I don't think deficits are a big deal at current levels, and anyone who's been paying attention has seen doomsday predictions about deficts a hundred times. The predictions don't come true. The deficits just aren't that big.
The "spend" part of "borrow and spend" is the problem.
The answer is to cut spending, keep cutting it until there's a surplus, then cut taxes again and start the whole process over again.
My other point was about the deceit on the Patriot Act though. It's one thing to spend money on stuff. It's another to scapegoat and decieve and fearmonger in order to do it.
Your post is an attempt to justify stealing from people. That's just FYI -- because I'm not sure you can tell.
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I'll let other people deal with the rest of your justifications, but I'll deal with roads.
Roads are self-funding. Users of roads pay the gas tax. The gas tax pays for roads. If there were no roads, no gas would be used. No gas tax would be collected.
If there were no income tax, there would still be roads. If there were no sales tax, there would still be roads.
Roads are not a justification for any tax other than the gas tax. And the gas tax is completely fair, as long as the all the revenue is spent building roads.
If you're even semi-honest, you'll leave roads out of it next time.
"Powerful and ambiguous" describes most Federal laws. The difference with the Patriot Act is the neverending partisan fearmongering and outright deception that Patriot Act critics engage in.
Yes, lots of these laws should be repealed, possibliy including the Patriot Act*.
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This scam deceives people into fearing the Patriot Act and tries to steal their money.
Meanwhile, leftists deceive people into fearing the Patriot Act to get them to vote for candidates. Those candidates will steal people's money by raising taxes. Then that money will be given to the leftists as government grants or funding for a particular leftist cause.
At least the scammers don't try to kid themselves into thinking they're the good guys.
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(* Without a lot of careful study, there's no way to make an informed decision on the Patroit Act. Half of the criticisms of it are simply untrue and most of the rest seem to be exaggerations. And the law was presumably passed to solve a problem -- but I've never heard a serious alternative approach to solving that problem.)
This entire story is framed this way to coverup the contents of the documents.
The Democrats explicitly state in their private documents that they opposed a judge "because... he is Latino". They're guilty of racial discrimination.
Republicans are only guilty of finding out about it.
I know because I freely choose to spend time and money on it. And since it's my time and my money, I'm the only one who's able to correctly determine their worthwhile-ness in order to make the exchange.
I was saying that doomsday predictions don't come true.
Would you notice if 30% of species dissapeared?
You seem to be saying that they come true sometimes (often?), but no one notices because they don't care as much as you do.
I don't think there's a way to bridge the 2 positions without agreement on the basic facts. Facts are missing.
And trying to make everyone afraid isn't a good way to determine the facts. It is a good way to make sure no one listens to "yet another doomsday prediction" if you finally get one that's well supported.
Also:
The panda is almost gone.
What do you want me to do about it? Cry on TV? Hold a sign? Go tell someone on a continent where pandas actually lived.
If Joe Terrorist comes through and has never been fingerprinted before, he will be a new entry into the database. The next time he comes through, he can't use an alias or the fingerprints won't match and he'll be caught.
It takes one tactic out of play: false identities. There are other countermeasures against other tactics.
It all adds up to terrorists having a more difficult time succeeding.
Nothing's to prevent it. It's harder though. So it'll be harder for a terrorist to get into the country undetected. Not impossible, harder. Easier to get caught. Harder to succeed.
And what about the next time Mr. Rubberfingers enters the US? He damn well better have the exact same fake fingerprints, or he'll be caught.
And where does he get fake fingerprints? He better not get them from someone who's entered the US before, or the fingerprints won't match the name and he'll be caught.
Better gaming experience and Better install and uninstall of additional software
Can you elaborate on these? I agree with the rest, but I'd be interested in hearing about how to improve my gaming experience and the installation of software.
When you view the world as a series of specific, unconnected issues, and try to deal with them one at a time, you just end up screwing things up worse and worse as time goes on.
Good point. Who was that guy that saw the big picture and was thereby able to solve everything all at once with no negative side-effects? I can't remember his name.
Some of us are actually wondering why we have to have big identification numbers on our cars everywhere we go while others walk around in unlicensed shoes with impunity.
The burden of forced identification or licensing should be for those who've been convicted, not for innocent people minding their own business.
The licensing of drivers has led to a slow erosion in the very idea of freedom. After all, you need a license to drive, so why should you be able to paint your house, sell retail items, or take care of children without a license?
The current presumption is that no one's allowed to drive unless they've been given explicit permission by the government. The presumption _should be_ that you're allowed to drive unless that freedom has been taken away from you.
You can buy a ReplayTV with no monthly fee for $499 at Buy.com. They're $399, factory refurbished, on eBay. Probably cheaper other places.
That WinTV card is $175 or so. For the $2-300 difference, you get the computer included. It comes with a decent (not great) remote, and it's all ready to go.
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This is the least insightful thing I think I've ever seen modded Insightful.
Wars, including the fight against terrorism, aren't about fighting "violence". They are about one side defeating the other side.
You're right about the spending.
I don't think deficits are a big deal at current levels, and anyone who's been paying attention has seen doomsday predictions about deficts a hundred times. The predictions don't come true. The deficits just aren't that big.
The "spend" part of "borrow and spend" is the problem.
The answer is to cut spending, keep cutting it until there's a surplus, then cut taxes again and start the whole process over again.
My other point was about the deceit on the Patriot Act though. It's one thing to spend money on stuff. It's another to scapegoat and decieve and fearmonger in order to do it.
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I'll let other people deal with the rest of your justifications, but I'll deal with roads.
Roads are self-funding. Users of roads pay the gas tax. The gas tax pays for roads. If there were no roads, no gas would be used. No gas tax would be collected.
If there were no income tax, there would still be roads. If there were no sales tax, there would still be roads.
Roads are not a justification for any tax other than the gas tax. And the gas tax is completely fair, as long as the all the revenue is spent building roads.
If you're even semi-honest, you'll leave roads out of it next time.
"Powerful and ambiguous" describes most Federal laws. The difference with the Patriot Act is the neverending partisan fearmongering and outright deception that Patriot Act critics engage in.
Yes, lots of these laws should be repealed, possibliy including the Patriot Act*.
---
This scam deceives people into fearing the Patriot Act and tries to steal their money.
Meanwhile, leftists deceive people into fearing the Patriot Act to get them to vote for candidates. Those candidates will steal people's money by raising taxes. Then that money will be given to the leftists as government grants or funding for a particular leftist cause.
At least the scammers don't try to kid themselves into thinking they're the good guys.
---
(* Without a lot of careful study, there's no way to make an informed decision on the Patroit Act. Half of the criticisms of it are simply untrue and most of the rest seem to be exaggerations. And the law was presumably passed to solve a problem -- but I've never heard a serious alternative approach to solving that problem.)
I disagree. It's not OK.
This entire story is framed this way to coverup the contents of the documents.
... he is Latino". They're guilty of racial discrimination.
The Democrats explicitly state in their private documents that they opposed a judge "because
Republicans are only guilty of finding out about it.
Then don't buy one.
I hate it when people can't mind their own damn business.
Entertainment IS worthwhile.
How do I know this?
I know because I freely choose to spend time and money on it. And since it's my time and my money, I'm the only one who's able to correctly determine their worthwhile-ness in order to make the exchange.
You're right, Dell tech support is hard to work with. The alternatives for us with non-Dell laptops is to just pile up the broken laptops.
We've had about 5 Dell laptops go bad in differnt ways (out of about 8). They've all been fixed for no charge, even though it's a pain sometimes.
We've had 2 problems with non-Dell laptops. We have 2 useless laptops.
When you need support, even terrible support beats no support at all. And I wouldn't say Dell's support is terrible.
I agree with this. The Dell laptops are nothing special -- actually, we've had a lot of problems with them.
But every time there's a problem, I can get it fixed.
I was saying that doomsday predictions don't come true.
Would you notice if 30% of species dissapeared?
You seem to be saying that they come true sometimes (often?), but no one notices because they don't care as much as you do.
I don't think there's a way to bridge the 2 positions without agreement on the basic facts. Facts are missing.
And trying to make everyone afraid isn't a good way to determine the facts. It is a good way to make sure no one listens to "yet another doomsday prediction" if you finally get one that's well supported.
Also:
The panda is almost gone.
What do you want me to do about it? Cry on TV? Hold a sign? Go tell someone on a continent where pandas actually lived.
What if it's a sober warning rather than scaremongering?
Give us a concrete way to tell the difference.
Until then, the dubious risks of global warming will have an awful hard time outweighing the very real costs of the remedy.
How many doomsday predictions have you heard in 44 years?
How many times did doomsday actually happen?
If Joe Terrorist comes through and has never been fingerprinted before, he will be a new entry into the database. The next time he comes through, he can't use an alias or the fingerprints won't match and he'll be caught.
It takes one tactic out of play: false identities. There are other countermeasures against other tactics.
It all adds up to terrorists having a more difficult time succeeding.
Nothing's to prevent it. It's harder though. So it'll be harder for a terrorist to get into the country undetected. Not impossible, harder. Easier to get caught. Harder to succeed.
And what about the next time Mr. Rubberfingers enters the US? He damn well better have the exact same fake fingerprints, or he'll be caught.
And where does he get fake fingerprints? He better not get them from someone who's entered the US before, or the fingerprints won't match the name and he'll be caught.
Brazil? I hear the monkey problem is even worse than before.
So you're saying it's all a self-centered, irrational, overreaction?
Or are you saying it's a case of a person falsely pretending to feel bad in order to achieve gains by conferring guilt on the speaker?
Or perhaps it's it's a childlike emotional fragility so severe that any hint of criticism will shatter everything?
Regardless, she should get over it and put down the fork. And I agree, it is the same reason.
I don't know about you, but after 1/1/2000, I went back to using 2 digits.
Better gaming experience and
Better install and uninstall of additional software
Can you elaborate on these? I agree with the rest, but I'd be interested in hearing about how to improve my gaming experience and the installation of software.
Can you guys point out some iPod vs. iRiver vs. Rio Karma comparative reviews?
Thanks.
The possibilities are there to cure or prevent diseases and famines. They're just getting started.
Good point. Who was that guy that saw the big picture and was thereby able to solve everything all at once with no negative side-effects? I can't remember his name.
So the Saddam statue is still up then?
Some of us are actually wondering why we have to have big identification numbers on our cars everywhere we go while others walk around in unlicensed shoes with impunity.
The burden of forced identification or licensing should be for those who've been convicted, not for innocent people minding their own business.
The licensing of drivers has led to a slow erosion in the very idea of freedom. After all, you need a license to drive, so why should you be able to paint your house, sell retail items, or take care of children without a license?
The current presumption is that no one's allowed to drive unless they've been given explicit permission by the government. The presumption _should be_ that you're allowed to drive unless that freedom has been taken away from you.
You can buy a ReplayTV with no monthly fee for $499 at Buy.com. They're $399, factory refurbished, on eBay. Probably cheaper other places.
That WinTV card is $175 or so. For the $2-300 difference, you get the computer included. It comes with a decent (not great) remote, and it's all ready to go.