July 16, 2012
— Ace You may think you've achieved something.
Think again, buddy.
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If youÂ’ve got a business -- you didnÂ’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didnÂ’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we donÂ’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.
This is part of his Elizabeth-Warren-esque attempt to claim that the rich owe it to the country to pay higher taxes. After all, their wealth is a product of something called "The Government," which is, sort of, a representation of "The People."
The People gave the wealthy their wealth through their joint venture called The Government, and so now the Wealthy owe it to repay the people back some of this wealth.
There are a lot of problems with this formulation, but among them is this: The People may vote for Government, but only some of the people actually fund it.
The wealthy -- the very people Obama insists owe something back to the government (and then to the people) -- actually fund most of the government.
Since Obama is always talking about the Top 1%, and his new higher hypothetical taxes are intended to extract more from this Top 1%, let's look at how much of the total tax burden of the United States -- the costs of running "The Government," to which Obama claims so much is owed -- is funded by the top 1% of earners.
ewly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the "rich" are not paying their fair share of taxes.Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.
Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.
This analysis is from 2009 but won't have changed much (except that the top 1% now pay an even greater share).
So the top 1% pay 40.6% of all government costs, the next 4% pay about another 20%, and the bottom 95% pay less than 40% of all government costs.
So when Obama says that the wealthy wouldn't be where they are if not for "The Government" building roads and maintaining police -- the wealthy ought to agree, and say, "Yes, and you're welcome. We paid 40 cents out of every dollar spent on those things."
"The Government" spends money, but it has no money of its own. What it has is the power to coercively extract money from citizens. And it coerces a lot of it from the wealthy -- the wealthy pay a disproportionate amount for the roads and police and armed forces, even though they don't really use such things much more than anyone else.
Yet Obama seems to think "The Government" just came by its trillions (and borrowed trillions) by happenstance, and spent its money out of its own good heart. And he wants to be compensated for his benevolence.
Obama's a demagogue. The country will not survive four more years of him.
Posted by: Ace at
10:32 AM
| Comments (386)
Post contains 698 words, total size 4 kb.
Posted by: GW McLintock at July 16, 2012 10:35 AM (4/L1B)
Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 16, 2012 10:35 AM (1Jaio)
Posted by: AmishDude at July 16, 2012 10:36 AM (T0NGe)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 10:36 AM (9Q7Nu)
I don't know why I should be stunned that Preezy is unashamedly spewing the same rhetoric that every despot has preached before he confiscated private property of the citizens. I really thought he was more of a stealth Marxist, but I guess he's letting it all hang out. Maybe he's already looking ahead to a second term and just doesn't give a shit about keeping up a front.
Posted by: kallisto at July 16, 2012 10:36 AM (jm/9g)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 10:36 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 16, 2012 10:37 AM (1Jaio)
Posted by: Dirty Old Man at July 16, 2012 10:37 AM (ex1ST)
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) Channelling Breitbart at July 16, 2012 10:37 AM (8y9MW)
Posted by: Whistling Robot Inc. at July 16, 2012 10:37 AM (bFrcG)
Posted by: jewells45 at July 16, 2012 10:38 AM (l/N7H)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 10:38 AM (9Q7Nu)
"I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires."
You mean volunteer fire fighting associations? Like those things? You're right, who on earth has ever heard of such a thing, it's impossible!
Posted by: alexthechick SMOD. Now with more ELE! at July 16, 2012 10:38 AM (VtjlW)
Posted by: Lauren at July 16, 2012 10:39 AM (wsGWu)
Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at July 16, 2012 10:39 AM (Ho2rs)
Posted by: chique d'afrique (the artist formerly known as african chick) at July 16, 2012 10:39 AM (m95KA)
Posted by: Interested at July 16, 2012 10:39 AM (DnF94)
Hash tag #BuiltItMyself
Some comments like "my business went under in 2010. can I blame the government for not doing enough for it?"
"I guess it was somebody else who made all those sales calls"
"Glad to know it wasn't me going without pay and taking out another loan to meet payroll"
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: Bane at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (Wks0m)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (9Q7Nu)
For this crap about how the govt made the rich by building them roads etc., here's what I said in comments on Twitchy:
On several levels:
1. There have been rich people throughout history -- before roads even.
2. Who built the sea lanes -- (this is a trick question for Barky)
3. Airports and airplanes?
4. In the olden days, roads were built by private citizens.
5. Taxes were levied to build roads. Businesses paid those taxes. It is the job of the govt. to do this ... and if they can't do it, why employ them?
6. Today, most road taxes (for bridges and tunnels etc cf NY) -- 66 cents out of every dollar collected -- goes not to the orad but to the govt for other purposes.
7. Roads built by govt are a 2 way street: they allow regular people to live outside of congested cities and still get to work. they all regular people to purchase goods and services from a wide area. They allow regular people have freedom to roam and vote with their feet. they allow regualr people to rush to hospitals, doctors, or have policemen and firemen respond quickly to regular people in distress. And guess what? the regular people -- the common man -- is better off for the roads. But wait, isn't that part of the social contract and what govt is employed by us --- the common man -- to do? So, this "roads made rich people" argument is BS
Posted by: john b at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (R5TAD)
I fully expect a proposal to cram down student loan and government-backed home-mortgage balances by Labor Day.
Posted by: trumpetdaddy at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (dcoFe)
Posted by: Vizzini at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (9Q7Nu)
How about answering how the jackholes in the EPA who banned fucking dust from farms help me succeed?
Posted by: Waterhouse at July 16, 2012 10:40 AM (bFrcG)
This is pure Marxism. Beyond just demagoguery, this is advocacy of actual, official collectivism. This idea that you're not responsible for you own success, but that "the people" are and that "the government" did it are right out of the Communist Manifesto.
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) Channelling Breitbart at July 16, 2012 10:41 AM (8y9MW)
Posted by: eleven at July 16, 2012 10:41 AM (KXm42)
Warren's a joke and the only reason she's still within spitting distance of Brown is that Massachusetts is a Dem stronghold.
Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at July 16, 2012 10:41 AM (e0xKF)
Posted by: Dr Spank at July 16, 2012 10:41 AM (bb5Xq)
Ha, and you guys thought I was bad!!!
Ingrates!
Posted by: James Earl Carter Jr. at July 16, 2012 10:42 AM (sbV1u)
Posted by: shibumi at July 16, 2012 10:42 AM (z63Tr)
Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 16, 2012 10:42 AM (1Jaio)
Right. All the work, sweat, stress, money, intellect, initiative -- you had nothing to do with it. Fess up.
Get. This. Clown. Out.
Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at July 16, 2012 10:42 AM (RD7QR)
If you double their taxes and then some, they can fund the whole shebang, right?
If we just confiscated ALL their wealth, maybe we could pay down some of the debt. Then execute them so there won't be any whining.
Posted by: @PurpAv at July 16, 2012 10:42 AM (aS5TC)
Algore's claim aside, the internet was invented by UCLA School of Engineering and SRI International in 1969
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 10:43 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: polynikes sanchez at July 16, 2012 10:43 AM (U7Ivf)
Posted by: the top 1% of taxpayers at July 16, 2012 10:43 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: Ian S. at July 16, 2012 10:44 AM (tqwMN)
Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 16, 2012 10:44 AM (05RcU)
From a reminder comment on the previous thread:
The wealthy fixers (Tony Rezko)-- the very people Obama insists owe something back to the government (and then to the people) owes his career to -- actually fund most of the government his house in Chicago.
Vote for Romney and the R's in November.
Posted by: Arbalest at July 16, 2012 10:44 AM (hoRlu)
Posted by: DriveBy at July 16, 2012 10:44 AM (PqT4s)
Posted by: nostradamus' 401k at July 16, 2012 10:44 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 10:44 AM (9Q7Nu)
You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother — (Shut your mouth)
But IÂ’m talkinÂ’ about Shaft (Then we can dig it)
Or imagine if someone had said:
“If Isaac Hayes is credited for writing and performing Shaft, he didn’t do that. Someone else made that happen.”
You see this cat Obama is a bad mother — we can dig it
Posted by: Baron Münchhausen at July 16, 2012 10:45 AM (e8kgV)
Oh, is that why ARPANET was created? Do tell.
Posted by: Waterhouse at July 16, 2012 10:45 AM (bFrcG)
Exactly.
"I wasn't lying when I said your taxes wouldn't be raised {i}one, single dime!"
Translation: "I meant to tell when I did that thing in your mouth"
Posted by: GW McLintock at July 16, 2012 10:45 AM (4/L1B)
Posted by: nickless at July 16, 2012 10:45 AM (MMC8r)
He didn't even have a small hand in any of his own success.
But there's a bigger issue here: The culture of the Ivy League law schools plays a role. It's the only profession and education Obama's ever known. Even his undergraduate work was a prelude to law school. Even his community organizing would have been actual work without a law degree. And in the elite law schools, it's not about competence and cerebration, it's about contacts and credentials.
Take Jamie Gorelick.
Please.
She had no qualification for being at Fannie Mae except for her law degree -- the universal credential for everything. By any objective standard, she's an epic failure who keeps getting lucrative jobs. These people personify the Peter Principle.
Posted by: AmishDude at July 16, 2012 10:45 AM (T0NGe)
The wealthy are part of "the American people" also, and the wealthy also paid for those roads, bridges, schools, etc. And they are paying for them now, through things called "taxes".
Strange thing that, eh?
Posted by: Mikey NTH - late for despot training again at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (hLRSq)
Apparently nobody does anything, it's always some nebulous other (or government.)
If you tracked a member of this "other" down, they would disappear in a contradictory puff of logic, for simultaneously making something happen, and not making something happen.
And the purpose of the internet wasn't commerce, either, but it ended up that way.
Posted by: fb at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (NXd0Q)
"How about all those who didn't pay any taxes stay off the roads that the taxpayers built"
Not surprising that the SCOAMF would attribute success to the efforts of others, he's gone through his whole life getting his path greased by others so he could walk on it without getting his hands dirty
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: Gordon Gekko at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (e8kgV)
Posted by: The Democrats at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (7+pP9)
well we are not all politicians or grifters making deals. for power and wealth quid pro quo or pay to play.
i realize to do that one NEEDS a helping hand .
some actually start real business's and grow by their own ingenuity and effort. THAT abilty is what we need more of, not a govt rthat rewards Some and Helps some. How many millions have been spent hiring how many federal empoyees and Green deals? govt. doesn't use money wisely.
Posted by: willow at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (TomZ9)
Posted by: @PurpAv at July 16, 2012 10:46 AM (aS5TC)
This has such a stench of desperation on it. The best analogy they could come up for in this speech was fire departments? Because the way I see it if everyone had their own fire service there wouldn't be a lot of fires.
It sounds like he is rambling and even he knows what he is selling is BS and sounds weak. With all the liberal media in the news and Hollywood they couldn't find someone that could put together a better speech?
It sounds like their awful communication of ideas and their awful ideas are becoming one.
Posted by: Crom at July 16, 2012 10:47 AM (1WKq7)
He wants to. You can tell he really wants to say "So what's so bad with socialism anyway?"
I think the MSM (Newsweek's 2009 cover not withstanding) will lead the way. They will have less control than he does.
Posted by: AmishDude at July 16, 2012 10:48 AM (T0NGe)
Posted by: chique d'afrique (the artist formerly known as african chick) at July 16, 2012 10:48 AM (m95KA)
Statements like this convince me that Obama will lose big. While many voters believe this, I do not think it is anywhere close to 50% of the country, certainly not 50% of the voters. This kind of talk is very radical from a presidential candidate - let alone the president. We should not fear it.
Posted by: SH at July 16, 2012 10:48 AM (gmeXX)
The proles might start thinking dangerous thoughts, you know.
Posted by: weft cut-loop [/i] [/b] at July 16, 2012 10:48 AM (Vcb44)
Because they're stupid or lazy.
The former deserves some consideration because it may not actually be their fault. The latter deserve nothing but contempt.
Posted by: James Earl Carter Jr. at July 16, 2012 10:49 AM (sbV1u)
Posted by: Those kids...the ones who will never have a job. at July 16, 2012 10:49 AM (wsGWu)
That's similar to what Andrew Wilkow made mention of a few years back, something to the effect of "equal opportunity, equal responsibility"
If he really was all about everyone helping out, then he would kick half his base in the ass and tell them to get some skin in the game. Preferably, all pigmentation.
Posted by: GW McLintock at July 16, 2012 10:49 AM (4/L1B)
"They allow regular people have freedom"
As many others have noted, that's why certain portions of Our Betters hate private car ownership. Hell, when I was getting the loaner today, I bopped out to my car to grab the chargers for my phone and GPS and snagged the mat for the GPS. Why? Because hey I might need to suddenly up and drive to Nebraska tonight. Why? Because reasons. When I have my car, I know that if anything happens I can go. If I want to run away from my life, I can. If I decide it's time to flee to the Republic of Texas, off I go! That freedom is very subversive.
As far as the whole you didn't do it yourself, I think it's time to brush off my long stated point about how I want back every party I didn't attend, every drug I didn't do, every person I didn't sleep with, every book I didn't buy, every drink I didn't drink, every movie I didn't watch, every pair of shoes I passed by, every piece of tech I don't own, etc. I want all of that back first before I hear one fucking word about what I "owe" to society.
Posted by: alexthechick SMOD. Now with more ELE! at July 16, 2012 10:49 AM (VtjlW)
Posted by: blogforce one at July 16, 2012 10:49 AM (7cXfH)
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 10:49 AM (Y7XKa)
But it doesn't even matter. Internet/ No Internet -- the country was successful.
It's a stupid statement. Completely ignorant.
Posted by: eleven at July 16, 2012 10:50 AM (KXm42)
Posted by: JohnW at July 16, 2012 10:50 AM (d9IaT)
Every year I mail in that 1040 form with enough money attached to buy someone a really nice car. I don't expect to be thanked for doing something involuntary, but could whoever is driving the Mercedes I bought this last April stop by and give me a ride in it? I want to smell the new car small and touch the fine leather just once.
Posted by: SpongeBob Saget at July 16, 2012 10:50 AM (SDkq3)
Posted by: chique d'afrique (the artist formerly known as african chick) at July 16, 2012 10:50 AM (m95KA)
That guy didn't build the road for free- he expected to be paid. That other guy didn't invent aluminum for free; he expected to be paid.
I don't "owe" anyone for those things, because that debt has already been paid. I certainly don't "owe" "the people" anything, because they didn't do anything except exist. It was specific entrepreneurs, business people, and laborers who did things, and they all got paid.
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) Channelling Breitbart at July 16, 2012 10:50 AM (8y9MW)
More and more, businesses are surviving DESPITE the government, not because of them or some help they've provided. With over 80,000 pages of tax law and well over 150,000 pages of federal, state and local regulations, I honestly don't know how small businesses survive.
Gibson Guitars scared the hell out of me. When you have random government agencies torturing business people just because they can, that's frickin' evil.
Posted by: Stateless_Infidel at July 16, 2012 10:51 AM (8UijS)
Which goes along with him having the intellect of a 10-year old.
Posted by: Miss Marple at July 16, 2012 10:51 AM (GoIUi)
Posted by: Michael at July 16, 2012 10:51 AM (Hl5ka)
Posted by: nickless at July 16, 2012 10:51 AM (MMC8r)
"I won"
Posted by: Barack Obama at July 16, 2012 10:51 AM (e8kgV)
Posted by: Barky O'Doofus at July 16, 2012 10:51 AM (xCxXI)
Posted by: Schwalbe: The Me-262© at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (UU0OF)
Posted by: Cricket at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (DrC22)
Exactly right. They use cops, fire, roads and bridges as human shields for their bureaucratic monstrosities.
Posted by: AmishDude at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (T0NGe)
This one was a far greater insult than his "bitter clingers" speech
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: polynikes at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (bxpf3)
Posted by: Mensa Soetoro at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (/ZZCn)
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) Channelling Breitbart at July 16, 2012 02:41 PM (8y9MW)
----------------------------------------------------------
Why do you think I've been calling him a marxist from the beginning? One of the other things marxists do is rip and tear out the traditional values of a nation in order to insert their collectivism. Marriage, military, national pride, sovereignty, etc., have all been on the chopping block with this regime.
Posted by: Soona at July 16, 2012 10:52 AM (KQuZj)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff the Infidel Comic at July 16, 2012 10:53 AM (z7X0E)
Solyndra was pretty much just like that. Except "mom" was the taxpayer.
Posted by: Cicero at July 16, 2012 10:54 AM (QKKT0)
Posted by: BurtTC at July 16, 2012 10:54 AM (TOk1P)
If this is Future Obama, it is correct. If you are successful, it is because someone in government made you successful by giving you a contract.
This really is the future.
Posted by: Invictos at July 16, 2012 10:55 AM (OQpzc)
Theoretically, had a public restroom not been available to me on the Ohio Turnpike while going to a meeting with a large customer when I first starting my company, I probably would have shit myself and lost the order.
Thank you, Barack Obama.
Posted by: jwest at July 16, 2012 10:55 AM (ZDsRL)
Posted by: Barry Dumbama at July 16, 2012 10:56 AM (Ux3ST)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 10:56 AM (evdj2)
'i can do nothing without you', citizen of the world.
've almost made it true i guess. they've been picking winners and shutting american companys down. oil, coal, regulate everyone not to their liking out of business?
Posted by: willow at July 16, 2012 10:56 AM (TomZ9)
Posted by: willow at July 16, 2012 10:57 AM (TomZ9)
Having spent a week in the Mountains of New Mexico with neither, let me add my vote for those.
Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) Channelling Breitbart at July 16, 2012 10:57 AM (8y9MW)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 10:57 AM (GvYeG)
Posted by: alexthechick SMOD. Now with more ELE! at July 16, 2012 10:58 AM (VtjlW)
Posted by: Obama's coalition of voters at July 16, 2012 10:58 AM (wsGWu)
And more than ever, it puts neighbor against neighbor.
Posted by: grognard at July 16, 2012 10:59 AM (NS2Mo)
Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 16, 2012 10:59 AM (1Jaio)
That stat is kind of meaningless without the percentage the top 1% make of all money earned. To my understanding, that figure is between 17 and 18%. To my mind, that utterly destroys the argument that the rich aren't paying their "fair share."
But without that added information, the 40.4% figure doesn't really say anything.
Posted by: wallydog at July 16, 2012 10:59 AM (TTXVN)
I think Obama truly believes he can win without their support.
Posted by: Soap MacTavish at July 16, 2012 02:56 PM (vbh31)
There are more takers than makers now and their votes count equally. Which means that yes, he really CAN win without their support, and it sucks.
Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at July 16, 2012 10:59 AM (RD7QR)
102I assume that government is "helping" the coal mining companies by "necessarily going bankrupt"
Yeah. ....And all those Smoke Shops that will have to close, because of that thing that was tacked onto the Highway Bill.
That was some lethal..."help".
Small businesses have become an endangered species under this president.
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 10:59 AM (MbB0O)
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 11:00 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 11:00 AM (9Q7Nu)
This shows the most inverted concept of our country that I have ever seen. The individual industry has always come first in this country, with Government to follow later after industrious individuals established themselves and built new societies.
The Government has always depended on the entrepreneur and the industrious, to do most of the work of establishing society, building all of the businesses, dwellings, tilling the land, producing necessary goods, and once the society was viable, then the Government using taxes drawn from the viable society came in and enhanced it with infrastructure.
It has always been that way here. Make money first, then when you can, fund the community.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose Lite! 98% Anger Free! at July 16, 2012 11:00 AM (0q2P7)
I live in Houston so I vote Air Conditioning.
Willis Haviland Carrier praise be upon him.
Posted by: eleven at July 16, 2012 11:00 AM (KXm42)
Posted by: Naqamel at July 16, 2012 11:00 AM (UMwMT)
Alexander Graham Bell was a gummint agency? Whatashock.
Does Lord Sissypants want me to believe that no one in private industry would have thought to take the phone lines that private industry strung and use them for data transmission instead of voice? That goes way, way back in many forms.
Posted by: nickless at July 16, 2012 11:01 AM (MMC8r)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 11:01 AM (GvYeG)
We have roads that lead pretty much everywhere. When they talk about "roads" and "infrastructure", they are talking about repaving, which has pretty much zero impact on anything except the bottom lines of the large repaving contractors.
Posted by: ejo at July 16, 2012 11:01 AM (YKnMC)
I guess everyone that works will have no question that they are all slaves to the government and should be happy.
This is fucking war. He has shown his socialist fucking hand, now we must kick his ass.
This is it fuckers, last chance.
Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo-intellectual at July 16, 2012 11:01 AM (KZI7g)
Posted by: Mensa Soetoro at July 16, 2012 11:02 AM (/ZZCn)
Posted by: 1988 at July 16, 2012 11:02 AM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: BurtTC at July 16, 2012 11:02 AM (TOk1P)
They are witnessing it happen and living through it in amazing technicolor...
Posted by: H Badger at July 16, 2012 11:02 AM (n/0Nw)
Posted by: Preston Tucker at July 16, 2012 11:02 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: nerdygirl at July 16, 2012 11:02 AM (HAnzX)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 11:03 AM (GvYeG)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 16, 2012 11:03 AM (QxSug)
Posted by: Obama- Man of the People at July 16, 2012 11:03 AM (B2fm1)
They're running out of arguments to use in their favor, so we're seeing shit like this... and it's just July. As mentioned elsewhere, imagine what they'll be throwing against the wall come October if they're getting no positive movement right now with everything they've been using.
Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at July 16, 2012 11:04 AM (e0xKF)
Posted by: 1988 at July 16, 2012 11:04 AM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: IBM 5394 V.25bis Autodial at July 16, 2012 11:04 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: Killerdog at July 16, 2012 11:04 AM (Z3f4B)
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.
---
I would like to hear his companion piece..
"If you were a failure..."
Posted by: Buzzsaw90 at July 16, 2012 11:05 AM (SO2Q8)
Posted by: Nighthawk at July 16, 2012 11:05 AM (0FQ+M)
Posted by: buzzion at July 16, 2012 11:05 AM (XRas7)
Posted by: Naqamel at July 16, 2012 11:05 AM (UMwMT)
Posted by: Brother Cavil presents at July 16, 2012 11:05 AM (GBXon)
Just think about that, on average one out of every twenty people pays more in taxes then the other 19 combined, and that person needs to pony up for his fair share 'cause he's short changing everyone else.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose Lite! 98% Anger Free! at July 16, 2012 11:05 AM (0q2P7)
Posted by: Inspector Asshole at July 16, 2012 11:06 AM (RM/vV)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 11:06 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: Inspector Asshole at July 16, 2012 11:06 AM (RM/vV)
I'm sure some Julia with a coffee shop that now employs 100 people in San Francisco will be his anecdotal evidence
Posted by: kbdabear at July 16, 2012 11:06 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: That's Dr. Pecker to you, Biden... at July 16, 2012 11:06 AM (uMpgc)
Praise be to you all.
Posted by: Billy Bob, the 1% at July 16, 2012 11:07 AM (KZI7g)
"I had this discussion on Twitter this morning. Obama knows most people have not experienced what it takes to run their own business."
They will. My new pet horse to beat is the idea that within the next few years everyone is going to be moved from employee status to contractor status. Why the hell should any company have any employees? Oh, I know, I know, there will be attempts to pass legislation that outlaws this practice but it's coming hard and fast. At that point everyone will know just what it takes.
My old boss used to say that he didn't understand why people wanted to work for others though he was glad they did. I told him point blank it was because I didn't want to have to deal with freaking out about making payroll and getting my clients to pay me and dealing with all of the various taxing authorities and all the other stuff it takes to run a business. He blinked and admitted he'd never thought about it like that. I bit my tongue to say of course not because your company is 50 years old so when you started you didn't have to do all this shit. Now he could afford to pay others to do it for him.
Posted by: alexthechick SMOD. Now with more ELE! at July 16, 2012 11:07 AM (VtjlW)
Posted by: Naqamel at July 16, 2012 11:07 AM (UMwMT)
It was my skin color, and govt programs that got me admitted to Harvard and appointed to the Harvard Law Review editor position. Even though I never actually wrote any scholarly legal works.
And it works the same way for small businesses.
Posted by: Barack Obama at July 16, 2012 11:08 AM (wUFaM)
I teach and coach at a private Christian school and I sat down to talk with a successful business owner (plenty at our school and I tell our Zombie voters we will lose some families if things stay the way they are) and he said that's exactly what he does.
He has meetings with all of his employees, goes over the balance sheet, shows them what will happen if Obama stays in and shows the number of jobs he will be forced to shed if the ACA stays on the books and if this clown gets re-elected.
He is very gracious and he has had a few employees who were supporters of Obama seek further 'education' with him.
Posted by: GW McLintock at July 16, 2012 11:08 AM (4/L1B)
Always travel with a roll of paper towels in the car. and an empty 2L bottle to piss in in emergencies. Viva brand is the closest to TP in texture. And travel in shorts and a t-shirt that you change out of before meeting the client.
Hard lessons learned on the road by an ex-road warrior
Posted by: @PurpAv at July 16, 2012 11:08 AM (aS5TC)
Posted by: Jay in Ames at July 16, 2012 11:08 AM (UEEex)
It's the months between the election and the inaugural that concern me.
Posted by: Retread at July 16, 2012 11:08 AM (I2fq9)
Just let him and his campaign keep talking. They are taking the one thing that he still has going for him - his "likability" and are chipping it away.
Independents who are still undecided are going to get extremely turned off by someone who talks down other people's successes
Posted by: @huffpeter at July 16, 2012 11:09 AM (NHNJt)
Posted by: sTevo at July 16, 2012 11:10 AM (uIz80)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 11:10 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: Naqamel at July 16, 2012 11:11 AM (UMwMT)
Posted by: willow at July 16, 2012 11:11 AM (TomZ9)
I've helped lots of people with money and time. The only thing they ever did was screw me.
Posted by: Jack at July 16, 2012 11:11 AM (wUFaM)
Posted by: Meghan McCain at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (Y7XKa)
Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (RD7QR)
Posted by: @PurpAv at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (aS5TC)
Posted by: Buh-rock O-bah-muhh, SCOAMF at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (3BAnd)
Posted by: Soona at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (KQuZj)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: The Mega Independent at July 16, 2012 11:12 AM (Ux3ST)
Posted by: nerdygirl at July 16, 2012 11:13 AM (HAnzX)
Shut your mouth! You know that man's mother never did an honest days whoring in her life!
Posted by: BurtTC at July 16, 2012 03:07 PM (TOk1P)
Well that's probably true, if she was a sex worker, Barry would probably know more about business.
Posted by: Billy Bob, the 1% at July 16, 2012 11:13 AM (KZI7g)
Pardon me if I don't thank my ever-helpful government partner. Putzes.
Posted by: Jack Sunday at July 16, 2012 11:13 AM (bSdea)
Let's turn this around.....
If the Government "made that happen"....then it doesn't need our help.
It doesn't need our Taxes.
It doesn't need all those Taxes....on everything.
It's the all-powerful Government.
It does everything...all by itself.
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 11:14 AM (MbB0O)
Yeah, me too. I think there's a couple things that will spark widespread rioting: Zimmerman getting acquitted, and Obama losing (badly) in November.
Keep the ammo dry, folks. I pray you don't need it to protect yourselves.
Posted by: Naqamel at July 16, 2012 03:11 PM (UMwMT)
Also, the lame-duck session of Congress. And if he loses he will pardon all and sundry, and issue the most damaging executive orders possible. It'll be a dangerous time.
Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at July 16, 2012 11:14 AM (RD7QR)
I would still hate having my money taken from me at gunpoint by the government, but it would hurt a little less if every now and then some dem would say "Thank you, American taxpayer, for all that you do for this country." Instead it's "We hate you, and we love the folks sucking off the government teat, so keep sending in those checks, greedy bastards." The left HATES the people who are actually paying the bills. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Posted by: Palandine at July 16, 2012 11:14 AM (g7D8V)
Posted by: MJ at July 16, 2012 11:14 AM (TR60b)
Allowed. The "System". "Unbelievable". "Somebody".
That's quite a statement, there, Barry.
Posted by: mrp at July 16, 2012 11:15 AM (HjPtV)
Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 16, 2012 11:15 AM (05RcU)
Posted by: nerdygirl at July 16, 2012 11:15 AM (HAnzX)
Posted by: Obama's coalition of voters at July 16, 2012 11:15 AM (BEZki)
Posted by: jd at July 16, 2012 11:15 AM (wa3LG)
Posted by: Tia maria tio Jim's favorite drink at July 16, 2012 11:16 AM (lYJJc)
Posted by: Fritz at July 16, 2012 11:16 AM (/ZZCn)
Throwing red meat to the Republicans is certainly going to motivate them.
The fear of loss is a hell of a lot bigger motivator that the hope of gain.
This is a wake up call and I think the country is going to hear it.
Get to work!
Posted by: Billy Bob, the 1% at July 16, 2012 11:16 AM (KZI7g)
Posted by: nerdygirl at July 16, 2012 11:17 AM (HAnzX)
I think Zimmerman's acquittal will bring nothing but bleating on TV.
There won't be local rioting because...the locals have guns.
Maybe there will be riots in South Central or somewhere.
I do think there's a contingent that wants to riot and are just looking for an excuse.
Posted by: AmishDude at July 16, 2012 11:17 AM (T0NGe)
Posted by: Arcadehero at July 16, 2012 11:17 AM (zt7SE)
"Just think about that, on average one out of every twenty people pays more in taxes then the other 19 combined, and that person needs to pony up for his fair share 'cause he's short changing everyone else."
A few years ago, one of my Lefty friends was bitching about something, I don't remember what, and I finally snapped and screamed at her "I paid more in taxes then you made last year. Shut. The. Fuck. Up. I paid for that shit, you didn't, so I get say what happens. You. Don't." She got all pissy back and then the BFF hauled me off to pour drinks down my throat. I still think my point was valid. I paid for it. I get to say.
"ATC, I know for sure that lots of companies would be happy to shed the HR headaches of having full-time employees"
Boy BFF's specialty is HR and he's having a helluva time finding a job because a. no one is hiring so they don't need HR and b. so many companies are going to temp/contract workers. I've told him he should start a company specializing in doing HR work for small businesses. I know a lot of places can't afford a dedicated person but would pay for someone to spend a few hours a week dealing with the bullshit so they can to out and make more sales calls, etc. He's considering it because why not.
Posted by: alexthechick SMOD. Now with more ELE! at July 16, 2012 11:18 AM (VtjlW)
He forgot the part about tossing you aside like used condom when there's any problems. I've NEVER seen a town give a landlord a tax break when they were carrying a 50% vacancy rate or a tenant caused $5,000 in damage. NEVER. EVER.
Posted by: @PurpAv at July 16, 2012 11:18 AM (aS5TC)
Posted by: sTevo at July 16, 2012 11:18 AM (uIz80)
Pardon me if I don't thank my ever-helpful government partner. Putzes.
Boiled down- Obama is taking the role of mobster Paulie Vario in Goodfellas with regards to business.
"You had a bad week? Fuck you, pay me. Had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. World war III broke out in the lounge? Fuck you, pay me."
Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at July 16, 2012 11:18 AM (e0xKF)
Posted by: buzzion at July 16, 2012 03:05 PM (XRas7)
___
Yeah I heard blurbs of him pissing and moaning about "Washington" (aka GOP House). I had to laugh. Preezy don't give a shit about broke Washington or fixed Washington. Preezy just cranks out another EO or six, or directs his admin flunkies to enact extraconstitutional edicts. He just has to play the victim card - over and over, ad nauseum. Because the Perpetually Aggrieved icon is the hero of the American Leftard.
Posted by: kallisto at July 16, 2012 11:18 AM (jm/9g)
I just realized I typed 'hell' and 'ass' in a derogatory manner. Ouchy.
Sorry for the misrepresentin'!
Posted by: GW McLintock at July 16, 2012 11:19 AM (4/L1B)
Posted by: MJ at July 16, 2012 11:20 AM (TR60b)
Posted by: RoyalOil at July 16, 2012 11:20 AM (kSaUf)
Posted by: Nukie at July 16, 2012 11:21 AM (sv/s3)
Posted by: Preston Tucker at July 16, 2012 03:02 PM (Y7XKa)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
What did the SCOAMT regime do to help Ford?
Posted by: Soona at July 16, 2012 11:21 AM (KQuZj)
Posted by: nickless at July 16, 2012 11:22 AM (MMC8r)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 16, 2012 11:22 AM (QxSug)
This is what I had in mind with my original comment, rather than the reaction of the general public. Does anyone know if there is a requirement to publicly disclose Executive Orders? Or might we not know until the Romney Administration tells us what SCOAMF did on his way out the door?
Posted by: Retread at July 16, 2012 11:22 AM (I2fq9)
Posted by: nerdygirl at July 16, 2012 11:22 AM (HAnzX)
And he just read the words some 20-something trustafarian Ivy League legacy put in the TelePrompter.
Posted by: HeatherRadish™ at July 16, 2012 11:23 AM (ZKzrr)
But that's the whole point of the fairness. You pay and someone else gets to say.
The only way it makes any sense at all is if it wasn't your money to begin with.
Posted by: AmishDude at July 16, 2012 11:23 AM (T0NGe)
Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 16, 2012 11:23 AM (05RcU)
Posted by: Lemmiwinks at July 16, 2012 11:23 AM (61yvg)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 16, 2012 11:23 AM (QxSug)
My oldboss used to say that he didn't understand why people wanted to work for others though he was glad they did. I told him pointblank it was because I didn't want to have to deal withfreaking out about making payroll and getting my clients to pay me and dealing withallof the various taxing authorities and all the other stuff it takes to run a business. He blinked and admitted he'd never thought about it like that. I bit my tongue to say of course not because your company is 50 years old so when youstarted you didn't have to do all this shit.Now he could afford to pay others to do it for him.
Posted by: alexthechick SMOD. Now with more ELE! at July 16, 2012 03:07 PM (VtjlW)
That must've been when you worked for Dunder Mifflin.
Posted by: Scrantonesian at July 16, 2012 11:23 AM (7+pP9)
Posted by: RoyalOil at July 16, 2012 11:24 AM (kSaUf)
Posted by: Xerxes Obama at July 16, 2012 11:24 AM (Y+wkX)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 16, 2012 11:24 AM (QxSug)
How many jobs were killed when Barky's lackey at GM closed down all those GM dealerships....the ones that were owned by Republicans.
Answer: ....Thousands.
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 11:24 AM (MbB0O)
Posted by: Polliwog, Teahada hobbit at July 16, 2012 11:24 AM (h6HiH)
Posted by: Cicero at July 16, 2012 11:25 AM (QKKT0)
Posted by: MJ at July 16, 2012 11:25 AM (TR60b)
>>Slide rules rock. No batteries/chargers, and they keep working after an EMP.
I just today was looking on Amazon because I want to buy one so that the kids and I can learn how to use it.
I didn't really find one. Well, I found some but I have no idea what I should get.
Advice would greatly be appreciated!
Posted by: Mama AJ at July 16, 2012 11:25 AM (SUKHu)
Posted by: Detroit at July 16, 2012 11:25 AM (HAnzX)
Oh, okay. So, yeah, you're the valedictorian at your school, but don't think that makes you smarter than anyone else or that you tried harder than anyone else. It was because of some great teacher somewhere. WE built those roads to get you to school. WE paid for your school books. And, government research is responsible for your high SAT scores. Don't even think of thanking Mom and Dad; you should be thanking your government.
Posted by: sydney jane at July 16, 2012 11:25 AM (Cklj4)
Posted by: Palandine at July 16, 2012 11:26 AM (g7D8V)
There was rather more to it than that. That it was largely funded by the government is not in question. (The best book I've seen on the people and process is 'Where Wizards stay Up Late.' http://tinyurl.com/7v4y9pk ) But it was primarily under the aegis of the DoD to better achieve its goals. Which is to say, it was an effort by one of the very few government agencies actually specified by the Constitution.
But this was not remotely a project with commercial applications in mind and there was no such need for it to be considered a success. The immense financial return that has resulted came from clever people working under their own motivation to make something that had never existed before and that the government would never have done.
So yes, a DoD project provided the proof of concept for building a huge civilian infrastructure but work on packet communications was underway before then and not only in the US. It was a natural outgrowth of the telephone system, just to do voice better. History repeats. The guy who got beat out on the telephone patent by mere hours, Elisha Grey, wasn't originally seeking to transmit voices. He was seeking a solution to a pressing problem of telegraph congestion by devising a means of multiplexing the lines. Engineers seeking improvement to the phone system would surely have created the basis of a digital packet system without government money as motivation.
Posted by: epobirs at July 16, 2012 11:26 AM (kcfmt)
I never donated money to a political campaign til Romney. This fucker's gotta go.
I think some people who like to live off of the boring straits will be afraid that the boring straits aren't going to be there anymore to live off of.
Never end a sentence with a preposition me will ya?
Posted by: eleven at July 16, 2012 11:27 AM (KXm42)
Those were evil greedy corporate jobs. And now those employees are free to move on to good caring non-profit jobs, like I advise young people to do.
Posted by: Mrs SCOAMF at July 16, 2012 11:27 AM (ZKzrr)
The Latest: They are trying now to slime Zimmerman with a charge that when he was 8, yeah 8?, he molested a 6 year old girl?
It's true. I know all about that kind of stuff.
Posted by: Mike Skakel at July 16, 2012 11:27 AM (7+pP9)
Posted by: Axel Douche at July 16, 2012 11:28 AM (mka2b)
Posted by: Barky O'Dogeater at July 16, 2012 11:28 AM (QKKT0)
219....The Latest: They are trying now to slime Zimmerman with a charge that when he was 8, yeah 8?, he molested a 6 year old girl? And this is the "witness" that says Zimmerman hates blacks. Yeah great "witness".
Yeah....."witness no. 9".
So now, they are trying to prejudice the Jury with the recollections of someone....when they were 6 years old?!
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 11:29 AM (MbB0O)
The cheapest plastic one works as well as the most expensive wood.
Basic use is easy, the scales are logarithmic. Multiplication is done by adding logs, division subtracting them. The slider locates the answer.
Posted by: Looters and Vandals Local 326 at July 16, 2012 11:29 AM (aS5TC)
Posted by: Roy at July 16, 2012 11:29 AM (VndSC)
Get one of the round ones and use it wearing leather gloves like Dr Strangelove.
Posted by: eleven at July 16, 2012 11:30 AM (KXm42)
...but the slippery slope is that if this line of reasoning is accepted, then it won't be long before the same people who came up with it are telling us that we only have our homes thanks to the Federal Government.
Freedoms continue to erode.
Posted by: Sgt. York at July 16, 2012 11:30 AM (lu20S)
16 hours? That seems like a lot. One shift a week.
And don't forget Unreported Cash Income.
Posted by: Mrs SCOAMF at July 16, 2012 11:30 AM (ZKzrr)
Posted by: Nukie at July 16, 2012 11:30 AM (sv/s3)
At the end of tax reform conservatives need to do is to get a lot more people (almost everyone) paying federal taxes. Anyone making more than say $10K needs to pay a minimum of 1 % so that almost everyone can have the aggravation of seeing their tax money wasted.
Second, go along with Mitt's plan to have federal education money follow the student and let the poor students break out of the public school hells they find themselves in. This will eventually lead to charter and private schools and the death of the teachers union and the lousy educations they are providing.
Educated taxpayers will not block vote for socialists.
Its the exact opposite of the plan the Dems have been executing for decades.
Posted by: Dirks Strewn at July 16, 2012 11:30 AM (VLifP)
But Magic 8-Ball is more useful for judgment calls.
Posted by: Cicero at July 16, 2012 11:31 AM (QKKT0)
Best of the Web Today:
Barack Obama really does seem like an Ayn Rand villain at times....
Several points beg to be made here. First, as Pickett points out, it takes chutzpah for the man who boasts of having personally killed Osama bin Laden to tell businessmen, "You didn't build that."
Posted by: Mama AJ at July 16, 2012 11:31 AM (SUKHu)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 11:31 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: Nighthawk at July 16, 2012 11:32 AM (0FQ+M)
Posted by: iamahaiangttiam at July 16, 2012 11:32 AM (K8Rqf)
Posted by: kallisto at July 16, 2012 03:18 PM (jm/9g)
-------------------------------------------------
Which reminds me. There's an interesting article over at American Thinker about the EO's that Baraka has signed.
Posted by: Soona at July 16, 2012 11:32 AM (KQuZj)
That's a jim-cracker of a plan, Ole boss!
Posted by: weft cut-loop [/i] [/b] at July 16, 2012 11:32 AM (fa39X)
>>Slide rules rock. No batteries/chargers, and they keep working after an EMP.
I just today was looking on Amazon because I want to buy one so that the kids and I can learn how to use it.
I didn't really find one. Well, I found some but I have no idea what I should get.
Advice would greatly be appreciated!
Posted by: Mama AJ at July 16, 2012 03:25 PM (SUKHu)
Something much cooler than a slide rule:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta_calculator
Posted by: Unemployed Number Cruncher at July 16, 2012 11:32 AM (7+pP9)
Posted by: nickless at July 16, 2012 11:32 AM (MMC8r)
Posted by: Kinder, Gentler HeatherRadish™ at July 16, 2012 11:33 AM (ZKzrr)
Posted by: Katechon at July 16, 2012 11:33 AM (P7m59)
Remember, the wisest man fears the shortest rope.
Posted by: Kwai Chang Caine at July 16, 2012 11:33 AM (QKKT0)
Posted by: Katechon at July 16, 2012 11:34 AM (P7m59)
There's a land that's fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
And the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains...
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around it
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
The jails are made of tin.
And you can walk right out again,
As soon as you are in.
There ain't no short-handled shovels,
No axes, saws nor picks,
I'm bound to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
....
I'll see you all this coming fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
Posted by: Book readin' moron at July 16, 2012 11:35 AM (Xv7f/)
****
In other words, they took government waste and made something out of it.
Posted by: Lemmiwinks at July 16, 2012 11:35 AM (61yvg)
"If youÂ’ve got a business -- you didnÂ’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.
~ Barky's own words.
Isn't he really saying....."We own you"?
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 11:35 AM (MbB0O)
Posted by: Obama- Man of the People at July 16, 2012 11:36 AM (bxpf3)
Posted by: Dr Spank at July 16, 2012 11:36 AM (bb5Xq)
Posted by: Kwai Chang Caine at July 16, 2012 03:33 PM (QKKT0)
Is that becauce you might accidentally hang yourself from it while jacking off in the closet?
Posted by: buzzion at July 16, 2012 11:36 AM (GULKT)
Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 16, 2012 11:36 AM (05RcU)
Posted by: MJ at July 16, 2012 03:20 PM (TR60b"
==
Yep, the Left creates a caricature of business in its collective muddled head, then acts as if that caricature were the real thing. Thus, their inability to understand that simply throwing money at a company like Solyndra is no guarantee that it will succeed or simply throwing money at your cronies will make their businesses thrive. They are really so stupid as to think that's how things do work, though.
But, then again, the Left is like an asshole kid in the schoolyard who doesn't bring any toys to play with and then goes around taking everyone else's toys to play with them. They bring nothing to the table in terms of skills, talents, anything. If by some miracle they all disappeared tomorrow, the world wouldn't miss a beat.
Posted by: BS Inc. at July 16, 2012 11:36 AM (P2Ufm)
>>Reference on slide rules:
Cool. That's the first bookmark I've created on this new computer!
>>Get one of the round ones and use it wearing leather gloves like Dr Strangelove.
Found one on Ebay!!
Posted by: Mama AJ at July 16, 2012 11:37 AM (SUKHu)
I didn't really find one. Well, I found some but I have no idea what I should get.
Advice would greatly be appreciated!
Yeah. Get a circular slide rule (Free dish variety). It's easier to pocket. An aviators slide rule is about as useful as one gets.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose Lite! 98% Anger Free! at July 16, 2012 11:37 AM (0q2P7)
Because he may actually win. And even if he doesn't, he has 2 months to fuck up everything on his way out.
Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at July 16, 2012 11:37 AM (e0xKF)
Posted by: Obama's coalition of voters at July 16, 2012 11:37 AM (wsGWu)
Posted by: Swanny at July 16, 2012 11:38 AM (XzlBE)
Posted by: TOTUS at July 16, 2012 11:39 AM (eHIJJ)
Short version: YOU OWE ME.
But here's the deal -- No, we don't.
Those things have already been paid for. We paid up-front. The people who built those roads and taught those children have already been fully paid for their time, materials and labor.
Contrary to Obama (and Chief "Pale Face" Warren), just because some people already paid for some things, that doesn't mean that they get to keep demanding more payments, forever.
We do not owe an Infinite Debt of Eternal Gratitude. We paid you already.
Posted by: Phinn at July 16, 2012 11:39 AM (KNtHw)
Posted by: Eisenhorn at July 16, 2012 11:39 AM (KvKOu)
---
I would like to hear his companion piece..
"If you were a failure..."
Posted by: Buzzsaw90 at July 16, 2012 03:05 PM (SO2Q
Now, see, that isn't fair! No one is a failure, if they just allow me and the almighty government to take on that burden. I can make everything better for everybody. Make no mistake, I am the the do all, be all, to everybody! (Did I mention the END ALL? shushhh.)
Posted by: Baraka O. at July 16, 2012 11:40 AM (7g1yh)
I'd like to hear what Warren Buffet and Bill Gates think about this latest proclaimation from Barky.
Do they know that they didn't build their own companies?
....That..."Somebody else made that happen"...?
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 11:40 AM (MbB0O)
Posted by: Ernst Blofeld at July 16, 2012 11:41 AM (XZWie)
Posted by: somebody else, not me at July 16, 2012 11:41 AM (nZvGM)
Posted by: nerdygirl at July 16, 2012 11:41 AM (HAnzX)
>>Slide rules rock. No batteries/chargers, and they keep working after an EMP.
It's a cinch to calculate how long before you die from the radioactive fallout.
Posted by: Roy at July 16, 2012 11:42 AM (VndSC)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 11:42 AM (GvYeG)
Posted by: Obama- Man of the People at July 16, 2012 11:42 AM (qBtUE)
Sometimes they even implement that caricature. Example: PuffHo getting rich off the work of unpaid bloggers.
Posted by: Kinder, Gentler HeatherRadish™ at July 16, 2012 11:44 AM (ZKzrr)
@278 - I don't think he has a prayer of winning, and sometime after Mitt is inaugurated it will become accepted wisdom that in June it was apparent that Obama couldn't win.
Chalk it up to wishful thinking if you want to.
Posted by: SH at July 16, 2012 11:44 AM (gmeXX)
Obama's infatuation with Solyndra was a major tell. Taj Mahal industrial building, top-drawer office furniture, high-tech robots, gangs of well-paid workers wearing white coats. To Obama, if you create the facade of a successful company, you've created a successful company.
This is cargo cult economics. Only a fucking idiot gets to adulthood with such simpleminded ideas about how things work. Ergo, Obama is a fucking idiot.
Posted by: Cicero at July 16, 2012 11:44 AM (QKKT0)
Posted by: moki at July 16, 2012 11:44 AM (dZmFh)
Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 16, 2012 11:44 AM (05RcU)
Posted by: torabora at July 16, 2012 11:45 AM (QLraV)
From now on, slide 1 will always be: "This solution brought to you by the people who built this company - the half-wits in Washington D.C."
F'in idiot. And get those damn shoes off my desk.
Posted by: David Duke at July 16, 2012 11:46 AM (PFg5i)
Chalk it up to wishful thinking if you want to.
Intuition tells me he won't win either, as I think it will be Romney in a walk, but stranger stuff has happened.
Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at July 16, 2012 11:46 AM (e0xKF)
Posted by: Mama AJ at July 16, 2012 11:47 AM (SUKHu)
He's also a scourge to free people. And, yes, he does indeed hate this country. We've understood this for years now, but the chickens have been roosting long enough for more of the "undecideds" and those aiming to be diplomatic about SCoaMF's qualifications for the naked truth to be self evident.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 16, 2012 11:47 AM (eHIJJ)
If its even now, Romney is gonna kick his ass ... metaphorically speaking of course.
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 11:47 AM (GvYeG)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 11:49 AM (evdj2)
>>If youÂ’ve got a business -- you didnÂ’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.<<
Illogical, and nonsensical.
Posted by: Jay Guevara at July 16, 2012 11:49 AM (Cvwz9)
Posted by: R.d. Walker at July 16, 2012 11:49 AM (ImpgP)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 11:51 AM (GvYeG)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 11:51 AM (evdj2)
Posted by: polynikes at July 16, 2012 11:53 AM (A9hpr)
Posted by: moki at July 16, 2012 11:54 AM (dZmFh)
If any harm should come to Obama, God forbid, I know I will certainly remember these kinds of comments made by you which seemed to endorse some frenzied response to a person (n*gger) who is destroying YOUR country.
Posted by: erg
Remember away dipshit.
Posted by: Dr Spank at July 16, 2012 11:54 AM (bb5Xq)
No, that would be incorrect. The DoD project was a huge success in term of its specific goals. That it helped accelerate the pace of innovation in other applications is a happy accident. At best, it can be argued that applying tax dollars to basic research has far greater returns for all than the same amount spent on entitlements. (Although the price of the entitlements will almost always dwarf the research spending.) If taxpayer funds must be spent, it should be on things with an ongoing value beyond sustaining a heartbeat in our ne'er do wells.
The canard is when people try to claim there would be no internet without the government wishing it into existence. This is like claiming all of commercial radio owes its existence to the fact that radio is useful to military operations and some investment came from that sector.
If anything, government interference held back the civilian internet by many years by stifling innovation in telephone related services. The government granted monopoly kept AT&T from advancing at the pace its own Bell Labs had made plain was possible. Most people didn't deal with data communications before the breakup of AT&T and have no idea what a hassle it could be to deal with them and their priesthood of the wires..
Posted by: epobirs at July 16, 2012 11:56 AM (kcfmt)
The place: A dorm room at Occidental College, Los Angeles
The date: October 3, 1979
The time: 1:35 am
The scene: Three freshman and two sophomores, all male, ages 18-19, are sprawled about the room. Three Domino's pizza boxes are on the floor. Two are empty, one partially. The five are passing a bong . All are sipping warm beer. Suddenly, appropos of the discussion about "fairness" in society, one of the young men, a freshman from Honolulu, volunteers:
"...There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didnÂ’t -- look, if youÂ’ve been successful, you didnÂ’t get there on your own. You didnÂ’t get there on your own. IÂ’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help... If youÂ’ve got a business -- you didnÂ’t build that. Somebody else made that happen...
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we donÂ’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires..."
God help us. We are being governed by a stoned 19 year old freshman.
Posted by: Choomster at July 16, 2012 11:56 AM (Xv7f/)
You're being kind, he's a shit bag.
Posted by: Berserker at July 16, 2012 11:56 AM (FMbng)
I love how these politicians and academics, NONE of whom has ever made payroll, much less successfully managed an investment fund for other people, insist that they know ALL ABOUT how to invest money wisely, for the long term.
After all, they created the Internets and other cutting-edge technology, like Tang, or something.
These are people who couldn't manage an ice cream shop for a week. But they're going to TELL ME how spending MY MONEY is going to yield a dizzying array of immeasurable benefit? For which I owe them even more money, forever?
Try going into a room full of savvy investors and promising them that you're going to give them a super-amazing ROI, if only they hand over their money, but with NO PROMISES as to how it's actually going to be spent, all because some guy somewhere once invented a computer network that, several decades and millions in private investment later, and they eventually figured out how to use it profitably. So, you know, every government dollar derived from taxation is sorta like a good investment. Promise.
You'd be laughed out of the room.
Posted by: Phinn at July 16, 2012 11:57 AM (KNtHw)
Brandon in Baton Rouge - We are on the same page. I hope we are right.
Posted by: SH at July 16, 2012 11:58 AM (gmeXX)
The country will not survive four more years of him.
The country didn't survive his pulling even with Shrillary 4 years ago. We're dead with a maybe revivable option.
Posted by: DaveA at July 16, 2012 11:58 AM (yVsIQ)
Posted by: the Butcher at July 16, 2012 11:59 AM (8g9qq)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 12:00 PM (GvYeG)
Is everything that Obama has claimed to have accomplished in his first term also directly attributable to roads and bridges, and not to Obama's unique insight at all?
If financial success is a "gift from government", and if every economic outcome is a product of our 'collective system', then isn't collectivism itself responsible for the dramatic wealth inequality in the United States?
How can an ideology that destroys the very means of determining individual merit claim to have the 'best qualified' people making all the decisions?
Posted by: gastorgrab at July 16, 2012 12:00 PM (FX38i)
I hate to look like I'm defending the SCOAMF, but I think that sentence actually has a point to it; if you have a business that makes use of roads and bridges, those were built by somebody else. Unfortunately for Barry, he speaks in turgid, opaque prose that scans like someone cut small snippets from mainstream newspapers, put them in a hat, picked out random hunks and glued them together in a line. Or like some half-bright hack bullsh*tter that just rambles on, endlessly spouting half-digested gibberish that sounded good when he heard it from someone, if not wiser, at least not speaking English as a second language.
So, the good news: the President of the United States actually had a point to his statement. An utterly obvious, tendentious, barely relevant point buried in the dorm-room bull-session grade boilerplate, but a point. The bad news: He's still a dunce.
Erg, however? Erg's still got nothing.
Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at July 16, 2012 12:02 PM (VMcoS)
I wonder if y'all realize that in addition to the gratuitous swipe at businesses, Obama got in a dig at ANYONE who has ever accomplished ANYTHING through persistence and effort.
He swung at all of us.
Posted by: irongrampa at July 16, 2012 12:02 PM (SAMxH)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:02 PM (bxiXv)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 12:03 PM (evdj2)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:04 PM (bxiXv)
Posted by: proudvastrightwingconspirator at July 16, 2012 12:04 PM (hyRD4)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 12:04 PM (evdj2)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:05 PM (bxiXv)
Posted by: Berserker at July 16, 2012 12:06 PM (FMbng)
I had to study like a madman and major in organic chemistry instead of womyn's studies as an undergrad?
I had to take and ace the MCAT?
I had to do all the studying?
I had to take all the tests?
I had to take $125,000 in student loans and pay them back?
I had to work the 80 hour shifts during residency?
I had to do the two year fellowship?
I had to be on call every other weekend?
I had to sign the note for the the equipment and office lease and make the monthly nut?
I had to skip payday to make sure the staff payroll got made?
What the hell were all you parasites were doing while I was building OUR medical practice?
I'm owed, dammit!
Posted by: Dr. Kildare at July 16, 2012 12:06 PM (Xv7f/)
"I hate to look like I'm defending the SCOAMF, but I think that sentence actually has a point to it; if you have a business that makes use of roads and bridges, those were built by somebody else."Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at July 16, 2012 04:02 PM
Here's the problem with it: if your business uses the roads and bridges, then it pays exorbitant taxes on a regular basis for their use. So in truth, the people who use the roads and bridges already pay for them. And not with "help" from other people.
Posted by: NewEnglandDevil at July 16, 2012 12:07 PM (73P68)
One of the main ways these people enjoy tax-free income (like John Kerry and his wife) is by loaning money ... to governments.
Also racism.
Posted by: Phinn at July 16, 2012 12:08 PM (KNtHw)
Posted by: Andrew Breitbart at July 16, 2012 04:03 PM
Thats why we are a democratic REPUBLIC you ignorant fuckstick. Its retards that you that cause "democracies" to commit suicide
Posted by: Berserker at July 16, 2012 12:08 PM (FMbng)
So if the Government takes full credit for the Internet...
...
...then I can bill all my time spent Tweeting my crotch to my own employer!??!?!
Posted by: Anthony Weiner at July 16, 2012 12:09 PM (kZVsz)
I think I have a succinct way of putting the point of this post.
The American View: "Government of, for, and by, the people." [Thanks, Abe]
The Collectivist View: "The people, of, for, and by, the government. [Obama, and his fascist little sidekicks.]
We really need to ask ourselves how a guy with the latter view was ever even the running for being elected President, much less actually win. I suppose it started when we gave the government a virtual monopoly in formal education.
Posted by: Optimizer at July 16, 2012 12:09 PM (As94z)
Posted by: Honey Badger, drinker of mead at July 16, 2012 12:10 PM (GvYeG)
Posted by: DAve at July 16, 2012 12:10 PM (BoI09)
Does the Idiot in Chief understand they are local constructions that were once operated privately by locals and doing just fine and that still operate in local jurisdictions under local control? Or is he just being his typical dishonest douche?
It's hard to distinguish. I'm thinking the man is just a fookin' idiot.
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 16, 2012 12:10 PM (eHIJJ)
339Posted by: Andrew Breitbart at July 16, 2012 04:03 PM (zslMf)
There you go. We want the left to stop bugging us, the left wants us DEAD.
It *ALWAYS* comes down to mass murder and/or death wishes with the left. *ALWAYS.*
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 04:05 PM (bxiXv)
That's why Che Guevera and Fidel Castro are 'heroes' to the leftists.
The left would love to kill anyone who doesn't agree with them.
They are like the Borg.
"Assimilate or die".
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 12:11 PM (MbB0O)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:13 PM (bxiXv)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:14 PM (bxiXv)
Posted by: Barack Obama as Augustus at July 16, 2012 12:14 PM (4eNxd)
Posted by: polynikes at July 16, 2012 12:15 PM (k/Mc/)
Posted by: toby928© at July 16, 2012 12:15 PM (evdj2)
Late to thread.... but with all the F'n Government computers, and all the employees we are paying for... why is the LAST Data on this from 2007?
Hiding the data?
Posted by: Romeo13 at July 16, 2012 12:16 PM (lZBBB)
"Assimilate or die".
It's closer to the Necromongers of "Chronicles Of Riddick" than the Borg.
The Borg insist that you will be assimilated, with killing only as a means to an end to a successful assimilation.
The Necromongers insist that you convert or they kill you by ripping your fucking soul out in front of everyone else.
Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at July 16, 2012 12:16 PM (e0xKF)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:17 PM (bxiXv)
I remember him spending a lot of days and nights away from home traveling on business, oftentimes driving to plating businesses across the Midwest and South because some bath wasn't working properly because when you only have a few customer you have to go the extra mile to keep them.
I remember summer months when the money was tight and we had a vegetable garden in the backyard -- more zucchini dishes than you could imagine.
I remember him scraping and re-glazing and priming and painting every window in our old house almost every weekend in the summer (in St. Louis!) up on a ladder, because (I know this in retrospect) it was cheaper than hiring someone and cheaper than replacement windows. I remember him teaching himself how to fix nearly everything, from the furnace to the air conditioner to the disposal, because there wasn't enough money to hire people to fix your things for you, and why would you if you could do it yourself.
I also remember him ultimately hiring about twenty or thirty people to work in his small company, paying them good wages, giving them health benefits and a pension plan, and I remember that very few of them ever left working for my Dad, because the lives they had working for him were better than the lives they would have had otherwise.
I remember his funeral when people he had met in business, hundreds of them, paid their respects, and younger men whom I had never met told me that he had been their wise counselor when they were starting out.
But, try as I might, I just can't remember much by way of government "help." Friends, sure; family, of course; his wife, my mom, always. But not much from the government.
Oh, except for paperwork and taxes and hassling from the EPA because he was in a chemical business.
Obama's father was an academic; his mother was an academic; his life up to his political career was spent in academia or else in non-profit activity. I doubt he's ever had a close family member who started a small business.
He. Knows. Nothing.
Seriously, I don't think anything this jerk has ever said has made me as mad as this.
Posted by: The Regular Guy at July 16, 2012 12:17 PM (qHCyt)
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at July 16, 2012 12:18 PM (bxiXv)
Oh, hell yeah. I didn't say Barry made a lick of sense with his thesis that the big fat Government Good Fairy just miracled this stuff into existence; I just had to point out that, due to his chronic inability to speak clearly, Barry had sounded even stupider than he intended. His thesis is as moronic as any quote from The Big Book Of Erg, it just came out of his cakehole even goofier-sounding than the dim sparks in his brain his voicebox intended.
Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at July 16, 2012 12:19 PM (VMcoS)
Ahhhhh.... Another victim of muddled public school thinking.
The roads and bridges were paid for by taxes especially assessed for those purposes, mostly taxes on fuel. In short all the users paid for them. In the case of commercial trucks, their owners pay added taxes as well. For a typical 80,000 pound GVW tractor-trailer combination truck the federal highway taxes average $8,959 per year.
In short, business ALREADY pays through the nose for infrastructure.
Remember, Barky was not talking about taxing for roads or infrastructure improvement. He was trying to justify skewing the relative tax contribution even more than the currently absurd proportionality of the top 5% of income earners paying nearly 60% of the total tax bill while the bottom 50% pay just 2% of all taxes.
Posted by: Occam's floss at July 16, 2012 12:20 PM (Xv7f/)
He is ugly, stupid, and evil and that is a horrible way to go through life.
Posted by: Will Not Assimilate For Food at July 16, 2012 12:21 PM (kXoT0)
Posted by: The Regular Guy at July 16, 2012 04:17 PM (qHCyt)
I have had similar experiences, and guess what I have to tell you this one thing. In the projects the heat is so high they all have their windows open during the winter, letting all that precious heat out. That heat isn't put their by magic.
Posted by: madamex at July 16, 2012 12:23 PM (e9LVX)
@356
Necromongers?
Oh yeah....I had momentarily forgotten about those fuckers.
Necromongers...or Borg.
They both laid waste to everything in their wake.
Perveyors of darkness and dispair.
Just like the Dems do.
Just look at places where they have gotten their way for decades....places like Detroit and the bankrupt cities in California.
Posted by: wheatie at July 16, 2012 12:24 PM (MbB0O)
"The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together"
OK, it seems like people are having a hard time focusing on exactly where this line of logic goes horribly wrong, and that probably reflects the collectivism that afflicts much of pop culture.
It's very much like TRADE. When I go into a store, and buy something, who wins? Well, first of all, it's not a contest, but pop culture suggests that the store owner wins - because they get the money - and that if I pay more than I would like, that said store owner is a "greedy capitalist" who is determined to "rip me off".
In actual fact, I would not had purchased the item - even it's at a price I abhor - if I did not also benefit from the sale. Nobody held a gun to my head. ANY (FREE) TRADE IS NECESSARILY WIN-WIN. Otherwise it wouldn't even take place.
We "do things together" because it is in our mutual self interest. We do it with people we don't even necessarily like, because we GET PAID. The whole line of reasoning relies on the suggestion that something is OWED, but the fact is that nothing is owed, because the parties involved HAVE BEEN PAID.
Beyond that, of course we build on the sucesses of the past. We don't "reinvent the wheel." Duh!! SO F-ING WHAT?
Posted by: Optimizer at July 16, 2012 12:25 PM (As94z)
Okay, I'm getting out the hand puppets. Unless you think Yellow Freight has a bridge-building division, yes, somebody else built the bridges they used. Of course, Yellow Freight paid out the ying-yang for the use of the damn things, but they didn't build them themselves. My point is, SCOAMF is spouting drivel as usual, he's just not smart enough to produce readable drivel.
Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at July 16, 2012 12:26 PM (VMcoS)
Posted by: Andrew Breitbart at July 16, 2012 04:03 PM"
If you're so smart, why not just become super-successful, then give all your money to Obama?
Come on, a super genius like you's definitely got a few billion in earning power in ya. Society can't wait forever for you to hand over all the fruits of your labor, so get off the Internet and start crackin'.
Posted by: BS Inc. at July 16, 2012 12:28 PM (P2Ufm)
Posted by: Sort-of-Mad Max at July 16, 2012 12:32 PM (VMcoS)
Great story and thanks for sharing it.
It used to be the story of America.
Would Regular Guy's dad do all that now knowing that Barky and a million scavenger vultures are circling to wet their beaks in "their" business?
Posted by: Martin Moeller at July 16, 2012 12:33 PM (Xv7f/)
Posted by: BuddyPC at July 16, 2012 12:37 PM (KCuY9)
As to the notion that the collectivists want us dead, I strongly disagree.
Hillary once claimed, in her campaign last time 'round, that she "loves rich people." (Something only a Democrat is allowed to say, because the string attached are implicit).
I'd say she was uncharacteristically honest. After all, a bank robber loves banks, right? Without rich people, there wouldn't be a vast pool of wealth for her her to steal or extort. It is the source of her power.
No, they don't want us dead. They just want us to exist as their virtual (or literal) slaves.
Posted by: Optimizer at July 16, 2012 12:40 PM (As94z)
Posted by: BuddyPC at July 16, 2012 12:45 PM (KCuY9)
Posted by: Obama 2012: It's Not My Fault at July 16, 2012 12:50 PM (KCuY9)
Posted by: Natasha at July 16, 2012 12:55 PM (jU5uf)
This is how the housing boom and bust got political support. Home ownership had long been used as an indicator of economic health. In a good economy more people owned their homes. The Left (and a lot of others given to magical thinking) thought the process could be made to work in reverse. Lets make a lot more people homeowners and the economy will boom!
Sigh. This is like artificially inseminating all of the women in the belief it will improve male fertility.
So they think making a bunch of streets magically summons factories into existence. Doesn't work that way guys. If you tie up all of the capital with creating the conditions for your magic spell, the entrepreneur cannot access any capital to do the real hard part. Given the freedom to act and freedom of the market the entrepreneur is going to make his goals happen. Good infrastructure can help facilitate the pursuit but not if it comes at the cost of those critical freedoms.
Posted by: epobirs at July 16, 2012 12:57 PM (kcfmt)
Don't give credit where credit is not due.
No, Yellow Freight does not have "a bridge-building division" just as it does not have a tire making division, a fuel making division or a trailer making division. That's how the economy works and it is how the economy grows. Consumers buy each others' goods and services. Sometimes the government has to provide things because, in some limited areas, it can do so more efficiently; roads being the textbook example.
Obama was not providing a lesson in basic economics. He was trying to justify confiscatory taxation.
Posted by: Occam's floss at July 16, 2012 12:58 PM (Xv7f/)
Posted by: Directive 10-289 at July 16, 2012 12:58 PM (evdj2)
Posted by: burt at July 16, 2012 12:58 PM (OzqQM)
The left would love to kill anyone who doesn't agree with them.
They are like the Borg.
"Assimilate or die". Posted by: wheatie
Yeah, um, that sounds pretty good, but I've got a better idea...
Posted by: HoundOfDoom at July 16, 2012 12:59 PM (KhioZ)
This is how the housing boom and bust got political support. Home ownership had long been used as an indicator of economic health. In a good economy more people owned their homes. The Left (and a lot of others given to magical thinking) thought the process could be made to work in reverse. Lets make a lot more people homeowners and the economy will boom!
Excellent point but you set the analysis too far along in the economic chain. The left and others believe home ownership and college degrees are markers of the middle class and so the middle class will be enlarged by increasing the number of homeowners and college degree holders.
Their mistake is a textbook logical fallacy. Home ownership and college degree completion don't create the middle class. Instead, they reflect middle class values. Put dirtbags in owner occupied homes and hand them college degrees and all you've accomplished is a lot of foreclosures and dirtbags with a lot of student loans and no job. Come to think of it....
Posted by: Occam's floss at July 16, 2012 01:04 PM (Xv7f/)
Posted by: Billy at July 16, 2012 01:18 PM (aQpgf)
I regret to inform you that your attempt to convince me to be more enthusiastic about an unspecified, perpetual increase in the amount of money I pay to the government, on the promise that it's a good investment, has failed.
My standard for what qualifies as a "good investment" is a little higher than your. Your definition of a good return appears to be: "Anything less than a 100% total fucking loss is a major win."
The thing is, the government spends money without any demands or risk or repercussions or expectations. It has nothing to lose. To paraphrase comedian Bill Burr, do you know how much of a dick I'd be if I could say anything I wanted without consequences or fear of reprisal?
The same principle applies to government assholes like you in how you "invest" my money. If I were in charge of deciding how to "invest" trillions of dollars, with no potential downside when almost all of those choices turn to shit, I guarantee that, at least 1% of the time, I'd invest in something, once in a while, that yielded a return better than a negative-100%.
But you don't even guarantee that much, do you?
Sorry, Barry, but your investment sales pitch sucked ass. I found your promises that I'll get a good return on my "investment" to be vague and poorly sourced. I found the citation of "inventing the Internet" to be less than convincing as a track record of historical performance. Finally, I found your attitude of entitlement to be grating and insulting.
If I may make an analogy, I'd say that "investing" in your government projects and pork and spend-ola to be a far worse "investment" than, say, using that money to "invest" in a month-long bender on hookers and blow.
Sure, I readily concede that spending money on hookers and blow won't yield something you might call a "profit," but at least I'll get my nut off once in a while in the process.
Plus, hookers are usually fairly appreciative, which means they don't complain and insult and berate me all the time, unless I pay extra for that service.
Fuck you,
Phinn
Posted by: Phinn at July 16, 2012 01:20 PM (KNtHw)
No, that was the entire point of leading with 'cargo cult mentality.' The idea that planes on the ground or simple effigies of them, cause cargo aka Western goods, to appear. Rather than seek to understand what lead to a culture that produced the planes and the cargo they bore, the cultist sought a quick shortcut by merely emulating the appearance that accompanied the desired outcome.
Posted by: epobirs at July 16, 2012 01:30 PM (kcfmt)
Posted by: Chairman LMAO at July 16, 2012 01:43 PM (9eDbm)
Posted by: steevy at July 16, 2012 04:51 PM (6o4Fb)
Let's suppose for one microsecond we buy into his idea that "everybody" contributes to the roads and fire protection and defense. No. People who paid taxes made all these things happen. The same people who worked to build small businesses, and big businesses, or who worked in capacity. Roughly half of the country. So by Barry's own logic, doesn't that mean the able bodied deadbeats should not benefit from anything government produces since they did not contribute towards them?
What a tool. OTOH, keep talking Barry. Nothing Romney can say will sway indies to vote R as much as this drivel.
It won't be long before Rove can run an ad with a "guess who said this" theme, and nobody will be able to tell which quotes were from the world's worst dictators and mass murderers or the Preezy.
Posted by: Mayday at July 16, 2012 05:17 PM (F3s39)
And I guess if the unemployment level hasn't been under 8% since Obama took office, I guess that's the government's fault, too. I'm so glad B.O. was able clear this up.
Posted by: Book at July 16, 2012 08:05 PM (BJMkh)
One thing that I always think of when I hear the argument that the top 1% pay 40% of the income taxes is:
What percentage of the total INCOME do the top 1% have?
Do the top 1% also have 40% of the income? If so: Is that justified, or are they using their position of power to pocket a too large portion of the company's income? Workers are in a weaker position because it is much harder to change a job in many situations than it is to replace a average-skilled employee (e.g., family lives in town X. Town X only has one factory that needs employee's skill).
If the top 1% earn less than 40% of the income, then they should be paying less taxes.
If the top 1% earn more than 40%, then they should be paying more taxes. Also, we should think about whether so much wealth (=power) should be concentrated with so few people. Please don't get all "you're a kommie" on me; I'm merely suggesting that there MIGHT need to be a BALANCE.
Final thoughts: Perhaps it's time to lay aside dogma - on BOTH sides, and try to find a reasonable and reality-based solution. EVERYTHING, except extremism, CAN be a slippery slope. It takes real courage to step out of the comfort of one's simple formulas and explore complex solutions to our lives' complex problems.
Posted by: Former Liberal at July 31, 2012 01:42 AM (4PFYg)
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Posted by: proudvastrightwingconspirator at July 16, 2012 10:35 AM (hyRD4)