Posts Made By: James Lacey

Mel Maki said:
Why do you forum members think it is ok that we spend 50% more than we take in.

The deficit is potentially a large problem. Some would argue the likelihood of it becoming a large problem is small to remote; others foresee impending doom. Who is right? Impossible to know with a high degree of confidence.

The problem is, of course, is that deficit spending is an easy way to keep the economy stimulated and therefore too often used by our policy makers and politicians to deliver on promises that in turn keep them in power for the short-term. I'm certain some of the policy-makers focus on the long-term view, but it's hard to see that they are with the deficit as large as it is right now.

In my humble opinion, we have been tickling the dragon's tail concerning the deficit for a long time. What has saved us is the strength of the American economy that allows us to continue to fund the deficit, and kick the can down the road to speak. However, we are just one real global recession away from the gap between spending and borrowing causing real problems.

The nightmare scenario is that the US gets to the point where we have to default on our debt. If that ever happens on a large scale, then we will spend decades clawing our way back out of that hole. Average Americans, for example, are still saving and trying to recover from the October 2008 crash.

If our traditional lending sources lose confidence in US debt it will cause a plethora of problems, Our economy will suffer greatly, and American personal wealth will vanish overnight. Our military will have to shrink throwing tons of people out of work and leave a vacuum in the world that our traditional enemies and opportunists will fill instead. They will not have our best interests in mind. Entitlement spending will have to fall off precipitously leaving the weakest and most vulnerable in our population susceptible to ruin and tragedy otherwise avoided. The worst case scenario is not a pretty picture indeed. The question is, will it ever happen.

7. Priebus is out! Kelly is in! Trump and "his generals?"

3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.
3:07 PM - Jan 10, 2012, Trump on twitter

Well, at least Obama did pass a health care bill. 8)

8. "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddywagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, ‘Please don't be too nice,' " the president said.

Mueller is still expanding his team and most recently hired a lawyer who specializes in illegal foreign bribery. It's pretty clear the investigation is not over anytime soon.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Russia sanctions bill. As for now, Trump still has not signed it. It could turn into quite the sideshow. Not that there has been any shortage of those.

I don't always see a little silhouette of a man, but when I do, I Fandango! ~dances away lively~

Greg Shaffer said:
IMO the fact that not a shred of evidence against Trump and company has been leaked...

Just because the White House is leaky, doesn't mean the Special Counsel is too.

Twitter Calls Out Irony Of White Supremacists’ Polynesian-Inspired Tiki Torches

https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/citronazi-candles?utm_term=.vdlKNqLKO#.wgEXJB5Xp

“When you have to use a Polynesian cultural product (tiki torches) to defend and assert white supremacy.”

The internet. It makes me laugh.

Update: Those white supremacists are nuts and anyone, and I mean anyone, who is defending them, providing excuses for them, or in any way is trying to give equivocation for their actions, is complicit. I'm looking at you, Trump. :S

Jim Brown said:

It's eerie how the fundamentals stay the same, no matter how much superficial stuff changes.

Your sentiment rings true.

Today some people worry about illegal immigration from the South, in the 1850's people were worried about immigration from Germany and Ireland and all the "popery" they would bring with them. The only thing that changes is the actors.

Wow! Very nice. Thanks for sharing these with us all.

Here's to hoping the April 2024 eclipse turns out good since I will be directly in the path of totality.

Now that you got all of the typical over the top right-wing rhetoric, outrage and childish insults from Richard out of the way, I'll offer a few comments.

First, the effective tax rate for the wealthy in the USA is lower than the middle class. This fact has been acknowledged even by the likes of billionaires such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. In my opinion, this is not controversial among economists, but I'm sure our resident right-wing extremist is frothing over this comment already.

Second, holistic is not a bad word. It just means that something is bigger than the sum of its parts.

Third, American's are fascinated with the rags-to-riches myth that anyone can do it, and if you can't do it, it's because you are lazy. It's anathema to our cultural idea of being a meritocracy, to tax someone excessively who has worked hard to get rich just in case we happen to become one of the wealthy. Never mind that most people who got rich had plenty of help along the way. Whether that support is due to an accidental privilege of birth or other opportunities enabled due to luck, the truth is most wealthy people did not do it entirely on their own. Despite this reality, Americans still bristle at the perception of any unfair taxation. It's ingrained in our psyche from birth due to the whole no taxation without representation phrase from our revolutionary history.

Lastly, tax reform is percolating to the top of the political discourse in the US right now. Stay tuned for more fun discussions on taxation. I'm sure it will include all the favorite subjects like trickle-down economics, tax cuts for the wealthy and tax cuts for corporations.

Jim Moscheck said:

Bonus points if you can guess what part of the speech was just uttered.

I should never have told him, "Staying on message is not rocket science!"