Balta1701

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 10:04 AM) Very in agreement with. Read through the GOP thread if you don't believe me. But see, here's the problem....Conservatives can sit there and say "yeah we agree the deficit is too high", but if you're not willing to do anything about it, what does it matter what you agree about? The Republican Congress has added handout after handout after handout to bills to benefit either their contributors or to try to help their re-election chances in the past few years. See, for example, the explosion of Pork, or the fact that they're cutting taxes at 5-10x the rate they're cutting other programs, or the Medicare drug company bailout bill. Has this triggered a mass defection from the party? No. Has this triggered a significant number of primary challengers for the people who are writing these bills? Maybe one or two, but certainly nothing organized. Has this triggered a decrease in support for Tax cuts until we can reduce the deficit? No. Aside from "agreement", what has it done? You can sit around all day and say "yeah we agree the deficit is too high", but when you say that and still vote and campaign for the exact people who made the deficit too high, then the agreement doesn't really do anything.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 10:06 AM) Wait we are expected to believe Bill Clinton at his word now? Yeah, I think I will pass and wait for him to be proven or disproven. George Tenet did testify to that same thing under oath before Congress already, so Clinton's statement just goes along with that. Can I say that same thing every time Mr. Bush says something?

By the way, because it looks like Maggette's foot injury is significantly worse than was advertised, it looks like the Artest/Maggette deal we mentionned yesterday is dead in the water.

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 09:19 AM) Not sure why the Celtics would want anything to do with Tim Thomas Expiring Contract?

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 04:48 AM) Wite, if Drew Bledsoe was the QB of the Bills in 2005, do you think Mularkey would still have a job today? He probably wouldn't, but going with Losman who was totally unproven was the straw that broke the camel's back I guess. A guy like Rivera probably makes sense here. Drew Bledsoe would have done horrible as QB of the Bills in 2005. Buffalo gave up 43 sacks last year with 2 quarterbacks, one who is significantly more mobile than Bledsoe and one who is somewhat more mobile than Bledsoe. Dallas gave up 50 sacks, and I think they have a better O-Line than the Bills by quite a bit. Bledsoe would have spent half the game on the ground if he was still in Buffalo, just like he did the year before. Going with Losman was the right decision. Quarterbacks take time to develop, and when you first put them into a game, they're going to struggle. Some more than others. That team had a decent shot to do what the Bears did last year, but their defense fell apart, which was the real problem. They went from being one of the top defenses in the league to one of the worst defenses in the league in 1 year.

Link

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 03:27 AM) More here Eventually someone else will pay our bills Bush's legacy will be over a trillion dollars in additional debt. And this is from the fiscally conservative party? :headshake :puke Bush has already compiled well over $2 trillion in debt. At the end of 2000, the debt was something like $5.7 trillion, and it currently stands at $8.1 trillion. Bush's legacy will more likely be something like $3-$4 trillion in additional debt, not 1 trillion. Source.

QUOTE(False Alarm @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 08:16 AM) kenny's a shark. The more time goes by, the more I'm starting to agree with you...a couple years ago, people were underpaying for pitching, speed, and defense. KW built his team on that. Now, people are overpaying for pitching and for prospects, and KW is trading away pitching and prospects to get better bats. He just keeps seeming to move ahead of the trends in order to find value. Right now, no team wants to trade prospects because they "Could" develop into something (take a look at the Angels or Dodgers for Example). KW is trading prospects when the value of prospects is very high, and he's using that to build his team.

QUOTE(kevin57 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 05:32 PM) Mrs. Alito's exit in tears guarantees her husband's confirmation...without a filibuster, and without a whole lot of acrimony. Interestingly enough, the press accounts of her leaving don't refer to her as "Mrs Alito", they refer to her as Martha-Ann Bomgardner.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 04:53 PM) Some team should be drooling who needs an OC. As long as Mularkey's family situation, whatever it may be, allows him to coach again, he will be a hell of an OC like he was in Pittsburgh. That was the most fun I have had watching NFL games, was when he was our OC, never knew what crazy play was next. I'm finding it very odd that the Bills' last 3 coaches were all very good coordinators, and at least the last 2 have gone on to be very good coordinators somewhere else after being fired.

1 year, $2.1 million for Millar, in case you wanted to know numbers. Another $500k possible with performance bonii.

QUOTE(Spiff @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) And he won't be rusty this weekend when he plays for the first time in...3 weeks? His decision making isn't that great, I saw him force the ball in the red zone against Atlanta and give up a pick, then get lucky when Carpenter fumbled. Then he just threw up a wounded duck against the Packers that got plucked easily. I agree with you on that one...I thought it would have been a good idea to give him at least a quarter against the Vikings to try to keep building a rhythm. I think the key to Grossman isn't Grossman himself, it's knocking a Safety or two farther away from the like to guard against the threat of a deep ball. If all you do is push back the safeties, and maybe get the linebackers thinking pass every so often, it'll massively increase the holes for Jones et al. Grossman can do that. This team isn't going to beat anyone on offense, but the Ravens and Bucs didn't beat anyone on offense the years they won the super bowl either.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 02:52 PM) I thought we cut income taxes, not corporate taxes. That was the 2nd round of Bush tax cuts, and probably some of the 3rd and 4th also...that was the one a few months after 9/11 where the tax package gave something like $100 million to Enron after they were already bankrupt, etc.

After losing the site repeatedly during the playoffs last year...if we can fix it, I'd be in favor of it. Is there any way to move some of the long-running threads and keep them active? Like the General thread's in AJ's bar?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 12:59 PM) OK, that is quite possible the most ridiculous looking district I've ever seen. Wow. I can see why you'd want to split Durham from Raleigh, but what is the deal with the tail on that thing?! Something to keep in mind, though. That bizarre shape may or may not be helpful to the Dems, which i think is what you are getting at. It may in fact make other districts more Republican. Or not - I have no idea. Just saying it may not be so obvious. I still like California's 23rd myself...it's never more than 5 miles across.

The Texans are happy.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 10:27 AM) ill bet 9 of those hits were against us Based on their record against Tampa last year, my money says they all came against the Yankees.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 10:06 AM) Laike Balta said, there is no reason to think it would be left up to the states for very long. If the powers that be are willing to consider a constitutional ban on gay marriage then or course a constitutional ban on abortion would be dearer still to the anti-abortion powers. If that case were overturned, then why would they need a constitutional ban? It'd be a lot harder to pass, it'd take a lot longer, and it probably would in fact fail. They could do it very simply with just a simple majority in both houses by passing a law.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:54 AM) How would Harrington know? That would be a really good deal for the Clips, plus Brand and Artest were good friends IIRC. The Clips could use his toughness. It wouldn't be a bad deal for the Pacers either IMO...if they're actually trying to Move Artest, getting a guy like Magette is about as good as they're going to get. With Livingston, Mobely, and Cassel all in their backcourt, they were having trouble finding good ways to use Corey in their rotation earlier this season. Trouble of course is that it seems he's going to be out until probably mid-Feb. with that foot injury.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:43 AM) :headshake :headshake He isnt trying to shut the door in the 8th inning or something. He is the color man on the radio. Lighten up Francis. Aren't we talking about using rookies for exactly that?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:38 AM) I'm sure this is some misunderstanding though. Nope. Right now it seems like the guy's probably done something pretty bad, although the details haven't leaked out yet. It might be worth noting however, that the guy who plea-bargained out was at one point President of a company that has done a large amount of work for DOD and the White House, including the IT Infrastructure for Bush's 2nd inaugural and the G8 summit last year. As Josh Marshall says though, if this guy didn't exist, the Republicans would have to invent him.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:38 AM) The states lines are carved in stone. The candidates within a state have nothing to do with a neighboring state. How do you explain the House? Excepting Texas, of course. Pulling that one out of your arsenal before you fire. I'll toss that one right up to Democratic ineptness, with only a hint of gerrymandering right now, as you note.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:31 AM) Then the will of the voter will rule. What a concept. New Yorker. I just always find that interesting...more voters for the Democrats for the Senate, but based on how the state lines are drawn, the Republicans wind up with a solid Senate majority.

QUOTE(Steve Bartman's my idol @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:15 AM) I don't put any credence into anything Chomsky says...he's an ignorant, f##king douchebag. That detailed, well-thought-out rebuttal of his points certainly convinced me.

QUOTE(Spiff @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 03:06 AM) I was just saying, the Bears didn't exactly move the ball that last game like the '01 Rams. Their only TD came on a 3 yard drive. Now, the Panthers didnt really move it either, but all this means is whatever team makes less mistakes is gonna win when everyone seems to think it'll just be the same game all over again. The Bears didn't move the ball, but they also had Orton at QB. Grossman might not throw for more yards, but even if he just makes 1-2 better decisions on 3rd down and converts them, and creates a better possibility of a deep ball so that the safeties can't cheat up to stop the run, their offense will be in vastly better shape.