our seventh fleet could sit outside our borders and NOTHING could get past them. we need to keep our noses out of other country's business and maybe they wouldn't hate us so and we wouldn't need so much military. it's kind of a catch-22.1. Get rid of at least half of our aircraft carriers, and a similar number of other ships.
2. Get rid of all our strategic bombers.
3. Get rid of the majority of our tanks and heavy combat vehicles.
4. Get rid of all our nuclear bombs and land based ICBM's, and around half of our sea based ones.
5. Kill the Joint Strike Fighter project, and majorly cut the size of our airforce. Phase out the older planes.
6. Cut the size of our army. Increase the size of our special forces to compensate.
7. Get rid of nearly all oversea military bases. Keep a couple in Japan and South Korea, and also in the Middle East.
8. Have a general redesign of weapons to make things more cost effective.
There you go. I just shaved at least half off the military budget, and probably a good deal more.
not to mention now we are going after parents who's kids are over weight so now we are told what and how much to EAT.You're right! I can smoke weed if I want, or go to a prostitute, or get married to someone of the same sex, or fly without being hassled by the government, and there's absolutely no danger of my phone conversations being randomly wiretapped.
if we didn't have our noses so far up their business they might not **** with us.Absolutely goddamn ****ing right!
If they don't like it, they should just not **** with us and it won't happen.
speaking of prostitution. why is it illegal to give someone an orgasm? i can think of MUCH worse things you can do to someone. in the military you get a medal for dropping bombs on women and children and civilans go to jail for giving someone an orgasm. i don't get it.Yes it is. Let's review. Why shouldn't you be allowed to smoke weed? It harms no one but yourself. Why shouldn't you be allowed to go to prostitute, after all don't you believe in the free market? Why shouldn't I be able to marry a guy if I want? It's my life. The last two should be so obvious that I shouldn't have to address them. Is it really okay to have your phone tapped by the government?
they tapped them we just didn't raise an eyebrow, unlike the brits.No it's not, because all those things I listed are illegal in some if not all 50 states. That is the point we are not freest country on earth. As for tapping your phone, the mere possibility that it could happen should raise red flags.
where were you during the bush term? remember warrantless wiretaping?It can't happen without a warrant.
Which, "loopholes", would those be? I personally don't want any of my deductions taken away from me. I can't afford to pay anymore taxes.
I made 40 g's last year. I don't qualify for the earned income credit, because I'm self employed. I had to cough up 7 grand in taxes and now you think I should pay more goddamned taxes? I'll fight tooth-n-nail any regime that thinks that that's not enough. They can kiss my ass, in fact.
That's not true. Obama's been talking about raising the marginal rate since before he got elected.
Sounds like Obama is just trying to **** the people, however he can.
Stop holding up drilling permits. A recent study said that 230,000+ jobs would be created, if the permitting process wasn't all mucked up by the government.
Stop over-regulating the coal industry. Obama has already promised to put them out of business.
Stop trying to turn our food supply into our fuel supply. Ethanol subsidies have driven up the price of corn and thereby, the price of beef, pork and chicken.
Stop with over-regulation by the EPA.
Basically, Obama should halt 99% of his agenda. It's what's cocking things up.
A little free advice: you can't knowingly kill jobs, then bitch that you're not getting enough tax revenue.
I'm a small business owner.
Yes, I work in the oilfield--an oil company shill according to some on this forum. Another hint: If I go out of business, and get a job where I do qualify for the earned income credit, I'll never pay taxes, again. Tell me who wins in that scenario.
Ya'll Liberals are always harping about raising taxes and closing, "loopholes", but I seriously doubt any of you have the first damn clue how it will effect real people.
our seventh fleet could sit outside our borders and NOTHING could get past them. we need to keep our noses out of other country's business and maybe they wouldn't hate us so and we wouldn't need so much military. it's kind of a catch-22.
where were you during the bush term? remember warrantless wiretaping?
As I've said to you before, settle down small business owner. You got tax cuts from the Stimulus (or should have anyway because there were plenty of them for small business owners), and the tax cuts - revenue raisers - the President has proposed would NOT affect you since you're neither a big corporation, investor or hedge fund owner. So, your $40K/annual earnings/profit would NOT be affected. You can settle down now.
Yes, for people making +$250K/annually. Since you've stated your annual earnings from your business don't amount to that, this would not apply to you now, would it? NEXT!
Is that right? So, tell me then who exactly caused the housing bubble to burst? Was it the President or was it the greed from morgtage companies, investment companies, insurance giants like AIG or commercial banks who made loans they knew people didn't qualify for? Did the so-called erratic and irresponsible spending just suddenly begin on January 20, 2009 or has it been atleast a decade's long odyssey?
Truth is, so many people are against what the President has proposed because they've become convinced that the spending is strictly a Democrat thing and that all this President wants is a "blank check" to do whatever he wants, and that he's afraid to take on entitlement spending or changes in the tax code. But those folks haven't been listening. They hear what they want to hear and much of that "partialled" and highly opinionated news comes from the likes of Hannity, Levin and Limbaugh.
STOP LISTENING TO THE GARBAGE AND START GETTING THE FACTS!
I don't base my opinion on one or two snippets from a single source or a select group on one side of the political divide. I get information for a vast assortment of resources. So, when I come here and post, I'd like to believe I'm as well informed on an issue as I'm going to be. I may lean Democrat, but I try very hard to see the other side of the ledger as well. I just think that pure Conservatism is wrong because it omits so many from being able to participate in achieving that American dream...whatever it may mean to them. American history tells us this country was never founded on such rigid ideology.
You do realize that the permitting process was a joke, right? All those oil companies using the same blanket template to prepare their contingency plans using outdated information? If anything, the President has done things to improve the process. The 6-month moritorium was intended to fix that problem. Since being lifted, oil production has increased and oil companies have begun to submit real plans with accurate, up-to-date information. If all you want is a continuation of the wrecklessness that was the BP oil spill, then you keep right on pushing for the same irresponsible practises that caused one of our nation's coastlines to halt their way of life.
The Great Depression - no rules to govern the banks. Once the Glass–Steagall Act was passed in 1933, it kept a lid on improper commercial banking practises for 66 years!
The Savings and Loan crisis of the 80' - deregulation brought on by the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
Had big businesses acted with a conscience we wouldn't be in this position!! Think it through, man!
That same question is now being asked by the millions of hard working individuals who lost their jobs due to no fault of their own either from the wrecklessness of individuals businesses, irresponsible actions by large investment corporations or politicians (Republican leadership) who believed it best to balance their state budgets on the backs of public employees vice taking the hard hits and cutting spending on unnecessary programs within their respective states. Put simply: It's far easier to cut payroll and work political angles (re: gut public education, retirement and health care plans) than it is to put pressure on businesses to do the right thing or take away worthless programs because states don't want to give up federal dollars.
REAL PEOPLE ARE SUFFERRING EVERY DAMN DAY based on the foolishness by Republicans over the last 30 years!!!! I don't live in a bubble. I live in the world same as you. I just take a different point of view because unlike some I do try very hard to stay informed on both sides of the political divide. I don't have a problem with people making money. I do, however, have a problem with people who have money acting irresponsibly.
Chris Dodd and Barnie Frank said everything was just fine. Who created the bubble, to begin with? The government, perhaps? It shows what government intrusion into the private sector really can do.
I know this doesn't fit into your whole "everything bad is Obama's fault" worldview, but "government intrusion" was supported by many Republicans over the years, including George W. Bush, who was President when the **** started to hit the fan.
I'm not going to say that it's all Bush's fault, but let's be honest about who was President when.
I recall the warrantless wiretapping of calls that originated in foriegn countries. The Patriot act didn't allow for warrantless tapping of calls from domestic station to domestic station.
Protip: It still happened, and no one was put in jail over it.
see post #201 we now spend FAR more than they do for "defense".We kept our nose out Europe's business in the 30's. Remember how well that worked for us?
I know this doesn't fit into your whole "everything bad is Obama's fault" worldview, but "government intrusion" was supported by many Republicans over the years, including George W. Bush, who was President when the **** started to hit the fan.
I'm not going to say that it's all Bush's fault, but let's be honest about who was President when.
But...it's all Bush's fault. :rofl
Since you can't resist blaming Bush, humor me by telling us which of Bush's policies caused the depression.
As dozens of major corporations announced increased second-quarter profits this week, the US working class was hit with a disastrous new round of mass layoffs.
On Monday, book seller Borders announced that it would liquidate all of its stores, laying off 10,700 workers. That same day, Cisco, the telecom equipment maker, said it would cut its workforce by 11,500. Within 24 hours, Lockheed Martin, the aerospace company, announced that it would eliminate 6,500 jobs.
At the same time, Caterpillar, the maker of construction equipment, said its profits were up 44 percent in the second quarter compared to last year. Office equipment maker Xerox saw its profits grow 41 percent in the same time.
General Electric’s profits were up 17 percent, PepsiCo’s were up by 18 percent, and McDonald’s, the fast food company, saw a 19 percent increase, reaching a new record.
The energy and mining companies did even better, benefiting from rising gas prices, which reduced the real incomes of American workers by billions of dollars. Halliburton, the oil contractor, said its profits were up by 53 percent in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, while fellow oil contractor Schlumberger said its profits were up by 64 percent.
Most of the major banks likewise said their profits were up significantly in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs announced $1.09 billion in profits, up 57 percent from last year. But even this huge increase was considered a “disappointment” for traders.
JPMorgan said its second-quarter profit was up by 13 percent, despite setting aside a $1.3 billion charge-off for lawsuits it expects in relation to its trafficking of fraudulent mortgages. Citigroup reported a profit of $3.34 billion, up 24 percent from a year ago.
This renewed growth in profits comes at the same time as the sharpest growth in unemployment since 2009. Between March and June, the unemployment rate grew by 0.4 percentage points, to 9.2 percent. In the same period, the number of unemployed people grew by 545,000.
Read more at: Profits soar amid mass layoffs
Thoughts?
Comments?
Response?
Caterpillar said its profit last quarter fell 65 percent, to $232 million, or 36 cents a share, from $661 million, or $1.08 a share, a year earlier. Sales fell 39 percent, to $7.9 billion, from $12.92 billion.
I'd wager there isn't one poster here who would work / live in a Chinese factory or live downstream from one under China's current worker safety and emissions regulatory vacuum. Most just like the cheap goods and don't want to look at the real cost of those goods. Put a conservative (and his children) under Chinese conditions for long enough, and you'd create a union organizer / environmental activist, most likely.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?