The Republican Thread

[StrangeSox]

I won't argue with the second part, but the beginning is just hyperbole. In the case of Europe, they don't really have a choice. In our case, we don't have to add to the spending we already have.

 

Not enacting stimulus is not the same as austerity or the calls for expansionary contraction from the GOP this year. You've agreed recently (during the manufactured debt ceiling crisis) that enacting large spending cuts in the near future is a bad idea.

[southsider2k5]

Not enacting stimulus is not the same as austerity or the calls for expansionary contraction from the GOP this year. You've agreed recently (during the manufactured debt ceiling crisis) that enacting large spending cuts in the near future is a bad idea.

 

I know that. Real cuts need to wait until we recover. Real increases need to wait as well. We can't spend our way to Europe.

[Balta1701]

I know that. Real cuts need to wait until we recover. Real increases need to wait as well. We can't spend our way to Europe.

You're right, we actually can't, we have our own currency.

[southsider2k5]

You're right, we actually can't, we have our own currency.

 

And as much as you celebrate $4 gas, I know you can't wait for $10.

[Balta1701]

I won't argue with the second part, but the beginning is just hyperbole. In the case of Europe, they don't really have a choice. In our case, we don't have to add to the spending we already have.

They don't have a choice because of how the Euro is structured. If part of the U.S. is performing poorly economically, there can be migration and movement of business to that area to take advantage of the cheap workforce. There are language and trade barriers in Europe that prevent that. So, if one corner of Europe goes bad, that corner is stuck unless it can drag down the whole continent with it.

[Texsox]

And as much as you celebrate $4 gas, I know you can't wait for $10.

 

 

A. According to the fairy tale, when gas hits $10 a gallon some American company will start drilling and sell it for $4

 

B. I write the hyperbole around here. Go back to charts and graphs sir.

[Balta1701]

And as much as you celebrate $4 gas, I know you can't wait for $10.

And for that kind of erosion of the dollar, there is going to have to be substantial wage growth, and a Federal Reserve that decides it has no interest in fighting inflation despite the fact that its sitting on 0% interest rates and what, $3-4 trillion in excess reserves?

 

This is the "In the long run we're all dead" issue. We have so much ammunition to fight inflation right now it isn't funny. If somehow we overheated the economy so much that the Federal Reserve ran out of inflation-fighting ammunition...well, yeah that would be bad, but compared to where we are now, a "Massively overheated economy" sounds like a wonderful thing.

[southsider2k5]

They don't have a choice because of how the Euro is structured. If part of the U.S. is performing poorly economically, there can be migration and movement of business to that area to take advantage of the cheap workforce. There are language and trade barriers in Europe that prevent that. So, if one corner of Europe goes bad, that corner is stuck unless it can drag down the whole continent with it.

 

Great. So there is no need for more stimulus. People can just move.

[southsider2k5]

And for that kind of erosion of the dollar, there is going to have to be substantial wage growth, and a Federal Reserve that decides it has no interest in fighting inflation despite the fact that its sitting on 0% interest rates and what, $3-4 trillion in excess reserves?

 

This is the "In the long run we're all dead" issue. We have so much ammunition to fight inflation right now it isn't funny. If somehow we overheated the economy so much that the Federal Reserve ran out of inflation-fighting ammunition...well, yeah that would be bad, but compared to where we are now, a "Massively overheated economy" sounds like a wonderful thing.

 

We saw a doubling of energy prices in a couple of years with no inflation, according to your numbers.

 

[Balta1701]

Great. So there is no need for more stimulus. People can just move.

Now you're just being deliberately silly. When the economy of the full country is, on average, depressed, then where do you move to?

 

There is going to be a net migration to low-unemployment states if you give it time, hell the data probably shows its already happening, but the slump is so large that there aren't enough good areas to absorb the unemployment from the bad areas.

[Balta1701]

We saw a doubling of energy prices in a couple of years with no inflation, according to your numbers.

Having entirely to do with a lack of supply relative to demand, not due to currency issues.

[southsider2k5]

Having entirely to do with a lack of supply relative to demand, not due to currency issues.

 

Right. I forgot, this wasn't Obama's fault.

[Balta1701]

Right. I forgot, this wasn't Obama's fault.

[Texsox]

Right. I forgot, this wasn't Obama's fault.

 

 

Do you really believe one person has that much power in this country?

[southsider2k5]

 

So the dollar falls, and gas doubles. Thanks again.

[StrangeSox]

So production flat-lines while demand rises and prices increase.

[Balta1701]

So the dollar falls, and gas doubles. Thanks again.

Dollar rises by 15%, gas prices fall by 70%. Dollar decreases by 15%, gas prices jump by 60%.

 

Damn you Obama!

 

[southsider2k5]

Dollar rises by 15%, gas prices fall by 70%. Dollar decreases by 15%, gas prices jump by 60%.

 

Damn you Obama!

 

Again, you seem to have this down pretty well.

[Balta1701]

1995-2000, Dollar index increases in value by 30%, gas prices increase by 50%.

 

Damn you Clinton!

[southsider2k5]

So where is all of the Rahm talk? I love the party of labor guy trying to bust the teachers union.

 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/755...ded-at-her.html

 

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says Mayor Rahm Emanuel “exploded” at her during a conversation in his office about his signature longer-school-day effort, pointing his finger at her, yelling and telling her, “F--- you, Lewis.”

 

“I just want to call it immense disrespect for me and the Chicago Teachers Union,’’ Lewis told the Chicago Sun-Times Friday. “I didn’t appreciate the way he talked to me.

 

“My father never talked to me like that. My husband’s never talked to me like that.”

 

Emanuel — long known for his salty rants — would not go into specifics Friday about the exchange, and said the meeting weeks ago ended with a hug from Lewis.

 

“I’m not going to get into a he-said, she-said. We had a good meeting. It was not a long meeting. We talked about a longer school day and we talked about focusing on elementary kids,” the mayor said.

 

“To tell the truth, she hugged me at the end of the meeting.”

 

The revelations came as Chicago Public Schools announced William H. Brown Elementary had become the fifth school to break with the CTU and agree to a teacher contract waiver that adds 90 minutes to the school day, starting Sept. 26.

 

It followed by one day a CTU suit filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, charging CPS with coercing teachers into approving waivers and conducting “sham elections” with non-union members.

 

At some schools, the suit charged, teachers were warned of possible layoffs or school closures if a waiver was defeated. At one, a principal allegedly offered teachers “comp time” and iPads to approve a longer day.

 

Emanuel made a longer CPS day and year a cornerstone of his campaign and even helped insert language into a new school reform bill to ensure CPS could unilaterally add classroom time after the current teachers contract expires June 30. Until then, schools can only move to a longer school day if their teachers vote to waive the contract — something CPS has said would bring those teachers a two percent pay increase and schools an additional $75,000 to $150,000 in funding.

 

“If it’s right in 2012, it’s right now,” Emanuel told reporters Friday following a press event with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and crafters of the new reform law at Schurz High School. “Why would we have the children of the city of Chicago have one more year in which they fall farther behind?”

 

CTU officials have questioned how the system can afford a longer day after refusing to pay any portion of a previously negotiated four percent teacher raise.

 

City Council members approved a resolution Thursday offering support to the longer-day effort. Even long-time labor ally Ald. Ed Burke (14th) said he was “starting to get embarrassed” by the response of CTU leaders.

 

Lewis has contended the union is doing research on how best to add to the school day next school year and she does not want to be publicly “bullied” into a slapdash plan this school year.

 

The behind-the-curtain intensity of the battle was evident Friday, as Lewis described her meeting with Emanuel in the mayor’s office a few weeks ago. Sitting next to her in a chair in front of his desk, the mayor talked about adding 90 minutes to the school day, saying “I can’t have kids on the street at 2:15,” Lewis recalled.

 

“I called out what he was doing had nothing to do with education,’’ Lewis said. She said she told him, “So this is not about education. This is about safety. ... This is babysitting and warehousing.”

 

At that point, the “craziness” began, Lewis said.

 

“He [Emanuel] got up out of his chair and started cussing at me.” Pressed for the language, Lewis said the mayor told her, “F--- you, Lewis” and dropped other “f-bombs.”

 

Asked if she swore back, Lewis said, “I stood my ground. ... I basically stood up and said ‘I was out of here.’ I didn’t appreciate the way he talked to me. My father never talked to me like that. My husband’s never talked to me like that. ... I said ‘We need to figure this out. Let’s move on,’’ and the conversation ultimately continued.

 

At the meeting’s end, Lewis conceded, “I did hug him, but this was pretty intense for a while.”

 

Emanuel has repeatedly said he would like the extra time spent on math and reading.

 

At Schurz, Duncan, Chicago’s former Schools CEO, seemed to call for calm and collaboration in what he described as a pivotal moment for Chicago.

 

“While you have an opportunity that students have a longer day, more opportunities to learn, teachers should be compensated for that extra work,” Duncan said. “This is a no brainer. This is not hard. Let’s be inclusive. Let’s be thoughtful. Bring folks to the table. Let’s get this done.’’

 

Emanuel’s hand-picked Schools CEO, Jean-Claude Brizard, said the union’s latest legal action “has no basis’’ but he hopes he can resume talks with the CTU.

 

“My sincere hope is to be able to sit with Karen [Lewis] and talk about what’s best for the kids,’’ Brizard said.

[Texsox]

Too bad the parents couldn't maybe try to teach their kids something as well as the school. I'm a little irritated because I spent three hours grading papers last night. So adding 90 minutes of instruction will add another 30 minutes of grading.

[Jenksismyhero]

Too bad the parents couldn't maybe try to teach their kids something as well as the school. I'm a little irritated because I spent three hours grading papers last night. So adding 90 minutes of instruction will add another 30 minutes of grading.

 

Does the city really think they'll gain something from this? Or is it just to force teachers to play babysitter for an extra hour a day?

[Texsox]

Does the city really think they'll gain something from this? Or is it just to force teachers to play babysitter for an extra hour a day?

 

I don't know their schedule, but usually they want more core subject instruction. Perhaps an after school tutoring program. Good teachers do it voluntarily . . .

[NorthSideSox72]

So where is all of the Rahm talk? I love the party of labor guy trying to bust the teachers union.

 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/755...ded-at-her.html

I've said a few times before, overall, I like the job Rahm has been doing so far. He has been coolly efficient and calculated with hitting his stated goals, for the most part.

 

Actually, amazing as it is, the new mayor and the new Cook Country board Prez (Preckwinkle) have both been pleasant surprises so far. Both have made significant ground in tearing down some bulls*** in their governments. Of course both have gotten some things wrong too, but that is expected.

 

 

[mr_genius]

Obama's Solyndra 'green loan' scandal is getting very interesting.

 

Edited September 15, 2011 by mr_genius