1 Monty a VAT would best be saved for serving down the debt if the implosion happens by having the Fed collect it directly.

You think Grease lasts another 2 weeks or is the end nigh within the fortnight?

2 Any time you read a story in the leftist press about the greedy, money-grubbing leeches of Wall Street

Anytime I read or hear a statement like that I know it is coming from someone who is one of three:

1. A Democrat/communist
2. A Republican RINO populist
3. A drooling idiot.

3 Oh and Monty the "stimulus failed" because it wasn't actually a stimulus, but a bank heist.

Mark my words Solyndra was one of many.

4 You want to pass me?  Pffffffft

5 Except there is no bill so far

Well, he is "unexpectedly" sending it to congress today. (See the headlines thread.)

6 2 Vic,

Just like you can take for granted that if party affiliation of the villain is not mentioned going to Open Secrets will reveal they are a brand "d" fan who can't pay the machine anymore...

7

The Greek endgame is very close now.

BI predicting Euro bank failures today

8 O/T, in my name is a link to an article (from stock anaysis blog) about Solydra.  This will turn out to be a big BAD deal for Obama.

9 Social Security is not fit to hold my jock strap.

10 “Pass this bill!” Except there is no bill so far. Heh. If a President Bush or Palin or Perry said something like that, under similar circumstances, the Left would be reaching for their box of Kleenex to fap over how "stupid" and "out of touch" they were.

11 By implementing a consumption tax, silly! (Editorial comment: I hate an actual VAT, but I do think some sort of consumption-based tax is inevitable, given our slowing economic growth. Income taxes really only work when the GDP is growing quickly. And if we do go down the consumption-tax road, I want it in place of the current income-tax regime, not in addition to it.)

I can tell you from experience here in SC that sales tax schemes are even worse in a declining economy. A VAT is not the answer, especially if they do not repeal the income tax amendment at the same time.

12 8 CTMFP,

yup, and frankly Moron nation will have to drag the news media and GOP to pushing on it kicking and screaming....we need to word of mouth it hard.

13 It failed because it was badly designed and badly implemented, and performed more as a service to Democratic constituents than for alleviation of overall hardship. It was a tool to expand the reach of government, little more.

It failed because is was mostly socialist welfare, union payoffs, and idiot crony green payoffs. A virtual Democrat wishlist for the past 20 years.

14 How do we save the US economy? By implementing a consumption tax, silly! (Editorial comment: I hate an actual VAT, but I do think some sort of consumption-based tax is inevitable, given our slowing economic growth. Income taxes really only work when the GDP is growing quickly. And if we do go down the consumption-tax road, I want it in place of the current income-tax regime, not in addition to it.) The VAT is poison, because a) it is a Process tax, that directly taxes economic development (the more stages of production it takes to prepare a product, the higher the tax will be), and b) it is hidden: everything just gets more expensive overnight, and the average consumer has no idea just how much of the price is not a tax. Invisible taxation is a politician's wet dream. It would also be the demise of America as a great power, as the Liberals and Mitt Romney seize on it to squeeze America's economic throat for every last nickel to fund their failed healthcare schemes.

15 Pyramid investment swindle (Ponzi Scheme): a pyramid investment swindle in which supposed profits are paid to early investors from money actually invested by later participants. This is the definition of Social Security. Not how it was meant to be, but how it is.

16 The yield on Greek bonds is through the roof! What a tremendous buying opportunity!

17 Oh, did I say Romney? I meant Obama! Ummm.... Romney's the white one, right?

18 13 Vic,

Yup Barry has 20 some Tsars each with multi-billion dollar flash cash, Vanta Claus Jones had 30 billion with no oversight.

Solyndra is just the tip of he Iceberg and the RMS Soetoro is scraping it.

19 17, Your half right.

20 17 CoolCzech,

Romney's the one who got the Olympics...other than that only their barber can tell them apart.

21

When the left blame "wall street" -- it's a lie and a cover for the left's own greed and corruption.

 

22 19 17, Your half right. Posted by: Oldsailor's poet at September 12, 2011 08:59 AM (ZDUD4) LOL

23 And finally "evil kitteh". Hey, I looked for a pic of the glow in the dark kittehs they had on F&F this morning. They have spliced genes from luminescent jelly fish with cats and now have glow in the dark kitties.

We should have some pics soon.

24 when squawk starts with gabelli cnbc always end with insana on maria's show

25 23, Genetically splicing kittehs with Jellyfish. What could go wrong?

26 With the Euro in trouble, the $ will strengthen. This will lead to higher imports and lower exports, precisely the formula for further lowering US GDP. Yay us.
 
May we live in interesting times.

27 That cat looks like one of Greece's creditors, eyeballing what assets he'll get at the bankruptcy proceedings.

28 27 CC,


"The Parthenon will make a rather interesting litter box, yes yes it will..."

//Keynesian Katt

29 That cat looks like one of Greece's creditors, eyeballing what assets he'll get at the bankruptcy proceedings. Posted by: CoolCzech at September 12, 2011 09:06 AM (niZvt) the cat and the rest of greece's creditors will be lucky to get a few crumbs of feta cheese

30

Yet another Prophet of Disaster who says the ship is lost,
surely, Mr. Prophet,  youÂ’re leaving me to count the cost. Go ahead, taunt us with visions, and afflict us with fear! Predict war for millions, in the hope that one appears.

No point asking when it is, no point asking who's to go.
No point asking “what's the game”, nor any point asking who's to blame...
Because if youÂ’re going to die, your going to die.

31 Monty,

Don't overlook the benefits to the Obama Administration of a DOJ investigation of Solyndra.  The FBI comes in & seizes everything including the intramural football schedule for the company as "evidence".  This is sequestered, as is any DOE or WH communication with the company, because it is "evidence" as well.

When Issa & others come with their silly subpoenas, the DOJ says with genuine faux-regretfulness, "This information is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation, we are unable to comply with your request."  How long will it take to decode the byzantine nefarious schemes of the solar hucksters?  Earliest possible date would be somewhere in late January 2013.  If things get complex (i.e., if Eric Holder wants to keep his job in Obama II), maybe a lot longer than that if they find anything really incriminating.

32 The Obama White House upgrades Solyndra to STRONG BUY

33 34th!

34 The biggest question of the day is "will the U.S. last until Nov 2012 before collapse"?

It appears the Euro collapse is going to go down today. What impact will that have on the U.S.?  It can not be good.

35 This is the definition of Social Security. Not how it was meant to be, but how it is.

FIFY

Social Security ALWAYS paid "early investors" (that is, those retiring when it was begun) with "money invested by later participants" (that is: everyone else).

It has been a Ponzi Scheme from day one- to believe otherwise is to propagate the "I paid mine, I just want it back" theme.  You didn't pay yours, you paid Uncle Joe's (or Aunt Em's, or whoever's).  Some kid in Duluth is expected to pay yours.

36 Posted by: Sailor Moon ePub at September 12, 2011 09:08 AM (uwePq)

Is Sailor Moon now the DOOM! Anime Babe who makes me think the wrong thing?

37 Stupid Greeks should have invested in infrastructure and high speed rail.

38

@1

erm, 2 weeks is a fortnight

39

If we must suffer a consumption tax, at the very least it should be done as a sales tax.  The worst elements of VAT are thus avoided.  It's not invisible, and it doesn't tax each step of production - only the final act of consumption.  It also offers the possibility of exempting basic necessities from the tax (food, shelter).

Of course, we're already over-taxed.  Hence our lack of consumption by the private sector.  I'd rather see inflation than more taxes.  At least inflation affects everyone, and brings foreigners into fixing our problems since our devalued currency makes our debts and our exports cheaper.  If the US tax payer must bear the full brunt, then our problem is worse than it should be.

 

40 @39 Please read it again. The question [not mine] was whether Greece survives through the interval or collapses within the interval.

41 Ah, got it.

42 36, I respectfully disagree. SSI was meant to be a safety net for Poor widows and the disabled. Never a retirement account. Decade after decade pols made promises of more benefits. Decade after decade, ignorant citizens took the bait and voted them into office. We should always care for our defenseless, but not a dime for our able bodied.

43 Posted by: Reactionary at September 12, 2011 09:16 AM (xUM1Q)

The people who advocate a national sales-tax (the "Fair" {{how I hate that word}} tax) forget that A) a national sales-tax could be implemented tomorrow and B) we would still be under an income tax as well.

I heard somewhere (don't remember where, though) that virtually every country which has tried to replace an income tax with a sales tax has ended up with both.

The fact is that some level of taxation is necessary.  The only Just {{far better a word than "fair"}} tax which will also protect us from double, triple, or worse taxation is a Flat Tax.

And Republicans are going to have to put on their big-man pants and explain (patiently, and as often as necessary) that everyone is going to have to pay it.

44 It appears the Euro collapse is going to go down today. What impact will that have on the U.S.? It can not be good.

Posted by: Vic at September 12, 2011 09:14 AM (M9Ie6)

 

Well, if today's the day then the dollar will rally.  Aside from that, prolly just as you say - nothing good.  Presumably much of the market will decline.  Everybody's 401k's will take another little hit.  Of course, then the question is - will the market see it as removing another source of uncertainty?  If so, then things could go the other way.  If only one could perfectly predict these effects!  Retirement would be just around the corner instead of years and years away.

45 "I'd rather see inflation than more taxes." The other huge benefit to inflation is that it does not give the social engineering tinkerers levers to futz with as they pick winners and losers. In today's world, everything is a standoff, and the name of the game is not ceding any advantage while keeping your opponents from gaining any advantage. It sucks, but I didn't create the situation.

46

Eureka!  French discover recipe for the antidote for DOOM.

2 parts bribes, 1 part graft, 3 parts corruption, 2 parts payola.

Lightly grease bankrupt countryÂ’s political system, combine ingredients to form saucy lifestyle, serve while feeding meager portion of cake to filthy peasants.

Viola!

47 39 Pedant....

correct the question was "does Grease last two weeks or die within the two weeks"?

I don't think anyone is betting Grease makes it more than a fortnight....14 days is max

48 Posted by: Oldsailor's poet at September 12, 2011 09:19 AM (ZDUD4)

BS.  It can't have been for "poor widows and the disabled" because 1) you can't leave your benefits to a survivor (though there are "survivors benefits" I've always heard them described as laughably small) and the Disability Portion was added later.

Social Security was sold as a way for those over 60 (or whatever the original age was) to retire and make way for new workers to enter the workforce.

49 47 FTL,

Inflation and even hyper-infaltion will finally force the "reset" to price/wage interaction....

the pain won't be fun, but hey we've earned the pain

50 Good news.  When Greece defaults, it will be orderly. 
http://tinyurl.com/6khfswl

This will be the first time the Greeks have done anything orderly since Thermopylae.

51

Posted by: Darren at September 12, 2011 09:12 AM (MZrZ7)

Solyndra filed a chapter 11 and all of their records are available to the creditors committee and Trustee.

Issa will be able to see all.

52

You saw it already, but heyÂ…  Religion of feces.

53 The only Just {{far better a word than "fair"}} tax which will also protect us from double, triple, or worse taxation is a Flat Tax.

And Republicans are going to have to put on their big-man pants and explain (patiently, and as often as necessary) that everyone is going to have to pay it.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 12, 2011 09:20 AM (8y9MW)

 

Flat tax sounds great, but I don't see that happening.  Spending isn't going to fall enough to avoid epic deficits.  If it did fall enough, the economy would probably collapse.  I contend that if we went to a flat tax now, lower-class and middle-class tax rates would have to rise significantly to offset the rates for the higher income brackets.  Consumption would collapse, since the rich are not going to fill that consumption gap.  The rich spend the bulk of their dough on productive assets, not goods and services.  As consumption fell, unemployment would spike yet higher, and the feedback loop would take us down the toilet.

It would have been a fine way to go - back when income taxation began.  But to go to a flat tax now would be enormously disruptive.

54

Cute!.....my larger dogs create a larger Obama....

http://tiny.cc/sqzw9

 

55 How do we save the economy?

Bear suits and bee helmets for everyone!

56 @30: Goddamned Spam... it reads more and more like a Moron writes it.

57 Good news.  When Greece defaults, it will be orderly.

Well, let's see, where's my list of "EU positions on the looming Greek default":

Version 1: Greece absolutely will not default! They will recover!
Version 2: The bond vigilantes are trying to force a default upon Greece, but they will prevail through a program of austerity and reform!
Version 3: The austerity and reform program in Greece has met some unexpected delays, but we forsee little chance of default.
Version 4: Greece won't actually "default" if we give them money.
Version 5: You know, Greece might actually default if we don't given them even more money.

And now:

Version 6: Greece is going default! We totally did not see this coming! We're shocked, shocked that this could happen! And by the way this is totally not our fault. At all.

58 Wow, Bartz was fired over the phone?

59

Posted by: Monty at September 12, 2011 09:31 AM (/0a60)

LOL - excellent chronology.  I especially liked that last line.  Deflecting blame is always job 1...

60 Debbie Thunderthighs Wasserman-Schulz just sort of got grilled by Martha McCallum on Fox, and said the Pass-This-Bill-Bill will be paid for by the rich.

61 60 monty like children not willing to rip the band-aid off.....

62

So here's the irony: not only are young people being asked to fund a welfare state mainly directed at older people, they are also being prevented from entering the workforce by those very same elders!

This has been a topic of discussion concerning law firms for the last 20 years or so, at least.  Lawyers generally don't retire, per se, but most move into an equity position with the firm and then come in a few hours a day or a day or two a week to keep a hand in and to do the whole glad handing/rainmaking thing.  This opens up space for the younger lawyers to buy in and then they are the senior partners and there's a new crop of junior partners.  The problem is that the current senior partners have no intention or desire to leave, stagnating the whole system.

Before Amish jumps in to say serves them right, please note that I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a senior partner who is still productive and who still wants to work continuing to do so.  Why not?  It does, however, throw the system into disarray.  This is starting to be a huge problem with the Big Law firms, many of whom had mandatory retirement language in the partnership agreements.  Well, the senior partners don't want to be forced out and the junior partners want to be able to advance.  Since The Producers method of profit distribution has some, shall we say, issues, it's starting to get very heated out there.

The old law firm structure is being creatively destroyed and while I firmly believe that's a good thing in the end, it is a maelstorm for those caught up in it at the current moment.^*

Oh and the Pass This Bill thing drives me nuts.  What freaking bill?  Where's the bill?  I would like to read the bill, can someone show me where it is, other than vaporware?  Even Duke Nukem finally existed in meat space.

^{*Okay, okay, my actual position on the whole profession is we don't need no water baby, let the motherfucker burn, but I was trying to be a lady.} 

 

63 so is a country defaults, what exactly happens?  do people come in and take the greek islands and everyone's house?

64 OMG!

65 Did I just see Greek debt at 115%

66 Wow, Bartz was fired over the phone?

Could have been worse, I guess. They could have fired her over Twitter: "Who's unemployed? YOU ARE LOL!! Clean out your desk and hit the bricks. #pinkslip"

67 One thing we need to keep in the back of our minds when it comes to raising the retirement age is... It will make it much harder for new graduates to get hired.

68 68 Did I just see Greek debt at 115%

Posted by: Jean at September 12, 2011 09:35 AM (WkuV6)

69 In re the private cities: I thought the vision of the future in Stephenson's Snowcrash was what was coming - the rise of corporate states. Though not all of them are corporations, some were religions, whatever. But they get the powers of a state - including the power to use force.

70 67 OMG!

Posted by: phoenixgirl if you are not angry you have forgotten at September 12, 2011 09:34 AM (eOXTH)

71 OMG!

Tourette's?

72 I contend that if we went to a flat tax now, lower-class and middle-class tax rates would have to rise significantly to offset the rates for the higher income brackets

I don't think so.

Most of the Ultra-Rich (like Warren Buffett, who claims he wants to pay more in taxes) pay around 12%, all told.  If we get rid of deductions (or almost all deductions- I'm good with keeping charitable contributions and open to keeping the home mortgage deduction) and tax all income- regardless of source- at say, 17%, those uber-rich fools will actually pay more (and not enough more- as a percentage- that it's likely they'll go to too great of pains to shelter it).

Meanwhile, the productive class (business owners, as well as the "middle-class" will actually see their taxes either reduced or not move much at all (I, for instance, would not see much movement- I think I'm technically in the 20% bracket, but with the convoluted tax laws, it's hard to be certain).

The only people who would really get soaked are the "poor" (and I wish that weren't so, but it's got to happen), and that will actually promote upward mobility (if I'm going to get taxed at 17% making 30K/yr or at 35K/yr, I may as well make the 35, because 83% of 35K is bigger than 83% of 30K.  The current "progressive" tax system makes that math much more muddled.

73 Even Duke Nukem finally existed in meat space.

The fact that you are geek enough to reference this makes me love you with a white-hot passion. Come to me, my love, and I shall ply thee with X-Box tournaments and shall share my cheevos with thee.

74

In re:  rise of corporate states - as always, Veridian Dynamics was leading the curve on that "Oh we only pay taxes to countries that are more powerful than us and there's only four of those left." 

And finally "evil kitteh". Hey, I looked for a pic of the glow in the dark kittehs they had on F&F this morning. They have spliced genes from luminescent jelly fish with cats and now have glow in the dark kitties.

We should have some pics soon.

Will they be trying to eat Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D.'s luminescent goldfish?

 

 

 

75 so is a country defaults, what exactly happens? do people come in and take the greek islands and everyone's house?

Posted by: cantankerous at September 12, 2011 09:34 AM (k1rwm)

 

Nope.  No nation backs its borrowing with any collateral.  If you're a Greek bond holder you simply get the shaft.  The key problem is that the Greeks can't print Euros, so they have no means of paying Euro denominated debt.  Happily the US is not in such a lamentable position...

76 cantankerous - the real problem isn't the greek debt - it is that the big euro bank bought it. If the greek debt was in widely marketed bonds getting moudly in cigar boxes all over Europe - no problem. With the debt concentrated in the big banks - greece has everyone bent over (just the way they like them.)

77 AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 12, 2011 09:24 AM H. R. 7260 74th Congress This is the purpose of the act as written. To provide for general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old age benefits, and by enabling the several states to make more adequate provisions for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public heath, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws. To establish a Social security board and to raise revenue for other purposes. Sect 1, For the purpose of enabling each state to furnish financial assistance to aged needy individuals. NEEDY NOT GREEDY Now we can argue about what you think it was for. But as written. It was to keep people from dying in the gutter.

78 The last decade, by the numbers.

I'd love to see that charted out year by year, but it's still an ugly picture.

79 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 12, 2011 09:37 AM (8y9MW)

How do you decide what constitutes "income"? What's to keep the grey/black markets from sheltering income from the prying eyes of the feds? How would the feds track "income" if not by paycheck?

I agree with your main point, of course, but there are large practical difficulties of implementing a "flat" tax rate due to the inherent problems in defining exactly what "income" really is. And how you implement a tax-collection agency that is both empowered to collect it but at the same time not able to infringe on the individual rights of the citizens.

80 Posted by: Jean at September 12, 2011 09:41 AM (WkuV6)

yeah i thought i heard something about soc gen and greek bonds.

81 LOL - excellent chronology.  I especially liked that last line.  Deflecting blame is always job 1...

You know, I made the point to the 3rd and 4th graders I was teaching in Bible class yesterday that the first thing Adam and Eve said when God called them on the whole "Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good And Evil," thing was "It's not my fault."

It kind of makes you think, huh?

82 To all of this Doom, add one cup of serious cyberattack, stir in fear and uncertainty to taste, pour mixture into a non-stick political turmoil dish and bake in a "it's your fault" oven until we are done. Serve hot, accompanied by weeping.

83 Nope.  No nation backs its borrowing with any collateral.  If you're a Greek bond holder you simply get the shaft.

Keep in mind that all those "world bank loans" were not really national loans. Those were loans made through commercial banks with mostly U.S. guarantees. So when they default the bonds will be redeemed from the banks via our treasury using printed fiat money.

84

Come to me, my love, and I shall ply thee with X-Box tournaments and shall share my cheevos with thee.

What kind of cheetos?  I have standards.  They may be low, but they exist nonetheless. 

85

On the older workers displacing the younger worker, you forgot to mention that companies can't really fire or lay off the older working now that ageism(spelling?) is a legitimate grievance and can often get an employer in trouble.

So not only are they displacing the young people who would pay their SS and Medicare benefits by staying at they're job, they've created a protective class for themselves that prevents companies firing or laying them off.

86

A metaphor for why and how we are DOOMed.

87 cantankerous - the real problem isn't the greek debt - it is that the big euro bank bought it.

And used it as collateral for other loans, to Greece and others.

If the Greeks default, all of a sudden that collateral is worthless and the bank has to pony up assets with equivalent value from elsewhere or default themselves. So they go to Greece to insist on other collateral, the Greeks turn out their pockets, and all of a sudden the banks have to either cover it themselves or default.

And European banks are badly undercapitalized -- hence Lagarde's fears that many European banks (SocGen, Bundesbank, Santander, etc.) might simply fall over and die given the tentacles counterparty risk. The Greek debt in isolation is not large, but it sits right at the base of a tottering pile of other issues: pulling out that piece might cause the whole edifice to collapse. Europe is a lot like a badly-built Jenga tower.

88 I agree with your main point, of course, but there are large practical difficulties of implementing a "flat" tax rate due to the inherent problems in defining exactly what "income" really is.

Actually I think it would be easier than what we have now. The way I have been pushing it, the tax would be on ALL sources of income regardless of amount or source. Income would be any incoming source of money, be it wages, interest, buisness profits, or capital gains.

89 per Bloomberg, 1 year greek govt bond - 122% http://tinyurl.com/3wby5p6

90

The EU should sell Greece to Turkey. Turkey has always wanted it and now it can have it for a price.

91 Posted by: Vic at September 12, 2011 09:43 AM (M9Ie6)

Your point highlights the absurdity of government guaranteeing any private debt. Does anyone really believe that the banks give a rat's ass whether their loans are going to people or entities that have the capacity to repay the debt?

92 What kind of cheetos?  I have standards.  They may be low, but they exist nonetheless.

Okay, you just blew your geek cred.

Cheetos: luscious crunchy cheese-flavored snacks.
Cheevos: "Achievements", or special awards given in the electronic gaming world for reaching some goal or special item.

Show up in a lace teddy and stiletto heels and all is forgiven. Bring cheetos.

93 How do you decide what constitutes "income"? What's to keep the grey/black markets from sheltering income from the prying eyes of the feds? How would the feds track "income" if not by paycheck?

If I didn't have that dollar just a minute ago (short of finding it lying in a gutter), then it's income.

That wasn't hard.  And we already rely on self-reporting of income (the self-employed do it regularly).  That (the self-reporting) is why it can be claimed, with a straight face, that our income tax system is "voluntary."  Because, in theory, you could just not report your income and the state would never know.

The reporting requirements would never change- financial institutions and investment firms would still file a copy of form 10XX with the government and send you a copy for your taxes, your employer would still report your earnings, etc.

94 @94: Only thing is, Greece at the moment is about as desirable as a bad case of Anthrax.

95

>>And European banks are badly undercapitalized -- hence Lagarde's fears that many European banks (SocGen, Bundesbank, Santander, etc.)

Heh, I remember watching Jim Cramer back in 2009 or 2010 talking about how great an investment Spanish banks were, specifically Santander.

What an ass.

96 Monty - I can't imagine the vile sex acts written on EU jenga blocks.

97 The states have always had as their resource the ability to tax and the use of force to compel the payment of tax. Problem is, you have to have an economy going in order to get some taxes out of it. A good parasite does not kill the host.

98 Show up in a lace teddy and stiletto heels and all is forgiven. Bring cheetos. Posted by: Monty at September 12, 2011 09:48 AM (/0a60) Careful what you ask for Monty... you know not what her tonnage is.

99 If we get rid of deductions ... those uber-rich fools will actually pay more (and not enough more- as a percentage- that it's likely they'll go to too great of pains to shelter it).

Meanwhile, the productive class (business owners, as well as the "middle-class" will actually see their taxes either reduced or not move much at all

The only people who would really get soaked are the "poor"

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) is tired beyond tired of the trolls at September 12, 2011 09:37 AM (8y9MW)

 

Maybe.  I'm sure the uber-rich will indeed make less, but they're not really the "rich" I'm concerned about.  The more mundane, "merely" rich people are not so easily able to escape taxation and do pay the vast bulk of taxes already.  I just don't see how that's going to be fully made up.

Has anyone trustworthy done a study on this?  Maybe CATO, or maybe Reason?  I've not heard of one.

Also, consider the impact of the per-child credit on the middle/lower classes.  Losing that will be a very significant further blow to disposable income, and serve as a further disincentive for anyone not on welfare to produce kids.  We already see a gross over-representation in child bearing among the welfare dependant - one that is probably unsustainable doom in the making. 

100 I'm against a VAT, even if it does replace the current system of income taxes, for two reasons.

First, a value-added tax is a silent tax: the purchaser has no way of knowing just how much of the purchase price is tax, and therefore has no way of knowing, realistically, how much tax he's paying. Bureaucrats love silent taxes, because it keeps the peasants quiet. I much prefer a system where I can see, to the penny, just how much I've shelled out to what the Spanish call "Senor Chuposangre" ("Mr Bloodsucker").

Second, a value-added tax gives government the power to interfere with the economy at every step of production.
Value is added when the farmer turns seed into grain; the miller turns grain into flour; the baker turns flour into bread; and the merchant turns bread into a packaged good for sale - and in countries with a VAT, at each step, a government agent is peering over the producer's shoulder, demanding records, computing how much value was added, in order to set how much tax should be paid. This much power is a huge incentive to corruption and political manipulation, and a huge damper on an economy. In Britain, the "VAT-man" is a figure of folklore and satire, and a symbol of the dead weight of government interference on daily life. In brief, if you like a command economy, you'll love the VAT.

The argument that consumption taxes are necessary in an economy that is growing slowly; but that is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you want the economy to grow slowly or not at all, then institute consumption taxes: and in particular, institute a VAT.

101 I think a website "shortJimeCramer" could be a winner.

102 No nation backs its borrowing with any collateral.

Bonds are collateral in certain cases.

103

Finally, job creators get a gift from SCOAMF.

104 Older workers displacing younger workers.

The dumbocrat solution to this?  Lower the retirement age.  Because you know, if people don't have enough money to retire at 65, they certainly have enough to retire at 55.  All based on the delusion that SS is enough to retire on and that SS is solvent.

105 Could have been worse, I guess. They could have fired her over Twitter: "Who's unemployed? YOU ARE LOL!! Clean out your desk and hit the bricks. #pinkslip" Posted by: Monty at September 12, 2011 09:35 AM (/0a60) That would be almost as bad a surprise pizza delivery with the pink slip inside the carton.

106 Amidst all this doom, I've just got to say, that watching President Bush's interview regarding his reaction to 9/11 last night was so refreshing. Though he did lots in office I do not support, hearing a President who loves America and was ANGERED by the attacks and set out to try to do something about it was a breath of fresh air after two years of jug ears and his America Hating agenda.  

107 Careful what you ask for Monty... you know not what her tonnage is.

She knows not my gargoyle-like ugliness, so I guess it's a fair trade.

108

So here's the irony: not only are young people being asked to fund a welfare state mainly directed at older people, they are also being prevented from entering the workforce by those very same elders!

 

The chart linked in the Business Insider article Monty is talking about here is very telling, and very disturbing.   But perhaps the worst news long term is what's happened to the youngest workers, ages 16-19.   Their workforce participation rate has plummeted.  

Too much XBox?   Too much Internet?   Well, maybe.   But my vote would be:   Too much liberal policy, and, specifically, the minimum wage.   Children aren't worth $7.25 an hour, but their work is worth something, and they'd be available to do it if only the government wouldn't stand in their way with policies that run contrary to the most basic economic thinking:  namely, if something is overpriced (like the labor of teenagers), buyers will demand less of it.  

Liberals are robbing our children of their future in so many ways, and the national debt that they'll have to repay eventually is only one of them.   They're also robbing our children of their first work experiences.  

109

Could have been worse, I guess. They could have fired her over Twitter: "Who's unemployed? YOU ARE LOL!! Clean out your desk and hit the bricks. #pinkslip"

Posted by: Monty at September 12, 2011 09:35 AM (/0a60)

 

My favorite is the South Park method. Everyone who still has a job at Yahoo please step forward.  No so fast you!

110

I was proud of Presadant Obama yesterday in new York....So proud of him. But, why was that loser Bush there? We have had no attacks under Presadant Obama but was attacked when Bush was Presadant? Why have him there to remind us of his failure to protect America ???????

111 Finally, job creators get a gift from SCOAMF. Net Nuetrality, card check, wtf. He really is trying to destroy us.

112 @111: Don't fret; all gargoyles look grey in the dark...

113 Wow, Bartz was fired over the phone?

Judging from her own quotes in the article, I think the big bosses thought it was too much of a physical risk to push the termination notice into her lair on a stick...

AHHH SHIT, GIT IT OFF'N ME!1!1!!!

114 ... We know they will want to make all of the "rich" pay their fair share? Will they try to make a tax on a Ferrari more than a tax on a Toyota? Tax on a necessities less than tax on luxury items ...This will not streamline a tax code but will complicate it further.   

115 Well Morons, I will be bowing out for the rest of the morning. One of my favorite old movies is about to start on RETRO. Mounten Men with Charlton Heston and Brian Keith in HD.

Too bad I still can not drink beer. Back later folks.

116 If I didn't have that dollar just a minute ago (short of finding it lying in a gutter), then it's income.

You know you have an extra dollar. How does the government know? What's to keep you from burying it in a coffee can out back and then shrugging when the tax-man comes calling?

117 Monty,

Come and Take It

118 I don't like a VAT because it is invasive AND invisible to the consumer. Lets get rid of the artificial constraint (withholding) on the value equation between the customers (taxpayers) and the sellers (government) - then let an new generation of politicians decide what form and level taxation should be. Trusting the old foxes to reorganize the hen house is insane.

119 "My favorite is the South Park method. Everyone who still has a job at Yahoo please step forward. No so fast you!" Heh. Flip Wilson used to tell a version of that joke.

120 120 monty now there's a shovel ready job i can get behind.....

121 The dumbocrat solution to this? Lower the retirement age. Because you know, if people don't have enough money to retire at 65, they certainly have enough to retire at 55. All based on the delusion that SS is enough to retire on and that SS is solvent. The problem with central planning. One reason why the government is hiring tons of people right now is that they have incentivized early retirement over the years, and a huge cohort is leaving government service. I have seen it happening at the state level with teachers - they wanted to get the older teachers to move on so they could keep bringing in new ones. But the problem is not being able to plan for 20-30 years down the pike. In much of the South the population is growing, and they need to increase the number of teachers, so they have had to go buy back some retirees. But in the Northeast the bad economy keeps the oldsters on longer than they should.

122 Has anyone trustworthy done a study on this?  Maybe CATO, or maybe Reason?  I've not heard of one.

Actually I'm pretty sure they did.  Heritage, maybe?  Or CATO? 

The point is that a lot of people shell out a whole lot of money (not to mention time) just getting taxes prepared.  On the other hand, if I could do something like this:

Employment income = 100,000
Investment income = 2,700
Sale of Assets = 30,000
Total income = 132,700.
Less Chartiable Contributions (8,000) = 124,700
Times 17% = 21,199.

Income Tax withheld = 21,500

Rebate due: 301.00.

I could be done in 10 minutes.  I wouldn't have to hire someone to do all that work for me (and double check this deduction, and that credit, and the other deduction, and...).

For the self-employed (or small business owners) especially this would save millions (in aggregate) and potentially billions (since I don't remember how much the nation spends on tax-prep each year).

123 Bonds are collateral in certain cases.

Posted by: Monty at September 12, 2011 09:51 AM (/0a60)

 

Bonds can be used as collateral, but what I'm getting at is that I highly doubt any Greek creditors will enjoy the ability to seize Greek hard assets in lieu of repayment of debt.  It's not like all the Greeks will find themselves signing over their homes to the Euro banks.

 

124 63 Debbie Thunderthighs Wasserman-Schulz just sort of got grilled by Martha McCallum on Fox, and said the Pass-This-Bill-Bill will be paid for by the rich.
__________

She also said that pensions aren't a problem because they just aren't and had a similarly cogent argument about how the stimulus worked.

I'm one of those guys who has to sleep with the TV on, so this was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning. Heck of a way to start a Monday...

125 I've an acoustic guitar I get out and pick a little every once in a while.  Cannot really play well anymore due to a finger injury.

It is a Martin D-18, circa 1970.  I should go around to a couple guitar joints and trade it for an equivalent Gibson.

126 Posted by: Monty at September 12, 2011 09:55 AM (/0a60)

What's to stop me from doing it now?

Have you heard of getting paid "under the table?"  That's not a reference to the AoSHQ Lifestyle, that's a reference to getting paid without those earnings being reported.  It happens every day.

That's not a new idea/problem, Monty, our current system can't stop it, either.

127 128 63 Debbie Thunderthighs Wasserman-Schulz just sort of got grilled by Martha McCallum on Fox, and said the Pass-This-Bill-Bill will be paid for by the rich.
__________

She also said that pensions aren't a problem because they just aren't and had a similarly cogent argument about how the stimulus worked.

I'm one of those guys who has to sleep with the TV on, so this was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning. Heck of a way to start a Monday...

Posted by: Anachronda at September 12, 2011 09:59 AM (6fER6)

And she was condecending and dismissive. Martha did not do a very good job supporting the attack with numbers. They know this pig well enough that they should have the answers to the predictable atacks right there. Sonthign like this:

MWS: "Just because you say it, over and over again does not make it fact, Martha."

MARTHA: "___% of the states budget is in the form of pensions. _____ retire every day. Projected reveues are ____. Cuts made to everything that can be cut still leave these pensions and those costs continue to rise....TAKE THAT PIG! DOUBLE KICKSTAND, BAM!"

128 Can't the Social Security Lockbox pay for ALL of this?

129

Okay, you just blew your geek cred.

Cheetos: luscious crunchy cheese-flavored snacks.
Cheevos: "Achievements", or special awards given in the electronic gaming world for reaching some goal or special item.

Or possibly I'm just really hungry and misread it.  If I discuss how I prefer Revolutionay Girl Utena to Sailor Moon, will I get points back?

Show up in a lace teddy and stiletto heels and all is forgiven. Bring cheetos.

Lace teddy.  Check.  Stilettos.  Check.  Cheetos.  Check. 

Jolt, Cheerwine or RC and moonpies? 

130 "I want it in place of the current income-tax regime, not in addition to it."

Yeah, like that will happen!  More likely income taxes will be raised right after the election and before the new President is immaculated and a VAT of "only a couple of %" will be proposed.  Who could oppose that, the MSM will insist.

131 Radio just said that Obama is ready to release his "jobs plan" in the Rose Garden today.  Right now it is being filled up with "teachers, police officers and firefighters" for a photo op.

I hope someone is snapping pictures.  We know what they're capable of.

132 http://preview.tinyurl.com/3b9w9gr

CNN article

Bartz Fired-drops F bomb

"I said, 'Roy, I think that's a script,'" adding, "'Why don't you have the balls to tell me yourself?'"

When Bostock finished reading, Bartz didn't argue—"I got it. I got it," she told the Yahoo chairman. "I thought you were classier," she added.

-------------------------------

want to know how smart the woman is?Her little tirade to CNN and Fortune may have cost her 10 mill...she has a non-disparagement clause

133 92 Actually I think it would be easier than what we have now. The way I have been pushing it, the tax would be on ALL sources of income regardless of amount or source. Income would be any incoming source of money, be it wages, interest, buisness profits, or capital gains.
________

See a penny pick it up
Don't forget the tax man's cut.

134 135 Johnny,

you mean the people he and bloomy wouldn't let be recognized yesterday?

of course they like it it is another funny money shot in the arm for them.

135

inre income...employers report wages paid to the IRS.  Non-wage payments are reported via 1099.  That's how "they" know about your income.  And if the IRS has a question, they may certainly look in your bank account to see if there are payments coming in and they will ask you about them.  For that matter, if the IRS thinks you're paying someone in cash under the table they can certainly audit your records and ask about that bi-weekly ATM withdrawal...

inre the 16A:  the 16th Amendment isn't required for an income tax to exist.  The 16A only removes the apportionment requirement from an income tax.  Without the 16A Congress can still levy an income tax, but a tax on income derived from property (rents, dividends, etc) would have to be apportioned.  Since that would be a logistical nightmare, the 16A was passed to remove any apportionment requirement from the income tax.

136 129 I've an acoustic guitar I get out and pick a little every once in a while.  Cannot really play well anymore due to a finger injury.

It is a Martin D-18, circa 1970.  I should go around to a couple guitar joints and trade it for an equivalent Gibson.

Posted by: I'm in a New York state of mind at September 12, 2011 10:00 AM (4sQwu)

Send in the hounds! This man posesses woods which are illegal for him to posess! Banish him to the hinterlands and TAKE.THAT.GUITAR!

137 Newsflash from the Knuckleheaded Press Association: If someone is working,  even someone older, they're not collecting an entitlement - they're paying INTO it.

138 69 Could have been worse, I guess. They could have fired her over Twitter: "Who's unemployed? YOU ARE LOL!! Clean out your desk and hit the bricks. #pinkslip"
_______

Back in the dotcom era, I was working in the Utah branch of a dotcom headquartered in California. We arrived to work one find Monday and about a third of us discovered their e-mail didn't work. We had to wait an hour for the California folks to arrive so we could call the IT folks. Turned out the e-mail didn't work because they'd been fired.

139 A doggie post (they like kidz an' sometimes kittehs)

140 This police-officers-firefighters-schoolteachers thing is going to go over like a lead balloon.  And there aren't enough of them in the coast-to-coast voter rolls to boost his numbers at all.  Particularly in the swing states he needs so badly.

It is a cynical fucking campaign move to slam the Republicans, and those human props that got invited to the Rose Garden for the photo op announcement ought to go home and take three showers in a row to wash off the slime.

141

“They that DOOM find themselves DOOMed.”  The DOOMed SCOAMF Chronicles; 4:27

142 My plan, call it F___WW&FDR: 1) Make healthcare a personal deduction vice an employer deduction, 2) End withholding, 3) Sunset regulations (any regulation not supported by law does not out last a congressional session). 4) Wait a couple of election cycles and reassess (if DC hasn't been burned to the ground).

143 Ponzi never had the power to force people into his scheme.  I'll give him that.

144 131 And she was condecending and dismissive. Martha did not do a very good job supporting the attack with numbers.
___________

On the up side, they replayed a chunk of it and promised us a visitation from Brit Hume within the hour.

145 I wonder how many of those firemen are volunteers that run small businesses that employee ten people ...

146 Ponzi never had the power to force people into his scheme.  I'll give him that.

Who was it who noted that the primary difference between Bernie Madhoff and the SS Admin was that people volunteered to give their money to Bernie, but are forced to give their money to SSA?

147 "And if we do go down the consumption-tax road, I want it in place of the current income-tax regime, not in addition to it."

That's pretty funny, expecting Liberal Democrats to give up a tax, rather than just add and add and add....

148 @129 To quote Glennis, the glamorous one, " ... it can't be done ...". Just keep the Martin ... or send it to a needy fingerpicker, *humbly points to self*, c/o AoSHQ !

149 Posted by: Jean at September 12, 2011 10:18 AM (WkuV6)

I love that, instead of just sending a bill over to be scored, President Barack Obama, who is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure, is presenting his "plan" in verbal form again.

This is so transparent, and I wish the newsies would call him on it (I know, they're so far in the tank that they'd better have gills): by presenting it verbally, he can claim all the good from whatever comes out of Congress, "See?  My plan blah, blah, blah..." and claim that anything "bad" is due to them not following his "plan."

150

On the up side, they replayed a chunk of it and promised us a visitation from Brit Hume within the hour.

Oh Brit Hume.  *goes for cigs*  I know whatever he does, it's going to leave a mark.  Seriously, him giving that "oh bitch please" look over his glasses to Juan Williams is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Question on the flat tax re: saving small businesses money thing:  What about all the small businesss that exist in order to help people with their taxes?  What happens to them?  That's not a bitchy question, not at all, but there will be at least some displacement of those who do that work. 

 

151 Question on the flat tax re: saving small businesses money thing:  What about all the small businesss that exist in order to help people with their taxes?  What happens to them?  That's not a bitchy question, not at all, but there will be at least some displacement of those who do that work.

The only ones that would be seriously negatively affected are "fly-by-night" (not a pejorative, just a description) businesses that exist from January - April, and then close down for the rest of the year.

Anything that already operates year-round is (most likely) a full on accountancy firm, and they won't be particularly negatively affected.  Businesses will still need people to balance their books and so-forth.

But, just like with so many other occupations in the past- if your services are no longer needed by the economy, it's time to retire or build a new skill-set.

152 AllenG - I would give the President his "plan" with some bitter, bitter political pain attached. Repeal Davis-Bacon, get rid of that silly law that lets the greenies get paid by the epa to sue the epa, slash the EO of the President (make him fire people), the healthcare deduction thing, repeal the wagner act, etc.

153 Yeah, leftists are cracking.  From Robert Kuttner in HuffPo:

"Let me be clear here. I am not saying that we'd be better off if Obama lost in 2012. The risks of that course are simply too great. In the 1930s, German leftists adopted the slogan, 'After Hitler, Us.' It didn't work out so well."

154 Posted by: Jean at September 12, 2011 10:28 AM (WkuV6)

No.  As viscerally appealing as that is, there's always the chance he'd take it anyway, and then the GOP is on the hook for increasing spending, raising tax rates, and undoing all that populist crap (as much it gets complained about, most people don't actually want the Wagner Act repealed, for instance).

155 Listen, listen people, I've, errr, been on the phone with a special job creation group,  Global Network Overview Management Employment Systems (GNOMES). Here is my plan to help America:
Collect Underpants ?Profit

156 Oh Brit Hume.  *goes for cigs*  I know whatever he does, it's going to leave a mark.  Seriously, him giving that "oh bitch please" look over his glasses to Juan Williams is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

I turned on Fox to hear what Brit Hume will say and am ready to throw something at the tv, we'll have to hear from Casey Anthony's mother before Brit. Grrrr.

157 Anytime I read a story about the thieving greed bankingy bastards on Wall St.,  I know it's true.

They produce what again?

158 AllenG - its not the details, it is to further disillusion his base.

159 I told a lie, Hume is on now.

160 Not sure if this will work out for him, but I like that Rick Perry isn't backing down from his criticism of Social Security.  It's refreshing to have someone take an unpopular (but correct) stand and stick with it.

Oh, and Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

161 Rust-proof musicians will still vote Democrat.

162 Pre-speech synopsis of SCOAMF's rose garden speech: "Pass my $500 billion jobs bill or my job will die."

163 Looks like the SCOAMF is getting ready to natter about the jobs bill again.

164 165 Rust-proof musicians will still vote Democrat.

Posted by: garrett at September 12, 2011 10:37 AM (aN+8s)

It's better to burn out than, what the f*ck was I gonna say?

165

Posted by: Johnny (John E.) at September 12, 2011 10:31 AM (nRTou)

Wait, did HuffPo just Godwin itself?  Because that's hilarious. 

But, just like with so many other occupations in the past- if your services are no longer needed by the economy, it's time to retire or build a new skill-set.

Oh I totally agree with that.  I just don't know off the top of my head how many small businesses use the tax season type services vs. a local CPA firm.  I'm all for eliminating as much of the tax code as possible. 

166 They produce what again?

Money.  They produce money.

In the easiest to understand terms, they take lots of small bits of money (a hundred here, a thousand there, etc.) and turn them into big bits of money (100K + at a time), and loan those big bits of money to people at very high interest rates (no- that's not exactly how it works, but it's easy to understand).

Using our (admittedly flawed) metaphor here, sometimes the people they loan the money to don't pay it back- so they take a loss.  Other times they pay it back with the expected interest- so they make more money, which they often turn around and loan out again.  They have to set that "interest rate" high enough to cover their losses when they do win, and the best of them are very, very good- and so they make lots of money.

Now- before the peanut gallery weighs in: there are (big, fundamental) differences between Stocks (money invested in return for partial ownership, with an expectation of future return) and bonds (money loaned with a specific due date), but the fact is that our centralized financial system (Wall Street, if you will) is kind of like the carburetor for our economic engine- it's where money and ideas mix and (hopefully) take a spark to generate energy.

167 Pass the bill.  Plug the hole.

168 Oh I totally agree with that.  I just don't know off the top of my head how many small businesses use the tax season type services vs. a local CPA firm.  I'm all for eliminating as much of the tax code as possible.

From what I've heard (I know a couple of accountant types) anybody with more than about 6 - 7 employees probably has a full time accountant (whether an outside firm or an internal employee).  I'm not sure exactly how accurate that is, but it makes sense.

169

This assmunch is speaking again!?

Is it possible he thinks his performance during the Healthcare debate helped their cause?

170 Is it possible he thinks his performance during the Healthcare debate helped their cause?

In fairness, the bill did get passed.

And, of course, Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

171 171 Pass the bill.  Plug the hole.
Posted by: Our whore president

Thing about whores, they aren't satisfied until they've sucked you dry of every dollar you have..

172 Barky is a one trick pony, and his trick isn't even any good.  P.T. Barnum would have fired him.

173 I'm noticing Drudge likes to highlight the Perry-dropping-his-g's thing.  His headline this morning is similar to the one last week following the debate.

As for this jobs bill garbage...all I hear is teachers, firefighters, police officers.  Does President Putt not realize that there are millions upon millions of workers out of work that don't fall into these 3 unionized categories?  Does he think this will play well with the rest of us who are left asking, "what about us?" 

174 I wonder how late he is. They'd be better off just saying "the President will speak sometime this morning, or maybe in the early afternoon. Just hang around and he'll get to it."

175

In fairness, the bill did get passed.

Yeah, though it was only backroom bribes and underhanded parliamentary maneuvers that got that done.

He didn't seem to help the cause at all...more likely, he hurt it.

176 Full contact fishing.

177 Does President Putt not realize that there are millions upon millions of workers out of work that don't fall into these 3 unionized categories?

Even if he does, it plays on people's heart-strings to think of poor, unemployed teachers, police, or fire-fighters.  One thing President Sham Mao (yes, I like that one, too) has is an ability to demagogue.  Part of that is selecting the correct props.

178 Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

I'd say "I told you so" to the roughly 4% that bumped the SCOAMF from 48% to 52%, but schadenfreude only goes so far when your country is circling the drain.

POTUS is not the world's largest community organizing job, Sherlock SCOAMF.

179 Barky will speak without TOTUS, and this spells DOOM!

You know, we really need to ridicule him any time he uses TOTUS for anything other than major speeches.  Speaking to some union shop in Duluth with TOTUS- "OMG, I can't believe he needs a Tele-Pompter!  You should be able to memorize a 10 minute speech!" So that he begins to see it as more of a liability.

Then we'll be free to make fun of his unscripted gaffs.  It'll be great.  Because, of course, Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

180 I wonder how late he is. They'd be better off just saying "the President will speak sometime this morning, or maybe in the early afternoon. Just hang around and he'll get to it."

I think the WH has stopped giving a specific time so they don't have to take the heat for his repeated lateness.

181 @ 180  This is why the whole world hates us! We don't even have to "teach a man to fish" here in America. 

182 You basically have to have an accountant and out-source payroll. Tried to do i, ourselves - nightmare.

183 23 Hey, I looked for a pic of the glow in the dark kittehs they had on F&F this morning
___________

There are a few here.

184 You basically have to have an accountant and out-source payroll. Tried to do i, ourselves - nightmare.

That's more or less what I'd heard.

How much of a nightmare would it be if the tax code were simplified?  Less?  More?  Same? (Just trying to get an idea)

185 Ever noticed the Feds whining about the need for teaching excellence followed by the call for jobs for "out of work teachers".  ...while the school year is in session.  Hmmm, I wonder why these teachers are not employed.

186 This speech would be better if every other person in the audience had a Hard Hat on!

187

Too bad you accept the fallacy behind social security.  Remember it was first instituted as some Rube Goldberg scheme to encourage people to leave the workforce and lower unemployment.

People should work as long as they have to.  It is only a concern between them and their employer.  Of course we have to end age discrimination rules.  But they hanging about shows that is not a real issue.

188 No dude, this foul-mouthed piece-of-work is union thuggery at its finest.

189
Pass me.
Right away.

190 Jolt, Cheerwine or RC and moonpies?

Cheerwine, baby. Or Dad's root-beer.

Bonus points if you put Rush's Tom Sawyer on infinite repeat on the stereo.

191 Didn't Ponzi jump the shark???

192 @Velvet Ambition:

The financial records are available in Chapter 11, but the interesting things are on the company email server archive.  I have neither a law degree nor a securities license, but I would doubt that the company email archive and any personal communications between company officers and members of the Executive Branch are included in most Chapter 11 filings.

Issa will get all the Chapter 11 stuff, but that's not where there would be evidence of failure of government oversight or mismanagement of government programs.  All of that will be safely stored away by the incorruptable minions of the EB, who would never pay their confidential informants to buy weapons from US gun dealers and then sell them to Mexican drug gangs, and then cover up the evidence that this has happend for over a year.  Wait a minute...

193

Well, my own personal DOOM has been delayed, as I finally accepted a job last Friday!!  I will be working for a bank that is large and well known (you have seen its ads on TV if you live on the East Coast), but did not take any TARP money, is a portfolio lender (i.e. doesn't sell its mortgages and so underwrites very carefully.)  I will be helping them get through all this Dodd-Frank nonsense, and hopefully getting a lot of it repealed after we get the SCOAMF out of office.

 

194 Congrats, rockmom! I'm glad things worked out for you!

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196 Well, in theory, "Replace the income tax with a national sales tax" sounds reasonable, but in practical terms, it requires a Constitutional Amendment. 

Need I go on?

197 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

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