Balta1701

So, I'd love for any of y'all who understand what this means could elaborate a bit on how exactly this might affect the tax bill of an average individual earing about 40k a year. Krugman's disappointed Here's the CNN version of the article. So, as far as I can tell, they're saying that every taxpayer who pays in to the system should basically be getting $600 taken off their bill for a single person and $1200 taken off for a couple. So if I'm a taxpayer, and I paid like $5000 or so last year and expect to pay a similar amount this year, I should expect that I'll receive a check for $1200 (for a couple) in June and should see my total tax bill drop by $1200 for the year. Am I understanding this correctly?

Depends for me. I've done and thoroughly enjoyed both.

If he was involved, you gotta figure jose would have named him in his first book.

QUOTE(farmteam @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 08:48 PM) I've heard of Kalispell for some reason. Are they well known for something? The first 3 of those all are right on the border of or are in some of the most spectacular scenery you'll find in this country (The Beartooth Mtns, Glacier Park, and The Tetons/Yellowstone).

Worth tossing into the mix is Merrill Lynch's latest evaluation of the housing market. It ain't pretty.

Aside from the obvious... Red Lodge, MT Kalispell, MT Jackson, WY Cardwell, MT

QUOTE(bear_brian @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 07:57 PM) Yeah ... may be you're right. It just seems to me that KW's "balance" comment is not accurate, that we still do not have a true lead-off hitter and we certainly do not have a good to excellent defensive centerfielder. It's wonderful to talk about what Quentin MIGHT do, but even if he does, how many games will Swisher's defensive inabilities cost us (a la Mackowiak)? Maybe Phil Rogers (who I thoroughly detest) does have an idea in the Konerko for Melky Cabrera conjecture. Melky plays center, leads off, Dye moves to first, Swisher plays right, Quentin left. That is a very good defensive outfield, and we get younger and faster. I know everyone will yell and scream about losing Paulie, but it does seem to make us better. Bottom line, at least IMO ... we had better find good defense in center or it will be a long year. Konerko for Melky Cabrera alone is so horribly one sided I find it hard to contemplate. The question is...how is Swisher in CF? If he's at Mackowiak's level, then we're clearly in trouble. But hopefully the team wouldn't be crazy enough to put him out there if he were going to be that bad. If he is, then we'll be a disaster. If he costs us a couple games out there via defense, then so be it, for a .400 OBP in the #2 slot I'll take it. Secondly, I find it hard to say we don't have a true leadoff hitter when in this day and age, a true, Lou Brock type leadoff hitter is simply a rarity. Almost every team is now looking for more slugging and OBP from their leadoff hitter rather than looking for simply stolen bases. I couldn't care less about having a true leadoff hitter if we stick Cabrera and Swisher in front of Thome and wind up with OBP's of .330 and .400 in front of him. Swisher certainly fills that OBP need, and now we're much more likely to have a guy on base in front of Thome.

QUOTE(bear_brian @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 07:29 PM) Some time ago there was a rumor that the Sox and Boston had a deal worked out for Coco Crisp in the event that the Red Sox did not land Santana. As I recall it was to involve John Shelby and one other minor leaguer. Don't know how true the rumor was or is. Seems to me that Crisp would resolve two of the biggest remaining issues this team has - excellent defense in center field coupled with an experienced lead-off man. I am not saying I am wild about Coco, but he is an outstanding defensive centerfielder. Acquiring him would allow us to move Dye to left, put Swisher in right, siginficantly upgrade our overall outfield defense. Crisp is not a great lead-off hitter, but he switch hits, walks a little and can certainly steal bases. He is a lifetime .280 hitter. Thoughts? Why would we pick up another OF when we are still holding Carlos Quentin, who may well be the best of the whole bunch in the next year or two?

Not sure how to fit it into the puzzle of threads, but figured it was worth reading.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 07:21 PM) So Obama has to basically win SC by double digits in order to get back into this race? IMO, ther'es nothing Obama can actually do that will get him back into the race. He's losing a lot of super Tuesday polls and Clinton is steady in national polls. The only thing that brings him back into the race is a major Hillary slip up.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 07:18 PM) Everyone complained when Kerry didn't fight back in 2004 so what is he to do? I didn't mind Kerry not fighting back as much as I minded the press not being willing to spend the time and figure out that every single thing the Swift Vets wrote was a lie and could be proven as such with a small bit of geography and math.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 07:12 PM) Obama calls $100 and raises $1000. I really hate this part of a campaign.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 06:55 PM) It has been a pretty non eventfull off-season and in the AL Central that is not a good thing! We have a 25 man roster. By my count, we've changed about 25% of that roster just from the end of last season. Compared to opening day last year, the only guys who are in the same roles are: Dye Konerko Thome AJ Buehrle Vazquez Contreras Jenks Danks And the other guys still on the roster are: Uribe Crede? Thornton MMac By my count, about 1/2 of our roster has turned over since opening day last year, and we're not done yet depending on Crede/Uribe. And on top of that, throw in the fact that Danks was just a rook at the start of last season, and there has been some MAJOR turnover on this team in the last year. 2/3 of our OF is new, 3/4 of our infield is new, more than half our bullpen wasn't here opening day last year, and the rotation has youngins in Danks and Floyd. Uneventful?

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 06:46 PM) of course... no oil = no shipping of goods. silly me. what if they were solar powered ships, how would that change anything? also, oil has been around well before the trade deficit with china. thats really a stretch of a link. Solar powered ships would clearly make the world a better place. And it would significantly improve the quality of the air I'm breathing out here. And that remark was mostly in jest, although the grain of truth in it was obvious.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 06:21 PM) between 1989 and 2003 the U.S. trade deficit with China rose twenty-fold, from $6.2 billion to $124 billion because of oil? please explain how that works, northside72. Honestly, yes, it is because of oil. How do you think those planes and boats make their way across the Pacific?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 05:41 PM) I won't. The trade deficit is almost all due to American consumers. Trade pacts really don't make that big of a difference in my eyes. If we quit buying Toyotas, Sony's and everything else made everywhere but here, the trade deficit would be gone, and the dollar would go back up, NAFTA or no NAFTA. Not sure I have a horse in this debate race, but couldn't one respond to that claim that one of the reasons Americans keep buying so many products made overseas is that these trade pacts made it possible for Americans to load up on incredibly cheap goods from all those standard-less factories overseas and their hard working 8 year old employees? I.e. is it fair to say that the trade pacts pushed the price of goods produced overseas downwards, thus actively encouraging importing of goods? Oh, and at some point you do have to count oil in that chart btw.

QUOTE(chisox2334 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 05:39 PM) From mlbrumors blogpost.com White Sox like Lowry?: The White Sox might pursue a trade for pitcher Noah Lowry. Lowry is being shopped by the Giants, and could definitely land Joe Crede from the White Sox. Stay tuned. They probably saw this thread.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 04:59 PM) Forgot about that. Good point. That doesn't make him untradeable, but it certianly limits what KW could get for him. I think it's fairly safe to presume that if things got to the point where the Sox did want to trade Mr. Konerko, and the Sox went and told Mr. Konerko that they had a deal on the table for him awaiting his approval, and it wasn't to one of the teams already listed in his limited no trade clause (Covered what, 10 teams or so?) then I doubt Paul would veto it. Things would have to get pretty down for the team to actually move Paul, and if things got that down, I doubt he'd say no.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 04:51 PM) Why don't people just jump them and assault them wherever they go? It might stop them from doing it. Getting the press from the assault and following court case they'd bring against you would absolutely thrill them.

If that doesn't whet your appetite for offensive actions and remarks regarding this man's death, here's Fox News host John Gibson spending the show mocking Mr. Ledger.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 04:35 PM) Eh, maybe. So you are calling a 6 or 7 point win? Tell you what. Gentlemen's bet. I'll call double digit win for Obama (10+). No, I'm just responding to Rex's post that said waht would happen if BO had a 6 or 7 point win.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 04:13 PM) I can't say I know the numbers, but there are so many economic reasons for the trade deficit that were in place well before Clinton that I can't see how NAFTA or those China deals are anything very large. Perhaps a better thing to say then would be that, like many issues, Bill Clinton's administration just sort of slid through without taking any action that could help correct the growing trade deficit when it may have been more manageable than what we have today?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) Latest poll says 19 point Obama lead. Clinton hasn't closed any gaps in SC, unless its happened since the debate. Exactly. So if Clinton loses by 6 or 7, it's a win for her.

QUOTE(shipps @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 03:30 PM) Why is Juan Uribe killing chickens? Better than people I guess.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) We thought the same thing before Iowa. We thought that it was over before NH. Except it wasn't. If Obama wins by 6 or 7 points in SC, suddenly we see a new narrative here. Yeah, Clinton has even more momentum because she closed the gap from what could have been a double digit loss.