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Since Some of You Have Been Advocating This ...
Topic Started: Jan 25 2010, 06:11 PM (1,050 Views)
Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Me too. All Jolly might do is shoot you. Big whoop.

There are many fates worse than death. Marriage, for instance.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Finally
Nobel laureate and former Enron adviser Paul Krugman wets himself over the proposal:
Quote:
 
Obama Liquidates Himself
A spending freeze? That’s the brilliant response of the Obama team to their first serious political setback?

It’s appalling on every level.

It’s bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment. Jonathan Zasloff writes that Obama seems to have decided to fire Tim Geithner and replace him with “the rotting corpse of Andrew Mellon” (Mellon was Herbert Hoover’s Treasury Secretary, who according to Hoover told him to “liquidate the workers, liquidate the farmers, purge the rottenness”.)

It’s bad long-run fiscal policy, shifting attention away from the essential need to reform health care and focusing on small change instead.

And it’s a betrayal of everything Obama’s supporters thought they were working for. Just like that, Obama has embraced and validated the Republican world-view — and more specifically, he has embraced the policy ideas of the man he defeated in 2008. A correspondent writes, “I feel like an idiot for supporting this guy.”

Now, I still cling to a fantasy: maybe, just possibly, Obama is going to tie his spending freeze to something that would actually help the economy, like an employment tax credit. (No, trivial tax breaks don’t count). There has, however, been no hint of anything like that in the reports so far. Right now, this looks like pure disaster.


(Get it? "Wets himself" :lol2: )
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Copper
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Shortstop
George K
Jan 26 2010, 10:56 AM
Nobel laureate ...

Remember when that used to be worth something?
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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George K
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Finally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwVmpY6CWko


“It’s not a hatchet. It’s not a scalpel. It’s a Q-tip. It’s a fraud. This is a minuscule amount. Remember it excludes defense, homeland security, veteran’s affairs. It excludes all of the entitlements which are 60% of the budget. And, it excludes stimuli past and future, the nearly two-thirds of the trillion dollar stimulus that has not been spent. All of that is excluded. It excludes the trillion that would have been spent on health care if it would have been passed. What it is is a $15 billion reduction in a year 2011 in which the CBO has just announced we’re going to have a deficit of $1.35 trillion. It’s a rounding error. It’s lunch money.”
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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George K
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Finally
I just saw an interview with Krauthammer who, basically, calls it kabuki. Here's his reasoning:

The budget for 2009 included huge, huge increases for the "discretionary" parts. Usually, agencies see an increase of their budget of 3 - 4%. Last year, the EPA saw an increase in their budget of 30%. Thirty Per Cent. Other agencies and programs saw similar (15-30%) increases. So, by invoking a "freeze", what the administration has frozen the increases it enacted in the last year.

In other words, the so-called "freeze" codifies the increases of the last year, and freezes the increases.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
George K
Jan 26 2010, 06:08 PM
I just saw an interview with Krauthammer who, basically, calls it kabuki. Here's his reasoning:

The budget for 2009 included huge, huge increases for the "discretionary" parts. Usually, agencies see an increase of their budget of 3 - 4%. Last year, the EPA saw an increase in their budget of 30%. Thirty Per Cent. Other agencies and programs saw similar (15-30%) increases. So, by invoking a "freeze", what the administration has frozen the increases it enacted in the last year.

In other words, the so-called "freeze" codifies the increases of the last year, and freezes the increases.
:doh:

So in other words, last year they got seven years worth of increases, and now they have to stick at the same budget they should have had in 2016 for the next three years.

Smart.

Can I take back the points I awarded Obama for this move?
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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JBryan
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I am the grey one
In other words, a drop in the bucket.
"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne


There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it".


Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore.

From The Lion in Winter.
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
More like using the bucket to bail out the boat by bailing the front end, and emptying the bucket in the back end.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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George K
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Finally
JBryan
Jan 27 2010, 06:12 AM
In other words, a drop in the bucket.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhy-UwLq178

A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Luke's Dad
Jan 27 2010, 06:08 AM
:doh:

So in other words, last year they got seven years worth of increases, and now they have to stick at the same budget they should have had in 2016 for the next three years.

Smart.

Can I take back the points I awarded Obama for this move?
Oh yeah, you guys have been SCREAMING at the top of your lungs that he needs to control spending. Several people here have called for a freeze, or across-the-board cuts. So, he does just that. And then you have the balls to criticize him for doing it?
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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George K
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Finally
What Does The Federal Budget Freeze Look Like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMH9QZdjS2Y

A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
George K
Feb 1 2010, 09:54 AM
What Does The Federal Budget Freeze Look Like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMH9QZdjS2Y

OK, then, step up to the plate. What else would you freeze? Social Security? Medicare?

Maybe you'd default on the interest payments on the national debt?

Please, instead of standing back and taking shots, feel free to explain what other areas you'd cut or freeze.

(Mark, that was not an invitation for you to post a long internet list again. It was a question for George.)
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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George K
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Finally
QuirtEvans
Feb 1 2010, 09:58 AM
OK, then, step up to the plate. What else would you freeze? Social Security? Medicare?

Maybe you'd default on the interest payments on the national debt?

Please, instead of standing back and taking shots, feel free to explain what other areas you'd cut or freeze.

(Mark, that was not an invitation for you to post a long internet list again. It was a question for George.)
First of all, it's not a shot.

Secondly, it's an accurate description of what the so called "freeze" (which is not really a freeze) will accomplish.

Thirdly, it demonstrates that much of what Obama points out as freezes will do little to nothing to cut the debt/deficit (did you see today's numbers by the way).

Fourthly, did you watch vid? I think there's a third of a trillion of savings by stopping the "stimulus", of which only half (if not less) has been paid out. Third of a trillion? Hell, that's more than I make in two years.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
Well, the video itself gave a suggestion. It also wouldn't be a bad idea if they froze the spending at 2008 levels, rather than the inflated 2009 levels.

I've already stated that I would then go after raising the retirement age for SS and Medicare. I would also (going to be unpopular amongst some here) institute a tax break on general income taxes, but might raise FICA a couple of points. The few extra points on FICA would go towards an individual retirement account for the employee, that could be invested at their discretion.

And yes, I would also work on a real health care reform plan aimed at reducing costs, and would attack fraudulent medicare claims.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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JBryan
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I am the grey one
Repaid TARP funds should be used to pay down debt rather than as a piggy bank for Congress to stuff their mitts into.
"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne


There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it".


Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore.

From The Lion in Winter.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Defense should absolutely not be spared the ax. Even if all they really accomplished at first was to cut enough waste (and I am sure there is a boatload) to pay for better pay and benefits for soldiers and veterans it would be a worthwhile goal.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
JBryan
Feb 1 2010, 10:12 AM
Repaid TARP funds should be used to pay down debt rather than as a piggy bank for Congress to stuff their mitts into.
On that, I completely agree.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
George K
Feb 1 2010, 10:03 AM
QuirtEvans
Feb 1 2010, 09:58 AM
OK, then, step up to the plate. What else would you freeze? Social Security? Medicare?

Maybe you'd default on the interest payments on the national debt?

Please, instead of standing back and taking shots, feel free to explain what other areas you'd cut or freeze.

(Mark, that was not an invitation for you to post a long internet list again. It was a question for George.)
First of all, it's not a shot.

Secondly, it's an accurate description of what the so called "freeze" (which is not really a freeze) will accomplish.

Thirdly, it demonstrates that much of what Obama points out as freezes will do little to nothing to cut the debt/deficit (did you see today's numbers by the way).

Fourthly, did you watch vid? I think there's a third of a trillion of savings by stopping the "stimulus", of which only half (if not less) has been paid out. Third of a trillion? Hell, that's more than I make in two years.
First, I disagree.

Second, it's accurate to say that birds fly south in the winter. It's equally relevant to this discussion. Well, your point is slightly more relevant, I'll give you that.

Third, he can only do what he can do. For decades, the largest portion of the federal budget has been entirely outside anyone's control, unless you're willing to touch the third rail. Are you?

Fourth, no. I took a look at the picture and decided it was pure snark, with political motivation, and that I had better things to do.

Fourth part two, I shudder to think what the unemployment rate would be like without the stimulus.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
QuirtEvans
Feb 1 2010, 10:33 AM

Fourth part two, I shudder to think what the unemployment rate would be like without the stimulus.
Yeah but how many of those jobs are sustainable?
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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