Sarah Palin: A Maggie Thatcher for America

IVNORD you're correct in that spending didn't shrink, but observe that from 1992-2000 the budget grew about $150 billion, whereas from 2001-present it's grown by over $700 billion, under a supposedly "conservative" government - hardly fiscally conservative at all!  The numbers are all in 2008 dollars.  Table to follow.

jimmy_row wrote: NaturalScience wrote: jimmy_row wrote: NaturalScience wrote: Also I agree that shenanigans with Social Security make the numbers even more misleading. Here's a stupid question for you:  I hear this ^ ^ often and am not sure what role it plays into the economy wrt the deficit...one of you smart fellows care to give me and economics lesson? While we've traditionally been able to take in more SS revenue than we need to pay out in benefits, Congress has always taken the surplus and moved it over to the general budget, so that actual budget deficits were in reality larger than reported most times, while the SS "Trust Fund" contains nothing but IOUs (special Treasury notes).  That's why we're up against it in less than a decade when payouts begin to outstrip revenues, rather than a farther outyear based on this fictional "trust fund".  doh!  Okay I did catch some of that...so where did the surplus money go...did the special treasury notes come from nowhere, that being the "manipulation"?  I see how that can be a sticky situation, our generation sure will get the raw deal some point down the road...

Basically say I made $1000 and have bills totaling $900.
You make $1000 and have $1250 worth of bills.

So I give you my $100 surplus and you "report" that you ran a deficit of $150.  You also give me an IOU for $100.

This keeps up, but at some point I'm breaking even and even I start running deficits.  What do I have to pay it?  A bunch of IOUs from Ryan. 

jimmy_row wrote:  oh that was beautiful, professor! I think I get it...does this have anything to do with the bonds we've floated over the past two decades?

Well, the "IOUs" in this case are special Treasury bonds - it's an obligation the Federal Government has to the SS "Trust Fund', not counted against the public debt.  It's all an accounting sham.


Edited by NaturalScience - September 09 2008 at 23:18

IVNORD wrote: NaturalScience wrote: IVNORD you're correct in that spending didn't shrink, but observe that from 1992-2000 the budget grew about $150 billion, whereas from 2001-present it's grown by over $700 billion, under a supposedly "conservative" government - hardly fiscally conservative at all!  The numbers are all in 2008 dollars.  Table to follow. I know that. My point is that Clinton had a much more favorable economic environment and managed to run a deficit. Bush is horrible. We print a ton of money to pay for the war. It creates inflation which in turn increases the cost of the war and the budget, and so on. Vicious cycle. The only way out is to get out of Iraq. It occured to me recently that the surge may be an illusion. What if the Iranians decided to give us a break to promote McCain? They may want him to win because he vows to keep on fighting which is what they may want as it keeps the price of oil up. Could it be so? The f**king war is ruining the country.

Well, we're on the same page in the end - "Bush sucks"

NaturalScience wrote: And as much as I agree that the cost of war is incredible, I still think it will ultimately pale in comparison to what the entitlement programs will do to us down the road, unless some tough choices are made.

The entitlement programs will destroy the middle class.

"Why did McCain Pick Sarah Palin?

Madison Powers at CQ Politics wrote a piece discussing why John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. Did he think that the angry Hillary supporters were looking for was a woman who is for creationism but against all abortions and the idea that people have had an effect on climate change, and doesn't have much knowledge about Iraq? Or did he think they would all identify with a young woman who got her job based on her good looks and short track record over much older and more qualified men? More likely this was a conscious attempt to revive the culture wars of the 1960s and pit the God-fearing, church-going, gun-toting, pickup-driving, real Americans against the dope-smoking, pseudo-intellectural, flag-and-bra-burning, anti-American, hippies. He may have thought his only chance was to bury the issues and run on warmed-over raw emotion. Initial indications show that the choice of Palin hasn't gained him any women voters but has really revved up conservative men.

Campaigns and Lies

Nobody really expects politicians to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but the willingness of the candidates to brazenly tell out-and-out lies has reached a new high this year. In the past, politicians would shade the truth a bit and if they were caught, would stop. No more. The Washington Post has a story on that today. One example: "McCain says rival Barack Obama would raise everyone's taxes, even though the Democrat's tax plan exempts families that earn less than $250,000." But a poll taken Sept. 5-7 shows that 51% of the voters thought Obama would raise their taxes. Republican strategist John Feegery said: "these little facts don't really matter." What he means is that the campaign is trying to exploit the long-standing Republican theme that Democrats raise taxes and Obama's promise to raise taxes only on the rich is an unimportant detail that can be safely ignored. In the past the press called candidates to order when they lied. Now the model is to give each side equal time, even if one is brazenly lying. For example, if Obama wanted to motivate younger voters, he could say: "McCain will bring back the draft and everyone under 21 will be sent to Iraq." There is not a shred of evidence for this, of course, but the press would dutifully report it along with McCain's outraged denial. But the seed would be planted. Three days later there would be a poll showing that 35% of the voters think McCain will bring back the draft. That's how the game is played these days. It ain't beanbag."

The Votemaster http://www.electoral-vote.com/

"Questions for Palin

This week, she'll finally emerge from her protective shell

Edited by Slartibartfast - September 10 2008 at 08:33

Finnforest wrote: On a lighter note: BILL MAHER "When they were vetting her for this job, like three seconds ago, she said, quote, I'm not making this up, "What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" Let me field that for you, Sarah. They start wars, they enrich their friends, they subvert the Constitution, and they shoot people in the face. That's what the vice president does. John McCain's V.P. pick is the governor of Alaska, an unknown hockey mom named Sarah Palin that no one ever heard of. The only other job she had in politics was the mayor of a small town known as Wasilla, Alaska, and now she has the opportunity to be on a ticket opposite of Barack Obama, the first black man she's ever seen. I think this is pertinent because McCain has been running this campaign based on "We're at war, it's a dangerous world out there. The Democrats don't get that. I, John McCain, am the only one standing between the bloodthirsty al-Qaidas and you. But if I die, this stewardess can handle it." Are you kidding me, the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Yeah, that's who you want in the White House during a time of crisis. When she got a phone call at 3 in the morning, it was because a moose had gotten in the garbage can. The McCain people believe that Americans will disregard her inexperience because they will fall in love with her story. She was a runner up in the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant., which may sound trite, but you try walking in high-heeled snow shoes."

Why do you think this drivel is on a lighter note? What really puzzles me is why they take Bill Maher so seriously. He's a jester. They listen to him as if he's a prophet. Yesterday I saw him with Wolf Blitzer massaging the same silly crap. Jesters never give a good political advice. It just shows how scared the liberals are if they use this bullsh*t tactics. They should have nominated someone serious instead to avoid the necessity of this lumpen style buffooning

jimmy_row wrote: IVNORD wrote: Finnforest wrote: On a lighter note: BILL MAHER "When they were vetting her for this job, like three seconds ago, she said, quote, I'm not making this up, "What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" Let me field that for you, Sarah. They start wars, they enrich their friends, they subvert the Constitution, and they shoot people in the face. That's what the vice president does. John McCain's V.P. pick is the governor of Alaska, an unknown hockey mom named Sarah Palin that no one ever heard of. The only other job she had in politics was the mayor of a small town known as Wasilla, Alaska, and now she has the opportunity to be on a ticket opposite of Barack Obama, the first black man she's ever seen. I think this is pertinent because McCain has been running this campaign based on "We're at war, it's a dangerous world out there. The Democrats don't get that. I, John McCain, am the only one standing between the bloodthirsty al-Qaidas and you. But if I die, this stewardess can handle it." Are you kidding me, the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Yeah, that's who you want in the White House during a time of crisis. When she got a phone call at 3 in the morning, it was because a moose had gotten in the garbage can. The McCain people believe that Americans will disregard her inexperience because they will fall in love with her story. She was a runner up in the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant., which may sound trite, but you try walking in high-heeled snow shoes." Why do you think this drivel is on a lighter note? What really puzzles me is why they take Bill Maher so seriously. He's a jester. They listen to him as if he's a prophet. Yesterday I saw him with Wolf Blitzer massaging the same silly crap. Jesters never give a good political advice. It just shows how scared the liberals are if they use this bullsh*t tactics. They should have nominated someone serious instead to avoid the necessity of this lumpen style buffooning If I recall correctly, Bill Maher is no liberal.  He's a libertarian....and he is a "jester", quite a clever one, but he is and that is why Jim quoted Maher on "a lighter note"  The reason CNN and MSNBC, and FOX court these lampoons is to get viewers, it has nothing to do with liberals resorting to any tactics...Maher is a popular guy.

Just to get viewers? This kind of humor fits the intellectual level of lumpen-proletariat. Moose in a garbage can? It turns normal people off.

IVNORD wrote: jimmy_row wrote: IVNORD wrote: Finnforest wrote: On a lighter note: BILL MAHER "When they were vetting her for this job, like three seconds ago, she said, quote, I'm not making this up, "What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" Let me field that for you, Sarah. They start wars, they enrich their friends, they subvert the Constitution, and they shoot people in the face. That's what the vice president does. John McCain's V.P. pick is the governor of Alaska, an unknown hockey mom named Sarah Palin that no one ever heard of. The only other job she had in politics was the mayor of a small town known as Wasilla, Alaska, and now she has the opportunity to be on a ticket opposite of Barack Obama, the first black man she's ever seen. I think this is pertinent because McCain has been running this campaign based on "We're at war, it's a dangerous world out there. The Democrats don't get that. I, John McCain, am the only one standing between the bloodthirsty al-Qaidas and you. But if I die, this stewardess can handle it." Are you kidding me, the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Yeah, that's who you want in the White House during a time of crisis. When she got a phone call at 3 in the morning, it was because a moose had gotten in the garbage can. The McCain people believe that Americans will disregard her inexperience because they will fall in love with her story. She was a runner up in the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant., which may sound trite, but you try walking in high-heeled snow shoes." Why do you think this drivel is on a lighter note? What really puzzles me is why they take Bill Maher so seriously. He's a jester. They listen to him as if he's a prophet. Yesterday I saw him with Wolf Blitzer massaging the same silly crap. Jesters never give a good political advice. It just shows how scared the liberals are if they use this bullsh*t tactics. They should have nominated someone serious instead to avoid the necessity of this lumpen style buffooning If I recall correctly, Bill Maher is no liberal.  He's a libertarian....and he is a "jester", quite a clever one, but he is and that is why Jim quoted Maher on "a lighter note"  The reason CNN and MSNBC, and FOX court these lampoons is to get viewers, it has nothing to do with liberals resorting to any tactics...Maher is a popular guy. Just to get viewers? This kind of humor fits the intellectual level of lumpen-proletariat. Moose in a garbage can? It turns normal people off.

I agree with you that Bill Maher is a jester in the same light as George Carlin was. I am not a fan of Maher in the sense that I sit on every word that he says. I used to watch him on ABC before they pulled him and I thought that he could have been more balanced in the way that his panel was chosen. It should have been 2 on 2 instead of 3 on 1.

1. Despite problems at home, Sarah Palin does not believe in giving teenagers information about sex.
The McCain campaign is spinning Bristol Palin's pregnancy as a neat, shiny example of the unbreakable bonds of family. But while Bristol's actions and choices should not be attacked, teen pregnancy is no cause for celebration, either. To state the very obvious, it is not a good thing when teenagers have unprotected sex. And U.S. teens appear to have unprotected sex a lot: The United States has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world

Like John McCain, Palin's approach to the problems of teen pregnancy and STI transmission is abstinence-only education. In a 2006 questionnaire by the conservative group Eagle Forum, Palin stated: "Explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support." Presumably the programs that do find Palin's support are ones that focus on abstinence and only mention contraceptives to talk about their supposed shortcomings.

But someone already tried that. For eight years the Bush administration has thrown its heft behind Title V, a federal program that provides states with funding for abstinence-based sex education. In 2007 an expansive study proved abstinence-until-marriage education does not delay teen sexual activity.

If Palin is elected, she will continue to throw money at a policy that does little besides ensure that a larger number of sexually active teens lack information about how to avoid pregnancy and STIs.

2. Sarah Palin believes the U.S. Army is on a mission from God.

In June, Palin gave a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God, her former church, in which she exhorted ministry students to pray for American soldiers in Iraq. "Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she told them. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

Palin talked about her son, Track, an infantryman in the U.S. Army:

When he turned 18 right before he enlisted, he had to get his first tattoo. And I'm like -- I don't think that's real cool, son. Until he showed me what it was and I thought, oh he did something right, 'cause on his calf, he has a big ol' Jesus fish!

Holy war, holy warriors

3. Sarah Palin believes in punishing rape victims.

Palin thinks that rape victims should be forced to bear the child of their rapist. She believes this so strongly that she would oppose abortion even if her own daughter were raped.

The Huffington Post reports: "Granting exceptions only if the mother's life was in danger, Palin said that when it came to her daughter, 'I would choose life.'

At the time, her daughter was 14 years old. Moreover, Alaska's rape rate was an abysmal 2.2 times above the national average, and 25 percent of all rapes resulted in unwanted pregnancies.

If Palin's own daughter was only 14 when she made that statement, does she think any girl of reproductive age is old enough to have a child? Girls are hitting puberty earlier and earlier. What if the rape victim were only 10? 9? 8?

Palin also opposes abortion in cases of incest and would grant an exception only if childbirth would result in the mother's death. She has not made any statements yet about whether she believes a 10-year-old who was raped by her father would be able to actually raise the child once it was born. Perhaps Palin doesn't care.

4. Who's really not in favor of clean water? Sarah Palin.

As The Hill reports, "Governor Palin has ... opposed a crucial clean water initiative."

Alaska's KTUU explains: "It is against the law for the governor to officially advocate for or against a ballot measure; however, Palin took what she calls 'personal privilege' to discuss one of this year's most contentious initiatives."

Palin said, "Let me take my governor's hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop. 4 -- I vote no on that." And what is that? A state initiative that would have banned metal mines from discharging pollution into salmon streams.

She also approved legislation that let oil and gas companies nearly triple the amount of toxic waste they can dump into Cook Inlet, an important fishery. It looks like being an avid outdoorsperson doesn't mean Palin really has the health of watersheds, natural resources or our environment at heart.

5. Sarah Palin calls herself a reformer, but on earmarks and the "Bridge to Nowhere,"

Palin says she's a "conservative Republican" who is "a firm believer in free market capitalism." She's running as an anti-tax crusader, and she did make deep cuts to Alaska's budget.

So, one would assume she is no borrow-and-spend conservative like George W., right?

Well, there was the time when she served as the mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla, Alaska. According to the Associated Press, "Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million." You'd think that $27 mil in taxpayers' funds would be enough scratch for a town with a population of 8,000, but you'd be wrong. According to Politico, Palin then "racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla -- that amounts to $3,000 per resident."

Then there's her current stint as Alaska governor, during which her appetite for federal pork spending has been on clear display. The Associated Press reported, "In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation." While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "Bridge to Nowhere."

6. Sarah Palin believes creationism should be taught in schools.

Until somebody digs up the remnants of a T. rex with an ill-fated caveman dangling from its jaws, the scientific community, along with most of the American public, will be at peace with the theory of evolution. But this isn't true of everyone. More than 80 years after the Scopes "Monkey" trial, there are people -- and politicians -- who do not believe in evolution and lobby for creationism to be taught in schools.

Palin is one of those politicians. When Palin ran for governor, part of her platform called for teaching schoolchildren creationism alongside evolution. Although she did not push hard for this position after she was elected governor, Palin has let her views on evolution be known on many occasions. According to the Anchorage Daily News, Palin stated, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."

Palin further argued, "It's OK to let kids know that there are theories out there. They gain information just by being in a discussion."

Not when those "theories" are being presented as valid alternatives to a set of principles that most scientists have ascribed to for more than a century.

7. Sarah Palin supports offshore drilling everywhere, even if it doesn't solve our energy problems.

If McCain was hoping to salvage any part of his credibility with environmentalists, he threw that chance out the window by adding Palin to his ticket. Palin is in favor of offshore drilling and drilling in the ecologically sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Miami Herald reported:

The Alaska governor has said that she has tried to persuade McCain to agree with her on drilling in the wildlife refuge. She also has said that she was happy that he changed his position over the summer and now supports offshore oil drilling.As if that weren't bad enough, in her speech this week at the Republican National Convention, she said, "Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already." Huh. I guess drilling even when it won't help is better than working on renewable energy sources, as Palin also vetoed money for a wind energy project.

8. Sarah Palin loves oil and nuclear power.

Aside from her "drill here, drill there, drill everywhere" approach to our energy crisis, the only other things we know about Palin's energy policy, especially given her Bush-like love of avoiding the press, comes from her acceptance speech:

Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines, build more nuclear plants, create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources.

Nuclear power plants. Interesting. As folks look for alternative fuel sources (and again, Palin loves oil first and foremost so her commitment to any alternative energy source is suspect at best), nuclear power is enjoying a return to vogue. But here's the problem: Even the U.S. government's own nuclear agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, thinks an atomic renaissance is a bad idea:

Delivered by one of America's most notoriously docile agencies, the NRC's warning essentially says: that all cost estimates for new nuclear reactors -- and all licensing and construction schedules -- are completely up for grabs and have no reliable basis in fact. Thus any comparisons between future atomic reactors and renewable technologies are moot at best.

Not to mention /www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclearpower.html>all the other problems with nuclear energy, such as how to dispose of nuclear waste and the possibility of a catastrophic meltdown, to name a couple. Palin has no background with nuclear energy and shows no evidence of having looked into the science behind it or the dangers that come with it.

Also, it's time for Palin to drop another Bush-like tendency: Governor, the word is pronounced "new-clear."

9. Sarah Palin doesn't think much of community activism; she'd much rather play insider political games.

In her Republican convention speech, Palin slammed Barack Obama's early political work, saying, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities." Palin's put-down of grassroots workers, often unpaid or low-paid, demeaned an American tradition of neighbors helping neighbors, according to Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change. But more revealing is Palin's apparent lack of experience in community change and local volunteer efforts, during her years in Alaska before becoming governor.

Scores of press accounts of her early years as mayor of Wasilla omit any mention of such work. Instead, they note as mayor, and in the intervening years before running for governor, Palin gravitated to those with power, money or influence. She worked to enlarge Wasilla's Wal-Mart and build a sports center (that went over budget in an eminent domain dispute), and she hired a Washington lobbyist, directed a political fundraising committee for the state's senior U.S. senator, Republican Ted Stevens, now under indictment for corruption, and steered $22 million in federal aid to her town. While some of her early community work was undoubtedly centered on her church, perhaps this comment by a blog reader best sums up Palin's political opportunism:

So community organizers (aren't) responsible? Or caring? Or doing anything important. What a terrible insult to the greatest community organizer of all time, Jesus Christ.