Balta1701

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 07:18 PM) All of them? Except for the service fees like on phone service, I'd say almost all of them are state/local taxes, wouldn't you?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 07:06 PM) There are five teams in that division. The Dodgers seem like they're in cutting back mode, and the D-Backs are in full rebuilding.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 04:01 PM) This is dictated by each state, correct? To most of the extent yes...the States decide based on their own rules when and how to send credentials for a Senator to Washington. However, the Senate does have a role; the Senate itself can decide to refuse to accept the credentials of a Senator. They wouldn't do that for a guy legitimately elected, but there was some talk about refusing to seat anyone Blagojevic nominated back when that all went down.

Merkin has a long piece on Sale's role next year. Some money bits.

He won this award on opening day. I'm not joking.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 04:51 PM) What makes you think Lee is done exactly? He put up an .850 OPS with the Braves after he was traded. He had a terrible first half and put up a .298 .373 .516 .888 in the second half. I'd like to know how you are basing your evaluation of Lee to state that he is "done". And he said with regards to range where Konerko is one of the worst in the league at 1B. Really? I got the impression Lee particularly struggled in Atlanta. Guess I missed that.

Allright, who will beat me to posting the A while I type this?

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 03:18 PM) Reports are that they are going to cut back on payroll, so you are probably right I think Derek Lee could be an ideal fit for the Rays at 1b.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Nov 5, 2010 -> 04:23 PM) You had one race where they 'ran out of ballots', so they photocopied ballots to use. The Republican in that race just conceded, and he went out of his way to specifically state that he believes those ballots reflect the will of the voters and he will not mount a legal challenge.

Really, the Rays spending that kind of money? I don't buy it.

Rats

Quickly and slowly are all relative

Maybe you shouldn't be quite so stubborn on time. After all, we don't know what velocity the Zeppelin was traveling at, do we?

Kindly tell me what you think about Led Zeppelin then, since they formed in 1968 and had 2 albums out before the 70's?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 02:01 PM) If that's the only reason they were 'pushed out'. It certainly was the main issue brought up by their opposition in campaigns.

Heart probably had their biggest success in the 1970's.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 01:18 PM) And I thought Collinsworth made a pretty good point last night. They've changed gears so many times over the years - offensive coach, defensive coach, game day coach who relies on coordinators, etc. Nothing has worked. Maybe the problem isn't coaching but the atmosphere and type of players they bring in. Exactly my point...what good is a #1 pick going to do for Dallas if the problem isn't the talent level, it's the atmosphere.

Captain beefheart interests me more than Abba.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 12:33 PM) Zep is great of course; note I only said "most" of the music from that decade was lame. ACDC and Aerosmith put out some decent stuff, didn't they?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 12:32 PM) I think they'll struggle in Iowa too, which tends to be pretty moderate. Mike Huckabee?

QUOTE (zenryan @ Nov 7, 2010 -> 11:59 PM) I hope Buffalo goes winless just so Dallas doesnt get the top pick. Has there ever been a team that needed a top pick less than Dallas? Seriously, when you look at Buffalo right now, you might or might not think they have promise, but you're never going to say "That's a team that is loaded with talent". You're going to say "that team might go somewhere if they had enough talent" (if you actually like any part of their organization). Dallas on the other hand...does anyone look at them and think "they have a good system but they just don't have enough talented players?" "If that team lands 1 more top pick, watch out?"

It now appears all but certain that Don't ask, don't tell will remain official policy unless the Supreme Court ends it.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 09:41 AM) Isn't quite a bit of that from the temporary Census jobs being gone? I haven't looked much into it, but what I can do is look around. Hasn't government (public) compensation eclipsed private sector compensation? I didn't have time to research this, so it could be a bunch of BS, but if it has, that right there is a red flag IMO. When I get more time I'll have to check deeper into that. No, because the census jobs were also hired this year. They're a zero sum game over the course of this year. Total public sector compensation has not come anywhere close to eclipsing private sector compensation in this country (it has done so in some of the Scandinavian countries I believe). There's a very poor comparison out there saying that public sector jobs on average pay better than private sector jobs...which is mostly true, but it's mostly true because the type of jobs available in the public sector are generally higher-educated, higher-paying jobs than the private sector (there's no government version of WalMart or McDonalds creating enormous numbers of minimum wage, no benefit, public sector jobs).

Ignoring the partisan-insult headline here, the graphical data I think makes the point quite effectively that you guys are missing the mark. These are job gains in the last 12 months. Government spending IS being cut. Government jobs are being cut quite rapidly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 09:10 AM) But on the enforcement only thing, your memory is not the same as mine. The right is (in general) against any sort of amnesty, and they've been slow to accept demand side measures. But I don't recall the complete blockade against a guest worker program, at all. And for the record, I was talking about people HERE, since you seemed to be talking about people HERE. Even the furthest right wingers on here like Alpha, if I recall correctly, are fine with making changes to allow more workers in legally as part of a plan. The ones here might well be, sure. They're not the ones making policy, as you will probably note. The reality at the national level is...a significant chunk, maybe 1/2-2/3 of the Republican party, was fully unwilling to do anything that wasn't enforcement-only. About the only policy issue in 8 years that I'd agree in principle with W on was comprehensive immigration reform, and I'd say most Democrats were in the same boat. However, any concept of doing that was fully stopped by the portion of the party that had no interest in allowing anyone else into the country and kicking the ones who are here out. If you'll notice...at present...our national policy is 100% the latter. Pretend that there is no demand for migrant workers, and arrest and detain wherever possible.