Yes, it is true.

 

Occupy is a complete disaster, and a failure in every regard. Anyone that says otherwise is simply blind and refuses to see things as they actually are.

 

If it accomplished, please...enlighten me. Tell us all exactly what it accomplished. This should be hilarious.

Dude, even I can tell you the answer to that one. It raised AWARENESS. Because thgat trumps all. Awareness that slackers are still living in mom's basement wioth no jobs due to crappy college degrees and/or no desire to start work at the bottom. Awareness that there is a whole bunch of people that feel the world owes them an ipad or gormet meals just because. It also accomplished double digit deaths, rapes and hundreds of arrests. Oh, and huge costs to the actual working people who pay taxes to clean up their mess after they left/were kicked out of the various parks and for police overtime.

Dude, even I can tell you the answer to that one. It raised AWARENESS. Because thgat trumps all. Awareness that slackers are still living in mom's basement wioth no jobs due to crappy college degrees and/or no desire to start work at the bottom. Awareness that there is a whole bunch of people that feel the world owes them an ipad or gormet meals just because. It also accomplished double digit deaths, rapes and hundreds of arrests. Oh, and huge costs to the actual working people who pay taxes to clean up their mess after they left/were kicked out of the various parks and for police overtime.

 

Oh, now you support awareness.

 

But I'll agree, Occupy sucked.

It shifted the national conversation away from the stupid debt ceiling and austerity, austerity, austerity to discussing inequality.

Europe keeps trying austerity and the constant contracting of those countries' GDP prolongs their recession to the point where they threaten to implode, or drag us back into a full-blown recession with them. Some, here, want to effectively contract our GDP as well, but we haven't done that (aside from massive layoffs of state employees) and while the economy is still s***ty at least it's actually growing.

 

I mean, it's almost like there is an actual, recent, real-world example of a certain idea being bad... the irony to me is that generally the same people are mad that we are "going to end up like Europe." Well, yeah, but not for the reasons you think

Europe keeps trying austerity and the constant contracting of those countries' GDP prolongs their recession to the point where they threaten to implode, or drag us back into a full-blown recession with them. Some, here, want to effectively contract our GDP as well, but we haven't done that (aside from massive layoffs of state employees) and while the economy is still s***ty at least it's actually growing.

 

I mean, it's almost like there is an actual, recent, real-world example of a certain idea being bad... the irony to me is that generally the same people are mad that we are "going to end up like Europe." Well, yeah, but not for the reasons you think

 

I wish lostfan would get ... lost. ;D

 

Oh, and for the record, good points made.

Edited August 8, 201213 yr by Y2HH

Dude, even I can tell you the answer to that one. It raised AWARENESS. Because thgat trumps all. Awareness that slackers are still living in mom's basement wioth no jobs due to crappy college degrees and/or no desire to start work at the bottom. Awareness that there is a whole bunch of people that feel the world owes them an ipad or gormet meals just because. It also accomplished double digit deaths, rapes and hundreds of arrests. Oh, and huge costs to the actual working people who pay taxes to clean up their mess after they left/were kicked out of the various parks and for police overtime.

eh that's a stereotype, the vast majority of supporters of that movement had jobs, and the difference between them and the regular percentage of unemployed people was only a few percentage points.

I wish lostfan would get ... lost. ;D

 

Oh, and for the record, good points made.

I is reedng buks an nowed things frm it

I is reedng buks an nowed things frm it

 

Maybe you should post another soapbox rant on FB.

Maybe you should post another soapbox rant on FB.

lol... I swore to myself back in the spring that I wouldn't do that. I am annoyed by others' political rants so I don't want to be that guy that I hate.

lol... I swore to myself back in the spring that I wouldn't do that. I am annoyed by others' political rants so I don't want to be that guy that I hate.

 

I rather enjoy your rants...please do not stop. You aren't that guy, because you actually have something intelligent to say...

 

Unlike this person:

 

Europe keeps trying austerity and the constant contracting of those countries' GDP prolongs their recession to the point where they threaten to implode, or drag us back into a full-blown recession with them. Some, here, want to effectively contract our GDP as well, but we haven't done that (aside from massive layoffs of state employees) and while the economy is still s***ty at least it's actually growing.

 

I mean, it's almost like there is an actual, recent, real-world example of a certain idea being bad... the irony to me is that generally the same people are mad that we are "going to end up like Europe." Well, yeah, but not for the reasons you think

 

Vs taxation, which is just government forced austerity.

Vs taxation, which is just government forced austerity.

Meh not unless you're going to skyrocket tax rates. 4%, or 2%, or whatever is really not going to break the economy and cause s*** to fall out of the sky. In reality we have not had taxes this low in what, like 60 or 70 years? They weren't even this low for Reagan.

I rather enjoy your rants...please do not stop. You aren't that guy, because you actually have something intelligent to say...

 

Unlike this person:

 

lol. He could make a whole other point but he is too dense to even be aware of that.

 

I like how the NRC tends to be run by execs from the nuclear industry, though. Which is more or less how the GOP runs the rest of the government when they are making those decisions (not that the Dems are pure and wholesome but this is essentially GOP doctrine). Solid.

Meh not unless you're going to skyrocket tax rates. 4%, or 2%, or whatever is really not going to break the economy and cause s*** to fall out of the sky. In reality we have not had taxes this low in what, like 60 or 70 years? They weren't even this low for Reagan.

 

For the most part the spending cuts mantra really hasn't born itself out in reality here either.

For the most part the spending cuts mantra really hasn't born itself out in reality here either.

Spending cuts is a conversation that should probably happen. But... not now. Economic recovery is going to automatically reduce a pretty big part of any deficit to begin with.

 

I saw, I wanna say Dick Cheney(?) recently make a comment about defense cuts to the effect that we can't do it because then we won't be ready for the next war. I have a better idea... how about we don't randomly have another war? That's a good way to just piss away a big part of your GDP and never get it back.

For the most part the spending cuts mantra really hasn't born itself out in reality here either.

As long as you ignore the states and local governments.

Meh not unless you're going to skyrocket tax rates. 4%, or 2%, or whatever is really not going to break the economy and cause s*** to fall out of the sky. In reality we have not had taxes this low in what, like 60 or 70 years? They weren't even this low for Reagan.

Sadly he's right here. A $100 billion yearly tax increase would hit GDP as much as $50 billion in spending cuts. There's no reason to do either until unemployment gets down closer to 6% or so.

Europe keeps trying austerity and the constant contracting of those countries' GDP prolongs their recession to the point where they threaten to implode, or drag us back into a full-blown recession with them. Some, here, want to effectively contract our GDP as well, but we haven't done that (aside from massive layoffs of state employees) and while the economy is still s***ty at least it's actually growing.

 

I mean, it's almost like there is an actual, recent, real-world example of a certain idea being bad... the irony to me is that generally the same people are mad that we are "going to end up like Europe." Well, yeah, but not for the reasons you think

 

 

Unlike Europe, our public pension system is rock solid. And yet with three years of trillion plus deficits you would think the Keynesian beast would be unleashed. But hell, at least we have 1.5% growth. We need more gov't employees we cannot afford. But it's not the spending, it is the lack thereof.

As long as you ignore the states and local governments.

 

Which dropped all of $30 billion, or less than 1% between 2010 and 2012. State spending dropped by $60 billion during that time, while local gov spending went up by $40 billion. If you trace back to 2009, total spending is up for both and for combined.

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/local_spending_2011

Unlike Europe, our public pension system is rock solid. And yet with three years of trillion plus deficits you would think the Keynesian beast would be unleashed. But hell, at least we have 1.5% growth. We need more gov't employees we cannot afford. But it's not the spending, it is the lack thereof.

Did these deficits appear out of thin air on January 21, 2009? President Obama signed the Deficit Expansion and Intentionally Wasteful Spending Act into law or something and I missed it?

Which dropped all of $30 billion, or less than 1% between 2010 and 2012. State spending dropped by $60 billion during that time, while local gov spending went up by $40 billion. If you trace back to 2009, total spending is up for both and for combined.

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/local_spending_2011

Of course, when you have 2% inflation, that becomes a 2-2.7% decrease in actual spending per year.

Of course, when you have 2% inflation, that becomes a 2-2.7% decrease in actual spending per year.

 

Which is completely wiped out by increases in federal spending. Austerity is a unicorn in the US.

Which is completely wiped out by increases in federal spending. Austerity is a unicorn in the US.

Federal outlays have been basically constant since 2009.

Federal outlays have been basically constant since 2009.

 

Nope. Up over 10%.

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fed_spending_2011

 

 

Nope. Up over 10%.

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fed_spending_2011

$3.6 trillion is not 10% higher than $3.52 trillion. The Congress hasn't even passed a budget this year. The increase there is entirely estimated from the submitted Obama budget for the year. According to the CBO actual spending at the federal level this year is up only 1% so far year over year, which is again below the inflation rate.

$3.6 trillion is not 10% higher than $3.52 trillion. The Congress hasn't even passed a budget this year.

THIS year? How about none under Obama.