Rex Kickass

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 04:10 PM) I guess the GOP hates the middle class. If they could have had this vote in September, I think they might have been able to save the house.

Pelosi forced a vote on extending middle class tax cuts, and decoupled tax cuts for people making over 250k. It passed, with only 3 GOP votes saying yes.

Gender is incredibly fluid. I have a lot of friends who identify as Gender Queer. They may be biologically male or female, but they don't necessarily identify that way.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 10:52 AM) My favorite part of that is the Senate having as many work days in 4 years as normal people have in about 2. The term "work day" is a bit misleading. Like other directly elected representatives, they are expected to spend a considerable amount of time in the state where they were elected.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:43 PM) So, will you guys be mad if the Democrats compromise/cave in and renew the tax cuts for the highest bracket? What if it includes an unemployment extension? I guess that is assuming you support an unemployment extension. The compromise on the table is temporary extension in exchange for ratification of START and unemployment extension. For what its worth, I think its really sad that the only way the GOP will accept a nuclear deterrence treaty is in exchange huge tax breaks for millionaires.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 07:41 PM) I had heard of them but hadn't listened to them until yesterday, when I listened to their first album. It's pretty good stuff. A little eclectic, but that's rarely a bad thing. I think Disco Volante and California are two of my favorite albums of the 90s. Just so far out there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 26, 2010 -> 02:32 PM) I'm just amazed how much more time is spent on what Palin is saying than what someone like Biden is saying. In some respects, they both are about as important right now. (Which is to say, not really important at all.)

Fox News republishes Onion fake news story on Fox Nation. As real news. Here's a screen capture of how it originally appeared. http://img17.imageshack.us/i/foxobamaonionsgdonotreu.jpg/ They changed it now. Now, if you know that The Onion is, you know its satire. http://nation.foxnews.com/barack-obama/201...000-word-e-mail

Sarah Palin on Glenn Beck's radio show today. I know its just a momentary flub. But come on!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 05:57 PM) I should have said the illegal incentives. The system works best when immigrants fill jobs not able to be filled by Americans. The problem is we have 10% unemployment now, and jobs are being underpriced by people who don't have to compete on a legal basis. All this does is artificially hold down the people's wages who actually financially support this country. The villains in this argument are not the people who risk a lot to come here illegally to take these jobs that Americans are being priced out of. They are the employers who are deciding to break the law in the name of unfettered capitalism. Changing the constitution to penalize the people coming to benefit from employers who have already made the decision to exploit the rules of our labor system won't change the core problem. It just means you create a permanent underclass. You've been making two arguments simultaneously which don't seem to gel for me. Either these undocumented residents are taking jobs Americans want and would have, and are therefore making a positive contribution to society at sub poverty wages, or they are all just here to take advantage of our social net. (And if that was the case, why wouldn't they just keep driving north to Canada where that social net is far more robust?) I don't understand how people doing honest work for low wages exploit our system when they can't ask for things like workmen's comp, vacation pay, sick days, benefits without risking their livelihood and their residency. And if all these people are just coming to take advantage of Social Security or Medicaid or whatever, I don't understand how they would be exploiting our labor market. And if its a two pronged attack, wouldn't the half that works and won't take advantage for fear of losing their residency cancel out the people who lean on the system in the first place?

McCain's campaign was also dead in the water by August of 2007. He had a last minute ressurection. Kerry was not considered the front runner once Wes Clark rolled into the race in 2003. Hillary was the frontrunner in 2007. I don't remember the 2000 race all that well, but there wasn't a clear frontrunner for sometime in 1999 IIRC. Nobody thought it was going to be Clinton in 1991. The only time where it seemed that the nominee was clear well in advance, in my opinion, unless it was assumed from Pres or VP incumbency was 1996 when the GOP decided it was Dole's turn.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 03:06 PM) Illegal immigration is a huge financial issue. With all of the social programs we have, and the financial situations they are in, this might be one of the biggest financial bombs out there. This is literally a trillions of dollars question. Please point to any concrete evidence where changing the 14th amendment would solve our undocumented immigration issues.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 01:04 PM) The main issues will continue to be fiscal. If the evangelicals want to run candidates in primaries that are focused on social issues, they can certainly do that. But no one did that this last election. They ran on fiscal issues, so these newly elected reps should follow through or they will be 1 term flashes in the pan. Pan meet flash. Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/18/1039...l#ixzz168Txnx9q

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 10:25 AM) You have more faith in the American public than I do apparently. I'm saying if you ask 10 random people to describe a tea party member, you'll get something along the lines of "extreme GOP member" or Palin supporter, etc. I think that has to do with a lot of the high profile "Tea Party Approved" candidates that showed up last year. Like Christine O'Donnell, who was propelled to her nomination by the DE Tea Party. Or Joe Miller from Alaska. Or even Rand Paul, who may have won in KY, but did so in a manner that made him pretty embarrassing to half the self described tea party members. If the Tea Party wants to distance themselves from Palin and her ilk, Tea Party organizations should stop inviting her to speak at every other event they have. Its hard not to be tied in to the crazy faces of your party, when those crazy faces keep winning GOP nominations and run high profile campaigns.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 09:52 AM) I practice in the Northern District here and if its the same as the 9th, they can take on the extra case load. The dockets are ridiculously small for the amount of work involved. I think the point is that blocking one half of all judicial nominees for political points is generally a bad idea, despite party affiliation.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 10:00 AM) Who's running North Korea these days. Kim Jong-il or Kim Jong-un? A little bit of column A... A little bit of column B. The state is in transition.

No.

It really could be any of these things. There are a lot of internal tensions within North Korea's government from what I understand, so it could be one of these three or a combination of all of them.

Seven Republican appointed federal judges sent the Senate a letter begging them to stop obstructing Obama's judicial nominations because its literally paralyzing the judicial system. http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/111510...9th-circuit.pdf

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/2...dex.html?hpt=T1 In some ways, you wish the succession in North Korea was complete. Because we would probably have a clearer idea of what we are dealing with. Is the new regime going to be hell bent on provocation and war? Or is this just trying to show strength to maintain strength of leadership in the ruling family?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 20, 2010 -> 12:21 AM) There was an article on foreignpolicy.com the other day about this. The Kremlin isn't going to be happy about it, but they can tell the difference between Obama, Senate Republicans, and things that are done by Senate Republicans purely to undermine Obama. This really, really isn't going to help US-Russia relations though... the thaw in relations is real, and substantive, and Republicans are willing to throw a wrench in that just to deny Obama a political victory. I bet a Republican president could've gotten 80 votes on the same treaty this summer. I think 80 votes would be a low end estimate.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Nov 19, 2010 -> 08:26 PM) Why does everyone assume Obama is smart? Because he talks well. Bush was assumed to be an idiot because he couldn't speak without stumbling. Bush's grades were avg or above at Yale and Harvard. And he was a better student than Gore. But we do not know what Obama's grades were yet we assume he is a genius. Why is that? And don't tell me because not just any person can get into Harvard... Obama taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. That speaks for itself.

Would Virtual puke smell, or would it just virtually smell?

A lot of hotels will offer a Thanksgiving style meal in their restaurant, as well.

Remember all that talk about Death Panels? In order to save 4.5 million dollars, and facing a 1.5 billion dollar shortfall in the state's budget, Republican run Arizona sort of started one by rescinding previously approved organ transplants. http://www.npr.org/2010/11/11/131215308/ar...splants-at-risk