Tea Party

“Economies don't work very well when wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. Its been shown time and again. The reasons why are too complex to try and explain here.

Whether you consider it fair or not, the best way to ensure the survival of a market economy is to enact policies that move money down the ladder to maintain purchasing power. The long term survival of our market economy benefits those at the top so its a wise bargain.”

“Yeah, I understand what Krugman and the wealth distributionists are trying to accomplish. I understand their ends.

I understand that executive compensation is out of proportion to what should occur in a healthy market.

I understand that A-list Hollywood actors make enough money in a few months to feed an entire African nation.

I also understand that professional athletes make so much money that they add interesting feedback into the market by making purchases of Lamborghinis and ridiculously huge energy inefficient houses with bowling alleys in the basement.

I also understand that, where you live, the tax burden is so high, and real estate prices are so ridiculous, that police officers make a subsistence wage on $60,000 a year.

Friends of the poor? Places like the tri-state area and San Francisco are anything but. The wages in your area of the country are out of control. I couldn’t afford to live as comfortably there for less than double my salary in Florida. Not that I’d want to anyway.

My buddy and I were talking the other day. He said that his friend’s season tickets to the Yankees had gone up from $30,000 to $80,000 a year. Holy sweet Jesus! What working guy can’t afford to take his son to The Great American Pastime when prices are that out of control? But haven’t areas like NJ and California been trying to implement controls for years?

It seems you’ve got a lot of controls to put into practice. Why don’t we discuss your control issues? But control issues are very complex. Maybe we need more open-minded research?


Then I can explain how you can’t possibly size the heat pump for your house because you have no understanding of fluid dynamics nor the relative merits of a dual duct variable air volume system vs. a constant volume system with reheat coils.
last edited: 4/19/09 8:54:17 AM”

“Now there's somebody who cares about his fellow humans and has information to share. Must be a PSU grad. How bigoted can those people get? White-out indeed!

I wonder how long that popcorn was cooked to produce maximum taste?”

“Economies don't work very well when wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. Its been shown time and again. The reasons why are too complex to try and explain here.

Whether you consider it fair or not, the best way to ensure the survival of a market economy is to enact policies that move money down the ladder to maintain purchasing power. The long term survival of our market economy benefits those at the top so its a wise bargain.”
viOliN
6:52:25 AM
4/19/09

The country with the highest number of millionaires is the United States. Our poor are rich by most countries standards.”

“Especially our poor government officials.

Shall we discuss government salaries and long-term perks in comparison to the "private" sector? What about transfer payments?

I had a real eye-opener when I discovered how much my buddy, who had no college education and who works for our local government, was being compensated in salary and long-term benefits.

Didn't government used to be about altruistic public service? That's how economic calculations treated it up until the 60s.
last edited: 4/19/09 9:25:49 AM”

“�That's fairly naive. I think its dumb to rally around something just because you like the slogans.

An old political tactic is to start a movement with slogans that most everyone can rally around and use it for much more specific purposes.
PEDX


UM so the "Vote for Change" (with no explanation of what the change was or qualifications on the person proposing change was STUPID?) Good to have you on our side there Pedo.�
theXL400
4:49:56 PM
4/17/09

XL's point doesn't contradict mine at all. My point was that its naive to support a program just because you like the slogan. Of course that hold's for Obama's slogan of change - it would be naive to vote for (or against) him based on how you feel about change, just as its naive to buy something because it's "new and improved."

My point is you have to go beyond the slogans and look at the broader program. All political groups try to find slogans everyone will agree with. My point was simply that you shouldn't oppose or support any program or movement just because you like the slogan.”

“Vile-o-lennin, did you know that FDR threw thousands of political enemies in prison and even taxed people making over $25,000 at 100% ?

stratd00d
10:28:43 AM
4/18/09

Strat: Here's a challenge. Show me good evidence that FDR ever taxed people taxed people making over $25,000 at 100%. Not proposed a tax, but actually taxed people at that rate. I suppose you know Presidents don't set tax rates.

Now FDR was far from perfect in my book. Few people know no that he played ball with segregationists and racist Democrats in order to push other parts of his agenda. His government economic interventions helped increase racial disparities. Under FDR Japanese Americans were interned in concentration camps (not Nazi style - but race based internment camps).

As far as his proposal to basically confiscate all income over 25K (the equivalent of at least 300K in our dollars) This wasn't part of the new deal - this was an emergency effort at the height of WWII.”

“Wisconsin


”

“Maryland

”

“That's the southern part - actually Illinois.”

“I suppose "liberal" isn't scary enough any more.
"Socialist" is the scary word now.”

“Texas




”

“The "revolution" ??

When do these kooks start blowing things up?”

“Alabama



”

“Yay. The disenfranchised Republican Party has learned how to apply for a public gathering permit.

Congrats.”

“Indiana


”

“Idaho


”

“Being a veteran doesn't make someone a "right wing extremist" as the sign suggests.

Being a paranoid nut does just fine.”

“I agree. You are da ho!”

“Louisiana





”

“Are all these people unemployed?”

“Ohio



last edited: 4/20/09 9:22:11 AM”

“Nevada

”

“Dat's a lot o' honkies in dem pictures.”

“America - Love it or leave it.”

“If Stoviet doesn't like democracy he can move his self to Russia, its a capitalist paradise.”

“Illinois






”

“Bet those parents pulled their kids out of school. Very responsible!”

“Where are the pointy hats?”

“Cincinnati, Ohio




”

“I've heard it said that the study of economics is the study of unintended consequences.


Many people feel a “need” to redistribute money to the homeless guy on the street. Since statistics (and personal observation) tell us that many of these people are alcoholics what is the unintended consequence? Unless you also control how that person spends the money, he’ll most likely make the choice to buy liquor resulting in a decline of health and possibly death.


Anyone who has raised a child knows not to spoil that child or they never learn money management skills. My ex-wife got us into financial trouble doing that (coincidentally she’s also a Democrat). When we got married I told her that we could help, but that we could not afford to support, her daughter who was finished with school and had a job. She agreed. I gave my wife a credit card. Within two months I couldn’t understand how she could have run it over limit since it was for groceries and household expenses. I checked the statement and found that we were paying for my step-daughter’s rent, utilities, phone, car payment, insurance, and even groceries.

What was my step-daughter doing with the money she earned on her own? She was going on vacations and purchasing animals, especially cats. When you went to her apartment it stunk from overfilled cat boxes and there was barely any room to move around the cages for her animals. I’m glad she cares about animals but it was totally irresponsible of her to try to care for them when she couldn’t pay her own bills.

I presented my wife with a budget. She complained that she couldn’t possibly reduce our spending. Needless to say, this was a factor in the downward spiral of our marriage. And, to this day, my step-daughter still hasn’t learned to be responsible with her money.


What happened to all of the Great Society programs that were designed to lift blacks out of poverty? There were wealth redistributions such as government housing, welfare, and food stamps. Today blacks still comprise a large percentage of citizens in poverty. 70% of black children are born to unwed mothers. Home ownership is low among blacks. Rates of school dropout remain high for blacks. Why didn’t these redistributions work? What were the unintended consequences and why can’t people admit the mistakes that were made?

My step-daughter is having second thoughts about some of these programs after seeing a woman pay for groceries with food stamps and then climb into her brand new SUV.


I briefly watched a reality TV show the other night. The husband and his income-challenged family went on a nice vacation with his temporary, wife-swapped, partner. The woman (his temporary wife) was saying that they couldn’t afford a vacation. And what lovely destination did they visit? They went to the tattoo parlor, where dad and the kids all got nice new tattoos. As he smiled toothlessly at the camera he said, “I’d rather get a tattoo than pay my electric bill."

It was almost as inspiring as the McDonald's burger flipper with six kids that Tommy T insisted we all needed to save by raising minimum wage a couple of years back.

What choices are the income redistribution people enabling? Do we, as a society, believe that we should support the tattoo parlor industry? Do we support people who want lots of children but don’t take the personal responsibility to support them? Besides the fact that “Octomom” is providing entertainment, are these things good for society as a whole?


Unintended consequences. When trying to solve a problem, it’s not enough to imagine the right questions, imagine all the correct variables, and predict our conclusions. We need to examine all the real world consequences of our experiments and admit that our original theories had unintended consequences.

Why is admitting mistakes so difficult?”

“Corpus Christi, Texas


”

“You forgot Mississippi:

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“Dallas, Texas


”

“And so I am provided with more data as to why we get the politicians we do.


You guys having fun posting from the local tavern? Who's buying the next round... the taxpayer?
last edited: 4/20/09 9:44:07 AM”

“Colorado




”

“They are posting from 'work', LOLOLOLOLOLOL!”

“Arkansas


”