GoSox05 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 10:08 AM) jim demint is an awful person though: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/...-demint-resign/ He will fit right in at the Heritage Foundation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 09:19 AM) The first part I agree with...the second part...are you kidding me with this? Any politician that does something like this eventually gets reported on for doing it, regardless of their party affiliation. The media merely has to catch wind of it, and I guarantee it gets reported. Edit: This is why it's so hard to have political discussions on this forum with many of you -- it's like trying to have a discussion with a bunch of Ostriches that stick their heads in the sand after they make an obviously biased statement like this one. A statement that I'm positive they know is a total fabrication of reality, but they make it anyway, because it sounds good or something. Sorry for my post. It was in the same mold as the post that started it all. I should have elevated the conversation instead of lowering myself to that level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2HH Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 12:27 PM) Sorry for my post. It was in the same mold as the post that started it all. I should have elevated the conversation instead of lowering myself to that level. I'm not really sure an apology (real or fake) is necessary...I just don't get it when I hear people say things like that. If a Republican was caught evading taxes, I'm MORE than positive it would be all over the news...so, why do people try to pretend otherwise? The same applies to a Democrat caught for something similar. This is like hearing people say things like, "the major media is republican biased", when it's obviously not (MSNBC), or having to listen to Fox news followers claim how fair and balanced their "centrist" reporting is, when it's glaringly Republican skewed. No, the major media is not "Republican biased", and no, Fox news is not "fair and balanced"...regardless, I hear people say things like this all the time and I just don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2HH Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 10:08 AM) jim demint is an awful person though: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/...-demint-resign/ My post wasn't a defense of how awesome Demint was/is, in any regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 12:41 PM) I'm not really sure an apology (real or fake) is necessary...I just don't get it when I hear people say things like that. If a Republican was caught evading taxes, I'm MORE than positive it would be all over the news...so, why do people try to pretend otherwise? The same applies to a Democrat caught for something similar. This is like hearing people say things like, "the major media is republican biased", when it's obviously not (MSNBC), or having to listen to Fox news followers claim how fair and balanced their "centrist" reporting is, when it's glaringly Republican skewed. No, the major media is not "Republican biased", and no, Fox news is not "fair and balanced"...regardless, I hear people say things like this all the time and I just don't get it. I responded to a post that called out Dems, and especially Obama Dems, for loving to tax while evading personal taxes. The OP has posted probably 100 times that Dems receive free passes from the media. I didn't bother to reply in any meaningful way, I just made a fast and sarcastic post. QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Dec 6, 2012 -> 09:09 PM) Why do Democrats, especially ones that like to raise taxes and work for the Obama admin, LOVE to cheat on or forget to pay their taxes? Guess they don't hold the responsibility of paying taxes as highly as others... The poster is well known for taking any and all shots at Obama and defending all Republicans by screaming media bias. I really shouldn't have even responded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 12:42 PM) My post wasn't a defense of how awesome Demint was/is, in any regard. oh I know, it wasn't in response to anyone in particular, just the subject of the thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 12:57 PM) I responded to a post that called out Dems, and especially Obama Dems, for loving to tax while evading personal taxes. The OP has posted probably 100 times that Dems receive free passes from the media. I didn't bother to reply in any meaningful way, I just made a fast and sarcastic post. The poster is well known for taking any and all shots at Obama and defending all Republicans by screaming media bias. I really shouldn't have even responded. "This poster'? Now I am offended that you didn't even refer to me by screen name. (inset green ink there) No response about the post I was responding to, or just singling out the conservative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Now I'm offended you didn't read my post Basically I said they all do it but only the Dems are reported on in the media because they always protect the Republican Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 And Alpha, while you are in search of Democrat hypocrisy, let us look at political backers and their views on taxes and how they relate to what they do. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2...pay-more-taxes/ The nice thing about this is all of the conservative billionaires who avoid paying taxes by keeping profits out of the US are also doing what they believe is best. Helping the world's economy while keeping dollars out of the US treasury. Romney followed his beliefs by not paying any US taxes for years. His top backer is making a killing building casinos in China. God Bless America! To be fair and balance I was trying to find a Chinese flag for Alpha, but since everything seems to be outsourced to China by US companies, the above US flag was probably made there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddy Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 09:09 AM) And Alpha, while you are in search of Democrat hypocrisy, let us look at political backers and their views on taxes and how they relate to what they do. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2...pay-more-taxes/ The nice thing about this is all of the conservative billionaires who avoid paying taxes by keeping profits out of the US are also doing what they believe is best. Helping the world's economy while keeping dollars out of the US treasury. Romney followed his beliefs by not paying any US taxes for years. His top backer is making a killing building casinos in China. God Bless America! To be fair and balance I was trying to find a Chinese flag for Alpha, but since everything seems to be outsourced to China by US companies, the above US flag was probably made there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 10:25 AM) Riiiighhht...because a Democrat would NEVER attempt to stuff hidden agendas, special laws, earmarks or pork into bills they introduce that nobody can decipher or anything...that's just an evil Republican thing! I sincerely hope the lot of you are kidding with these statements...I really do. No, I'm not kidding. Republicans don't even attempt to hide what they're doing so I don't even know what you're getting at about "hidden agendas" and when they do try to hide it nobody even believes them (with the exception of the DeLay/Hastert years I guess where they'd do most of their shady business late at night shutting out the Dems instead of debating it on the open floor). I don't even know why people waste their time acting like it's something other than what it is. I mean, seriously, that is the Republican agenda... almost the entire Republican agenda. Tax cutting is a religion for which you can commit actual heresy and be excommunicated for. The other half of it is passing bills to let industries do things that are illegal due to regulations and whatnot (Clear Skies Act, etc.). You can of course equivocate this and say "Dems do it too!" which is only partially true, because while some of them do sometimes, it's like the organized doctrine of the GOP. Tell me, how long have they been trying to get rid of the EPA entirely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 When people reflexively shout "both sides do it!" to everything it muddies the water, and actually excuses this kind of behavior from one side since we can't have an actual discussion about who really is the problem. While they both may be "to blame" this just by default says they are both 50-50 when it's more like 80-20 or even higher than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 07:00 PM) When people reflexively shout "both sides do it!" to everything it muddies the water, and actually excuses this kind of behavior from one side since we can't have an actual discussion about who really is the problem. While they both may be "to blame" this just by default says they are both 50-50 when it's more like 80-20 or even higher than that. What? We all know the healthy way to argue is to ignore the issue at hand and bring in every other grievance associated to gain leverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 02:04 PM) What? We all know the healthy way to argue is to ignore the issue at hand and bring in every other grievance associated to gain leverage. My bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 8, 2012 -> 08:09 AM) And Alpha, while you are in search of Democrat hypocrisy, let us look at political backers and their views on taxes and how they relate to what they do. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2...pay-more-taxes/ The nice thing about this is all of the conservative billionaires who avoid paying taxes by keeping profits out of the US are also doing what they believe is best. Helping the world's economy while keeping dollars out of the US treasury. Romney followed his beliefs by not paying any US taxes for years. His top backer is making a killing building casinos in China. God Bless America! To be fair and balance I was trying to find a Chinese flag for Alpha, but since everything seems to be outsourced to China by US companies, the above US flag was probably made there. Jim, the day those millionaires drop their army of accountants and lobbyists who do nothing but try and SAVE them from paying taxes, is when i will believe they actually want to pay more taxes. Besides, raising taxes doesn't work. http://www.oc-breeze.com/2012/12/07/25235_...ns-in-november/ This, after passing a massive tax increase of the people and businesses. Guess those that could, left. Wonder how long until California tries to pass a leaving California Tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 So if we pay zero taxes life is great? We have to pay for the government. That involves paying taxes. We keep talking about taxes separate from expenses. If you are going to spend more, then you have to tax more. It is a simple concept. But we continue to have both parties wanting to spend on what they believe is important and neither side really wants to tax anyone. You can't tax the poor, they have no money as it is. You can't tax the middle class, too many voters, and the rich donate to too many campaigns. But this idea we are raising taxes is misleading. We have to ask, raising from where? We've been CUTTING taxes for decades. The GOP said the Bush era cuts would be temporary. Then we ran a 6.1 trillion dollar deficit during Bush's terms. When are we going to pay for those deficits? There has to be revenue increases and spending cuts. I keep hearing the Bush deficits were to pay for two wars. Yet, we don't want to cut military spending to closer to the pre-war levels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Tex, everyone needs to make sacrifices to fix the deficit! And by everyone, I mean the most vulnerable members of society who depend on Medicaid and Medicare to survive. Every Republican has told me that raising taxes is bad and revenue doesn't even matter, we need to CUT! CUT! CUT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 9, 2012 -> 10:57 AM) Tex, everyone needs to make sacrifices to fix the deficit! And by everyone, I mean the most vulnerable members of society who depend on Medicaid and Medicare to survive. Every Republican has told me that raising taxes is bad and revenue doesn't even matter, we need to CUT! CUT! CUT! I truly hope we find a compromise. The past 30 years have been spend and don't tax. The worse of both parties. I have an area we can cut, prisons. Overhaul our nation's drug laws and immigration laws to keep people out of prison and use those savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 9, 2012 -> 12:16 PM) I truly hope we find a compromise. The past 30 years have been spend and don't tax. The worse of both parties. I have an area we can cut, prisons. Overhaul our nation's drug laws and immigration laws to keep people out of prison and use those savings. Actually, the past 30 years, the only thing we've "Spent money" on is tax cuts. Government spending as a share of GDP was basically stagnant from 1980 until 2008. It blew up in 2008 because wall street destroyed the economy...but the only new spending has involved transferring money from domestic upkeep and programs and putting it into prisons and wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2012 -> 02:14 PM) Actually, the past 30 years, the only thing we've "Spent money" on is tax cuts. Government spending as a share of GDP was basically stagnant from 1980 until 2008. It blew up in 2008 because wall street destroyed the economy...but the only new spending has involved transferring money from domestic upkeep and programs and putting it into prisons and wars. Wrong, you don't 'spend' on tax cuts, that is crappy way of thinking. You just don't TAKE monkey because of tax cuts. Stop thinking of other people's money as the government's money. It isn't. The government spent more than it took it, pretty simple. And blames that on the fact that people actually want to keep money they earn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Tax expenditures and tax cuts can be classified exactly the same way as spending w.r.t. budgeting and balance sheets. Whether I cut you a check directly to subsidize your mortgage or I give you credits to reduce your tax bill, the end result is identical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 10, 2012 -> 09:40 AM) Tax expenditures and tax cuts can be classified exactly the same way as spending w.r.t. budgeting and balance sheets. Whether I cut you a check directly to subsidize your mortgage or I give you credits to reduce your tax bill, the end result is identical. No it isn't because you did not have the money to begin with. The only result is you take in less, which means the government should be spending less. However we all know that is doesn't spend less. Ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 If they decide to issue $100B in tax credits or spend an additional $100B on roads, the budgeting result is the same. Refusing to look at tax expenditures in the same light as spending leads to circular "starve the beast" logic, which, while nice for conservatives, is bad for public policy when people don't actually want to gut all of those programs. If you're actually concerned about deficits (nobody really is, it's just cover for other policies), then you should be treating both sides of the ledger the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 10, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) If they decide to issue $100B in tax credits or spend an additional $100B on roads, the budgeting result is the same. Refusing to look at tax expenditures in the same light as spending leads to circular "starve the beast" logic, which, while nice for conservatives, is bad for public policy when people don't actually want to gut all of those programs. If you're actually concerned about deficits (nobody really is, it's just cover for other policies), then you should be treating both sides of the ledger the same way. You didn't spend any money on tax cuts. You got a pay cut, so you 'made' less. Use all the accounting gimmicks and names you want, it wasn't the Feds money to begin with. Not work within the budget you have. People have to, government should as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 1) Governments aren't households and analogizing the two leads to all sorts of really wrong conclusions. 2) Just because taxes were cut at some point doesn't mean they can't now be raised. "The budget they have" can be adjusted, and should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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