenters are here, and we also know that the majority of those commenters lean conservative.
Why, on god's little green acre here at Althouse, would we ever wish to pummel down the minority opinions of people like garage or Andy or Cookie or Cedarford or Allie? I know I missed some, but I didn't miss that many!
Not all opinions deserve equal consideration.
Why?
Because they're stupid.
Stupid has a communicable property.
Avoid stupid and you won't catch stupid.
Well at least people remember Romney working at Bain.
No one seems to have known or met Obama when he went to college at Occidental and Columbia.
But continue the unilateral vetting!
So where is the Professor? Over 21 hours without a post now.
But continue the unilateral vetting!
It's the only kind they know.
Icepick said...
So where is the Professor? Over 21 hours without a post now.
Maybe yesterday's slugfest was so draining she's breaking her streak.
Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
No such thing as "independent analysts" any more. I am pretty sure that you cannot find any that both you and I think are independent. Rather, I expect that if you do, I will be able to find some decently strong connections to the left, the Dem party, etc.
The supposedly unbiased analysis of Romney's tax proposals that has been trumpeted recently by the Obama people was done by known leftists using long discredited static analysis, and then claiming that Romney will raise taxes on the middle class (despite explicitly cutting them) because he will be forced to because of the cut in federal revenues (as a result of using static analysis).
This is what Andy is after - something that leftist think tanks, etc. can mischaracterize.
I view this as similar to the demand that Romney provide 10 years of tax returns - just something that they can demand to keep him on the defensive. There is, of course, no evidence whatsoever, that Romney hasn't paid millions in taxes over the years, and no evidence that he ever didn't pay all that he owed, etc. But, there is mounting evidence that there is something being hidden by Obama about his school - for example, a supposed schoolmate of his at Columbia who has publicly stated that no one he knows from there remembers Obama, despite supposedly being in the same department, etc. I am sure that the Romney campaign would gladly trade some more tax returns for Obama college records.
But, until then, why bother. Andy gives the game away (as usual) - it is all about gotcha. The Dems just want something that they can mischaracterize to their advantage.
Mitt Romney said today that his new tax plan isn’t detailed enough to be scored by outside groups.
“What I put out in my plan is a series of principles that allow our economy to grow and at the same time maintain a neutral budget impact,” Romney said on CNBC today. “And so I haven’t laid out all the details of how we’re going to deal with each one of the deductions and exemptions.”
“I think it’s kind of interesting,” he added, “for the groups to try and score it because frankly it can’t be scored because those kind of details have to be worked out with Congress and we have a wide array of options.”
It appears that even your candidate is in on the conspiracy...
Perhaps there was an emergency at the Alt/Meade/house, or more happily, they are spending the day together instead of working gratis keeping us amused.
"Carnifex said...
Perhaps ... they are spending the day together instead of working gratis keeping us amused."
To paraphrase RC, don't they know that this isn't their time, it's community time, and should be available for the betterment of everyone?
Her greed is palpable and horrifying. Someone should write a law prohibiting this blatant violation of our basic human right to entertainment security.
Oh Rusty, you are just a bit cranky, all you need is a good lube job.
Even if Ryan's plan isn't enough cutting, it is a start.
There is not enough political capital in the entire nation right now to make all the cuts we need to in one single jump.
The first step is cut the rate of spending growth, then show the economically illiterate voters that the world didn't end when we cut some welfare or entitlements.
Then we can make some real cuts to spending, maybe cut to a dept or program or two. When the economy improves, that will provide the credibility to make deep cuts, maybe even cut HUD or DoEd.
After the improvement to the economy from that is clear, we'll be in good shape to redo entitlements to reduce future commitments, and then have the economy grow enough to get a surplus, and this time we should be able to use that to pay down and virtually eliminate the debt, then continue to reduce govt after all the retirable debt is paid off.
It is difficult to imagine this actually happening, but it can only start with modest cuts to the rate of growth first.
Obama has an economic plan that has been graded by a bi-partisan analysis agency, the US Senate. Obama's budgets were rejected as unworkable in 97-0 and 99-0 votes the past two years.
Even if Ryan's plan isn't enough cutting . . .
That BS might have worked 20 years ago, but the deceitful scam is no longer viable.
THERE ARE NO CUTS.
"Cuts" in the rate of growth are not cuts in any honest and truthful sense of the word. They are INCREASES in spending.
Enough with the games, enough with the lies, enough with giving people a plate of shit and calling it steak.
We cannot afford "cuts in the rate of increases." We. Do. Not. Have. The. Money.
It appears that even your candidate is in on the conspiracy...
It would be really good if the press would put the fire to the politicians on this one.
The deficit is ranked as one of the top concerns by the voters, right after jobs (35%) with the deficit being the most main concern 23%. An honest press would ask for real plans to deal with the budget deficit. They should write critical articles of parties that are not forthcoming with actual proposals.
But for some reason the press is not interested in that. They are more concerned about Health Care (19%) and Gay Marriage, which ranks 4%. The press knows its moral values are so perfect that it is incumbent upon future generations to pay for them.
(That's a pew research poll, incidentally).
We cannot afford "cuts in the rate of increases." We. Do. Not. Have. The. Money.
Unfortunately, a bunch of liberal arts people who can't do basic math are reporting this information, and they aren't capable of understanding.
"Does America want to be Mitt Romney's client?'
When you asked whom folks would trust with their family finances, wasn't the answer a resounding yes?
"There should be some amazing solutions laid out of the table for us to look at."
If Mitt were competing for your advertising $$, then a dazzling presentation would be in order. You went for sexy "solutions" last time around, and here we are.
Taming the bureaucratic federal Goliath in any lasting way requires a very specific skill set: the ability to take an organization in hand, assess its working parts, ruthlessly cut out the deadwood, then restructure and redirect it. What job could be less glamorous? What presidential candidate has ever been better qualified to do it?
There's nothing "amazing" about what needs to be done, but you might be amazed by the results that a stiff dose of common sense would produce -- assuming you've got enough sense to vote for the less exciting guy who can supply it.
Gay Marriage, which ranks 4%
Coincidentally in line with the homosexual population. Not a shocker there.
Andy R. said...
Romney is refusing to release any plans that can be scored by independent analysts.
So hey moron, have you read the plan? Want to retract or apologize for "Romney is refusing" when he never did? Find any independent analysis yet? Did any of your own? Bueler?
AllieOop said...
Oh Rusty, you are just a bit cranky, all you need is a good lube job.
You confuse biting wit with ill humor.
In any event.
Your honor.
I rest my case.
Oh bite me, Rusty.
@Bender,
That BS might have worked 20 years ago, but the deceitful scam is no longer viable.
THERE ARE NO CUTS.
"Cuts" in the rate of growth are not cuts in any honest and truthful sense of the word. They are INCREASES in spending.
Enough with the games, enough with the lies, enough with giving people a plate of shit and calling it steak.
We cannot afford "cuts in the rate of increases." We. Do. Not. Have. The. Money.
I agree: we don't have the money.
But other nations are still willing to lend us money, so we still have money we can use to soften the landing while we turn it around.
Do you have any idea how few votes a candidate would get if he insisted on cutting spending to reasonable limits?
You are making perfect be the enemy of the good.
But I'll humor you:
What's your plan?
You and I agree: there is no money. We must slash ruthlessly.
How many people, total, can you get to vote for this plan by November?
What is your solution to get that passed?
And if you can't, what is your backup plan?
AllieOop said...
Oh bite me, Rusty
Just where would you like me to plant my lips?
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