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Sparky speaks

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Posts posted by Sparky speaks

    Presidential Race (Respector Edition)

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    We are fast becoming a failed socialist welfare state...

     

    Economic Freedom of the World: 2012 Annual Report

     

    “[T]he United States has fallen precipitously from second in 2000 to eighth in 2005 and 19th in 2010 (unadjusted ranking of 18th). By 2009, the United States had fallen behind Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Chile, and Mauritius, countries that chose not to follow the path of massive growth in government financed by borrowing that is now the most prominent characteristic of US fiscal policy. By 2010, the United States had also fallen behind Finland and Denmark, two European welfare states. Moreover, it now trails Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Taiwan, and Qatar, countries that are not usually perceived of as bastions of economic freedom.”

    http://www.economicfreedom.org/2012/09/18/economic-freedom-of-the-world-2012-annual-report/

    Presidential Race (Respector Edition)

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    For the record, it appears to be true...

     

    Half of Americans in households receiving government aid

    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/soci-j07.shtml

     

     

    A Nation of Government Dependents?

    http://mercatus.org/publication/nation-government-dependents

     

    16 Statistics Which Show That The Number Of Americans Dependent On The Government Is At An All-Time High

     

    http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/16-statistics-which-show-that-the-number-of-americans-dependent-on-the-government-is-at-an-all-time-high

     

    Number of the Week: Half of U.S. Lives in Household Getting Benefits

     

    http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/26/number-of-the-week-half-of-u-s-lives-in-household-getting-benefits/

    Presidential Race (Respector Edition)

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    If I never sold my first house that I paid 50k for, and never had three kids and never had to pay the cost of raising them and sending them off to college I would be a very wealthy man today based on my income. But as you make a little more each year and as you sell your two bedroom home to upgrade to accommodate five people, and you pay college tuition and higher property taxes and utility bills and cable bills and everything else that gets more expensive as you live your life, what you make really becomes irrelevant if your life style stays the same. That's why over the last 35 years despite my combined income rising from 25K a year to just under 200k still means I am middle class. I still have loans to pay, taxes to pay and bills to pay. Yeah, my house is paid off, but hey, I've been paying a mortgage for 30 years. The fact that inflation destroys the value of your dollar means your life style is still middle class if you make 150-200k per year. It took me over thirty years to get there but my standard of living is still the same. It is all relevant. You youngsters will be more than doubling your incomes over the next10-15 years but your standard of living will be the same if not worse. Yesterdays 25k is today's 100k. Inflation since 1977 can be calculated at 280%. See for yourself...

     

    http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

     

    By the way, happy Constitution Day...

     

    http://www.fff.org/b...g2012-09-17.asp

    Live! Tonight!

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    I was there with my Wilco hat on. Jayhawks were pretty good but I was impressed with Nicole Atkins who went on just before the Jayhawks. Great voice and pretty good songs. I think she might be someone we will be hearing about in the future. I thought the Jayhawks were much better when I saw them at Webster Hall two years ago when they played all of Hollywood Town Hall. Still can't complain about a freebie though.

    Presidential Race (Respector Edition)

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    My wife and I are making close to that 200K combined figure before taxes. After federal, state and local property taxes, much less, and after routine bills, medical coverage deductions and paying back loans for three kids college expenses even less. Doesn't feel like I am any better off then when we were making 30K combined. I am not taking sides in this particular debate but most two income families I am familiar with are bringing home about the same if not more. I don't think those figures are that far off for combined middle class family incomes of folks who have been working for 30 years. I live in south-eastern CT and things are pretty expensive here. If you told me 30 years ago I would be making that kind of money I would have envisioned a much more luxurious lifestyle than I am living now. Inflation has a way of destroying the value of your dollar. I'm not complaining, but it is all relative I guess. I don't think people making less than 80K combined can survive in the community where I live which is considered middle class suburbia. Remember that John Belushi bit when he talks about inflation and how we'll all be living in $500,000 houses someday? He wasn't that far off. Doesn't mean we are members of the 1%. I don't care for either Romney or Soetoro but I don't think he is off base. It depends a great deal on where you live. The same jobs my wife and I have would pay much less in other parts of the country where the cost of living is much less. Again, it is all relative.

    Presidential Race (Respector Edition)

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    Did we invade the Soviet Union? Did we bomb Communist China? They had WMDs and we were told for decades they were going to use them. Iraq was supposed to have them also. How did that turn out for over 4,000 Americans? Iran doesn't even have them yet. Who knows if they ever will. Even if they did develop them, so what? Do you think they would risk total inhalation if they ever tried to use the one or two primitive weapons they might be able to build? Iran has never invaded another country in over two centuries. The war with Iraq was defensive. Israel has nukes and has never allowed inspectors in to their facilities or signed on the NPT. Maybe we should be getting ready to bomb them too? War was a bad option when the hated Bush Administration and the neocons reigned supreme and it is a bad option under Bush term III Obama.

     

    http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1836979867001/

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