patrick.net

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

This is a perfect example of why I'm not going to bother feeding your idiocy anymore.

You aren't explaining your position, Bigs. You are failing.

As I've said already, I've explained my position. You now seem to need to misrepresent what I am saying in order to support your outlandish claims. I have been wasting my time responding to you as you are obviously a conspiracy nut. Have fun chatting back and forth with The Professor on this because I'm now bored rather than amused by your monotonous and irrational drivel.
Do read the psychology article though. You never know, you might have an epiphany.

The answer is all of A,B,C,D along with

E) too many foreigners that have gotten rich off the cheap labor in their country trying to find safe places to store their millions.

F) Weak US dollar making the foreigners from E that much more powerful and eager

G) 85B/mth will likely have to increase to >100-110B/mth to keep the music playing. Don't ever count out the power of the fed to float this boat

H) All the Oil and tech options/RSUs/etc. vesting and minting more and more people with incredible wealth for doing little overall.

Regarding H, hopefully the market will tank before those asswipes can cash in their bullshit Facebook, groupon, yelp or LinkedIn shares.

debyne says

I just posted something similar on another thread, but socialism interferes with the evolution of the human race. By artificially "taking care" of the weak, we stifle evolutionary progress of our race and don't allow ourselves to become stronger, faster, smarter, etc. with time. Drop all social programs and promote equal opportunity and individual freedom, and the strong will ultimately survive and properly perpetuate the species.

So Paris Hilton will be amongst the last standing?

thomaswong.1986 says

Dont need the History Channel to remind many that it was Kennedy and Democrats on the whole who were claiming the Missile Gap and where seeking higher military spending...

that doesn't disprove the theory because the fact remains: JFK wanted to get out of VN. in the documentary made with McNamara (Fog of War), there are taped conversations of him and JFK indicating that JFK desperately wanted to get out of VN and McNamara, who was against the war himself, was reluctant about pulling out so many troops in such a short amount of time.

tisk tisk tisk... No more Camelot... no more Kings !

sbh says

If an American doesn't resemble you he's a subhuman and you justify suppressing his freedom FOR HIS OWN SAKE. An Asian American can live his entire life in ethnic quarters of large American cities and speak English a small fraction of the time and immeasurably advance the virtues of this country. To you he would be a throw away piece of trash worth only the effort needed to demonize and suppress. You are shameless.

Without a common language a group of immigrants be they Latino, Asians, and Europeans would not be able to communicate, get education and growth economically... therefore their opportunities dont exist.. Only Liberals have been the barrier to a common language suppressing economic opportunity for all...

An elderly asian in a Ghetto is an open target for criminals (mafia to tong) to manipulate for their entire life.. as we have seen for century now. .. today its the Democrats who manipulate such people....

When immigrants know English, there are no barriers the any can stand on their own two feet and they can pursue their dreams for education and careers/business, and we have many examples of such be they Asians or Europeans.

Make no mistake about it.. you so called Liberals are true Slavers today ...
Your true motto is ...Keep them stupid..Keep them voting for the Democratic party..

There will be a backlash ... count on it !

bgamall4 says

Thatcher but could not have happened without Thatcherism

Since when did the Labor party start calling themselves Conservatives..

The new face of Thatcherism... elected in 1997 ... Tony Blair !

bgamall4 says

Called self certified loans,

when one does not have a w-2.. what does one have if they are
consultants or a sole proprietorship.... how would verify incomes.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0744.pdf

Carolyn C says

debyne says

I just posted something similar on another thread, but socialism interferes with the evolution of the human race. By artificially "taking care" of the weak, we stifle evolutionary progress of our race and don't allow ourselves to become stronger, faster, smarter, etc. with time. Drop all social programs and promote equal opportunity and individual freedom, and the strong will ultimately survive and properly perpetuate the species.

So Paris Hilton will be amongst the last standing?

You're being too short-sighted. Evolutionary principles take generations and generations to take force. Over time, rich idiots, such as the Paris Hiltons of the world, would eventually fail and not survive unless behavior was changed. The point is, don't mess with what nature intended in how we evolve and improve over time.

debyne says

As communism takes hold per your proposed ideals, we as a nation (and race) will
become weaker and lazier over generations; this will be to our demise. Good job.

Why can you not see any alternatives between pure capitalism and pure socialism?

Nobody in this thread is arguing for socialism.

tatupu70 says

debyne says

As communism takes hold per your proposed ideals, we as a nation (and race) will

become weaker and lazier over generations; this will be to our demise. Good job.

Why can you not see any alternatives between pure capitalism and pure socialism?

Nobody in this thread is arguing for socialism.

I'm definitely not a purist, and I actually support regulation in certain areas in order to foster equal opportunity and protecting society as a whole. For example, I'm in favor of the green agenda to force us off fossil fuels because of the pollution it produces, among other things they support to protect our planet. I'm also in favor of anti-trust laws to keep one company (or gov't) from owning an industry. I don't align purely to any political party or ideology, I just pick and choose ideas that make sense to me.

Bigsby says

I suspect you haven't read Dickens, or any history books come to that. And since when has believing in the need for welfare equated to communist ideals? Others on here seem to do the same thing for ACA, seemingly a new form of communism propagated by private insurance companies.

Not sure what you mean about not having read any history books...can you clarify?

A pure communistic society is a classless, moneyless society. Welfare is an ideal that partially promotes that concept.

I actually kinda like ACA and hope it's successful just as long as we stay away from a single payer structure, which is what would destroy competition and the innovation to improve.

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

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 Friday, November 1, 2013 __ Level is 99.6

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

indigenous says

The trade deficit causes more dollars to be in possession of other countries than there would otherwise be this allows the US to print more dollars without as much inflation as there would be otherwise be.

Do you realize that the trade deficit is worse BECAUSE of a strong dollar?

indigenous says

One of the keys is that unmolested trade be allowed which allows the basic building block of the economy to work its magic, which it would if left on it's own.

I honestly think you don't even know why you post some of the things you post.

Wow.

You'd think they use the power of the government to put a stop to things which hurt society, such as healthcare.

tatupu70 says

Do you realize that the trade deficit is worse BECAUSE of a strong dollar?

Yes that is my point.tatupu70 says

I honestly think you don't even know why you post some of the things you post.

Thank you for sharing but I have a better command of this than most of you mutts.

debyne says

I actually kinda like ACA and hope it's successful just as long as we stay away from a single payer structure, which is what would destroy competition and the innovation to improve.

Perhaps you'd care to list where WHO ranks US healthcare and how much you spend on it in comparison to others.

debyne says

I'm definitely not a purist, and I actually support regulation in certain areas in order to foster equal opportunity and protecting society as a whole. For example, I'm in favor of the green agenda to force us off fossil fuels because of the pollution it produces, among other things they support to protect our planet. I'm also in favor of anti-trust laws to keep one company (or gov't) from owning an industry. I don't align purely to any political party or ideology, I just pick and choose ideas that make sense to me.

Bless your heart for wanting 'to foster equal opportunity.' It's just a bit unfortunate that you want to remove any sort of social safety net for those in need in order to achieve this supposed ambition of yours.

Bigsby says

debyne says

I actually kinda like ACA and hope it's successful just as long as we stay away from a single payer structure, which is what would destroy competition and the innovation to improve.

Perhaps you'd care to list where WHO ranks US healthcare and how much you spend on it in comparison to others.

Why bother?

Bigsby says

debyne says

I'm definitely not a purist, and I actually support regulation in certain areas in order to foster equal opportunity and protecting society as a whole. For example, I'm in favor of the green agenda to force us off fossil fuels because of the pollution it produces, among other things they support to protect our planet. I'm also in favor of anti-trust laws to keep one company (or gov't) from owning an industry. I don't align purely to any political party or ideology, I just pick and choose ideas that make sense to me.

Another idea is to have slop houses (like soup kitchens, but worse) in large cities where aged food that's still safe to eat (but grocery stores don't want it anymore) is served. The idea here is to make "welfare" a painful experience, not business as usual.

Bless your heart for wanting 'to foster equal opportunity.' It's just a bit unfortunate that you want to remove any sort of social safety net for those in need in order to achieve this supposed ambition of yours.

I think having some minimal safety net would be fine if we just wouldn't keep expanding it. It's like the old saying..."give them an inch, and they take a mile." For example, offer 3 months unemployment and that's it. Only allow food stamps for a period of 6 months if, and only if, they have a full time job.

debyne says

I think having some minimal safety net would be fine if we just wouldn't keep expanding it. It's like the old saying..."give them an inch, and they take a mile." For example, offer 3 months unemployment and that's it. Only allow food stamps for a period of 6 months if, and only if, they have a full time job.

And if that person fails to find employment during that period (through no lack of trying), then what? And food stamps only for those with a job? What?

debyne says

Bigsby says

debyne says

I actually kinda like ACA and hope it's successful just as long as we stay away from a single payer structure, which is what would destroy competition and the innovation to improve.

Perhaps you'd care to list where WHO ranks US healthcare and how much you spend on it in comparison to others.

Why bother?

Why do you think? You seem to be raising up the American healthcare system as the best in the world. It isn't. It can't even supply basic affordable coverage to a good percentage of the population. Your country has by far the most expensive healthcare system, and even with this, has poorer outcomes in comparison to pretty much all other developed nations.

ThreeBays says

debyne says

I actually kinda like ACA and hope it's successful just as long as we stay away from a single payer structure, which is what would destroy competition and the innovation to improve.

The "provider" can contribute to innovation, not the "payer".

Not true at all. There's opportunities to innovate on the provider side as well as the payer side...we need improvement in both.

indigenous says

Yes that is my point.

So you're arguing for more printing and a weaker dollar?

If one is a consultant and not a FTE, a bank will request a work contract and tax returns x 2 years at a minimum. They also usually require more $ as a down payment and a higher cash reserve balance not to mention excellent credit scores.

ThreeBays says

And... I'm waiting for you to give some example of innovation on the payer side (that is not single payer).

Cutting out the middle payer completely would be 100% improvement.

Bundled payments are a good example. Check out the company QLiance out of Seattle...they couldn't have developed their successful model of healthcare if single payer was in place. Plus, it's innovation as to how payers can run as lean as possible but still being able to get actuarial right based on actual claims. Anything "single payer" means they don't have to be efficient because they'll just get more gov't budget to pay for their inefficiencies, fraud, etc. On what planet do you think the gov't is efficient and able to contain cost? Oh, let's look at healthcare.gov as a good example. How much did that website cost and how much time did they have to implement it? How well did that turn out?

Cutting out the payer would mean no insurance underwriting, which isn't really an option because what happens if catastrophe strikes? And if you're advocating cutting out the middle man, that would mean no single payer, so not sure I understand the comment.

Oh, and let's not forget that single payer causes innovation to decline...look at the number of new drugs produced by the US compared to single payer nations.

This may be a clearer graph, showing a tripling since 1960. It also may need adjustment for the increase in women working. That is to make inferences about income per hour.

How about this...just from 1970

OF course rents and other investment income are included in this. I'm sure that many right wingers or austrians would argue that workers are not entitled to a piece of the rents that the rich get to collect.

Understanding this aspect of the situation is a big part of understanding how our system works.

Bigsby says

And if that person fails to find employment during that period (through no lack of trying), then what? And food stamps only for those with a job? What?

Go live with family or find a homeless shelter. There are always low-paying jobs available...people just don't want to do them.

marcus says

I'm guessing the percentage working must be at least 35% higher than in 1950.

Btw, I know some might argue this is high, because the workforce participation rate is only about 5% above where it was in 1950. But there are way more people over 68 than there were back then. still 35% may be high.

Bigsby says

Why do you think? You seem to be raising up the American healthcare system as the best in the world. It isn't. It can't even supply basic affordable coverage to a good percentage of the population. Your country has by far the most expensive healthcare system, and even with this, has poorer outcomes in comparison to pretty much all other developed nations.

I didn't say it was the best. We just haven't had a free market implementation of it yet, so let that work before considering going to a socialized model and stifling innovation and progress. Through ACA, competition will get fiercer, which only benefits us.

Show me stats on poorer outcomes. I bring it up because it often has nothing to do with our healthcare system...it's the fact that we have a nation of fat people.

debyne says

We just haven't had a free market implementation of it yet, so let that work before considering going to a socialized model and stifling innovation and progress.

It can't work. Free market requires information availability, the ability to shop, etc. which will not ever exist for healthcare. If you get hit by a car, are you going to be able to shop around before having surgery?

ThreeBays says

debyne says

You're being too short-sighted. Evolutionary principles take generations and generations to take force. Over time, rich idiots, such as the Paris Hiltons of the world, would eventually fail and not survive unless behavior was changed. The point is, don't mess with what nature intended in how we evolve and improve over time.

The human race is far beyond the point where progress is determined by natural selection. If you're waiting for the people or groups you dislike to die out you better not hold your breath.

Then we're doomed as a race...watch as the weak multiply and the lazy and inept continue to take over. Oh, and don't make accusations that I want people I don't like to die...it's not about me.

debyne says

ThreeBays says

debyne says

You're being too short-sighted. The point is, don't mess with what nature intended in how we evolve and improve over time.

I'm not going to say that there is nothing to the idea of social derwinism, but it's way too easy for idiots to way take it too far. Nobody has ever argued that we need to give those who are unwilling to work a lifestyle that will make them feel that not working is a good deal.

We are humans, and it's our collective intelligence or lack there of that will determne our future. That is if we're lucky..

Besides, it can easily be argued that our growing wealth inequality is putting more and more power in the hands of an aristocracy that got their wealth (or the future generation that will get it's wealth) by inheriting it, and then paying experts to invest it.

In your view these are the strongest and best fit people who get to make decisions about our government and our societies ? They are the ones that will be deciding how we evolve.

marcus says

Besides, it can easily be argued that our growing wealth inequality is putting more and more power in the hands of an aristocracy that got their wealth (or the future generation that will get it's wealth) by inheriting it, and then paying experts to invest it.

Then that would remove equal opportunity, so you regulate it so monopoly of power doesn't happen. I never advocated for a completely free market...regulation is still very important.

tatupu70 says

debyne says

We just haven't had a free market implementation of it yet, so let that work before considering going to a socialized model and stifling innovation and progress.

It can't work. Free market requires information availability, the ability to shop, etc. which will not ever exist for healthcare. If you get hit by a car, are you going to be able to shop around before having surgery?

Lol...first off, most healthcare dollars are not emergencies. Second, I'm not saying get rid of insurance...I'm a big supporter of catastrophic coverage for all as a mandate.

Yes, but who will be voted in?

Fair enough.

tts says

It never could of course, as we Americans learned from Ronnie Raygun in the 80's, trickle down economics never works.

why delete deluge up roberto? how did i offend thee? pray tell.

Bellingham Bill says

Hmm, doing *both*, taxing rents and using the money to build new supply -- that actually makes sense, LOL.

Such a scheme would work as well as the soviet scheme of robbing the rich successful farmers' farming implements and farm animals to build communes . . . contrary to dreams of plenty, the result was mass starvation!

The socialist mind doesn't understand in order to get results, you need to give people incentives! After-tax rent return is the incentive for building more rental units! If you tax rent return heavily, less rental units would be built by the private sector. If you want government monopoly to build rental units instead of letting private sector players competing against each other, the incentive becomes for the bureaucrats and their cronies to maximize the budget allocation . . . and build nothing! The worse the schools, the greater the public outcry for more funding to schools; the higher the crime rate , the greater the public outcry for more funding to police departments . . . it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if housing construction is monopolized by government bureaucracy, the more acute the housing shortage the more funding for the monopolistic department of rental housing. . . so what would you do if you are in charge of such a department and want to maximize your own wealth and power? spend every cent of the budget and then demand more, while build nothing!