Now I remember why I was an independent all those years.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Can I change your diaper Mrs. Smith?

 

And I know you're not implying that those who continue to care for those who cannot care for themselves - due to illness, age, accident or simply because that's how they are - are in any way inferior, or that their jobs are inferior, to those who work in high-paying jobs that do not require giving of oneself in such a personal and rather selfless way.

[LouieB]

Have you been to a third world country recently?

 

 

No, my health is not good enough...

 

But I have been to the south and west sides of Chicago quite a bit and it certainly appears fairly third world in some respects.

 

I would in no way really say the US is a third world country, but we are increasingly separating the haves from the have nots.

 

LouieB

[Sparky speaks]

Disappearing middle class......An old and a new article.....Notice the part about quality jobs. Have a good new year everyone.

 

http://www.newwork.com/Pages/Opinion/Raynor/Middle%20Class.html

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-warren/america-without-a-middle_b_377829.html

[Moss]

 

Interesting idea:

 

If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it's meant to be. It's neither Left nor Right -- it's populism at its best.

 

Move your money

[Guest Jules]

Mexico is not a 3rd world country, btw.

[Sparky speaks]

Welcome 2010.....Interesting article about the world today......

 

http://original.antiwar.com/pilger/2009/12/30/2010-welcome-to-orwells-world/

[Dude]

The Taliban regime in Kabul, which the Clinton administration had secretly supported, was no longer regarded as "stable" enough to ensure America’s control over oil and gas pipelines to the Caspian Sea. It had to go.

 

There's a lot to support the conspiracy theory that our real beef with the Taliban revolved around a pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan. Here is an interesting timeline, note how bin Laden began launching attacks on US embassies and interests began after negotiations between the Taliban and Unocal fell through:

 

http://www.ringnebula.com/Oil/Timeline.htm

[uncool2pillow]

Mexico is not a 3rd world country, btw.

Interesting. According to whom?

[Guest Speed Racer]

Mexico is not a 3rd world country, btw.

 

Perhaps, but in that case it's just another safe and healthy country where people get shot outside of U.S. Embassies because they happen to be going into, coming out of, or just standing outside my U.S. Embassies.

[Sparky speaks]

More on the war in Afghanistan.....A long read but worth it.....

 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16713

[futureage1]

Mega Giant Corporations Are Very Bad for America

 

By Barry C. Lynn, AlterNet. Posted January 2, 2010.

 

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/144716/mega_giant_corporations_are_very_bad_for_america

 

Wal-Mart delivers at least 30% and sometimes more than 50% of the entire U.S. consumption of products. Why the monopolization of our economy should scare you.

 

 

The Lost Decade: Zero Net Job Creation From 2000-2009

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/02/the-lost-decade-zero-net_n_409294.html

 

For most of the past 70 years, the U.S. economy has grown at a steady clip, generating perpetually higher incomes and wealth for American households. But since 2000, the story is starkly different.

 

The past decade was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times, a sharp reversal from a long period of prosperity that is leading economists and policymakers to fundamentally rethink the underpinnings of the nation's growth.

First minimum wage drop in US in 72 years

Fri, 01 Jan 2010

 

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115128&sectionid=3510203

Minimum wage in Denver, Colorado, will decrease in the new year, marking the first such decrease in any state's minimum wage since 1938.

[Good Old Neon]

Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0106/Sarah-Palin-will-headline-first-ever-Tea-Party-Convention

 

Only in a bad sitcom of a country as dumb as this could a shallow, transparent know-fucking-nothing rise to power and lead a movement – honest to Christ. Should she find herself president, please, Europe, I am begging you, come to our aid and smoke this crazy bitch, occupy our lands and help us administer a health care system we probably don’t really even deserve. After fighting for our independence all those years ago, more and more, it appears as though it was all in vain.

[bobbob1313]

You are being ridiculous.

[Guest Jules]

You are being ridiculous.

you are being kind.

[futureage1]

March 17. Wednesday. I go to Toledo to attend the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day by Father Hannan’s people. I shall talk to the text, "America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," with special reference to Father Hannan’s motto "Religion, Education, Temperance, Industry"; and this again in behalf of such measures and laws as will give to every workingman a reasonable hope that by industry, temperance, and frugality he can secure a home for himself and his family, education for his children, and a comfortable support for old age.

March 18. Thursday. At Toledo yesterday and until 1 P.M. today. At Father Hannan’s St. Patrick’s Institute last evening. I spoke of the danger from riches in a few hands, and the poverty of the masses. The capital and labor question. General Comly regards the speech as important. My point is that free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands and large masses of the people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age....

 

March 26. Friday. Am I mistaken in thinking that we are drawing near the time when we must decide to limit and control great wealth, corporations, and the like, or resort to a strong military government? Is this the urgent question? I read in the (Cleveland) Leader of this morning that Rev. Dr. Washington Gladden lectured in Cleveland last night on "Capital and Labor." Many good things were said. The general drift and spirit were good. But he leaves out our railroad system. Shall the railroads govern the country, or shall the people govern the railroads? Shall the interest of railroad kings be chiefly regarded, or shall the interest of the people be paramount?

 

December 4. Sunday. In church it occurred to me that it is time for the public to hear that the giant evil and danger in this country, the danger which transcends all others, is the vast wealth owned or controlled by a few persons. Money is power. In Congress, in state legislatures, in city councils, in the courts, in the political conventions, in the press, in the pulpit, in the circles of the educated and the talented its influence is growing greater and greater. Excessive wealth in the hands of the few means extreme poverty, ignorance, vice, and wretchedness as the lot of the many.

 

The previous question is as to the danger--the evil. Let the people be fully informed and convinced as to the evil. Let them earnestly seek the remedy and it will be found. Fully to know the evil is the first step toward reaching its eradication.

 

Rutherford Birchard Hayes

 

19th President of the United States

 

from his diary;1886&1887

 

Rutherford B. Hayes: Wealth in the Hands of the Few

 

http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/8/116886/Document-Rutherford-B-Hayes-Wealth-in-the-Hands-of-the-Few

 

"If the debt which the banking companies owe be a blessing to anybody, it is to themselves alone, who are realizing a solid interest of eight or ten per cent on it. As to the public, these companies have banished all our gold and silver medium, which, before their institution, we had without interest, which never could have perished in our hands, and would have been our salvation now in the hour of war; instead of which they have given us two hundred million of froth and bubble, on which we are to pay them heavy interest, until it shall vanish into air... We are warranted, then, in affirming that this parody on the principle of 'a public debt being a public blessing,' and its mutation into the blessing of private instead of public debts, is as ridiculous as the original principle itself. In both cases, the truth is, that capital may be produced by industry, and accumulated by economy; but jugglers only will propose to create it by legerdemain tricks with paper." --Thomas Jefferson to John W. Eppes, 1813. ME 13:423

 

"Everything predicted by the enemies of banks, in the beginning, is now coming to pass. We are to be ruined now by the deluge of bank paper. It is cruel that such revolutions in private fortunes should be at the mercy of avaricious adventurers, who, instead of employing their capital, if any they have, in manufactures, commerce, and other useful pursuits, make it an instrument to burden all the interchanges of property with their swindling profits, profits which are the price of no useful industry of theirs." --Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1814. ME 14:61

 

"Certainly no nation ever before abandoned to the avarice and jugglings of private individuals to regulate according to their own interests, the quantum of circulating medium for the nation -- to inflate, by deluges of paper, the nominal prices of property, and then to buy up that property at 1s. in the pound, having first withdrawn the floating medium which might endanger a competition in purchase. Yet this is what has been done, and will be done, unless stayed by the protecting hand of the legislature. The evil has been produced by the error of their sanction of this ruinous machinery of banks; and justice, wisdom, duty, all require that they should interpose and arrest it before the schemes of plunder and spoilation desolate the country." --Thomas Jefferson to William C. Rives, 1819. ME 15:232

 

Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government

 

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-jeffquot?specfile=/web/data/jefferson/quotations/www/jeffquot.o2w&act=text&offset=771931&textreg=0&query=currency

[bjorn_skurj]

Damn - I had no idea Hayes was such a proto-Wobbly!

[Good Old Neon]

One, among a veritable fucking hanger full of crazy statements to come from the recent Reality Challenged Olympic event otherwise known as CPAC – the mind just boggles (and boggles and boggles and boggles and….):

 

Rep. King Justifies Suicide Attack On IRS: Sympathizes With Hatred Of IRS, Hopes For Its Destruction

 

Excerpt:

 

ThinkProgress caught up with Rep. Steve King (R-IA) at CPAC to talk about the attack in Texas. Asked if the right-wing anti-tax rhetoric might have motivated the attack, King implicitly agreed, noting that he had been a leading opponent of the IRS for some time. He noted that although the attack was “sad,” “by the same token,” it was justified because once the the right succeeds at abolishing the IRS, “it’s going to be a happy day for America.” He sidestepped the question of the legitimacy of the terrorists’ grievances, but sympathized by saying that “I’ve had a sense of ‘why is the IRS in my kitchen.’ Why do they have their thumb in the middle of my back”:

 

Link - http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/22/king-justifies-irs-terrorism/

[Atticus]

One, among a veritable fucking hanger full of crazy statements to come from the recent Reality Challenged Olympic event otherwise known as CPAC – the mind just boggles (and boggles and boggles and boggles and….):

 

Rep. King Justifies Suicide Attack On IRS: Sympathizes With Hatred Of IRS, Hopes For Its Destruction

 

Excerpt:

 

ThinkProgress caught up with Rep. Steve King (R-IA) at CPAC to talk about the attack in Texas. Asked if the right-wing anti-tax rhetoric might have motivated the attack, King implicitly agreed, noting that he had been a leading opponent of the IRS for some time. He noted that although the attack was “sad,” “by the same token,” it was justified because once the the right succeeds at abolishing the IRS, “it’s going to be a happy day for America.” He sidestepped the question of the legitimacy of the terrorists’ grievances, but sympathized by saying that “I’ve had a sense of ‘why is the IRS in my kitchen.’ Why do they have their thumb in the middle of my back”:

 

Link - http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/22/king-justifies-irs-terrorism/

 

bullshit.

 

not once in that clip does that man say that the attack was justified. he expresses his opinion that he favors a sales tax to income tax and that the IRS is an unnecessary agency. he also states "I don’t know if his grievances were legitimate, I’ve read part of the material."

 

why do you put up posts/articles that completely put words into people's mouths?

[Good Old Neon]

bullshit.

 

not once in that clip does that man say that the attack was justified. he expresses his opinion that he favors a sales tax to income tax and that the IRS is an unnecessary agency. he also states "I don’t know if his grievances were legitimate, I’ve read part of the material."

 

why do you put up posts/articles that completely put words into people's mouths?

 

I cannot watch the video portion at work, and thus, posted it based on what was written in the article. If it’s misleading, I share in your frustration.

 

With respect to what I post – I was not aware that I do or that it has become a habit.

 

Edit – you would think that a member of Congress would stand strongly against anyone who chose to fly a plane into a government building with the intention of taking others with him, unequivocally. But King doesn’t, he goes on to sort of qualify Stack’s actions with a lame “it’s sad but…” sort of statement:

 

It’s sad the incident in Texas happened, but by the same token, it’s an agency that is unnecessary and when the day comes when that is over and we abolish the IRS, it’s going to be a happy day for America.

 

And he is certainly delusional if he truly believes we're going to do away with the IRS.

[bjorn_skurj]

Yeah, but nobody gets votes by saying they less-than-three the IRS.

[mountain bed]

It's just typical Steve King, dudes. I've been watching his insane gibberish on CSPAN for years, and until michele Bachman decided to try and knock him off his throne he was the undisputed King Of Crazy.

 

It's really unfathomable how this guy continues to get elected. CMON IOWA, you can do better than this - hell, he even makes my nutjob Rep. Mike Pence sound like a great statesman.

[uncool2pillow]

Yeah, GON may have taken it a bit far to say he justified the attack. I'm not going to take the time to explore it right now. But the man is definitely a tool. Sorry rest of USA.

[Good Old Neon]

Yeah, GON may have taken it a bit far to say he justified the attack. I'm not going to take the time to explore it right now. But the man is definitely a tool. Sorry rest of USA.

 

For the record, I did not claim King justified the attack, I do however feel as though his, it’s sad but the IRS sucks (not his exact words, of course) remark is really pretty shitty - not to mention his entire we're turning into a socialist state convention rant schtick - which, is so meaningless and cliche at this point, that it hardly bears pointing out.

 

King's CPAC routine - http://steveking.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Newsroom.Speeches&ContentRecord_id=f62783b5-19b9-b4b1-1236-508f6b98c6ec

 

At one time, rants like this would be broadcast on tiny rural AM stations, mostly to Holsteins and Brangus, but now, this sort of paranoid fever dream rant is pretty much the mainstream in GOP circles.

[LouieB]

Scott Brown can now run for President as an independent. He voted for the jobs bill in the Senate, bringing on the wrath of the Teabaggers......

 

LouieB

[ih8music]

Scott Brown can now run for President as an independent. He voted for the jobs bill in the Senate, bringing on the wrath of the Teabaggers......

 

LouieB

And it passed by a 70-28 margin. All in all, 13 republicans ended up voting for it... makes one wonder how many other bills that are currently being held up by filibuster threats would also pass as easily.

 

This is the kind of BS that makes people hate Washington. For all their huff and puff, 13 Republicans thought this was a valid bill that would be beneficial for their constituents... but 8 of those 13 thought it was a politically better move for them to join ranks and obstruct. Absolutely infuriating.

 

And back to the original point of this thread, it also shows why the spineless dems should challenge the republicans and call their bluff to filibuster everything they claim they will. I want to see Boehner and Cantor reading the phone book at 3am!