tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post4954079257931239986..comments2024-03-19T01:52:00.810-05:00Comments on Althouse: "Boy, that's an overwhelmingly white crowd."Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger216125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-21967569642270968692011-03-31T10:37:30.131-05:002011-03-31T10:37:30.131-05:00Thank you for posting this. It appears that Wiscon...Thank you for posting this. It appears that Wisconsin is not as "diverse" as their Wikipedia page proclaims! I once attended a safety speakers conference in Madison that looked almost exactly like the pictures of this rally.<br />http://drebinger.comCastlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16251369313764347878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-90967660026046576332010-09-30T08:26:46.216-05:002010-09-30T08:26:46.216-05:00The best thing about Althouse is having the chance...The best thing about Althouse is having the chance to read the unedited thoughts of liberals on matters economic. The lack of a grasp of the simplest concepts is stunning. My all time favorite was the writer who believed that if a stock went up one dollar on a float of a million shares the company had an extra million dollars in its coffers. This economic stupidity is prevalent on the left.<br />Matt: If capital gains taxes are raised next year I will not sell. Capital gains is a voluntary tax and if the tax goes up by 5 percentage points my holdings have to increase 33 percent to get even on an after tax basis. You should be able to get this simple concept and use it as a foundation for learning more about disincentives in the tax structure.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08258681007386089907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-17403949672870026372010-09-30T07:32:29.874-05:002010-09-30T07:32:29.874-05:00Re: Joe and my faulty accounting.
I blame Sailor ...Re: Joe and my faulty accounting.<br /><br />I blame Sailor Jerry's evil influence and a last minute edit before "publish". Thanks for posting the correction.Calypso Factohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01455217189407301218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51740025361961413132010-09-30T01:19:12.069-05:002010-09-30T01:19:12.069-05:00A lot of stupid ideas aren't radical at all.A lot of stupid ideas aren't radical at all.blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05430444326700437630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-64305221351939299872010-09-30T00:37:53.395-05:002010-09-30T00:37:53.395-05:00Matt,
"I'm saying raising taxes on those ...Matt,<br />"I'm saying raising taxes on those making 250k is hardly some radical idea"<br /><br />Those are the small business owners. You think that will encourage them to hire more people?exhelodrvr1https://www.blogger.com/profile/15874052265934108903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-23154619754570618562010-09-30T00:13:32.653-05:002010-09-30T00:13:32.653-05:00Matt -
Do you have any thoughts about Hauser'...Matt -<br /><br />Do you have any thoughts about Hauser's Law and how it might affect your preferred policy?Sofa Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659133819240484346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-6440523066775538922010-09-29T22:40:35.599-05:002010-09-29T22:40:35.599-05:00What is the implication of labeling some group of ...What is the implication of labeling some group of obviously partisan people (by definition of participating actively in politics) if not to call yourself not partisan, or somehow less partisan?<br /><br />Even a third-rate hack like Matt Tiabbi would back me up here.<br /><br />Also, if you want to tax people making over $250,000 a year, you don't want to tax "the rich." You merely want to tax people who make more than you do. Truly rich people find ways to shelter their money. It is middle class people with incomes higher than yours who foolishly pay these absurd rates you want.<br /><br />And you are comical if you believe that it is wise to raise taxes on anyone in this economy. The reason the Great Depression lasted as long as it did had nothing to do with the economy itself and everything to do with the idiots making federal policy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-36452952247550262482010-09-29T22:29:38.666-05:002010-09-29T22:29:38.666-05:00Seven Machos
Your reading comprehension is questio...Seven Machos<br />Your reading comprehension is questionable. I never said I was nonpartisan. As in never ever. Go back and read what I said. <br /><br />Yes, I am partisan. Yes, I too fall under the umbrella of my accusations against partisans. But let me clarify. Not ALL partisans are like that ALL the time. I wouldn't hang out on this blog if I thought everyone here was an extreme right winger with a closed mind. [Some are to be honest].<br /><br />Joe<br />I think corporations and business leaders DO create jobs. I'm not saying to fuck them. I'm saying raising taxes on those making 250k is hardly some radical idea. That said, tax incentives for them is on the table too. I am not as radical as you may think. My views are considered left by right wingers and moderate to right by the left. It's nuts. Try going over to Talk Left blog and talk sense. They label Obama a Republican.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977662030208589392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-56884121677606883072010-09-29T21:59:43.122-05:002010-09-29T21:59:43.122-05:00I'm non-partisan. I'm on my way to becomin...I'm non-partisan. I'm on my way to becoming a partisan, because I think there's a chance to knock the stupid -- well, SOME of the stupid -- out of the GOP. <br /><br />With luck, that'll drag the Dems away from Moscow. When they're fighting over who can cut the most government, then my work will be done.blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05430444326700437630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19200533961284160052010-09-29T21:41:53.752-05:002010-09-29T21:41:53.752-05:00I am a liberal.
I thought you were nonpartisan.
...<i>I am a liberal.</i><br /><br />I thought you were nonpartisan.<br /><br />Dude, nobody here arguing with you is nonpartisan. No one said they were. Except you. And you are perfectly partisan. <br /><br />You also aren't particularly smart, as you now show by your inability to understand why taxes prevent growth and why it would be economically bizarre to raise tax rates in a near depression. This is also funny given your characterization of Tea Party types as "not bright."<br /><br />Go read some more Matt Taibbi, dude. More your skill level.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-18966114422953666842010-09-29T21:38:30.086-05:002010-09-29T21:38:30.086-05:00(The Crypto Jew)
Well let's cut the F*cking p...(The Crypto Jew)<br /><br />Well let's cut the F*cking programs, then?<br /><br />As Limbaugh likes to say, I have less money from having lost my job, I need to cut back...<br /><br />BUT the government can NEVER do with less money, right?Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846399206688807076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-63185114900903639192010-09-29T21:36:24.613-05:002010-09-29T21:36:24.613-05:00Seven Machos & Joe
Well you're hardly non...Seven Machos & Joe<br /><br />Well you're hardly nonpartisan either, right? Taxes 100%? Umm...what? Not reasonable and you know that is not my argument. I'm simply asking for taxes to be raised to a level they were under Clinton. Hardly that high. The rich knew taxes were coming with Obama.<br /><br />Why is it that partisans always accuse the other side of extreme views? The left hates the Tea Party so they label them racists. The right hates entitlements so they label people in favor of them communists? It's absurd.<br /><br />Look, I think the debt is fucking serious. But a good number of working folks who complain about the debt do not seem to realize that there are TWO primary choices: Raise fucking taxes or cut fucking programs. Which will it be? I am a liberal. I say raise taxes. Reagan did it. We survived.<br /><br />Also, Seven, The Tea Party is not a party BY ITSELF. It is a branch of the GOP. Even if the GOP does not recognize it they will hardly ignore it if it helps their cause in taking back the House and Senate. If the Tea Party had candidates that were truly a third party you might have a point. But it is still a two party system.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977662030208589392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-28213125707699521302010-09-29T21:34:33.394-05:002010-09-29T21:34:33.394-05:00Calypso it's a 300% in increase, spending is 4...Calypso it's a 300% in increase, spending is 400% greater, but the increase is measured new-old/old...Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846399206688807076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3010270557155132442010-09-29T21:28:10.110-05:002010-09-29T21:28:10.110-05:00Also, nonpartisan and super-smart Matt, another co...Also, nonpartisan and super-smart Matt, another complex paradox for you: taxes collected often go up when tax <b>rates</b> go down.<br /><br />How can such a thing be?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-76531757705225793092010-09-29T21:27:22.090-05:002010-09-29T21:27:22.090-05:00Just so we're on the same page, Matt, with thi...Just so we're on the same page, Matt, with this being a mid-term Congressional election and all:<br /><br />The Republican controlled Congresses of 2001-2006 increased the US gross debt by $2.8 Trillion (about 50%) in 6 years ($433 Billion/year). The Democratic Congresses of 2007-2010 have increased the US gross debt by $5 Trillion (about 60%) in 4 years ($1.25 Trillion/year). So yes, recent Republican spending was bad. But recent Democratic spending was 400% worse! Do you get why people might be a little pissed and ready to wrest Democratic hands off the Treasury in November? Or do you understand that jacked up tax rates won't begin to fill this hole? (Letting the Bush-era cuts lapse will bring in a projected maximum of $200 Billion.) The problem isn't taxes, it's spending. Pure and simple.Calypso Factohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01455217189407301218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-13851009561841946942010-09-29T21:18:20.357-05:002010-09-29T21:18:20.357-05:00Joe -- Come on. Only a partisan would suggest that...Joe -- Come on. Only a partisan would suggest that rich people create jobs and poor people do not. Look at how many government jobs the poor create.<br /><br />Be nonpartisan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-64496390916177551032010-09-29T21:15:37.806-05:002010-09-29T21:15:37.806-05:00I am for raising taxes. [Crazy, I know]. It's ...<i><br />I am for raising taxes. [Crazy, I know]. It's a more sane way to cut the deficit and pay for government programs.</i><br />Really, so when the gov't gets more money it'll pay down the debt, right? Because that's happened all the time, right? And that's assuming that Federal spending on programs, meets it's targets and don't cost more than projected, because that's never happened, either.<br /><br /><i> It's called civilization. Taxes are not near as high as they were for most of the post WW2 era.</i><br /><br />Of course there were massive exemptions for certain things, so the EFFECTIVE TAX RATE was 90%. Only now, Matt, my man, there aren't that many exemptions, so a 90% tax rate is really going to approximate a 90% tax rate. Let me ask you, how about I take 70% of your earnings?<br /><br /><br /> <i>We have to live within our means. Tax the rich.</i><br /><br />Non sequitu...live within our means, but take in more money....You realize that IF we took all of Buffett's and Gates' money it would fund the government for a few weeks at most?<br /><br />And tell me how many jobs have poor people created? So those rich b@stards what do they do with all that money any way?Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846399206688807076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66353254659223371692010-09-29T21:13:36.140-05:002010-09-29T21:13:36.140-05:00Joe -- Great points, but how can you expect a supe...Joe -- Great points, but how can you expect a super-brilliant nonpartisan who is dealing only in facts and Matt Taibbi columns to be convinced?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-18703662939155468202010-09-29T21:06:59.199-05:002010-09-29T21:06:59.199-05:00(The Crypto Jew)
Yes but you are crackers if you t...(The Crypto Jew)<br /><i>Yes but you are crackers if you think you can somehow fix this by ending Social Security </i><br /><br />Typical misdirection and lying...no one is talking about ENDING SS, reform is inevitable, unless you think you or your children are going to be able to pay an effective tax rate of 70% to pay for the looming shortfall...the tax rate is from memory from a discussion from the Clinton years.<br /><br /><i>This wasn't only because of entitlement programs. It was mainly because Bush cut taxes yet kept spending high. And then there was the bail out and the wars.<br /></i><br /><br />The MAJORITY of it was, or can't you read a budget chart, Defense, INCLUDING GWoT is not a majority of Federal Spending, Medicare and Social Security and Entitlements are....Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846399206688807076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-71736787898457823972010-09-29T21:05:41.619-05:002010-09-29T21:05:41.619-05:00Tax the rich.
Sounds brilliant and nonpartisan.
...<i>Tax the rich.</i><br /><br />Sounds brilliant and nonpartisan.<br /><br />Also, Matt, you beacon of super amazing intelligence and nonpartisan awesomeness, why not just make taxes 100 percent? Especially on those fucking rich bastards! What's the problem with that? Surely, given your level of intelligence and your cool, objective demeanor, you will have a compelling answer here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-37743034919240529432010-09-29T21:03:11.879-05:002010-09-29T21:03:11.879-05:00Matt -- A riddle: The Tea Party types are obviousl...Matt -- A riddle: The Tea Party types are obviously not Republicans who approved of everything George W. Bush did, because if they were they would not have started this new Tea Party thing and would have instead simply worked through the mechanisms of the Republican party.<br /><br />I know you are a super brilliant and super nonpartisan and all, so help us all out with this complex conundrum.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-52814896939713955602010-09-29T21:02:13.140-05:002010-09-29T21:02:13.140-05:00Seven Machos
I'm a realist. The Dems will los...Seven Machos<br /><br />I'm a realist. The Dems will lose the House but most likely keep the Senate. Who knows in 2012? Although I am pretty sure Palin has little chance against Obama. Romney might.<br /><br />I am for raising taxes. [Crazy, I know]. It's a more sane way to cut the deficit and pay for government programs. It's called civilization. Taxes are not near as high as they were for most of the post WW2 era. We have to live within our means. Tax the rich. They had little trouble with it when Clinton was president.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977662030208589392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-2710383268934718742010-09-29T20:56:56.974-05:002010-09-29T20:56:56.974-05:00Joe
Yes but you are crackers if you think you can ...Joe<br />Yes but you are crackers if you think you can somehow fix this by ending Social Security and Medicare, which millions rely on.<br /><br />Note the national debt rose about 72 percent under Bush. This wasn't only because of entitlement programs. It was mainly because Bush cut taxes yet kept spending high. And then there was the bail out and the wars.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977662030208589392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-26764798888242330892010-09-29T20:43:36.328-05:002010-09-29T20:43:36.328-05:00This is the way partisans are.
Clearly, however, ...<i>This is the way partisans are.</i><br /><br />Clearly, however, you are no partisan. Not you. You are a shining light of objectivity on a hill of super intelligence, standing above the fray and looking down on everyone.<br /><br /><i>Most are not too bright.</i><br /><br />They are, however, bright enough to avoid reading Matt Tiabbi or worse, attempting to use his third-rate hackery in discussion as though it had some sort of intellectual currency.<br /><br /><i>Or they are rich assholes</i><br /><br />Now this here is some especially hilarious shit. The Tea Partiers are middlebrow, ordinary hoi polloi. This is, in fact, what so upsets the smartypants set so much. <br /><br />Anyway, you are going to be one sad, sorry nonpartisan in November, dude.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-67668007512013244692010-09-29T20:37:11.961-05:002010-09-29T20:37:11.961-05:00(The Crypto Jew)
So the Porkulus Bill was larger ...(The Crypto Jew)<br /><br />So the Porkulus Bill was larger than the cost sof Iraq AND Afghanistan, to that point.....<br /><br />Yeah we spent more on the war...and we supported it....<br /><br />Again, amazing...are you really this ill-informed?Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846399206688807076noreply@blogger.com