1 Oh.  Cool.  DOOM.  That's what was missing!

2 One scotch, one whiskey, one DOOM....

3 Two DOOMs today!

4

Should we shut down the US Postal Service? Yes. It doesnÂ’t have a viable business model, and itÂ’s been a money-sink for decades.

Isn't it "ironic" that one of the few things in the federal government that is actually supported by the Constitution is one that we are closest to eliminating now?

5 Harry Reid is still heartbroken over the demise of the Cowboy Poetry Coffee Klatch.

6 Ya know I'm starting to think that another Texas Governor and I wild eyed Congresswoman (VP) from MN will make liberal heads explode all over America.

7 Bourbon first, then scotch. George isn't the forgiving type.

8 Maybe if the USPS shipped all the mail on Amtrak the two could make some money. That or hi speed rail our eventual doom. I'll go with the later.

9 Isn't it "ironic" that one of the few things in the federal government that is actually supported by the Constitution is one that we are closest to eliminating now? Posted by: Vic at August 15, 2011 09:01 AM (M9Ie6) The Problem with shutting down the "Postal Service" is that it would really isolate many rural areas. And that is one reason the Postal Service runs a loss, since they have to service all these unprofitable routes.

10 And is that a Budweiser Doom?

11 That was fast: From announcing to the first bumper-sticker in 2 days.  Saw my first Perry '12 sticker on a car this morning.

12

And, as expected, the NYT is reliably pro-DOOM.

13

(Reuters) - Billionaire Warren Buffett urged U.S. lawmakers to raise taxes on the country's super-rich to help cut the budget deficit, saying such a move will not hurt investments.

"My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice," The 80-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" wrote in an opinion article in The New York Times.

said his federal tax bill last year was $6,938,744.

"That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income - and that's actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office.

 

Fine tax the MFer at 100%. If jagbags like Warren want more taxes nothing is stopping the assclown from paying more

14 I find the Postal service very useful, thank you..  My Netflix movies go back and forth very quickly!

But seriously.. it is a useful service.. and fairly efficient.  I say privatize the management of it..   Those folks are paid way too much, are top heavy on management and should have their pension fund converted to a 401(k) with whatever funds are in it at this point in time.

And, for fucks sake.. if usage of the system is down because of the internet.. lay off some damn people!

15 Remember, kids: if it was fun they wouldn't call it "work".

My main problem with this article (couched in the language it is) is that it's promoting dependency.  The subtext seems to be "It's all futile.  You should rely on the all beneficent Government to take care of you.  If only you'd comply, we wouldn't have all these problems."

My response to the lady in the story is, "Well, exactly what did you think it took to run a restaurant?  Did you think the food would cook itself?  Did you think the books would balance themselves?"

16 Italy wants Euro-bonds, Get Out of Jail Free card.

17 But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income

How did he do that?  Through tax advantages not available to his employees.  How about this, I'll give you your 17.4%, if you'll give me the same.  How about instead of penalizing those who are successful, we stop subsidizing those who are not?

18 second careers as chocolatiers, bed-and-breakfast proprietors and organic farmers.

lolz

19

The founding financial crisis.

VA and MD got cheated. Everyone bemoans the fact without that supper (at Jefferson's BTW) we would not have had a United States.

That is not true. What we would not have had is the current Constitution (possibly) which was provoked by Shay's rebellion. We may have still had the articles of confederation. VA had already paid its debts (in gold as required) and they wound up paying the other States as well in order to get the shithole city of DC..

Very few people realize the real reasons behind the causes of Shay's Rebellion. That rebellion was confined to MA but the causes were also prevalent in VA and other States as well. Due to the British laws prior to the revolution that was very damn little gold and silver in the United States. Yet to satisfy the European banks that war debts had to paid in gold or silver. So the States were requiring that all property taxes be paid in gold or silver.

Since nobody had the gold or silver to pay widespread forfeiture of homes and farms was occuring. It doesn't take a lot of that before people will rise up. They had been placed in an impossible situation. The linked article says the "refused to pay". The fact is that it was impossible for them to pay.

20 Bourbon first, then scotch.

George isn't the forgiving type.

I wouldn't want to make George angry. Fixed. (Actually, Amos Milburn did it first, and John Lee Hooker did it best. Word up to the OG's of the blues world.)

21 The Problem with shutting down the "Postal Service" is that it would really isolate many rural areas. And that is one reason the Postal Service runs a loss, since they have to service all these unprofitable routes.

The problem isn't servicing the rural areas.  The problem is all the small rural post offices and that postal workers are paid a lot more than UPS workers who do the same job.

And yet politics will not allow any of that to change.

22 @18 most likely, most of his income was from long term capital gains which are taxed at 15% instead of at standard income rates to adjust for losses due to inflation.

23 How did he do that?  Through tax advantages not available to his employees.  How about this, I'll give you your 17.4%, if you'll give me the same.  How about instead of penalizing those who are successful, we stop subsidizing those who are not?
Posted by: AllenG
..........
He did that because all his income is from dividends and cap gains.

Tax it all the same, as far as I'm concerned.. income is income.

24 most likely, most of his income was from long term capital gains which are taxed at 15% instead of at standard income rates to adjust for losses due to inflation.

Yes, I realize that.  My point is that most people don't get a lot of income that way.  They get their salaries and that's about it.  So, again, how about we just call any money that I make in a year (regardless of source) "income" and tax it right around 17%?

25 Federal money cut back: liberal states and cities hardest hit.

Never gonna happen. The only thing that will stop the hemorrhaging of money to the sociaist States and Cities is an Art V convention.

They have so many hidden programs sending billions out that it can not be counted.

26

The 10 housing markets that will collapse this year. No surprises on this list.

I thought those markets has already collapse long ago.

27 It is so odd to me how we could find ourselves living in the midst of a world decimated once again, by the immorality of socialism and be actually hearing from almost half of our political representatives, all of the MFM and nearly half of this country's population that the answer to the destruction wrought by socialism is yet, more socialism.
So insistent is the left on their "right" to the fruits of other people's labor.  So certain are they that through the sequestration of others wealth the economic maladies of the world will be cured.  So comforted are they by the prospect of a future of shared, yet righteously equal, misery.

28 I thought those markets has already collapse long ago.

They did. Lots of home valuations have fallen by 50% or more. But it says something about how crazy the whole real-estate thing was that there is still some room to fall yet before the bubble completely deflates. The housing market in a lot of the Sun Belt states are still searching for the bottom.

29 Never gonna happen. The only thing that will stop the hemorrhaging of money to the sociaist States and Cities is an Art V convention.

You know... I wonder what would happen if someone (since the Supremes have now ruled that, in limited circumstances, private citizens have standing to sue the US Govt), someone from a low subsidy state (TX, for instance) sued under the 14th Amendment on the idea that some states getting higher per-capita subsidies than other states violated the equal protection clause?

Actually, I'd love to see an amendment that says no Federal program can require the States to participate, reward participation, or punish non-participation. 

No more money straight to the states.

30 About the time Romer and Bernstein issued their assessments, I [James K. Galbraith] wrote a cover essay for Washington Monthly attacking predictions of early recovery. The “return to normal” would not happen, I wrote, because the effects of a financial collapse could not be reversed. But though this fact was obvious and in plain sight, somehow many economists missed it. Let’s examine that epic failure.

… But led by its technicians, Team Obama simply assumed away the crisis, calling it instead a “Great Recession” – which again implied that it would end just because recessions always had.

That James K. Galbraith piece is golden.

31 caned in school

Um, who all is in favor of public unions caning kids who disagree with them?

32 The housing market in a lot of the Sun Belt states are still searching for the bottom.

Posted by: Monty at August 15, 2011 09:23 AM (/0a60)

I know my old neighborhood in CA still has some room to fall. But that may be because or what Sowell said, the stupid green space laws are keeping it high.

33 http://tinyurl.com/3p7bzol

34 Since nobody had the gold or silver to pay widespread forfeiture of homes and farms was occuring. It doesn't take a lot of that before people will rise up. They had been placed in an impossible situation. The linked article says the "refused to pay". The fact is that it was impossible for them to pay.

So no debtor's prison for folks who "owe" one government or another, huh?

35 Posted by: Methos at August 15, 2011 09:24 AM (sOXQX)

Here?  Nobody, I'd think.  The ethos is slightly different in the UK.  Most schools are "private."  "Public" school is for the losers (really, the children of losers) who can't get into any private school.

On the other hand, corporal punishment would go a long way to re-establishing discipline in the classroom.

36

Don't know why I can't post live links.  That one above is a good free story in today's American Banker.  More job-killing, growth-killing results of the Dodd-Frank bill:

 

 

37 Posted by: rockmom at August 15, 2011 09:26 AM (lSyyU)

Rockmom: I was going to post that link, but it's subscriber-only. Do you have a free-to-read link?

38 Just for you Monty, I'm going to load Doom3 back up on my desktop

39 Good morning, everyone!

I didn't get a chance to watch Perry's speech this weekend, but I saw it this morning.  Very good!  I like the thoughtfulness of his word-choice.  It didn't sound much like a canned speech, but like he was choosing the words as he went.  Seems like a natural campaigner.  Go get 'em, Rick!

40 Swiss Franc to be tied to Euro? The bastards. One of the last safe havens married to a bloated, twinkie-eating, crack-whore of a currency

http://tinyurl.com/3qbl268

41 I say get rid of door to door mail, and franchise the local offices.

42 That James K. Galbraith piece is golden.

No, it's not.  It's simply another attack on Obama from the left. 

Galbraith wanted a larger stimulus, and he wants a "national infrastructure bank": That is, the Fed on Steroids.  While not everyone thinks the Fed needs to be abolished, I don't know any conservative who thinks it needs to be strengthened.

Further, he's bemoaning "Debt deflation" and saying that the recession wouldn't have worked itself out.  Debt deflation is how recessions work themselves out, and, while it means a lot of people take a haircut- it's a lot better with faster recovery than this slow decline our current Interventionist policies are imposing.

43 Also check out Gretchen Morgenson's latest last Friday in the NYT.  Great story on the retiring president of the Kansas City Fed, who pretty much predicted the 2008 collapse way back in 1996 and was hooted at.

44

Close the post office??!

Who'd deliver my snail mail spam of credit card offers and local coupon packets??

45 Monty, everything you said and referred to is correct. I will just add that the Redskins looked remarkably capable in their pre-season opener. Dallas and NY look shaky. Not that impressed with Andy Reid's iggles, given the amount of dealing they did. If you want real DOOM, lets start talking about Redskins taking the NFC East. That should make some heads explode. GO SKINS. Hell, how is is that the 49ers get worse every year? You would think that by sheer randomness they would actually get better. What are the odds?

46 Posted by: dogfish at August 15, 2011 09:35 AM (N2yhW)

Actually, I still get important mail through the post office, so it's not all spam.

That said, I like the idea of franchising local offices and letting them come up with business models that work for their areas.

47 Here?  Nobody, I'd think.  The ethos is slightly different in the UK.  Most schools are "private."  "Public" school is for the losers (really, the children of losers) who can't get into any private school.

Which is completely different from America./kidding only because I live in the suburbs

On the other hand, corporal punishment would go a long way to re-establishing discipline in the classroom.


I really think I want to be sure I've got teachers/a principal who can be trusted with that kind of authority first. I have visions of decent kids being whipped for provoking the muslim kid. Or not saying the pledge to Obama.

48 Um, who all is in favor of public unions caning kids who disagree with them?

Posted by: Methos at August 15, 2011 09:24 AM (sOXQX)

 

I don't agree with trusting libtards to "cane" those who disagree on facts or interpretation of facts/events.   But there needs to be some steel put back into classroom discipline.  Certain things need the belt/cane/paddle/whatever.  Drive it into them young, then you don't have as much trouble later.  We live in a country where in the cities the teachers have to fear for their lives.  Students have been known to assault the teachers, often in groups.   The slum areas, especially, need iron rule imposed on the little hooligans.  It will benefit all of them.

 

49

Gambling may be wrong, but online poker is fun! And I like to play online, and would be happy to see it regulated, taxed, and legitimized under USA laws. It certainly would generate tax revenue, some jobs here in the USA instead of in foreign countries and keep USA players safe from predatory web site operators and scammy payment processors.

HR 2366 is currently in process, sponsored by Republican Joe Barton, you can find out more at the http://theppa.org/ 

50 If delivery is cut to two or three times a week, there will have to be regulations put in place about billing cycles.  As it stands now, there are some companies that give you a very short window to pay your bills.  Adding in a 3 to 4 day lag - on both ends - to the mail service would be problematic. 

51 Posted by: Methos at August 15, 2011 09:37 AM (sOXQX)

Heck, I plan on home-schooling my kids.  At least through 5th grade.  I'm thinking that, by then, they'll be steady enough to weather the worst of the middle-school and high-school propaganda.  Also to out-argue their teachers, which will be hilarious in parent/teacher conferences.

On the other hand, maybe I've just been lucky, but in all the school systems with which I've been even peripherally involved, I trusted Administration enough to enforce a just corporal punishment policy.  YMMV, of course.

52 Balbutens infelix infamae ruinae Obama est.

53 More evidence that "follow your dreams" is often really shitty career advice. If you have a day job to supplement it though, it can still be rewarding.

54 Posted by: DoverPro at August 15, 2011 09:38 AM (wN82N)

Okay, I have to ask: Why is gambling wrong?  It may be stupid (the house always wins), but why "wrong?"

Posted by: Y-not at August 15, 2011 09:39 AM (5H6zj)

Yeah, I thought of that, too.  How much would it suck to get a bill on Wednesday that's due on Wednesday- because mail delivery had been curtailed?  OTOH, I don't know of any businesses that don't give at least two weeks notice that your bill is due (that is, typically, if the bill is due on the 15th, you normally get it on or before the 1st of the month).  Before I look into "regulations" about that, I'd have to see cases of businesses abusing the cut-back delivery schedule.

55 How about instead of penalizing those who are successful, we stop subsidizing those who are not?
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 09:11 AM

True dat, and all of your points.

BUT -- can't we make a special exception and punish the shit out of loudmouth do-gooder ultra-wealthy types who insist on telling us what to do?

The slimy sumbitch doesn't have to pay only 17-point-whatever percent, you know.

56 55 More evidence that "follow your dreams" is often really shitty career advice.
If you have a day job to supplement it though, it can still be rewarding.

Posted by: CAC at August 15, 2011 09:41 AM (JEVge)

Follow your interests is better. There are plenty of ways to do what you like.

57

#53 You don't really have to home school them, just engage them regularly to find out what crap they have been told at school and give them the facts.  I have done this with my son who is off to college this week.  I have picked good communities with good schools in which to live, and I feel he is well educated.  The biggest thing I am going to miss with him is having conversations about economics and government.

The only reason anyone should home school is if you have to live in a community with crappy schools.

58

Sixty comments, and no one has mentioned the stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure?

Bravo!  Morons, Bravo!

By the way, who decided to class up the joint?

59 BUT -- can't we make a special exception and punish the shit out of loudmouth do-gooder ultra-wealthy types who insist on telling us what to do?

As good as such a thing would feel?  No.

However, we can and should respond to every single one of these diatribes with "You know, you can always donate more than your actual tax amount.  The IRS will be glad to cash your check.  What do you think would be fair taxation?  80%?  Well, why don't you just pay that, then?"

60 Anyone remember the MBS debacle. It hasn't actually gone away.

We know that the banks have been furiously lobbying in Washington DC to cast off the liability for their former actions.  The problem?  These are state law issues and Washington DC has no jurisdiction - even though it would like to so it can accept their bribes, er, "campaign contributions" to make it all go away.

61 OTOH, I don't know of any businesses that don't give at least two weeks notice that your bill is due (that is, typically, if the bill is due on the 15th, you normally get it on or before the 1st of the month).  Before I look into "regulations" about that, I'd have to see cases of businesses abusing the cut-back delivery schedule.

---

I have had that experience, even with daily mail delivery.  Just recently we were alerted by Black Card about the renewal fee.  It arrived the day after  deadline for avoiding the fee.  IIRC, some of our phone carriers have also done quickie turn arounds.

I am against regulations.... which is why I used that word.  Sometimes when we think we're saving costs, we wind up adding costs through govt regulations. 

So to me the answer is closing as many of the stand alone PO window services as possible rather than fooling around with mail carriers.

62

You gotta take the sour with the sweet.

Monty, thank you so much for saying this correctly.  It just drives me up a wall when I hear people say, "You have to take the good with the bad."

English peeve of mine ...

63 I'm gonna' call Bull-Sh!t here: "President Nixon's golden error"

Currency was invented to represent wealth.. Not a commodity.

Tying the Dollar to Gold didn't prevent the Gov't from printing more Dollars than the gold was worth.

Just as today, Gov't isn't prevented from printing more Dollars than the wealth it's supposed to represent..

64 Here is my four point economic plan: 1) Eliminate the corporate income tax in exchange for business paying all the payroll tax which would be taxed at 8% and the upper limit set to keep it revenue neutral. 2) Eliminate restrictions on natural resource development. 3) Obamacare repealed replaced with a free market healthcare system. 4) A national telethon to help reduce the debt.

65 The only reason anyone should home school is if you have to live in a community with crappy schools.

You know... or if you want to.

The fact is, we want to rear our own children, we don't want the State (or even a well meaning private school) to do it for us.  And my son (at least, my daughter is too young for us to tell, yet) would be bored to tears in any public school classroom.  I don't care how good the schools are, they're still limited to the pace of the slowest child.

Sixty comments, and no one has mentioned the stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure?

You're right, we should fix that:

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

66 I am doing a lot better under President Obamama then George Bosh. My welfare, food stamps, unemployment payments are higher I am able to get my GED. Under Bosh I had no chance of getting an education and putting food on the table for my 5 babies. i be hard if you a single mother at 22 with no education and a poor economy from George Bosh and the oil companies. President Obamama can count on my support

67 4) A national telethon to help reduce the debt.

That won't work.  MDA's real money comes from principle and planned gifts, not from things like people phoning into the telethon. 

Plus, I do not want yet another excuse for the Feds to be on my television. 

68 67 Here is my four point economic plan:

1) Eliminate the corporate income tax in exchange for business paying all the payroll tax which would be taxed at 8% and the upper limit set to keep it revenue neutral.

2) Eliminate restrictions on natural resource development.

3) Obamacare repealed replaced with a free market healthcare system.

4) A national telethon to help reduce the debt. Posted by: President Chet Roosevelt

How about 4) National pie throwing booth featuring JEF, Michelle, Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, Ried

69

56 Posted by: DoverPro at August 15, 2011 09:38 AM (wN82N)

Okay, I have to ask: Why is gambling wrong?  It may be stupid (the house always wins), but why "wrong?"

I don't really think gambling is "wrong", I just picked up the lead from the story, but gambling does have pitfalls. Yes, the house has an edge, a percentage in their favor from every bet in the place, or in the case of poker a rake, or tourney fee, and if you are going to gamble you must absolutely be certain you understand the true odds of any wagers you make. But you should consider gambling as a form of entainment. It costs me about $100 to go to an NFL football game when I add up all the costs. For that same hundred I can go to a casino, play some poker and maybe win a few bucks.

As for online poker, I used to play a lot before the UGIEA rules came about and had a lot of fun when I did.

70 Posted by: Latonya Higgins-Johnston from Compton, CA at August 15, 2011 09:51 AM (48wze)

Please tell me this is a sock.
I'd hate to think our troll quality has gotten this low.

71

That Galbraith column is great, right until the very last phrase.  he is 100% right.  The financial collapse was massive and different, and required different policies to fix it.  The bumblers who came in with Obama had no clue what to do, and then they just punted the entire stimulus to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

This really floored me.  I had expected some much more radical things out of Obama.  One idea I mentioned to people back then was spending $900 billlion to just pay off everyone's credit card balances, or a little less to pay off balances that exceeded $10,000.  This would help the banks, help consumers,  and reset the level of consumer debt, which would have kept the banks solvent and kept consumers spending. 

We need to de-leverage our economy, and this cannot be done without some pain.

72 Re the home-schooling.  I guess I understand the impulse, but I think in terms of worrying about your kid being indoctrinated the best solution for that is to have a parent who is home when the child gets home from school.  We had three or four quality hours with my mom every day after getting home from a really liberal (waaaay out there, trust me on this) but very academically solid school system.  It made all the difference. 

Going to a public school is a good way, imho, to learn from an early age how to interact with people from all walks of life and how to challenge authority.

73 Currency was invented to represent wealth.. Not a commodity.

Er...no. See my article here for a discussion of what money is and what it does (and is supposed to do). Currency is only partly a store of value (and in a fiat money regime, it's a very tiny part).

74 They still have Corporal Punishment at my daughters K-12 School. I think they paddled one kid last year. I think his Dad whipped his ass again when he got home. Our private Baptist school puts up with 0 shit. With all of that hillbilly backwoods, ignorant, unsophisticated, behavior, somehow they scored in the 96th Percentile on the Stanford Achievement test. All of our HS grads, except 2 got scholarships to college, those other two slackers went to west point and the Merchant Marine academy. We spend less per student than the public schools, We have no fancy sports stadium or football team, We have music, art, Archery, Rifle Team and in house Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Our new classrooms are trailers. My point is if Kids know they will get an ass whipping for extreme behavior, that extreme behavior usually does not happen. In the absence of extreme behavior, learning can and will break out.

75 At its best, government spending is graft, corruption and waste.  Eventually, as is the case now in this country, the government uses our taxes against us to either compel us to do what they say, or to compel us to do what they decide is good for us.  And they then reward themselves and their cronies with what is left for having done such a good job in succeeding bribing us with our own money.  As long as half of the country thinks that's ok, we're DOOMed.

76

#4. An auction where ex-legislators and ex-executives were loaded into trebuchets, and launched at a rock wall?  More$ raised = longer hang-time.

77 77 They still have Corporal Punishment at my daughters K-12 School. I think they paddled one kid last year. I think his Dad whipped his ass again when he got home. Our private Baptist school puts up with 0 shit.

I'd rather administer discipline myself. Tell me my kid messed up and then tell him. If he is being a pain-in-the-ass, send him home. Cause he'll know what's in store for him when he gets home...

78 Via sda - Krugman calls for The Greys to save us from our foolishly-thrifty selves.

79 Posted by: Y-not at August 15, 2011 09:55 AM (5H6zj)

Different worlds, I guess.  I'm in Red Texas, so there wouldn't be a whole lot of liberal indoctrination until later grades anyway- most of that is limited to the text-books, not the teachers.

Also, one of the primary forms of entertainment in our home is having an argument.  I don't think learning how to challenge authority is going to be a problem- and Church and other extra-curricular activities should handle the "how to interact with people..."

Again, the main point is the rearing them as we wish them to be reared.  It's hard to undo in a few hours at night what is done over the whole rest of the day.

80 Over the years I have come to call Mr. Shedlock's position on defense and isolationism "Poison Pill Libertarianism." By lumping in defense with the roughly 3-4 times as much that gets spent on welfare and entitlements it basically gives them the mental blinders to pretend there is no difference between the democrat socialists and anyone who who doesn't want to roll over and play dead for the foreign threat du jour. And "Independents" who do that are worth a lot to the dems... some 5% or so of the electorate, when they win elections 52-48%.

81 NO mention of Sparky's new lows? WTF?

82 Again, the main point is the rearing them as we wish them to be reared.  It's hard to undo in a few hours at night what is done over the whole rest of the day.

Yeah, if you're relying on the time after dinner, I agree.  But we had from 2:30 or whatever time on.  During the afternoons was when we'd tell my mom what shenanigans took place in the school that day, which is how she became a school activist. 

I see this trend of conservatives and traditionalists withdrawing from society and conceding important organizations like public schools, universities, and media outlets to the liberals.  I think it's a terrible trend. 

83 Posted by: Abdominal Snowman at August 15, 2011 10:02 AM (qITqt)

I've never understood the Fortress America stance of Libertarians.  It's almost like they believe that America is a world unto itself, and we'd just be left alone.  The world doesn't work that way.

84 75, As a Teacher, all I can say is public school is how you deny a child a decent education. It's not the Teachers, although sometimes it is, It's the sociopaths they call students. It's the Gov. Regs that say you can't remove an insane, disruptive, or outright violent kid from your classroom. Teachers are forced to deal with things that once upon a time, were reserved for parents, therapists or the Police. Rons, it's not like when you were little. Public schools are very dangerous places.

85 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 09:43 AM (8y9MW)

I once got a bill after it was due.  I had to explain to two different people that the envelope was post-marked the day after it was due.  They had no response for how I was supposed to pay a bill when it came due while sitting in the post office.

86 And let's start to act on our actual needs and problems: jobs, foreclosures, public investments, energy security and climate change.

I'm supposed to take this Galbraith guy seriously?

87

#68 Well, your mileage may vary.  I just think it is sort of giving up to homeschool your kids.  I have had excellent experiences with public schools, though I moved deliberately when my oldest hit middle school because I knew the middle schools where I lived sucked and were full of gangs.  I know a lot of people can't do that.  The schools my kids are in now are much bigger and more homogeneous than I would prefer, but the quality of the instruction is excellent.  My son's high school class graduated 100% of its students.  He took AP Macroeconomics this year and leanred more than I did in my college Macro 101 class.  He has friends going to Yale, NYU, Carnegie-Mellon, and other top universities.  My daughter went to the state finals in a National History Day competition this year.  She knows more about the Patriot Act than I do. 

It takes effort and commitment to monitor what your kids are doing in public schools, and push them to read and think outside of school, but it is worth it. 

88 No. you're supposed to point and laugh at him, hysterically, like Nelson Muntz

89 Posted by: Y-not at August 15, 2011 10:03 AM (5H6zj)

I don't think keeping your kids in public school is going to shift the schools back to the right- you need to get conservatives to be teachers and administrators.

The problem with that is that most conservatives would rather be doing something- and teaching isn't going to blow up their proverbial skirts.  Worse, if you think indoctrination is bad for the kids: I've seen dyed-in-the-wool conservatives become mouth-foaming liberals just by getting their teacher's certifications, even here in Texas.

I think the system needs to come down.  Let conservatives go to private schools and home schools.  Eventually the problems in public schools will become so systemic (or, rather, so obviously systemic, since they're already systemic) that there will suddenly be an actual outcry to fix the schools, and to hold both teachers and administrators responsible for the results the schools see.

90 92, You are a good Mom, I wish they were all like you. Parents need to understand thay have the impact when it comes to Education, not the Teachers.

91 Gentlemen, be very afraid if your wife/girlfriend buys this item:

http://tinyurl.com/3kvbyjo

92 61--So what do you think 54 is? Chopped liver?

93 I have been advocating we do away with all public schools for a long time now.

94 94, If you want to be a Teacher where I live, the first thing you do is go to the DMV and change your voter regestration to Dem or Indy. If you are registered Republican, they will not hire you.

95

Until such point as Warren Buffet voluntarily begins paying the level of taxes he's advocating, he can shut the fuck up.  Seriously.  Put up or shut up. 

I just think it is sort of giving up to homeschool your kids. 

Well, I've known a number of people who homeschool and I would state, categorically, that it is pretty much the opposite of giving up.  It's taking control and being willing to do the hard, hard work to give your children the education you believe they should have.  To claim it's "giving up" is, frankly, quite insulting to those families. 

 

96 "Say to him that divorce should be made very difficult"

Fucking Jesus! You want to make Newt cry!

97

Oh, I read that "Department of Jobs" story last night and LOLed.  Only a liberal could come up with such foolishness. 

There is an old saw thast says putting "social" in front of anything negates whatever comes after it, e.g. Social Security, social work, social justice.  I think a corollary to that is any federal department name means you get less of what that name is, and a total screwup of the market or sector it is supposed to be supporting.  HUD = less housing and urban development.  DOT = worse transportation, focus on wasteful crap like mass transit subsidies, etc.  Dept. of Energy = 'nuff said.  So just imagine what horrors would come form a "Department of Jobs"!

 

98 Posted by: Deathknyte at August 15, 2011 10:06 AM (rc+oL)

Okay, and that kind of thing does happen, but is it happening regularly?  The point is that you should only bring in regulation to stop actual abuse.  If you're worried about things like that, you need to change the law so that a bill is required prior to the due date to make a charge formal.  Currently, that's not the law- you owe what they say you owe when they say you owe it regardless of whether or not you've received a bill.  By simply changing the law so that someone can say, "I got the bill late: here's the envelope it came in, and you can see the post-mark is the same day the bill was due" and have any late-charges and penalties reversed, and you'll see that kind of thing end.

I ended my contract with Sprint (many years ago) for exactly that: they didn't want to send me a paper bill, and I required one.  They shut my phone off 3 times because they hadn't actually sent me a bill before I said, "Fine, I'm cancelling my contract."  You know, I got my final bill in two days?  Almost like they could have been sending a bill the whole time...

99 102, Well, there would be 4000 new Jobs, at the Dept of Jobs.

100 Looking at this crew and their "forms of government," it got me wondering.  Is the Czech Republic the only capitalist country left?

101 Er...no. See my article here for a discussion of what money is and what it does (and is supposed to do). Currency is only partly a store of value (and in a fiat money regime, it's a very tiny part).

You're talking about what currency has become.

I'm talking about how it came to be.

In the beginning, if a farmer grew an apple, and apples were worth a Dollar, the Gov't could print a Dollar's worth of currency to represent the apple.

Problem has become, the rules governing the printing of currency have become too loose... ie, Someone pushing papers around gets treated as wealth.

102

@82

So all those Brits running around breaking windows is actually going to cause a giant economic boom?  Awesome.  Krugman is teh genius.

Krugman heard fallacy and thought people were talking about cocks.     

103 It takes effort and commitment to monitor what your kids are doing in public schools, and push them to read and think outside of school, but it is worth it.

^
This.

It also can be hard on the kids.  Things like "opt outs" for sex ed and crap like that mean your kids and a handful of others will be labeled as weird.  My sister and I had teachers tell us how sad they were that our creativity was being stilted by oppressive parents - we both won regional art competitions and a I won a state-wide film festival, btw! 

People can do what they want, but I have my doubts about the average person being skilled enough to teach the fundamentals across so many disciplines, particularly math and science.  And no amount of arguing with your family replaces sitting in a classroom with kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds or what have you. 

104 I'm telling you Y, that sitting in a classroom with kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds, is over rated.

105 People can do what they want, but I have my doubts about the average person being skilled enough to teach the fundamentals across so many disciplines, particularly math and science.

Why? All those 90 year old spinsters I had in grammar school did it in the 50s.

106

 Waterhouse,

“I'm supposed to take this Galbraith guy seriously?”

  No. J.K. Galbraith once claimed that the communist system in the former Soviet Union was superior to capitalism because the communists somehow made better and more efficient use of "manpower" than the West.

107 For Monty and others ..  what's your read on the Chilean employee pension model as a replacement for our current Social Security scheme?  LINK (Cato Journal)

Excerpt:

Under Chile's Pension Savings Account (PSA) system, what determines a worker's pension level is the amount of money he accumulates during his working years. Neither the worker nor the employer pays a social security tax to the state. Nor does the worker collect a government-funded pension. Instead, during his working life, he automatically has 10 percent of his wages deposited by his employer each month in his own, individual PSA. This percentage applies only to the first $22,000 of annual income. Therefore, as wages go up with economic growth, the "mandatory savings'' content of the pension system goes down.

A worker may contribute an additional 10 percent of his wages each month, which is also deductible from taxable income, as a form of voluntary savings. Generally a worker will contribute more than 10 percent of his salary if he wants to retire early or obtain a higher pension.

108 "It's not the Teachers, although sometimes it is, It's the sociopaths they call students. It's the Gov. Regs that say you can't remove an insane, disruptive, or outright violent kid from your classroom."

Gee Binky where are the parental responsibilities in all this? They raise the little shits.
It isn't teachers and it isn't school and it isn't BIGOV it's the goddamned parents. Doesn't matter what letter of the alphabet they cheer for.
We have a coup[e of generations of truly shitty parents who not want to blame everyone but themselves but still want to shove the upbringing of their asshole kids on any system that doesn't directly involve them.
I say take sticks to the shitheel mom and dads no matter what class.

109 104 102, Well, there would be 4000 new Jobs, at the Dept of Jobs.

Posted by: Oldsailor's poet at August 15, 2011 10:15 AM (ZDUD4)

And if you created a "Dept of Jobs for the Dept of Jobs" you would create 8,000 jobs

110

Harry Reid believes that the Tea Party will fade away. Harry Reid also believes in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis.

 

 

In Harry's defense, I do a neat magic trick where I use a Polaroid camera to take a picture of you alongside your otherwise-invisible Guardian Vegetable, so it might be like that.

111 To go further, let's admit that our problem is not budget deficits or public debt — not now and not later. Let's agree that cutting Social Security and Medicare — inflicting pointless pain on the elderly — will not help. Let's build a new financial system to serve public purpose and private business. And let's start to act on our actual needs and problems: jobs, foreclosures, public investments, energy security and climate change.

... and may goodwill and unicorns be distributed about the country.

112

#98 My brother has said for years that we should prohibit either all public or all private schools.  We have the worst of all worlds now, where more aflluent people can either pay for private schools or move to better school districts, where we have home prices skewed and communities segregated by race and class because of the quality of the schools, and schools getting worse and worse for the vast middle and lower classes.   People really should not be choosing where to live based on the schools.  If there were no public schools, this would not happen, there would be good schools in every community because parents would demand them and pay for them.  But if there were no private schools, parents would also demand better public schools because not everyone wants to live in an exurb.

My comment about homeschoolers giving up is a general observation; certainly I have great respect for the individuals who do it.  It is a hard world in which parents have to choose what is best for their own kids vs. what may be best for the country overall.

113 "Why? All those 90 year old spinsters I had in grammar school did it in the 50s."

One of the less desired side effects of the Women's rights movement was allowing competent women a variety of choices in the workforce. Previously talented women were driven to fields like nursing and teaching.
Thus those quality teachers of the fifties became business women of the seventies and left the bottom of the barrel for educators.

114 People can do what they want, but I have my doubts about the average person being skilled enough to teach the fundamentals across so many disciplines, particularly math and science.

Through 5th grade?  Surely you jest.  Teaching the basic, fundamental components of Language, Math, and Science is actually fairly easy- as long as you have a curriculum (and there are several available) to help you know what order to go in and to remind you of some details (especially that 'science' portion).

By the time you hit 6th grade (and certainly 9th) I completely agree that the knowledge is specialized enough that you want someone who is a master of their subject to be teaching it, but there's a reason it's called "elementary" school.

And, at least in affluent suburban North Central Texas, there's not a whole lot of mixing different socio-economic backgrounds in elementary schools, either.  Simply because elementary schools almost always cater exclusively (or virtually exclusively) to the neighborhoods which surround them.

115 “It was a drag, but it was necessary because I had bills to pay and student loan payments every month,” she said. Umm, okay. I understand the allure of being your own boss and following your own dreams etc. But, maybe, just maybe you should have thought about that before you quit a job that payed $250k a year. BEFORE YOU PAID OFF THE LOAN YOU TOOK SO YOU GET THAT JOB! Sorry, I don't have a lot of sympathy hear in this case. You get laid off and you say, okay, I'll do it myself, and you find that the going is tough, okay, I get it. But if you have a pretty good Plan A gig, maybe that should be your plan, instead of Plan C.

116 RE: Warren Buffet demanding his taxes be raised. I'm starting to come around to Ann Coulter's position: Tax the shit out of billionaires. They're all insufferable liberal douchebags. Leave the millionaires alone, they're generally the ones who create jobs and grow the economy.

117 112, It will all work, SSI would have worked but the lazy lying bastards we are responsible for electing spent it all. I am all for most any program that is out of reach of the Taxman and the Pols. The problem with that program is the 1 out of 7 healthy adults that do not hold a job. If they don't contribute to their own retirement, then what?

118 Love my catholic schools but I still read every text book and correct for them.

119 @JakeTapper : #ButteronaStick  - You are doing it wrong.

120 My high school geometery class started each day with a theorem proof competition.

My kid's school dropped the proofs.  I knew they were idiots.

121 Let's call it the Department of Three Letter Words.  Makes a hell of a lot more sense than the Department of Jobs. 

What bullshit.

122 I say tax the hell out of anybody who says that they are undertaxed.

123 Posted by: franksalterego at August 15, 2011 10:15 AM (7/sDI)

So the government printed a one dollar bill to represent the apple that the farmer grew. The government gave the farmer that bill in exchange for his apple, and then fed it to the welfare mom down the street. The dollar is still around, but the apple is gone, and there is nothing of value to back that bill.

124 My kid's school dropped the proofs.  I knew they were idiots.

They dropped proofs?  My teacher once demonstrated the proof of 2 + 2 = 4.  Well, showed us a slide with it.  As I recall, it's really, really long.  I loved proofs (the only 'logic' my school taught, btw).  It was the matrices in Algebra II and Trigonometry/Pre-Cal that I hated.

125 As I have said in an earlier post I am in favor of a Gold Standard.

The question is "Why did Nixon take the United States off the Gold Standard?"

Please remember that I have stated that a Gold Standard and the charging of Interest are long term  incompatible. That is not quite true - what is true is that the maximum rate of interest that can be allowed is equal to the yearly growth of the amount of gold in circulation. Otherwise the people charging interest wind up with all of the gold because of the unbounded growth of the exponential interest formula.

By the late 1920's banks and other financial institutions had so much money from long term interest that they were making absurdly risky margin loans to people gambling in the stock market. Absurdly risky loans are a symptom of financial institutions having more money to lend than they have reasonable choices of sound loans to make. Note that the Fed funds pumped into the financial markets before the housing bubble burst - fueled similar absurdly risky loans in the housing market. Banks generally don't make risky loans unless they have more money to loan than prudent loan targets are available.The easy loan money in the 1920's fueled the era known as the roaring twenties.

If I am correct about the location of the money during the depression - that it was sequestered in banks and other financial institutions because the money lenders owned essentially all the gold in US then the roaring twenties easy money risky loans would be exactly what I would expect to see.  In the last cycle before owning essentially all of the gold in the country money lenders would have huge amounts of money to loan out.

If on the other hand Monty is correct that unlimited interest is perfectly compatible with a gold standard and that the money during the great depression was sequestered in people's mattresses - one would not expect to see risky loans being made in the 1920's by money lenders - since they would have no particular reason to do so.

I would like to point out that Willy Sutton - when asked why he robbed banks - answered "Because that is where the money is." Please note that bank robberies continued throughout the great depression. If Monty were correct there would be a well documented history of mattress thefts during the same period - because that would have been "where the money was".
 
I am unable to find any evidence of such a mattress theft crime upsurge during the great depression.

Because of the length of this post I am going to split this into several parts.

126 Krugman had to win the Nobel Prize before the world could see how batshit crazy the guy is.  I think he and AlGore were separated at birth.

127

  People really should not be choosing where to live based on the schools.  If there were no public schools, this would not happen, there would be good schools in every community because parents would demand them and pay for them. 

 

We should do something about the scenery, too. 

It's unfair that people can live in places with good views when otheres are unable to afford those places.

128

Master Nixon, PBUH, was a great man. A corrupt politician, but a great man.

You may resume your finger pointing at him.

129 rockmom i'm sure your brother is well intentioned...but that line of thinking is creepy.......

130 People can do what they want, but I have my doubts about the average person being skilled enough to teach the fundamentals across so many disciplines, particularly math and science. And no amount of arguing with your family replaces sitting in a classroom with kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds or what have you.

Posted by: Y-not at August 15, 2011 10:15 AM (5H6zj)

My kids started out in an almost idyllic school.  It was a small neighborhood school in an upscale mostly white suburb, but there were a fair number of black kids bused in and a growing population of other ethnic minorites (this was in a close-in suburb of Washington, DC.)  My kids got to make friends with kids of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds at age 5, when kids don't care about that stuff.  My son's two best friends in kindergarten were a Muslim whose parents were from Somalia, and a boy whose parents were from Ecuador.  His first "girlfriend" in 5th grade was black.

This school had a tremendous principal, who is now a superintendent of a neighboring district.  She was tough, but fair.  Very communicative with parents, was in the halls all day long (I think in 5 years I saw her sitting at her desk twice.) Discipline was not a problem in this school.  She fired a lot of underperforming teachers, many of whom were black but that did not matter to her.  Class sizes were small.  The school had awesome art and music teachers who were black and all the kids loved them. 

This school also taught me and my family a lot about what is really going on in schools and in communities.  I saw firsthand the impact of single parent families, poverty, and dysfunctional homes on some of these kids.  It was heartbreaking.  We would have PTA meetings in the projects and the black parents still did not come.  They would send their kids to school in head to toe Tommy Hilfiger but there were no books in the house.  My son had three 8-year-olds in his first grade class who had to be held back twice.   I often wonder what happened to some of these kids.  The ones that had moms who cared did fine, I saw on Facebook that they all graduated high schol this year and are going to college.  The others probably dropped out and are gangbangers.

131 I don't understand this Hitchens worship. Everything I have read by him comes off as some sort of rant by a Drunk, stoned hipster trying to be a snarky Charles Dickens.

132

Nowhere in Galbraith's column, nowhere, does he mention the reluctance of businesses to expand because they quite rightly expect this government to continue fucking with them erratically and unpredictably through new regulations, mandates, union-driven federal harassment, and sudden unannounced economic disruptions such as forcing electric power plants to shut down. And not one word about how government market interventions in the name of social justice (remember Bawny Fwank famously rolling the dice on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) helped create the housing meltdown.

For him the economy is all about the government; and it's always about the government doing more, not less. Business owners don't exist to him. The only part of the private sector that he mentions is evil bankers who need to be kicked in the nutsack - by the government, of course.

133 127 Let's call it the Department of Three Letter Words.  Makes a hell of a lot more sense than the Department of Jobs.

Let's resurrect the WPA! 

134 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 10:14 AM (8y9MW)

Oddly enough, I had that happen with a company called Cellular One.

135 Watching Fox News and that idiot Clyburn says he wants to use his seat on the Super Committee to "close the wealth gap". Fucking tool.

136 Did you know that the impending DOOM of the Big 12 is being orchestrated by Rick Perry?  Read this, and you still won't know, but that's what the guy writes.

137 We've got fucking JD Hayworth on local talk radio bashing Rick Perry and admiring Newt.

138 144, He still would have been better that McCain.

139

Watching Fox News and that idiot Clyburn says he wants to use his seat on the Super Committee to "close the wealth gap".

 

Reparations by any other name...still the same.

140 Posted by: Deathknyte at August 15, 2011 10:34 AM (rc+oL)

Yeah... I'm now quite happy with my Virgin Mobile service: $25/mo for 300 talk minutes + unlimited text and data.  Always due on the same day, and if I miss, there are no penalties: they just turn off my service until I pay my $25 bucks.

141

Fortunately for us, as chance would have it, the economy is not the only thing going down.

142 144 We've got fucking JD Hayworth on local talk radio bashing Rick Perry and admiring Newt.

Posted by: dagny at August 15, 2011 10:36 AM (g21Wl)

I heard Huckster take a swipe at Perry on Fox News radio a few minutes ago. 

143 we haven't seen jd out here since he embarrassed himself in the senate primary ..........

144 148, I knew I should have been a pilot.

145 Posted by: dagny at August 15, 2011 10:36 AM (g21Wl)

The problem with "More conservative than John McCain" is that it isn't a very high bar.

146

On the other hand, corporal punishment would go a long way to re-establishing discipline in the classroom.

Are you actually advocating that the same educational institutions who have instituted full blown "democratic/liberal brainwashing" be allowed to discipline our children?

Ok, I can see that now:  What?!? You didn't vote democrat? 3 whacks for you! Now drop 'em!!!

147 Gold at $1800 per ounce.. Think about that.

Essentially, you could take one ounce of gold to the grocery store, and buy $1800 worth of groceries..Right?

If that's the case, who's getting screwed?

If I'm the grocer, I'm telling you to put your gold where the sun don't shine.

148 We are going to see the establishment throw a ton of shit at Perry. They will save the Dems a lot of time and Money.

149 From the "throbbing liberal outrage is so palpable" article:

Washington should have been trying to find a way to help states avoid the layoffs and cutbacks that have contributed heavily to the high unemployment rate. Instead, it seems to be doing everything possible to make the situation worse in state capitals around the country.

It is stuff like this that makes you want to pound your head against the wall until you realize that it isn't your head that needs the pounding ...

150 I hope nobody is offended, but...

Warren Buffett is a stupid cocksucker. He spent the last 70 years avoiding taxes while he accumulated immense wealth. Now that he has it, and continues to shield it from taxes, he wants everyone else to pay more.

Fuck you Buffett -- and your music sucks too.

151

Handler 1: So at the campaign rally somebody let Hayworth out of his cage a little too early and he got hold of a dead rat, and when the curtain went up he was standing at the podium eating the rat and moaning. Do you think this could hurt us?

Handler 2: I don't think anybody noticed.

Other Handlers, all talking  at once: Right, that's right, just have to press on.

152 157, LOL

153 Posted by: rockmom at August 15, 2011 10:33 AM (lSyyU)

I grew up in Maryland, so much of what you say is familiar to me, except for the busing part.  We moved to Columbia when I was 9 and it was fully integrated, both economically and racially.  The black family down the street could be the one where dad was a doctor and mom was a professor and the white kid next door could be in a single-parent family struggling to pay the bills.  IIRC, my school was >30% black.  Now I think it's over 50.


There may be some confusion about my position, btw.  I don't think the "giving up" with respect to homeschooling is on one's kids.  It is a type of "giving up" on your community.  How will public schools ever improve if parents don't monitor what is happening in them?  Now maybe you think it's not your responsibility, but the fact is that your public schools' performances affect your pocket book, both in terms of home values and in attracting out of state companies to relocate.  So even if you think it's not your job to be involved, from a selfish standpoint it is. 

Then again, my parents (dad especially) were the type to walk us out of Mass when the priests went on an anti-Vietnam or pro-grape pickers diatribe.  Dad (a conservative social worker/probation officer) would then go on to write to the Bishop.  So I guess we were raised in an unusually involved family when it came to things like speaking up when things were wrong. 

154 Essentially, you could take one ounce of gold to the grocery store, and buy $1800 worth of groceries..Right?
Posted by: franksalterego at August 15, 2011 10:41 AM (7/sDI)

With 1800 pounds of pesos of the north dollars you could buy the same thing.  It all works out in the end.

155 Posted by: MrObvious at August 15, 2011 10:41 AM (2uovW)

Actually, yes.  The fact is that, however bad specific cases are, most of the "liberal/Democrat brainwashing" is relatively benign- that is, the teachers will more-or-less back off when confronted (at least, in my experience).  And I'd rather little Johnny get a paddle to his behind a time or two than that he constantly disrupt class so that the other kids can't learn.

156 If I'm the grocer, I'm telling you to put your gold where the sun don't shine.

Posted by: franksalterego at August 15, 2011 10:41 AM (7/sDI)

 

Is your other ego smarter than this one? 

If so, can we play with that one?

157 89
Public school has essentially become a pre-prison program for many students in urban areas. The boys learn to be criminals and the girls learn about the welfare system. There's plenty of practice in the drug trade, dynamics of gangs, and sexual intercourse. Not to mention lessons in dealing with ineffective authority figures and government bureaucrats for personal advantage. Everything one needs to know to be a professional member of the underclass.

Boston Public Schools are now 90%+ minority students as a result of supposedly busing for desegregation. Real diversity there.....

Of course to complain about any of this is "racist". Never mind that the content of character, or distinct lack thereof, has less to do with the color of pupils' skin, but rather the school system and culture which actively nurtures children to no different than zoo animals. Most of these kids have no future beyond three hots and a cot, an early grave, or a clown car ureters being gassed up by Uncle Sugar. But as always, "it's for the children!111".

158

Please tell me this is a sock.
I'd hate to think our troll quality has gotten this low.

...of COURSE it's a sock.

A dirty athletic sock that was worn outside without shoes over several days....

...but still...a sock.

159 More evidence that "follow your dreams" is often really shitty career advice

Monty, no it's not. All that evidence says is that if you do follow your dreams, don't expect it to be a breeze. Those are anecdotes from entrepreneurs whining about their long days. They should get over it. That is what being an entrepreneur is all about.

160 Ah the smell of fear from the Beltway Boys. It stimulates me, in a good way.

161

On what grounds can he claim success at anything heÂ’s done so far? His record is one of colossal failure in every regard -- a fight over the economy at this point is a fight on GOP ground, and heÂ’ll lose.

He'll just fall back on his favorite meme:  class warfare and race baiting.

162 164, WOW, Now that's public school doom. There are schools that meet your description, it's mostly the inner city ones.

163 How will public schools ever improve if parents don't monitor what is happening in them?

You know, this is a fairly dense topic, but my response to that boils down to this: They don't change anyway.  Minor story, but should convey the point.

In the ultra-conservative suburb where I grew up (actually, it was the County Seat, but it was a town of only about 30,000 people or so), they decided- my freshman year- to institute a rule that everyone had to wear belts at the highschool.  Now, we didn't have a gang problem, we didn't have issues with violence, and we didn't have problems with drugs (that is: if you knew where to go, you could get them, but they weren't prevalent by any means).  Almost universally the parents hated the idea.  For a variety of reasons.  They went to school board meetings, they wrote letters to the Superintendent, and so forth.  The district didn't care and went forward with the policy anyway.

Now, this is small potatoes- it really doesn't matter that they wanted us all to wear belts.  The point is that, despite a concentrated effort by greater than 70% of the parents, the school district did what they wanted regardless of what the parents who had elected them wanted.

Under the current paradigm- where attendance is important for itself, and more important (in most ways) than performance- parents are not going to make a big impact on school districts.  If you want school districts to improve, you have to leave them at their own mercy, and take the good kids out.  When the school district has objectively failed, something will be done and it will get better, and not before.

164 Hussein the Plumber at August 15, 2011 10:44 AM

I have a feeling, the price of gold will collapse faster than the worth of the Dollar.

If gold is worth so much, how come so many people are offering to sell you theirs?

165 What Obama really needs is a "Department of Clue".

166

I'd homeschool before I used the public schools. There is no situation that I could use them before 11th grade when the kids are formed. No way, no how. Some of this is conscious and some subconscious.

The last time I went to public school was 5th grade. A couple of years ago my son's city football team had to move into the middle school gym because of lightening. When I walked in and smelled it I immediately had a major panic attack. I had forgotten in the intervening 30+ years how terrified I had been and how horrible constantly being on edge was for a child.

167

FDR took the US off the gold standard.  Moreover, he banned private ownership of gold in 1933. 

But not surprisingly the Internet is filled with all sorts of bogus claims Nixon did it.  Nixon did something regarding the fixed price of gold, but we were long off the gold standard.    

168

More evidence that "follow your dreams" is often really shitty career advice

Monty, no it's not. All that evidence says is that if you do follow your dreams, don't expect it to be a breeze. Those are anecdotes from entrepreneurs whining about their long days. They should get over it. That is what being an entrepreneur is all about.

It's not following dreams that is ineffective, it's that they don't know how to properly do so.  They expect success to pretty much trot up and sit in their laps.  Young people don't know how to work for their dreams anymore.

169 In the beginning, if a farmer grew an apple, and apples were worth a Dollar, the Gov't could print a Dollar's worth of currency to represent the apple

Er...no.

Your apple is not worth a Dollar (or a Shekel, or a Dinar, or Yen, or whatever). An apple is "worth" whatever it will fetch on the market -- one/tenth of a shirt, half of a loaf of bread, a few ounces of wheat, whatever. If you have an apple but want (say) wheat for it, you must find an apple-wanting-wheat-haver to do your trade. But what if the guy who wants apples only has potatoes?

This is why money was invented: as a medium of exchange. Person A can buy your apple with money, and then you can use that money to buy your wheat. Money smooths over the asymmetries in the barter system.

A dollar (even a specie coin dollar) isn't "worth" anything in isolation. It's only "worth" is relative to what that money will buy.

170 @164
I think the economic mix is more important than the racial one.  My husband grew up in a very white area (the Berkshires), but he had the full spectrum of family income and education levels (parents) represented in his schools.  I think it's good for children to learn that not everyone has it the same way as they do. 

Learning that black is not automatically a sign of failure and white is not automatically an indication of success is good, too.  You learn to treat people as they come, not based on how they look.


In terms of science basics, the most basic thing is how to design and interpret an experiment and what data is (and what it isn't).  Based on what I've observed, few people know how to do that. 

171  No. J.K. Galbraith once claimed that the communist system in the former Soviet Union was superior to capitalism because the communists somehow made better and more efficient use of "manpower" than the West.

Well he's right.  The Soviets never had an unemployment problem - they just "liquidated" the excess labor.

172 I think the system needs to come down.  Let conservatives go to private schools and home schools.  Eventually the problems in public schools will become so systemic (or, rather, so obviously systemic, since they're already systemic) that there will suddenly be an actual outcry to fix the schools, and to hold both teachers and administrators responsible for the results the schools see.

Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 10:09 AM (8y9MW)

That is what England did, and it didn't lead to fixing the public schools, and now they have a permanent underclass rioting in the streets to take what they 'deserve' because the government is cutting their welfare payments. 

173 If gold is worth so much, how come so many people are offering to sell you theirs?

You need a lot of schooling on basic economics. I suggest Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. You can get a PDF of it for free right here.

174 Remember when John McLame said, "that one" while pointing to Obama? The media wet their pants over the "racism". We aint seen nothing folks.

175 I had forgotten in the intervening 30+ years how terrified I had been and how horrible constantly being on edge was for a child.

That's the other thing.  There is no incentive- and no reasonable facility, even if there was incentive- to protect kids in school.  I was bullied (not much, but some).  My older brother was so far beyond merely "bullied" that he probably should have therapy- instead he just completely avoids the town where we grew up.  My mom and dad still have friends there, and will visit our old church every now and again: my brother refuses to set a foot in the town.

Okay- he needs to get over that- but no one who knows what happened to him begrudges him those feelings.  It was beyond hell for him, simply because the coaches in PE couldn't be bothered to stop physical attacks- they were too busy doing... whatever else.

I avoided the worst of that by the dual methods of being in Marching Band (so I didn't have to take regular PE) and being best friends with the biggest guy in school.

176 Monty at August 15, 2011 10:56 AM

We're sorta' both saying the same thing.

Notice, I said "if" the apple is worth a dollar.

177 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 10:38 AM (8y9MW)

My own plan is a leftover from Alltell, which got bought out by Verizon here.  5 lines for 145 or so a month split between my brother and I.  I would dump some of the lines but they would end up costing me more money because of the two year contract crap.

What really pisses me off is that 3 of those lines got used because I was trying to help a friend and his wife with their bills.  They decided that "it was too much bother to get new numbers"  AFTER I had gone through a big pain in the butt to get the phones activated.  I gave those two to my two oldest nieces so they can call in emergencies or whenever.

The third line was for the same guy after he got his divorce.  He dumped that one because he couldn't handle the restrictions on the phone use time.

I think I am entirely too nice to people.

178

they decided- my freshman year- to institute a rule that everyone had to wear belts at the highschool.

The public schools in Waterloo, Iowa instituted a uniform-type dress code last year.  Including mandatory belts.  Some of the parents have been having a hissy fit over it and even taking it to court.   I don't get some parents.

179 Posted by: katya, the designated driver at August 15, 2011 10:56 AM (lUmIL)

YES.  Nobody said "following your dreams" is EASY.

Look I understand that some people just want a J-O-B so that they can spend their money and free time buying MMORPG subscriptions, or whatever.  But if you want a C-A-R-E-E-R, you have to at least LIKE it, because it takes more than just putting in hours behind a desk to succeed at a C-A-R-E-E-R.

I have seen too many students who get a business degree in college, because they think they need one to make money, even though they don't even like business.  They spend all their time playing X-box or whatever instead.

I have always thought it is funny that universities invite the motivational speaker types at the end of the college experience, during the commencement ceremony.  They need that at the BEGINNING, so that people don't waste money pursuing a degree they don't really like.

180 Posted by: Deathknyte at August 15, 2011 11:01 AM (rc+oL)

(Cell Phone) Contracts are for suckers.

181

Nope. The public schools become state of the art high priced day care with little actual day cares in the schools for the students' babies. The buildings and the technology etc are extraordinary. The places are palaces yet designed in such a way that they can't be easily broken--polished concrete, vending machines in cages, concrete walls, lights in cages. 90% of the kids are herded through and 10% go to ivy league and even have their trips to europe paid for by the system. Everyone gets their own laptop. It's a beautiful set-up for teaching NOTHING. Oh, and Planned Parenthood is on-site for your abortion needs.

182

I think I am entirely too nice to people.

You got kids?   Raising teenagers will cure you of that.

183 Re: The school thing.

A shorter AllenG:

Public schools are a lost cause.

184 109 I'm telling you Y, that sitting in a classroom with kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds, is over rated.   I see no reason for my kids to learn about life from kids working at McDonalds, or teachers who are more interested in their union benefits than teaching. I'm not catholic but my kids went through catholic parochial schools and I will forever be their best cheerleader. The tuition was a bargain and my kids tested off the hook when they got to college.  My biggest regret involves the liberal brain washing they got in college AFTER they got a better education in parochial school. I'm currently waiting for them to get some of their own common sense back....and that usually occurs AFTER they've matured a little and started thinking on their own about where their tax dollars are being spent.

185 OK, I promise my last post on the school thing, but they can change. 

When my parents got wind of the curriculum shenanigans they were pulling in my (and my sister's) schools, they got involved.  Mostly it was my mother, but dad helped behind the scenes -- his master's in social work gave him some expertise in areas like values clarification and open education, things they were doing in our schools. 

Now the stuff my parents objected to was not the stuff you often read about - you know, people complaining about the classics like Mark Twain based on really narrow world-views.  They objected to the life boat experiments - where sister was in a group asked to decide who to throw out - and the personal journals that the teachers used to meddle in our lives.  They objected to us being used - without permission or notification - as human subjects in a survey on family life (read: religion, parental dynamics, politics) conducted by Johns Hopkins. 

Anyway, mom got involved.  They tried to smear her as a "book burner," but she stuck with it.  Parents got organized and iirc they managed to get parental review and input on text books and curriculum. 

A lot of the stuff stopped.  Not all, but it was progress. 

186

I have always thought it is funny that universities invite the motivational speaker types at the end of the college experience, during the commencement ceremony. They need that at the BEGINNING, so that people don't waste money pursuing a degree they don't really like.

I'm sure it's intentional.  College is all about making money for the college.

187 The point is that, despite a concentrated effort by greater than 70% of the parents, the school district did what they wanted regardless of what the parents who had elected them wanted.

That reminds me of my first and last experience with the PTA here. After moving into this school district and enrolling our daughter in the local elementary school my wife and I went to our first PTA meeting.

I expected to talk about the curriculum, the school hours, and what the school was going to be doing with regard to education.

The ONLY thing they talked about was how they planned on us parents running various projects to raise money. They did not want to here about anything except how we were going to raise money for them.

188 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 11:02 AM (8y9MW)

Sometimes they are convenient. I find that my phones last about two years before the batteries begin to suck and pieces start falling off. So a two year contract in exchange for a free phone is fine. I shop around to get the best deal, and have had no complaints, other than the usual about cell service, which I would have regardless of the contract. But...I also have 5 phones, and that makes the deal a very good one. For a single phone I think you might be more correct.

189 Posted by: katya, the designated driver at August 15, 2011 11:01 AM (lUmIL)

See, I don't really mind the uniform kind of thing.  And, as I said, the issue was small potatoes.  My negative thoughts on it were based on the "we know better than all of you" attitude of the School Board.

What I do mind (and I hate this with passion) is the fact that, for all intents and purposes, your kid is not an American Citizen (or even, really, a human being) while they're school aged.  Schools can break into lockers (I can see it, but don't like it) and cars (should require a warrant) just whenever they want to.  They can require drug testing (for all students, now, not just the ones in extra-curricular activities) with no justification other than "you're in school."  Worse: they're starting to do that outside of school hours.  Children are now being punished for things they do off of school grounds and outside of school hours.  That's just wrong, IMO.  Yet another reason to avoid the public school system.

190

Posted by: franksalterego at August 15, 2011 11:01 AM (7/sDI)

 

Except Monty is making time with a perfect stroke and you are barely treading water.

191 I will be more than happy to give you a play-by-play update from San Fran.  There hasn't been an elected Republican in any city office in decades, and this is town is almost predominantly European-American and Chinese.  Watching the Libs cannibalize each other while blaming people who don't exist will be grand.  Popcorn and scotch.  Pass the napkins please.

192 We're sorta' both saying the same thing.

No, we're really not.

The market determines pricing and availability -- supply and demand is an iron law in a world of scarce resources. The government can influence supply and demand, but cannot control it. Thus the government's role is reactive, not proactive. The government has no power to tell you what your dollar or your apple is worth -- only the market can do that.

The apple you grow on your tree has a certain intrinsic worth -- as a commodity good, it can be consumed directly. But as a trade good, it's "worth" can only be established in the marketplace, not by government fiat. It's only "worth" a dollar if buyers are willing to pay a dollar for it; if they're only willing to pay a quarter, then that's all your apple is worth regardless of what you or the government thinks. (If there is a surfeit of apples, then your apple may be worth nothing. The government may try to declare that the apple must fetch a dollar regardless, but this just means that the apple will rot before it sells.)

193 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at August 15, 2011 11:06 AM (LH6ir)

For your contract ($145/mo for 5 phones?  That's a steal) you're probably right (though, if you're only actually using two of the phones, that's not nearly as good a deal).

For any "normal" contract, Contracts are for suckers.

Do the math.

I spent about $250 (all told) for my phone.  I spend $25/mo on the service.  That means, over 6 months, I have spent $400.00.  The average data contract (that is: voice + data) is around $100/mo (after taxes, fees, etc.).  So, even with a "free" phone (which you'll get charged for if you break the contract), you've paid $600.00 in that same six months.  If we stretch it out to two years, you've spent $2400.00 and I've spent $850.00.

With your contract specifically, you're paying $25.00/mo per phone- if you were using them all.  But, if I read correctly, you're only actually using 2- which means you're really paying $72.50/mo for your phones.  It takes longer for me to make up that difference, but not very much.

194 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 11:02 AM (8y9MW)

If it wasn't for trying to help dickhead I could drop the contract at any time without penalty.  As it is, I can do it in a couple of years.

195 Posted by: katya, the designated driver at August 15, 2011 11:03 AM (lUmIL)

No, I have 5 nieces instead.

I did want kids at one time, but now?  I don't know.  Why have kids if they are just going to be slaves anyway?

196

 (If there is a surfeit of apples, then your apple may be worth nothing. The government may try to declare that the apple must fetch a dollar regardless, but this just means that the apple will rot before it sells.)

Beware the rotting Gold!

197 How's about they create a Department of Pirates Who Don't Do Anything?

198 I'm sure it's intentional.  College is all about making money for the college.

Colleges aren't that organized.

199 Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 15, 2011 11:14 AM (8y9MW)

I think you misread my comment. I have service for 5 different phones for 5 different people. All have unlimited data, internet, etc., and enough minutes that we have never gone over the limit. For this I pay about $40/month/phone. I think it is reasonable, but the cost/phone for fewer is less of a deal. And for a single phone it is outrageous.

200 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at August 15, 2011 11:29 AM (LH6ir)

Okay.

Yeah, for free phones, $40.00/month/phone is hard to beat.  My plan does eventually, but I think it would take more than a year to do so.  It's certainly not fast enough that it would make sense for you to change.

But, yes, for one or two phones, there are none of the "big 3" plans that beat any of the no-contract/pre-paid carriers.

201 It also can be hard on the kids.  Things like "opt outs" for sex ed and crap like that mean your kids and a handful of others will be labeled as weird.  My sister and I had teachers tell us how sad they were that our creativity was being stilted by oppressive parents - we both won regional art competitions and a I won a state-wide film festival, btw! 

I think it's rather chilling, if this anecdote is being related correctly, that teachers were teaching sex ed with the stated goal of influencing your creativity.

People can do what they want, but I have my doubts about the average person being skilled enough to teach the fundamentals across so many disciplines, particularly math and science.  And no amount of arguing with your family replaces sitting in a classroom with kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds or what have you.

I have no doubts about my wife or myself being more competent to teach curriculum up to graduation than the median teacher. I venture that any parent willing to put in the effort needed to make public schooling successful could succeed with home school, assuming that they didn't need both parents working to eat.

202  The slum areas, especially, need iron rule imposed on the little hooligans.  It will benefit all of them.

 Posted by: Reactionary

 

You try that in the hood, and you're gonna get a bullet in the ass.

 

On a different note, meh kitteh made me spit coffee onto my keyboard.  Nice.

203
Is the Czech Republic the only capitalist country left?





You gotta love a country who's economy is based on the export of excellent guns and hawt porn stars.

204

Just saw the comments about gold at $1800.

What nobody is commenting on from my perspective is that Gold at $1800/ounce guarantees ever dentist in America is working with 1 hand tied behind his back. I've been practicing for 30 years and gold has fluctuated around $350-400. This is 4-5X anything my patients can afford whenever I'm talking about crown and bridge. So I'm doing fillings and extractions, partials and dentures, but almost zero in terms of reconstruction crown and bridge. Welcome to ObamaCare. What? You thought it hadn't been implimented yet? Think again!!

205 137 I don't understand this Hitchens worship. Everything I have read by him comes off as some sort of rant by a Drunk, stoned hipster trying to be a snarky Charles Dickens. ----------------------------------- You're thinking of his brother Christopher. My favorite Leftist regardless of his flaws.

206 I'm having a crown put in today (well, the temp one).  Let's not just blame Obama -- there's Dubya for starting this "abandon capitalism to save it" nonsense, feckless Repubelicans who went along with that nonsense (and otherwise fucked us over from 01-06), and the Dems who had both houses of Congress for 2 years.

207 You need a lot of schooling on basic economics. I suggest Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. You can get a PDF of it for free right here.

OK.. I read a little ways in.. To begin with, it would appear to be written from a politically biased point of view.. An anti-war political point of view.

As far as I'm concerned, any good Economics textbook should begin with the Law of Supply and Demand.. The Basics.. Not, the broken window "economics of destruction."

It's not that I disagree with the broken window analogy.. It's just not where you begin.

Keynesian Economics does the same thing,.. Spending 5 or 6 chapters on such things as "finite resources" and "aggregates" before finally describing a twisted explanation of the Law of Supply and Demand.

208 Germany's capitalist.  A few Germs (lol) I've spoken to about going back to the DM are reticent to do so not because it'll dredge up fears of the RM, but, as they all say, it'll be too strong a currency to enable exports.  That, my friends, is a capitalist speaking.  My response?  So, simply sell your exports cheaper.  Currency exchange is simple math.

209

The Tea Party will fade away, but Cowboy Poetry is forever.

210 I'm sorry, I was called away by my care giver responsibilities and couldn't finish my post - I'll complete it on the next DOOM posting.
 

211 An anti-war political point of view

It's not that I disagree with the broken window analogy. It's just not where you begin.

You're not getting it at all. Keep reading.

The "broken window fallacy" is one of the fundamental precepts of economics (from Bastiat's "The Law"). It is exactly where you begin if you want to understand the role of the "seen" and the "unseen" in economics, which is why I recommended it to you.

See also Schumpeter's "creative destruction" writings.

212 About to deliver a 12K check for Catholic school today, thanks for the pep talk.

213 The "broken window fallacy" is one of the fundamental precepts of economics (from Bastiat's "The Law"). It is exactly where you begin if you want to understand the role of the "seen" and the "unseen" in economics, which is why I recommended it to you.

That's all well and good, if a person has a good grip on the relationship between Supply, Demand, and Price/Worth/Value to begin with.

I'm a simple person.. To me, economics is a simple subject.. No more complicated than balancing your checkbook.. It's Debits and Credits.

Whenever someone is trying to complicate the issue, they're doing it for a reason.. And, not necessarily for my benefit.

214 I heard discussions of an all electronic currency to replace or "supplement" the Euro?

215 @25 I'm ok with long term cap gains being taxed at regular income rates so long as the gains are adjusted to offset for inflation. Otherwise, I am being taxed on something that is not income. Of course, the same adjustment should also be applied to the interest I earn on my savings account, but lots of people just can't sleep well unless we have direct wealth taxes.

216 The Tea  arty will out live Cowboy Poetry

217 How will public schools ever improve if parents don't monitor what is happening in them? There was a post a couple of days ago illustrating how the teacher's union and government subverted the parents. The problem with the public schools this that the parents are isolated from the cost associated with the benefits. Same problem with healthcare and government in general, deny Adam Smiths' pimp hand and despair. Let the parents control the budget and itemize that budget back to the voters and see what happens.

218

I think the fundamental crisis is not a debt crisis. It's not that we don't have a debt crisis. We do. But the debt is only part of what's crushing the economy and in some ways, perhaps many ways, the debt crisis is really a symptom of the real problem. The real crisis is the Government Growth crisis. The debt is getting bigger because government is getting bigger, and Government has to eat. I think the bigger part of what's crushing the economy is government growth: growth in size, growth in regulations, growth in intrusiveness, and growth in obligations. The Progressive desire to have Government replace religion has resulted in a Santa Claus that must confiscate daddy's car so Santa can get little Johnny his new bike.

 

219 Oh come on. Cheer up friend. Russia and China still have nukes and there is always a chance some muzzy will get his hands on a nuke, detonate it, and somehow it will trigger the final countdown. Never give up, there is always hope. See?

220

"A dollar (even a specie coin dollar) isn't "worth" anything in isolation. It's only "worth" is relative to what that money will buy."

And that reveals an intrisic problem with a specie coin dollar - the issuer has, by fiat, declared a specific amount of specie to have a specific dollar value.
If the government declares that 1.6 grams of pure gold is a "dollar", then 1.6 grams of pure gold is worth $1. If they also declare that 24.1 grams of pure silver or 1.71 kg of copper are worth $1 dollar, then those rates and exchange rates are set as well.
Sure, the market will have something to say about that, but since it requires a specific government act to change those set values, and since government will always move slower than the market, those values are going to have a significant impact on trade and investment patterns.

221 I love what you guys are frequently up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the terrific works guys IÂ’ve added you guys to my blogroll.

222 @ 14, exactly that  nonsense about rich people saying they want to pay more is all shiny object crapola for the sheeple. So they can say look they want to pay more so lets tax everyone more. its CACA, nothing stop his fugly old ass from sending a check to the US treasury for X amount of $.  He is just another rich tool .