[DeTomaso] A Very Scary Obituary

[doug sedon]

hugh, thanks for the ignorant spam.  and jeff, thanks for pointing out it's mostly bullshit, w/the link to snopes.  i particularly liked this statement there:
"In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, George W. Bush won most of the states that are net beneficiaries of federal spending programs, while Al Gore won most of the states that are net contributors to federal spending."
i also like the yahoo article i read recently, discussing the ten states w/the worst quality of life. (and the fact that the majority are "red" states.):http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-states-worst-quality-life-164909712.html
i also find it interesting that the vast majority of federal govt welfare goes to the military and its corporate supporters:  60% of the federal discretionary budget is spent there.  what "welfare" is left to those truly in need is like pocket change in comparison.
and, while i, personally, am against amnesty for illegal immigrants, (and i children born in america of parents who are both illegal, should NOT be considered legal american citizens), i find it interesting that those who complain the loudest about illegaql immigrants it are in fact those who are the least willing to try to solve the immigration problem, turning down every attempt to fix the problem.  and they are happy to see the wages kept artificially low, thanks to illegals who will work for less money.

i also find it interesting that of the 35 nations that comprise the oecd, the usa's tax burden is about 33rd, yet people complain about how much they are over-taxed.  and wonder at the same time why our infrastructure is collapsing.  the federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, and has been that way for more than 20 years.  in europe, the taxes for gasoline are higher than the entire cost per gallon of gas in america.  total insanity.
some other interesting trivia:- the cbo has said - recently - that repealing romneycare will cost anADDITIONAL $100b. (and romneycare sucks and was a sell-out to the health insurance companies and big pharma - just think how much money could have been saved if there were a single-payer public option.)
- america's healthcare costs - before romneycare, w/20% of its populationnot even covered - is far higher than any of the 35 developed nations in theoecd, as a percentage of gdp, and almost double the median oecd cost.  yet, health of americans ranks about 20th.
- america's educational costs are amongst the highest of the industrialized world, yet americans rank about 20th in education.

- but hey - america leads in amount of prisons and amount of those incarcerated, and amount of private gun ownership.  and whoever is in 2nd place isn't even CLOSE.- but we are only 2nd in obesity; seems we need to eat a few more cheeseburgers...

- the majority of entitlement programs are funded by payroll taxes, aseparate tax from regular income tax. this includes all s/s and a large portion of medicare.  this also happens to be an extremelyregressive tax, paid for only by the poor and the middle class, as all incomeover $110k is not taxed, only income BELOW $110k is taxed.  (the system is "going broke" because the govt is borrowing against it to pay discretionary spending expenses, and no income over $110k is used to fund it.)

- the fortune 500 companies pay an average of just under 20% in incometax.- 1/4 of the fortune 500 companies pay an average of 10% in income tax.- 1/10th of the fortune 500 companies pay ZERO in income tax.- i earn ~$120k and pay almost 40% of my income to taxes; while thelikes of mitt earn MILLIONS and pay about 15% of their income to taxes.
- america's tax rate as a percentage of gdp is lower now than it hasbeen any time since 1950. - america's economy has always done better when tax rates are higher.
- it is the repubs that are the most profligate spenders,not the dems, in spite of their rhetoric: the former dem presidents (clinton,carter, lbj, jfk, truman) ALL REDUCED public debt as a share of gdp, while thelast four repub presidents (gwb, ghwb, reagan, ford) ALL oversaw an INCREASE inthe country's indebtedness. - while the deficit has increased ~$1t/year under barack,the overwhelming majority is a direct result of gwb policies - $1t unfundedprescription drug plan/big pharma give-away, two unfunded wars, ruinous taxcuts, and the revenue loss from the resultant economic collapse.  and ALL non-partisan economists say the ONLYprudent course during a private sector economic collapse is govt stimulus spending;which make up the rest of the deficit under barack.  the deficit the last 4 years would have beenhuge REGARDLESS of who was president.  infact, most non-partisan economists say what was wrong w/the stimulus spendingwas it was too SMALL, given the true magnitude of the economic collapse.  but the party of "NO", said, wellyou know... between 1970 - 2007:Top 0.1% - ave income $5.6m - income increase since 1970 - +385% Top 0.1-0.5% - ave income $878k - income increase since 1970 - +141% Top 0.5-1% - ave income $443k - income increase since 1970 - +90% Top 1-5% - ave income $211.5k - income increase since 1970 - +59%Top 5-10% - ave income $127k - income increase since 1970 - +38%Bottom 90%  - ave income $31k -income DECREASE since 1970 - MINUS 0.9%and, since the crash of 2007, things have only gotten even worse.  in fact, things haven't been this bad, or income distributed so disproportionately, since, uh, just before the great depression in 1929...  hmmm....
so yes, i agree, the end of america as empire is near.  but not for the same reasons that were presented in your "article", hugh.  ;~)
"have a good time"; paul simon, 1975:
Yesterday it was my birthday
I hung one more year on the line
I should be depressed, my life's a mess
But I'm having a good time Oh, I've been loving and loving and loving
I'm exhausted from loving so well
I should go to bed but a voice in my head
Says, "Ah, what the Hell" Have a good time Paranoia strikes deep in the heartland
But I think it's all overdone
Exaggerating this and exaggerating that
They don't have no fun I don't believe what I read in the papers
They're just out to capture my dime
I ain't worrying and I ain't scurrying
I'm having a good time
Have a good time Maybe I'm laughing my way to disaster
Maybe my race has been run
Maybe I'm blind to the fate of mankind
But what can be done? So God bless the goods we was given
And God bless the U. S. of A.
And God bless our standard of livin'
Let's keep it that way and we'll all have a good time Have a good time
Have a good time
Have a good time
doug s.,
#2602

-------------- next part --------------
   hugh, thanks for the ignorant spam.  and jeff, thanks for pointing out
   it's mostly bullshit, w/the link to snopes.  i particularly liked this
   statement there:
   "In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, George W. Bush won most of the
   states that are net beneficiaries of federal spending programs, while
   Al Gore won most of the states that are net contributors to federal
   spending."
   i also like the yahoo article i read recently, discussing the ten
   states w/the worst quality of life. (and the fact that the majority are
   "red" states.):
   [1]http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-states-worst-quality-life-164909712
   .html
   i also find it interesting that the vast majority of federal govt
   welfare goes to the military and its corporate supporters:  60% of the
   federal discretionary budget is spent there.  what "welfare" is left to
   those truly in need is like pocket change in comparison.
   and, while i, personally, am against amnesty for illegal immigrants,
   (and i children born in america of parents who are both illegal, should
   NOT be considered legal american citizens), i find it interesting that
   those who complain the loudest about illegaql immigrants it are in fact
   those who are the least willing to try to solve the immigration
   problem, turning down every attempt to fix the problem.  and they are
   happy to see the wages kept artificially low, thanks to illegals who
   will work for less money.
   i also find it interesting that of the 35 nations that comprise the
   oecd, the usa's tax burden is about 33rd, yet people complain about how
   much they are over-taxed.  and wonder at the same time why our
   infrastructure is collapsing.  the federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per
   gallon, and has been that way for more than 20 years.  in europe, the
   taxes for gasoline are higher than the entire cost per gallon of gas in
   america.  total insanity.
   some other interesting trivia:
   - the cbo has said - recently - that repealing romneycare will cost an
   ADDITIONAL $100b. (and romneycare sucks and was a sell-out to the
   health insurance companies and big pharma - just think how much money
   could have been saved if there were a single-payer public option.)
   - america's healthcare costs - before romneycare, w/20% of its
   population not even covered - is far higher than any of the 35
   developed nations in the oecd, as a percentage of gdp, and almost
   double the median oecd cost.  yet, health of americans ranks about
   20th.
   - america's educational costs are amongst the highest of the
   industrialized world, yet americans rank about 20th in education.
   - but hey - america leads in amount of prisons and amount of those
   incarcerated, and amount of private gun ownership.  and whoever is in
   2nd place isn't even CLOSE.
   - but we are only 2nd in obesity; seems we need to eat a few more
   cheeseburgers...
   - the majority of entitlement programs are funded by payroll taxes, a
   separate tax from regular income tax.  this includes all s/s and a
   large portion of medicare.  this also happens to be an extremely
   regressive tax, paid for only by the poor and the middle class, as all
   income over $110k is not taxed, only income BELOW $110k is taxed.  (the
   system is "going broke" because the govt is borrowing against it to pay
   discretionary spending expenses, and no income over $110k is used to
   fund it.)
   - the fortune 500 companies pay an average of just under 20% in income
   tax.
   - 1/4 of the fortune 500 companies pay an average of 10% in income tax.
   - 1/10th of the fortune 500 companies pay ZERO in income tax.
   - i earn ~$120k and pay almost 40% of my income to taxes; while the
   likes of mitt earn MILLIONS and pay about 15% of their income to taxes.
   - america's tax rate as a percentage of gdp is lower now than it has
   been any time since 1950.

   - america's economy has always done better when tax rates are higher.
   - it is the repubs that are the most profligate spenders, not the dems,
   in spite of their rhetoric: the former dem presidents (clinton, carter,
   lbj, jfk, truman) ALL REDUCED public debt as a share of gdp, while the
   last four repub presidents (gwb, ghwb, reagan, ford) ALL oversaw an
   INCREASE in the country's indebtedness.

   - while the deficit has increased ~$1t/year under barack, the
   overwhelming majority is a direct result of gwb policies - $1t unfunded
   prescription drug plan/big pharma give-away, two unfunded wars, ruinous
   tax cuts, and the revenue loss from the resultant economic collapse.
   and ALL non-partisan economists say the ONLY prudent course during a
   private sector economic collapse is govt stimulus spending; which make
   up the rest of the deficit under barack.  the deficit the last 4 years
   would have been huge REGARDLESS of who was president.  in fact, most
   non-partisan economists say what was wrong w/the stimulus spending was
   it was too SMALL, given the true magnitude of the economic collapse.
   but the party of "NO", said, well you know...

   between 1970 - 2007:
   Top 0.1% - ave income $5.6m - income increase since 1970 - +385%
   Top 0.1-0.5% - ave income $878k - income increase since 1970 - +141%
   Top 0.5-1% - ave income $443k - income increase since 1970 - +90%
   Top 1-5% - ave income $211.5k - income increase since 1970 - +59%
   Top 5-10% - ave income $127k - income increase since 1970 - +38%
   Bottom 90%  - ave income $31k - income DECREASE since 1970 - MINUS 0.9%
   and, since the crash of 2007, things have only gotten even worse.  in
   fact, things haven't been this bad, or income distributed so
   disproportionately, since, uh, just before the great depression in
   1929...  hmmm....
   so yes, i agree, the end of america as empire is near.  but not for the
   same reasons that were presented in your "article", hugh.  ;~)
   "have a good time"; paul simon, 1975:
   Yesterday it was my birthday
   I hung one more year on the line
   I should be depressed, my life's a mess
   But I'm having a good time

   Oh, I've been loving and loving and loving
   I'm exhausted from loving so well
   I should go to bed but a voice in my head
   Says, "Ah, what the Hell"

   Have a good time

   Paranoia strikes deep in the heartland
   But I think it's all overdone
   Exaggerating this and exaggerating that
   They don't have no fun

   I don't believe what I read in the papers
   They're just out to capture my dime
   I ain't worrying and I ain't scurrying
   I'm having a good time
   Have a good time

   Maybe I'm laughing my way to disaster
   Maybe my race has been run
   Maybe I'm blind to the fate of mankind
   But what can be done?

   So God bless the goods we was given
   And God bless the U. S. of A.
   And God bless our standard of livin'
   Let's keep it that way and we'll all have a good time

   Have a good time
   Have a good time
   Have a good time
   doug s.,
   #2602

References

   1. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-states-worst-quality-life-164909712.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma