FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Armchair_QB · Jan 12, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

BTExpress said:

Once you extend a "temporary" cut, and declare them to be necessary, there are expectations they will continue.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's where I diverge from most people.

I will gratefully accept just about any gift I am given and have no "expectations" I will receive a similar gift next week, next month or next year.

I've paid 6.2 percent FICA for 27 of my 29 working years. I was grateful for a two-year reduction in that rate. Would have been grateful for a third year but in no way expected it.
Click to expand...

Keeping your own money is a "gift"? Really?

dooley_womack1 · Jan 12, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Right, because nobody should ever have to pay a tax.

Baron Scicluna · Jan 12, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Justin_Rice said:

YankeeFan said:

It's the hypocrisy stupid.

He's for closing Gitmo, until he's in charge.

He's against gay marriage, until he's for it.

The payroll tax cut is vital, until it's not.
Click to expand...

Hypocrisy ... or politics.

Sometimes when governing, it means not getting everything you want. I don't expect you to understand that, though, since the Right Wing Screech machine abandoned actually trying to govern once they were tossed out on the street.

Nevertheless ... I'm glad that you're not being a hypocrite. Two years of arguing against the payroll tax credit, and now you're arguing the President should have lobbied to extend it. That seems pretty consistent on your part ....

.... and by consistent I mean the ironclad Republican policy of opposing every single thing the president does, even when it's exactly what you wanted to happen.
Click to expand...

Sure says a lot about a party when the guy who masterminded one of the worst attacks on the US gets killed, and they actually have to be asked if they wanted to give the president credit. And a few of them would only give it begrudgingly.

Baron Scicluna · Jan 12, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

3_Octave_Fart said:

Captain Obvious said:

3_Octave_Fart said:

Boom_70 said:

3_Octave_Fart said:

Raises the question in my mind: Does there need to be a strong middle class to stage a successful revolt?
Click to expand...

No but the 2nd amendment does.
Click to expand...

Hope + powerful will = revolution.
Remember what Tom Paine said - there should be revolution every 20 years.
In all military history there is power.
And there is sheer will.
See Vietnam, Afghanistan, the Taliban, India vs. Britain, and so on.
It's why Iraq and Afghanistan were always lost causes for us.
They exhibited both qualities, and were or have been relentless in its practitioning.
Click to expand...

Thomas Paine was a out there, even among his own. It's funny that his background as a loser is swept under the rug. The moral is even losers can effect change.
Click to expand...

Paine was a born loser and eccentric, but a mover and activator.
And one hell of a writer.
Where is our Thomas Paine?
Click to expand...

Kansas City?

Captain Obvious · Jan 12, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Plenty of pretenders, but to be like Thomas Paine, one has to be a radical.

Riptide · Jan 12, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

3_Octave_Fart said:

Captain Obvious said:

3_Octave_Fart said:

Boom_70 said:

3_Octave_Fart said:

Raises the question in my mind: Does there need to be a strong middle class to stage a successful revolt?
Click to expand...

No but the 2nd amendment does.
Click to expand...

Hope + powerful will = revolution.
Remember what Tom Paine said - there should be revolution every 20 years.
In all military history there is power.
And there is sheer will.
See Vietnam, Afghanistan, the Taliban, India vs. Britain, and so on.
It's why Iraq and Afghanistan were always lost causes for us.
They exhibited both qualities, and were or have been relentless in its practitioning.
Click to expand...

Thomas Paine was a out there, even among his own. It's funny that his background as a loser is swept under the rug. The moral is even losers can effect change.
Click to expand...

Paine was a born loser and eccentric, but a mover and activator.
And one hell of a writer.
Where is our Thomas Paine?
Click to expand...

Is this where Dick makes another speech?

YankeeFan · Jan 13, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

So, the guy holds one private sector job in his life, and it's at a big bank, where the unit he's in charge of hemorrhages money.

Oh, and according to his own testimony, he doesn't consider himself, "an expert in some of these aspects of the financial industry."

Perfect choice.

During his 2010 confirmation hearings for chairing the Office of Management and Budget, Lew said his Wall Street experience was “as a manager, not as an investment adviser.”

“Senator, I don’t consider myself an expert in some of these aspects of the financial industry,” Lew said in response to a question from Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) about causes of the financial crisis.

Sanders said in a statement Wednesday that although he applauds Lew’s public service, he worries about the number of economic advisers in the White House who have spent time on Wall Street. Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, also came from Citigroup’s hedge fund and private equity shop, known as the alternative investments unit.

“In my view, we need a treasury secretary who is prepared to stand up to corporate America and their powerful lobbyists and fight for policies that protect the working families in our country,” Sanders said. “I do not believe Mr. Lew is that person.”

The beginning of 2008 was a brutal time to be working at the bank and certainly at Citigroup’s alternative investments unit, which managed more than $54 billion.

The group was hemorrhaging money just as Lew joined. In the first three months alone, it lost $509 million, according to SEC filings. By contrast, just a year earlier during that quarter, the unit made $222 million.

“He stepped into the hedge-fund buzz saw,” said Mark Williams, a lecturer in finance at Boston University and a former bank examiner for the Federal Reserve. “His timing wasn’t the best.”

Things continued to deteriorate the rest of the year. More than 50,000 employees, or one-seventh of Citigroup’s global workforce, were laid off in November. That year, the stock price dropped about 75 percent. Lew, meanwhile, was paid at least $1.1 million in 2008, according to financial disclosure statements.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/jack-lew-had-major-role-at-citigroup-when-it-nearly-imploded/2013/01/10/a913431e-5b6b-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html
Click to expand...

Tarheel316 · Jan 13, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

dooley_womack1 said:

Right, because nobody should ever have to pay a tax.
Click to expand...

Yep. Then we can live a dystopian existence where everyone fends for himself. Would the GOP really like that?

Azrael · Jan 13, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

YankeeFan said:

So, the guy holds one private sector job in his life, and it's at a big bank, where the unit he's in charge of hemorrhages money.

Oh, and according to his own testimony, he doesn't consider himself, "an expert in some of these aspects of the financial industry."

Perfect choice.

During his 2010 confirmation hearings for chairing the Office of Management and Budget, Lew said his Wall Street experience was “as a manager, not as an investment adviser.”

“Senator, I don’t consider myself an expert in some of these aspects of the financial industry,” Lew said in response to a question from Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) about causes of the financial crisis.

Sanders said in a statement Wednesday that although he applauds Lew’s public service, he worries about the number of economic advisers in the White House who have spent time on Wall Street. Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, also came from Citigroup’s hedge fund and private equity shop, known as the alternative investments unit.

“In my view, we need a treasury secretary who is prepared to stand up to corporate America and their powerful lobbyists and fight for policies that protect the working families in our country,” Sanders said. “I do not believe Mr. Lew is that person.”

The beginning of 2008 was a brutal time to be working at the bank and certainly at Citigroup’s alternative investments unit, which managed more than $54 billion.

The group was hemorrhaging money just as Lew joined. In the first three months alone, it lost $509 million, according to SEC filings. By contrast, just a year earlier during that quarter, the unit made $222 million.

“He stepped into the hedge-fund buzz saw,” said Mark Williams, a lecturer in finance at Boston University and a former bank examiner for the Federal Reserve. “His timing wasn’t the best.”

Things continued to deteriorate the rest of the year. More than 50,000 employees, or one-seventh of Citigroup’s global workforce, were laid off in November. That year, the stock price dropped about 75 percent. Lew, meanwhile, was paid at least $1.1 million in 2008, according to financial disclosure statements.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/jack-lew-had-major-role-at-citigroup-when-it-nearly-imploded/2013/01/10/a913431e-5b6b-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html
Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I wonder what else was happening in the economy back then. Hmmm. If only I could remember.

www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/28/markets-credit-crunch-banking-2008

Every bank on Wall Street was eliminating jobs.

dealbook.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/big-losses-on-wall-street-16000-jobs-cut-in-october/

Even board idol Jamie Dimon shed 10000 jobs.

images.businessweek.com/ss/08/12/1224_jobcuts/27.htm

old_tony · Jan 13, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Can't post the pic but this link has a pretty creative look at the national debt.

http://www.investors.com/image/011413_B.jpg.cms

Captain Obvious · Jan 13, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

old_tony said:

Can't post the pic but this link has a pretty creative look at the national debt.

http://www.investors.com/image/011413_B.jpg.cms
Click to expand...

He needs my parents to threaten him with handwriting therapy as they threatened to do to me in sixth grade.

dog eat dog world · Jan 13, 2013

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

zagoshe said:

Riptide said:

Hard sacrifices to be made.
Try to keep up, America.

And temporary means temporary.
Click to expand...

Yes - hard sacrifices to be made - how much is the inauguration and party going to cost?

I mean, I know that Katy Perry and Beyonce are essential to keeping the hippest President's hip image intact, but what if Obama just, you know put his hand on the book, got sworn in and gave a nice speech and went about his business of doing work.

Here is one estimate that the inauguration will cost taxpayers about $115 million.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/public-inauguration-just-show-likely-cost-taxpayers-over-100-million_665135.html

And that doesn't begin to get to the heart of the "party" which will be thrown by rich corporations and CEOS and wall street bankers who will all, no doubt, get some sort of corporate welfare down the road....

I know, I know - Democrats are for the little guy, Republicans are for the elite..... :
Click to expand...

Yeah those lefty endorsements from the Hollywood cesspool com with a price.

Log in or Sign up

FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

Captain Obvious Guest

Riptide Well-Known Member

YankeeFan Well-Known Member

Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

Azrael Well-Known Member

old_tony Well-Known Member

Captain Obvious Guest

dog eat dog world New Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

Captain Obvious Guest

Riptide Well-Known Member

YankeeFan Well-Known Member

Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

Azrael Well-Known Member

old_tony Well-Known Member

Captain Obvious Guest

dog eat dog world New Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches