Texsox

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 11:08 AM) On the one hand, his tone bothers me. He seems to spend much of his speeches chiding someone - feel like a child being lectured after I missed curfew. On the other hand, Bush doesn't project that used car salesman feeling that Clinton was dripping with. Bush seems more genuine to me (though somewhat misguided). I didn't pick up a used car salesman feeling from Clinton until the middle of his second term. I think he was under so much stress that he wasn't able to relax and be himself. Same thing with Bush. I know if I had a weekend to spend backpacking with Bush or Clinton, I'd take Bush in a heartbeat. I think he is a much better conversationalist than he is a platform speaker. As a platform speaker give me Reagan, if it was a weekend retreat of a spiritual matter, send in Carter, if I just needed a big blow out party, send me the Bush daughters

Gee, they don't want to live in a war zone, I'm shocked

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 11:00 AM) It does seem worse with Bush, because his speeches are usually made up of shorter sentences, smaller words and more succinct dialogue (not inherently bad, just the way his speeches are written and delivered). This makes for more pauses. He isn't as polished as Reagan or Clinton, but I do enjoy listening to him, but prefered his speeches before becoming Presidential.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 10:40 AM) How about being annoyed with the constant applauding period. Its so dumb and high-schoolish. The republican side would have stood and clapped if Bush sneezed. They should just stand up and sit down if they support his points, a la parliament. Plus some of it is staged, they know when the President wants applause. (ALL Presidents) Again, this is the same, no matter who is delivering the address.

How can someone defend this guy? I use to think the same thing, then had a nice conversation with a defense attorney. They are defended because an attorney believes in the US legal system. We all sleep easier at night knowing that the odds of an inocent person being wrongly imprisoned is very small. The system works when the judge and the jury determines who is guilty, after a fair trial, instead of a defense attorney listening to his client. Our system is based on the premise of innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To be a defense attorney, you have to believe that your client is deserving of a vigorous defense. Without that, our system fails. I could not do their job, I'd want to see the guy in prison.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 10:21 AM) Lemme get back to you, I left my chart at home Damn, I knew there was a secret family communications network

Ahh, sorry. My dad is a tv repairman, he's got some b****in' tools, we can fix it.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 09:27 AM) Frankly, if it means we get to kick our oil habit then US multinationals can go to hell. Im as pro-business as they come but this is a national security issue above all. We're dependent for our energy from a group of nations who are lukewarm in their relations with us at best and downright nasty at worst. BTW, and this worries me just as much. We import so much food, and have reduced our capacity so greatly, that we could not feed ourselves without imports. The only reason we aren't more worried is the nice South Americans don't openly hate us, and even if they did, they don't have the resources to do much. Look at Jewel tonight, where did those strawberries come from? Look at the produce? What is "in season" in February. There is no national burger chain using American beef, and only a couple local ones. If there was a Tomato Cartel dressed differently than us, and controlling the tomato prices, and pizza went to $30 for a large, we'd be worried.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 09:28 AM) I agree with you on all points there. The cartoon thingy said "protect us from hurricanes". I took that literally. I forgot about the cartoon. I am still puzzled by Bush's response. I believe he was getting some bad info, and from someone closer to him than Brown. This was a perfect opportunity for him to cheerlead, be tough while being compassionate, a little witnessing to a largly receptive Christian audience, and in general, be bigger than life. Believe it or not, I want our country to do well, no matter who is in power, and I was cheering for my fellow Texan.

The education system in this country needs a serious overhaul. While the public worries about local vs. national control and standardized tests, the text book publishing companies consolidate and the choices of textbooks dwindles. With California and Texas enacting laws on what content must be included, and those being huge markets, they are beginning to control what a child in New Hampshire or Indiana is taught.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 08:08 PM) Yeah and dont forget about the Bush Weather stopping machine which can halt hurricanes in their tracks. :rolly Nuke, the government (local, state, and national) did a terrible job in responding. To suggest that the only way to improve was to stop the hurricane in the first place, is comical. The government should have done a better job, and Presidents are always there to take the credit, they should have to shoulder the blame. Compare 9/11 to the hurricane. Bush wrapped himself in the response to 9/11 for his re-election. How can he duck New Orleans with a straight face? I thought Bush was absolutely at his best during 9/11 and at ground zero, while some of it was, of course, scripted, I believe it was sincere and fully captured the man. I thought New Orleans would be another shining moment for him and would have carried him through this term. Sadly, he was waaaaay off his game and everything fell behind him.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 09:08 AM) Is this what politics has come to? Stop the world I want to get off. That's the power of the internet. This one can't be directly blamed on politics, unless somehow the other party is involved. Looking at that blog and other internet sites, vs. the main stream media, how biased do they look now? I worry with all the blogs and ease of publishing that we will lose site of who is "legit" and who isn't. We may become so willing to accept news tailored to our views, we will lose the ability to know wrong from right. I try at least once a week to listen to and find areas I can agree with Rush. I usually can, once I get past the of his show.

Thinking about the debt posts from last night, I want to share one more thought on the matter. In the years before Reagan, we had "tax and spend" Democrats and fiscally sound Republicans. The Dems would want to start/expand a program and the GOP would fight because of cost, that it would raise taxes. Things would have to be cut in other areas, programs would have to be more modest, do more with less, and finally it sometimes came down to higher taxes or no program. Today, there is no check and balance. We don't have to cut other programs, we don't have to scale back, we just have to borrow more money from China. Reagan tought us we could have all this government spending *and* tax cuts. Open the flood gates to spending that's good for the economy (actually it just makes us feel better) and cut taxes. Ironicaly this quote was sent to me by a good friend and conservative as example of why Democrats would ruin this country. To me it reflects both parties equally. We are doomed when the only way for our economy to flourish is by borrowing money from China, and the oil scum bags that Nuke referenced.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 08:55 AM) He claims we can have Ethanol as a viable alternitive to gasoline 6 years from now. I think thats a little optimistic but that defenitely seems to be the best shot we have to kick our oil habit. Believe me, as much as I defend the oil companies right to profit, I want to see us get rid of our foregin oil dependence as much as anybody. Id like nothing more than to be able to divorce ourselves from the Middle East and tell OPEC and s***bags like Chavez and the Iranian dictator to go to hell. There are so many reasons to kick our oil habit, and they generally should unite our country. Many alternates are better for the environment, or at least not as bad as current technology. It doesn't seem that we've advanced as fast as some would have believed a few years ago. I think having two oil men at the top of the government has both helped and hindered that process. And of course there is always a balance. These s***bags are also customers for every US corporation from McDonalds to Coke and from AMD to Intel. When their economy goes belly up, it will have world wide ripples. It never is that simple.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 08:49 AM) There was ONE Republican senator who voted against alito. Chaffe, I think. Hmmmmm. Let's say there was a GOP Senator who was on the receiving end of that threat, which would be a worse case for any reelection bid, caving in to blackmail, a bj in Union Station? And why would a bj in Union Station be any better or worse then one near the Oval Office? When I heard it was Union Station, I assumed it was a Democrat

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 08:18 AM) No, but you would think it would be illegal to threaten someones job and livelihood by revealing that they are homosexual. This is an angry blogger though, it doesnt seem like he is thinking through his plan so well. Now you are in a tricky situation. One has to agree that being a homosexual would threaten their job and livelihood. Don't we have laws against discrimination? I'm guessing, there isn't a known Senator in the receiving end of that threat, but maybe a bid to potentially guess right, or to attract attention to his blog. Under any circumstances it is wrong in so many ways.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 10:21 PM) She can wear that at the local McDonalds, but not at the State of the Union. Her 15 minutes are up. I would agree if she was shouting, carrying a sign, or something along those lines. She wasn't creating a disturbance. It seems as if they were looking for an excuse to get her out of there, and that may have been a good idea, I'd be really embarrased if she had caused a disturbance during the speech. Yes, her 15 minutes are up, but things like arresting her just stretches it out.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 12:03 AM) So tell me, if supply side economics is causeing unemployment then why are we hovering at 5% unemployment nowadays after 5 years of tax cuts? We are also losing higher wage jobs and replacing them with lower wage jobs. I believe the military and military support industries are also hiring more people, which helps.

From Drudgereport.com Cindy's crime? Wearing an anti-war t-shirt

QUOTE(samclemens @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 10:05 PM) on point. taxes need to be lowered. i live in MI and we currently have the most stagnated economy in the entire county. the cause is the large amount of taxes due to democrat control of the state government. my only hope is that jennifer granholm loses. considering her opponent, devos will probably win simply because granholm doesnt do a damn thing. anyway, i thought bush did a great job on the speech. very nice. then i saw that new gov. from VA jump on with a response and i turned that s*** off, i'll go to bed on a happy, constructive note tonight, not a pessimistic, no solution, high-taxing note. Sam, not to pick on you, I appologize after reading this, but this is what our government has conditioned us to. Notice not a mention that spending needs to be lowered. The government needs to go into debt and give me more money. The Republicans will borrow money and give it to me. Talk about socialist programs.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 09:59 PM) Its not a one to one black and white issue. Its called investment and return. I get a tax break which means that I can create a job where I wouldnt be able if I was taking that money and using it for taxes. The salary on those jobs are taxed. The product I make with those workers are sold and are taxed. Those inviduals are given benefits and a salary which means that the government is not paying for those services. Maybe I dont have to outsource my companys jobs to a foreign country. After all this, my company makes a profit where I can grow and create more jobs and more revenue. These are all extreme examples. But it seems our economy started to grow when the tax cuts were initiated. Rates, money introduced, and other methods didnt work to invigorate our economy. After the tax cuts our economy got better. So in order for that to happen, the US needs to go in debt. Are you at all worried that our economy can't grow without huge national debts? When will the debt be too big? If we don't continue the deficits, the economy will fail, according to your examples. While we are paying interest in the $1 debt Owner get's a $1 tax cut and buys a machine replacing a worker. Oops didn't think about that possibility. Owner get's a $1 rebate and heads to China to expand his business. Even if he gives a worker a raise with that $1, that still only returns $.20. It will never become more than $1, while the interest mounts. What has happened is they have bought your vote with money they borrow from foreign banks.

This just in from my buddy Howard

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 09:53 PM) How about you first show me how tax cuts are so bad when revenue is increasing. We have a defecit because government cant control its spending. Part 2, we agree. Sadly, neither party agrees with us. Revenues are up, but so is debt. The best example is I give you a $1,000 raise and you spend $2000 on your Visa celebrating. What we have discovered is if the Government runs a trillion dollar deficit, half a trillion increases in revenue. That still isn't good long term for our government. We make fun of the French, complain they wouldn't back us in Iraq, then borrow billions from them. Same with China and half the s*** holes around the globe. Guess who is financing our debt? It isn't just US citizens and companies buying Savings bonds. It is so surreal that Republicans no longer care about balanced budgets. Borrowing trillions doesn't faze them. The Dems have never been all that great in that area. That is my #1 fear, no one in Washington cares how far in debt the US goes and they ave convinced the public it doesn't matter.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 09:51 PM) There is no such thing as a perfect government program but I think you can look elsewhere and find far worse in the way of fraud and abuse. Example: I was in my accounting class earlier this evening and my professor once worked as an auditor for Medicaid in NY State. He told us a time he investigated a doctor who had billed Medicaid for 1 million dollars worth of care he did not provide. This doctor was caught and was allowed to get by paying 5000 a month in restitution to the government. After 2 months he left the state of NY and was never heard from again. This is 1 doctor doing this. Our socialist entitlement programs waste more money in a week than the DOD probably wastes all year. Based on the size of the budgets, I assume you are discussing percentages, we spend a lot of money on the biggest of socialist programs, our military.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 09:49 PM) Its odd, the money that gets reinvested into the economy to purchase or to invest in your business. That money isnt taxed? Who is paying those taxes? Show me how $1 cut becomes more than $1 paid in taxes later. Plus the $1 not taken in, and added to the debt, increases.