msduncan wrote:Yeah, I'm sure the massive economic boom/bubble (and thus increased government revenues) of the late 1990's had nothing to do with it.
That had *everything* to do with it. How do you square the current rhetoric that raising taxes kills economies when the massive economic boom of the mid-to-late 1990s came on the heels of two substantial tax increases?
If nothing else, they certainly didn't seem to harm the massive economic boom, did they?
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
stessier wrote:
The stimulus can fail to achieve its goals and at the same time people can enjoy having money. The two are not mutually exclusive.
For example, she could give me $100 from the big pile. I'm not creating jobs, I'm just going to put it in the bank, so the money failed to achieve it's goals but I enjoy having the $100 in my account.
Not saying she is right or wrong, just that she is not being inconsistent imo.
Except the stimulus wasn't just giving money away from a big pile. It was used to pay for jobs. Jobs that Bachmann claims the stimulus didn't create.
But compared to the many other outlandish things she has said, I agree with you that this is relatively minor.
YellowKing wrote:Until this latest debt ceiling fiasco, I certainly have heard of no serious attempts by politicians to save money.
The budget acts of 1990 and 1993 were both based around the goal of reducing the federal deficit, and they succeeded in ending it by the late 1990s.
Yeah, I'm sure the massive economic boom/bubble (and thus increased government revenues) of the late 1990's had nothing to do with it.
We were still running a surplus through FY 2001 (after the dot-com bubble had burst), at least until PAYGO was abandoned, etc. Additionally, why no surpluses in other booms? '69 was the last surplus prior to '98.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
stessier wrote:
The stimulus can fail to achieve its goals and at the same time people can enjoy having money. The two are not mutually exclusive.
For example, she could give me $100 from the big pile. I'm not creating jobs, I'm just going to put it in the bank, so the money failed to achieve it's goals but I enjoy having the $100 in my account.
Not saying she is right or wrong, just that she is not being inconsistent imo.
Except the stimulus wasn't just giving money away from a big pile. It was used to pay for jobs. Jobs that Bachmann claims the stimulus didn't create.
But compared to the many other outlandish things she has said, I agree with you that this is relatively minor.
Part of the problem with the stimulus is that so much of it's boom was destroyed in bailing out the State Governments. There wasn't much of a multiplier effect because the net amount of money going into the economy was very small.
As an example, take a look a Tx's budget. Balanced only with the help of stimulus money, there's now a massive shortfall ($27b, I believe, which is larger than California's...).
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
He joked that he would own “Obamacare,” the GOP’s derisive description of his massive health care reform effort.
“I have no problem with folks saying ‘Obama cares,’” he said, standing in white shirtsleeves in a rural Minnesota waterfront park evocative of a Norman Rockwell painting. “I do.”
Ugh. Painfully lame.
“They were asked to reduce our deficit, reduce our debt, would you be willing to take a deal where it was $5 of spending cuts for every $1 of increased revenues, who would take it? Everybody said no. They said, ‘How about 10 to 1?’ Ten dollars of cuts for every dollar increase in revenue? Are you saying that none of you would take it — and everybody raised their hand. None of them would take it … that’s just not common sense."
“Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton — the last time we had a balanced budget — all of them understood that you have to take a balanced approach to solving our deficit and debt problems, the same way a family would.”
Better. I expect to hear a whole lot more about Reagan in this campaign.
"This used to be a Republican policy," he told the audience. "Suddenly it's like they've got amnesia." Then, in a mocking tone he mimicked his critics: "Oh, this is terrible! This is going to take away our freedom!"
Also, it's much easier to be an inspiring candidate than an inspiring president. As a candidate you can sling around all kinds of stuff while as President you have to, you know, govern and stuff.
msduncan wrote:If Bachmann is the "Queen of Fringe", is Romney the "King"?
That role has been reserved for years by Ron Paul. It's appalling that Ron Paul's crazy ideas have become such a part of the Republican Party's message.
Just out of curiosity -- which of his ideas do you find offensively ridiculous?
Where do you want me to start, Mr. Fed? I think by now you're quite aware that I'm not a libertarian.
Ron Paul has pledged never to increase taxes, and proposes to eliminate most federal government agencies. As a legislator, Ron Paul promised "never to vote for legislation unless expressly authorized by the Constitution." As President, Ron Paul would be in the position of not only vetoing almost all legislation but also dismantling the Executive Branch entirely. The self-inflicted crisis over the debt ceiling would be nothing compared to what a Ron Paul Presidency would do to the economy, let alone the Federal government.
Running for President for the sole purpose of dismantling it makes Ron Paul inherently unqualified to hold that office.
"A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on." -Terry Pratchett, The Truth "The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to those who think they've found it." -Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment
Also Ron Paul's desire to abolish the Federal Reserve puts him right in the mainstream of thought on the Constitution and Federal Power. At least, it would when this was a big campaign issue in 1800 and 1828.
El Guapo wrote:Also Ron Paul's desire to abolish the Federal Reserve puts him right in the mainstream of thought on the Constitution and Federal Power. At least, it would when this was a big campaign issue in 1800 and 1828.
Conservatives(libertarians like Paul) have this fantasy of a small, powerless government. There has not been a powerful country in the modern world without an effective, 'large' government. The ideas of social contracts and the tragedy of the commons are big problems with libertarianism.
They're going to send you back to mother in a cardboard box...
Because implied threats against the current Fed chair for doing whatever he can to keep the economy moving, let alone push towards recovery, are always awesome.
Quick follow-up: Perry's campaign had a chance to state that they didn't mean to imply a threat against Bernanke. Instead, they went with "The Governor is expressing his frustration."
Because implied threats against the current Fed chair for doing whatever he can to keep the economy moving, let alone push towards recovery, are always awesome.
Quick follow-up: Perry's campaign had a chance to state that they didn't mean to imply a threat against Bernanke. Instead, they went with "The Governor is expressing his frustration."
Of course, that goes well with his D in Economics.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
It's interesting - posting about Ron Paul and the Federal Reserve got me thinking about the history of central banking in the U.S., and the tortured debates over the subject largely in the early 19th century. So I looked up the history again to get a bit of a refresher. It's interesting that people tend to view extreme partisanship as a modern thing, and our politics as uniquely dysfunctional, but:
In 1816, however, Madison revived it in the form of the Second Bank of the United States. Years later, early renewal of the bank's charter became the primary issue in the reelection of President Andrew Jackson. After Jackson, who was opposed to the central bank, was reelected, he pulled the government's funds out of the bank. Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States, responded by contracting the money supply to pressure Jackson to renew the bank's charter forcing the country into a recession, which the bank blamed on Jackson's policies.
Makes debt ceiling brinkmanship look pretty tame by comparison.
What you’re upset with isn’t the candidate — it’s the party. It’s inconceivable that anyone could get the Republican nomination while using anything but solid Tea Party rhetoric on pretty much every issue. They’re all going to claim that taxes should never, ever, ever be raised no matter what, that half of what the government does is evil or unconstitutional or whatever, that the scientific consensus on climate is some sort of crazed conspiracy, and so on down the line. I’ve been saying for some time now that the odds are against Republicans actually nominating a candidate who believes crazy things — but the odds of them nominating someone who says crazy things has gone up.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Exodor wrote:Can a man who talked secession really go around accusing others of treason?
It's almost like secessionist Perry suggesting that Obama isn't in love with the USA.
My blog (mostly photos): Fort Ephemera - My Flickr Photostream
“You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn’t waste either.” ―Galen Rowell
"You don't accuse the chairman of the federal reserve of being a traitor to his country. Of being guilty of treason," Karl Rove told Fox News Tuesday. "And, suggesting that we treat him pretty ugly in texas. You know, that is not, again a presidential statement."
Anonymous Bosch wrote:
Perry: "37% of all U.S. jobs created since June, 2009, were created in Texas."
Etc, etc, etc.
(Yes, plenty of those jobs were low-paying, but with over 9% unemployment, that's obviously going to be Perry's mantra).
On the other hand:
Texas’ unemployment rate tells a different story. It has gone up from 7.7% to 8.0% over that same period. And by that measure, Texas has done worse than the rest of the country since the peak of national unemployment in October 2009: that month the U.S. rate was 10.1% and Texas was 8.2%. Texas peaked at 8.3% last December, dropping to 8.0% in April, while the national rate has dropped a point since it’s peak to 9.1%
"You don't accuse the chairman of the federal reserve of being a traitor to his country. Of being guilty of treason," Karl Rove told Fox News Tuesday. "And, suggesting that we treat him pretty ugly in texas. You know, that is not, again a presidential statement."
Karl Rove doesn't like meretricious accusations of treason now?
Rick Perry is accusing climate scientists of cooking the books for money.
"There are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they would have dollars rolling in to their projects," the GOP presidential candidate said Wednesday during a campaign stop in Bedford, N.H., according to The Dallas Morning News.
"We're seeing it almost weekly or almost daily, scientists who are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change," the Texas governor added.
Besides attacking climate science, Perry also took a swing at regulations to curb greenhouse gases, an argument he's long made from Austin.
"The cost to the country and to the world of implementing these anti-carbon programs is in the billions if not in the trillions of dollars," Perry said.
Isgrimnur wrote:Perry: Climate change scientist are lying for money:
"The cost to the country and to the world of implementing these anti-carbon programs is in the billions if not in the trillions of dollars," Perry said.
What are the benefits Mr. Perry? It's all well and good to only look at one side of the equation and blather on about it, but there are benefits.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Rick Perry’s Texas is Ross Perot’s Mexico come north. Through a range of enticements we more commonly associate with Third World nations — low wages, no benefits, high rates of poverty, scant taxes, few regulations and generous corporate subsidies — the state has produced its own “giant sucking sound,” attracting businesses from other states to a place where workers come cheap.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Isgrimnur wrote:Perry: Climate change scientist are lying for money:
Rick Perry is accusing climate scientists of cooking the books for money.
"There are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they would have dollars rolling in to their projects," the GOP presidential candidate said Wednesday during a campaign stop in Bedford, N.H., according to The Dallas Morning News.
"We're seeing it almost weekly or almost daily, scientists who are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change," the Texas governor added.
Considering that many of the scientists "who are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change" are funded by the energy industry and/or publish their research in non-peer reviewed outlets, Perry's contention that it is not these data that should be questioned but rather the data of other scientists who work within the federally funded system and subject their data to peer review scrutiny, makes me...
Isgrimnur wrote:Perry: Climate change scientist are lying for money:
"The cost to the country and to the world of implementing these anti-carbon programs is in the billions if not in the trillions of dollars," Perry said.
What are the benefits Mr. Perry? It's all well and good to only look at one side of the equation and blather on about it, but there are benefits.
Exactly. The cost of doing nothing is likely many times greater.
"You don't accuse the chairman of the federal reserve of being a traitor to his country. Of being guilty of treason," Karl Rove told Fox News Tuesday. "And, suggesting that we treat him pretty ugly in texas. You know, that is not, again a presidential statement."
Karl Rove doesn't like meretricious accusations of treason now?
Fuck you, Karl Rove, you hypocritical douchebag.
Not to mention a bottom of the barrel political whore.
I'm glad the bottom-feeders can still entertain us
Rick Santorum wrote:Our founders said [our] rights were given to us to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Does anyone here believe that first inalienable right is as whole as it was at the time of our founding? It isn’t. Does anyone believe that our freedom is as whole as it was at the time of our founders? It is not.
Yes, I'm sure Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain and Barack Obama would agree that they would have had more freedom in 1776.
Mr. Fed wrote:Karl Rove doesn't like meretricious accusations of treason now?
Fuck you, Karl Rove, you hypocritical douchebag.
I don't know what meretricious means, but I do know what fuck you Karl Rove means, and that to me is the important part of what you said.
Oh man it's a great word, look it up. Nothing entertains like a word that most people don't know it's negative connotations and will take as a compliment.
My blog (mostly photos): Fort Ephemera - My Flickr Photostream
“You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn’t waste either.” ―Galen Rowell
Smoove_B wrote:And now Bachmann is claiming she'll get gasoline back down under $2 a gallon at the pump. How? Not sure - but if she's holding out on us...
I'm seriously waiting for her to make outrageous claims -- like she invented the question mark. Or accuse chestnuts of being lazy.
It's a shame that claiming invention of the internet is already taken.
Mr. Fed wrote:Karl Rove doesn't like meretricious accusations of treason now?
Fuck you, Karl Rove, you hypocritical douchebag.
I don't know what meretricious means, but I do know what fuck you Karl Rove means, and that to me is the important part of what you said.
Oh man it's a great word, look it up. Nothing entertains like a word that most people don't know it's negative connotations and will take as a compliment.
Smoove_B wrote:And now Bachmann is claiming she'll get gasoline back down under $2 a gallon at the pump. How? Not sure - but if she's holding out on us...
I'm seriously waiting for her to make outrageous claims -- like she invented the question mark. Or accuse chestnuts of being lazy.
It's a shame that claiming invention of the internet is already taken.
Yeah, that gave us years of entertainment. Epic-ness like that only swings around once in awhile.