(Matt Davies via GoComics.com)
__
Professor Krugman spots another Romney con:
I’ve coined a few successful turns of phrase over the years, but none, I think, as successful as the confidence fairy — a term I used to refer to the belief that things like austerity in the face of depression would actually be expansionary, because of … CONFIDENCE…
As O’Brien notes, here’s how Romney described his economic strategy:
If it looks like I’m going to win, the markets will be happy. If it looks like the president’s going to win, the markets should not be terribly happy. It depends of course which markets you’re talking about, which types of commodities and so forth, but my own view is that if we win on November 6th, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. We’ll see capital come back and we’ll see — without actually doing anything — we’ll actually get a boost in the economy.
In effect, Romney was saying, “I am the confidence fairy!”…
Professor Krugman goes on to establish that this bit of Romney strategery is working every bit as well as all Willard’s other recent tactics — which is to say: badly. Guess it’s time for the True Believers to remind each other to Clap Louder!
For the rest of us who will have our hands free, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
debit
Tonight and tomorrow I am going to bake up a storm: pumpkin bread, banana bread, a few different kinds of cookies, maybe some apple crisp. I don’t know where the sweet tooth came from, but it refuses to be satiated.
I suppose I’ll make actual food at some point too. But first, cookies!
Corner Stone
I’m watching my Cocks fairly pulsating with the desire to slap around Missouri.
Welcome to the SEC amigos!
Go Cocks!
debit
@Corner Stone: God, I love it when you talk dirty.
Corner Stone
@debit: I thought I had the first comment, how did you sneak in there ahead of me?
Although, I’m a big believer in ladies go first.
debit
@Corner Stone: It because I was talking about cooking.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Living large in the socialist hell hole of California and going to go cash my State mooching check that is was dipped in the blood and tears of job creators.
PurpleGirl
@debit: But first, cookies!
Of course cookies first. Remember, Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.
Spaghetti Lee
Still in my PJs and watching college football. I’m trying to come up with a logical reason to not scrap the rest of the season and hand Alabama the title, and I say that as someone who hates Alabama.
catclub
Perfect timing Romney. The stock market has doubled over the past three years from its low in march 2009. It is on the verge of all time highs, and he is claiming confidence will go up if he is elected.
All the evidence is that as the probability of Romney being elected goes down. Markets go up.
Arm The Homeless
@Corner Stone: I find it humorous that you’re satisfied with UF’s detritus. Spurrier could best be described as smegma.
I would be surprised if the Cocks win more than 3 conference games.
catclub
@PurpleGirl: Motto of the ‘Famous’ Pacific Dessert Company.
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
I’m kinda confused about the way ‘wingers talk about Obama and “the markets”. I hear all the time about how hostile Obama is to the business world (the evidence of this is his “rhetoric”, which is that one time three years ago when he said something about fat cats). I don’t know about futures, commodities, et al, but from my layman’s view, the DJIA has doubled since Obama took office, NASDAQ the same, I think. SP 500 almost doubled. Why don’t those “markets” count? Mort Zuckerman was whining about Obama’s hostility a couple weeks ago, and I thought, ‘there are some more tax returns we need to see, to see how poor Morty has suffered over the last three and half years’
catclub
@PurpleGirl: Or, not sure about your breathe? Eat d’Cert first.
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker: I figure if had said nice things, they would be up, like, a pink himalayan salt mountain’s worth, in percentage terms.
100% in three years is chicken feed. Just ask His predecessor….
oh, never mind that.
Corner Stone
@Arm The Homeless: That color green looks good on you.
jwb
@catclub: The rightwing trolls are out in force on many of the blogs this weekend. I guess all that SuperPac money has to go somewhere. That, or DougJ is very bored.
dance around in your bones
@Corner Stone: You have several cocks? Whoa, dude!
Plus, they pulsate? Otra vez, whoa, dude!
PurpleGirl
@catclub: I did not know that. I’ve heard the motto around in SF fandom, many times as the reason groups of people go for coffee/tea/dessert before picking the restaurant for dinner.
@catclub: Ah, a punster. I like puns.
Jim C.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/20/chick-fil-a-only-pretends-to-stop-funding-non-profits-with-political-agendas/
Been watching the Chick-Fil-A thing since the post here that they’d had a change of heart.
Did they only PRETEND a change of heart? Can we get some research into this?
Mike G
@Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker:
The Rethugs’ reputation for being good for business is about as valid as their reputation for fiscal responsibility and ethics.
Amir Khalid
What’s going to be the Mitt/Ryan Gaffe O’The Day on Monday? Or are they going to rack up so many that the mainstream media will just stop noticing?
Arm The Homeless
@Corner Stone: Last I checked, the Noles are sitting fairly well. When you guys lose to the Vols, i’z gunna laff and laff
Liberty60
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: fixin’ to get an abortion with that moocher check, or just buy a flag and burn it?
Litlebritdifrnt
I have been cleaning all day in anticipation of my yearly visit from my Mum Yaaaaaaaaay (although I don’t know why I bother seeing as the first thing she does when she gets here is clean the house, it must be a Mum thing). Tonight I am going to drink a bottle of wine and when that runs out raid the husband’s Harp stash and drift off to sleep in a drunken haze so I can get up early in the morning and watch the newest Dr. Who episode and then continue cleaning.
cckids
@Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker: Its part of their “imaginary Obama” madness. Repubs here in S. Nevada are still steaming about his Vegas remarks* as if he had quarantined the city & refused to let people in.
*For those of you who have actual lives, Obama said, in Feb. 2009, when the banksters were daily proving themselves to be vile scum (huge bonuses after tanking the economy & getting bailed out by the rest of us), that bailout money shouldn’t be spent on those banks having million dollar retreats in Las Vegas, or $10 million tents at the Super Bowl. For most of us, common sense. For wingers, “OMG why is he trying to close Vegas!”
catclub
@Mike G: The accusations of crony capitalism by Obama, re: Solyndra, are probably being made by someone with large investments in Halliburton.
The GOP can be good for _some_ businesses.
Nancy Darling
@Amir Khalid: He’s going to show up at some Hispanic gala in full mariachi regalia (not just a tan) and sing “La Cucaracha” to show his solidarity with the brown folks.
Kathy in St. Louis
If Romney’s thesis, that the markets will be happier if he wins, were actually true then every poll that shows Obama gaining should depress the markets. It wouldn’t just begin on the day after an Obama win. The fact is that’s not happening. So, should we pretty much assume that his thesis is flawed?
dmsilev
@Amir Khalid: Who really knows? I mean, we could try to predict something outlandish, but odds are good that reality would top it pretty quickly. Mitt is nothing if not creative in his gaffes. Especially now that he’s getting desperate with the clock running down.
1.5 weeks to go before the first debate…
Kathy in St. Louis
@Jim C.: Pretend. Mr. Cathy attended some function for hetero marriage just this week. So, I’m not exactly sure where the information comes from about the big changeoheart.
Comrade Mary
This may be a good thread to leave this: Mitt’s Cookiegate.
Monday’s gaffe: Mitt talks about someone else’s cock that he has been profiting from for decades. Bank on it, libtards!
jeffreyw
Caramel and tacos, because they go together.
Corner Stone
@Nancy Darling:
Like Chevy Chase in The Three Amigos.
This smells like a “photoshop must happen” kind of thing.
Kathy in St. Louis
I am really interested in the guest list from that Romney 50k fundraiser where he shot off his mouth and probably lost the election. Has anyone heard who was in attendance. I would think that any person who would spend that kind of money to hear this guy must be like minded. I’d love to know who all was there and what they own or what company they are working for. Could effect my spending habit.
dmsilev
@debit: I know the feeling. I’ve embarked on this year’s edition of Operation Cake (testing recipes for use at Thanksgiving). I’m very popular with my coworkers this time of year…
Amir Khalid
@dmsilev:
We should be scoring Mittgaffes like they do gymnastics or diving at the Olympics, with a panel of judges holding up numbers. He should be good for at least a couple of perfect tens, like Nadia Comaneci.
cckids
@Amir Khalid: Fabulous idea. Hard to know where to start, you don’t want to give a 10 too early; he keeps topping himself & then what will we do?
Litlebritdifrnt
@cckids:
You never want to be the first band out in a competition because the judges can’t score you high in case the band after you is better. Same theory.
Richard
Given Mitt’s bronzing of himself for his Univision appearance, I’m surprised he didn’t show up at that NAACP conference a while back looking like Al Jolson singing “Mammy”.
Jim C.
@Kathy in St. Louis:
There was a blog post here on Balloon Juice about it. I forget which writer.
mai naem
Does anybody else wonder if the GOP Prez Campaign AKA MittGaffeMachine has become a grifting tool for Mitt & Sons with the Campaign Consultants along for the trickledown of $$$? I ask this question in all seriousness. Roger Stone made the comment about the Paul Family just being in it for the $$$(that the family in involved in the actual fundraising machine so they mooch off big $$$ in various management fees)
I know they said the MittMoneyMachine was a Mirage but, still, should somebody whose campaign is tanking spend so much time fundraising and not spend it on, you know, campaigning. Isn’t this how Mitt’s career at Bain kind of worked?
Patricia Kayden
But the market has been at all time highs under President Obama so why would anything be different if Romneybot 2.0 won?
Who is he trying to sell his nonsense to?
dmsilev
@mai naem: I’m not sure Mitt himself is in this for the grift; he’s worth enough already that skimming a meaningful-to-him amount off the top would probably be noticeable. The swarm of campaign consultants, on the other hand, are at this point probably just trying to extract as much cash as they can before the whole edifice collapses.
Which, as you say, is similar enough to the Bain model that it just *has* to be karma.
Hal
I preface this with the standard declaration that anything can happen and the election is X numbers of days away, and yes, Romney can still win it, but..
I almost feel guilty about how good I feel that Romney is doing so poorly. I guess it’s because of all the Republican candidates for President in the past 30 years, I find him to be by far the fakest faker who ever faked. GWB in a fucking flight suit had more credibility than Mitt “Mitt” Romney.
SiubhanDuinne
@cckids:
Put it up to eleven, duh.
MikeJ
@Patricia Kayden:
Glassman, the guy who wrote Dow 36,000 in 1999.
Paul
The SP500 has gone up 75% since January 20, 2009 (it dropped during the 8 years Bush was in office). I have no clue what Romney means by optimism coming back if he wins. The market has done just fine. Anybody with a 401k, or money in the market should be happy with Obama.
If Obama is a socialist as the GOP claims (never mind that they have no clue what the word means), then socialism seem to be great way get the market to improve.
Corner Stone
There’s not much better than seeing Robert Horry doing a “Read 3” commercial to encourage parents to read to their children more.
Just unspeakably funny.
Jewish Steel
@mai naem: A comment @ GOS:
Paul
@MikeJ:
Just for the record, I don’t think the stock market has been at all time highs during Obama. As I recall both the Dow and the SP500 set their highs in 2007, while the Nasdaq set its high back in 2000.
dmsilev
@Patricia Kayden:
Stupid people with lots of money?
Chris
@dmsilev:
I agree. At that level of wealth, it’s no longer about the money. It’s the status and power that the presidency would bring to him.
aimai
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Its not going to be a mum thing when I’m the visiting Mum, I can tell you. My daughters are downstairs cleaning up and I’m swanning about in bed with a hot pad on my leg waiting for them to come up and watch something dopey with me like Once Upon a Time which is like the worst good thing I could find on netflix. The day will never come that I fly in to see them in some godforsaken part of the world and start cleaning.
aimai
Litlebritdifrnt
@Jewish Steel:
Reminds me of Mark Penn, he left Hillary so deep in debt I think she might still be paying it off, and he fucked up so bad a black guy with the middle name of Hussein managed to beat her. It is all about the money with these guys.
Schlemizel
@Jim C.:
Chik-filler is first class stupid. Look how smoothly Target handles this same idea. The store is gay friendly, they say all the right things and play nice with the GLBT community. Its CEO however is a big funder of wingnut crap sending lots of cash to the worst kinds of goopers.
Everyone thinks Target is a really nice company but in the background it is funding the exact same sorts of sludge as the chicken fillers
aimai
@Chris:
I totally get the sense that deep in one of the Romney mansions there is a replica Oval Office and Mitt goes and sits there sometimes, just quietly by himself.
aimai
Richard
@Hal:
I think anyone that had a suspicion that Mitt’s plans involve throwing middle and lower income people under the bus in favor of the rich had those suspicions confirmed 100% by his 47% comments. Meanwhile any attempt now by him to pivot away from that position just makes him seem ever more the dishonest sleazebag.
No one has any reason to trust a single word that he says at this point.
Litlebritdifrnt
@aimai:
Well of course there is also a lot of that, Mum on the bed watching tv and calling “Dawn, could you bring me a cup of tea sweetheart?” She visits for a month or five weeks and of course I can’t take that much time off from work when she is here so it ends up that her and Norman are in the house unattended for quite some time, that usually ends up in Mum cleaning and Norman finding some home repair project to do.
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
@aimai: one of the things I will most enjoy if Willard goes down in flames knock wood is knowing the Romney family fantasy of being the Mormon Kennedys will go with it. The Romney name is gonna be poison in the national party, and Willard Jr (the one I’ve read has political ambitions) and the other Mittlets are gonna have to move back to Utah to have a chance to win, and I that’s too small a pool for their egos.
Schlemizel
@mai naem:
It seems Willard has spent a ton of his own money to get this far. I doubt he can skim enough from the current campaign to repay his outlay let alone the profit he could have sucked out of some innocent company with that same investment.
This is not like the Alaska hillbilly. Its Willards ego that needs feeding not his bank account
OH! I see I was beaten to it by @dmsilev:
Joel
@Kathy in St. Louis: Mother Jones has that info. Give them hits; after all, they broke this story.
Schlemizel
For the win!
But I think we need to come up with a degree of difficulty to use as a multiplier for the Marquis’ flops. His insult of veterans for instance didn’t get the attention it deserved but was aimed at a group that is thought of as leaning REpublican. Lower score, higher degree of difficulty.
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
@Schlemizel: Rachel Maddow said last night that Willard had put tens of millions (IIRC) of his own cash in the 2008 race. This time, $50,000.
SiubhanDuinne
@Chris:
Yup. Somebody here this morning linked to a really interesting blogpost on the “diminishing marginal utility of money.” Basically, $20 will mean the difference between eating and going hungry to a homeless person; might mean being able to go to the movies for a family on a budget; etc.; but by the time you get to Mitt-level wealth it is negligible value, maybe even negative value. There’s not much remaining but power.
It was an excellent read. I’m sorry I didn’t bookmark it. Will search around and see if I can find it.
gbear
Most exciting thing I did today was take my cat’s scratching post/perch back to the manufacturer to get it recarpeted. Instead, they suggested I trade it in for a new one, so they gave me a discount and are going to add a ‘step’ platform so that my old kitty doesn’t have to jump so high. This company builds the Mac Truck of kitty furniture. I’m over 250 and I can use the lower perch as a stool while petting the cat on the top perch. Glad I live close by and don’t have to pay those shipping charges.
Shorter me: There is nothing exciting going on here today.
Schlemizel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker:
I did not hear that. I thought there were SEC filings where he ‘loaned’ his campaign many millions earlier this year.
Still the lost opportunity costs of those millions from years ago won’t be made up by a shopping spree at Suks 5th ave like Sister Sarah had.
SiubhanDuinne
@aimai: @Chris:
Yup. Somebody here this morning linked to a really interesting blogpost on the “diminishing marginal utility of money.” Basically, $20 will mean the difference between eating and going hungry to a homeless person; might mean being able to go to the movies for a family on a budget; etc.; but by the time you get to Mitt-level wealth it is negligible value, maybe even negative value. There’s not much remaining but power.
It was an excellent read. I’m sorry I didn’t bookmark it. Will search around and see if I can find it.
mai naem
@dmsilev: You have a point but this is a guy to whom money is very important and Mitt alone(not RNC,no Superpacs) has raised about $300M. If you get 25 percent to the family, that’s $75M, not bad for about 2 yrs work.
@Schlemizel: I heard a reporter on XM’s POTUS channel who said Mitt’s only put in $50k this year. In 2008, he apparently put in $10M.
Ruckus
@Kathy in St. Louis:
So, should we pretty much assume that his thesis is flawed?
I’d go with yes in this case. Assuming things can generally get one in trouble but this may be the exception to the rule. And besides he keeps showing us the flaws.
ETA. Actually he is jumping up and down, waving his arms and almost screaming out loud, so that we don’t miss the fact that he is disproving his own thesis.
Schlemizel
@SiubhanDuinne:
I read that there were 134,372,678 individual returns filed a couple years ago. Had Congress taken the trillion dollar cost of that joke of a stimulus bill (too many useless tax breaks not enough spending) and sent a check for $7000 to every filer the poor would have spent it immediately for food shelter and necessities. Middle class people might have save themselves from foreclosure or taken greater advantage of that car offer (maybe saved GM without the loans). The wealthy would have bitched about the trivial sum and whined about having to go to the trouble of depositing it.
The remaining $59 billion 391 million 254 thousand dollars (to round out the trillion)could have gone to a lottery where 59391 people on welfare would receive a million dollars tax free.
Jim C.
@Schlemizel:
By any chance do you have some links I could look at? I have no issues passing along the information about Target, but this is the first I’m hearing about it.
Ruckus
@aimai:
I was going to suggest that if cleaning is in order upon arrival then why the cleaning beforehand? In my experience if mothers/mil have such a compulsive need to clean, they have no control over the nag function either. So it really doesn’t matter, hospital clean or not.
JustAnotherBob
If you had started out with $20,000 when FDR entered office, put $10k in the S&P 500 and the other $10k in the bank, moved your stock market money to the bank and your bank money to the market each time the White House changed parties you would have turned it into $51,211 under Republican presidents.
Since they are so terrible for American business your $10k “Democratic” money would have grown to only $300,671. So rotten are Democratic presidents that you would have earned only 5.9 times as much as when Republicans were in office.
Of course had you started with Republican Hoover your $10k would have soared to $11,733 by the time George W. left office.
Yep, Democrats and American business just don’t do well together.
http://www.howtobuystockshq.com/who-is-better-for-the-stock-market-republican-or-democrat/
Paul
@Schlemizel:
Target as a corporation donated $150,000 to the Republican candidate (Emmer) for governor in Minnesota. I believe this was back in 2006. Emmer had strong anti-gay opinions and the donation caused a backlash to Target, at least in Minnesota.
Kathy in St. Louis
@Joel: Thanks. I just looked it up. Right where you said it would be. I think Ill post it. This way, we won’t have to wonder what all the rich folks are up to.
Guest List From the 50K fundraiser:
Name
Occupation
Company
City
Dixie Arthur
Accountant
ASAP Capital Partners
Tampa
Thomas D. Arthur
Retired
Tampa
Robert M. Beall
Chairman
Beall’s Inc
Bradenton
Douglas F. Berman
Fund Manager
HIG Capital
Weston
Timothy M. Bryan
Chairman & CEO
Galaxe Solutions
Key Biscayne
Mitchel A. Burns
Chairman Emeritus
Ryder System
Miami
Christopher Cline
Executive
Foresight Management
Palm Beach Gardens
Richard A. Corbett
Real Estate Developer
Concorde Companies
Tampa
Jeffrey Feingold
CEO
McNa Dental Plans
Delray Beach
James P. Gills
Ophthalmologist
St Luke’s Cataract & Laser Institute
Tarpon Springs
F. Phillip Handy
CEO
Strategic Industries
Winter Park
Michael Hechberger
COO
Infinity Sales Group
Boca Raton
Gabe Hoffman
Managing Member Of General Partner
Cardens Capital
Miami Beach
Manuel Kadre
Attorney
Manuel Kadre Pa
Coral Gables
Jonathan I. Kislak
Venture Capital
Antares Capital
Miami Shores
Rafael Kravec
Retired
Bal Harbour
Sidney W. Lassen
Business Executive
Sizeler Realty
Palm Beach
Lisa J. Leder
Homemaker [Marc Leder’s ex-wife]
Boca Raton
E. Barry Mansur
Investments
Mansur Realty
Captiva
Henry Mccance
Venture Capital
Greylock Partners
Lake Wales
Dr. Roger Medel
Physician
Mednax Inc
Davie
Manuel Medina
CEO & President
Medina Capital Partners
Miami
Thomas Neff
Chairman
Spencer Stuart
North Palm Beach
William D. Perez
Senior Consultant
Greenhill & Co
Naples
Randal L. Ringhaver
Chairman & President
Ring Power Corp
Saint Augustine
Raul Rodriguez
CEO
Clinical Medical Services
Miami Lakes
Brian D. Schwartz
Private Equity
HIG Capital
Fort Lauderdale
John H. Sykes
Self-Employed
Sykes Enterprises
Tampa
Ellen Teresi
Publishing Executive
Paisano Publications
Fort Lauderdale
Joseph Teresi
Publisher/CEO
Paisano Publications
Fort Lauderdale
Mrs. Anthony Traviesa
Venture Capital
V3 Partners Llp
Tampa
Robert Zangrillo
Founder
Dragon Global Management
Miami Beach
Mnemosyne
@PurpleGirl:
The Amish have their faults, but apparently their tradition is to put the dessert on the table with everything else at the beginning of the meal so “dessert firsters” don’t have to ask for it and possibly be embarrassed.
@jeffreyw:
I would be very tempted to try that, but it’s pretty much a guarantee that I would have a kitchen covered in burned caramel after the can exploded because I forgot to keep an eye on the water level.
Chuck Butcher
I’m trying to pack after selling the house I’ve lived in and rebuilt and built half of after 22 yrs. Depressing is the best word I’ve got for this. No, I’m not underwater or anything like it.
Ruckus
@Chuck Butcher:
It can be very hard to walk away, no matter the reason. For me it is best look forward, never back, for that makes me question myself and as I usually don’t have good answers…
JustAnotherBob
Let me share some bits from a most interesting web site – give it a read if you need ammo for your “Why Obama Sucks” discussions…
Debt and Deficit. In the past 17 Presidential terms , nine were GOP led and eight Democratic. Of nine GOP Presidents, six added to debt/GDP and deficit/GDP as a percent. The only three that did not, had a Democratic House and Senate. Of eight Democrats, each one, reduced deficit/GDP and debt/GDP as a percent. That is 66 years of rhetoric of fiscal responsibility with zero net results for GOP. What makes matters even worse, is the fact that the president who added a historical 20.7% to the debt has one unique aspect of his presidency – President G. W. Bush had a GOP majority House and Senate.
Spending. The Republican Party often talks about financial responsibility, but did you know that since 1978-2011, spending has gone up 9.9% under Democrats versus 12.1% under GOP .
Federal Debt. Republicans love to tell us how they will not close tax loopholes on millionaires and billionaires, yet never bring to our attention that from 1978-2011 debt went up 4.2% under Democrats versus 36.4% under the GOP.
GDP. The only thing that the Democrats have a higher numerical yield than the GOP led administrations, is the GDP. It’s a good thing to have it at 12.6% versus a GOP 10.7%. From 1960 to 2005 the gross domestic product measured in year-2000 dollars rose an average of $165 billion a year under Republican presidents and $212 billion a year under Democrats.
Big Government. Federal spending (aka “big government”): It has gone up an average of about $50 billion a year under presidents of both parties. But that breaks down as $35 billion a year under Democratic presidents and $60 billion under Republicans. If you assume that it takes a year for a president’s policies to take effect, Democrats have raised spending by $40 billion a year and Republicans by $55 billion.
Federal Deficit. Under Republican presidents since 1960, the federal deficit has averaged $131 billion a year. Under Democrats, that figure is $30 billion. In an average Republican year, the deficit has grown by $36 billion. In the average Democratic year it has shrunk by $25 billion.
National Debt. The national debt has gone up more than $200 billion a year under Republican presidents and less than $100 billion a year under Democrats.
Inflation and Unemployment. Democratic presidents have a better record on inflation (averaging 3.13 percent compared with 3.89 percent for Republicans) and on unemployment (5.33 percent versus 6.38 percent). Unemployment went down in the average Democratic year, up in the average Republican one.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/06/02/the-black-and-white-numbers-democrats-are-better-than-republicans/
This is a very information rich page. It might be fun to start a series of emails to those who forward you right-wing junk….
catclub
@gbear: ” I’m over 250″
You don’t look a day over 175.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Liberty60: I think I will buy a Koran and then have an Imam marry me to another man with the money from my moocher check.
It’s never to early to destroy liberty comrades! Viva la Jerry Brown!
kamalokitty
Well of course. Of course the markets will swing up by virtue of St. Mitt being elected. He has MAGIC UNDERWEAR! He is the possessor of the magic fairy dust. He is the anointed one. What do you mother fuckers have? Nothing. Get a grip, peeps.
Tehanu
Way to support American values like hard work and gumption, Mittens. Listen, how can I get in on this racket?
Another Halocene Human
@Litlebritdifrnt: Mark Penn can go fuck himself, but if his fails and not Obama’s incredible ground game is what really put Barack over the top then the nation owes him a debt of gratitude. Hilary has been great at State but I do not agree with her politics, and, furthermore, Barack is a more skilled politician.
–Barack Obama primary voter
Another Halocene Human
@Schlemizel: I boycotted Target for years, to consternation of the wifey, finally went back this year because it got the community thumbs up.
It’s funny, my wife has a serious meltdown every time there is an anti-gay vote or an anti-gay politician wins, but when it comes to these businesses that FUND all this crap, she’s curiously apathetic.
I don’t care what those sheet-haids at AFA say about me, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to put my hard-earned money in their pockets.
Note, my money used to be easily-earned, but then I got stupid and went into a blue-collar profession. Now I know why middle-class parents push their kids like crazy to get office jobs.
Another Halocene Human
@Schlemizel: The problem with just giving out $7k checks is that the grifters, cons, and “job creators” would immediately snarf it up.
First of all, the poor get a chunk of their EIC stolen right at the tax preparer’s office, when they get sold “instant refunds” that chunk out absurdly large fees. Then, one they get the check, which was supposed to replace welfare for working families, they can go to the car lot where all the freshly lubed and waxed junkers are specially marked up for tax refund season.
But never mind that–the landlord would be first in line, to jack up the rent. Walmart would edge up their prices. Local governments and utilities and phone companies and cable companies would “recapture” revenue.
The wealthier would gain the most from the refund, the poor, the least.
When government spends (“invests”) in certain categories, it has a multiplier effect. Some categories have greater multipliers than others. Sure, cutting taxes to working people, which Obama did, has some stimulus, but investments in education are like stimulus on steroids.
We use taxes to advance the commonweal. The best utility does not come from simply rebating tax payments.