patrick.net

If I truly believed in internet spambots, Ha Ha would be the prime suspect.

Ha Ha Says:

> I could not vote DEMOCRAT mainly due to two reasons:
> 1. Responsible for housing bubble

How are Democrats “responsible” for the housing bubble?

> 2. Supports illegal immigration

At least the Democrats support illegal immigration while doing absolutely nothing to stop it. I don’t know how Republicans can sleep at night when they rant about illegal immigration day in and day out then like the Democrats do absolutely nothing to stop it…

SFWoman,

I'm not a fan of illegal immigration ( lawbreaking is lawbreaking to me, regardless why the law gets broken ) but Ha Ha has a truly laughable stand on illegal immigration. Most of the Central Valley farmers who depend on illegal immigrant laborers are Republicans. Ditto the Republican builders and contractors who hire illegal day laborers.

I think the Democrats are actually quite ambivalent about illegal immigration. The limousine liberals might be for it, and the inside the beltway types salivate for the legalization of poor immigrants (whom they think will vote Democratic, I'm not so sure about that prospect coming true), but the poor blacks and poor whites who still vote Democratic are very hostile towards illegal immigrants - those illegal immigrants are undercutting them on jobs, affecting the culture in their neighborhoods and schools, and competing with them on government benefits.

Re: midterm elections

I'm really unenthused about this midterm election. On one hand, I can't stand having the Republicans in power any longer. On the other hand, I feel a Democratically controlled congress (pun intended) will allow the Republicans to blame all the bad things they allowed to happen on the Democrats.

To be quite honest, I'm not even sure I want to vote this year. I really feel like there is no "less bad" decision this year.

limousine liberals

You mean "Keep Tahoe Blue bumper sticker on Chevy Tahoe bumper" liberals? :)

The problems associated with illegal immigration will be solved by replacing income tax with sales tax. A welfare reform is also necessary.

A welfare state will fail with or without illegal aliens.

I just hope the US get out of Iraq pronto. My boyfriend's brother stupidly joined the US army this fall and I do not want to worry about him losing a limb or his life due to Republican callousness on this subject.

My boyfriend’s brother stupidly joined the US army this fall and I do not want to worry about him losing a limb or his life due to Republican callousness on this subject.

Let's hope that he is alright. All wars are wasteful.

jbunniii Says:
Ha Ha, don’t worry, your vote and mine canceled each other. We might as well have both abstained.

hmm, where does that lead by a process of induction...

Walk puppies, young puppies. Volunteer to train them for others or something, because once it’s a dog it is far less of a magnet. Cute fluffy puppies.

hmm, that's easier than riding a horse thru city park and keeping it in the apartment... and even includes a tip on how to get them!

I just hope the US get out of Iraq pronto.

let's see what happens in the polls tomorrow. altho i'm worried that somehow the repugs will be returned with an even higher majority through some strange artifact...

SFWoman, if the right tax and welfare reform is implemented, the presence of illegal aliens will

1. be disincentivized
2. pose less harm

I think it is still too early to judge the Iraq war.

Does the puppy tip work for little kids? What if a guy (in search of hot women) volunteer to babysit his friend's young children?

Peter P,

Didn't you just say all wars are wasteful?

Does the puppy tip work for little kids? What if a guy (in search of hot women) volunteer to babysit his friend’s young children?

Puppies may work better... I don't know. I am a 100% cat person.

I wonder if the dog walking trick is breed selective, golden retrievers for one kind of women, poodles for another kind of women, and so on.

I think a better tax policy and welfare reform would make things more fair, but I think most illegal immigrants come here not to get welfare (although there are benevolent-society groups that sponsor legal immigrants to do just that) but to work because they see far more economic opportunity here.

True. A guest worker program is necessary. The present situation indicates that current regulations are economically inefficient.

I think a well thought out, enforced guest worker program that actually keeps track of the workers, combined with proper exit control at US points of entry/exit would be most helpful.

Exactly.

so not a good idea

And neither the Republicans nor the Democrats would propose that guest worker program. And I would agree with them. This country has a sufficient underclass as it is, no need to formally create yet another layer and make it into some sort of Gulf Arab state (see also Hong Kong and Singapore) where guest workers are treated like slaves.

SFWoman,

Ah, you're psychic!

Actually, that first comment was re: your response on guys babysitting young kids to attract women.

This country has a sufficient underclass as it is, no need to formally create yet another layer and make it into some sort of Gulf Arab state (see also Hong Kong and Singapore) where guest workers are treated like slaves.

It seems that the free market pushes for it though. My impression is that slavery - one form or the other - is just natural to the human order.

More reason for self-hatred.

Peter P,

One ought not read too much into fiction, esp. Michael Crichton's fiction.

Ah, you’re psychic!

Generally, women are more psychic than men.

Illegal immigrants aren't making the sort of wages where income tax would be a serious consideration. And I highly doubt a sales tax would do much to affect their affection for US jobs.

As I've said before, the best solution is to severely penalize any employer who dares to hire illegals. Bankrupt them, lock them in jail, shame them in public and make them the scum of the Earth. Once the demand dries up, the supply will eventually head back south. No fences needed, just make it impossible for illegals to stay.

As I’ve said before, the best solution is to severely penalize any employer who dares to hire illegals. Bankrupt them, lock them in jail, shame them in public and make them the scum of the Earth.

That may work for a while. But it may not be economically efficient though.

BTW, why isn't the American underclass being utilized?

astrid Says:

> Does the puppy tip work for little kids?

As far as work “for” kids, yes a cute puppy will attract kids and women…

> What if a guy (in search of hot women) volunteer
> to babysit his friend’s young children?

Most kids are a PITA (puppies are a lot easier to deal with) and a single guy with kids will tend to attract more single and divorced moms than hot single girls.

As an undergrad I ended up at Marina Green with a cute (almost white) golden retriever puppy and met so many girls that I went back across the Bay and tried to figure out a business plan for a “puppy rental” business catering to single guys (we had to scrap the plan since we couldn’t figure out what to do with the dogs after they weren’t “cute puppies” any more…

Then SFWoman Says:

> If a guy (in search of hot women) volunteer to babysit his
> friend’s young children? I’d think he was a pedophile.

As long as the guy is not a Republican Congressman, Catholic Priest or leader of an Evangelical Christian Group your kids should be pretty safe…

SFWoman,

The lack of a work ethic amongst Americans is a problem. Too many people seem to believe work and education are for suckers...there are too many Casey Serins out there. Too many people seem to believe they're too good for an honest day's labor.

But then I hear the stories of people who are working two or three jobs to make ends meet. So I don't think the American working class is uniformally lazy, by any means.

SFWoman,

I thought most politicians already learnt to hire legal household help. However, I agree that their main contributors probably won't like any position that's tough on employers of illegal immigrants.

The lack of a work ethic amongst Americans is a problem. Too many people seem to believe work and education are for suckers…

The solution is to shock them them globalization and take away their welfare benefits.

Work ethic is good and I strongly promote it. However, an efficient economy should not rely upon it.

But then I hear the stories of people who are working two or three jobs to make ends meet. So I don’t think the American working class is uniformally lazy, by any means.

Again, I begin to suspect that inequality is part of the karmic system.

astrid Says:

> Illegal immigrants aren’t making the sort of wages where
> income tax would be a serious consideration.

There is a myth out there that illegals work for slave wages.

As SF Woman mentions most of them get paid $12 - $15 per Hour CASH so they “take home” more cash than a legal tax paying worker that makes over $40K a year. The guys that can paint and do basic apartment maintenance all get at least $20 per hour and since they work longer hours than most Americans many are taking home more cash than Americans who make $75K a year…

FAB,

Maybe you could find a breed of dog that is perpetually attractive to women or spends a large portion of their life as puppies. I think most people would find golden retrievers cute at any age, esp. if the golden retriever is relatively thin (to resemble a puppy's physique).

it’s the haven’t worked in three generations class that is problematic

Changing the child tax credit to a reduction of marginal tax rate should help fixing the problem.

One huge issue I see is that the educated people are often disincentivized from having children while welfare recipients are encouraged to breed like rabbits.

I think I'll just go ahead and assume humanity in its present form is doomed.

there used to be a guest worker program, until abe lincoln abolished it...

FAB,

Hmmm. If that's the case, why don't the employers hire legal American workers to do the same jobs?

I think the highly compensated illegal immigrant is largely a myth. Yes, some of them do eventually do that well (I know a couple Latino handymen who can command $10-15/hr) but it takes a lot of social capital and English skills to get to that point. Most are probably making less than $10/hr.

permanently puppy-like lap dogs are popular in the inner city, possibly for this reason... maybe Monsanto can come up with something that just stops growing...

what about a lovely little white rat perched on the shoulder? would that work? little pink nose, long bald tail...

I think I’ll just go ahead and assume humanity in its present form is doomed.

Pretty much.

DS,

The US stopped importing foreign born slaves long before the Civil War.

"It is a great time to buy or sell Intel stock".

Yeah, I figured that makes a lot of sense.

(Not investment advice)

SP

SFWoman,

Wow, jackpot! They're so cute with their huge expressive eyes.

hmm, they were still 'guests'... domestic guest workers...