posted
you do realise he was making fun of the whole Govt right? not just Obama?
for a fact? China IS Communist and they are kicking our but right now- how did that happen? 7 of 8 employees public or "private" in China work for the govt, and they pay taxes that are actually higher than ours are think about it...
it seems pretty clear at this point that the TParty doesn't care what happens as long as they do not do anything that would allow Obama to be seen as a success.
i would like to see the statistics on the racial demographics of the constituents of all the TParty.
i do know for a fact that most of the TParty members represent states where they receive more money form the feds than they contribue in taxes.
It will be intersting see how the reddest districts fare when the spending is cut by 41% cuz that's what not raisning the debt means- 41% spending cuts
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
Yes, Glass, I did pick up on the fact that Obama was not the sole focus of his humor...although the Vatican foyer comment was awesome...
While I can't speak for the 'TParty', I don't particually care what Obama is seen as. His political future is going to be determined by the independents as we have discussed before. The 'right' will vote against him and the 'left' will vote for him. Nether of those two voting blocks are going to change. Spending cuts HAVE to happen. That is what the independents know (imo). It's simply a matter of where. You CANNOT tax your way out of this problem. Will tax increases be needed? Absolutely. I'm under no illusion on that one. But increases without spending cuts is pointless and, frankly, dangerous in a recession.
quote:for a fact? China IS Communist and they are kicking our but right now- how did that happen? 7 of 8 employees public or "private" in China work for the govt, and they pay taxes that are actually higher than ours are think about it...
And that Glass is why I believe that China isn't going to be as big of a long term problem as everyone seems to think. Communism doesn't work. Experience has shown that sooner or later it will end in civil war\revolution. In our information age where people can see the 'benefits' of 'freedom' versus the 'detriments' of 'socialism\communism' this is inevitable. Look at the 'Arab Spring' going on right now. What is it that they are demanding from their leaders? To be more like us. They are demanding more personal freedoms and the chances to improve their lives that accompany them.
China's 'unity' (through coersion and force) helps them in many ways. But it is that same coersion and force that will eventually cause their fall.
Things will change even faster as more money flows into China and more people gain access to internet\television messages.
May just be my indoctrination-driven, propaganda-fueled opinion, but I believe it will happen.
posted
Spending cuts HAVE to happen. That is what the independents know (imo). It's simply a matter of where. You CANNOT tax your way out of this problem. Will tax increases be needed? Absolutely. I'm under no illusion on that one. But increases without spending cuts is pointless and, frankly, dangerous in a recession.
taxes can easily go up and the recession will remain the same.
this notion that high taxes hurt the economy is Mythology.
our periods of greatest growth sustained over longer periods have been when taxes were very high.
tax cuts of signifcant amounts DO stimulate the economy, but only in the very short run, then you are right back where you started- even worse because the burning match has been lit and burnt and there's no more matches where you got the last one from... you can only cut taxes so many times before you are giving money away- oh wait they did that too didn't they sheesh!
the recession is not a product of Govt overspending or Govt debt, the recession is because we have outsourced all of our Productive labour i say Producitve as opposed to Service oriented labor..
the Fact is? we have sold our country, or more precisley we allowed Wall st and the Politicians togehter to sell our country to the Chinese govt.
not seeing China as long-term threat is a big mistake, the Chinese think of planning in terms of decades while we think of planning in terms of the 2 year votes in the House of representatives.
it isn't that Communism doesn't work. capitalism doesn't work in it's pure form either. nothing in extreme works.
it is naive to beleive that "your way" or "Myway" is the "best way" and that anybody with a brain can see that your one way is the best way... the Chinese people do not Dream the American Dream and in fact most Americans ONLY dream the American Dream, very few actaully live it, and many of them that i know who do live it are not very happy in their American Dream- just look at all the celebrity rehab stories
there are so many differnt religion because of this simple fact. even amongst Christians there is an amazing number of sects.
I do not beleive the Chinese will 'become like US" in any meaningful way. They hold life in generl in very low esteem as a result of 3000 years of more or less continuous civilization whilst we are brand spanking new and literally failing the test of time at this particualr moment in time- i am still optimistic that cooler heads will eventually prevail but we have a few more bad years to go thru because things were much worse in 2008 than most people understood them to be.
very few people even know or understand that there was alos an accounting rules change concurrent with the collapse called the mark to market rule... that rule made business people stop lying on their balance sheets and was as much to blame for this crisis as housing was... the lying on their balance sheets allowed them to overleverage themselves and they got burnt.
quote:it is naive to beleive that "your way" or "Myway" is the "best way" and that anybody with a brain can see that your one way is the best way... the Chinese people do not Dream the American Dream and in fact most Americans ONLY dream the American Dream, very few actaully live it, and many of them that i know who do live it are not very happy in their American Dream- just look at all the celebrity rehab stories
Ethnocentricity isn't the issue (see, that college stuff must be workin'), Glass, it's the fact that sooner or later the demand for resources will outstrip the supply. In a Capitalistic society (or any that are loosely based on it), members can compete for the available resources. Communistic societies (or those based on it or other forms of dictatorships) are not allowed to do so. The resources are allocated according to the dictates of the central governing body...period. Sooner or later either you run out of resources to allocate or enough people become dissatisfied with how much they are being given in relation to those around them.
Its that competition that keeps our society moving 'forward'. When effort is rewarded, more effort will follow. Even when there is only an illusory reward held out, the mere chance to achieve it is often enough to motivate. Cash rewards via copyrights or patent rights have motivated more discovery and invention than 'for the good of the society' ever have. This is why the American Dream is important even if few actually achieve it. Many people try because SOME actually make it.
This lack of individual reward is what will eventually cause China's fall...again, imo.
posted
This lack of individual reward is what will eventually cause China's fall...again, imo.
the Chinese do offer individual rewards tho...
that doesn't make them "like US". the Chinese Govt makes all the resource decisions, and enforces their rules brutally. They have one pary, the Communist party but they are sharing profit less tyhan equally. The Soviets never shared equally either they failed because they lied to each other about how successful they actually were. For instance? They had to buy grain from US because they would harvest it wet to make the weight seem better then it wuld rot int he silos and they would be forced to replace it
they steal our intellectual property as fast as they can get it. heck our manufacturers have taken their intelectual property over their and given it to them to make a bigger profit selling it here. that is the sellout BTW..
as to Natural reource depletion? the Chinese Govt has been buying them form the thrid world and is now in position to acumulate even more if we default.
Communism is not "good" i don't want to live under it, but do not make the mistake of thinking that everyone else wants freedom like we do. Some Americans don't even seem to me to want real freedom anymore the people who came here to be Free took huge risks to make the journey and still do even today. We are not like the people who stayed behind; they were/are much more risk averse than our forefathers who came here and they are not like US. Ethnicity has nothing to do with it, it's a mindset
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The ultimate KIRF: fake Apple Store spotted in China By Sharif Sakr posted Jul 20th 2011 4:04AM
Misc. Gadgets The ultimate KIRF: fake Apple Store spotted in China By Sharif Sakr posted Jul 20th 2011 4:04AM
This Apple Store looks so real we still can't quite believe it isn't. The KIRF-ers have excelled themselves this time: mimicking or at least reinventing everything from the Brave New World posters down to the dog-tags and "We live here" demeanor worn by the staff. There were a few giveaways, however, which led observant
the recession is not a product of Govt overspending or Govt debt, the recession is because we have outsourced all of our Productive labour i say Producitve as opposed to Service oriented labor..
the Fact is? we have sold our country, or more precisley we allowed Wall st and the Politicians togehter to sell our country to the Chinese govt.
That is by far the biggest problem in this country, and it also proves that our politicians are merely puppets controlled by the multi-national corporations that get them elected...
The fact is..."we the people" have zero representation from either party...
-------------------- ***********************
It's all in the timing... Posts: 4303 | From: DSA | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
oddly? i hear the TParty peeps saying they represent "the people".
BUT,
the TParty peeps kept the GOP from winning the Seante, they had three people up on the ballot that lost cuz they were nutty. the TParty has 60 House seats which means Boehner cannot beat the Dems without them, so he's putting unreasonable stuff in the debt talks.
The GOP has gotten everything they asked for offered to tehm and they now want to have the same fight in jan of next year again? crazy stuff...
it took three years for the Depression to "take hold" after the crash of '29- guess what? it's three years this month since the crash of '08 began when oil hit it's all time high in July of '08...
it looks like history is repeating itself even with all of the hard work they have doen to try to prevent it.
i'm pretty sure that without a solid deal by 8PM tonight the market will begin sliding...
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Actually...I tend to think that taxing ourselves out of the problem is a very sensible answer. It worked in the Clinton years.
If the Bush tax cuts were to be allowed to expire it would take care of -> 75% <- of the nations deficit problems for the next 5 years and a full -> 40% <- of the nations deficit problems over the next 20 years.
All we got to do is go back to where we were in 2000 and we have already solved half the forward looking deficit issues for a generation.
Now think on this. Ten of the best selling pharmaceutical drugs in America are going to lose their protected patent status in the next 16 months.
Generics generally cost about 30% of what brand names costs. Using those numbers along with reported 2010 sales numbers a generic version of Lipitor alone is going to save Americans 3.75 BILLION dollars a year. How much of that do you think goes on Medicare/Medicaid books? Our good friend Plavix will save Americans even more once a good generic is on the market. How about 4.3 BILLION a year that doesn't get taken out of our pockets?
There are cost savings out there coming this way that I doubt CBO takes into account in order to be responsible conservative auditors.
-------------------- No longer eligible for government service due to lack of tax issues. Posts: 5178 | From: Up North | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Big, Just for the record,I don't mind paying taxes. I like driving on nice roads, having water delivered to my house, dropping off children at a public school, etc.
That being said, it bugs me to hell-and-back that certain corporations and ultra-rich folks pay no taxes, because of loopholes.
posted
Generics generally cost about 30% of what brand names costs. Using those numbers along with reported 2010 sales numbers a generic version of Lipitor alone is going to save Americans 3.75 BILLION dollars a year. How much of that do you think goes on Medicare/Medicaid books? Our good friend Plavix will save Americans even more once a good generic is on the market. How about 4.3 BILLION a year that doesn't get taken out of our pockets?
great point Big, thanx for bring that into the realm of discussion.
i heard the news about the expirations and didn't connect it on my own.
i have paid alot of atttention to big pahrma for over a decade and i will predict how the drug co's will fix this little inconvenience.
they have already been combining these drugs together into one pill and getting NEW patents on them and they have been pushing doctors to rewrite the scripts to the Newly patented combined drugs. That's not really a new tricjk but what is new is how they "enforce" the prescription writers to adjust to teh more profitable drugs.
another way that they beat it? they will take a common drug like- say neurontin (1994) also known as Gabapentin and "reconfigure" it to a "better" "more powerful" formula. The new drug is called pregalin or you might know of it from the TV ads as Lyrica_
Pregabalin is used to relieve neuropathic pain (pain from damaged nerves) that can occur in your arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, or toes if you have diabetes or in the area of your rash if you have had shingles (a painful rash that occurs after infection with herpes zoster). It is also used to treat fibromyalgia ...
whether these new drugs are better or not is entirely debatable.
the real problem is that the drug co's will lean heavily on the doctors to precribe the new drugs and due to the way the pharmacies are all computerised? the drug co's actually know if the doctors are "complying" or not....
the FDA is even complicit in this since they have spent the last five years kicking all the "old school pre-aproval period" generic drugs off the market. Someone i love suffers nearly constant migraines. There was a drug on the market that had been on the market since the 50's that worked very well as a prophylactic for 6$ pr month, now that person has to take a 10$ pill after they get a migraine and over the last two years that has become an almost daily ocurrence. Now i am becoming alarmed at what the possible side effect of this "newer &no-better" drug might be since they have to take them so often... the old drug stopped them before they happened with no noticable side effects observed over a fifty year period ..
try talking to a doctor about managing any pain these days and you are no longer a customer, you are a suspect
drug co's tested Lyrica with "known druggies" and altho it is not considered addictive like opiates, the druggies specifically said that Lyrica "showed promise" as a recreational drug they don't tell you that on the TV ads do they
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
..![[BadOne]](graemlins/headbash.gif)
