Jenksismyhero

Couple quick ones before I head home: - I'd go with closing business tax loopholes and increasing taxes on those that make 250k/500k (ind/couple). The revenue gained from that would find a massive 2-4 year tax relief/incentive program for small to mid-size businesses (say under 10k employees) and business that hire new employees. - 6 month freeze for anyone with federal student loans with option to renew for another 6 month period - i'd completely remove any capital gains tax up to a certain threshold. Absolutely stupid to penalize the small investor. - end oil/gas subsidies. slowly phase out ag subsidies - constitutional amendment requiring that any legislation passed includes one bill for one issue, not one bill with 8000 unrelated issues (not really related to the economy, but something I absolutely cannot stand).

QUOTE (Tex @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 04:35 PM) Too bad the parents couldn't maybe try to teach their kids something as well as the school. I'm a little irritated because I spent three hours grading papers last night. So adding 90 minutes of instruction will add another 30 minutes of grading. Does the city really think they'll gain something from this? Or is it just to force teachers to play babysitter for an extra hour a day?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 12:47 PM) "They"=the majority of tea party respondents to poll questions, not every single individual tea party supporter. Can you explain how those bullet points can be true but somehow still doesn't lead to the conclusion that "the majority of tea party respondents to poll questions" dislike Islam? I view those as disagreements in religious belief or practice, not hate towards individuals.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 12:30 PM) Well you've explicitly made Muslims an "other" or "out" group now from Americans, so I think that reinforces the point. Again, what leap? They think they're un-American. They think they're actively trying to impose fundamentalist religious law. They think that they are not an important part of American religious background. They're opposed to the "ground zero mosque" They have an unfavorable opinion of Islam They're uncomfortable with Muslims teaching elementary school, praying in airports or having a mosque near their home. But none of this amounts to disliking Muslims. Ok. Again with the "They" crap.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 12:19 PM) If you look at Page 29 of the report linked earlier, you'll see a graph "% with a favorable opinion of Muslims" broken down three ways, R-D, con-lib, and Tea Party (agree/disagree) roughly, the numbers appear to be: R: 45% D: 70% Con: 48% Lib: 73% Tea Party: 40% approve/ 60% disapprove So again a pretty strong majority have an unfavorable opinion of Muslims. Well, hate and "unfavorable opinion" are two different things. And really a question like that just elicits an "Americans are number one, everyone else isn't" kind of answer. That doesn't mean they hate them and wish ill upon them. Making this kind of leap just solidifies the liberals attempt to make Tea Party members a bunch of dumb racist rednecks. Totally unfair and unfounded.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 11:09 AM) A group that tends to strong nationalism and wears its patriotism on its sleeve feels another group is at odds with American values. How does that not imply that they dislike that group? Where did like/hate get into this discussion? Have you never vehemently disagreed with someone without disliking/hating them?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 10:00 AM) Sure, thinking their religion is at odds with American values has nothing to do with liking that group or not. Liberal values are at odds with conservative values that I agree with. So we disagree. There's no "hate" element there. I don't "hate" you or "dislike" you because you think differently.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 09:54 AM) - American Muslims want to establish Shari'a law - Muslims NOT important part of US religious community - Islam at odds with American values You're telling me that people who think these things would generally like Muslims? I'd have a hard time believing that. I have a hard time believing you'd make such a leap. None of those questions have anything to do with liking or disliking a group of people.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 09:48 AM) There you have it. The majority of self described Tea Partiers hate Muslims. Lol, I like how you get "hate Muslims" out of that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 09:45 AM) And, just to note...we've had an ample supply of these people to go off of since 2008 (you can go back farther to the "Kill him!" and "Terrorist!" yells at the Palin rallies). It's really impressive how well traveled this small minority is where they show up all the time and keep filling audiences. You've got incredibly select few occasions, some nothing but rumor, to fit the liberal narrative of the Tea Party being racist anarchists. I hardly call that a generally description of a "party" that's millions strong.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 09:41 AM) The crowd last night roundly booed Ron Paul for saying "This whole idea that the whole Muslim world is responsible for this, and they’re attacking us because we’re free and prosperous, that is just not true.” Ok? You're still stereotyping a LOT of people based on a very small minority. But this is nothing new. You guys have been doing this since the summer of 2009.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 09:22 AM) So what you're saying is, its fine to have feelings about the way 9/11 was handled by politicians and opportunists as long as you don't have them on 9/11? Gotcha. This wasn't an article in the New York Times. He made a short post on his blog. If he was really trying to be an opportunist about it, he probably should have written his 9/11 column in the actual paper about it. He has every right to his opinion. And I have every right to point out he's doing exactly what he thinks is awful, making him a jackass.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 09:18 AM) Well, at least we know 1 thing...when you see a crowd that cheers loudly for 350 executions, and people in a separate crowd yell "Let him die" in a hypothetical case about insurers...you don't feel those are disturbing enough to criticize...but if anyone generalizes from those crowds at all to say, the rest of the political group...you immediately rise to their defense. So when the news shows a bunch of Muslims jumping up and down in front of a crashed US helicopter, or there are mass celebrations for attacks on US (or generally, the West) targets, I can assume you'll be fine with me concluding that all Muslims are terrorists that hate America and the West and want them to die. Yes?

Want - Newt...easily the most sane candidate out there. Will - Romney. Perry will be his biggest challenger but I think the craziness will scare people off. Plus Romney has a gigantic stockpile of money.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 10:02 PM) One of the things people also don't remember is that Guiliani tried to use 9/11 to either stop the 2001 Mayoral election altogether or delay it for 3 to 6 months so he could maintain his grip on the mayor's seat. And that's fine to call that s*** out, but why do it on that day unless you're just being an attention whore like the people you're complaining about.

Illinois grabs another quality wing tonight with Malcolm Hill. Get Hamilton down there and Weber and Co. are building a pretty convincing case for Mr. Parker...

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 11:32 AM) I know it was just South Dakota St., but it's still nice to see the Illini roll an inferior opponent like that, instead of playing down to their level. I don't know what's gonna happen vs. ASU, but good to see some excitement down in C-U. I'm heading down there this weekend for the game. Hopefully they'll be like the Bears and make it a showcase game.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 01:28 PM) How much is Sunday Ticket these days? And can you just get the Game Mix channel only for cheaper? 350 plus another 50 for the on-the-go.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 12:08 PM) How long is the price good for? A year? 2 year contract Edit: Ah, well that's where they get ya. The rebate is only good for a year. Then it goes up in price. So you're stuck paying the full price for the 2nd year

So does anyone have DirecTV? They have a pretty sweet deal right now for new subscribers. For 50 bucks a month (plus taxes/fees) I can get their 2nd tier cable, a free hd/dvr box, a free hd box, HD channels, whole-house DVR, the premium stuff for 3 months free, and NFL Sunday Ticket free. We've been going without cable for a year and a half now, and it's been ok. But Netflix streaming has really dropped off, and Hulu Plus is not what it promised to be. I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on this deal. Anyone have thoughts about it? Good/Bad?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 11:33 AM) that's incredibly tame compared to what greenwald's been writing for years. It's one thing to say that kind of stuff in, oh I dunno, May or some other random time. But on 9/11? On the tenth anniversary? "As we remember this day, just remember that people used this tragedy to their advantage." Pot meet kettle.

Sorry if posted somewhere else, but this made me laugh a little. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/1...years-of-shame/ He got his page views, so I guess mission accomplished?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 10:01 AM) I guess so? eta there was rhetoric of "unfunded wars" and "unfunded taxcuts" but the democrats weren't proposing an ideological opposition to government spending as an alternative. It wasn't deficits themselves Democrats were railing against. They weren't demanding drastic cuts in other programs to pay for these things. Of course not. That's anti-liberal. Spend more more and more, except on defense. That's the party mantra right?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 09:53 AM) They completely ignored them when they were being accumulated to fund policies they preferred. Like the Democrats now ignore it when they want it increased to fund policies they prefer? GMAFB.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 09:53 AM) They completely ignored them when they were being accumulated to fund policies they preferred. Lol, "they."