Balta1701

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:10 PM) I'd be ok with the US spending less on education period. Since what we're spending now, is by and large, completely wasted since they have no idea where or how to spend the money. We're great at spending money. We're even better at spending money in all the wrong places, so long as they're in the general "area" where we need to spend it. It's hard to spend money properly on education when the people we have in charge of the money spent on education are political cronies that knew the right people to get their job in the first place. Just so it's said, I agree with a lot of what you say here. I think our teachers being paid below the OECD average is a very clear symptom of this problem.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:07 PM) Adjusting for inflation the minimum wage would be like 10 bucks. It's not a huge leap. From the value it was in the 1960's it'd be nearly $14. It'd nearly double.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:05 PM) No, what you posted was bulls***. You posted cost per student. So do that, add up all the students in the US and compare it to the total spending of the nations you compared it too. Add it up...I know you're good at math. You're argument just fell apart. Let me be more clear for you since you seem to require that. Overall, we spend FAR more than anyone else on education in the world. Yes, you are correct, the United States is bigger than Germany or France. Correcting for the "size of the country" is sort of hte most basic thing possible here. Would you be in favor of the U.S. spending the same total amount on education as a country 1/3 its size?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:02 PM) You just compared the US as #3 to two places that are as small as Rhode Island. Dude...here are your exact words. I'm pretty sure "Higher than anyone in the world" includes small countries. If you want to say "higher than the largest developed countries" then use the qualifier in the first place.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 02:01 PM) ...and watch when they STILL don't use it. Make it free and over the counter. People use stuff like crazy when it's free. A tiny price is an enormous economic disincentive compared to "free", there's real solid economic literature on that topic.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:57 PM) I'm pretty sure No. 1 already happens. Birth control is either free or relatively cheap. And usually it's readily available. I'm sure you'll find this hilarious, but once again, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act thanks you for your support. (In case you haven't paid attention, the requirements that all plans provide no-cost birth control and access to education/support/family planning resources has been the subject of quite a few court cases already. So for a lot of people...it isn't currently available...particularly at low income levels.)

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:56 PM) We already have dramatically high education spending. Higher than anyone in the world. A lot of good it's doing. ...and what the hell is the "cost of living", anyway? Just so it's pointed out, we're close to the top but this isn't health care. We're also below the OECD average on spending for teacher salaries, to throw that into the pot as well (I read that as saying a whole lot of that education spending goes to administration, which sounds pretty accurate to me since tests aren't cheap).

Didn't see it posted but apologize if I missed it. Here's a roundup of reactions that I found was interesting, positive and negative looks on both sides.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:49 PM) The argument that we've tried it before and it didn't solve the problem so we shouldn't waste a ton of money and make the country/rest of society worse by doing so? Yeah, that's pretty much what i'm saying. How have you established that a higher minimum wage "didn't solve the problem"? We've dramatically cut the minimum wage relative to inflation over the past 40 years or so and thus it shouldn't be surprising that we're judging it to be a much bigger problem now than it was previously. My favorite example of this continues to be the Tennessee congresswoman who said we didn't need to raise the minimum wage because the $2.15 or so she received when she worked a minimum wage job in the late 60's was just fine...and when you adjusted that value for inflation it turned out to be about $14.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:35 PM) That still doesn't address my issue, which is that whatever number we come up - make a thousand different variations depending on your location - and there will ALWAYS be people arguing that it's not enough. Then peg it to inflation, so that it stops "no longer being enough" every couple years.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) I saw some Trackman data from the AFL, and he had a couple of the hardest hit balls recorded in the league for the season (based on exit velocity). Also had a couple long home runs. So seriously, regarding his entire year including the AFL...WTF?

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:57 PM) Now theyre 50, knocking on the door of retirement. They demand the SS and Medical coverage because they paid into it. They dont want to work anymore, either. Our investment? More like a Ponzi Scheme. You realize that a person near 50 has nearly 2 decades to go before they qualify for full OASDI benefits and 1.5 decades to go before Medicare?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:55 PM) Cute. It's a serious reply, all things considered. When we have people making minimum wage, they're often not eligible for Medicaid and they're stuck into the horrible indivudual market where it's virtually impossible to actually get reasonable coverage. That market was a disaster, and I hope you're not going to give me the "oh they can just go to the ER to get their heart medication" joke. In Tennessee, many of those people wind up lining up for hours waiting for "Remote Area Medical" free clinics when they're held, just to get basic things like a tooth pulled from the kind of doctors who should be helping out 3rd world countries but found one within the united states. The way we're actually going to cover those people's health care to make life actually livable on those wages is the PPACA.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:52 PM) Can I think that MLB is being very disingenuous in this process and yet at the same time believe that A-Rod deserves every bit of the punishment he's getting? Let me ask you this in reply...can you make a strong case for why you believe MLB is being disingenuous?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:46 PM) That is true, but he seems to hold up better than most players despite being round, so it will be interesting to watch. His numbers really started taking a beating last year to my eyes, but it's possible being in Texas could help him get into a hitting groove again.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:53 PM) And society already does that. So again, what's a basic income/living wage that you all want. I want a dollar figure. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care act thanks you for coming out in strong support of it.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:48 PM) You can absolutely "live" on 15-20k a year. Easily. If someone else is picking up the health care costs and retirement costs. And you don't have any kids.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 12:38 PM) Which makes it even weirder that you go along with it. Are you really that desperate for any form of added gun control? Even if it has the kind of side effects Ive described? I ask this question periodically and never really get an answer: What are we protecting people for? Not what are we protecting them from, thats easy, but what kind of life are we preserving here? Did you just go back to the "life isn't worth living if you don't have a gun" here? What kind of life are we preserving? A very damn fine life for a whole lot of people.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 09:59 PM) Even though Fielders numbers have declined the last 2 years , Cabrera still won 2 MVP's with Fielder behind him and got less intentional walks. Does Cabrera move to 1st ? Does Kinsler play 1st, Cabrera 3rd and the Tigers go after Robinson Cano ? Or is it money freed up to try and resign Scherzer and/or extend Verlander ? Tigers did very well to get out from under that contract and I have a suspicion they have another interesting move coming. Clearly this moves Cabrera back to 1b which absolutely needs to happen t keep him healthy.

Now keeping people with mental illness away from health care and giving them guns. That's true heroism. It's not like this conversation was sparked by an attempted murder suicide. Why he was just expressing his second amendment rights in the most common fashion when he shot himself. And the people who sent him home after it was recommended he not be? True heroes supporting freedom.

Well then.

Lol, yeah that's the problem, they don't have 2nd amendment rights. Thank God we can still give them the important right to not have appropriate health care.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 06:28 PM) Or maybe L Garcia gets traded. Why they'd do that I have absolutely no idea.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 04:59 PM) Hyperbole. Because Trayvon Martin is still alive?

Some images were released today.