Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[ice grillin you]

is bowzer trying to instigate stuff for the farg of it or is he really a repub?

because if hes just trying to start shtein then fine, its lame, but fine. and if hes really a repub dude i feel sorry for you.

i dont think hes smart enough to instigate stuff even weak shtein like jimmy carter...but i do think hes dumb enough to be a republican

does that answer your question?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

It's nice to see MDS, Munson, and IGY all getting along.

[shorebird]

Yeah, The Three Stooges.

Four post from Bowzer and he's called a dumb Republican, and lame.

Yeah objectivity.

[Seabiscuit36]

LOL, when your comebacks are Acorn(McCain has attended Rally's), Jimmy Carter(lol), I'm pretty sure either side would attack. 

I was watching C Span last night and they were showing a rally in Toledo.  McCain was still talking about "Joe the Plumber".  The problem i have now with McCain and his entire run, is that they have been consistently wrong on stories and facts, yet keep trotting them out there as fact.  Basically Propaganda if you tell someone something over and over, it eventually becomes true. 

[Rome]

Yeah, The Three Stooges.

Four post from Bowzer and he's called a dumb Republican, and lame.

Yeah objectivity.

I think he's being called "dumb" because he's, in fact, dumb.  If you feel the need to express more liberal bias paranoia, though, that's fine.

[SD_Eagle5]

Republicans crying about ACORN...ooops

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

The only reason for Republicans to whine is Obama's 180 on taking public funding.  That ship sailed a long time ago, however, and since there was essentially zero backlash or coverage due to him going back on his word, it turned out to be clearly the right (should I say "correct?") move.

Obama has inspired multiple people to unprecedented levels.  More people have donated money to his campaign than any other in history.  I know I didn't even consider giving McCain/Palin dime one, and I'm fairly certain there are plenty of right-leaning people in the country that feel the same way.  There is absolutely no reason to be inspired by a 72-year-old and a glorified bimbo, even if you happen to agree with them on more issues.

[ice grillin you]

Yeah, The Three Stooges.

Four post from Bowzer and he's called a dumb Republican, and lame.

Yeah objectivity.

i didnt day he was dumb i said he was dumb enough to be a republican

and truth be told his four posts werent exactly well thought out dissertations

[rjs246]

A great article about the scare tactics that the Right is using.

Calling Democrats un-American is not a new trick but is deplorable. The worst part about it is that the left has never had the backbone to stand up to that nonsense. The last two paragraphs are my favorite when it comes to the un-American bullshtein...

But friends, all is not darkness. Bachmann's appearance caused a national uproar. Colin Powell, in endorsing Obama yesterday, said of Bachmann's comments that "we have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together". Her Democratic opponent raised nearly half a million dollars from around the country in just 24 hours, and he now has a chance of beating her.

That would be nice. But let's go back to the big contest. With Bachmann, the lid came off the rightwing id. It will happen many more times over these next two weeks. McCain, now openly using the word "socialist" to describe Obama's proposals (the week after his friend George W Bush took federal control of nine major banks!), and especially Palin have shown every sign of encouraging it. Their goal is to scare Americans about Obama, but moderate, independent voters might well decide that Obama looks a lot less scary than they do.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Bush = Totalitarian
Obama = Socialist
McCain = done

The only reason the word "Socialist" is scary is because people don't understand what it means.  At this point, it is clear that a majority of Americans believe that a heavily-tiered tax system is best and that "trickle down" in all of its forms is evil.

Considering the the bottom has nearly fallen out of the economy, staying the course or making a change in policy would both likely end up being linked to economic success.  The problem, as I've said before, is the long-term effects of punishing success.  The thing about large companies and rich people is that they employ a lot more people and drive more revenue than the little guy.  If merits of supply-side economic theory are ignored completely, the effects will be disastrous.

That said, Obama is not an idiot, and the U.S. Congress (yes, even the left) is bought and sold by people with money.  Even with 60+ in the Senate, a solid majority in the House, and Obama in the Oval Office; don't expect drastic change away from American capitalist ideals.  Obama knows we need a shift away from Bush's mess, but he can't possibly believe a permanent and extreme penalty on becoming rich is the answer to what ails America.

Then again, maybe he does.  Considering I will likely never make $250k a year, I don't really care.  Although the owner of my company might.

[BigEd76]

Cindy McCain and Guiliani are over at Shady Brook Farms this afternoon.  Bush was in this area 4 years ago too...

[Phanatic]

If folks define Obama's tax plan socialistic then the current tax system is already a socialist construct.

Wealth distribution?

Existing salary ranges to percentage of your income that goes to federal taxes.
$0 - $8k = 10%
$8k - $32k = 15%
$32k - $78k = 25%
$78k - $164k = 28%
$164k - $357k = 33%
$357k - above = 35%

Obama wants to adjust these brackets. I'd like to find a breakdown of the tax brackets under his plan to see the differences but he is merely adjusting an existing construct.

This from  http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_32000_question.html

The most comprehensive nonpartisan analysis of Obama's tax proposal available is the Tax Policy Center's comparison of McCain's and Obama's economic plans. That analysis mostly supports Obama's claim that his plan won't raise taxes, though it says that families earning between $169,480 and $237,040 would see an average tax increase of $486 under Obama's plan. All those earning less than $169,480 would see tax cuts. In fact, that hypothetical taxpayer with the $32,000 in taxable income would get a $502 tax cut under Obama's plan. McCain's plan, by contrast, would leave that person's taxes unchanged.

Long winded analysis from the 'Tax Policy Center'. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411693_CandidateTaxPlans.pdf

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

If folks define Obama's tax plan socialistic then the current tax system is already a socialist construct.

Indeed.  The question is... How far is too far?

[rjs246]

There are plenty of people who already equate paying taxes with charity. Too far is completely subjective.

[Phanatic]

I look at it this way. Most methods or principles, like socialism, are tools available to a government. Not every problem requires a free market hammer and not every problem needs a socialist screw driver. Public discourse between parties often turns every issue into a very simple black and white or good verse evil. In truth problems are a lot more subtle then that and require interpretation. When our two party system insists on adopting only one tool to fix every problem we get to where we are today.

Two parties one with a screw driver and one with a hammer. Each is convinced that their tool will fix every problem.