The Democrat Thread

[HuskyCaucasian]

I hope this wasn't part of the sermon.

it was

[kapkomet]

The chickenssssssssssss are a comin' home to rooooosssssssst.

[NorthSideSox72]

The chickenssssssssssss are a comin' home to rooooosssssssst.

What does this even mean?

 

[Balta1701]

What does this even mean?

I got it after a second.

 

1. AHB's preacher said something silly and was commented on it for it.

2. Barack Obama's old preacher's sermon is immediately relevant.

3. Quote one of the funny sounding lines from Barack Obama's old preacher.

4. Socialism averted foreva!

[StrangeSox]

What does this even mean?

It was from Rev. Wright. I believe the sermon was about how America's foreign policy was (at least partially) to blame for 9/11. Sort of like "reap the seeds you sow."

[NorthSideSox72]

I got it after a second.

 

1. AHB's preacher said something silly and was commented on it for it.

2. Barack Obama's old preacher's sermon is immediately relevant.

3. Quote one of the funny sounding lines from Barack Obama's old preacher.

4. Socialism averted foreva!

 

 

It was from Rev. Wright. I believe the sermon was about how America's foreign policy was (at least partially) to blame for 9/11. Sort of like "reap the seeds you sow."

 

Interesting.

 

Kaperbole's posts are like modern art made from material from the recycle bin. Yeah its garbage, but there's a certain artistic quality to them that's almost hypnotic.

 

[Balta1701]

Holy F***, this really happened?

A bill that would overhaul the nation's food-safety laws for the first time since the Great Depression came roaring back to life Sunday as Senate Democrats struck a deal with Republicans that helped overcome a technical mistake made three weeks ago and a filibuster threat that seemed likely to scuttle the legislation.

 

After a weekend of negotiations, tense strategy sessions and several premature predictions about the bill's demise, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) reached a deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the GOP would not filibuster.

 

Without notice and in a matter of minutes Sunday evening, the Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent, sending it to the House, where passage is expected. President Obama has said he would sign the legislation, which would give the government far-reaching authority to set and enforce safety standards for farmers and food processors.

 

It was a last-minute change for the legislation, which seemed all but dead Sunday afternoon.

 

"This reaffirmed my faith in democracy," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union. "We were getting ready for a last-ditch effort . . . and they just went ahead an passed it, like they should have. . . . There's some hope now that the government will do a better job of protecting people" from tainted food.

[NorthSideSox72]

Holy F***, this really happened?

There have been a few of those lately. People here seemed 100% convinced that DADT would not be touched too. This lame duck Congress has been getting a lot of things done.

 

[Rex Kickass]

For that reason alone, the tax deal is not nearly the s*** sandwich everyone thought it was.

[NorthSideSox72]

For that reason alone, the tax deal is not nearly the s*** sandwich everyone thought it was.

Everyone dislikes something about it, but it was really a decent compromise.

 

[Balta1701]

Everyone dislikes something about it, but it was really a decent compromise.

IF you don't give 2 s***s about the deficit.

[NorthSideSox72]

IF you don't give 2 s***s about the deficit.

Sort of. And you are missing the point of what I said, in favor of going after something I didn't. I did not say I liked every part of the bill, in fact I specifically said I didn't. The estate tax changes and the breaks for the uber-rich were unnecessary and will do nothing to help the economy. But, the other tax cuts, the payroll tax cut, and the UE extension are all good policy.

 

And just curious, which side of this deficit issue are you on? Because I seem to recall you calling for like $3T in direct stimulus spending.

 

[Balta1701]

And just curious, which side of this deficit issue are you on? Because I seem to recall you calling for like $3T in direct stimulus spending.

I don't give 2 s***s about the short-term deficit.

[NorthSideSox72]

I don't give 2 s***s about the short-term deficit.

And the long term?

 

[Balta1701]

And the long term?

There are 3 long term deficit problems.

 

#1, and really, 80% of the problem: Health Care costs growing at 8-9% per year (while inflation is basically zero). If you project anything growing at >10% more than inflation out infinitely, it's going to go to infinity as well. That has to change, otherwise both the private and public sector go bankrupt (The private sector can't afford that rate of increase either).

 

#2. There really isn't enough revenue coming in to cover the government's obligations. This is a second-order effect right now, and can be solved with honestly small tweaks to the overall tax rates, ending a war or two, etc. This section however gets much of the focus as it's easy to rail against without having to cite specifics.

 

#3. Social Security has an inherent flaw; the benefits going out climb at a rate slightly higher than the rate of inflation. In the past, this gap has been made up for by productivity growth in the economy, but we've lost enough in the past couple years due to deterioration of skills that it's going to be hard for productivity to catch back up. If productivity were to resume it's past growth rates, OASDI is solvent forever. If it never does, then a small tweak to the payout rates starting around 2030 coupled with indexing the cap on taxable income to inflation does away with that gap.

 

 

The long-term Health Care costs issue is the real problem. Solve that and everything else winds up seeming miniscule. However, there is 1 more long-term problem that this nation has to deal with; deteriorating infrastructure, which I'd rank as #2 in importance on that list. Edit: and oh yeah, the climate crisis fits in there too.

[Y2HH]

You lost me at inflation is basically zero.

 

There are 3 long term deficit problems.

 

#1, and really, 80% of the problem: Health Care costs growing at 8-9% per year (while inflation is basically zero). If you project anything growing at >10% more than inflation out infinitely, it's going to go to infinity as well. That has to change, otherwise both the private and public sector go bankrupt (The private sector can't afford that rate of increase either).

 

#2. There really isn't enough revenue coming in to cover the government's obligations. This is a second-order effect right now, and can be solved with honestly small tweaks to the overall tax rates, ending a war or two, etc. This section however gets much of the focus as it's easy to rail against without having to cite specifics.

 

#3. Social Security has an inherent flaw; the benefits going out climb at a rate slightly higher than the rate of inflation. In the past, this gap has been made up for by productivity growth in the economy, but we've lost enough in the past couple years due to deterioration of skills that it's going to be hard for productivity to catch back up. If productivity were to resume it's past growth rates, OASDI is solvent forever. If it never does, then a small tweak to the payout rates starting around 2030 coupled with indexing the cap on taxable income to inflation does away with that gap.

 

 

The long-term Health Care costs issue is the real problem. Solve that and everything else winds up seeming miniscule. However, there is 1 more long-term problem that this nation has to deal with; deteriorating infrastructure, which I'd rank as #2 in importance on that list. Edit: and oh yeah, the climate crisis fits in there too.

 

[Balta1701]

You lost me at inflation is basically zero.

Red line is Core CPI, blue line is CPI including energy and food.

 

 

The Federal Reserve's official core CPI target is 2-3 %, and currently that number sits below 1%.

[Y2HH]

Red line is Core CPI, blue line is CPI including energy and food.

 

 

The Federal Reserve's official core CPI target is 2-3 %, and currently that number sits below 1%.

 

They can create charts and fudge numbers all they want.

 

I know that the costs of everything I do have gone up. That's inflation. And it's > 0%. We can shut our eyes and pretend prices have not gone up...but they have, across the board.

 

I don't care what some bulls*** chart says, either.

[Soxy]

So scientists reviewing other scientists to determine if their research is warranted is the perfect system. No excess spending could possibly happen there!

 

Look, in general I agree with you. A complete waste of money isn't going to slip by. BUT, it's a bunch of scientists, who by their nature are going to approve projects that otherwise might not be so....resourceful. Their ideology is that learning X about Y is ALWAYS beneficial, almost regardless of cost. So the process is having scientists determining not whether it's worth ANY money, but HOW MUCH money. That's better left to, you know, representatives and legislators.

 

Uhhhhhhhhh, how much experience with NSF, NIH, NIMH grants do you have? Because that's just not how it works.

[Balta1701]

Everyone dislikes something about it, but it was really a decent compromise.

By the way, NSS...if we're talking about how the tax deal was a decent compromise and using the fact that we can now pass legislation as a reason why...

 

Then I think it's important to withhold judgment slightly, until we see how the next fight that this tax deal will provoke plays out...how the spring budget cuts go, and we know that's going to happen. The entire non-defense discretionary budget is still smaller than the current budget deficit, so if the Republicans want to keep their budget-balancing pledges to the tea party, there's going to have to be either defense cuts, OASDI cuts, or Medicare cuts.

[Balta1701]

They can create charts and fudge numbers all they want.

 

I know that the costs of everything I do have gone up. That's inflation. And it's > 0%. We can shut our eyes and pretend prices have not gone up...but they have, across the board.

 

I don't care what some bulls*** chart says, either.

 

I have no need to say anything else.

[Y2HH]

By the way, NSS...if we're talking about how the tax deal was a decent compromise and using the fact that we can now pass legislation as a reason why...

 

Then I think it's important to withhold judgment slightly, until we see how the next fight that this tax deal will provoke plays out...how the spring budget cuts go, and we know that's going to happen. The entire non-defense discretionary budget is still smaller than the current budget deficit, so if the Republicans want to keep their budget-balancing pledges to the tea party, there's going to have to be either defense cuts, OASDI cuts, or Medicare cuts.

 

Those budget balancing pledges from the republicans are a load of crap, too. They seemed to have no problem overspending while in power, but now it's a big deal and they're gonna fix everything. Yea, right.

[Y2HH]

 

I have no need to say anything else.

 

You can laugh about it all you want, but you know what I say is true.

 

Compared to other currencies, the dollar is on the rise, but that means nothing to me. If some company gets to import goods for a cheaper cost, they're not passing that savings onto me...the price is still the same at Walmart or where ever else I go as it was a year ago (if not more expensive).

[Balta1701]

Those budget balancing pledges from the republicans are a load of crap, too. They seemed to have no problem overspending while in power, but now it's a big deal and they're gonna fix everything. Yea, right.

I believe they are crap as well, but I also have a strong inkling that they're going to use it as a means to set up a bipartisan slashing of OASDI. The President's "Deficit commission" set it up where the President has political cover for pushing for cuts, the Republicans would love to do so.

[Y2HH]

I believe they are crap as well, but I also have a strong inkling that they're going to use it as a means to set up a bipartisan slashing of OASDI. The President's "Deficit commission" set it up where the President has political cover for pushing for cuts, the Republicans would love to do so.

 

It's become and endless cycle now, spiraling down the drain (and taking us with it).

 

While in office, republicans spent, ran deficits, etc...and it was the right thing to do.

 

Democrats take office, spend even more and blame republicans for having to spend even more.

 

Republicans now think spending is bad.

 

If republicans ever take office back, they'll spend even more and claim they have to spend more in order to fix the overspending by the democrats because the way the democrats spent was wrong, and inefficient, and this new spending will fix all that.

 

Rinse, repeat.

 

It's still a bunch of rich guys fighting when the cameras are rolling, but drinking together when they're not.