Like the way Daddymack thinks. Enjoyed the discussion!

http://imgur.com/QEGEV

Fear -
I'm totally aware of the close to $3T in mineral deposits in Afghanistan. In my opinion, a good portion of why we are entering Africa is for precisely the same reason:
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/c...
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Via the IMF most, if not all, of the African countries are already under control of those who influence. Now it looks like it's time for them to lay claim to some of the possessions.
Hopefully with this new venture, they'll be able to create some new jobs over there for those living in Africa:
http://allafrica.com/stories/20110513048...
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These are strictly observations, of course. I'd rather have them just stop at Libya, but for some reason I see this as the next naturally winning hand for them to draw.
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But now, back to Ryan. He spoke on behalf of trade with the Middle East at a CFR meeting back in December of 2009 (as well as a passing allusion to a belief that the Federal Reserve has a mission geared toward maintaining dollar stability and value):
http://www.cfr.org/economic-development/...
Why? Why was he there? Does he really think the CFR would care? I hope he sees the humanitarian upheaval occuring over there right now as indicative of their response.
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However, for me, innocent mistakes only go so far, like voting for the Patriot Act so we can feel safe about living in the US of A again, or like believing the Federal Reserve was going to disclose who they were bailing out with our tax dollars and voting for the bailout...much to the dismay of many, many of us who called to say, 'Don't do it'.
Innocent mistakes only go so far, until you, as a voter, look at these mistakes and feel more and more that this person is ultimately just contributing to the problem.
Hanging out with the CFR tells me he's getting a little too cozy over there.
Sorry Paul, but it's time for you to come back to the 9-5, dude.

I think I started the oil topic. The Social Security and medicare withholding from the baby boomers during their peak earning years was squandered. I would have preferred the excess SS withholding be invested in oil, precious metals, land, loans to credit worthy countries. The cash is gone so let's move on. When Katrina hit in 05 oil was tapped from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and sold to help fund & rebuild that area. Having all oil reserves in the four salt mines in Texas and Louisiana makes me nervous. Would it hurt to have a one day supply oil in all 50 states. Wisconsin has one oil refinery, would it hurt if Wisconsin has two?

Daddy- Peak oil is REAL. I am WITH you 100% on solar. As far as batteries go, remember that batteries require elements (lithium,nickel, etc...) all found in abundance in Afghanistan! Coinky dink? Hmmmm.
My point is, we cant just consume energy that is not renweable forever, it will run out. Which is why solar, wind, water are the only viable solutions. OIL is NOT forever.

Fear -

Truth be told, I'm not a fighter for the use of oil all day every day, whether there is a possibility of it being peak or not (although I feel there is quite a bit of truth being suppressed of the latter).
The argument of peak/non-peak can almost be seen as a ruse from where I stand, because there is another direction that I have always felt we should have been heading, even more so with this rather impressive surge in the advancement of technology these last twenty years, and it is that advancement that I feel is purposefully being supressed, because the master thinkers in the oil industry have yet to figure out how they can reap continuous rewards from it...and that is solar energy.
By this time, if there was as much focus on advancing the storage power that could be generated from ONE solar cell, as there was in compressing the technological abilities of a desktop computer into your phone, we would all be capable of driving 70 miles an hour down the interstate in vehicles completely powered by solar energy.
Every car would be equipped with two batteries that could store up to twelve hours of energy, with one powering the vehicle, while the other is charging. Once the one powering the vehicle is drained, they would switch roles.
There has been some push, pretty independently, toward this direction, with the use of solar panels providing the electricity for the interior gadgetry of RVs, but there's so much more that can be done.
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It's a pipe dream, I know. But doggone it, it's my pipe dream.

Antone who doesnt but peak oil theory I think is just in denail. All due respect Daddymack. To think that we can just to continue to consume oil at the rates we are for generations and it wont run out, is just silly.
You can find the scientific hypothesis about Peak oil at: http://www.oilcrisis.com/summary.htm
To act as if oil supplies ar infinite when the world consumes upwards of 90 million barrels of oil every single day! 356 days a year! Think about how much that is, do you really believe that its sustainable? Just use common sense, it just cant keep growing, China and India are becoming more and more mobile every day. Oil consumption will continue to rise, production is at a point where it can not go any higher. The price will continue to rise, and demand will NOT fall. So it is my contention that global economies will collapse because of this problem. Oil has become a necessity, not a luxury. If the price continues to trend through the roof, the economy will go into the toilet, and no one will have 'entitlements' to blame.

Daddymack,
I saw your response about WHO and found it VERY interesting. I understand where you are coming from. I however think we have to have some sort of method of tracking world heathcare statistics. If not them , then whom? Pun intended!

whzbng - good article, except it was difficult to leave the site (spam-ridden?). anyway, in response to the article, i would think that if it would cost every american over $200K to fix the debt, that just accentuates the theory of the people even more who are concerned that the debt of the rich is being placed in the hands of the average person. $200K is nothing to a multi-billion $$ corporation (who is not paying their fair share of taxes), but to you and me is 4 years' income.

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/667/159/T...

How did this turn into a discussion about "peak oil"? Nobody really knows when it may occur, or if it's happening now since data is pretty poor, but most energy company CEO have been sounding the alarm for a number of years that production will not meet world wide demands, of course they could all be lying too.

gpawcat, I don't think we can deny that we are peaking our oil flow capacity. What is questionable is if other energy resources and technological advances in harnessing them will occur in a timely enough manner to avoid the apocalyptic scenarios many peakers forecast. I tend to agree that many of those scenarios are overblown and underestimate the pending technological advances.

@ poobah
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I'm sorry. I just noticed a bit of a fallacy:
The effects of the end of the Cold War was during the Clinton's time in office, not the end of the Cold War.
Funny things occasionally happen after a sixty-hour work week. Didn't type what I was thinking. Sorry about that.

On peak oil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdSjyvIHV...
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Sorry to say, but I seriously have never been someone who bought the whole 'peak oil' thing.
Oil prices are going up, but it is not as a result of this. Oil prices are going up because TPTB want it to go up. The word on the street is that they are shooting for as close to $200 a barrel as they can get. I'd hazard a guess the unrest in the Middle East provides a good booster in that direction.

@ poobah -

You're correct...I didn't read your comment properly. I apologize.
The end of the Cold War was during Clinton's time in office, which with the cut in the defense budget as a result, was quite possibly successful in decreasing the debt to GDP ratio:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/10/nationa...
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As for Carter, which is better, a decrease in the ratio or an inflation rate at 13%?
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch37-econ1d.ht...
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Cheers

gpawcat, just to be clear, the cost of the crude oil reserves was $20.7 billion dollars. $20 billion is not a trivial amount, but it would barely make a dent in the debt or deficit and the reserves serve as an important backup in the event of an unexpected disruption in our oil supply.

Poobah; All I saying is investing the surplus could have avoided the disaster we are facing.
Politicians, both Republican and Democrat saw the Social Security Trust Fund as just another source of money they could spend. And like the crazed crack head going for more cocaine, they stole it and blew through it faster than junkie on a bender. We can argue all we want about whose fault it is, but the simple fact of the matter is, Social Security is heading for insolvency and it is not going to be here much longer.
Investing to me means a return on your money, not saddling my children with redeeming government bonds out of their pay checks.
Paul Ryan is just the messenger.

gpawcat, I don't know what you're misunderstanding but the reserves are now at full capacity at 725+ million barrels and are intended as a 181 day supply, not 31 days. It was never intended that the reserves would replace every drop of oil being used. It was designed to supply 4 million barrels of crude oil per day for emergency purposes and that's just what it would do -- for 181 days at current inventories. Americans complain about $4 per gallon gasoline while other countries pay much more than that. High gasoline prices are surely no reason to start drawing on the reserves -- even if it would lower gasoline prices. And it would not lower gasoline prices.
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Our average cost per barrel of oil in the reserves is $28.50 per barrel. It would now cost us $100 per barrel to replace it. And i_luv_jvl is absolutely correct with oil prices headed sky high due to peak oil. The value of the reserves will only continue to grow -- a good investment.

wislady - that was funny. :)

ooooooh... gnawcat - it's going to take a while to bounce back from that one. :)
i can add to poobah's very fine explanation that we are currently at or very near what's called "Peak in Oil Production," which is when the oil we consume each day equals what we produce. Following the principles of supply and demand, don't plan on prices coming down significantly - ever again. Although it may sound absurd, I predict oil to reach $20 a gallon by sometime between 2025 and 2030, unless our use of it changes drastically. Right now, an oustounding 85% of the energy we use each day comes from fossil fuels, and America is responsible for 25% of the world's daily consumption.

Thanks pooba, Of course you know the 31 day strategic oil reserve can only pump 4 million barrels out a day. It would take 5 1/2 months to pump out a 31 day supply. Hahahaa! Again the joke is on us! I my would rather have SS withholding spent on assets like oil, gold, ect. than the general revenue for Congress to squander. Got go. I want you commenter's to get this fix by tomorrow. I'm not getting any younger.

No wonder his budget got 0 votes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThEAO0lt4...

gpawcat said, "Two and a half trillion dollars in oil reserves would drive the oil price down under a dollar at the snap of the Presidents fingers."
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You take the award for most ignorant comment of 2011. The strategic reserves has 292.5 million barrels of sweet crude and 434 million barrels of sour crude. Remember this is crude oil, not refined. The sour has very high sulfur content and would be used for heating fuel. With oil prices around $100 per barrel (for the higher priced sweet), you're look at a reserve value of certainly no more than 72.65 billion dollars. That isn't even close to your 2.5 trillion dollar figure you pulled out of somewhere. To further squash your less than brilliant observation, only 4.4 million barrels per day can be withdrawn from the reserves due to technical capacity issues. So it would take 182 days to draw down the reserves. The United States uses over 19 million barrels of oil a day. The cost of transporting 4.4 million barrels into refineries and reducing imports by 4.4 million barrels would probably actually end up increasing gasoline prices by reduced demand (increase the cost of the other 15 million barrels per day we would have to continue to import) and wipe out our reserves.
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Here's a link to the reserves inventory.
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http://www.spr.doe.gov/dir/dir.html

Thanks DADDYMACK! For posting the myth of the surplus of Clinton years. Can a person imagine instead of the surplus SS & medicare wages withheld from pay checks was used to buy assets like Oil instead of government debt. Two and a half trillion dollars in oil reserves would drive the oil price down under a dollar at the snap of the Presidents fingers.

It's time for Mr. Ryan to get out of politics and find a new line of work.

If you look at Ryan's main campaign comtirbutors they are all insurance companies of some sort.

Seems odd to me....

People can still find value and customer service in small, locally owned and operated businesses where you don't survive as a business unless you treat your customers with decency and respect. The larger the corporation, the more inherently easy it is to lose this sense of purpose and to become focused on profits. CEO's of large corporations are paid to maximize shareholder return and profits. When it comes to health insurance companies, which are very large corporations, they have one objective -- increasing profits. There are two ways in which they can increase profits. One is to increase revenues. They do this by increasing the number of subscribers and by increasing the rates charged to those subscribers. The second way is by decreasing costs. They do this by decreasing the benefits they pay to their subscribers and by decreasing employee expenses.
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Let's think about this. We entrust the health of our population to large corporations whose goal it is to increase what the citizens pay for insurance while decreasing what they will cover. Why are we doing this? Why don't we eliminate health insurance companies entirely from the equation and establish a national health care program that covers every person? A government program where profits are not the main objective, but rather the health of the population is the main concern. A system where doctors are paid for keeping their patients healthy instead of being paid on how many ill patients they can cram into one day’s worth of appointments.
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Just as we turned over control of monetary policy and gave exclusive money creation rights to a private corporation of bankers (the Federal Reserve), we have turned over the health of our senior citizens to the private insurance companies that administer Medicare. It's time to implement a single payer, national health care program that covers every person. We could then eliminate Medicare, Medicaid, VA health benefits and a myriad array of state-run health insurance programs. The duplicity of systems and the overhead of so many insurance companies (and their profits) is just criminal.
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The reason we haven't done this is in large part because of the fear mongering that both Republican and Democrat legislators have carried out at the behest of the large health insurance lobbies. These lobbies donate millions to campaigns and then hire retired politicians at ridiculous salaries once their political career is over. Time to stand up, America and demand more from your politicians! All of this bickering over Medicare is exactly what both the Republicans and Democrats want. It's just enough of a distraction to prevent the discussion from truly addressing the crisis we face with health care and monetary policy decisions.

daddymack, if you would re-read and comprehend what I said you wouldn't be questioning it. I said federal debt as a percentage of GDP.

@poobah
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Clinton and Carter decreased our federal debt? As far as I know our debt has increased under ALL presidents, some more than others:
http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-D...
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And a link that has another take on the Clinton surplus:
http://www.craigsteiner.us/articles/16

Mouse, Ryan will make his millions when he is either defeated in his next re-election or doesn't run for re-election and is hired as a lobbyist/consultant by the insurance industry. That way, Ryan can make his millions and Grandma and Grandpa can remain healthy despite the insurance industry's best efforts to the contrary. Although it will be us paying Ryan his millions via our increased health care premiums.

TAX AND SPEND TAX AND SPEND TAX AND SPEND. TAX THE MIDDLE TAX THE MIDDLE TAX THE MIDDLE. Yes, Sigmund, the Republican mantra since Reagan years. You do realize Reagan doubled our federal debt as a percentage of GDP and that Bush II increased it 60%. Carter and Clinton on the other hand decreased it. Back to your sofa, Sigmund, for another session.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Fed...

Maybe you need to check the numbers because I cant find anything saying half the country is below the poverty line Its actually 13%. Canada is at 17%. and our so called poverty line would be considered wealthy in most of the world. This just makes my point that the Dem's are unwilling to make any adult decisions in life our politics.Live within your means is an alien concept,just take away from others who earn it and give to those that are owed by society.

Gee I wonder if the number of poor is increasing due the flood of third world illegals crossing our borders every year? How is it that after decades of Lib welfare programs we still have any poor people? Here we sit trillions of dollars later yet the number of poor keeps going up. Oh that right its all those evil right wing corporations, I wonder how Soros and Buffett made all their money. Same ol same ol, the story never changes and when someone stands up and trys to fix it he must be stopped! 2024 we will become the United States of Greece. TAX AND SPEND TAX AND SPEND TAX AND SPEND. TAX THE RICH TAX THE RICH TAX THE RICH.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/march-ma...
Paul Ryan's not in trouble, he is the only man in D.C. that mans-up and tells the truth. SS & medicare goes broke by 2024. LOL. The entitlements and interest on our debt will be 100% federal revenues by 2020. We thought we would leave this to our grandkids, what ever happened to that plan?

"the whole '47% of Americans dont pay Federal Income taxes' is a skewed number, by those that continue to use hyperbole to try to score political points."
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Really? The numbers are from the IRS, not some left-or-right wing claim. Perhaps you are confused over federal taxes and payroll taxes.

Fear -

Don't know if you saw it or not, but I left a WHO response a little farther down the chain -- May 27, 2:32 am.
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Cheers

Once again to all of the zombies out there , the whole '47% of Americans dont pay Federal Income taxes' is a skewed number, by those that continue to use hyperbole to try to score political points. The fact is that there are several reasons why folks dont pay and they are NOT always the same. A pretty interesting article that breaks doen who pays what and some reasons why others dont pay. In the end , we all pay. Is it so much allow those living below the poverty line to pay less? Especially when the corporate interest crowd , and the free-trade crowd has been driving down median wages for decades. The less people make, and more people that make less allows revenues to decrease. Poverty in this nation is growing, and its NOT because of government spending being out of control. Its from corporate spending , buying politicians and making their own rules...i.e investment banks. Lets find a new line people, because the whole 47% live tax free ship has sailed. Try AGAIN!

More than 50% of americans pay NO FEDERAL INCOME TAX! So who is it that ripping off the middle class? The evil rich or the lazy mooches? In 2009 between Fed and state gov's the US paid $1.2 Trillion in welfare. 100% of those receiving welfare not only didnt pay any income taxes but also received tax return checks,how does that work? This is one of the many reasons or Gov is broke and medicare is being looked at for cuts, shut down the welfare system and I'd bet we could have medicare back in the black within 10 years. You decide who needs it more,medicare for seniors or welfare for mooches?

Poobah: I just checked the site and you are correct, Medicare is scheduled to go BK in 2024, not 2018 as I stated. My fault.
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However, the point still stands. 2024 isn't that far in the future. Another important point is the following from the same report: The chief actuary of Medicare noted on page 46 (of a 273 page document) that “the projections shown in this report for current law should not be interpreted as our best expectation of actual Medicare financial operations in the future but rather as illustrations of the very favorable impact of permanently slower growth in health care costs, if such slower growth can be achieved “(source: Medicare Trustees).
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Permanently slower growth in health care costs??? How comforting is that? By the government's own admission, their projections are NOT realistic which means the program will go belly up even sooner than they project!

StraightTalk, your numbers are not those that appeared in the report you cite. The report published 5/13/2011 stated Medicare would be bankrupt in 2024. This is 5 years earlier than the prediction given in last years report which was 2029 and is due to a slower than expected recovery.

"Medicare is not in the trouble Ryan says it is, and Ryan should not be talking austerity measures... Zielinski said."
-------------------------
Medicare's own study that was published on 5/13/11 states that the program will be BANKRUPT by 2018. That's only 7 years from now. So, dems and libs, that's not a problem? Maybe Ryan's plan isn't perfect, but at least he's trying to do something besides holding the status quo which is going to bankrupt the whole program.

SB1

Rubber rats and blue fists....but no time to do a budget or come up with ways to cut the spending.

Have any of you actually read Ryan's Medicare proposal or do you just like to spew the party line? If it's from a repub, it's no good no matter what. Look into it-- the whole proposal, not just the sound bites or what you have heard. Don't be a lemming, our country's future is at stake. Isn't there a common ground somewhere?

"The Reagan tax cuts, like similar measures enacted in the 1920s and 1960s, showed that reducing excessive tax rates stimulates growth, reduces tax avoidance, and can increase the amount and share of tax payments generated by the rich."
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kaysbrew you are either less than 23 yrs old or don't know your history.
The Reagan tax cuts turned into tax increases. And as senile as Reagan was, even he realized that takes a certain amount of revenue to operate government. In other words, kaysbrew, Reagan was wrong in his belief that lowering taxes would automatically generate economic growth.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/08/news/eco...

Yep, when you have nothing better to offer....

vato - here is george karlin's "The American Dream." You'll enjoy it. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-...

This "piece" belongs on the opinion page not news page {link).

regarding the Ryan video on this page...does this represent the questions that many of us wanted the Gazette to ask Ryan (gpeck blog request from 19MAY2011)? Why even ask us?

vato - that was exactly my point. it was not a good reason, which was stated as a demonstration of my young adult intellectual mind at the time.

I voted for Reagan - but also voted for Clinton twice - I don't like the direction this party has gone. I don't think either have the answers, just re-election plans.

mouse, why did you just attack kaysbrew for no reason. She wished us a nice weekend??
Are you a person that hit's someone and runs away, because that's what it looks like.

kay - you just made me feel old by saying you are old enough to "remember" reagan. i voted for reagan, twice. ;) at least i can say i was young enough to vote for him because i thought he "seemed like a nice guy." i've come a long way in my understanding of politics since then.

poobah "other legislators were too afraid of losing their jobs"
These guys shouldn't be in there if that's how they think, but unfortunately the statement is correct

Okay- one more - I am old enough to remember Reagan.
Yes we have many primary candidates that are conservative and that scares Libs - yes

Bottom line - I've got to go ----
Obama will not run in 2012 on his record!

You best chance at control is a primary - He would lose that.
See you all - have a great weekend!
Remember the Vets.!

kaysbrew- I don't know how old you are but I can assure you that this Republican Party looks nothing like the Republican Party I grew up in. They're mean spirited and abusive with power and care less for the plight of the common man. That's why I am no longer part of it. By the way- I'm in my late 60's so I've got a history to draw upon.You need to quit being so one dimensional and start reading other viewpoints.

kay is this the same ron reagan you are referring to again??

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-ma...

unclesmoothie said, "It's Friday of a great holiday weekend! Why don't all of you constant bickerers have a beer or whatever you choose to drink..."
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How about a smoothie?

i've enjoyed it as well. :)

kaysbrew said, "The Reagan tax cuts, like similar measures enacted in the 1920s and 1960s, showed that reducing excessive tax rates stimulates growth, reduces tax avoidance, and can increase the amount and share of tax payments generated by the rich."
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kaysbrew, please explain the DOUBLING (a 100% increase) of the federal debt as a percentage of GDP during Reagan's presidency. The chart link is below.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Fed...

kaysbrew - why are you deaf to any ideas that don't match your own? we already know yours don't work. what you want is more of what has gotten us in this mess in the first place. if you would open your mind a bit, you might just fall upon a real solution. stop letting the rhetoric from the links you provide prevent you from opening your eyes, my friend.
happy memorial day weekend.

i_luv_jvl
I've completely enjoyed our debate today. You've been respectful and thoughtful
have a wonderful

Hahahaha - seriously - one little election with a liberal "tea party" third party - come on. You've got nothing right?

http://taxcutsincreaserevenue.com/

thanks, uncle. i believe i will do just that.
have a good weekend everyone.

The same platform this recent NY winner ran on, I'd presume. The budget should not be solved by putting it on the backs of the middle class. End government corruption, cronyism, and political pay backs, and our nation can get back on its feet again, without having to rape the funds of those that need it most.

It's Friday of a great holiday weekend! Why don't all of you constant bickerers have a beer or whatever you choose to drink and be grateful for all of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives so you could sit here and attack each others personal views all day? Without those sacrifices you may have been executed for saying the things you say. My hat is off to all of the past and present defenders of our great nation. Have a great weekend everybody!!!!

What platform will the Dems run on in 2012 to promote themselves?

What, Kay? Please explain.

what's even more alarming is that we can see it doesn't work, but instead of reversing tax credit laws, the current proposal is to create even MORE credits, while people at the bottom of the food chain... the ones with much less control as the corporations who control our legislators... are supposed to accept that significant cuts be placed on them? C'mon now. Now that the masses have gathered together in understanding of what is really going on, it's just not going to happen any longer.

so what scares you more?
That Dems have nothing to run on?

Yes, kaysbrew, I understand that your quote is how they try to pass it along as a good thing to do, but has it worked? What has happened to our nation's financial state since the passing along of this idea?
It apparently was nothing more than an excuse to provide tax cut kickbacks, because our debt is now out of control, and that's exactly the reason why.
It's simple - really. We were up for giving it a try, but it's time to accept that it doesn't work.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports...

http://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/tx-grwth...

The Reagan tax cuts, like similar measures enacted in the 1920s and 1960s, showed that reducing excessive tax rates stimulates growth, reduces tax avoidance, and can increase the amount and share of tax payments generated by the rich. High top tax rates can induce counterproductive behavior and suppress revenues, factors that are usually missed or understated in government static revenue analysis.

jcommon said, "Mr. Ryan has the guts to come up with a budget plan, something that every other politician in Washington is too scared to do. Do you think that he wants to take away anything from seniors? Do you think he wants to make cuts to SS or Medicare."
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Mr. Ryan was ignorant enough of history, or hopeful enough he could buck it, and chose to be the front man for the Republican assault on Medicare. It's only that other legislators were too afraid of losing their jobs, not that Ryan had any guts. Keep watching the Republican rats running away from Ryan's sinking ship.
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Ryan OBVIOUSLY wants to take things away from seniors. Have you read his Republican proposal?
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Yes, he OBVIOUSLY wants to make cuts to Medicare. You can not read the Ryan Republican proposal without drawing that conclusion -unless you have some math or reading comprehension deficiencies.

SarahB1 said, "Paul Ryan IS a political mess."
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Couldn't agree with you more, Sarah. I had made a comparison between David Stockman and Paul Ryan a week or so ago. The Republicans sacrificed Stockman after the Reagan budget fiasco became apparent. And now, they're sacrificing Ryan. They needed a scapegoat to float their totally unrealistic Medicare-killing budget proposal and you knew it wasn't going to be Boehner. Another Republican hatchet man bites the dust...

Balance the budget!!

http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/27/poll-l...

jcommon - i'd buy into that if the hard-hitting tax cuts in his plan weren't almost equally met by tax breaks for the rich. they seem to think we're foolish enough to see the $4.3 trillion in cuts as a solution while ignoring the $4.2 trillion in tax breaks that are in the very same bill. too many people are watching now.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/16/news/com...
http://www.fff.org/comment/com1104i.asp

Try these to learn the facts reguarding GE,

The democrats are more interested in things like their "rights" to take time to balance the budget.
.......
Fed says unions have legal right to display giants inflatable rats during labor disputes
Federal regulators say union activists have the legal right to display giant inflatable rats outside companies during labor disputes.

The National Labor Relations Board says putting up a 16-foot-tall rat balloon is allowed even if the business is not directly involved in the conflict between the union and another employer.

The Carpenters union and other labor groups often use the giant rat as a form of street theater. The goal is to shame companies that hire outside contractors who refuse to use union workers or pay union-scale wages.

The case was closely watched by business groups who claim the giant rat is too coercive and confrontational. But the labor board says the rats are a form of symbolic speech that don’t interfere with business activity.

http://nhjournal.com/2011/05/27/fed-says...

Nice try doc0430. You should have looked at the Wikipedia page more closely.
NAFTA was written by Republicans and passed by Republicans as a means to expand free trade in North America. All that information was right there on the same Wikipedia page from where your quotes were found. Clinton agreed to it, in part, to appease Republicans in an effort to get his Supreme Court nominee through the Senate. Democrats voted for the bill after putting in place provisions to protect American workers and the environment.
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Here is link to an article by James Glassman, a Republican, extolling the benefits of passing NAFTA while referring to another Republican who chides Clinton for his lack of interest in passing NAFTA. “In an article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Marc Levinson blames the Clinton administration for fanning the flames of protectionism, rather than dousing them.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/pol...

So why did NAFTA fail? “…Republican supporters further undermined NAFTA by liberalizing access to the U.S. market literally to all comers -- the Caribbean Basin countries, the Andean South American countries, Vietnam, sub-Saharan Africa, the East Asians after the financial crisis, the entire world with the Uruguay Round agreement, and, of course, China.”

Now what were you were saying about writing on the wall doc0430…
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It may now be Paul Ryan's turn to find out just how fickle the electorate can be.

Oh, wislady, puleeze.

And if these cuts are what it takes, then so be it. Any person in their right mind wouldn't want his job. He probably runs into resistance no matter what he proposes. Be thankful we actually have someone like him, in government representing us rather than someone like Rangel or Pelosi or Edwards.

The democrats COULD have passed a budget any time they wanted. There should be NO raising the debt limit until a budget is passed. How many days now...760

Could anyone tell me when the democrats think a budget should be passed?

I have to wonder about this country after reading some of the comments on here. Republicans, this, Democrats, that. Do you think that Mr. Ryan really thinks about that when he wrote this budget plan? If he did, then he is not the person I want in there. Mr. Ryan has the guts to come up with a budget plan, something that every other politician in Washington is too scared to do. Do you think that he wants to take away anything from seniors? Do you think he wants to make cuts to SS or Medicare. No, I don't believe that. I believe that he made a choice to do his job, and to try and get this government back in check.

No i_luv_jvl, I'm taking about the state of our economy at the Federal level.

Ted... Medicare A & B are now administered thru private health insurance companies. Medicare sets up competitive plans and guarantees coverage options. My Medicare is admin thru United Health. Low income and ailing seniors would get more dollars toward the purchase of premiums.

Bowlgal - you must be speaking of the behaviors of our current WI State Senate? :)

It's 47-51, Dem control, right? The vote last night was 40-57. What does that tell you?

Majority Senate and Presidency. Doesn't that trump the House for passing laws when they act like children and don't work together?

wislady - is that a real question? If it is, it's a pretty simple one that hopefully you can answer yourself. The President is a Democrat, but which party holds the majority of the House right now? Hopefully you understand something as elementary as how our nations passes its laws (and budget plans).

Thank you President Clinton for showing that you still get it. I'm sure he would have worked out the Ryan plan together as good leaders have done in the past. Just his comment to Paul Ryan shows that the Democrats have no plan and will continue to divide and separate. How sad.

Sigmund -
Last night budget proposal was voted down 40–57.
The "fix" you speak of was to make $4.3 trillion in drastic cuts—hitting everything from education and food aid for children to job training and Medicaid.
At the same time, the budget included $4.2 trillion in tax cuts, which would go disproportionately to corporations and the rich.
How does that budget plan fix anything?

Not only would Ryan's plan probably make insurance unaffordable for many of the elderly, it would also increase the cost of providing insurance. Ryan seeks to convert Medicare, under which the government serves as the single insurer, to a privatized voucher plan, under which individuals receive vouchers to buy their own insurance. Medicare has about 3% administrative costs, which means that about 97% goes to pay for medical care. Private insurers have about 15% administrative costs on average, which means that much of the money goes to dispute claims, advertising, etc, instead of paying for healthcare. So under Ryan's plan, not only would senior citizens be left out in the cold with vouchers that cover only a small part of their insurance-- we the taxpayers would be paying more for administration and less for actual healthcare.

i_luv_jvl

The dems are in power, and yet they have failed to pass a budget for running the USA. What about that?

GE.....
Advisor to the President, CEO Jeffery Immelt in hot seat over company's taxes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsliQwT94...

is the "do nothing Democratic party" the new coined phrase on the tea party blogs or something?
People ask, well if you're not going to cut spending, then how do you propose we solve this problem?
We offer solutions - but time after time they fall on deaf ears.
I guess you're a "do nothing" party if the opposing party refuses to hear you.
The solution is nearly as simple as ending cronyism and corporate palm-padding. Period.

The fact that the Obama budget was voted down 97-0 tells me that our representatives are voting what's right or wrong instead of partisan party lines like our current state Republican Senators are doing. I'm proud of our Democrats for voting against it even though our leader shares their party line. Says a lot for us, I'd say.

I find it interesting that some respond to me with claims of Democratic misbehaviors of the past. What makes you think I condone cronyism from anyone? I'm often met with responses like, "Yeah, but remember when this Democrat did that?..." instead of something relative to the current issue. It reminds me of when my children were young. "Her mom lets her stay out as late as she wants." Even if I liked the boy's mother, that doesn't mean I agree with everything she does.
Wislady - GE paid NO taxes in 2009 either, after all the gov't tax credits they were given. I suppose that's why some were able to carry over to the next year. If you are somehow going to try to defend the nation's largest private corporation from having to pay ANY taxes, it's a losing battle you'll be fighting. That's nothing but ludicrous. And I don't care which party is in office. It's WRONG and a big part of our country's problem right now.
If the Dems were in power right now and trying to pass such a plan, especially in partisan measures, I'd be just as upset with them. The fact is that the Dems currently oppose it. In large part, they appear to me to be supporting what is right, and opposing the continued cronyism attempts. For that reason, they have my support, and I believe the support of the majority of Americans.

"Vote for Rob Zerban".

The new plan to save SS & Medicare. BEAT PAUL RYAN!! Is that it? Well, problem solved, I'll sleep good tonight.

Joan -

Just watched Ron Paul's speech right before I stopped back here.

Incidentally, all you Ryan lovers, Mr. Ryan said 'yes' to HR 1540, which consigns him to agreeing with everything Ron Paul states in this video.
Paul Ryan also believes we apparently are over in Libya for a just cause:
.
"Furthermore, on March 18, 2011, the United Nations Security Council— with U.S. approval—approved a resolution by a vote of 10 – 0 to authorize military operations and implement a no-fly zone in Libya. The resolution authorizes "all necessary measures" to "protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack."
On March 19, 2011, the U.S. military began to enforce the UN resolution by executing "Operation Odyssey Dawn," targeting and dismantling Colonel Gaddafi's air defense systems and disrupting his military operations. The U.S. has been joined in this effort by a broad international coalition, which includes Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Operation Odyssey Dawn began under U.S. control, but the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is currently in the process of assuming command of all Libyan operations."
.
That is from a email response he sent me, which was a response to my question of why we are over there, seeing as I don't recall Congressional approval to do so...Obama listened to a different master for this endeavor. That is unconstitutional.
This bill, just passed in the House, would make this okay to do. It also makes it okay to engage in perpetual war, since we all know the fight against 'terrorism' is about as faceless as it gets.
The only immediate terrorists I see are the ones we elected into office.

Obamas budget was voted down 97-0. This is the same old lib line tax the rich, no spending cuts, no tax breaks for the rich, theyre coming to take away my handouts! Grow up! Your own personal greed and childish thinking is leading to the financial ruin of america. All of you talk about evil corporations and greedy business men and then want to tax them into bankruptcy but then you dont understand why they move the company's to other country's. These evil corporations pay BILLIONS in taxes not to mention provide MILLIONS of jobs on top of the goods and services they provide. If at $40k a year your paying 35% Federal income tax you are over paying and probably get a $3-4000 tax return every year. Our handout society of entitlement programs is unsustainable,we have reached the point that we cant tax enough to pay for these programs and the Federal Gov is borrowing from other countries to the tune of $40,000.00 per second 24/7. I'll bet none of you even read the budget proposal because all you needed to hear was"Taking away my entitlement" to run around screaming. Enough is enough, pull your heads out of the sand and start acting like adults.

Funny that the impeachment issue was brought up, weren't Biden and Kucinich both talking about impeachment of potus regarding Libya?

2) Both parties are essentially for corporate interests. That's why Obama never showed up here for the labor rallies and wouldn't allow Joe Biden to come.

Right....they sent Trumpka, Jackson, and MoveOn.org people instead.

Ilvjv...here's another tidbit for you. Businesses now pay 39% combined fed/state tax rate, the second highest in the developed world. Japan is the highest but is now planning on lowering their rate 5%, leaving the US as the highest. Of our trading partners the average is 25%. also keep in mind that 45% of federal individual filers pay no federal taxes and 45 million of those received $75 billion in refunds even tho they didn't pay any taxes. So keep this mind as we try to sell our products and compete in a world market, creating jobs in this country.

It is time to stop Paul Ryan before his influence spreads. Vote for Rob Zerban!

OMG - check out Ron Paul's speech yesterday:

http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-house-f...

grandys,
Feel free to interpret that brief hurried conversation between Ryan and Clinton all you like, but here's a news flash: Clinton's not in office anymore. I think it's silly when the Democrats trot him out like some kind of mascot. Please believe it's even sillier when Republicans try to do the same thing. I'm sure you probably called for his impeachment just like all the other Republicans. Did your fingers burst into flames as you typed the words "Thank you President Clinton"?

i_luv_jvl

Crony capitalism is a term describing an allegedly capitalist economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials.
GE is the biggest fan of Obama and Pelosi's "favors" and Obamacare Waivers.

In Canada it's now 15% and they are coming out of this a lot quicker.

Ilvjv...GE paid no taxes in 2010 because they had a tax credit from 2009. And if you are so unhappy about that, how must you feel about your hero Mr Obama appointing the CEO of GE to head up one of his committees? Guess what the Dems are just as guilty of pandering as anyone else. Yes they made a huge profit, do you know how big they are and how many people they employ? And Bill Clinton is the one who said HE hoped the Dems would not take the outcome of the election in NY as an excuse to do nothing about Medicare ---that's a quote. If you have a problem with that talk to him!

The Paul Ryan Kill Medicare Bill is not a plan.
It is a suicide pact.
And if you love the Paul Ryan Kill Medicare Bill,
wait until you see Kill Social Security.
Coming soon to a Congress near you.

Anyone who says that they will go back to voting straight party lines because they got burned on a vote isn't really the independent voter they claim to be. Why let a political party control you? Do your research, then make up your own damn mind.

kay - i'm a retired algebra teacher. let me put this into a real word problem for you. the fed tax on a person earning over approx. $400,000 is 35%. the fed tax on the average middle class tax payer (mean is $50K) is 35%.
So let's use GE as an example, from their 2010 tax year. They made over $14 billion in PROFITS. Their tax at 35% should have been 4.9 billion dollars. With all the tax breaks they received from our gov't, they ended up paying ZERO in taxes, just like the year before.
To make up for the tax they did not pay, it took 392,000 average middle income tax payers paying their fair share.
And that was just ONE corporation to equal the tax of almost 400 thousand people like me!

Like. :-)

Some advice for modern voters:

1) Rarely can you vote for an individual. Most of them vote party line. Exceptions include Feingold and now Rand Paul.

2) Both parties are essentially for corporate interests. That's why Obama never showed up here for the labor rallies and wouldn't allow Joe Biden to come.

3) NAFTA - passed by both parties and only benefitted corporate interests

Solution: Screw both parties and let's start a new labor party - tax the rich and corporations and then we'll have the low taxes the tea partiers want. We all want freedom from illegal search and seizure, etc.... We all want a fair wages for work done. We all want to spend time with our families.

By the way - check out the Indiana Supreme Court is allowing cops to search homes without a warrant randomly. There's thousands already rallying against this, and the legislature is taking up a bill to overturn it.

More proof that we need to band together everyone and republicans: stop listening to talk radio so you can stop being brainwashed. We need your brains in this and all of that logic you are famous for. We can't get the logic going while you are brainwashed by propoganda. Try getting off the talk radio for awhile and see how it goes. Like a drug.

Maybe I've missed it with all the Ryan plan bashing, but what exactly is the Democrat plan and or solution?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110527/ap_o...

Keep printing money Obama - good student to collapse economy from within. "Rules for Radicals"

i_luv_jvl - I guarantee you there are a lot like you out there. So many teachers voted for Walker and now feel so betrayed and are very angry. Neighbors of ours that would never mention politics are talking regularly that they are so upset over this. A satellite repairman (I do not know the guy) was here yesterday and brought up Walker's tactics of ramming through legislation. People are very angry about the current Republican agenda and tactics. My political views are much like yours but I didn't vote for Walker.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-27...

And what is Europe - socialism with large entitlements. England and Canada in last elections went conservative - so will America

I Luv JVL. I too was an independent voter. I voted for the person. I voted for Paul Ryan last time. I will never vote outside dem lines again. Thanks for your confession. It feels good to get it off my chest.

i_luv_jvl
so we will just tax the rich and run the government for about 40 more days. Because people will get laid off and an even bigger burden will be put upon the growing entitlements. Okay, lets try that -

"I tell you this and mark this down. Democrats will not run on their platform of government take overs, big spending and Obamacare."
..............
Well, of course not, Kaysbrew. That's your perspective of it, as is the "tax the rich" statement as if the people are saying just run and get it from them for no reason except that they have money.
We're mad at the continuing, escalating tax BREAKS they are being given at the same time that spending is being drastically cut. You can't say $4.2 trillion in spending and in THE SAME BILL provide $4.1 in tax BREAKS, and then say you're fixing the budget.
Do you not see how that doesn't make sense? Do you not understand why the working class is mad as hell at such "solutions"?

kaysbrew,
If your argument holds any water, you're saying that Republicans voted for a Democrat, Jack Davis, simply because he called himself a Tea Partier? These voters had no idea that he had run twice as a Democrat for the same seat in 2004 & 2006? Really? Do you honestly believe that your fellow Republicans in New York are that easily confused? What does that say for the Republicans there in New York 26? It seems like they're not very well informed according to your theory. Or maybe they just don't want to see Medicare torn apart to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. Maybe they're more informed than you think. 6 months ago that same seat went to the Republican, Chad Lee, with almost 74% of the vote. Republicans may want to blame Jack Davis' 9% of the vote for the GOPer Corwin's loss, but something a little more severe than Jack Davis brought the Republican vote down by 30 percentage points in a span of only 6 months. People's eyes are being opened and their not liking what they're seeing.

kaysbrew - one more thing - i always considered myself independent politically. i guess i was part of that divided democratic party you speak of, because i'd vote Dem most often, but i always thought it was better to vote for the man (or woman) and not his or her party affliction. i believe in what is right, not what symbol someone connects to.
as of this year, however, i believe i will be voting along democratic party lines.
i actually voted for walker, and i have extreme regret for that. i don't think it's an overstatement to say he's turned me from independent to democrat.
i think there are a lot of us out there.

I guess we will see who the next minority will be. I tell you this and mark this down. Democrats will not run on their platform of government take overs, big spending and Obamacare.
Unemployment, gas, food and taxes.
Except the "tax the rich" because - really - that's all they have left.

In case people have forgotten....

Thanks to all military for the freedoms we have today.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

And Jimmy cracked corn,
but I don't care.

Paul Ryan is in big trouble.
John Boehner is in big trouble.

ah, the united new minority. let's see how that works for you. LOL
Last night, Rep. Paul Ryan’s Tea Party-inspired budget didn’t even come close to passing the Senate. It was voted down 40–57.
Forty senators voted to make $4.3 trillion in drastic cuts—hitting everything from education and food aid for children to job training and Medicaid.
And 40 senators voted for $4.2 trillion in tax cuts, which go disproportionately to corporations and the rich.
I'm not sure if tea party followers just listen to the rhetoric of needing to balance the budget (which is true) and blindly follow the suggestions without looking into the details of what they are trying to pass, or if they actually think taking from the poor and handing it to the rich is okay.
You can't present half the picture and demand you're in the right. You're half right, but the method to accomplish your goals are very wrong.

haha -sorry - send in a conservative as "progressive" to take from liberal vote - same difference.
Obama and is socialist agenda has already killed the Democratic party. Good luck getting that back on solid ground. As prevous story indicated. Dems are the split party - Republicans are united.

i_luv_jvl- okay, then let's send in a conservtion under a Progressive party tag. Don't be contemptuous

an excuse to do nothing, donnaw? what are you talking about? i see dems working like crazy to save our country from the crooks trying to hand it over to corporate USA at the expense of the dying middle class.

Sarah - I agree, but I don't mind at all that they aren't willing to open their eyes to the death of their own party they're causing.

kaysbrew - how does that make sense? they start out saying the tea party is not a political party, but then contend that a liberal Democrat can't be one. How are both true?
Let me follow-up and say that I agree that it IS true, as everyone knows a tea party member is an extreme right-wing republican, but they're talking out of both sides of their mouths in your paragraph. not unusual for them. these are the same people who say no one should pay taxes, no gov't, yet they expect our gov't to run efficiently somehow.
a country is only as good as its gov't. it's common sense.
Tea party members have a lot of good ideas, I'll give you that, but they take it way too far, to a level that would cripple our country if we actually followed their idealogies.

SarahB1 it's easy to say naaaaah... But what about the plan specifically don't you like? Let's move on from the NY election as we all have different takes on it and we won't really know how the nation feels about all this until the next election. It looks like Bill Clinton 's prediction was right....the Dems will look at this as an excuse to do nothing.

The fake TEA party liberal cost the NY house seat. Message from TEA party:

Dear Patriot,

THE TEA PARTY IS NOT A POLITICAL PARTY! The only people running as “Tea Party” candidates are nothing more than Democrat plants intended to confuse less informed voters. In Florida, Nevada, New York, and many other places around the country self-proclaimed “Tea Party” candidates have tried to ruin elections. WE MUST NOT LET THESE FRAUDS GO UNCHALLENGED. The so-called “Tea Party” candidate in NY–26 had run for office three times, as a liberal Democrat! These people do not share our values and ideals; they are nothing more than despicable liars trying to manipulate elections for liberals.

mouse - can't seem to come up with intelligent response or maybe doesn't understand politics with wisconsinwave.

Bill Clinton knows that the Dems are on deep do do, in private talk with Ryan

500 Billion to 950 Billion...that is what Ryan is proposing for spending in revised Medicare.
MSM....says cuts.

fearandrhetoric4dummies

You are wrong.......you sound exactly like the liberals.

......(One of their favorites, but no solution from them)

LOL Ryans plan just lost the repubs a seat in one of te most conservative districts in the nation!

Mouse...your intelligence or lack thereof is showing

mouse, as usual, condemn what you can't prove- no defense of this disgrace.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-23......

Bill Clinton warns Dems!!!!!

http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-n......

Typical mouse response...avoid An honest debate on facts...just make a smart a.. comment.

Yada..and what part should be altered and how?

Sorry DONNA - The Ryan plan does throw seniors under the bus and backs over them several times.

Time for Paul R. to get out of politics so he can see the real world.

Have any of you naysayers READ Ryan's plan? From what I have read every senior would get a base of $12000 voucher to purchase an annual health insurance premium with additional amounts given to needy seniors and also additional amounts if you health issues. This voucher is not for paying medical bills, as some of you have noted, but pays the premiums. The voucher increases every year by 2.5% to allow for inflation. The voucher is income based so the richer you are the less you get. It is not one size fits all and those seniors with lots of resources will not get as much as a needy unhealthy senior. Sounds good to me so far. And insurance companies who are in the plan will have to take seniors with pre-existing conditions and will have some cost controls. So I don't think Ryan's plan throws seniors under the bus. Can't we put our political differences aside and work this out?

fearandrhetoric: "Whatever happened to shared sacrifice?"

Yes, what did happen to it? 47% of Americans pay NO federal income tax. None. Zero. What shared sacrifice are they making, exactly?

mouse, as usual, condemn what you can't prove- no defense of this disgrace.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-23...

Bill Clinton warns Dems!!!!!

http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-n...

Fear --

Two words...Pandemic mania.
Two more words...Codex Alimentarius
.
Regarding 'Pandemic mania', we don't need to be scared into submission, much less be forced to the vaccinations they suggest.
Don't know if you've been to the vaccine ingredients page the CDC offers, but I personally find a few of their ingredients they toss in highly questionable: formaldehyde, thimerosal, octoxynol 9, polysorbate 80, aluminum hydroxide (actually the injection of aluminum of any form has been reported to create a little havoc in the long run), magnesium sulfate, and on a milder note (but not to those who are allergic to it, like yours truly) monosodium glutamate...and that's just a few.
The pdf file from the CDC is titled 'Vaccine Excipient and Media Summary', but a simple search under 'vaccine excipient' should pull it up for you. Part 1 lists the ingredients first, and their respective vaccines, Part 2 lists the vaccines first.
.
Regarding Codex Alimentarius, as of late, there has been a push for a regulation of the vitamin/food supplement industry...at least for those vitamins/food supplements that would not fall under the wings of what the WHO (and WTO, for that matter) would deem safe.
Imagine simple homeopathic remedies not being able to be taken because your vitamin or food supplement you know works like a charm is now unavailable, or if it's available, you can only get it in too small of doses to enable any sort of positive effect -- doses any larger would require a prescription.
But any Big Pharma solutions would certainly be available over the counter for you.
Some between-the-lines Codex magic at its finest.
.
The WHO, by way of the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, even believes aspartame is safe...gotta love that under-the-table money.
.
There are flaws in our health system. Huge flaws. The WHO can cry foul on this all they want...I'm just not up to hear what they got for a solution.

Take a seat on the bench, Rep. Ryan. Yer done.

Mack- Like the ideas. Why end ties with the WHO? All the others I see, but why them? Because they continue to point out the flaws in our awful, immoral, corrupt health care system? Curious? Good to see someone with originality in thought amongst all the zombies.

Mud- slaves to the government? You are already a slave to corporate interests. Insurance companies are your master in the current system that charges TWICE as much for second rate care. We are a nation of suckers made to believe that socialized medicine is going to take away your freedom. WHAT A JOKE! Single payer works better , PERIOD, dozens of countries around the world have it and EVRY single statistic points to theirs working better than ours. Scare tactic dont work on me, they obviously work on you as you are in here repeating the same drivel that WIslady, kaystew, jodymac and the rest of the mindless drones are in here parroting. Congratulations on being a sucker! Tune in to Rush at 11! Do you even have any original thoughts? Any of you?
Your thoughts are, 'We have Ryan's plan, what do the dems have?' Thats an argument? Really?

Wislady- Unfortunately the only mindless ones in here are Not me. I dont keep fighting this dem vs reub game you love to play. All you are is mouthpiece for Fox and Rush. That's fine, you want to keep repeating points about 'liberals' and 'Democrats' if it makes you feel more secure about your own misguided view of reality thats fine. I don't sound like anyone, I sound like an individual that doesn't subscribe to partisan garbage. You on the other hand sound EXACTLY like about 10 other bloggers on this site. Frankly its getting silly. As are your parroted points. You present ZERO facts and tons of partisan garbage. The fact is I dont like Obama care any more than the current system. If you would read and not skim , I make it VERY clear where I want this to go, simply put....Medicare for all. Yet you can't even argue any legit ideas how to get there. You just care about some meaningless vote that points to Ryans plan winning? LOL Ryans plan just lost the repubs a seat in one of te most conservative districts in the nation!

I got a couple Path to Prosperity ideas:

1) Stop the endless funding to the Military Industrial Complex and close all US military bases around the world.
End this military-based Pax Americana.
Our involvement in Libya is about as unconstitutional as it gets...and now we're messing with Pakistan, and ticking off China in the process. Our 'fixing' of bin laden was the ninth time his death has been reported since 2001. Do a simple search of 'Bin Laden dead nine times' and see what you come up with.
Wake up to the psyops.
Bin Laden has yet to be held responsible for being the mastermind of 9/11, according to the FBI's own page of him. You would think that something as heinous and tragic of an event surely would be noted...possibly in all caps.

2) Dismantle the Federal Reserve system. Return the power to coin back to the Congress (remember, the Federal Reserve is NOT a government operation -- they work independent of the government).
The debt we are currently experiencing is entirely out of control.
No one party is guilty of this turn of events. Outside of just a small handful of those in Congress who have spoken out about this, they are ALL guilty.

3) Cut our ties with the IMF. End NAFTA. End our involvement with the WTO and the WHO.

4) Stop sending tax-payer dollars, whether they be as gifts or aid to foreign countries. If we the people wish to send some sort of financial support to a foreign land, let US do it, let US control where that money goes.
.
Just a few ideas, anyway...and I haven't even started on bureaucracies like the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and the list goes on.

As a politician you can stick out like a sore thumb when there is so much correction to do. For any politician nowadays it's the damned if you do, damned if you don't situation brought on by numerous band-aid patches politicians use to butter up the public for popular votes, to look good in everyone's eyes. This is why America is in a sad state of affairs.

....and who just voted to re-up provisions of the "lets spy on everyone" Patriot act? Mr. Ryan. He's no different than any other politician. I still don't understand why he continues to get elected representing the district that he does. It mus be all Waukesha county, because he has continued to vote against the very things that working families of S. central WI need, but I'm sure the righties see it differently.
******
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category...

Buying private health insurance sounds radical to some but not to most seniors today. Ever hear of Medigap? Or the new drug benefit called Medicare Part D? Or Medicare Choice, also known as Part C? The details may vary, but the core of the Ryan plan will likely be the reform that some President someday signs into law.

The trouble for liberals is that the Ryan approach would mean the end of any hope to foist a single-payer health care system onto the American people, and however preposterous the notion, liberals are not quite ready to give up that dream just yet. The shame for the Senate Democrats is that they refuse to even suggest an alternative to the Ryan approach.
Yes I got this from a news source in Washington D.C
The vote on that day was 40-0 Ryan's plan versus Obama's plan. The President couldn't even get 1 vote from his own people for his plan! That speaks volumes in my opinion......
Here's another great quote from the same article;
The Washington spin on this could be that the Democrats were united, while Republicans suffered five defections from the ranks. Of course, the trouble is that the Democrats were united in opposition to their own President, while the Republican defections meant they held 89 percent of their membership, and one of the defections, Senator Rand Paul (R–KY) thought the Ryan plan did not go far enough.
Wow Rand Paul doesn't think that Paul Ryan's plan goes for enough? I am guessing that the writing is already on the wall, it's just that the liberals aren't ready for it.
This is the future, it's either this or we go completely broke, and I have no idea how to speak Chinese,,, Hey PanamaRed, Mouse and fearandblahblahblah, hows your Mandarin these days?? It comes down to one or the other......

Mouse

You mean for the ones lucky enough not to be rationed out of it, or considered too old to "waste" the money for? Do you really believe a panel of 15 people will have your best interests as their priority?

Nice thought, stay on Medicare. What part about it becoming insolvent in about 11 years don't people understand? It will not exist, as we know it now.

PanamaRed, You said ;Thanks to Republicans passing NAFTA.
**
Oh PanamaRed you are incorrect when you put the blame on the Republican party for this one, I looked it up and have the facts that you may have conveniently forgotten when pointing that finger of blame, and here are those facts;
**
The House of Representatives approved NAFTA on November 17, 1993, by a vote of 234 to 200. The agreement's supporters included 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats. NAFTA passed the Senate 61-38. Senate supporters were 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats. Clinton signed it into law on December 8, 1993; it went into effect on January 1, 1994. Clinton while signing the NAFTA bill stated: "…NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't support this agreement.
**
Wait, What?
How could Clinton have told us that this would benefit American jobs, not just any jobs though, he said good-paying jobs!
**
Oh how we forget the past, it's only a fool who would repeat the past and hope for a different result, I guess we did that back in 2008 when we elected Barak Obama.
Patriot, Thanks for the laugh at 4:22pm, I am still laughing!!!! Priceless :))

Ryan continues to miss a very simple point. It will cost seniors far more to purchase private insurance that it will by staying on Medicare, even if the Medicare premiums are increased to increase funding for the program. His backers simply want to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid but virtually everyone over 65 is happy with the program.

Now....what was that other plan the dems had??

One question for Ryan, that all persons should ask of him: If his proposed voucher system were to be implemented, would he personally guarantee that out-of-pocket costs for individuals under the privatized system would not exceed what their Medicare out-of-pocket costs would be, for equivalent coverage? If the answer is no, then his proposal is a non-starter so far as I'm concerned. Personally, I don't believe the private sector can deliver identical coverage at equal - or less - out-of-pocket costs. Nor can the private sector be trusted in such matters because its ultimate concern is profit, not the welfare of those it would serve.

I voted for him in the past, I will NOT vote for him again.

Mouse
The liberals plan is to flounder around and HOPE they CHANGE something that will turn out to benefit them. Obama presented his budget and got 0 votes.

The Seals got BinLaden after years of work, potus just happened to be in the area to pick up the glory. That bounce is already gone, so he will have to find something else to campaign on.
Maybe on his trip next month to Puerto Rico he can insult them too. I used to think Biden was bad, but potus makes Biden look intelligent.

Peter Barca for the 1st Congressional District!

fearandrhetoric4dummies

Again, at least Ryan presented a plan....democrats have NO plan. The democrats have been in control for 4 years and have only dragged this country down.

You must be very exhausted from typing your mindless rhetoric. You sound like Horowitz.

Is your link supposed to expose some sort of conspiracy kaysbrew? What a laugh. So you believe Corporations only show Obama love. How naive. Thanks to Republicans passing NAFTA, Corporations have been taking jobs and profits overseas since the mid '90's. You ought to get out of your FOX hole more often.

Whzbng ; I hope you are right! then we will all hopefully learn a lesson. Unfortunately you are wrong, the whold 'broke' line is a false flag OP and is nothing more than rhetoric to win elections, period. Wisconsin isn't broke and niether is the USA. We have the largest economy on Earth by a LONGSHOT and we spennd more on Military than every other nation on Earth combined, and it keeps going up each year. Sell that one to someone else.

Oreally- not that I disagree with your premise. But the 2010 elections showed just how gullible Americans are. Only 2 years after one of the greatest economic meltdowns in history, they helped the population to believe that it was Democratic policies that dug the hole not 8 years of reppublican admnistration along with 6 years of congress. So to assume that the peopel don't want it, is not true. All you have to do is get it on Fox Noise, and in commercials and the sheep will flock.
Unfortunately Democrats havent exactly been champions of the people either. As GWB was a lame duck he and all his banker buddies rammed a tarp rescue bill through the congress that many of the dems voted for that went right into the pockets of the folks that buried the economy! Over a trillion in TARP 'emergency' funds , with no questions of where they were going and why. A 10 page bill that will cost this country for generations. And people whine about Obama's stimulus, and the crappy health care reform? Laughable. Of course the health care reform bill is a scam as well. 50 million new customers for ins corps? Why do we continue to give to the people that ruin things for everyone? Its called lobbying, its called plutocracy, its called corruption. You all fell for it, NOT ME. Congrats America, we are racing right to the bottom , and its all because we are ignorant, greedy and lazy, all at the same time! Once great nation is great no more and its NOT because of 'entitlement' rhetoric that some of you love to run with. As a matter of a fact Ill bet that every one of you hypocrites has had a family member's life saved, or their bank account saved by the very entitlements that you all rail so hard against. I will also bet that someday EVERY single one of you will require soime kind of help, God knows I hope you get it. The way you all act when spewing, you dont deserve it!

If Republicans can't win in NY-26, they can't win anywhere, least of all in Wisconsin. Buh-bye, Paul! He'll never have to worry about going to bed hungry, though. I'm sure Koch Bros. will be willing to keep him on their payroll.

To all you folks writing on this issue it does not matter what happens with all this health insurance B.S. The economy in this country is going to collaspe in the near future and it won't make any difference if any body has insurance or not. Every body will be broke.

Also to some of my right wing friends; try looking around the internet a little bit. there are so many good sources of information outside of the ones you always frequent. I say this to you as a former committed lifelong republican. Please, you will be shocked at what you find.
Also the use of the words 'liberal' and 'progessive' as some kind of perjorative or curse word is silly. Two words that come from liberty and pogress, since when are those bad things?
Some of you should try not to score points and just make deep , honest arguments. As it were it seems that so many in here seem to be watching some kind of political scoreboard.(wisldy) cant you be any better than that?

I wonder how many elections Republicans are going to have to lose before they wrap their heads around the fact that voters don't want what they're trying to sell them: balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class while protecting their lords and ladies--the millionaires, billionaires, and gazillionaires who are their patrons. They don't even make a pretense at fairness. But hey, heads up, folks. There are a lot more people who support Medicare than there are millionaires.

I think the election in the New York 26th district made it pretty clear that people want Medicare maintained as it is today. They do not want to see 80 year old widows with medical problem to have to argue for health care with an insurance company after the insurance company takes every dime of disposable income she has. That is EXACTLY the position that Paul Ryan's plan puts these people into. It does nothing to control costs other than let today's system work as normal and we know how that controls cost don't we. If it works so well, why all the concern about medical costs now? People want some security in their old age that they are not going to be thrown to the wolves and the Republicans can't show that security with Ryan's plan. We can fix what is broken, but do not try to use this as an opportunity to get rid of Medicare which has apparently been the goal of the Republican party since Medicare was brought into being.
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Ronald Reagan in 1964: “.....spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”
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George H.W. Bush: in 1964 described Medicare as “socialized medicine.”
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Barry Goldwater in 1964: “.....why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink.”
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Bob Dole in running for the Presidency: “I was there, fighting the fight, voting against Medicare . . . because we knew it wouldn’t work in 1965.”
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Rep Roy Bount: “you could certainly argue that government should have never have gotten in the health care business…
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Newt Gingrich in 1996 wanted to cut Medicare spending by 14% and force millions of elderly into HMOs.
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The bottom line is that if you are for a Republican program for Medicare, your ideology is likely to get rid of Medicare and force millions of elderly into poverty with no health care. If I am wrong – tell me why please. If you can't tell me why I am wrong, quit being a tool of the Republicans.

Lots of thertoric in here very little in the way of facts. Links to rightie website aspoused as facts. Funny!
I am cetrainly not saying 'tax the rich' is the only solution! Some of you need to remove heads from ***! The solutions are there and yes some of them are 'mosdest' tax increases on the upper 2%! Income taxes from 34 to 39 percent would provide 500 billion a year in new revenue! Repealing the 'Bush tax cuts' saves another 500-700 billion! The Scott Walkers of the world want the state workers to make a 'modest' contribution to their Health and retirement that in some cases amounts to 15% of their salary. That versus a 5% hike for the most wealthy among us who can most certainly afford it. Whatever happened to shared sacrifice?
Other solutions include as previoously stated; Complete Health Care overhaul(single payer) system, savings would project into the trillions of dollars. Every other nation that has it spends half as much for better care statistically. Also, repeal ALL free/unfiar trade deals that have taken 20 million plus manufacturing jobs overseas to third world countries, talk about tax loss! If companies want to make their crap in Mexico and China let them, but it's time to make them pay for doing so(tariffs). If you dont support that then you are as Fox Noise says 'anti-american'. Also, stop fighting useless, unecessary expensive wars that have no end, time to bring em all home now, NOW!! Trillions more in savings! We know that Afghanistan is about minerals,heroin, and contractors(more than soldiers) than about any kind of freedom. Iraq was and is about Oil and geopolitics, period. Was never about WMDs or terrorism, just a tool to fool us all, and it worked(at first). Time to leave all of those people alone and stop occupying nations with our precious tax dollars. Time to stop aid to any countries that violate human rights of any kind. More than anything time to staop arguing rhetoric and stupid political points put in your head by cable news and talk radio bigmouths. Time to return to DEMOCRACY, and get away from this plutocratic oligarchy that is controlled by corporations and the wealthy.
Cheerleading for either political party is just not very smart. They are all in the pockets of lobbyists, NONE of them give a damn about the people that they serve, they give a damn about their corporate masters and keeping their power. They will say and do anything to get elected. Look at every single president in the last 50 years, they are all absolute slaves to this corrupt capitalistic system that has ruined a once great nation. Money and greed will be what destroys the USA not terrorism. Wake up whiteout sniffers!

there is nothing to worry about you will get elected.. don't worry, stay home and enjoy a nice cup of tea, everything is just great

On the Budget: Ryan 40, Obama Zip, Senate Dems—No Show

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/05/26/on-t...

can someone please explain how it will go bankrupt?? i heard a guy on the radio the other day talking about how there will always be people paying into medicare and the example he used was the year 2025, he said it wouldnt be bankrupt, it would only be funded to pay out 90%. id love an explanation and i will hang up and take your answer on the air...thank you:)

Great predictions-
Peace in our time-Neville Chamberlain
Dewey Wins-Chicago Trubune
Vietnam is only a police action-JFK
The world will end May 21,2011-Some nut case
Medicare is not in the trouble Ryan says it is-Graeme Zielinski
Graeme stick your head back in the sand

How many wars are we paying for now? How many tax cuts and breaks have the wealthy gotten?
Most cooperations pay no tax. Many are unemployed so paying no taxes. Hmmm wonder why we are in a hurt. But taking from the poor and elderly to pay for this mess is not the way to go. There are lots of other ways to fix this mess. Republicans got us into this mess and are digging us deeper.

If nothing is done or as many democrats or others in the media have called it "kick the can down the road" medicare will be bankrupt in 10 years or less. Ryan has a plan. Democrats are the party of NO.

Ryan's plan is to effect those under 55 yr's of age. You know, the majority of you who are still working but by the time you reach your retirment years, if nothing is done, you will have worked for nothing, receive nothing because there will be nothing there. You can tax the rich all you want and still won't have enough to pay the bills. You are the future grannies and grandpappy's down the road and you should be hoping and praying that someone is taking the time now to prepare the way so that there will be something down the road for you. You're worried about present day Senior's being shoved over the cliff, rationed medical care, don't be, they are safe(Well maybe you all should read the Obama Health Bill and the many changes to it) otherwise you will be throwing yourselves off the cliff or under the bus. Twenty or thirty years down the road may seem a long way off, but before you know it-bang it's there and if you don't start planning for retirement now, you're up a creek. Ryan's plan isn't perfect anymore then Obama's but if you want to wait, that is up to you but don't come crying at the door because there was nothing done because, by then it will be too late. Things may not be great for all of us Senior Citizens but at least we have something now, what will you have when you reach Senior Citizen status? Have you even thought about it yet? Who are you going to blame for doing nothing then?

What a breath of fresh air - just when I was thinking most Janesville people were republicans. I wondered why people did see the obvious take over of our government by the rich. It's a rich vs. poor issue.

I just love all of you who blogged in support of the non-rich of this nation. You made my day!

Hey Koz - In this story is says that the tea party candidate is an ex-democratic - so they were stealing from the democratic perhaps - not the republican candidate.

The last line in this story says it all. "If you’re a Democrat, it’s a kind of hopeful thing that you want to grab unto".

mouse - read and learn something, Obama is the master of disguise and deceit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-23...

Correction - should be "cost containment – remember the $500B savings...."

so bebe53 - you would do what? The point is that the elderly want (because they need) some level of support as they age. Is your solution to kick them to the curb which Paul Ryan's plan effectively does? If a person makes $14K in Social Security (seems high to me) and pays $12K additional for medical coverage under his plan (if they can even get it because of pre-existing conditions - remember the righties want to repeal "ObamaCare" in its entirety), what do they live on then? Ryan's program is an assault on the elderly, the weakest, and the most needy in our society. The wealthy will make a tidy profit from these people's needs as they age. And then they will come after your money also.
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This can be fixed but not without additional revenue and medical care cost containment (cost containment – remember the $500M savings the the righties demagogue?) That is something that Ryan refuses to even consider. We can't get something for nothing but we need to provide a basis for the elderly to be taken care of as they age. If other industrialized countries can do it, we can also. We just need to get over the idea that we need to make huge profits from others' vulnerability.

Ryan's stock is soaring nationally and he continues to be one of the few in DC with his head screwed on straight.

Oh bebe, how ignorant you are, I'm afraid. How many multi- billionaires do you suppose it takes of paying their fair share to cover the average tax of a hundred thousand middle class?

I find it fascinating the right talks about class warfare when the poor finally start questioning why they are constantly being picked on and they start to object. Up until then it is bullying, once the people being picked on finally have enough and object, it is then class warfare I guess. As it is with most bullies between sobs they say “He hit me, boo hoo, boo hoo......”

bebe53, what do you mean middle class? It looks like the middle class is shrinking quickly. What about those GM workers many on the Gazette site hate? They got beat up week after week about being overpaid and they needed to take a pay cut. Then this year it was the state workers making too much money per year and need a pay cut. The middle class will be gone soon so don't worry about the rich paying extra money into Social Security!

"accusing Democrats of demagoguery and class warfare". I wonder if he was getting this confused with the talk of death panels, cutting $500M from Medicare by the Democrats, killing Grandma, etc. - Republican MediScare last year? I think maybe I could find reference to these in some of the recent posts actually.

Why are our social programs in trouble, boys? Because you keep giving more and more money back to the rich! It's time to cut the umbilical cord and vote for what's right, not padding the palms of those who paid for your election campaign. Only then will our country' s finances get back in order. The country is onto you. You can't ride this on the backs of the middle class any longer.

WOW- thats not a biased link 916. Entitlements are the reason for the economic collapse? Really? I think you need to look a little bit farther than conservative blowhard sites. Look into credit default swaps, derivatives, and CDOs. Investment banks and lending institutions teamed with credit ratings agencies and insurance companies caused the collapse. Oh not to mention the trillion dollars in coveted tax dollars that we handed them. If tax dollars are so sacred to you capitalistic republicans , then why are you so for handing a trillion dollars in TARP bailouts to the very people that ruined oour economy, and have such a HUGE problem with 25 billion to bail out the auto industry that employs over a million people? Of course you 'free-market' capitalists are all about handing the oil industry 4 billion a year in valuable tax dollars for bending us all over at the pump too, if they are the most profitable business on Earth(they are) then why do they need our tax gifts? THEY DONT!!
Paul Ryan and the GOP are in HUGE trouble on this one as they should be. Another huge overreach by a party that won one election. They make the same stupid misinterpretation of a mandate made by one election. Priceless!

Remove the Social Security cap of $106.800. The top earners of this country want Social Security benefits when they retire and I'm not opposed, just because you make over the cap you shouldn't stop paying in. Remember, it is an insurance program. You pay in hoping to collect one day just like if you had a car accident. Some people pay in more than they recoup and some people recoup more than they pay in.

LOL sunnyside. My sentiments exactly.

Nope....Medicare is completely solvent. It's just one more in a long list of successful, efficient and well-managed government programs. It's no wonder why the Democrats promote creating more entitlement programs--right?

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archi...

Sorry Eddie Munster, I don't know what they taught you at Craig High School, it ain't gonna fly across this great country. Pack your bags and move back to the 4th Ward boy!

This is an editorial/wishful thinking piece, right?