Balta1701

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 09:02 PM) I always thought White Sox fans loved the Cardinals due to our hatred of the Cubs. I think 05/06 changed that a fair amount.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 21, 2013 -> 08:45 AM) Unless they get a franchise 3B, I don't see them dealing starting pitching. It was a bit different before we signed Abreu, but I am sure the Sox feel they have their clean up and 1B for the next six years now. It solidifies the line up a lot. I'd guess that's exactly what they'd try to target.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 06:58 PM) Abreu is only making $11M per season, do you really consider Adam LaRoche a star? That's simply the going rate for a power-hitting 1B not the next Albert Pujols. Of course, the right comparison is guys who haven't played an inning of MLB-ball when you look at that salary...and in that case, that ought to be the going rate for a would-be star.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 06:38 PM) I agree on an emphasis to acquire a superstar. We need to become the hot baseball ticket in town. It's there for the taking. Hopefully we already did. At the least we just paid for one.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 05:28 PM) But Balta, out of all those government tax receipts in 1997-1998-1999-2000, how much of it is attributable to capital gains? Between 1994 and 2000 it went from 0.13% of GDP to 0.18% of GDP. In other words, it's smaller than the lines on those plots. (It might have made a slightly larger difference but there were repeated cuts to capital gains taxes over that time, both when capital gains were increasing and when they plummeted after bubbles bursting).

The Medicare Drug benefit has as much to do with the ratio between tax receipts and GDP as Yasiel Puig's celebrations do. It's actually kind of remarkable how you say there's no way to correct for ..... "lowering of taxes"...that's the ****ing point. What might be worth noting though is that the increase in the 1990's happened right after a series of Tax increases, including Bill Clinton's 1993 budget, and it dropped rapidly the second we started cutting taxes. 2 major tax cuts, in 2001 and 2003, and suddenly we went from a situation where we were getting the budget situation in line for what was necessary given upcoming demographic changes to one where we were underfunding everything at a federal level while simultaneously feeding another large investment bubble. Also worth noting...the 2000's housing bubble was much larger than the stock bubble in the 1990's, but it never produced tax receipts coming anywhere near the same fraction of the economy observed in the 1990's...because taxes were slashed.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 04:38 PM) Yeah I didn't like the call either. As the announcer said he's never seen that called before. Well yeah, they said the rule was changed this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 04:30 PM) Now that is just funny. Bait taken...now insert chart with actual data showing how tax rates have spent the last decade well below the long term average, starting in 2000, and have spent nearly 5 years at the lowest levels since 1950. We don't have a spending problem. We have record low tax receipts. But because that's been accomplished by cutting the highest-level rates and the corporate rates, no one feels it.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 04:29 PM) Wow, worst call ever to screw the Patriots. Unbelievable. Actually, that really is the correct call based on the rules as the announcers just described them.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 03:53 PM) I'd be on board for Santiago-Gordon for Kung Fu Panda and placing Semien at the vacant spot. Free agent at the end of 2014 so we'd only have him for 1 season, probably not getting the $14 million qualifying offer that would earn us a draft pick, due $8.2 million next year so his "surplus value" over what he's paid for is extremely low. This is comparable to Santiago for Headley...it's a move the White Sox might consider coming off a season where they won 89 games and their 3b spot was a weakness where they could put themselves over the top, and they had extra veteran pitching around making a guy under team control for 4 years superfluous. It's the opposite of the kind of move the White Sox should be making now, they should not be trading well underpaid guys they have long-term for fairly-paid soon-to-be free agents.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 01:13 PM) So this country can not be successful based on the tax revenue that is collected. The only way to remain at this level is to borrow every year? That was the decision we came to as a country in the 2000 election.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 11:30 AM) I just do not see Konerko back. Despite the hometown discount he gave the team way back when, there is no hometown favorite roster spot available. Sentimentally I would rather see Dunn moved, but that is not realistic and not the soundest baseball move. When did this actually happen?

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 01:27 PM) I am about 50/50 on Abreu. The initial scouting report called him one of the best hitters in the world, with comparisons to Bonds and Cabrera. The recent scouting reports called him a slider speed hitter who will have trouble hitting good pitchers with plus heat, but will feast on the lesser ones. That kind of does explain the incredible numbers he has put up in Cuba. The other question mark is he is already profiled as a 1B/DH, defense is not a strong part of his game. If he doesn't contribute offensively, it will be hard for him to earn that contract. If the White Sox are wrong on this one then people will lose their jobs. I'm content with that. Kenny and Rick just put $70 million of other people's money on the line as a bet on this guy. If they lose the bet the team loses for another 2-3 years and then the White Sox are looking for a fresh set of voices in their front office.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 20, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) Good, it's a contract year. Maybe he'll actually get in shape and play well. As it stands now, we'll have a DH opening after next season.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 07:34 PM) And don't forget that this year they're (potentially) losing Peralta, Infante, Benoit to FA They have Peralta's replacement for next year covered.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 07:26 PM) And I'm comfortable saying the Heat are much worse off with LeBron injured than the Bulls are with Derrick injured. Same with the rest of the Other Two and the next two best Bulls, whoever they may be Whoever they are, I'm pretty sure they actually are injured right now.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) This game is a joke. One more score and we pass Denver/Dallas!

QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 06:09 PM) And his club house presence, which I think this team is missing. Beckham hit .210 w/RISP compared to to .338 for Phillips. Like I said, I'm certainly not calling for it. It was brought up and I said I wouldn't hate it. If he had 4/$20 remaining I'd consider claiming him on waivers, but I'm absolutely not giving up anything of value to get him to that point (and De Aza is a very valuable player). If I'm giving up anything of value, he needs to be basically free, or they need to take some bad money back (and somehow I don't think Dunn fits there).

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) Trea Turner will be a Jr this year at NC State Ah, ok, my bad, can never tell when guys are in HS or college from posts here. Apologies.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 05:32 PM) It's fluff, but I'll take it: http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox-talk/s...ure-hitter-cuba Key phrase I took from there: I like guys talking about his approach positively.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 05:29 PM) Could you imagine the potential R-L combo of Trey Turner and Micah Johnson at the top of the order??? Yeesus. Turner is 17 and in high school still right now right? So when he's 23 and at an age when guys would normally be pushing the big leagues...it'll be 2019 and we'll be gearing up for the primaries for the 2020 election?

QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 05:11 PM) I'd be fine with them paying half the salary. That's roughly 6M a year for a guy who hit over .330 w/RISP (included an unreal 11-18 with the bases loaded) and is a "Priceless clubhouse presence". I think he's worth about that. Trading them De Aza would also have to come on the coattails of another deal the Sox made to get a new CFer. Reds are asking Uggla and a top prospect, De Aza alone probably doesn't even match that. I'm certainly not gonna be the leader of the trade for Phillips fan club, I'm merely saying I wouldn't hate it. Your entire argument for trading for a 32 year old who hit like Gordon Beckham and paying $25 million of his salary over the next 4 years while also giving up a very valuable player is his performance with RISP?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 05:06 PM) It all depends on how much money he wants. Is it more than $500k?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 10:48 AM) The math is simply 17 trillion in debt. That has to be paid back, or the interest payments alone will begin to outweigh income. If this isn't paid back, a default is inevitable, it's not a matter of if, but when. I'm not saying the time is NOW to balance the budget, but it has to be done, and that debt level has to come down, and the excuse of spend during bad times has become just that, an excuse. The issue is the same, and it will remain the same. The reason given that government should spend during bad times will get used -- correctly -- however, the government never draws back during good times and pays down the debt created during those bad times, and therefore it simply becomes an excuse. They spend during good times, they spend during bad times, the debt level grows, interest payments grow, and so on...eventually it has to happen. Ah, the classic "this is a big number it must be bad!" post. That debt level does not have to come down. It has to eventually balance as a share of GDP...which has already happened. Budget projections show that the debt as a share of GDP is stable for the next decade already. It could start going down in fact if we actually could get people back to work, but long ago we decided unemployment is a low priority. But since you brought up interest payment outlays...it's worth noting that adjusted for GDP, interest outlays for the last decade are 1/2 what they were between 1980 and the Clinton administration, and despite the large increase in total debt over the last 5 years, interest payments have fallen as a share of GDP. The interest on the debt is actually taking up less of a share of the economy now than it was in 2000 or 2006, and it's 1/2 of what it was in the early 90's, and there is zero evidence of a trend towards increasing interest payments as a share of the economy.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 19, 2013 -> 03:53 PM) With how far Pujols' career has fallen and the steroid rumors becoming more prevalent with his body breaking down, I don't think most Cardinals' fans are too upset anymore. How does "He's aging normally!" make the steroid rumors more prevalent?