…I wrote, “[the GOP brand has] been damaged by years of moving leftward, and letting the left frame each new lurch that way as the benchmark for “extremism” — while they themselves can move even more left” as a way to keep the distance between the parties apparent (and because that’s where they wish to take us).
And then, happily, I was greeted with this: “Bill Kristol: ‘It Won’t Kill The Country If We Raise Taxes a Little Bit on Millionaires’”
So. “Conservatism” is now a brand of willing conditional Marxism. Which would make progressivism what, exactly….?
I don’t know. Maybe “our” strategy is built on the idea that the political spectrum is flat and finite in length, and that if we keep moving everything leftward, eventually the communists and progressives will simply fall off of the thing!
#winning!
As resident RON PAUL! lunatic*, I have a duty to state that all politics are progressive. The natural state of man, rather, is the order of self-awareness and a concurrent self-sufficiency.
In the American model sound currency, sound defense, and sound justice are systemic constructs from which, when the actors are self-sufficient, comes that self-sufficiency. Liberty.
Those who are not so aware are merely constrained within or without those parameters. Same net effect.
All other government is progressive. Don’t touch it if you don’t want to be pitched.
*well, no I’m not, but so far has the scale shifted that classical liberalism itself is seen as lying to its own right.
Too bad it won’t be millionaire paying the tax.
Pussy.
Kristol also questioned GOP lawmakers on defending “a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic.”
“Really? The Republican Party is going to fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic and half of whom live in Hollywood and are hostile to Republican principles?” he said.
I don’t know, Jeff. I kind of agree with this, at least from this perspective. If this is what the rich left wants, I say give it to them good and hard. Then spend the next 2-4 years CONSTANTLY reminding them that we told them so, when the inevitable fall comes.
Well, Jeff your state is one of many that has filed its papers on Seccession.
So there’s that.
You can raise the income tax on “millionaires” to 99% on every dollar over whatever dollar amount our betters deem “the time when you’ve made enough money,”* and neither Warren Buffett nor Steven Spielberg will pay one cent more than they choose to pay.
And if they choose not to pay it, what do you suppose small business is going to do?
*The Obama curve?
That half of them voted for Democrats or Whigs or martians is irrelevant. We should embrace tax policy that works, not that punishes. I mean, really–Kristol touts a tax hike as a “new idea?” Good grief. There isn’t enough wealth out there to tax us out of a spending problem. There is no point in “moving toward the center” on this issue for conservatives, because there is nothing to gain by doing so. That liberals pretend this how will make Republicans more palatable to them is telling. Well, it’s a big steaming pile. It just further pares the distinction between the two.
I understand the temptation, I Callahan. But we really should just say we’re protecting them from governmental theft for their own good, and if they really do want to pay more in taxes they should just go ahead and do it.
Or is the problem that they’re masochists and need to be ordered to do so?
The dimwitty thing about all of this tax-rate argumentation is that it doesn’t matter what the tax rate is, because the people paying those taxes will figure out ways to avoid taxation. There is loads of data to establish this, easily discoverable with Google.
I also don’t care if the capital gains rate goes up a little, because why should we tax income on investments differently from other income? I realize the argument is something like: but that money has already been taxed. But the thing is, you’re only paying capital gains tax on the earnings those dollars have generated, not the original dollars, so there is no double taxation.
My take is quite different: Democrats are out to build an intricate and beautiful-to-them government-sculpture of Policy on Everything, while I personally would prefer for the government to let people find their own way in most things. Which is messy and disorganized, but it’s not my problem that other people are OCD control freaks.
Or is the problem that they’re masochists and need to be ordered to do so?
Yup. It’s kind of a good analogy to sports franchise owners. They’re the first to complain about high salaries of the players as a whole, but have no problems paying those salaries to get an edge on their competitors. Please, players, stop me from paying you too much, because I have no control over myself. Kind of an inverse analogy, I guess.
You can raise the income tax on “millionaires” to 99% on every dollar over whatever dollar amount our betters deem “the time when you’ve made enough money,”* and neither Warren Buffett nor Steven Spielberg will pay one cent more than they choose to pay. And if they choose not to pay it, what do you suppose small business is going to do?
If this is really all about social justice with Obama, then I wouldn’t assume that all of the loopholes are going to stay the same as they’ve been. Also, if I were a pubbie congressman, I’d be pushing to remove those Hollywood loopholes, for example.
Like I said – give it to them good and hard.
Oh. Ernst already hit the tax-rate thing. I am slow on the uptake today.
One more thing – if the richies are able to find a way to shelter their income, then that will prove the point anyway, right? It will do nothing to increase federal revenue, and will do nothing to increase investment.
Win-Win!!!
if it were done best it were done when obama is assured full credit for the consequences
So voting isn’t the only revenge?
Noses beware.
The only point that will prove is that amping up the class warfare to 11 isn’t working, so we must work harder to make the rich pay their fair share.
So unless you meant win-win for more of the socialisms….
Does anyone here think he will ever take the blame for anything he has done? He certainly wouldn’t admit to any, but I don’t think his MFM fluffers would try to pin any on him.
….and that if we keep moving everything leftward, eventually the communists and progressives will simply fall off of the thing!
– Not really. What will happen, as it always does, is everyone, including the entire gaggle of statists, will hit the rude wall of reality, (See: Soviet Union ; History of, 1912 – 1989 ; ibid.)
And those pussies at Hot Air still have made no mention of those petitions.
Maybe “our” strategy is built on the idea that the political spectrum is flat and finite in length, and that if we keep moving everything leftward, eventually the communists and progressives will simply fall off of the thing!
The political spectrum may not be flat and finite, but the real-world consequences sure as hell are. Our friends on the Left understand this. Obviously, they recognize that the endgame is coming, hence their push to start branding the wealthy as enemies who refuse to give “fairly.” They know damn well that none of this maneuvering will increase overall revenues or fix the deficit, but they don’t care. What’s important to them is that when the bottom falls out, as they already know it will, their voter herds will already be stampeding toward the appointed targets, instead of toward the Leftist cattlemen who are really to blame.
I don’t really care any more. I know that I can’t make an unwilling media spread the truth to an unwilling audience. I content myself by picking up dead-tree versions of the Enlightenment’s Greatest Hits, so that my friends and family will have a starting point to work from when the time comes.
Who was the last Democrat president to take the blame for anything, and what did it take for him to actually take the blame?
– Just as an amusement, call it gallows humor if you like, I try to guess how long Squirrel! will keep the brain washed from turning on thier masters.
No, it isn’t. The State hasn’t done anything of the sort. Starting a petition on the WH website has exactly the same legal effect as screaming into the wind. While I can appreciate the sentiment, let’s not get carried away with fantasy.
I signed the Texas petition, anyway.
CZY: Who?
BRZY: The ones with the smoldering skin, and the howling look of pain.
CZY: Oh, them.
– King isn’t buying it.
I see that it’s over 25K, which is the threshold for an official response. This should be interesting.
I signed every single one of them. Just because I wasn’t sure yet if I was on every conceivable watch list. I really do want to be considered a dangerous extremist for wanting to follow the Declaration and Constitution. Life is all about ironies.
The political spectrum may not be flat and finite, but the real-world consequences sure as hell are. Our friends on the Left understand this. Obviously, they recognize that the endgame is coming, hence their push to start branding the wealthy as enemies who refuse to give “fairly.” They know damn well that none of this maneuvering will increase overall revenues or fix the deficit, but they don’t care. What’s important to them is that when the bottom falls out, as they already know it will, their voter herds will already be stampeding toward the appointed targets, instead of toward the Leftist cattlemen who are really to blame.
I don’t really care any more. I know that I can’t make an unwilling media spread the truth to an unwilling audience. I content myself by picking up dead-tree versions of the Enlightenment’s Greatest Hits, so that my friends and family will have a starting point to work from when the time comes.
______________________________
This. We couldn’t even get the media to query to Mr. Obama “precisely which policies of the last eight years caused the economic crisis?” They allowed him to pretend that the marginal tax rate reductions led to the collapse of the big banks because somehow bankers got a tax rate decrease. If you look at what the left is saying caused the collapse (Graham-Leach-Bliley, Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000), i.e. “deregulation”, these laws were voted on by the Vice President and signed into law by Obama’s “best weapon,” Bill Clinton. I don’t necessarily buy that these laws were the cause, understanding that the Fannie/Freddie and CRA angles are verboten in their eyes, I’m just stating that the Media allowed Obama to blame Bush for the legislative acts of Mr. Clinton and Mr. Biden, all the while pressing Romney on rape babies and his tax returns and the 47% remarks in concert with the Obama campaign.
I think the Republicans should change their name to the Wimpier More Cautious Low Bid Social Democratic Alternative Party To Provide Limited And Temporary Political Impedence To Quasi Revolutionary Populism.
The WMCLBSDAPTPLATPITQRP will have a Rino with an elephant t-shirt standing on a bleached and broken elephant skull.
What the Democrats raise taxes on is income. What their rich supporters have is wealth. Those “wealthy” Democrat supporters know that their wealth is safe, that is part of the bargain struck, and that income can always be manipulated to whatever extent needed at their level of wealth.
If it won’t hurt to raise them, then it won’t hurt to NOT raise them.
Seriously, in this economy? Stop collecting taxes and just keep printing money.
SO. The ole Patrician duck lipped RINO has finally outed himself.
Hope he’s made it clear to everybody that cares that he isn’t and never was a conservative. Neither is NRO and some others that should know better.
I’ve always thought he was a mole. At best from the NE CC Republicans (think poppy Bush) at worst a DC party crawler. Maker and shaker for traitors, the Media and Democrats (BIRM) to shmooze, only more covert than say Andrew Sullivan or David (pants crease) Brooks.
Time to trim the fat gentleman. Find out who your friends REALLY are.
I draw you’re attention to Ann Barnhardt for anyone stating that those who invest their money can’t expect a reasonable return on it or that any return on their investment can be taxed and thus have the return on investment stolen from the investor.
She has a 2 1/2 hr presentation on why the economy has become what it is and what is going to happen and why. The only question that is left open is WHEN.
You can draw you’re own conclusions but it’s not IF but WHEN.
HERE: http://barnhardt.biz/index.cfm
(barnhardt.biz)
(don’t bother downloading the pdf file. It’s a blank form that was handed out to the audience to make notes and follow along on. Unless you want to record what she presents in her slides, you won’t need it.)
Republicans should wear a t-shirt that says “I’m with Stupid” with an arrow pointing UP.
I refuse to be a part of determining how we will surrender so that we may enter the arena for a rematch at some future date.
NO. MORE. Been watching the gop talk out of one side while actually writing laws or letting democrats write them that accomplish the opposite.
Watched them toss the constitution in the trash or let the democrats do it for them.
enough is enough.
LET. IT. BURN.
It depends on the tax. I’m in favor of taxing movies at 50% of their gross and 90% of all payments in excess of $250,000 to any actor, director, screenwriter. How many yachts can they ski behind?
Don’t forget the 40% surcharge on any production done overseas. No tax breaks for offshoring our jobs! BECAUSE OF THE FAIRNESS!
I used to promote that. Let’s just get honest with ourselves and realize that personal income tax is crowd control.
The right’s other big myth is that corporate tax should be reduced. For the business boom. Apparently the right is clueless about corporatism.
The only fair tax is a fair tax: Tax conscious, willful use, not property, not industry, not personal gains, and especially not time spent earning a living wage. Tax sales.
Oh, that’s coming, JHo. Only all the other stuff stays.
VAT are you gonna do about it?
As of 11/6/2012: Done and done.
Meh. So tired of hearing myself talk.
Look, my bottom line is that there never was a single federal program that didn’t suck ass. The really cool thing is that now that all of them are bust we get to pay them down.
Just kidding. We get to pay our new masters the interest payments. Forever.
Anybody see this?
Maybe the Bigs really can’t keep it all kited along. Maybe Barry really does take the fall.
FBI Deemed Petraeus Affair Part of Criminal, Not Intel Probe
I am on my last caring nerve too….so those making “over $250k” without the ability to find shelters will be burdened with funding a very small percentage of Obamacare and everybody else is racist.
So, do we do stuff now just because someone tells us it won’t kill the country? What kind of stupid endorsement is that? I reckon opening up oil exploration and building a certain pipeline wouldn’t kill the country either. Nor would cutting spending and reducing borrowing and not printing money at the fed. The question we should ask when pondering a change is “Will it help the country?” and what do we mean by ‘helping the country’ ? Do we mean ‘helping’ in the sense that Bill Clinton described policies that supposedly fight homophobia and racism in the military constitute a strengthening and improvement of the military despite massive impending cuts in funding?
Even if we stipulate that ‘not killing the country’ is the only relevant test, then would it kill the country if the GOP had a big shake up, got rid of a lot of 90’s era advisors, and moved right again to counter all the “gradualist” leftward creep of the past 24 or so years?
Well theirs always the chance that Issa will dig up enuogh dirt from F&F and Benghazi to convince Boehner to grow a pair and throw the Hail Mary.
If we break through the bullshit executive priviledge claim and find out half of what we expect to be true it might not move the Senate but it could set the table for 16.
Yeah, I don’t see it happening either :'(
what/when did the val gal know and when did she reprogram baracky
– Not a soul in the spook community believes this load of crap about the affair. Every one of them thats opined says theres something a lot bigger here yet to be revealed.
– And Obama. BS. Total BS.
don’t drink idiotic
Jan Brewer: It’s time to scrap the electoral college
FBI Agent In Petraeus Case Removed After Allegedly Sending Shirtless Photos To The ‘Other Woman’ Jill Kelley
Why isn’t anyone all over the FBI director, Mueller (sp?), about this whole Petraeus thing?
I’m just a civilian, but it seems to me that dude is the missing link in this Benghazi/Petraeus/Who-Knew-What-When dealio.
Jan Brewer has proven to all that she is a clueless idiot.
Scrapping the electoral college would finish the job of shutting the Republicans out of the white house for at least a generation.
So I’m not in the least surprised that a Republican governor thinks it’s a good idea.
Any politician is to some extent beholden to the status quo and those bureaucracies that can create problems.
It’s why none of them can be trusted and they’re capable of committing the most egregious acts in the name of expediency. Or in the name of self preservation or because of similar opinion or ideology.
Just because some pol seems to be bucking the establishment doesn’t mean it’s true. They may have a free pass to act out so that they can be reelected/trusted. They may figure they’ve got some other agenda that if it succeeds would trump any grief they may receive for bucking the elites.
That all changes from minute to minute. That’s how politics works; they convince us to elect them then they bargain away our rights or freedoms in return for something that is supposed to compensate. Meanwhile they skim off the top of other deals that only are offered to those who play the game and keep quiet.
Sic transit gloria mundi
Hey kids! Look who might be the next Secretary of Defense.
That’s right, John F’ing Kerry.
Sorry, veterans.
Report: CIA’s Benghazi Annex a Detention, Interrogation Site
– Drip, drip, drip goes BenghaziGate. Watch the WH go after Broadwell to try to deflect, and watch the bastards in the press try to help them do it. Anything to protect Hillary and Jug head.
convince Boehner to grow a pair
Don’t you need a Y chromosome for that?
Boner is a lost cause. We need to be rid of him.
He won’t go quietly. Who would replace him and how do they go about that?
The leader of the house must be re-elected every two years. All we need is someone to run against him and get more votes.
In a sense, when we express our dissatisfaction with John Boehner as Speaker we express dissatisfaction with the choice of the House members — often our own House members — themselves, since he is their select-man. We’re saying: He sucks, you suck.
leigh says November 12, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Sorry, veterans.
That’s okay. We know WHAT he is. {rhymes with howard}
At least it isn’t Jane Fonda. :P
I sent off an email tout suite after boner started surrendering. Told him that boner has to go if we’re going to keep from getting the big green weenie.
(well not in THOSE words but I’m sure he understood)
like they say: you have to read between the lines? ,n||n,
to my congressman, I neglected to add. which apparently I have. ADD that is.
I see this a bit differently. Before the election it was in both Obama and cronies along with all others in the National Security area to keep this quiet. They just had different reasons for keeping this on the down-low.
With his re-election now Obama doesn’t have any reason anymore. He can now pretend to be “shocked” that the rogue agency did this and caused the death of the Ambassador and the others with their callous disregard for the law.
Gives him an excuse to tear apart the entire National Security system like Sen Church did in the 70s. With John Kerry as Def-Sec they can have a leftist wet dream of destroying the whole of our military and intelligence to make the world safe for the thugs again. Billy Ayres will be so proud.
Fucking hell. If that isn’t the door slamming I don’t know that is.
It’s like a giant middle finger to the memory of America before the coup.
Before Petraeus resigned, Kerry was a strong contender for SecState, recall. Because Hillary resigns effective Real Soon Now, for reasons that the press doesn’t seem to be interested in at all.
Hillary has long said she’d only do one term. Not much to wonder about there.
“Jeff G. says November 13, 2012 at 1:57 am
It’s like a giant middle finger to the memory of America before the coup.”
Well it should make the reduction in force, via early release, per sequestration requirements much easier.
gennnJISSS connnnnnnnnn
Bye, bye, Bobby Jindal:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/jindal-tells-gop-stop-being-stupid-party?utm_source=co2hog
– Maybe the ketchup slut can get some of her daddy’s old pals from Mozambique to help Lurch expand the stateside Communist party.
I never liked Jindal to begin with. It’s nice to be vindicated.
It’s always sad when the phoenix catches flame and the egg left in the ashes cracks open and another Lindsey Graham pops out.