Every Sunday on ABC‘s This Week there is a feature that names the U.S. servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan the previous week. Christiane Amanpour is the new host of the show, and the segment continues. But her critics see something sinister at work.
This is how previous host Jake Tapper generally introduced the list:
This week, the Pentagon released the names of 16 soldiers and marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Sunday, this is what Amanpour said:
We remember all of those who died in war this week, and the Pentagon released the names of 11 U.S. servicemembers killed in Afghanistan.
Washington Post critic Tom Shales, still apparently enraged that Amanpour got the job in the first place, slammed this performance:
Perhaps in keeping with the newly globalized program, the commendable “In Memoriam” segment ended with a tribute not to American men and women who died in combat during the preceding week but rather, said Amanpour in her narration, in remembrance of “all of those who died in war” in that period. Did she mean to suggest that our mourning extend to members of the Taliban?
That got a plug from NewsBusters, the blog affiliated with the right-wing Media Research Center. The MRC’s Brent Baker had already weighed in, slamming Amanpour on Sunday for “phraseology which put the U.S. deaths second to all the wars around the world.”
Meanwhile, back in reality, Amanpour’s debut featured an interview with Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that focused on the threat to the Afghanistan war effort posed by the WikiLeaks disclosures. In her other interview, Amanpour brandished a copy of the new issue of Time magazine and asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, “Is America going to abandon the women of Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan, again?”
And Amanpour tried to put the best spin on the war:
What I think a lot of people maybe don’t get is that the Afghan people still want the American forces there. In the latest ABC poll, it shows that 68 percent of the Afghan people actually want the American forces still there. Do you think that there has been an opportunity missed or should there be an opportunity seized by yourself, maybe by the president, to go out and speak to the American people more about Afghanistan, about the strategy, about why it’s important?
Spoken like a true Taliban sympathizer.
Eli Stephens
All I can say to the right-wing criticism is: “If only.”
Big Em
Interesting how the right-wingers — who support the intellectually ‘casual’ (ie; with heroic spokespeople such as St Ronnie Reagan, GW Bush, Sarah Palin, etc) and the word-twisting SCOTUS personnel (witness how the 2nd Amendment was contorted into an irrelevant ‘personal right to bear arms’, or the 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida) — can become all huffy with umbrage over what is most probably just a non-significant juxtaposition of words. People in television/radio abhor dead-air time, and Amanpour was guilty of being excessively wordy…something which Shales and virtually all pundits can be accused of, and which they no doubt take some pride in.
Anyway, I suspect that the dead US soldiers would rather have had these critics fighting to end the war and save their lives, rather than playing English teacher with their death notices…
mike
Of course they’re petty. Petty, vicious, greedy, selfish, ignorant, bigoted, callous, border-line sociopaths. If they weren’t these things then they wouldn’t be right wing!
John Mortimer Jr
If true happiness resides in the rational use of the intellect, it’s little wonder that these people are so unhappy.
frank67
Boneheads: Rightwing BS spreaders!
michael e
The story ,and this discussion is a big nothing….spun out of whole cloth.But the reaction by Big em /,John,/Mike is fascinating(I especially like Mike’s hoot).Let me paraphrase…. Everything ugly in the world is contained in those who disagree with the liberal agenda.I guess that about covers it today
woodward burnstein
that shales piece was a bottom scraper, even by the dubious standards of the wa-po op-ed section..not surprising the pathetic newsbusters grabbed on with both hands… truly ugly stuff
Barry
Mr. Tom Shales:
Do you actually gloat over the deaths of members of the Taliban? Yes, it’s war, and the Taliban are nasty right-wingers with appalling beliefs. They shoot at American soldiers and they attack defenseless women. When someone is shooting at you, you have to shoot back. But isn’t it a tragedy when anyone dies, however misguided? Isn’t even the most justified war a nasty business, regrettable at best? I don’t think any democratic society kills for the fun of it. I believe Christiane Amanpour was right to say, “We remember all those who died in war this week”– the American soldiers, the coalition soldiers, the Afghans, the innocent civilians, and even the misguided Taliban militants. Wake up, Shales, and join the human race.
michael e
Barry i agree with you,,,somewhat. But Did you actually slip in there that the Taliban are right wingers?They are no more right wingers than they are left wingers.How bout we call them bat wingers?Are you following that old lie of right wing = religeous fanatic?Ever see the Southern Dems(Babtist)and how their size dwarfs right wing religeous types. And Belief in God does not equal fanatic anyway.Hitler said in his book(my struggle) that if he does not gain control in politics he will do so using religeon.The Taliban have no faith.Just a twisted idea of how to use it to gain power.
John Mortimer Jr
“A lotta’ people don’t have much food on their table.
But they’ve got a lotta’ forks and knives
And they gotta’ cut something”
Bob Dylan, Talkin’ New York, 1962
woodward bernstein
religious fanatic = right wing….next
woodward bernstein
the southern baptists aren’t democrats, they’re republicans…reuters: 6/25/09
… the Southern Baptist Church is in decline, so one also has to wonder what the long-term political implications could be for the Republican Party. Conservative white evangelical Protestants have become its most reliable base. In recent election cycles it has relied on this base to deliver the vote in part by galvanizing opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage.
And the conservative SBC, one could argue, is the core of that base.
But Republican strategists will probably not take comfort by the fact that the SBC’s demographics in many ways mirror that of the party itself. Old, white, and Southern (one could add male and rural), with expansion dependent upon attracting immigrants and other ethnic groups, notably Hispanics. It is perhaps no coincidence that the core of the Republican base looks a lot like the party itself.
michael e
My time throughout the south has shown me the vote goes where their father’s father’s fathers sent it. Left without a hell of a lot of thought. But if you look at a total map of the US, you will see most of the map is in the Red zone. So you can interpret those numbers as you would like. Suffice it to say this country is center right Conservative in its views. This ultra left liberal socialist regime is nothing they can even recognize..And to believe the bent of right thought speak comes from religious fanaticism is crap. Are more people religious on the left or right?Man, there is a feces throwing contest I won’t join you in. The right conservative movement/tea party is built now on less government intrusion into our lives. Balanced budget. An end to deficit spending. Lower taxes. Adherence to the constitution. Notice any God speak there?
woodward bernstein
southern whites have voted conservative for decades, they just changed the party they vote for….the best way to determine who a white person votes is to note their church attendence….of those who go at least once a week, 80% vote gop….of those who never go…80% vote democratic… now obviously, some of those who indentify with moderate christian sects vote for democrats, but white religious fanatic = right wing… [not right wing = religious fanatic]….
ps
our taxes are currently at historically low levels
pps:
“ultra left liberal socialist regime”…utter fake news/ big baloney alternative reality nonsense
michael e
Woodward and B.
So down South…To Determine who a white person votes for- Dems now look to church attendance?To church attendance?Well i’ll be. Don’t that beat all.What do you look for to determine the black vote?Or the Chinese,or the Red haired Irish voter named Paddy?All prejudice and joking aside, i think you just said that those that have less belief in God….. are usually Libs.And those who have more…. are Conservative?(Better you than me)
Or are you saying anyone who does believe in God is a fanatic(and yes I did notice you said “white right wing”?Are black right wingers also religious….therefore also fanatics?Or are there no black conservatives like Iran has no gays?Or oh I know….Dems /libs are they more educated,open minded,evolved,smarter,Bla bla bla what a load of you know what.IYou just cant believe this tripe.
Our taxes are at historically low levels??????(My eyes are shooting blood)Our taxes are heading through the roof sir.On anything and everything this regime can affix its name to.The only thing both side’s can agree to is that!Just please don’t try to make sense of this man Obama and his followers.It reminds me of Barry Sheck at the OJ trial trying to convince us with a straight face he wasn’t guilty.It just is not holding any water.We are going down and going down fast.Use your only retort and move on.”It’s all Bushes fault”.You guys should copywrite it for use over the next 100 years.Its all you have
P.S Give me your definition of a religious fanatic.Im interested.Very interested
bilho
Well, maybe it isn’t all Bush’s fault, maybe just , you know, 98%. Surely the gulf oil thing was Bush’s fault for sure.
michael e
Bilho…..I was out deep sea fishing one day,and i saw George Bush digging the well.But………..I went out a couple years later and Saw obama setting the charges that blew it up.Those rascals
woodward bernstein
my white church attendance numbers are for the u.s. as a whole, not just the south…among minorities church attendance is not a determinant of voting patterns…. do the google, this is very well known and widely discussed…
bilho
michael e, why do you think this country, democratic as it is, still gets such poor leadership results?
bilho
And ps. I did like the sorta goofy tone in your spoofery. Maybe that’s the best way to convince people you are right. Make ’em laugh.
michael e
Bilho
I think we get poor leadership because we have allowed a ruling class of immense power and influence to be created.It is elitist,small,and incredibly entrenched.A group of people who don’t govern anymore as much as rule.Non representing unrepresentatives.It is the political class.They are in your face ,and you no longer have their ear.As they grow in power and scope I believe the corruption is spiraling out of control.In the end government does little well.Almost nothing as well as the private sector.Yet we are in a strange twilight world now where we are turning over our very souls to their control.Nothing…nothing good can come of this.
I will try to laugh/spoof more.God knows Im making no friends here
woodward bernstein
i’m not saying that every religious person is a fanatic, or that black conservatives don’t exist, they certainly do. they are the group most opposed to gay marriage as the anti-prop 8 folks found out the hard way…….if you’re interested,all the data on how different religions [and differing church attendance] effects voting can be found in a study titled “A Look at Religious Voters in the 2008 Election” at pewresearch. org
in another pew study, the 10 most religious states in the country are all “red” and all in the south. 9 of the 10 least religious states are blue [the exception is alaska] mostly in the northeast, the bluest part of the country..check out “How Religious is Your State?” at pew…while the overwhelming number of americans believe in god, liberals are less likely to be involved in church going and organized religion..
and in all parts of the country outside the deep south and utah, more educated whites vote democratic [they used to vote republican but since 1988, bit by bit, they have switched parties, especially in the northeast, the upper midwest and the west coast…]..the states with lower levels of white educational achievement vote red…[mostly in the south..]
and our taxes are at historically low levels….long term capital gains and dividends [15% down from 28%], the estate tax [currently at zero, down from 45% of the amount above $3.5 million, subject to change, depending on what congress does], the lowest marginal rate [10%, down from 15%,] the top rate [35%, the second lowest since wwII]
ccbb. org reports 4/10/2010 : A family of four in the exact middle of the income spectrum will pay only 4.6 percent of its income in federal income taxes this year, according to a new analysis by the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. This is the second-lowest percentage in the past 50 years.
Middle-income households are paying overall federal taxes â┚¬” which include income as well as payroll and excise taxes â┚¬” at or near their lowest levels in decades, according to the latest data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
——–
even if you factor out the families, retirees and others paying no income tax, the average among those who do is approx. 9%…….the very top earners pay an effective income tax of 17%…
michael e
W and B
I must tell you I am familiar with the studies sighted.Or many like themI simply think they are wrong.Political sectioning can be looked at in so many ways ,from so many sides.I think those studies are spurious and too narrow in scope. I have always thought determining factors as simple as the “whats in it for me’ theory play a huge part(the biggest part) of why people vote left or right.As this country becomes socialized and more are beholding to government you will see the colors turn blue.Religion be damned.Private sector is now earning almost half of what Fed workers are.In effect you are paying your workers twice what you make.Some in california are making 800 grand!And as all wealth is created in the private sector(government creates nothing it just shuffles money) what We are seeing is this huge growth in government will create a shift to a slave class under a government thumb. That class must vote blue for their daily bread.This is all philosophical.But this Religious canard is prejudiced in some very pointed ways,and I must tell you I agree with none of it.So on this we must agree to disagree.
But your tax figures are nonsense.You know it.And I know it.Of course the estate tax is returning.There are other reasons why some figures are still low.Almost all do to the last administrations holdovers— soon to end. And We are still in the payout phase of all this earth shattering stym money.More money spent in 8 months than all the presidents from Washington to Bush together.That created a pad for a short time.But basically it was money down a rat hole.Soon we begin paying for it.Healthcare etc.Crushing taxes are on the way if they are not here yet .If you live in New York and make a good penny…GET OUT.It is called rape.Taxes that will effect everyone of every earning leval are just over the hill and no one denies that..It is sooo disingenuous, and really is an out and out lie, to act that all is well and getting better.And lastly…………”The very top earners pay an effective income tax of 17%”?????????????You must tell me how to get out from under the crushing figures i see in my life.It aint no 17% Charlie believe me.So if Im doing my taxes wrong I may need your help.I need your accountants number toot sweet that can hook me up with that 17%.A friend of mine who is an economic prof and holds a doctorate in same, thinks the figures you placed are…. Well Its a bad word so lets stay clean.Suffice it to say this administration believes they own the wealth and have every right to redistribute it as they see fit.And they mean to do just that.Yes the right has been doing a wonderful job educating people and it has put kinks all along the line for this grab.But Obama ‘s intent is clear.Unless……………………………Are you actually saying Obama is pledging to cut taxes?.Or are you saying since we all have had it so easy it is time to pay up.Be gentle with your reply.My eyes are almost bled out.
Jim Naureckas
“We are still in the payout phase of all this earth shattering stym money. More money spent in 8 months than all the presidents from Washington to Bush together.”
The sources you rely on for information are not serving you well. The federal budget for fiscal year 2010 is $3.6 trillion; for fiscal year 2009 it was $3.1 trillion, and in 2008 it was $2.9 trillion.
Jim Naureckas
“government creates nothing it just shuffles money”
Michael, have you ever heard of Hoover Dam? The interstate highway system? The Internet? The space shuttle? The Erie Canal? The World Trade Center? Do any of these sound familiar?
michael e
Jim my figures are correct and I will have to stand by them.Actually they are on the down low side.When I want to cry I listen to Beck read the death knell of numbers.It is every night now,and he is mostly right.And it breaks my heart.If I want to laugh….I watch Demcocracy Now or K Obermann.They are wrong so much of the time as they try to tame the savage beast that is the groundswell moving against this regime.But I do smile at those shows at least.Lunacy building away at glass houses as the sky falls in is funny i suppose.
Jim you believe in big government.You believe the projects listed above were not in the end 100% offshoots of public sector deeds.I would love you to hear a history and economics lesson on just what you noted but im not sure it would it help to change your thoughts.You believe.You would allow yourself to be ruled.I will allow myself to be governed.I will repeat my statement.Jim All wealth comes from the private sector.The government creates nothing.Sometimes(less often than not) they handle the job WE have given them better than at other times.Most of that time the government does nothing well(of course we shall set aside the miiltary which is a charge given to them under the constitution)To insinuate they are better keepers of the public trust( our money)than the public, is setting oneself up for the socialist failures we now are enduring.
Federal budget????Lets talk of the real budget.Budget…To budget That word of course would imply someone is minding the till.Watching the books.Budgeting.But that woud be an illusion.We are drowning in oceans of federal spending.My favorite word is non sustainable.We are a country now in hospice.A few facts…House hold spending is up 40% in the last ten years and will rise faster in the next ten.Fed dept likewise is up 70% and will rise faster in the next ten years.Medium income is down 1%.In the next ten years Our dept will quadruple to 90% of every dollar made.After that interest on the dept will eat 100% of GNP.Sell every home in the US 5xover.Sell everthing of value 2x.Confiscate all income 9x over.Our future bill that we CANT pay is looking to be 106 Trillion dollars!!!!!When I was a kid a million seemed a lot.Now we are blowing off words like Trillon.The velocity of spending under Obama is staggering(and Bush was no piker)787 Bill stim bill.275 bill housing proposal.2trillion in finan stabilization.And that took place In just 4 days!The bill on healthcare(trillions)Social security…..Bailouts…..Tarps on and on.It is as far as the eye can see and then a couple of light years.Non sustainable is the word Nancy P should really believe in.
Glen Beck warned this crooked government would monitarize the dept.Bull doggies you all said.Never gonna happen.It happened yesterday.We are now printing money to pay our dept because nobody wants it(our bonds).I remember when I gave talks to groups warning of the Evil that was Fanny and Freddy on the horizon.Bull doggies again.And Dodds and Franks and shumman and a certain woman who I shall not even utter her name telling me all was well.Calming the crazy right winger.Well bull doggies right back at ya folks.WE WERE RIGHT.AND YOU ALL WERE WRONG!Im not happy about that.I am sick beyond belief.President Obama…We are broke.Flat busted broke.Please spend no more money we do not have.And get out of the way so we can recreate the wealth.And stop printing money.Thats one prayer
Let us also all pray that no-one ever tell Obama what comes after a Trillion(hint it is a cajillion, as told by Dr evil)Ok prayer time over.Now lets throw these bums out like you threw the last ones out.And bring in some people who took(and past) economics 101 at least.Ok?Be well jim
michael e
P.s Rush noted today that the idea that the gov creates nothing is wrong.He pointed out that they create the Chevy Volt.But here is the differance……..If the car fails, no one will get fired.What will happen is OUR taxes will go up to pump money in to save this mess of special interest input.Because you see….. lord Obama can not fail.And so it goes
woodward bernstein
the reason the effective INCOME tax rate [not total tax burden] of the very top earners [the top 1%] is because virtually all their income is in the form of capital gains..if your “econ prof” doesn’t know that, you better not take any classes from him….the average joe [head of household making somewhere in the 50-125K range] is paying about 9% of their income in FEDERAL INCOME TAXES….pull out your latest 1040 and check the amount of taxes paid against your GROSS income and see what you get [no need to share, it’s none of my business]
as for “more money spent in 8 months than all the presidents from Washington to Bush together” that’s just silly… the stimulus was $780 billion with almost a third of that being tax cuts, not spending…$780 billion is approaching what we will spend just on defense for ONE YEAR…a typical bush era budget was $3 trillion/year….
as for the tax rates going forward, BOTH parties want to retain all the current levels on those making less than $250K in TAXABLE income…the debate is over bumping just the top two rates back to where they were in 01… the only folks calling for ALL the cuts to end are non-elected officials like david stockman [reagan’s financial head] and alan greenspan…neither of whom are democrats
“We are now printing money to pay our dept because nobody wants it(our bonds).”
this is flat out wrong… China’s 1.9 per cent rise in total holdings of US debt in April 2010 followed an even bigger 3.5 per cent increase in March. Japan, the number-two foreign holder of Treasury securities, also increased its holdings in April by $10.6 billion to $795.5 billion. Other countries registering gains in their holdings in April were the United Kingdom and various oil-exporting nations. The Treasury reported that net purchases of long-term securities, covering US government debt and the debt of US companies, increased by $83 billion in April. That follows a record monthly gain of $140.5 billion in March. ” the foreign spending has the added benefit of keeping us interest rates low…
“I listen to Beck”..well, there’s your problem…talk about somebody who doesn’t know jack about jack…that must be where randian nonsense like “a slave class under a government thumb,” comes from….
Jim Naureckas
“In the next ten years Our dept will quadruple to 90% of every dollar made.After that interest on the dept will eat 100% of GNP.”
You’re confusing the total amount of the debt and the interest on the debt. According to the Congressional Budget Office, interest on the debt will be $723 billion in 2020. That’s a lot of money.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10871/BudgetOutlook2010_Jan.cfm
But in 2020, the CBO projects that total GDP will $22.77 trillion.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10871/AppendixE.shtml
So, not 100 percent of GDP–more like 3 percent of GDP. Again, the sources you rely on for information are not serving you well.
michael e
My econ prof friend smiled at the spin(and the shot). Then he literally went down the page you just sent- red lining it as he muttered strange words under his breath.Like the father in the xmas story.I said not a word. He then threw it to the floor and stammered “whaaaaaaaaaat?”(wish I could of transcribed his lecturing your figures). But it would take hours…………By the way he is a prof at maybe” thee” best business school in the country(you probably know it) So suffice it to say it aint just lil ol stupid me who is frustrated by the self serving number crunching you are engaging in.Self serving,deceptive and flat out wrong .Harvard has a class with an exercise where by you take facts to prove one side with included narrative.Then move in exactly the opposite way with the same facts. It’s Like falling down a Rabbit hole.It can really play with your mind and I am starting to think you may live there.It is also why I agree with the saying that I would have anyone off the street be a Senator than a Harvard grad.But I digress.
We have got to get back to simple horse sense here.Or better put to you fellows…It don’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.America is drowning.And it helps not one wit that you are saying”no your not”like some bad Monty Python bit.She is under siege.Not by Bush– but by a new gang.And in my humble opinion it is completely wrong headed.
And I apologize for saying the only reason we are printing money is because we have to beg borrow and steal to sell our dept.That is only part of the reason.The reason why we print money is exactly the same as why any thieving counterfeiting criminal does it.Because he needs more money and cant make -steal,or find anymore.So he prints it.Now send me some economic 101 reason why it is Ok to print money.That and a nickle will get you NOTHING in the eyes of the American people.It is why you are seen as so out of touch.People know we are broke and beyond for ever and a day guys.They know government is corrupt.And Yes people are angered that Obamas wife is parading about like a queen .Simple things like that as Rome burns.And you trying to sell as it ain’t all that bad folks is a rubbish.
Love your knock on Capital gains . Do you mean The money you earn on the risk you take?Profit!And Why does the government have its hands in your profit at all?Answer(always the same)because we use it better than you!
Lastly Lets talk about That dummy Beck for a moment.How did you do on the stock collapse?I did great.Two weeks before specifically(and actually for months before)- Beck cried on the air to his listeners to get out of the market.He said it will all collapse.Get out get out.He said your government is lying to you.Buy Gold.Things of substance.I listened.My friends listened.Their friends listened.His case was rock solid.My lib friends threw “crunched “numbers at me.Told me to trusssssssst(remember that snake in jungle book).Well they lost big time- and some everything.Wanna know how all those right wing radio guys did?Look it up.There was a recent article. It is astounding.Can we at least admit we all should of ALL listened.No…..you would rather everyone stayed ideologically lib and lost all.And THAT is an important truth.
And don’t worry about offending me as to asking me how much i make.I am not offended by the thief asking me at gunpoint how much is in my wallet.I am offended he stole it.
TAXES ARE NOT GOING DOWN.Your job is to write that 100000000000 times until it sinks in.Or just write it once a day until around January.By then it will be …….well the argument will change to what’s wrong with high taxes on everything anyway?
I told my ulra lib friends to write 10% unemployment- a million times on the blackboard , back when VP Joe dum dum said give us the stim money and we will produce 500 thou jobs/month by summer of 2010 .Ooops….Guys,i forgot all about you.Stop writing .It was only a joke.Not the 10%.That is no joke.
woodward bernstein
uh…i didn’t knock the capital gains tax, i was just pointing out that the high earners make 90% + of their income via that route which leads to the tax rate i’m quoting…if your “econ prof” can cite numbers i’ve gotten wrong, lets see them and their source…..
“In 2007, Taxpayers on the 95th to 99th steps on the income ladder paid an effective INCOME tax rate of 17.52 percent, according to calculations by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research group that favors less taxation and lower rates. Taxpayers in this category earned between $255,000 and $451,000.”
PS, i didn’t say taxes were going doing, i said that there is broad agreement from both parties that the income tax rates on the bottom 93% of earners should stay the same…big difference…
michael e
W and b.
I wont speak for my friend,and he is not here now to speak for himself.So let me say….It is not so much the numbers you sight as how you view them(though some are wrong because you count this- but not that).17.52 % …..and yet I Know, and feel ,and live it is a real number of 50%.So we play games with numbers that have no touch to reality.Dept to GDD ratio and other economic triggers all are indicating a non sustainable death spin leading to economic collapse.But for the sake of endless discourse -lets Change the view for a moment.
We can say without a doubt that the most wealthy nation on earth- ever in history, is this country you and I sit in.And it would be true.We could have numbers at our fingertips to prove it.Numbers that stretch from here to the stars.We could look out at its expanse and see its opulence and beauty.See the poor that are the richest poor the world has ever known.And the rich that live like kings.And from that we could deduce Obama is a God send.And all is well.
Or we could look out and see we no longer own this beauty.We mortgaged it and lost it.We in fact do not have a dime left to our names.We are the “homeless” to our own dept and to the holders of our notes.Indentured servants.As our children are, and shall be.And that also is true.Two worlds of thought with only one real truth.
Obama will have us tax more,spend more,and remake America.Remake America…( My that strikes cold ice to my heart.)In who’s image?His?A tax n spend lib?Servitude with the promise of a comfortable life is still slavery.Forget the fact that it never has- or will ever work.So far from individual rights ,so near to the collective.Socialism as Thatcher said- always fails because sooner or later you will run out of other peoples money. We must recreate wealth however distasteful that may be to you..It is the ONLY way.We will never tax our way out of this.Never.And your numbers may win the happy face award,but gentleman it is all so much bunk.
woodward bernstein
*sigh* once more: 17.52 % is the effective rate on the top five percent of earners and it’s income tax only
and those are the only people i have been talking about the entire time..none of any of the numbers i’ve have cited are wrong… your bunk charge is utter ….well, bunk.
your “econ prof” went off for “hours” over my post that had two minutes worth of numbers in them and you can’t remember a SINGLE thing he said? color me dubious….
your number “I Know, and feel and live it is a real number of 50%.” isn’t just income tax….if you have, say, two kids, a large schedule a and make $100k, your total federal bite, depending on how you figure social security would be about 25%..plus gas tax, telephone tax…it’s probably still under 30%..[if you have no kids and rent instead of own, that would move my numbers considerably]….i can’t speak to whatever local taxes you pay….texas is low tax, mass is high for example…
leaving the current tax rates on the $250K+ earners will add a projected $280 billion to our debt over the next ten years
ps:
as Jim Naureckas points out up the page, your debt and gdp numbers are all scrambled…
dj spellchecka
anyone who writes” the government has never created anything” while ON THE INTERNET shouldn’t be allowed to sit at the big kids table.
and while i’m here, gm had the volt in production long before the government did the temporary ownership deal…gm just posted another good quarterly profit figure and are inching towards a stock offering which could lower or even eliminate the fed’s stake in the company
michael e
You all are still playing numbers games.I could throw numbers all day at you showing the madness.The insanity.Rush does it.Hannity does it.Beck does it.O’reilly does it.And a ton of others who are gonna hand you your lunch come november.But of course they are all….stupid i suppose you would say.Im trying to refrain.Are you not shell shocked already from the drubbing Liberalism is receiving each and every day?In the end you have to support this bunch.I almost feel bad for you.How about this.Make predictions now how you see things in six months using your math and i will use mine.You see a sweeping Dem victory because all is well.You see Obama winning another four.You see 500 thousand jobs a month(sic)What I want is for those who believe in socialism to say so.Woodward and B.You write a lot but still don’t know where the hell you stand.Are you a socialist?As far as the prof…his basic comment is ” The people sighting these numbers are like pigs reading Niche”.They can do it.Doesnt mean they know what the hell it means.
Sigh….. government exists on only what they take from others.They create nothing themselves .It is self evident no?They do not create one private sector job.And private sector is where all comes from.They do create government jobs which is simply a shuffling of the money of course.
Double sigh…How much is payed out on total taxes?…Goods and service taxes and everything else combined.Taxes on every breath you take.How much of each dollar is left?And what is each dollar worth at the end of the day ?I will hold you to 17.52%.Or to 30% or even 80% of each dollar if you would like.That is real life guys.But say now where it stops.Not what is left over from Bush and his administration or anything else.You say Dems don’t want to change the status quo of the tax code.That would presuppose that lowering taxes stimulates and raising them does the opposite(Bush tax cuts).WE finally agree.
When Obama was elected I layed down 25 predictions in a major publication.Im 17 and o and counting.So I laid it on the line.Now Im asking you to put up or shut up.Where are we going.Where will we be with this regime in a year? Thats what i want to hear.If your math adds up than believe me I will say so.Remember Al Gore and his prediction on Global warming.?Prince Charles?Two nuts yapping away.Well W and B your up to bat.Predict away.And mention who you are.You sound like redistributionist Libs ,border line socialist.Do you honor the constitution and capitalism?The floor is yours
Gms figures are bogus.It has been written about and noted how their figures would appear at this point and it is on the money.Woven into gov giveaways etc.Remember junkers for clunkers for gov candy?Another waste of my breath.
woodward bernstein
“You say Dems don’t want to change the status quo of the tax code.That would presuppose that lowering taxes stimulates and raising them does the opposite(Bush tax cuts).”
that’s not what i said…[you sure write a lot about things i didn’t say] i said that the dems want to keep the rates where they are for the under $250k set and let them go up for the rest….that isn’t supporting trickle down….
“I could throw numbers all day”….i notice you don’t throw numbers…i’m not surprised…you either don’t trust them or don’t understand them..or they would just be made up numbers…i notice you can’t even figure how your own tax number….50%? you make 75K and pay 37.5K in taxes? or 60 and 30? etc, etc… uh, huh…. and your prof couldn’t cite a single number either???… and it’s nietzsche, not niche
“gm numbers are bogus” ?? based on what? ” Following it’s May report of an $865M USD profit — its first profit since Q2 2007 — GM has posted an even bigger profit, announcing a net income of $1.3B USD on a revenue of $33.2B USD. GM is also sitting on a stockpile of $32.5B USD in cash — leftovers from bailouts received from the U.S. and Canadian governments, in addition to revenue for the sales of its laggard brands like Hummer.” show me how they are bogus… i’ll wait
i find it odd that you write things like this “When Obama was elected I layed [sic] down 25 predictions in a major publication.Im 17 and o and counting.” why not simply name the “major publication?” and offer the link? or tell me what school your “econ prof” teaches at? i suspect the answer to both is “harvey.”
as for global warming…all the heat waves and flooding are right in line with what the scientists predicted would happen… see today’s wapo article “Long, hot summer of fire, floods fits predictions ”
as for my political predictions [election day’s still a ways off] the gop will probably gain 24-28 house seats [if that, since they trail in the generic house polling outside the south] and gain 4- 5 senate seats…if the gop nominates anyone other than romney, obama will win in 12 [and i think he can beat mitt, too]
michael e
W and B
Oh my- your a global warming believer.Yeah and I believe in Santa.How can we have a discussion on any level?…..Listen ,google some speeches given by Lord Monckton where he utterly destroys Gore and the myth.Nuff said.To Al I would say……You pulled a good scam .Made a 100 mil… Now go assault another girl during your rubdown.
Why no numbers?Because numbers are only good to those who can use them to change their minds if need be.You do not from what I have seen -possess that ability or want.You search out the numbers that prove your views but do not do any legwork to see the fallibility in those figures or views.In fact you ask me to.And Im a person (Doctorates aside) that you clearly count as one of the great uneducated unwashed masses.And…. Because all the facts and numbers are on the rights side of the discussion anyway.In the arena of ideas and fact, the left does not have a leg to stand on.They have innuendo and spin,and lies.Nothing you have written has moved me on that.Remember I once was working on the left side of the isle.There are no games you can teach me.Ive seen them all.I grew up in a deeply political family with several politicians.There is nothing new in your writings I have not seen a million times.As I said- Beck ,Hannity,Rush,all of them throw strikes all day long with figures.(I did notice you don’t knock the esteemed Dr Pauls dire warnings and figures?Or Newt?Interesting.)
Look I am trying patiently to give you a general narrative without beating you over the head with the bland numbers that would prove to anyone except a brain locked lib that yes chicken little, the sky is actually falling.YOU may even see the sky falling as good fertilizer for a green world and so a good thing.Following that you would send me a quote from the agricultural dept stating that as fact.
Yes Of course you see GM and the car industry as moving up.They are!No place to go but up in Obamas Hoover ville ,now is there?Will they recover to glory?Its like believing in a jobless recovery.Not gonna happen under these conditions.Of course like everyone else I have figures at my fingertips.Is that all you want?It seems you believe that when I say we as a country are in deep truble…you think can prove that is nonsense by pointing out I spelled trouble wrong.Or by throwing numbers about as if the source of those numbers is any better than throwing dice.As i recall this whole meltdown was missed by all the quotable sources of the time.Though strangely those crazy wing nuts on the boob radio did see it coming.??????
Harvey?????Ah the rabbit!!!! My good friend…He is a good professor and a good man who also lends his expertise to your beloved white house, and no he does not have any interest in writing on this blog,or having me quote him here.Sorry.He feels it is not a good way to use his time or name, His clearance ,or his blood pressure.And he questions me on that.You make me question that also.
As far as my writings.Sorry again .Like your president I would rather keep my writings and more importantly my identity below your radar.Live with it.Or raise me to the esteemed level of your president for doing so.
Predictions finally…..I like your numbers .They are well thought out in some respects.But you don’t seem to realize that you are standing in the road pontificating- about to be hit by a semi.Only one thing can save your butt.A republican party that may be seen as part and parcel with the new class of political elite.In effect just as bad.They are miles better in fact but they are” bad “and fall short of what America deserves.So It is their race to loose.Obama???I dont think he could beat anybody in this next election.Anybody.I am not even sure that the dem party will not throw in with Hilary and remove support.That is how bad this is for him.He is becoming poison.
I would love love love to see him have a one hour debate with Ron Paul.No preset questions….Man to man and unplugged.Never happen.Ron Paul would eviscerate him and show America that their man boy president is a ball of dangerous fluff.After the debate BAM would be no more, as far as any belief in him goes.Remember what I said.The Republicans deserved to loose.The Democrats now also deserve to loose.Does it really have to be more complex than that?
woodward bernstein
thanks..you can’t do numbers and neither your predictions or your professor exist….we’re done..
ps
In order to discredit the IPCC, Lord Monckton produced his graphs of atmospheric CO2 concentration and global mean temperature anomaly in the following manner:
1. He confused a hypothetical scenario with a prediction.
2. He falsely reported the data from the hypothetical scenario he was confusing with a prediction.
3. He plugged his false data into the wrong equation to obtain false predictions of time-series temperature evolution.
4. He messed up the statistical analyses of the real data.
These errors compound into a rather stunning display of complete incompetence. But since all, or at least nearly all, of this has been pointed out to Monckton in the past, there’s just no scientifically valid excuse for this. He’s just making it up.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/08/monckton-makes-it-up/
michael e
Now Im really laughing.Monckton makes it up.Funny .Almost as funny as prince horse face of bloody ol England who said the world would burn…..um NOW actually.Monckton,The man who says anytime anywhere to Gore- to our Congress -to our president.The man who sends them running like little girls…The man who was picked to report to Congress as the pre-eminent expert who can cite every nuance of this utter nonsense and who was refused by the maJority because they felt he would hurt them and so they used their majority power to block his testimony(a first),is….a Phony!A lier.A man who…is in conflict with the president and his plans to raise taxes to control the weather.My Oh my.I liked it better when you goofs were trying to tax cow farts.Remember the shamed ousted green movement grand poo pah of Obamas?Loved his book where he said” we must use the green movement and global warming to finally take over industry.This will be the way for progressivism using the teachings of “S Alinsky and the Dem Party to move forward into ultimate control- That will be true marxism.”Obama Knew he said that.. and still put him in charge.We on the right squashed him by simply showing the public his own words.You can thank us anytime.
And where the hell is Al Gore?Where is Michael Moore?Where is the oil in the gulf(and the aligned experts) that we heard would destroy our coastlines and now has….disappeared?Batman only had one Joker.You have a dozen at least.Not counting the president and his regime.
I had 35 E mails today.Ten very long, and awash in numbers showing the disaster that is Obama.Would it raise my IQ a few points to my personal goal of 160 if i were to push a button sending them to you?No of course it would not.Do you believe the reports that leaked from the top scientists who admitted cooking the books on Global warming?Of course you don’t.Are polar bears becoming extinct?Of course they are.And if you dont believe those scientists- are they the phony’s.Are we?Are you?Or is it Obama?Or just God?
Gentleman you believe ONLY those that agree with the liberal holy words as put down by Lord Obama.All evidence to the contrary shall be ignored and disavowed using any means possible.Everyone on the right is an evil lier.Everyone on the left is good, sweet and ,enlightened.Guys you have no want to meet half way.You are entrenched.Every word you write proves it ten fold.Every elitist word explains better than I ever could- what the face of Liberalism is.You wear it well.Come November…America can Begin- to stop looking at it.
I am reporting into work tomorrow and I am asking my friend when he reports to his work- to hand in our respective resignations.We shall also disavow our educations and our very existence because YOU say it is so.Just call us Harvey.Oh and also call obama Harvey.Harvey Obama has a nice ring to it.
Still no word on Ron Paul?Is he also a………….man who escaped from a looney bin?
woodward burnstein
“Do you believe the reports that leaked from the top scientists who admitted cooking the books on Global warming?Of course you don’t.” quite right, i don’t since the stolen emails showed no such thing….if you think “the trick” and “hiding the decline” means cooking the books than you don’t understand “climategate” or climatology
3 different british investigation found no book cooking, but some bad manners…and dr mann of “the hockey stick’ fame has been investigated and cleared twice….
if your claiming that this obviously made up sentence ” we must use the green movement and global warming to finally take over industry.This will be the way for progressivism using the teachings of “S Alinsky and the Dem Party to move forward into ultimate control- That will be true marxism.” ….is from one of obama’s books lets see the title and the page number…that shouldn’t be hard…
by the way, i don’t believe the oil on the gulf disappeared and neither do the people who saw a fresh round on tar balls wash up on shore yesterday…
as from monckton being blocked by congress…could be because his multiple frauds were already revealed…here’s his nonsense getting destroyed back in 2008…
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/07/once-more-unto-the-bray/langswitch_lang/in/
ultimately tho’, the climate debate isn’t between al “he’s fat” gore and lord “not actually a lord, but viscount monckton of brenchley ” monckton then you REALLY don’t understand the debate….the debate[such as it is] is between climate scientists….a debate that’s quite one sided…
woodward burnstein
Richard Littlemore
Brigham Young University Professor Barry Bickmore has taken the time to check whether Monckton’s recent pronouncements can pass any objective standard of accuracy and he has found, “SPOILER ALERT: The final result is classic Monckton” – a carefully constructed, but infuriating opaque veil of academic references, a loose mix of relatively accurate facts, and a conclusion that is precisely contrary to that drawn by the experts whom Monckton claims to quote.
If you read Bickmore’s excellent and careful analysis, however, you get a reminder of why Monckton is successful in destroying people’s understanding of climate science. Per his usual form, he makes a short, ridiculous assertion, dressed in the cloak of implied scientific research and dares you to disagree.
Specifically, he said this to a committee of the U.S. Congress:
The â┚¬Ã…“global warmingâ┚¬Ã‚ that ceased late in 2001 (since when there has been a global cooling trend for eight full years) had begun in 1695, towards the end of the Maunder Minimum, a period of 70 years from 1645-1715 when the Sun was less active than at any time in the past 11,400 years (Hathaway, 2004). Solar activity increased with a rapidity unprecedented in the Holocene, reaching a Grand Solar Maximum during a period of 70 years from 1925-1995 when the Sun was very nearly as active as it had been at any time in the past 11,400 years (Hathaway, 2004; Usoskin, 2003; Solanki, 2005).”
It’s a mere 105 words of not quite deathless prose and a fairly clear conclusion – but, as Bickmore discovered, not one that is justified by any of the sources he has quoted. Unfortunately, it probably took Bickmore a week’s work to chase down all the references, to touch base with the experts in question and to report – in 3,500 words – the predictable result. Monckton has completely misrepresented his material – again.
http://www.desmogblog.com/christopher-monckton-humiliated-yet-again
Alden Vendelin
This is a pretty cool blog here! I just added it to my favorites.
I’ve got a poker fan page over on Facebook. If you wanted to check it out: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poker-Players-Only/136818223026737