Balta1701

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 09:42 PM) Less regulations = more demand, then more supply to meet said demand. But then again, the government is perfect, and knows how to spend money better then any other entity in the history of the world. Whatever. Yeah, because that last decade of limited regulation...that was awesome growth!

Medicaid and unemployment benefits going up = supply side? WTF man?

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 07:01 PM) If anything, Spencer was as good as Kreutz is, and I'd be willing to bet he was better. There were 2 or 3 times per game where I'd watch a toss to Forte for a gain of nothing and say "why is Kreutz just standing there and why the f*** did he not hit anyone?" I agree though that they need to add another OL. Sean Locklear, Brian Waters, Trei Essex, Max Starks, Derrick Dockery, Kyle DeVan, and Ryan Harris are all still out there. There's still time because they won't be able to practice until Thursday anyways. I'd prefer it gets done soon though, because I'd like to get them the playbook asap. I haven't seen contract details yet, but it's probably also a good guess that spencer will make half as much as Kreutz, or something like that.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 06:23 PM) WTF are you talking about? There's no "enormous" cuts happening. At all. This whole thing was about our 'hysterical', er, 'historical' president saving face and swooping in to save the day at the very end. He's so underdogish and SOOOO above the political fray (waits for NSS and some others to talk about how he's the teflon guy and can't be blamed for anything bad). He got everything he wanted, because the baseline spending is jacked WAY up thanks to our wonderful stimulus 2 years ago and Obamacare a year ago. So the spending is hugely out of proportion and he didn't have to pay a f***ing thing politically. And we're "cutting" off of something that's jacked up so high that we can't possibly cover it. Baseline spending is higher because we have 9% unemployment, and when you go from employed to on Medicaid and unemployment benefits, that pumps up baseline spending. The stimulus basically has entirely ended, a small amount of stuff still hasn't been built, but almost everything else is there. That graph shows that Medicaid and unemployment benefits has made up 2 percentage points in the rise of the spending to GDP ratio. The stimulus briefly pumped that up quite a bit, but the ratio of spending to GDP has dropped by another 2 percentage points this year as it expired. The remainder of the change in that ratio is due to the fact that the economy was destroyed and still hasn't recovered. Smaller economy = lower spending to GDP ratio. In other words...right now, almost the entire "Spending spree" is maid up of extra dollars spent because people are unemployed. And don't worry, the unemployment benefits are already expiring, conveniently just as the economy stopped recovering. Just like it's supposed to.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 06:07 PM) They still pay assloads back to the state of illinois to waste. You lost me with the phrase "To waste"

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 03:46 PM) What did they pay in parking taxes and fees? Doesn't JR own the lots?

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 05:46 PM) This continual self promotion is not going to make you any friends on this board, FYI We'll deal with that.

With the Yankees and Twins coming up...feels like it's about time for that mid-summer losing skid.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:51 PM) But if two players are quite similar in ability, intangibles should be the deciding factor. I mean, if this was Shaun O'Hara, I would have no issues with the move because he is clearly better. I just don't see the upgrade in the Spencer move. A 29 year old versus a 34 year old is one other thing that could easily be called the "Deciding factor".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 05:26 PM) I'm going with something on the order of less than 2% of expected spending in the next decade not being "enormous". Spending in the next decade is projected to be $150 trillion?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:47 PM) If the Bears had the top offensive line last year maybe Id be more worried about his leadership or intangibles. I guess Id rather hope Carimi becomes the leader as hes actually played with great offensive lines. Heck, even a "tolerable" offensive line you can be more worried about intangibles. It's like the White Sox benched Dunn permanently and people were worried about the intangibles he brought to the lineup. He's been bad, the lineup's been bad, you can't get me mad about this.

Well, if the Republicans in here are right, the economy is going to grow like gangbusters starting here, because you're getting your enormous cutbacks.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:38 PM) But this lateral move also comes at the expense of all the intangibles that Kreutz brings. While those things aren't as important as on-the-field production, the intangibles still have their place. Add to the fact that now you have pissed off some of the key players of the Bears, including the coach, it creates a rift between the front office and team. The latter part is what bugs me the most because it is REALLY easy to upgrade from 2010, but we haven't. That's what I'm saying too though...intangibles really don't do that much if a guy simply doesn't have it any more.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:44 PM) It's comical to me that our lineup right now is: Lillibridge Alexei Pierre Quentin Dunn Rios Flowers Beckham Morel That team would win 50 games over a full season If everyone played to where they "Should" be with the bats, that's still a .500+ team.

He's had a bunch of those long at bats over the last week. Most end that way.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:35 PM) Well, I wouldn't argue that philosophy there. If you have three lefties, might as well take advantage of it. Boston might have the most perfectly assembled 1-5 in their lineup of this generation (non-steroids era) If you're carrying a LOOGY like Ohman and a lot of righties, might as well use that lefty for one out.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:34 PM) Yep, going to keep this .500 type team in place and hope Detroit comes falls to them like the Indians are. Except both of those teams made deals to try to get better.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:31 PM) Isn't it more important though to go after the guy who can be the go-ahead run? Oh well, Crain was brutal. The way the organization keeps talking about him, sounds like he's physically hit the wall. Of course, Tony LaRussa-ball would be to bring in Ohman for Ellsbury, Frasor/Crain for Pedroia, and Sale for the big lefties.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:30 PM) That logic doesn't make any sense. Just because they are the worst doesn't mean they could be worse still. But it does mean that it's hard for any move to even be a lateral move, and easy for it to be an upgrade.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:26 PM) So why are we pitching to Gonzalez here? Also, why the hell wasn't Sale brought in to face Ellsbury? Ellsbury is 80 points better against righties this season? Pedroia has a 1.200 OPS against LHP.

QUOTE (ChrisLikesBaseball @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 04:23 PM) Yay Alex Rios! At least he ran up to the ball.

Classic Crain inning. Does this 4-5 times a year, esp. when he gets no help.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 03:57 PM) So are the Cubs going to get draft picks if Pena leaves after this season? I have no idea what they're doing with regards to not trading away anyone they can. If they offer him arbitration he might still be type B, I dunno. Would you offer him arbitration and risk having him accept?

Looks like one of those "Jessie Crain" innings. Sale better get Gonzalez.

QUOTE (bulokis @ Jul 31, 2011 -> 03:21 PM) Any news? So we are all in still? All in, yup. Managed to move $10 mil off the table when no one was looking, but still close enough.