Philips? That would be Emo Philips, who was in town yesterday.
"I'm not a Republican, but I'm saving up to be one."
January 22, 2007
"One man turned out to be a certain kind of comedian's dream -- he was a lawyer, and a Republican..."
"... and Philips concluded many of his jokes about the Grand Old Party by simply gesturing at the man, as if to say: I rest my case."
Philips? That would be Emo Philips, who was in town yesterday.
Philips? That would be Emo Philips, who was in town yesterday.
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Maybe he is correct to imply that Republicans and conservatives save and are interested in saving not only money but traditional American cultural as well. It's this savings that allows the next generation to liver better than ourselves.
In contrast, liberals just want to spend not only their own money, but everyone elses.
So who was that at the Comedy Club on State Street last night delivering all those one-liners about his ex-wife ("I hate being divorced; I'd rather be a widower")?
The ex-wife would be Judy Tenuta.
"I was walking down the street,
When something caught my eye...
...and dragged it fifteen feet."
Now I remember Emo Philips. Took a little while on YouTube, but it's all coming back. Wow! Twenty-five years. Who can believe it?
Looks like his career is going great, too, playing clubs in Wisconsin and all.
And the review mentioned some really funny topics, y'know, Republicans and Mormons, that nobody ever jokes about. Ha ha.
"I went to Pedro's Artificial Organ and Taco Stand,
and said, 'Give me a bladder, por favor',
They said, 'Is that to go?',
And I said, 'Well, what else would I want it for?'"
Given how Emo is, I'm sure Judy Tenuta would rather be dead, too.
To me, this is an odd juxtaposition of sentences.
To be fair, sloan said the next Generation will liver better. That means they are drinking more and therefore more dependent on their livers. Drinking to the memory of better times in the past. And to the continued paying of interest by many generations.
The thing that struck me about the description of Emo: He has silver hair!
Second, because they have decided to finance this spending with debt, it is clear that the "someone else" whose money they are spending is the next generation's.
If you have kids, there isn't really a difference between your money and the next generation's money -- your kids, after all, get whatever money you have left over. Assuming that the return on your savings is greater than the return on government debt (which is virtually certain), the "next generation" ends up with more money if they inherit both your share of government debt and the money you invested in lieu of paying more taxes.
The current interest rate of government debt is 5.375%; stock market returns average 7%. This means that a $1000 tax break paid for by government debt leaves the next generation, 30 years later, with $2800 *after* paying off the debt. Simply put, with interest rates this low it is stupid NOT to run a deficit. That's what the infamous quote "deficits don't matter" refers to.
People do similar things in their private lives all the time -- maintaining massive debt at low interest (a mortgage) while maintaining investments that yield higher rates of return (stocks and corporate bonds). They maintain that mortgage debt not because they themselves are stupid, but because selling off their investments to pay down that debt would be stupid -- they'd be losing money over the long term. You don't discard high-return investments to pay off low-interest debts.
One final bit of food for thought: advocates of progressive taxation (i.e., Democrats and many Republicans) believe that richer people, simply because they are richer and more able to pay, must shoulder a higher portion of the tax burden. Well, the next generation's going to be richer than this one, just as this one is richer than the one before it. So why not make them pay for our benefits? Poorer Americans make richer Americans pay for the former's government benefits every day.
Theo, ole' Emo might not be doing an HBO comedy special right now, but he probably made 1500 to 2500 bucks for the weekend, plus lodging and airfare. Bigger Midwestern cities like Madison, Des Moines, the Quad Cities - all of those places pay pretty well in the winter, since the clubs are usually quite busy.
I used to do stand-up, and while the money's nothing like it was in the 1980s, a guy like Emo still has enough name recognition to pull down 4 figures a weekend in any club that books him.
Not too many jobs allow you to sleep in every day, work 7 hours a week and pay that kind of cash.
The last six years has demonstrated two things. First, Republicans are just as willing to spend other people's money as libs/dem
I agree with you on this. No matter who is in power, they seem to want to spend our money regardless. Perhaps then Emo was not talking about this. Maybe he was talking about the upper middle class - those making between $100k and $200k; i.e., the consumers of SUVs, 5000 sft homes, and family vacations. The dems seem to despise this group most of all.
Sloan, is there a punchline in there somewhere? Joan can teach you a lot about having a sense of humor!
Never heard of him but Judy Tenuta rings a bell.
Re govt spending, would the still be significant if we had not undertaken the war in Iraq??
And would George Bush and the republicans still be the party in power? I venture the answer is yes.
So why not make them pay for our benefits?
The debt is not being sold to The Next Generation. It's being sold overseas. Our children won't be paying off the debt to Americans. That's what makes the present fiscal insanity in DC bad policy.
Emo Phillips isn't funny. I was dragged into seeing one of his shows at the Comedy Club on State Street around this time last year and I don't know if I laughed more than once or twice during the entire show. Both warm-up comedians were better than he was.
Re: "No matter who is in power, they seem to want to spend our money regardless. "
As our founders discovered, even taxation with representation was not a guarantee against tyranny.
The only real answer comes when the power to tax is separated from the power to spend. Because our Congress can do both, it will always see the raising of taxes as good for us, no matter who's in charge.
Emmo Phillips and Judy Tenuta were married? That has to be the most annoying couple in history if true.
More than the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Theodora?
More than Martin and Katharina Luther?
More than Wagner and Cosima von Bülow?
More than MADONNA and SEAN PEN???
BTW, I have no idea who Emo Phillips and Judy Tenuta are.
Now I know how the rest of you feel when you read my posts on Brazilian standards of beauty. Sucks.
Minutes later: I looked up Judy Tenuta. She looks like Sharon Osborne.
Cheers,
Victoria
Good comedy ishard. Emo is an acquired taste at best; quirky, off-beat view, weird truisms.
I never thought he was annoying.
Sam Kinison, I mean SAM KINISON AAAAAGH- was annoying. So was Carrot Top and whatshisname the most awful comedian EVER: Pauly Shore.
Pauly Shore was a County Zoning Board meeting wrapped in a Cindy Sheehan vigil inside a Greek chorus reading of Ulysses.
"... and Philips concluded many of his jokes about the Grand Old Party by simply gesturing at the man, as if to say: I rest my case."
Wow....what fun. Go to a show and end up being the butt of every joke by a rude fourth rate comedian. Everyone's dream I'm sure.
It's interesting that the author of the article seems to think this is perfectly acceptable because the patron has the temerity to be a Lawyer AND Republican at the same time.
I would have walked out and demanded my money back.
This is intriguing as it would seem to argue that our deficit isn't big enough which I don't think anyone would agree with.
Well, not phrased that way, maybe. Few people would use the phrase "I don't owe nearly enough money on my house" either, but people nevertheless borrow against their home in order to make investments -- which demonstrates empirically that those people did, indeed, think they needed to have more debt.
I think we'd be better off running a bigger deficit and lowering taxes more, although I'm not sure when we'd pass the point of diminishing returns. There's a limited supply of money available for borrowing, and therefore a limit to how big the deficit can get. Deficits have the effect of pushing up interest rates (due to competition for lenders' dollars). At the moment interest rates are so low that it seems unlikely the deficit's having an effect.
Anyway, it isn't that deficits are good -- its that, if you're going to spend a metric assload of money on government spending, borrowing the money makes more economic sense, given current interest rates, than paying for them in tax revenues.
it just can't be possile
One of the greatest power couples ever, reconquered a good part of the old Western Roman Empire, recodified the laws. Unless you are Belisarious what is not to love?
Thanks for not correcting it, JohnK. What an gallant man you are.
Justinian it was, is, and will always be. But back to the comedian power couple.
So I checked...
Oh God yes. Not even close. If you knew who Emo and Judy were you wouldn't be asking that question.
...Judy Tenuta on Youtube.
VERY ANNOYING, but in rather an upbeat, in her own alternate reality, Romanian-gypsy looking way.
Plus, my mother plays the accordion, so it resonates.
Emo Phillips, though, him I didn't like at all.
He offered this joke on his website,
11-06
"Autumn leaves sure are pretty... until you have to rake them!"
-- Benito Mussolini"M
I'm just not 'lista' enough to get this.
And Pogo:
Pauly Shore was a County Zoning Board meeting wrapped in a Cindy Sheehan vigil inside a Greek chorus reading of Ulysses.
LOL!
Cheers,
Victoria
Both Tenuta and Phillips are acquired tastes. I never much cared for Phillips, but then he's from Milwaukee, so need I say more?
Tenuta has the distinction of going in a completely different direction from her contemporaries. While they were all going for the Ellen Degeneres/Paula Poundstone tie-wearing wry humor, she went back to the old-style vaudevillian brashness with her accordian and distinctly unfeminine style, all the while ironically insisting that she was a "goddess". She could be annoying, but at least she offered something different.
BTW, criticizing stand-up comics for having a liberal bent is kind of pointless. Liberalism is part of the sub-culture.
First, it assumes that a significant portion of current "savings" from deficit spending are saved and/or reinvested. Given the current savings rate for the U.S. I am not sure of this assumption.
If we had a flat tax that'd be a problem, but we have a progressive tax system that sticks the highest-income people -- i.e., those most likely to invest -- with the overwhelming majority of the tax bill.
Besides, all that is required is that the money eventually find its way to someone who invests it. It doesn't necessarily have to be the person who would have been taxed.
What happens if it becomes politically, economically or socially advantageous for some of these lenders to force our borrowing costs to rise?
If interest rates rose high enough and rates of return on investment didn't, borrowing would cease to be an attractive option and we'd have to raise taxes. The point remains that raising them *now*, when borrowing is cheap, would be dumb.
Third, it assumes that the deficit remains small relative to GDP. If they remain small relative to GDP "deficits don't matter".
I think the real problem is what percentage of GDP gets spent on wasteful government programs -- how they're paid for isn't really the issue.
How can you make fun of republicans now? It is like kicking a dead horse.
How can you make fun of republicans now? It is like kicking a dead horse.
"One of the greatest power couples ever, reconquered a good part of the old Western Roman Empire, recodified the laws.."
And built the Hagia Sophia. Ultimately all the great Althouse threads are interwoven!
Incidentally, for a surprising account of how Theodora spent her free time, check out Procopius's "Secret History."
How can you make fun of republicans now? It is like kicking a dead horse.
Weze heard ya the first time.
We ain't deef.
Cheers,
Victoria
I think that whenever you start complaining about deficit spending, you need to come clean as to whether you are suggesting cutting spending or increasing taxes. They are not equivalent, by an means, and those who are screaming the loudest about deficit spending also have records as big spenders and taxers.
As noted above, this wouldn't be as much a problem if we had a flat tax. We don't. We have a decently progressive system where most of the taxes are paid by a very small percentage of the population - who happen also to contribute the most to our economy. They are the most innovative, best educated, smartest, etc. And note that it isn't inherited wealth that pays the bulk of taxes, but earned income.
There are a lot of problems with increasing both spending and taxation, but one is that it transfers more and more of the wealth of this country from those who do the most to earn it to those who don't. Nearly half the population doesn't pay any income tax any more (though they continue to pay payroll taxes). Increasing spending and taxes mearly increases how much is transferred from those paying to those who don't.
So, if given the choice, I would prefer to fund any spending increases with debt instead of with tax increases. Of cocurse, I would also prefer cutting spending.
It is not really that deficits don't matter, but rather that taxes matter more. Taxes hurt the economy. Progressive taxation hurts the economy more. Wealth taxes provide a disincentive to invest, and income taxes provide a disincentive to work and invest. And, as importantly, the Keynsian multiplier is less than one - which means in part that government spending and "investing" is significantly less effective than private spending and investing.
I always find the logic in "I'm not a Republican, but I'm saving up to be one" to be laughable. The Democratic Party is run by the very rich, many of whom got their money through inheritance (or in Kerry's case, marriage). A couple of years ago, I saw a survey of the wealth in the Senate. The Democrats were ahead a bit on number of millionaires, and way ahead on total wealth.
So, it is always humorous when they try to pretend like they are champions of the lower classes. This was esp. humorous with the recent push to raise the minimum wage. Did Nancy Pelosi (or Ted Kennedy who has pushed this for decades) ever earned the minimum wage? Indeed, they most likely don't even pay it for their "help".
No, what they invariably do is push policies that hurt those not as rich as they, in order to pretend to help those even more disadvantaged. And these policies invariably hurt the real wealth creators in this country (as opposed to these wealth marriers and inheriters) the most (as well as the economy as a whole).
The Democrats were ahead a bit on number of millionaires, and way ahead on total wealth.
Blame Herb Kohl!
Sloanasaurus said...
Maybe he is correct to imply that Republicans and conservatives save and are interested in saving not only money but traditional American cultural as well. It's this savings that allows the next generation to liver better than ourselves."
oh i love it when sloanasaurus intprets for us. well maybe he meant that the gop is a rich get richer off the backs of the working poor party....but the real question is what does he mean by "American culture"?
This answer ought to be a hottie.
oh i love it when sloanasaurus intprets for us. well maybe he meant that the gop is a rich get richer off the backs of the working poor party
And maybe he was just riffing off a stereotype using audience participation in an interesting way to get a laugh.
Belittling your audience for a laugh doesn't work all that well (as Michael Richards found out) but ribbing them and saying, "Lighten up and laugh at yourself," is a way of including them in the act.
For what it's worth, Emo Philips also made fun of Democrats at that show.
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