patrick.net

freak80 says

yet another (profitable) war.

There's no profit in Syria, any more than there was profit in Iraq. We are simply returning control of the region to itself, which should have been done long ago.

It seems like it.
But if Obama pulls this off and actually gets the chems away from assad, with no hidden stashes still in his possession, he's gonna be looking like the second coming of Gandi.
In the face of
* Longtime US allies going against his will ( UK )
* Major opposition from his own party, not to mention congress as a whole
* Overwhelming non-support from the public

It took Bush practically his whole term to attempt to disarm Saddam of his chems...( not found, but it is unknown if he hid them well, or just moved them to syria/lebonon ) at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives.

If Obama pulls this off, he would have disarmed the country with the most chems without firing a shot....

We will see...
mell says

Putin eats Obummer every morning for breakfast.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Comptroller says

A fucking iPhone pulled out a switch blade on me this morning and I returned the attack with a sustained burst of Gatling gun fire, wasting 131 foolishly over curious bystanders but taking out a Clear and Present danger to my life and to general public.

You think that's bad. Some angry birds got into my phone and started assaulting nearly defenseless pigs!

rdm says

It is in the US interest and Russia's to secure the chemical weapons. Punishing Assad for using them is not the end game, it is to get rid of/gain control of the chemicals weapons. There are plenty of Chechens fighting in Syria who would most dearly like to gas the crap out of Moscow. So there is a convergence of interests, somthing might come of this.

Why should Syria get rid of chemical weapons when a violent aggressor with nukes is on its border?

Blurtman says

Why should Syria get rid of chemical weapons when a violent aggressor with nukes is on its border?

The "violent aggressor" has already shown on several occasions that Syria's chemical weapons are not a deterrent. This civil war has, contrary to the fondest dreams and wild hallucinations of the numerous conspiracy theory nuts that frequent P.Net, very little to do with said "violent aggressor"

Overvalued doesn't necessarily mean a bubble.

It's not a bubble if people are crying "bubble." That's not how markets work. It'll be a bubble when everyone is saying "house prices can only go up" again.

We're well on our way to becoming Mexico (if we're not there already) thanks to the policies of both parties since 1980.

I'm all ears if someone can suggest a better method for reversing this trend than raising taxes on high incomes and investments.

control point says

I'm all ears if someone can suggest a better method for reversing this trend than raising taxes on high incomes and investments.

The fox brainwashing strikes again. You don't raise taxes on investments, you raise taxes on the profits from investments.

control point says

I'm all ears if someone can suggest a better method for reversing this trend than raising taxes on high incomes and investments.

I don't see how it can be done if you still want the high-earners to keep all their compounding wealth. It is a zero-sum game, you can't even out the inequality if you leave all the wealth with the top 0.1%.

So, basically you are saying that Mexico's income distribution is desirable?

leo707 says

So, basically you are saying that Mexico's income distribution is desirable?

Basically I am asking how it can be accomplished without raising taxes.

bob2356 says

The fox brainwashing strikes again. You don't raise taxes on investments, you raise taxes on the profits from investments.

Or you raise them on investments.. asset taxes....

Which would be more effective at lowering income inequality? A higher tax on the income from investments, or a tax on the value of the investment itself?

Inflation does not happen in a vacuum. In your example, rents would not increase unless the rent paying consumer has more money to pay for rent. Inflation is a trailing indicator of a strengthening middle class.

Limit intellectual property rights. Minimum wahe increases. Increase union membership. Many ways to skin the cat.

:large

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999:

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Tuesday, September 10, 2013 __ Level is 97.0

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes indeed, go here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

Pop quiz for APO.
Fill in the blank- "Why do they hate _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?" lol

Hmmm. I hadn't thought about what the actual reason might have been for Zimmerman or others who tried to destroy the ipad.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-chief-zimmermans-wife-wont-press-charges-even-though-she-said-he-threatened-with-gun/2013/09/09/ac73bba4-19b8-11e3-80ac-96205cacb45a_story.html

Every law, rule, statute, regulation, policy and procedure which created income inequality has been authorized, approved, and endorsed by Congress.

Who is to blame, the people who benefited from the laws created by our government, or is government to blame?

Honest Abe says

Who is to blame, the people who benefited from the laws created by our government, or is government to blame?

The people who hired the government to do their bidding.

You know those people who have reaped trillions from the laws, rules, statues, regulations, and policies that have created income inequality.

Honest Abe says

Who is to blame

Who owns the government ?

Remember corporations are people. Very very wealthy people.

Honest Abe says

Who is to blame, the people who benefited from the laws created by our government, or is government to blame?

Dishonest Abe catches Al Capone bribing a beat cop. A REAL American, he'd slap Capone on the wrists meanwhile whispering in his ear an offer for fellatio in exchange for employment as shoeshine boy. Then he'd slap the cop in stocks for a few days before executing him for his venal crime.

Why can't y'all be more like Dishonest Abe, he's a sharp cookie!

So as long as income inequality gets worse, should we be having new bubbles according to your thesis on how bubbles are created?

“As of right now, we’re waiting on the iPad as the last piece of the puzzle,” Lake Mary police spokesman Zach Hudson said.

Without the video or some other piece of independent evidence, legal experts said it will be hard to build a case because Shellie Zimmerman changed her story about her husband threatening her with a gun and decided not to press charges.

That's a damn shame. I saw video today shot from the FIL's front yard video surveillance camera, and it didn't show any gun waving, or knifing of the iPad, George just tossed it aside.
From what I could see, if he was trying to render it useless he would have slammed it a lot harder on the ground than he did.

Shelly should be arrested for using the police as a weapon. Dirty rotten whore.

Vicente says

Honest Abe says

Who is to blame, the people who benefited from the laws created by our government, or is government to blame?

Dishonest Abe catches Al Capone bribing a beat cop. A REAL American, he'd slap Capone on the wrists meanwhile whispering in his ear an offer for fellatio in exchange for employment as shoeshine boy. Then he'd slap the cop in stocks for a few days before executing him for his venal crime.

Why can't y'all be more like Dishonest Abe, he's a sharp cookie!

But he has a valid point. The American citizens voted for the bailouts and continued crony capitalism and war mongering. Didn't vote for Ron Paul? Well, there is the problem.

bgamall4 says

People are learning, learning about the plan for Israeli world takeover.

I don't know what you smoke, but I really want some. Would the Israeli world takeover be before or after the NZ world takeover?

mell says

Didn't vote for Ron Paul?

No, I didn't vote for that particular Libertopian stooge. Proud of it, why change one white water boy for the MIC & FIRE industries, for another one? His list of top donors says it all:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00005906

CaptainShuddup says

Shelly should be arrested for using the police as a weapon. Dirty rotten whore.

You got all that from the video ? Wow.

The police say the ipad is in a dozen pieces, so I guess she must have done that.

You have a point though. I guess we know that Zimmerman doesn't have any problems controlling himself or his temper, even though he did throw a girl that one time when he was a security officer, and he did have this type of incident with his fiance before, and he did assault a cop once years ago, and of course he did shoot and kill Trayvon Martin.

I guess he's one of those people who just have a lot of crazy crazy drama constantly following them in their life, in spite of how much they have their shit together.

Oh wait, I forgot, there are no such people.

Vicente says

mell says

Didn't vote for Ron Paul?

No, I didn't vote for that particular Libertopian stooge. Proud of it, why change one white water boy for the MIC & FIRE industries, for another one? His list of top donors says it all:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00005906

You must be looking at a different list than me. Close to zero banks/TBTFs in there, instead producing companies and the military personnel, which is not surprising, as they want good benefits for their veterans instead of being sent into illegal and useless wars. Overall the contributions he received from corporations (even the defense companies) are tiny compared to the 2 lamestream candidates (tweedledee obummer and tweedledum mittens) , instead he got a lot of individual donations from grassroots movements. This list is a strong endorsement for Ron Paul and speaks for itself! You should try not to waste your vote and give it to true change for once. You can always go back to tweedledee and tweedledum if you get disappointed ;)

Even if in a bubble, nobody know when and at what price level the bubble would burst.

mell says

instead he got a lot of individual donations from grassroots movements.

Yes he does try and present that homespun image. However he's as big a phony as the rest of them. Sure he's against all federal intrusion, where it matters to protecting Big Business. When it comes to abortion, he regularly proposes acts declaring a fetus a person. When it comes to adoption, he started a bill to stop kids from being adopted by gays. DOMA? Oh yeah, he loves states rights as a talking point for the crackpots and neo-Confederates, otherwise he's happy to turn Federal guns on you to make SURE you can't get medical coverage for your partner. The only real success Ron Paul has had as a legislator? Well...... can't think of any.... oh right he did bring home lots of pork for his district despite being against that sort of thing.

Oh yeah and he's been really good at building this image of a gadfly, which brings him a sort of notoriety among the bores who want to loan you their copy of Atlas Shrugged and tell you how important it is to own gold.

mell says

they want good benefits for their veterans instead of being sent into illegal and useless wars

So they want to collect a fat lifetime entitlement for doing nothing. I bet they do. Where's our tax dollars go?

Socialist medical care. An even more socialist PENSION, an anachronism that would be reviled in other sectors.

If America didn't send it's soldiers into "illegal and useless wars"? You'd have at least 2 whole generations of soldiers who'd never seen battle, sort of hard to make the case for veterans needing a bottomless backstop in that scenario.

Vicente says

So they want to collect a fat lifetime entitlement for doing nothing. I bet they do.

No, they want and deserve proper lifetime care after being blown to parts by warmongering presidents and republican and democratic armchair quarterbacks. Besides the point that less wars with better equipped and cared for soldiers cost zillions less than the current warmongering in every shit corner of the world, comparing a mandatory deployment to warzones within the military to a regular corporate job somewhat distasteful.

mell says

No, they want and deserve proper lifetime care after being blown to parts by warmongering presidents and republican and democratic armchair quarterbacks.

So offer that to personnel who've actually BEEN in war zones. Getting a fat pension for sitting behind a desk in Germany for 20 years, sorry DENIED hope your 401K choices did well move along! I got nothing against the grunt with no legs, he deserves it. However Sgt. Rock is just the Poster Boy, the majority of the military is in no danger of riding over top of an IED and if a teacher doesn't "deserve" a pension neither do they.

As I said if we didn't engage in "illegal and useless" wars, we wouldn't have BEEN in a one for many decades. Therefore your "veterans" would be no such thing, greatly weakening their case to have a pension they need to protect. At that point they are civil servants, little more than a Coast Guard. Why can't they have 401K-type plans like everyone else does these days? They should have the RIGHT to make their own investment choices so they can roll the dice and maybe win a better retirement than the next soldier, just like the rest of us. Right? Real Americans do everything themselves.

Anyways, I've gotten way off topic. Thanks for the diversion but back to business.

Americans are thoroughly BRAINWASHED, they think things are MUCH more equitable than they are.

Anything Captain or above are paid way better than teachers, especially if you include their housing allowance.

control point says

I'm all ears if someone can suggest a better method for reversing this trend than raising taxes on high incomes and investments.

Why immediately discount strategies that work?

" The fairness of taxing more lightly income from wages, salaries or from investments is beyond question. In the first case, the income is uncertain and limited in duration; sickness or death destroys it and old age diminishes it; in the other, the source of income continues; the income may be disposed of during a man’s life and it descends to his heirs. Surely we can afford to make a distinction between the people whose only capital is their mettle and physical energy and the people whose income is derived from investments. Such a distinction would mean much to millions of American workers and would be an added inspiration to the man who must provide a competence during his few productive years to care for himself and his family when his earnings capacity is at an end. "

- Andrew W. Mellon, Taxation: The People's Business, 1924.

Having Warren Buffett pay lower tax rate than his secretary is an obscenity. For most of the last century the capital gains tax rate were higher than now, OMG how did old-timey economy survive such crushing impediments????!!!??

david1 says

There are no solutions that don't include giving more of X to the bottom 99%. It's not going to be done voluntarily, so what do you propose the nation does to fix this if it's not tax policy?

This doesn't make sense. You have stated the problem with math, but you must realize if you use the words in this way, the solution is known. Obviously, the problem is too much of X goes to the top 1%, and the solution is to give more of X to the bottom 99%. What I am saying is there exists more than 1 method by which this can be accomplished.

I was questioning your assertion that tax policy is the only method by which the solution can be accomplished. I should have been more clear perhaps.

Anyway - what are your responses to the suggestions of using inflation, limiting IP rights, and/or labor empowerment? How about the asset tax?

By the way, if you want to use progressive income taxes to solve the problem, fine. To me, that is the lazy way that will inevitably have unintended consequences. Tax policy changes surely alter behavior.

Further, the progressiveness of the income tax should be skewed much more than only on the top 1%. Really should focus on the top 400 or so taxpayers, they have essentially half the countries wealth. That is the true ruling class. Saying the "top 1%" - realize that is about 1.5 million taxpayers. The cutoff for that bracket is about $350k. That is only 7 times the median - a person with that income has MUCH more in common with the average Joe than he does with a member of the top 400, whose income cutoff is well over $100 million, or roughly 285 times the guy just on the edge of the top 1%.

In short, the current structure is already skewed towards the top 1% - only those in that bracket pay 39.6%. But why does the top bracket stop there? WHy not have 45% over 1 million, 50% over 2 million, 55% over 5 million, 60% over 10 million, 65% over 20 million, 70% over 50 million, 75% over 100 million, 80% over 250 million, 85% over 500 million, and 90% over 1 billion.

A bubble, I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that the home I bought in 2011 had a high value (according to Zillow) in 7/07 of $164K (remember, I live in Houston). I bought the home in 10/11 for $118K at which time Zillow valued it at $120K. In 8/13 Zillow is valuing my home at $159K - looks painfully like a bubble to me.

mmmarvel,
~25% increase in less than 2 years. If wages haven't increased,do we call this a bubble? Wait! Bulls call it an improving market.
Do you sell close to $159K or even the $164K, let the bubble burst & buy again?
That's difficult to answer.

Vicente says

So offer that to personnel who've actually BEEN in war zones. Getting a fat pension for sitting behind a desk in Germany for 20 years, sorry DENIED hope your 401K choices did well move along! I got nothing against the grunt with no legs, he deserves it. However Sgt. Rock is just the Poster Boy, the majority of the military is in no danger of riding over top of an IED and if a teacher doesn't "deserve" a pension neither do they.

There are 2 different issues here. I'm not objecting to somewhat equal pension treatments for all government workers if they are fit and able to provide for themselves and their 401K. But that doesn't apply to wounded or traumatized soldiers, they should be taken care of. So yeah, an administrative desk-sitter in no actual danger of ever being deployed can be treated differently. But that only distracts from the fact that under Ron Paul defense spending would be a fraction of what it is now and the TBTFs would have failed and the FIRE sector reduced. No candidate is the perfect solution, but it's fair to say at this point that it's better than continued warmongering, taking away of civil liberties, crony capitalism and stagflation.