GOP "Economic Principles" a Smokescreen for Racism

As Ron White says, "You can't fix stupid."

I can't speak for anyone else, but I am so relieved you chose not to watch the video. I can't even imagine the shame I would have felt had you not liked it.

lower freaking taxes???? How much lower are ya gonna go.....that is the problem now....no revenue....too many tax cuts and loopholes and subsidies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No money coming in=deep in debt - doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out!!!!!!! This IS no fiscal and personal responsibility at it's finest!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lowering taxes on the poor is great idea.

Yeah I figured it was as stupid as the only written sentence.

Oh we can always go lower. The problem is spending not tax confiscation. I hesitate to refer to it as "revenue" because that implies the production of something.
Do away with Title 26 and have everyone pay a flat tax on income. Make the percentage amount untouchable. No deductions, no credits, no nothing. Treat everyone the same.

I am not arguing with what you said but since 47% of the income earners don't pay any tax now, how are we going to lower theirs? YOu can even get back tax money that you don't put in such as with refundable credits. What you are saying sounds nice and gets you voted up. Everyone says make the rich pay their fair share but since the people who make money no pay virtually ALL the income tax it follows that only the people who pay none are not paying their "fair share". It seems that what you really want is to have the lower income tier live off the earnings of the other half. That is not "fair". Don't get the idea that I am in favor of the moneyed folk paying nothing while the lower incomes pick up the tab but you cannot do the reverse either. If you are going to have an income tax, and I am not in favor of W2 income being taxed at all, then everyone pays.

Best explanation I've heard yet.

The trickle down theory at work.

Yes. When you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better

Thanks.

Appalling.

And actually, the "whites" bars also, I believe (if I'm wrong, Vic, let me know) include the upper 1 and 2 percenters and therefore don't reflect the trouble many white people are in as well, especially women. Of course, it's been this society's longstanding economic practice to keep black and hispanic people from achieving very much in job salaries, benefits, and promotions until very recently.

I am not sure where all these white people live but they dont live in small town America....cause our net worth aint near that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A few years back Bush made sure all our savings and investments were worthless.....then my husband gets laid off from a 15 year job and never gets hired back....he now works for minimum wage and draws his social security, which he had to sign up for alot earlier than he planned to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly- and they continue to spout their bullshit about "family values."

Wasn't it W.C. Fields who said, "Never give a sucker an even break."?

Well I like it bill. It is amusing

Thank you. Thank you very much! LOL

Factions most often produce nothing but meaningless conflict; however, there seems to be a clear dividing line between people who comprehend the world as a system of interrelated beings and those who see the world as a large fruit to be eaten and then excreted. As the years have passed in my lifetime, it seems that this line has been clearly drawn and highlighted by predators who seek to enrich their emotional lives by consuming all that is outside their skins. In order to justify their behavior, they have willfully and determinedly tried to devalue and dehumanize those who seek to foster healthy interactions among the beings who share the planet.

I am tired of hoping that light will shine into the consciousness of those who mindlessly chew up the earth. I am tired of watching predators, who count on complacency and good will to shield them from consequences, destroy civil society in the name of slogans and cheap gratification. I am tired of being labeled and tossed aside simply because I choose to think instead of consume.

I am not alone in this fatigue, as is evidenced by the many responses to this post. I hope that we will all stop hoping futilely for others to change and will, instead, demand that logic and genuine loving concern for each other rule our words and our actions. I will not sit idly and silently as bigots and liars foul my world with their pathological practices. If this means I have to join a faction for environmental health, education, fairness, and justice, then I will certainly join that faction.

The Tea Party and those who flit around its fringes must be driven back under the rock from which it emerged. It is a sick and twisted aberration, like a tumor that sucks the life out of its host.

I agree with you. I also do not see environmental caring and humanitarianism as being a faction but a way of life and how we were meant to live. Perhaps if we can ever get beyond that mindset as a whole we may see at last the world we know exists. Would sure like to see it in my lifetime.

Anything is possible in a country where affairs of state are conducted out of view of the voting public.

Thanks, Bailey.

And their toolbox is stuffed with implements.

You're welcome. Following you back.

Ha! Very nice.

Oh, so now everyone in the south is racist. Is there anyone that is not racist, that might be a shorter list according to you.

I agree.

Expanding on racism, racism is simply another tool in the Teapublican arsenal for reducing America to a pawn in the battle of the Gods. Radical fundamentalist Christians vs. everyone else in the war against humanity in an attempt to get their Jesus as the head of a "Christian" world government.

Can anyone spell 21st Century Crusades?

The Norwegian mass murderer is a Glen Beck and Teapublican kind of guy.

Thank you for your cogent and accurate observations. The SPLC is, indeed, a worthy group. The only issue I have with your comments is that they cast aspersions upon innocent pustules.

Right on.

And have we ever seen any republican repudiate the Willie Horton ads? Welfare Queens? The so-called Drug War that is only enforced minority neighborhoods and excuses defoliation of other countries? Why should anyone assume the GOP has done anything to address the racism in their past?

The"southern strategy" is a name republicans gave to the practices & code words they use to communicate their continued support for indefensible policies. Sadly, this has the effect of making it sound like southerners as a group agree with their throwback ideology.

Sandy, I also have to wonder if the apparent willingness of the GOP to let the national & world economies implode is also pandering to those Americans who have been long hoping/planning for the collapse of America &/or civilization - militias, Y2K fanatics, Left Behind fans, rapture devotees.

Fanatics come in different colors, but they share absurd passion.

Sorry, but I don't see any veteran members of the GOP either reasoning with or standing up to the tea-bags. The GOP thought they could harness popular frustration, bat-splat craziness & the money of crazy mean rich people for the GOPs own ends, but it seems like they didn't so much gain control of this (much smaller than they'd have us believe) demographic as drink their tea.

One wonders how he finds the keyboard.

I see your point, gross generalizations get us no where, but....who did the Tea baggers elect and where? I would realy like to know. Because what I understand is Tea Party is a subsidiary of the Republicans and wholly backed with money from Dick Army and the Koch boys. The entire idea was started on t.v. (I want to say dylan ratigan coined the phrase?) They are racists for the most part. Palin encouraged this openly during the election. McCain got booed for trying to dampen their racist fervor. The Tea Party is not a registered party with any state, as far as I know. And it has been pointed out the contradictions in their political agendas over and over. Socialism should not be put into the same phrase with communisim, nor should liberal. Since when is it bad to want to take care of old ladies, vet, disabled and give kids an education? Since when is liberal/socialist synonymous with communisim? Medicare is a social program, so is the dreaded and hated social security. why are the right going after these? Not for some over arching need to protect democracy but to give the rich more of our tax dollars for wars and their subsidies. Why are they going after these "social" programs and not suggesting anything better to take care of our hurt, elderly or those needing a leg up? They are ecclisiastical federalists, gov. is only there to help the rich get richer and defense. This is anarchy. Try paying for fire and police without social taxation on your own. Try finding a decent road to drive on without it. Do you go to your town council meetings? Our town support several charities with our taxes, OMG socialism! ( I might add in a very red county, actually RED! that means they are actually communist! Red scare!???) See how it goes?

it could be in brail

I thought that was a lampshade.

Thank you for saying what I was too lazy to mention.

now that is how to stand up you got my vote

That is very well put and I applaud the effort. I really do. My only problems with what you said are 1) the only ones who would ever listen to it are resonable people (that leaves the hand-flapping screamers who comprise the strongest base of the Tea Party and the Neo-Con movement out, so why bother?) and 2) it's all well and good to say that gross generalizations are counter-productive until they become so routine that they are, in fact, truisms. The generalizations applied to the Tea Party (lots of bigots, AWFUL grasp of history when "quoting" the founding fathers, voting by fear as opposed to any semblance of reason, complete and TOTAL lack of civic responsibility in regards to willingness to pay for services they use, etc) range from being rampant in their rhetorric to being actual "party" PLATFORM POINTS.

Many are professional lunatics who make a practice of trolling boards (under multiple aliases) with the exclusive purpose of pissing people off. They demure from READING anything longer than a couple paragraphs because facts BORE them and are "elitist" in being TECHNICAL. I have long since given up on showing them even passing respect because- be honest, here. TRULY honest- the majority add nothing to the discussion other than grief to mature adults who want to clean this mess up.

Predictible answer

I reply with intelligence. I leave the immature insults to people like you.

"They are racists for the most part."

No, the MSM media goes looking for racism, finds one thing they believe to be racism and plays it over and over and over, ad nauseum to fulfill their agenda. It turned out no one was spit on or yelled nigger in the video the MSM played repeatedly claiming there was racism. There are racists of all kinds and colors in both itical parties in every corner of society. You may hear a person who claims to be a Tea Party member making a racist statement. But you won't hear the Tea Party make racist statements.

"Tea Party is a subsidiary of the Republicans"

Yes, the Republican Party saw a good thing and has put money behind it. But there are Democrats who are Tea Party members. The origins are about responsible fiscal spending.

"The entire idea was started on t.v. (I want to say dylan ratigan coined the phrase?) "

Wrong! The first shot heard round the world, if you will was fired by Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Merchantile Exchange. He made the news. His rant initiated "Tea Parties" around the country. Eventually there was a national convention. Sarah Palin participated. She draws media coverage. From that point forward the movement has been big. Someone posted Tea Party events don't have the attendance they used to. Most Tea Party people are average people without large bank accounts to travel. I suspect activity will pick up in the election cycle.

"The Tea Party is not a registered party with any state, as far as I know."

It's not a political party. It's a statement about taxes and government spending.

"Medicare is a social program, so is the dreaded and hated social security. why are the right going after these?"

The country's social programs need to be reformed. When Social Security started people died at the average age of 63 and never collected. Many paid in. Few received benefits. Now a person lives to an average of 77. The ratio of workers paying in is close to those receiving benefits. As medical science has us living longer this model can't sustain itself.

When Medicare was created in the 60's people lived to an average age of 67. As I mentioned life expectency is now 77. Look at the medical advances since the 60's. A lot of Medicare dollars go to quality of life medicine (body parts replacement) that was not anticipated in the 60's. Most of the money is spent in the last few months of life. If this kind of care is going to be provided to seniors (and it should) the model can't sustain itself. The reason health insurance costs as a whole has increased so rapidly is subsidizing the cost of care to seniors.

"the rich get richer"

The rich will always get richer regardless of tax policy. If I have $10 to invest and you have $1, if we both get 10% return I make $1 and you make ten cents.

One of the big problems is Obama has defined rich as people making 250K. I've been there. It's comfortable. It's not rich. No one can retire because they make 250K. Many of the people making 250K are small business owners. They are S type corporations. Without getting into detail the money the government taxes them will prevent them from hiring an additional employee.

In my current company I had two employees. You would't believe the regulations and paperwork required by the government when you have employees. I decided it wasn't worth it. I was getting taxed at a rate of 55% (state, federal, SSI) of gross profit plus paying employees and providing benefits. I was the one who needed to be out of the office. I was bogged down in paperwork. I laid off the employees and became a 1099 self employed person. It eliminated the paperwork and regulations. Now I'm doing what I want to do all the time, work with clients. I would be netting the same amount of money as I was before without all the hassles. But I've chosen to work less and make less money since so much goes to taxes anyway. My working less means the government gets less tax revenue from me.

The net is government regulations and taxes coerced me to lay off people, not work so hard and reduce payments to the government. Multiply this scenario by the millions of small business owners in the country. And Obama says he wants to tax small business more. Small business provides 80% of the jobs in the country.

"Our town support several charities with our taxes,"

Given I've done well with two previous businesses I've sold I give a substantial amount of money to charity plus a lot of time. I know where the money goes. I know it's not waste like a lot of my tax money.

You make an interesting point regarding the town providing money for charities. The country would be far better off if the government was run from the bottom up rather than the top down. We should be paying more in local and state taxes and far less in federal taxes. We have access in local politics. We have very little control, if any over Washington. A lot less tax money would be wasted if we had more local control over our lives. One thing the Republicans are for is getting the federal government out of our lives as much as possible and giving control back to the states. When Rick Perry was asked about gay marriages in New York he responded, "It's not my business. The decision was made where it should be ... at the state level." We know his personal view. But he understands states should be in control of their future, not the federal goverment.

The Tea Party endorsed minority candidates you asked about are:

Alan West - Congress
Tim Scott - Congress
Marco Rubio - Senate
Nikki Haley - Governor SC
Susan Martinez - Governor NM

Herman Cain is a very popular Tea Party candidate for president. He won't win. But he's saying the right things relative to fiscal conservatism

A strong majority of posters on this board do not fall under the category of mature. They use insults to attack those they disagree. They add nothing to the debate.

I can see by the -12 there are people not interested in the truth. But this site has never been interested in the truth when it interferes with their delusional views.

That's racist!

Oh stow that already. You are constantly insulting people and if you claim otherwise you are either incapable of understanding the words you use, are in complete denial or are one of the most disingenuous people to ever walk the planet. Or all 3.

Don't be so hard on yourself, Warren. You are one of the worst of the violators when it comes to insults, threats and condescension. And none of your snarky comments spur any debate because it is the same tired right wing talking points that anyone could hear from Rush, Beck, Hannity or any of the Faux News newsmodels. You are about as original as a Henny Youngman joke was years ago.

I believe you are correct, sir.

Thank you. Maybe that's what we're missing here. The comedic stylings of WM.

Liberalism is the comedy. What makes it even funnier is liberals don't realize 90% of the country thinks they're insane.

I'm honoured that you not only reported my insult, but replied to it twice when I said it once. It has been noted- accurately- that you insult others here with a great aplomb, leading one to notice that you can dish it out with the best of them as long as there is no "take it". Nicely done.

While I STRONGLY believe replying to you with any form of intelligence is a waste of time (because I believe from your many MANY posts that you are in fact a troll), I'll make an exception this once. I can't WAIT to see your reply. I have a strong suspicion that the high ground you are feigning (badly) will shatter instantly. Here goes:

You mention a handful of Black people who the Tea Party holds up as tokens and people have called them tokens directly. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of tokenism, it goes like this: you find someone of another group who is quick to agree with you in every way and drop them into the center of your group. Then you run them out as a representative of how diverse you are because you have one or two people who aren't NATIVE to your group. In actuality, however, diversity is not only one thing (in this case colour) it is MANY things. If, for instance, the only Blacks you incorporate to your little group are all rich, straight, Protestant and seem to hate Black people the veneer of "diversity" is shattered. You have TOKENS.

The other major problem the REST of us have is we are about sick of hearing the words "fiscal conservatism" as if they don't include the phrase "social bigot" when it comes to the Tea Party. Your (paid for and faux) "grass roots" movement is almost ALWAYS peppered with people who start screaming Old Testament dogma the second they get near a microphone. They may be screaming about Gay marriage or the "threat" of Islam (in general) or "welfare cheats" in the "inner city", but it always amounts to something that has little or nothing to do with "fiscal" anything. If you were TRULY fiscally concerned, you would screaming about GE not paying a CENT in taxes or corrporate jets as right offs or over a billion dollars in subsidies to oil companies that NEED no subsidies because they have a HUGE profit margin. You and your friends could care LESS about those things. Instead you target unions that (mainly) keep people from getting killed on the job and make sure they get health insurance.

The Tea party REPEATEDLY misquotes the words and intentions of the founding fathers. That is no coincidence. They do it because they know that most of the people in their crowd know nothing of history and that their argument seems stronger when you (lie and) tie it in with a historical figure or movement. If it was convenient to your (paid for and faux) "movement", you would introduce a Kung Fu version of Gandhi or Jesus with an Uzi.

I was mean to you because you side with people who play on the stupid and nurture ignorrance as virtue. Now, in this whole post I have not used one foul word or image. I have merely stated in terms anyone can understand why I find your "movement" reprehensible and- yes- built on bigotry and ignorrance.

Might I suggest if you want thumbs up responses you run to the Fox News site? They are okay with people lying and playing victim when they are actually the ones on the attack. It might make you feel better.

You reply with intelligence. Of course. Sorry. My bad.

By the way, there's only one "L" in "leave" and it would be captalized if it was the beginning of a new sentence. If you wrote "I leave" there would- traditionally- be a SPACE between those two words; it might be clearer if you did that. Lastly, when you are making fun of people for insulting people, you are IN FACT, insulting people.

Sorry to interrupt. Pray, continue to enlighten us.

"I'm honoured that you not only reported my insult,"

I don't vote on posts or threads. I don't report posts.

Nice takeaway, there. You addressed one of the few statements that was exclusively about YOU in a fairly long post and that is ALL you addressed. Thanks for doing that because you created a teachable moment. To whit:

What Warren has done here is kind of an allegory of the far right end of the GOP in general and the Tea Party in specific. If it doesn't DIRECTLY effect ONLY them, they ignore it, shun it, or lobby against it. They live in a very simple and tiny world where simple answers are the only POSSIBLE answers because that is what they understand, so it MUST be right. There is no learning curve if it doesn't effect them DIRECTLY and IMMEDIATELY.

They live in a kind of middle school approach to politics. They recognize and hurl insults, but are loud in their victim status when those insults come back at them. They ignore that which is over their heads because if they don't understand it, it must not be important or even tangible. They believe that tomorrow is not effected by today, so you should GRAB stuff now and stuff it in your pockets if it is shiny. They know one person not like themselves and they use that person as proof that they are all-inclusive rather than reach out and look for OTHERS who might have even MORE diversity.

It is a completely immature way of life. We can choose to be like the Warren's of the world. That is a choice. It's just a bad one.

Only those without intelligent debate to contribute go after typos. How petty.

I'm a fiscal conservative. You have no idea about most of the rest of my politics, Regardless of what I believe I find it offensive to make condescending remarks regardig people's religions regardless of what it may be. What you have just displayed is another case of liberal intolerance and hate.

You would be fortunate to live my life. The problem is it has involved motivation, work ethic and sacrifice. It far exceeds that of people who whine and complain about what the government hasn't given them and worry about what other people have rather than making their own way.

Look at you WAAAAY up on the highground and not insulting people like I said you would do almost immediately. And I love the glowing review of your life you shared with us. Totally unbiased and free of puffery and boasting. You are my new IDOL.

Are you a superhero? Be honest.

MmmmHmmmm. Keep telling yourself that one. While you do that, keep ignoring that I wrote a longer post where I actually treated you seriously and you ignored it by only taking away the part that applied directtly to you. Call it multi-tasking. It'll be fun!

Sadly, this is the last post I will waste on you. I feel guilty because I have, in fact, fed the troll. I apologize.

To everyone else.

Beg for attention elsewhere. I'm no longer reading your responses. You'll keep posting to me though. I know that. Because you CRAVE my attention. It's sad, isn't it? I mean you don't even KNOW me, but you crave my attention. That's what trolls do, though. Keep posting, pal.

Nothing, it is just a smoke screen.

Bingo.

The difference is the ratio of debt to revenue. There is an acceptible ratio. The ratio was very low when Reagan was president. The ratio is very high now. Moody's and S&P have stated the US losing it's credit rating goes way beyond raising the debt ceiling and meeting obligations. They have stated if there aren't serious cuts in spending and the debt accumulation the debt obligations will become an unacceptible ratio to revenue.

The US will be able to meet it's obligations without the debt ceiling being raised. Revenue comes in weekly. The debt has to be paid first. There's enough to pay the debt, seniors, the military and run a lot of the government. There won't be a shutdown. There will be a slowdown. A bigger concern is the fiscal year starts October 1st. So far the government isn't anywhere close to a budget.

I really don't know.

My question is what caused the difference between candidate Obama, who apparently had no fear of saying things that deviate from the GOP Mad Hatter Tea Party , and the guy now occupying the White House who is letting congressional freshmen define the debate, and only uses his executive power to drag his feet on things he promised, like closing Gitmo & ending the Iraq & Afghan wars, but seems incapable of conceiving of using the same power to protect his battered, broke & distressed population from financial & political bondage?

'The peoples history of the United States'...by Howard Zinn,clearly shows the motivations of the rich,crowd control.Always has been,no matter how many times the laboring classes(indians,indendentured servants,slaves) have helped them survive in the new world,these heartless bastards still find ways to try to control the masses.

My grandmother had a saying: "Them that has gets."