The Al Realpolitik Institute of Sulfur Mining & Extraction

[Joe Republic]

The quality and destructive power of Al's lengthier rebuttal posts is directly proportional to the number of ellipses he prefaces it with.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Classic!

[bgwah]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

Yeah.. why aren't all schools one room jobs with wood stoves and outhouses and the teachers, all unmarried women, paid a small stipend?  Hope none of the kids drown on their 6 mile walk to school either!

There are much bigger things we waste money on than driver's ed and swimming lessons... like your pointless defense job, perhaps.

[exopolitician]

I am just mystified by the pervasive anti-tax sentiment in the United States.  Compared to individuals in other countries, we are taxed very lightly, and in places with lower marginal rates for businesses in corporations, governments often recoup the revenue through high VATs, which cut into demand anyway.  And even with the nominally high marginal rates for businesses and wealthy individuals here, there are so many forms of deduction, loopholes and shelters that most pay nowhere near the nominal rate in the end.  Some very, very great fortunes were made by companies in the U.S. during decades with nominal marginal rates considerably higher than they are now.  And still, so many talk about taxes in the U.S. as if they were the eleventh plague that lays waste to the whole land or something.  And this ridiculous rhetoric of taxes constituting a form of punishment for amassing wealth, good grief.  How about we throw in with the rest of your startup costs the price of creating your own infrastructure, plus hiring a private police force and emergency services to provide various forms of protection of your property, plus hiring a permanent force of instructors to educate high-skilled employees you might need, and so on?  I can understand complaining about things like government waste, overspending, spending priorities, lack of accountability, debt and so on.  But, having lived and spent considerable amounts of time in other parts of the world with high standards of living, where people pay far higher taxes than exist here, it really makes me feel like those who complain bitterly about rates in the U.S. really need to go back to mommy for a diaper change quickly--and that includes people in both the upper and middle-classes, by the way.  Taxes here are not too high across the board, they are too low, across the board.  "But, no!!--we're fighting a war or two, the country is awash in debt, our infrastructure is collapsing, our education system is in crisis, we're doing nothing to control health care cost inflation--but give me a bigger tax cut, dammit!"  Our grandparents and great-grandparents were so much better citizens than we are that even comparing ourselves with them insults their memory.  If our generation had to fight WWII, we would have been routed in ten weeks.  

[Antonio the Sixth]

I am just mystified by the pervasive anti-tax sentiment in the United States.  Compared to individuals in other countries, we are taxed very lightly, and in places with lower marginal rates for businesses in corporations, governments often recoup the revenue through high VATs, which cut into demand anyway.  And even with the nominally high marginal rates for businesses and wealthy individuals here, there are so many forms of deduction, loopholes and shelters that most pay nowhere near the nominal rate in the end.  Some very, very great fortunes were made by companies in the U.S. during decades with nominal marginal rates considerably higher than they are now.  And still, so many talk about taxes in the U.S. as if they were the eleventh plague that lays waste to the whole land or something.  And this ridiculous rhetoric of taxes constituting a form of punishment for amassing wealth, good grief.  How about we throw in with the rest of your startup costs the price of creating your own infrastructure, plus hiring a private police force and emergency services to provide various forms of protection of your property, plus hiring a permanent force of instructors to educate high-skilled employees you might need, and so on?  I can understand complaining about things like government waste, overspending, spending priorities, lack of accountability, debt and so on.  But, having lived and spent considerable amounts of time in other parts of the world with high standards of living, where people pay far higher taxes than exist here, it really makes me feel like those who complain bitterly about rates in the U.S. really need to go back to mommy for a diaper change quickly--and that includes people in both the upper and middle-classes, by the way.  Taxes here are not too high across the board, they are too low, across the board.  "But, no!!--we're fighting a war or two, the country is awash in debt, our infrastructure is collapsing, our education system is in crisis, we're doing nothing to control health care cost inflation--but give me a bigger tax cut, dammit!"  Our grandparents and great-grandparents were so much better citizens than we are that even comparing ourselves with them insults their memory.  If our generation had to fight WWII, we would have been routed in ten weeks.  

This might be one of the greatest posts ever made since I joined the forum.

[Bacon King]

Or will we be left to wonder if he inherited his mother's manic depression? Will we be left to wonder if mental illness was the reason why he was declared exempt from the draft? To this day, Gingrich has not clarified why he was declared exempt from the draft. Why? Why did he not follow in his father's footsteps by serving in the military like he claims he wish he had?

Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newt/vanityfair1.html

Sooner or later, Gingrich needs to prove that he did not inherit his mother's manic depression. The nation cannot have a sick president who cannot handle the stressful demands of the job.

It must be particularly painful to see your favored candidate lose to a person whom you believe is a nutter.

What are you asking? We sequence his mothers DNA [isn't she dead?], sequence Gingrich's DNA, determine which genes we are debating, and "prove" Gingrich didn't have those particular genes?

First, this is disgusting and pathetic.

Second, even if true, you are merely suggesting that Gingrich shares an attribute with Winston Churchill. Churchill was able to function quite well as head of state in a time of crisis though he suffered from manic depression.

[Joe Republic]

Just watch the trend; that will decide it.

Really, are you telling me that how support changes from its current levels will dictate the eventual results of the election?  Gasp!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

There's been a lot of posts I've been tempted to report just to sack the other person with death points but haven't been because it'd be a sin. I'd rather just be able to disable my ability to report posts so it's not an issue.

[Хahar 🤔]

There's been a lot of posts I've been tempted to report just to sack the other person with death points but haven't been because it'd be a sin. I'd rather just be able to disable my ability to report posts so it's not an issue.

I don't think you understand how this thread works.

[Joe Republic]

I think he meant to put it in the Deluge.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Let's correct the mistake. This belongs in here.

No, and shut up.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I think he meant to put it in the Deluge.

Yes my bad.

At least Antonio fixed it for me.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Jm, you've backed about five candidates now as your first choice and want to talk about the failures of my candidate?

In fairness to Jmf, he did this under the influence of amyl nitrate.

[Joe Republic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUQkbXWwJhQ

How'd I know your clip would be from a movie from 30 years ago. You know, Hollywood is still making films. Would it kill you to see one from time to time?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Don't assume, remember the Reichstag Fire.

WTF? Obama's going to use the killing of a cat to assume dictatorial powers. Sure.

[Lief 🗽]

Santorum won.  Which means Romney did.

What struck me most is that I'm going to have to amend my earlier statement of Romney supporters to include that they must have no brain either.  There were at least three or four times during that debate that he directly lied, and he got called out on it once, of course.  It's one thing for politicians to play around with the truth - they always do that.  It's quite another to completely and shamelessly lie - no wonder those with a brain don't believe anything he says.

The only one I saw was the commercial, and he flipped it right back at Gingrich.

You weren't listening then, no doubt thinking about how smart you are.

[Hatman 🍁]

It disincentivizes people to be successful.

That is a lie.

Reporter:  Hey Mr. Gates are you going to start Microsoft?

Bill Gates:  No.

Reporter:  Why not?

Bill Gates:  Estate Tax.

Reporter:  I don't get it.

Bill Gates:  (sighs)  If I start Microsoft and have to pay estate tax decades from now when I'm dead my heirs will only get $30 billion instead of $60 billion.  What kind of person would relegate their children to living on $30 billion?!  I simply can't do that to them.

Reporter:  But I thought you were going to give most of it away anyway?

Bill Gates:  That's irrelevant.

Reporter:  But if you don't start Microsoft your children will have to live on a lot less than $30 billion.

Bill Gates:  Again that is irrelevant. You must be a dumb ass Democrat liberal that doesn't understand economics.
The End.

I'm afraid this is too stupid to be worth my time in responding. I suggest you take a basic course in economics (or maybe just try thinking a little) and you might get how this actually works.

Like clockwork.

[Lief 🗽]

^^^hahah awesome

[Joe Republic]

I am visibly disabled...

What is your disability?

He was hit in the head with a gold brick while on a field trip to the Dow Jones building as a child. 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

You ought to know as that's what you do rather a lot.

[Gustaf]

I am visibly disabled...

What is your disability?

He was hit in the head with a gold brick while on a field trip to the Dow Jones building as a child. 

Really? We're making fun of someone in a wheelchair now?

[Keystone Phil]

I am visibly disabled...

What is your disability?

He was hit in the head with a gold brick while on a field trip to the Dow Jones building as a child. 

Really? We're making fun of someone in a wheelchair now?

Which is hilariously ironic considering Joe's history.

[King]

I am visibly disabled...

What is your disability?

He was hit in the head with a gold brick while on a field trip to the Dow Jones building as a child. 

Really? We're making fun of someone in a wheelchair now?

Which is hilariously ironic considering Joe's history.

Hey, don't I deserve credit for making the damn joke?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Gustaf's crush on J. J. is pretty inexplicable. I don't think I've ever seen him criticize him ever.

Eh...we real, sane men don't have "crushes" on strangers on the internet. That's just you.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

I'm not concerned about the very poor, and neither are most Americans.  They give money to charities, in the hope that it helps the few who have encountered tragedy in their lives.  The rest?  Largely responsible for their own situation.

Americans are for lifting up the deserving and helping those who face difficulties.  People who suck at life?  They can drown.

There's a word for people like you. First syllable of 'country', in case you'd not guessed. I think in your case we can extend it somewhat; perhaps by adding 'obnoxious' in front of it. Perhaps things could be done with words like 'scum' and 'reprobate', and I suppose a case exists for the use of 'depraved'.