Bits Bucket for December 15, 2015
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Meet one of the six oligarchs who control almost every single mainstream media outlet as well as “The Narrative.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sumner-redstone-forged-signature-philippe-dauman-20151214-story.html
When I was a kid the M in MTV actually meant music.
Now it means Malaka.
From the article:
——————-
Manuela Herzer, Redstone’s former girlfriend, is contesting recent changes that removed her from a position of power in Redstone’s life and in his legal documents.
…She is trying to reverse the Oct. 12 decision to remove her as Redstone’s primary caregiver and as the agent in charge of Redstone’s advance healthcare directive.
——————-
If a cynical old spinster can give advice to younger women, whether gold-digger or not; it’s this:
RINGS AND PAPERS. GET THE RINGS AND PAPERS. ESPECIALLY THE PAPERS.
These days I’m reading alot of stories, even in HBB housing news articles, about “partners” and “long-time girlfriends/boyfriends” moving in together, buying houses together, moving to different states, changing jobs, quitting jobs, starting businesses together, etc. I’ve seen couples who got rings but “never bothered” to get the papers because “we don’t need them; we’ll be together forever.” I heard of another couple where the man promised undying love but refused papers because he couldn’t afford a second divorce.
B.S. Listen up ladies. You are one bottle blonde away from being dumped on your patootie, and/or being traded in for a newer model later. You will be stuck living somewhere you don’t want to be, stuck with a bad job or no job, stuck with no standing or support or legal strings whatsoever. I wouldn’t count on common law either. These live-in relationships may not last that long.
And don’t try to trap the guy with a kid. You may get a check out of it, but you will be dumped, ignored, or hated. No guarantee of a beta-bucks coming to your rescue either.
It’s one thing to date, maybe even long term. But if he asks you to change jobs, buy a house, relocate, or make some other major logistical decision that makes you dependent on the relationship, or is not easy to extract yourself from, GET THE EFFING RINGS AND PAPERS. Or break up.
And yes, I realize that this goes against MGTOW, etc. But if rings and papers are bad news for men, multiyear GF/BF is bad news for women. Either sh!!!!t or get off the pot.
or is not easy to extract yourself from, GET THE EFFING RINGS AND PAPERS. Or break up.
Good advice for women and men.
You are one bottle blonde away from being dumped on your patootie, and/or being traded in for a newer model later.
A lot of Blondes are overrated imo. But more women than men ask for the breakup nowadays. Especially divorce.
Why Women Are More Likely to Ask for a Divorce | TIME
http://time.com/4007174/which-spouse-asks-for-divorce/
A new study suggests women are more likely than men to initiate a divorce in opposite sex relationships, but the same isn’t true for non-marital relationships. If men and women were living together without marrying, each gender was equally likely to initiate a breakup
No guarantee of a beta-bucks coming to your rescue either.
An entire generation of women were raised on Sex And The City telling them the exact opposite of this. Only to end up with nothing but cats and boxed wine.
Nice post, in a TradCon shaming kinda way.
And yes, I realize that this goes against MGTOW, etc. But if rings and papers are bad news for men, multiyear GF/BF is bad news for women. Either sh!!!!t or get off the pot.
Why should any man “put a ring on it”? If she’s willing to be his Friend with Benefits, or Girlfriend, etc, why should he nail his hand to the table? If the marriage goes kablooie guess who is more likely to end up:
Paying alimony
Paying child support
Not having custody
Yup, that’s right. He is.
And that’s the problem. She IS willing. And she gets left and it’s her own fault.
Shared debt. People should read about how the state views debt run up by one spouse or the other. Hint, the spouse that didn’t run it up is on the hook for it too.
“…one bottle blonde…”
Lemme guess… the wool patch is several shades darker?
“…multiyear GF/BF is bad news for women.”
Great post. I wish I had the cojones to share it with my daughter.
“Today is the first day of the rest of your life” — Unknown
And for some, the last day:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/14/canada-oil-production-crisis-suicide-alberta
Some people just aren’t in on the joke.
Dr. Joey Brown used to say that (A sappy radio personality who talked about relationships)
Start it right with Total.
Comment by 2banana
2015-12-14 14:19:09
26% TOTAL TAX for US Citizens????
It is a lie. But you already knew that…
For an “average” middle class taxpayers.
29% Fed income tax. 7.5% Social Security. 2.5% Medicare. 6% State taxes. 2% local taxes. Plus Property taxes. Obamacare (the SCOTUS says it is a tax). Sales tax?
You are at easily at 50% without even trying, Self employed pay the full 15% of Social Security.
…………………………………………………………………………
Last time I farted around with TurboTax was tax year 2013. You could make almost $200k profit single self employed in California and pay $76k in Fed, State, SS, Medicare. With no deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, car license, etc. You wouldn’t get to 50% tax burden even if you spent every last disposable cent on sales-taxable items.
90%+ aren’t self employed and in fact pay a 50% fee to the gov on their earnings.
Banana is correct.
Keep your cost of living in check and you won’t be forced into playing somebody else’s game.
Ahhhh, the joys of enjoying imputed rent …
Money that needs to be earned to pay the rent, doesn’t.
Taxes that need to be paid in order to clear the amount of money needed to pay the rent, doesn’t.
Imputed rent = Life is good.
Below is an actual article with actual data.
————————-
The Real-World Middle Class Tax Rate: 75%
ZeroHedge - 07/05/2012
For those Americans earning between $34,500 and $106,000, the real-world middle class tax burden in high-tax locales is 15% + 25% + 5% + 15% + 15% = 75%. Yes, 75%.
Before you start listing the innumerable caveats and quibbles raised by any discussion of taxes, please hear me out first. Let’s start by defining “taxes” as any fee that is mandated by law or legal necessity. In other words, taxes are what is not optional.
If we include all taxes, the real-world tax rate is much higher than the “official” income tax rate. These “other taxes” vary from nation to nation. France, for example, has a “television tax.” It is mandatory, and since virtually every household has a TV this operates as a universal tax. The argument that this is “optional” is specious.
Having no healthcare insurance only makes sense if you have no real assets and a low income. At that point, your care will be provided by the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program, which is the default universal-care program in the U.S.
For this reason I consider the cost of private healthcare insurance in the U.S. the equivalent of a tax. We pay over $12,000 annually for barebones healthcare insurance, which amounts to about 15% of our gross income. Some countries pay for healthcare with a 15% tax, here we pay the 15% directly. There is no difference except the process of collecting the 15%.
Property tax is mandatory. Some countries have no property tax, others do. Once again, only counting social-insurance and income taxes as the “official tax rate” is horrendously misleading. For countries without property taxes, the revenues are collected as value-added taxes (VAT) or higher income taxes. One way or another, the services paid by property taxes in the U.S. are paid by other tax schemes in countries without property taxes. So property taxes must be included in any accounting of total taxes paid.
Many of us who reside in states such as Illinois, New York, New Jersey and California pay $12,000 or more annually in property taxes. That is about 15% of our household income.
Renters pay the property taxes indirectly, but to the degree that rents would be lower if property taxes were eliminated and the tax burden shifted to a VAT, then renters “pay” the tax just like property owners.
Employees looking at the paycheck stubs do not see the entire tax paid on their labor. Empoyees may wonder why their net pay has stagnated for decades. One reason is that the total compensation costs of employees has risen substantially.
To give but one example of many, Social Security taxes were once modest, 3% paid by the employee and 3% paid by the employer for a total of 6% of the wage. Now the total for Social Security (12.4%) and Medicare (2.9%) is 15.3%. Self-employed people pay the total 15.3% as “self-employment tax.” This is the real-world tax burden of Social Security and Medicare.
The 15.3% Social Security/Medicare tax starts with dollar one of net income. The Social Security tax goes away above around $106,000 in income, the Medicare tax does not.
The only transparent way to calculate the total tax burden is to count all taxes (or equivalent) paid by self-employed property owners. Not counting the indirect taxes of healthcare and property taxes is misleading to the point of blatant misrepresentation.
The basic Federal income tax gives each individual earner $9,500 in standard deductions and exemptions. The tax rate for all income above that is:
$1 to $8,500: 10%
$8,501 to $34,500: 15%
$34,501 to $83,600: 25%
$83,601 to $174,400: 28%
$174,401 to $379,150: 33%
Above $379,151: 35%
These rates are scheduled to rise at the end of 2012 unless Congress acts to maintain rates at current levels.
Many households have gigantic interest deductions stemming from gigantic mortgages, but let’s set aside outsized debt-based tax deductions as far from universal.
Above a rather modest $34,600 in taxable income and up to around $106,000, the real-world middle class tax burden in high-tax American locales is 75%:
Social Security and Medicare: 15.3%
Federal income tax: 25% (28% above $83,600)
State income tax: 5% (mid-range)
Healthcare insurance: 15%
Property tax: 15%
15% + 25% + 5% + 15% + 15% = 75%
Clearly, the percentage of income devoted to healthcare insurance and property taxes declines as income rises. Someone earning $200,000 has not only dropped the 12.4% Social Security tax for income above $106,000, healthcare insurance and property taxes as a percentage of their income drops from about 30% for those earning around $86,000 to 15%.
The Left will simply never answer “How Much”. They want to make all kinds of false comparisons all designed to get more money. Want to expose any leftist in an argument? just phrase the question as how much requiring them to quantify their feelings and then watch their twisted sense of values implode on itself.
Very simple.
How much should a person who makes $100k pay in taxes?
How much time should a person who robs a bank get?
Things like that. They never want to answer. They never want to give a number.
My two favorites (and still have never gotten an answer).
At what point between 0% and 100% taxation do you become a slave?
If you were given $100,000 that you had to invest for retirement. Would you:
1. Give it to the Government to invest in “your” SS Account?
2. Invest it how you see fit and in your own name and account?
At what point between 0% and 100% taxation do you become a slave?
Do you have an answer for this yourself? How would you go about calculating such a percentage?
“Do you have an answer for this yourself?”
I have a two-part answer:
1. I pay zero percent …
2. Everyone else pays as close to one-hundred percent as possible.
The closer to one-hundred percent they get the more incentive they have to come pay me a visit and ask me about my Dotted Line Special.
How much Mikey? What’s fair on $100k?
Do you an answer for that question, Stu?
I do, do you?
I heard one Democrat say that at 50%, taxes become confiscatory.
The interviewer then pointed out that people in states like CA, NY, etc. when you include self employment taxes are well over that.
The interviewee then said…well, Federal taxes, not the other taxes.
If all the fish take a small nibble out of you, it’s OK, even though you might just be bones at the end.
Maybe I should have been more explicit. Please tell us all what you percentage is and how you determined it.
I’d be happy to answer if you say you will also post yours.
The Left will simply never answer “How Much”. They want to make all kinds of
falsecomparisons all designed to apply mathematics to the issue.Broadly, as I hear from “the Left” and “the Right” income and taxes are boiled down to two broad views:
1. “The Left” says that once a person makes a certain amount, the rest is all fair game for taxes. In other words, it’s OK to raise the marginal rates to the moon on higher income people, because they don’t “need” the money as much (see Bernie Sanders talking about 90% marginal rates).
2. “The Right” says that the money starts out belonging to the person who earned it, and that the government should only take what is necessary, and that tax burden should be shared to some extent among all citizens (the rich should certainly pay the most, but there are benefits to as many people as possible paying something–even if it’s very little).
The main problem as I see it is that people have lost sight of the most important question…What should the role of government be? Then you figure out how to pay for it.
I remember that Ronald Reagan signed into tax cuts that eliminated income taxes completely for millions of families. Then Mitt Romney came along a quarter of century later complaining about the large number of Americans who pay no federal income tax. So it’s unclear what that the position of “the right” is on the issue.
1. “The Left” says that once a person makes a certain amount, the rest is all fair game for taxes. In other words, it’s OK to raise the marginal rates to the moon on higher income people, because they don’t “need” the money as much
It’s not that rich don’t need it, it’s that they have been grossly inefficient investors and spenders. Money at the top often sits unused in cash or bonds, which does not help the economy.
Keynesianism/Sanders want high marginal rates to fund government infrastructure or programs. This injects money into the lower classes via jobs or benefits. Money in the hands of the lower classes doesn’t sit, it gets spent. This increase in spending boosts revenues and profits of the businesses the wealthy own, which in turn increases the wealth of the wealthy. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” as JFK used to say.
All chimed in and not a one answered how much was fair. It reminds me of the Brazil picture scenario.
not a one answered how much was fair.
It’s your typical BS question, any answer of which will elicit a BS answer from you. (Just like your constantly changing handles are cowardly)
Hey I posted a new pic of Brazil today!
You’re backpedalling Lola.
Just give me a number, any number. How much should someone who makes 100k pay in taxes?
“…it’s that they have been grossly inefficient investors and spenders.”
I thought the highest income tax bracket(s) were to prevent political corruption of the sort that is prevalent in 2015.
Geez, no wonder the middle class is going extinct.
Bigger and bigger government with more and more regulations and higher and higher taxes can save the middle class…
Trillion dollar neocon wars and NSA spying on American citizens?
Trillion dollar neocon wars and NSA spying on American citizens?
I agree - obama’s got to go.
Whatever you think of Obama, it was W. Bush who kicked off the trillion dollar wars and pushed the so-called Patriot Act.
bigger government, more regulations and higher taxes can save the middle class…
You have no math. Federal spending/taxes as a percentage of GDP has been shrinking for decades - not going up as your screed wrongly implies.
Federal spending as a percentage of GDP has declined under Obama. Look at this chart. You’re slogans are bust.
You have no mathematics to base your argument on 2banana.
Look at this chart.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/US_Federal_Outlay_and_GDP_linear_graph.svg/2000px-US_Federal_Outlay_and_GDP_linear_graph.svg.png
And the deficit too:
” The deficit has shrunk as a percent of gross domestic product for five years now and has steadily diminished since reaching its largest of $1.4 trillion in 2009, on the heels of the financial crisis. The improvement flies in the face of Republican arguments that entitlement spending under Obama has been unrestrained and unsustainable.
“Spending has been more controlled in the last few years than perhaps ever. We had very strong spending control in the 90s, but we weren’t actually clamping down as hard on spending as Congress is now,” says Alice Rivlin, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. US News
Bush, Obama - Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
I doubt that many people 15% of their income on property tax. Also, property tax and state income tax are deductible on federal income tax, so you can’t just add them up like that. And health insurance is not a tax.
. And health insurance is not a tax.
The SCOTUS says you are wrong.
I think that they were referring to the penalty that has to be paid by this don’t have health insurance. It works out to be much less 15%.
Also, if you’re going to talk about health insurance, you need to consider people who get it from their employer. For most of those people, the health insurance represents a large portion of their total compensation and it is not taxed at all. Thus taking it into account reduces some of those percentages on your list.
“And health insurance is not a tax.”
According to Chief Justice John Roberts, it is. That is how he justified his ruling for the ACA.
“And health insurance is not a tax.”
According to Chief Justice John Roberts, it is.
Then if health-insurance is a tax, then we should go to a single-payer universal health-care tax, because then the healthcare is way cheaper for equal results.
Facts:
Paying a single-payer public tax for private health-care is cheaper than paying a private tax (insurance premiums) for private healthcare.
That is most definitely not a fact. You can wish it to be true, but there is no evidence that single-payer is going to fix any of the system’s current issues.
And the 1%ers, no matter what system is used, will always have better health care than the rest of us. Even if they have to charter a private jet and fly off to another country to get it. So this whole idea about equality is laughable.
That is most definitely not a fact. …there is no evidence that single-payer is going to fix any of the system’s current issues.
But it is a fact.
Almost all western countries with single-payer have much lower health-care costs per capita, with similar outcomes, while insuring a higher percentage of their population than does the USA. How can this be denied?
And the 1%ers, no matter what system is used, will always have better health care than the rest of us
Of course they will, but that does not negate the above facts regarding single-payer vs USA’s system.
So this whole idea about equality is laughable.
Who brought up equality? We’re talking about results and costs of single-payer vs private health insurance. As you said, the rich will always have access to more healthcare anyway. So what’s the problem?
Your laughable assertion that if we just have one provider, that all of our problems will be solved.
I work in the federal government. The incompetence is staggering and it goes up to the very top. I want my federal government to have absolutely nothing to do with my healthcare.
If other countries’ health care is so good, then why do people come from Canada and Britain to get treatment here?
I want my federal government to have absolutely nothing to do with my healthcare.
That reminds me of the seniors yelling about “Keep the government out of my Medicare! (Medicare rates much higher than private insurance in opinion polls.)
If other countries’ health care is so good, then why do people come from Canada and Britain to get treatment here?
Exceptions (specialties and rich peoples treatment) do not make the rule. Ther are many more Americans who do without or travel abroad for treatment than people who come to the USA for treatment.
6 Million Americans Travel Abroad Each Year for Surgeries …
news.health.com/2009/04/08/traveling-treatment/
Apr 8, 2009 - Even France and Belgium tend to be cheaper than the United States. “People are going abroad for necessary medical treatments such as knee and hip … person to resolve the issues, and any similar ones, that might come up. … To learn more about this phenomenon, visit the Medical Tourism Association
Your laughable assertion that if we just have one provider, that all of our problems will be solved.
That is a strawman. That is not my assertion. Again:
“Almost all western countries with single-payer have much lower health-care costs per capita, with similar outcomes, while insuring a higher percentage of their population than does the USA.”
Good morning Lola.
Working off that hangover already?
Also, property tax and state income tax are deductible on federal income tax, so you can’t just add them up like that.
The Ruskies at zerohedge don’t know all the nuances of our tax system.
The Ruskies at zerohedge don’t know all the nuances of our tax system.
Yeah - like deductions are NOT credits. You may get back a third of that money IF
The deductions are not phased out due to the AMT…
‘The Ruskies at zerohedge’
I was reading one of their articles posted here this morning. The English is pretty good if they’re Russians.
I guess I’m still waiting for their first article critical of Putin’s Russia, one that doesn’t sound like it came from the financial section of Russia Times.
Everyone is pretty good at English these days. Some of those economic migrants in the boats off the coast of Lesbos have better English than our coal-rolling neighbors. Europeans have nearly accent-less English.
And one effect of 20+ years of immigration is truckloads and truckloads of fully bilingual kids who grow up to be bloggers.
As a young engineer with a long distance commute to my white shirt & tie mandatory cubicle, I added the cost of everything I had to do to get to and keep my job to the taxes. House in the right neighborhood, the right kind of car, gas, white shirts & etc.
It added up to more than I was making.
“It added up to more than I was making.”
Perhaps I can offer to you a simple solution to your money woes?
It is insane - isn’t it?
Get into a tough engineering school. Bust your butt for 4 or 6 years learning skills that are actually useful.
Get a productive job and work hard in a position that actually creates wealth for a company and society.
See the FSA or those that add nothing to society (realtors, bankers, lawyers, government workers, public union goons, etc.) live at or above your standard of living doing 10% of the work.
Engineers are smart. They figure it out pretty quick.
“Engineers are smart. They figure it out pretty quick.”
But not quickly enough. They only figure it out after they spend much of their youth busting their butts.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I’m the bad guy?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hLmuF-0P4tk
Check this out …
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA#/media/File%3ANASA-Budget-Federal.svg
In October of 1957 the evil Ruskis launched and (gasp) ORBITTED a satellite and the Space Race was on and NASA sprung into being and for several years after that NASA was heavily - very heavily - funded, and this heavy funding lured into engineering a LOT of very bright kids who were destined (via the massive funding) to get RICH -filthy rich.
But then, some years into the Space Race … something happened to the massive funding.
Suppose you consider getting something for nothing immoral?
Suppose you also consider war immoral?
Suppose you consider forced participation in Ponzi schemes immoral?
Suppose you consider being robbed and at gunpoint immoral?
Suppose you also consider war immoral?
I suppose such people could donate a portion of a war-funded nest egg to wounded warriors and humanitarian causes.
Here’s what the leftist socialist collectivist statist Tax Foundation has to say about taxes:
This year [2015], Tax Freedom Day falls on April 24, or 114 days into the year.
http://taxfoundation.org/article/tax-freedom-day-2015-april-24th
114/365 = 31.2%
Oh my…
—————
Obamacare Repeal Would Cut Deficit, Boost Growth — CBO
Investor’s Business Daily | 12/14/2015 | John Merline
A little-noticed report released Friday afternoon by the Congressional Budget Office shows that the Senate bill to repeal most of ObamaCare would cut the deficit by as much as $474 billion, while boosting GDP, investment and capital stock…
Lots of anger. Fortunately the Dems are running a very angry old white guy for you to vote for. Come to think of it, both D candidates are angry old white people.
In reality the State sucks some percentage. Those lame brains who think government services are provided with strict cost cutting and no lazy employees are dreaming. In effect, we are robbed of X percent and get back Y percent, where X > Y. That is a consequence of having no choice in how your robbed earnings is used.
Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income.
Now filter out the 47% of the population who are in the FSA.
If you are middle class - your tax bill is easily at 50%+
Math is hard sometimes…especially when you have a progressive political position to defend.
Math is easy for you because you just make everything up.
Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income.
If you take out the 47% of the population in the FSA, you have anyone working in the middle class easily paying 50%+ in taxes.
Math is hard…especially when you are trying to defend a progressive political position.
That’s a good one. You made a list of many different kinds of taxes. You forgot, or maybe you never knew, that a person becomes a member Romney’s 47% by not paying just one of those taxes.
This year [2015], Tax Freedom Day falls on April 24, or 114 days into the year ??
IMO, Thats all about to change in a titanic manner…Complete new tax code along with very large fiscal infrastructure investment coming in 2017…
oh my…………
Tax Freedom Day in 1979 was…
April 20
http://taxfoundation.org/article/tax-freedom-day-2014-data-tables
What happened?
Shhhh… yes, taxes went down since then. But don’t share facts like this because it disturbs the anti-tax, anti-government narrative
“facts like this”
“Tax Freedom Day® 2014 is April 21, Three Days Later Than Last Year”
“Tax Freedom Day® 2015 is April 24th”
“If you include annual federal borrowing, which represents future taxes owed, Tax Freedom Day would occur 14 days later on May 8.”
“Americans will pay $3.3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total bill of more than $4.8 trillion”
Yet total government spending is over $6 Tr. There’s either another Trillion+ in hidden taxes or other government borrowing.
Add to this SS and Medicare deductions and I think you will get to 50% or thereabouts. I always considered them a tax.
I have a funny feeling that individual Tax Freedom Day for some is way past May, since income taxpayers are in the minority.
“If you include annual federal borrowing, which represents future taxes owed, Tax Freedom Day would occur 14 days later on May 8.”
And in 1979, if you include annual federal borrowing, Tax Freedom Day was…
April 22
http://taxfoundation.org/article/tax-freedom-day-2014-data-tables
As the kids say…
dafuq?
What a load of Bulgarian Bullsh** They don’t understand how our tax system works and they get it all wrong. Look how they misapply the 25% federal tax bracket. They assume the entire income is taxed at 25% — it isn’t, it’s only that portion above where the 25% bracket starts — and then compound the error by ignoring deductions. The 75% figure is all wrong.
It’s the same syndicated articles by CNN. You acknowledged it last week Lola.
Below is an actual article with actual data.
The Real-World Middle Class Tax Rate: 75%
ZeroHedge
The article does not use “data” but the false premise that: “Anything that’s not optional is a “tax”"
That’s very misleading because by that logic, Food, clothes, and shoes are taxes too. And so is the money my paid-off roof over my head pays me every month which then is obviously paying me a “tax” every month.
“The argument that this is “optional” is specious.”
This is great. By that article’s logic, I’m a tax collector now!
We pay over $12,000 annually for barebones healthcare insurance, which amounts to about 15% of our gross income. Some countries pay for healthcare with a 15% tax, here we pay the 15% directly.
On this point the author was correct in equating USA’s private health insurance to single-payer costs as a “tax”. However, he falsely equates Single-Payer costs with USA’s system’s costs. Countries with single-payer pay much less percentages for their health-care than does the USA.
None of these are “optional” Lola.
Social Security and Medicare: 15.3%
Federal income tax: 25% (28% above $83,600)
State income tax: 5% (mid-range)
Healthcare insurance: 15%
Property tax: 15%
READ the data.
Federal income tax: 25% (28% above $83,600)
Property tax: 15%
OK I read the data. It’s wrong.
Nobody in the middle class pays 25% income tax on their total gross. Nobody. MOST of the income, the biggest chunk, is taxed in the 15% bracket ($74k if married).
Nobody, as others have pointed out, is paying 15% to property tax. This is way off…. maybe 5% or 6% at the most.
50% goes to taxes and fees no matter how you backpedal.
2banana’s Rule.
Conversations are more than happy to live under the laws and taxes they want for everyone else.
Liberals/Progressives/Democrats expect to be exempted from the laws and taxes they want for everyone else.
————————–
‘Nation’ and ‘Rolling Stone’ Columnist: ‘Get Rid of Private Housing’
Newsbusters ^ | 12/14/15 | Tom Blumer
One hesitates to give attention to Jesse A. Myerson. But it’s probably worth it, if for no other reason to contend that many of his beliefs are likely shared by the mindless lemmings disguised as “journalists” who wildly cheered on Saturday when an obviously orchestrated “climate change” agreement designed ultimately to redistribute massive amounts of wealth from developed to underdeveloped countries — which would virtually guarantee that they will stay undeveloped — was announced in Paris.
Almost two years ago, Myerson, whose experience includes “the Media and Labor Outreach committees at Occupy Wall Street,” identified of “Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For” in a Rolling Stone column. A week ago at The Nation, he vacuously attempted to elaborate on one of those five ideas, namely: “Let’s get rid of private housing.”
Plenty of time and effort have lately gone into analyzing a host of related crises—homelessness, unaffordable urban real estate, devastating gentrification, and a housing bubble whose burst landed us in the Great Recession. …
… The true culprit is so deeply embedded in American notions of wealth, rights, and property that we cannot see it for the terrible economy policy it is: private housing. [1] Real estate as a store of private wealth is the rotten tree that sprouts these diseased branches, and the solution is to quit pruning twigs and chop the sucker down.
… Public housing: Ultimately, though, the best antidote to private housing is public housing.
public housing
Ice T — Escape From The Killing Fields:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3305wzxkPRA
2banana’s Rules.
Avoid math.
Emotion Trumps math.
Post articles and slogans that make stuff up to push emotional narratives void of math.
Good one Oddfellow
And this is the ultra-left wing media.
Personally, if he said he would start jailing bankers and enforce monopoly laws on healthcare - I think he would win.
——————————————
Trump: One Shrewd Move From Victory
Huffington Post / The Blog | 12/15/2015 | Richard
Donald Trump is one shrewd move away from becoming electable. Don’t let the sputtering and hand-wringing from both Left and Right obscure your vision. He is the political real deal. He’s more in touch with voters than most of his critics. The reasons aren’t hard to figure.
If Trump is as smart as he says he is, he will figure out that an economic program that speaks directly to the needs of middle-class Americans is good politics. Explicitly and out loud commit to protecting Medicare and Social Security, tax the 1% (he’s already hinted at taxing hedge fund guys), invest in roads, and embrace minimum wage increases.
He would appeal to those Republican seniors, moderates and blue-collar voters who aren’t with him now. He would stand alone and unafraid among the other candidates who are lock-step with the Koch Brothers and Wall Street. He would give people a reason to support him even if they are wary of the more outlandish Trumpisms.
The Democrats ultimate hope in 2016 is that Hillary can combine foreign policy and terrorism toughness with an economic message of fairness for the middle class. A Republican who can pivot and pre-empt that argument will give her fits.
He’s already committed verbally to protecting Social Security, at one of his first rallies, and implied that Republicans would just have to live with it. I don’t remember anything about Medicare, though. I actually think single payer would have a chance under Trump.
Trump: One Shrewd Move From Victory
Hold on, that’s from Huffington Post, the Narrative Scripters.
What kind of narrative are they scripting? Help us out goon, you are the self-proclaimed master of such things.
He’s already said minimum wage was too high I thought?
We can’t compete with high taxes and wages, with the other countries.
Main power supplier for Brazil Olympic games pulls out. No electricity for you!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-15/dark-days-ahead-main-power-supplier-brazil-olympic-games-pulls-out
The question is, to what limits will they take this farce? Will Brazil just admit they can’t go forward and save everyone the trouble, or will they actually try and go ahead with the games?
No money. No power.
This is not the obama FSA administration in Brazil.
————————–
Of course it’s also likely that Aggreko worried it wouldn’t get paid. As noted above, and as we discussed two weeks ago, the government can’t fund cost overruns, which means that if the planning committee exceeds the budget, it’s not clear who would cover the bill.
Where’s Mitt Romney when you need him?
Being called a tax cheat by Harry Reid?
More than two years after he falsely accused Mitt Romney of failing to pay his taxes, retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has no regrets – and appears to relish – leveling serious charges in the midst of a presidential campaign.
“No, I don’t regret that at all. No one would help me. They were afraid the Koch brothers would go after them, so I did it on my own,” Reid said in response to a question from CNN’s Dana Bash.
When asked about critics who said his smear of then-Republican presidential candidate Romney echoed the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, he brushed them off and said with a smile, “Romney didn’t win, did he?”
On another note, I am disappointed about this news coming out of Brazil. I’ve always wanted that country to succeed, and it really should, it has the potential to be a real powerhouse. I just don’t know enough about it to understand why it has such difficulty. Seems to me that if it wanted to, it could be a completely self-contained country, supplying its own population with what it needs. But again, I don’t know enough about it.
“When asked about critics who said his smear of then-Republican presidential candidate Romney echoed the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, he brushed them off and said with a smile, “Romney didn’t win, did he?”
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” - Vince Lombardi (and possibly Al Capone)
Let me just chime in that I am very pro Brazil also. I like the Portuguese angle. It’s like Spanish but seems a little sillier to me (in a good way).
I’ve always wanted that country to succeed, and it really should, it has the potential to be a real powerhouse. I just don’t know enough about it to understand why it has such difficulty.
Massive corruption. Massive crime. And electing socialists on a regular basis…
When we lived outside Miami, we had a friend from Brazil whose first name was Julio. He got very offended when people pronounced it “Wholio”. Always insisted on “Joolio”. Great guy, great sense of humor, hard worker and the ladies couldn’t stay away from him. Had a great love for life and living it to the fullest.
“why it has such difficulty”
For one thing, there can be no recovery or real progress until there is reform.
But is it really any more massive than in the US? Or is the massive corruption in the US just more recent? Not that we haven’t always had it, but is there just more of it in recent decades?
But is it really
Seems to be a global theme.
“Seems to be a global theme.”
And THAT, my friend, is the essence of globalization. Bingo!
I just don’t know enough about it to understand why (Brazil) has such difficulty.
Massive corruption, strangulating bureaucracies and business regulations, lousy education breeding incompetence, strong legacies of Portuguese colonialism/ingrained racism, gross wealth and income inequality, intense misplaced pride combined with a colonial inferiority complex and nowhere where the weather is cold.
It is the overcoming of all the above to make real progress is why the Brazilian “miracle” has Brazil in a much better position now than Brazil was in 20 or even 10 years ago. Oh it’s going to be gut wrenching economically and politically the next couple years, but the country is much better able to handle it now than decades ago. And people won’t starve and die as easily as before. That’s hard to contemplate for an American but it’s true.
(Brazilian) got very offended when people pronounced it “Wholio”. Always insisted on “Joolio”
lol, This is why the Brazilians would never give up giving the Olympics. Pride. Many times misplaced, but pride nonetheless.
But is (Brazilian corruption) really any more massive than in the US? Or is the massive corruption in the US just more recent?
Brazilian corruption is more common, more pervasive and more ingrained into many more aspects of society than it is in the USA. However with USA’s current brand of failing capitalism and totally bought politics and democracy, I’d say USA’s corruption at the highest levels might be bigger than Brazil’s brand of corruption.
In Brazil, I see a fledgling struggling democracy going through intense growing pains and potential civil unrest, while USA’s democracy is just about finished and bought by the .01%.
I have to admit to surprise when I saw the recent photo of Andre Esteves, Brazil’s equivalent to Jamie Dimon, in the back of the squad car. I read one article that said he’d been taken to a hard-time prison.
For a Spanish speaker like me, the hardest words in spoken Portuguese are those that start with “r”, plus those with a double “r,” because phonetically those letters have a soft “h” sound. It’s not RRRRio de Janeiro, but “Hio.”
Doesn’t it snow occasionally in Santa Catarina?
Doesn’t it snow occasionally in Santa Catarina?
It’s rare, short lived and only at the highest elevations FWIU.
It’s not RRRRio de Janeiro, but “Hio.”
I know. It’s funny and Portuguese is very hard.
photo of Andre Esteves, Brazil’s equivalent to Jamie Dimon, in the back of the squad car.
I was surprised too. At least it’s a start.
Will Brazil just admit they can’t go forward and save everyone the trouble, or will they actually try and go ahead with the games?
lol. Is that a serious question? Do you know Brazilians?
to what limits will they take this farce?
My bet would be to the end of the closing ceremony.
Resistance - why worry whether or not if it’s futile. Act as a brake, dig your feet in the dirt while the State drags you. Resistance can be your only revenge. Use it.
+1
And expose the price rigging and fixing scams.
Bill in L.A. = Win!
Win by not playing somebody else’s game.
Bill is happy and living the dream. He’s got a pile enough to quit working if he were to choose some nice little oil city in a state with reasonable laws. Lots of pretty country out there.
“Bill is happy and living the dream.”
I hate him.
Bill is dreaming the life, but just a few steps from living the dream.
The biggest act of rebellion in this age is to live honestly. The honest life and debt are incompatible. Live debt free and Mr. Banker is so screwed.
The biggest act of rebellion in this age is to live honestly. The honest life and debt are incompatible. Live debt free and Mr. Banker is so screwed.
Living honestly also acknowledges that there are different means to come to the same ends of the honest life.
If someone defines the honest life as being debt-free, but then criticizes someone else’s methods of living debt-free, and criticizes based on a political difference, well that is just not being honest.
To be clear, I was only talking about debt free vs living beyond one’s means through debt. Not talking about your lifestyle in other regards.
I was only talking about debt free vs living beyond one’s means through debt.
You tout being “debt-free” as the “honest life” but yet discount being debt free by owning houses outright. This is intellectually dishonest. And you do it because of politics. That is intellectually dishonest as well as your emotion trumping logic.
Housing Lola housing!
Vienna, VA Housing Prices Crater 22% YoY As Housing Demand Plummets To 20 Year Low
http://www.movoto.com/vienna-va/market-trends/
I think you are a tad confused there Rio. I do not begrudge anybody owning a house they can afford debt free.
My emotion may trump logic, but that has never been lasting.
No ones gotta problem with Rio’s lifestyle. To each his own.
I think you are a tad confused there Rio. I do not begrudge anybody owning a house they can afford debt free.
No confusion. You’ve been ragging on me owning my house outright for about 5 years. You self-rightously imply yours is the only way.
My emotion may trump logic, but that has never been lasting.
It’s lasted about 5 years so far regarding a paid-for-home, and continues on your GlobalWarming distractions.
Milk the State dry of bond income, your social security, and pay way low taxes on your 401k distributions.
Be a burden to compete against the State spending that is immoral.
Arizona has low enough taxes. I would love zero tax Nevada but medical facilities in Phoenix are probably better. That is why June through September in Big Sur would be my ideal.
That is why June through September in Big Sur would be my ideal.”
Flagstaff AZ ? rent a house 6 months in the Mnts, 6 months in the desert .
Very tempting. I don’t do the hills well anymore on a mountain bike, the dang new medicine limits my heart rate needed to get me uphill. I used to mountain bike the White Mountains in summer and take the hills well.
Bill is happy and living the dream. He’s got a pile enough to quit working
I have no idea if Bill is “living the dream” unless he truly loves his work and (seemingly) being alone.
If I were late 50’s, single, had potentially life changing health issues and had a pile of money, unless I truly loved my work, I’d be making some serious direction changes right about now or yesterday.
But I’ve never been shy about taking leaps.
Afterall, you’re the Leaping Lola.
If I were late 50’s, single, had potentially life changing health issues and had a pile of money, unless I truly loved my work, I’d be making some serious direction changes right about now or yesterday.
Some people get their validation by a rising net worth. I’ve met people like that, many of them worked until they dropped dead and never touched their nest egg. Their heirs did enjoy the inheritance, however.
Different Strokes for Different Folks.
Different strokes for different folks. If anyone knows about this it should be Rio. (Why is he accusing me of changing my handle?)
Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to British government department
Brandon Martinez December 14, 2015 News
The Mirror
Hackers have claimed that a number of Islamic State supporters’ social media accounts are being run from internet addresses linked to the Department of Work and Pensions.
A group of four young computer experts who call themselves VandaSec have unearthed evidence indicating that at least three ISIS-supporting accounts can be traced back to the DWP’s London offices.
Every computer and mobile phone logs onto the internet using an IP address, which is a type of identification number.
The hacking collective showed Mirror Online details of the IP addresses used by a trio of separate digital jihadis to access Twitter accounts, which were then used to carry out online recruitment and propaganda campaigns.
At first glance, the IP addresses seem to be based in Saudi Arabia, but upon further inspection using specialist tools they appeared to link back to the DWP.
“Don’t you think that’s strange?” one of the hackers asked Mirror Online. “We traced these accounts back to London, the home of the British intelligence services.”
MORE ON THE MIRROR
nonalignedmedia.com/…/ - 87k -
….. imagine that.
Any comment Lola?
Sharia for thee, but not for me
Seems like the Sauds pretty much own Britain.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3352454/Devout-Christian-great-grandmother-sent-letter-headmistress-Islamic-girls-school-claiming-Muslims-worship-Satan-ordered-community-service.html
Was the letter silly? yes. Did it warrant a criminal conviction and community service? Absolutely not.
England is done. All those efforts to defend it over the centuries, gone to waste.
Hackers! Snowden! Gandhi! Bill in L.A!
Where does it end?
Okay as more and more comes out about the San Bernardino jihadis you have to ask how terrible are these government spies that are supposed to be monitoring us. The wife was openly posting ISIS support going back years. I bet there’s quite a lot more out there publicly available linked to them and their associates. Where’s all the big brother stuff?
And what happens when some other similarly minded loons realize that they thought Big Brother was watching but maybe not (or not well enough that it matters).
Rule #1: Government surveillance is not about catching terrorists.
Rule #2: Gun control is not about stopping crimes.
Rule #3: Only bigger government with more regulations and higher taxes can solve problems.
Rule #4. More laws and more prisons…
Hackers have claimed that a number of Islamic State supporters’ social media accounts are being run from internet addresses linked to the Department of Work and Pensions.
If you read the article, it turns out the IP addresses were sold to a Saudi Arabian telecom.
LOL… Oddfellow strikes again. When our friends on the right seize on sketchy information from questionable sources, blowing it out of proportion like a party balloon… here comes Oddie with a fact dart and Pop!
What I like about phony is he tells you in advance his stuff is phony.
What? So Phony Scandals are literally _phony_ posts and he’s been playing us the whole time?
he’s been playing us the whole time?
Either that or it’s a legal strategy. “Your honor, all my climate denial propaganda was clearly labelled ‘phony’. “
Not a smidgen.
“We think carefully about which companies we sell addresses to, but how their customers use this internet connection is beyond our control.”
“The government did not reveal how much money was made from selling the IP addresses to the pair of Saudi firms, because it regards this information as commercially sensitive.”
“Don’t you think that’s strange?” “We traced these (ISIS Twitter accounts) back to London, the home of the British intelligence services.”
I do not find it strange. I just finished Absolute Friends, a novel by John le Carré two days ago. It was an eye-opener even for a novel. (I brought a small private library to Brazil by buying $1 hardbacks 50 cent paperbacks over a couple years at my Cali library before I moved here. 60% non-fiction)
Spoiler alert:
Absolute Friends, novel by John le Carré
…..Later, (ex spies) Sasha and Mundy once again conspire in grandiose schemes to combat American military and industrial globalization. The two ideologues become pawns of the group they thought they were combating. They are framed with planted explosives by American and German security services, who brutally shoot them during a staged raid. After they are killed, they are portrayed as terrorists “with connections to Al-Qaeda”, in efforts to convince European governments to support the United States in its “war on terror”. After Mundy’s death, Amory, his controller from the British intelligence service during his espionage years, tries to publicize the truth, but slander by the British government results in his story being totally discredited. wiki
Well Lola?
Between a corrupt democrat governor, socialist democrat mayors, and insane union rules - I am surprised ANY manufacturing still happens in NY.
And I see ALL THE TIME - the “come to NYS and set up a business and pay no taxes for a while” commercials…
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Manufacturing in New York shrinks for 5th straight month
CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER - AP Economics Writer - 12/15/2015
WASHINGTON (AP) — Factory activity in New York shrank for the fifth straight month in December, forcing significant job cuts.
The New York Federal Reserve’s Empire State manufacturing index, released Tuesday, did improve but stayed in negative territory. It moved up to minus 4.6, from minus 10.7. Any figure below zero indicates contraction.
There were some signs that the negative readings could be slowly turning around. A gauge of new orders increased to minus 5 from minus 11.8. And a measure of shipments jumped 10 points into positive territory, at 5.5.
Yet a measure of employment dropped sharply, to minus 16.2 from minus 7.3.
Trump Plan Is Supported in His Party But Widely Opposed Outside the GOP (POLL)
Republicans by more than a 20-point margin support Donald Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States – but independents and Democrats oppose the idea by wide margins, producing a broadly negative reaction among Americans overall.
All told, 36 percent of adults in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll support Trump’s suggestion, while 60 percent say it’s the wrong thing to do. Support reaches 59 percent among Republicans, who account for slightly fewer than a quarter of all adults. But it plummets to 38 percent among political independents and just 15 percent among Democrats.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-plan-supported-party-widely-opposed-gop-poll/story?id=35759694
A Revolution will not come until people stop seeing their neighbors as the enemy and recognize that a house cleaning in government is necessary.
Know your tropes for exploiting terrorism
http://thefederalist.com/2015/12/10/know-your-tropes-for-exploiting-terrorism/
Trump has exposed ugly truth?
The Ugly Truth Donald Trump Has Exposed
The fear in both the GOP and Democratic party is visible at the surface when it comes to Trump, and it’s not that he’s any of what they’ve accused him of. No, it’s really much simpler than that, and both Republican and Democrat parties, along with the mainstream media, are utterly terrified that you, the average American, is going to figure out what underlies all of these institutions in America.
No, it’s not that they’re evil.
It’s worse, for evil frequently is recognized and fought back yet for decades America has not awakened to what has been going on in the political and media establishment. It was evident during the Vietnam war and has only gotten worse since.
Likewise there are those who claim that Obama and similar are evil in their view of Muslims and terrorism and of course they wish to draw a distinction between left and right sides of the aisle. Wrong. They’re all indifferent.
The political goal is more power for them and their friends, mostly economic power. More ability to extract from you by force and threaten you with jail or worse if you try to resist. More power over your daily life. More power to tell you that you must bake a cake for gays (because your religious convictions don’t matter) but if your religious convictions are Muslim then they do matter and must be protected because that’s where one of the big reservoirs of oil and undeveloped people that can be exploited in the future reside.
They literally don’t care if you get blown up or shot and it doesn’t matter if they’re Democrat or Republican. They don’t care if you live under a freeway overpass because your health “insurance” that you are forced to buy covers so little that you have to spend $6,000 before one dime is covered, and you don’t have $6,000. They don’t care that a Christmas Party was shot up by a couple of Islamic Nutjobs who they could have identified if they did care and in fact they shut down an investigation on “civil rights” grounds that probably would have identified the shooters years before.
Hillary Clinton knows damn well that during the Benghazi attacks there were military resources available to interdict them. But she has famously said “what difference does it make” and, in her view, she’s right. She’s not evil, she’s indifferent — to the lives lost there and to any other collateral damage including the arming of what has turned into Daesh! Her goal is globalism, socialism and statism, all for her own personal aggrandizement. That you are harmed or even killed doesn’t matter to her.
Folks, this is where Trump is really freaking the establishment out. See, Trump already has anything material that he wants, and if something pops up he wants and doesn’t have he can simply stroke a check. He has no need to play the indifference game; there is no amount of money he can gain or lose in his lifetime that will change his lifestyle. He has his own security and doesn’t need yours, he has his own money and also doesn’t need yours.
The visceral reaction you’re seeing in the media isn’t about Trump’s policies. It’s fear that’s motivating them.
They fear that you might come to realize that you can’t demonize the “other side” for being evil; rather, they are both equally guilty almost to a single man and woman at being simply indifferent as to how much you get screwed and by whom, up to and including your death and the death of your children, so long as their desire for more power and control, either for them or their friends, is realized.
If that happens — if you quit the left/right, republican/democrat, liberal/conservative game and instead demand the indictment of all of them for their treasonous and outrageously unlawful behavior along with their removal from office and are willing to back that up with action up to and including a general strike until they are all gone and in chains then they are all screwed.
That is what is driving the animus toward Trump.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=230966
Huffington Post scripts a narrative leading with hit piece on Trump:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8808906
Trump supporters who secretly back Hillary, raise your hands.
What’s more interesting are the Hillary supporters who secretly back Trump.
Sort of Bradley effect, without the racial factor. Then again…
Anyway, I’m not concerned about Hillary. She won’t make it. If she can physically last that long, she might get the nom. However, no way is Obama going to let her to see the office of POTUS. It’s just a matter of time before the cat decides that batting the mouse around is getting boring, and it’s time to pounce.
Of course, this takes a little “strategery”, timing the pounce to exert maximum pain and damage. Eh, maybe let the old girl spend some money and time on the campaign trail, lull her into a false sense of security. Let those polling numbers rise. And then, bada-BING!
Will Obama destroy her before or after she’s the Democratic nominee?
Stay tuned.
“Yeah, sure, Hillary, you go right ahead and use that server.”
Thanks Palmetto for sharing your wishful thinking with us.
Well, wait and see. I could be totally wrong on this, but I started doing some research on the possibility when the server thing first came up.
It’s well known there’s no love lost between those two and the leaks about the emails traced back to Valerie Jarrett. From all accounts, Hillary feels she was gypped out of her shot at the presidency. Quite apart from the fact that she left Chris Stevens, a member of her own team, to twist in the wind, the Clintons do have a reputation for vindictiveness.
If I were Obama and had anything at all that Hillary could bury me with, I’d definitely be looking for a way to neutralize her. I’m pretty sure Obama attempted to convince Biden to run, but it looks like Biden is worn out and doesn’t have the inclination. And from what I can tell, Obama is no slouch in the vindictiveness department either. And I think he definitely wants to vet the next Dem presidential candidate and not Hillary, either.
Again, it is true that this is speculation on my part, based on recent events and some background reading. I do get the sense that each could be very dangerous to the other if they wanted to be. And perhaps “for the good of the party” they may work out some mutual non-interference agreement and Obama will support Hillary, or at the very least, leave her alone. But I’m not betting on it.
And I think he definitely wants to vet the next Dem presidential candidate and not Hillary, either.
He’s running out of time.
“He’s running out of time.”
Maybe not. Keep an eye on geopolitical events. This Saudi led 34 county alliance that just popped up is a doozy and looks to me like it has the potential to spark off something really ugly.
Wish everyone would just withdraw from Syria. This is really awful.
And from what I can tell, Obama is no slouch in the vindictiveness department either.
He can be. My sense is he’s burned out and just wants to finish up his two terms and be done with it, go back to Hawaii and play some golf.
Although Obama’s no fan of the Clintons, I don’t think he wants a Republican to win because he wouldn’t want to see his two legacies repealed and undone (Obamacare and COP21). I don’t think he’ll actively submarine Hillary’s campaign for this reason.
They fear that you might come to realize that you can’t demonize the “other side” for being evil;
But that’s your specialty, phony! I was just being demonized by you yesterday.
If you lose your selective outrage, what have you got left?
That you Rio?
Good point. You’ll still have your conspiracy mindset.
But without the selective outrage, I just don’t see how it works.
selective
Oddie, you are in a class of loathing all by yourself.
Didn’t you admit to multiple screennames on this blog some time ago?
in a class of loathing all by yourself.
There’s that good old fashioned demonization. Thanks for keeping it real.
And I’m posting from inside your head, using whatever name you wish.
You are a turd who wants to imprison people who disagree with you and doesn’t mind 100s of thousands dying in war. That is loathsome. Any demonizing was by your own hand.
Do I drink the blood of christian children, too?
doesn’t mind 100s of thousands dying in war
Again I must ask: is that with us staying in the Middle East, or getting the F out? Because I call for the latter.
“couldn’t care less” or is every day a clean slate for you?
Is every day a new demonization for you?
And I still want to know your position on the 100,000s dying in the war. Stay in or get out? Or do you not care?
You couldn’t care less.
Why dont we ever fight battles or invade Africa? Any oil there?
New York Times real journalists provide the following narrative:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/upshot/how-trump-could-win-and-why-he-probably-wont.html?_r=0
I am sure this has nothing to do with unvetted muslims embracing us with their diversity….
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BREAKING: America’s Second-Largest School District Sends Home 640,000 Students Over Terror Threat
The Daily Wire - 12/15/2015
On Tuesday, the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that all schools would be shut down today due to an unspecified terror threat. According to ABC News, that threat also carries unknown credibility. Bus drivers say they have been returned to their bus depots. LAUSD is the nation’s second-largest school district, with 640,000 students and 900 schools; children range from kindergarten to 12th grade.
It’s a bomb threat. No idea who is behind it. Could be anyone at this point.
We’ll see just how “credible” this threat is — I’ll wait to see if federal security officials confirm or not. School officials are famous for overreacting.
Just took a peek at your favorite site, ZH, and it appears that it was a hoax. Apparently NYC got the same threat and made the determination that it was a hoax.
LAUSD had a different reaction, but in light of events in San Berdoo, who can blame them?
I’m getting ready to blame them. Reuters: “LA did not consult with FBI on decision to close schools: source” Major bungling and mishandling of the situation by LAUSD if this is true and the threat is non-credible.
Define ‘credible.’
Folks, this is what real terrorism looks like. And make sure to check underneath that park bench for any unattended packages before you sit down.
Still early for Ben’s predictions blog, but the 25 basis point rise is on my mind. I have my eye on two year notes which are pushing 0.97 now. Thinking aloud, just wondering if I can expect the new issues to suddenly yield 1.22?
A late 50s guy like me at peak career could use $1,000 or more extra coming into his bank account every year.
I don’t want to tie up my money in longer durations while rates rise. Just slowly shift out of TBills into them.
Series I bond fixed rates next May should jump to 0.35. Significant, but pales compared to the fixed 3% of 2001.
Really no where out there to hide.
Stocks - way over valued.
Bonds - lots of risk to lose money for a 0.3% return
Commodities - lots of value. When does the knife stop falling?
Real Estate - the obama housing bubble v2.0 is in full gear
Cash under the mattress - at least you won’t be paying negative interest rates.
commodities are the best value out there. dollar cost average in.
That Australian “Satoshi” guy, Wright, he was involved with trying to buy $85 million in gold with Bitcoin. ZH was suggesting that precious metals is therefore a better place for wealth.
True. Bitcoin is like emergency cash, used for when you need to transport large sums of money without getting it confiscated by Road Pirates. Gold, however, is not really easy to take across borders.
Commodities, buy some at a time. You use the approach of investing in stock funds in the long haul, diversify out into treasuries and metals when you are in your 40s, and here will be times when you need to supplement your income. On those occasions sell some of the best performing assets. Use the proceeds for your additional expenses, gains taxes, plus have enough left over to buy assets that have been beaten down. What I’ve had to do the last six years.
Bitcoin is like emergency cash
Conservatives or libertarians who are pro-privacy, anti-NSA, anti-government surveillance should avoid Bitcoin because EVERY transaction is recorded and traceable in a public ledger. Bitcoin is a legitimate hedge against traditional fiat currency and appeals to the small government folks, but I’m not sure many of them realize there’s no privacy.
True, but I treat Bitcoin like physical cash. I font hold much. Less than one percent of my NW.
Remember 5-1/4% passbook (savings accounts) at your local bank?
Now you have to pay the bank to store your cash. The world is upside down. Will it ever be righted?
They also gave you a US-made toaster when you opened an account.
I also remember the local Jacksonville banks where I opened my first savings account as a kid. All of the tellers where attractive women who looked like Mrs. Cleaver in nice business dresses.
Now, my local bank’s tellers look like wal-mart check-out hags.
your interest is going to food stamp checks .
Crocker Bank in Los Angeles gave you a stuffed plush dog they called a “Crocker” Spaniel.
5 and a quarter? I certainly do remember!
But I also remember that interest rate did not seem like much.
It’s funny that I look forward to 2% rates these days.
What do you think about (ARCC) with a 10% div? I have watched it for 2 yrs, seems stable.
Today I am headed into the Big Sur area. Won’t do much site seeing, as it is business. But I snagged an ocean front hotel for $102 per night.
Thank you for checking in, Bill.
I too am staying in an oceanfront hotel tonight. And might do so again tomorrow night, because as a renter, I can.
http://i.imgur.com/eLyQATn.jpg
Yo! That is swanky! It is low season here, so the price is only $102. Cold outside. I should have worn a hat. But had a moonlit walk along the ocean tonight and it was nice to see the waves breaking on the shore. I am so close to good beaches in Southen California but hardly ever go unless a relative visits.
The nearby restauaranr is rated very high, so I was lucky about making the choice here. I could have a couple of beers without worry about road pirates.
Great hikes there, Google the one that goes through a tunnel to the beach.
I always had a fondness for central California.
Electric Cars — getting close to the tipping point? This won’t help the price of oil to recover.
China On Track To Lead Global Electric Car Sales In 2015 — “The China Association of Automobile Manufactures shared that annual electric car sales figures in China are estimated to top 220,000 in 2015, surpassing the US as the top electric car country by sales volume”
Ford invests $4.5 billion to build more electric cars — “it’s the largest single investment over a five-year period in Ford history in electric vehicles, and it will allow the company to add 13 new electrified vehicles to its lineup during that time. By 2020, 40 percent of Ford nameplates will have some electric element.”
The electric F-150 is going to need a big battery. Actually, an electric motor in a truck can be an advantage. Having all of your torque available instantly can be useful when pulling a stump or a heavy trailer.
The electric F-150 is going to need a big battery. Actually, an electric motor in a truck can be an advantage. Having all of your torque available instantly can be useful when pulling a stump or a heavy trailer.
What percentage of F-150 owners will ever pull a stump? 1-2%?
It’s funny how tradesmen in other countries don’t need an F-150 and don’t have one. In the UK they seemed to drive 4 cylincer minivans.
“Pull a stump”?
Stumps aren’t “pulled”. They’re ground with a stump grinder.
What kind of idiot attempts to remove a stump with a pickup truck?
You need to get out more. Right or wrong, lots of people use their pickups to pull down trees or pull stumps out. Look how easily this pickup yanks down a tree:
https://youtu.be/qb_464W6fD0?t=18s
That’s about your speed Lola.
Why not? If you dig it out yourself, you gotta get it out of the hole somehow. Wrap a chain or strap around it, put that pickemup into 4Low, and let ‘er crawl.
My grandfather used dynamite back in the 1970s to blast stumps, but that is frowned upon these days. I was old enough to help him out, and it was the most-fun day to blow things up as a ten-year-old, for real.
^
No idea how estimate to arrive at the cost of building a structure, no idea how to efficiently and safely perform work.
Thank you.
My 79 F150, Wimbedton White, High Boy used to love to pull out dead pine trees in 1st gear. (bark beetle)
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/motobooks/pc-1975-ford-f250.jpg
Dead trees? lol@Liberace.
got science?
http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/mtn_pine_beetle_background.htm
Stay on topic Lib.
I bow down to your intelligence, HA, you are god. But you haven’t lived until you’ve dug out a stump out of your very own back yard. And then yanked it out of the hole with your very own 4×4 pickemup truck. ‘Merica, F YEAH!
Neither have you.
You’re slipping. And it’s showing.
In the UK they seemed to drive 4 cylinder minivans.
In Brazil tradesmen drive the old VW vans. Most built were stripped down work/transportation vans. Brazil was the last country to make them just 2 years ago. A lot of tradesmen here drive little cars and little car/trucks too. Some drive the full size pick-ups but I’d say less than 10%.
Last ever VW Camper Van set to be made in Brazil
The iconic Volkswagen Kombi has been killed off by new safety regulations after over 60 years of production
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/last-ever-vw-camper-van-set-to-be-made-in-brazil-9029140.html
The last ever Volkswagen Kombi is set to role of the production line in Brazil after 64 years of continuous production.
The iconic camper van has been killed off by new safety regulations in the country which come into effect on 1 January 2014. It isn’t built anywhere else in the world.
Originally named the ‘Type 2′ and first released in 1949, it was the second model of car made by VW - the first being the ‘Type 1′, more commonly known as the Beetle.
For decades the Kombi has been a symbol of counter-culture across the world and a staple of life in Brazil, where the first was built 56 years ago, seven after it debuted in Germany.
In the sprawling Volkswagen factory in Sao Bernando, the vehicles are the only to still be made by hand. Just small changes have been made to the design since the first car was launched.
The F150 says, I like to watch the NFL all day on Sunday more then, I am a tradesmen.
The F150 says “Jamal the Plumber”
Plumber Sues Car Dealership After His Former Truck Is Photographed With ‘Jihadists’
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/plumber-sues-car-dealership-after-his-former-truck-photographed-jihadists-n480501
A company name going viral is presumably any business owner’s dream — unless it gains attention for being associated with apparent terrorists.
When Mark Oberholtzer traded in his 2005 Ford F-250 pickup bearing the name of his Texas-based plumbing business, Mark-1 Plumbing Inc., he didn’t know it was going to end up in Turkey, and he definitely couldn’t have imagined that it would be photographed with purported jihadis.
A tweet with a picture of fighters firing from the back of Oberholtzer’s former truck went viral in 2014, and now he’s suing the car dealership he first sold it to for failing to take the company’s decal and phone number off the side of the truck.
I’m being followed and cookied on this site as they want me to take on a suicide mortgage….”Jumbo’s are BAAAAAACK” screams the banner.
The white glove holding an overpriced unit entry device is an exceptionally nice touch….
http://kielmortgage.com/jumbo_loan_wa/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=144407219&utm_group=8736889859&utm_create=32679345659&utm_term=&utm_matchtype=&gclid=CP_fiZ6w3skCFQdafgodUWIIIg
I click on the banner ads frequently in hopes that Ben makes a few pennies. You know what’s lame about the Ad Choices model? Let’s say I need some tires for my vehicle. I research tires online, then make a purchase. For two weeks after that I’ll get banner ads for tires — but it’s too late, I’ve already made my purchase. Don’t show me ads for stuff I no longer need…
Use duckduckgo for searches instead of google.
Or a Brazilian proxy (cough, cough, smirk, smirk)
Or a Brazilian proxy
Hey! Here’s more “proof”. Here’s me taking pics of my wife and girlfriend with my new 35mm. (I actually live in that beach borough up top which looks much the same today because “they ain’t building more land in Zona Sul)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7956wPrbgu0/Tl_lJu8wSiI/AAAAAAAAFOQ/2oeQ_-W6Gic/s1600/rio_de_janeiro_harbor_corcovado_peak.jpg
Why would you live in such an openly racist plac as zona sul?
http://blackwomenofbrazil.co/2013/12/02/racism-on-rios-beaches-residents-dont-want-poor-blacks-there-dirtying-up-the-beaches/
I’m sure they’d be happy to comply if you provided them the info…
Don’t want government to tell you how to live?
DON’T LIVE IN GOVERNMENT HOUSING.
————————
When the Government Tells Poor People How to Live
Joel Raskin / Jan Mika / Shutterstock / Zak Bickel / The Atlantic / DEC 14, 2015
WORCESTER, Mass.—The letters began arriving in the mailboxes of the sprawling public-housing complex last spring. The Worcester Housing Authority had tried to make residents self-sufficient, the letters said. But now it was taking another step.
The letters explained that step in big letters that were hard to miss: “IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Residents Required to Go to Work/Attend School.” As long as they weren’t disabled or over 55, the letter elaborated, at least one member of each household had to go to work or school, or risk eviction.
“If you want a government benefit, then you have to do something for it,” Ray Mariano, the head of the Worcester Housing Authority, told me, in explaining the program.
Worcester is the latest government authority to try to influence the personal decisions of citizens.To make New York residents healthier, for example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to ban super-sized drinks, and last month, U.S. Housing and Urban Development said it was prohibiting smoking in public housing, also for health reasons. A popular behavioral economics idea—often referred to as “nudge” and popularized by a book of the same name—has the government advocating to enroll people in 401(k)s unless they opt out and putting healthier food at the beginning of school lunch buffets so that children will choose fruits and vegetables, rather than chips.
But the Worcester program goes a step beyond many of these initiatives, as the penalty for not complying is so great. If residents do as they’re told, they’ll go through a program that includes intensive case management and will get a job, earn some money, and move out of public housing. But if they can’t or don’t find work or enroll in classes, a worst-case scenario could see them kicked out of public housing, often the last thing between the very poor and a homeless shelter.
Everyone checked in.
More positive economic news.
Remember……. nothing raises everyones standard of living like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.
NatGas Crashes To Lowest Since 1999
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-15/natgas-crashes-lowest-1999
There is never relief from enragement. Every.single.day.
Fairfax, VA Housing Prices Cratered 5% YoY
The mad grab for cash is on. Liquidate, get out of debt and hold onto every dollar you’ve got. You’ll thank us later.
“Foreigners Sell A Record $55.2 Billion In US Treasuries In October”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-15/foreigners-sell-record-552-billion-us-treasuries-october
“Houses are money pits”
That’s the understatement of the year.
Loanownership will suck your soul dry, it will destroy you.
So many allegedly college educated people fail to understand a 30 year amortization table. They are drowning.
Houses are like cancer.
Money pits for fools.
Bragging rights “I am a home owner.”
Instead I hear “I am a loanowner.” Makes me smile every time.
Lindsay Graham just said he wishes George W. Bush was still president now
Neocons gonna neocon, LOLZ
I just turned to it when he said that! bonkers!! they learn nothing from their mistakes.
Lindsey says he misses Bush! D Leauge on CNN now.
Funny how ignorant they are. They want cheap oil to destroy the middle east, duh…. what do we have?
They blame the troop pull out on O, but Bush signed the withdrawal… they hope only dump people are listening.
they want to ramp up the war, more $$$, more troops…..didnt we just do that?
Saw that.
Hey goyim (all you poor blacks and poor browns and poor white trash), it’s time to go get your legs blown off by an IED so you can help Sheldon Adelson (net worth circa $30 billion, depending on where Sands Corp. shares are trading) get richer faster.
And all you’ll ever be in his eyes is a dumb f*ing goyim.
Have some more yellow ribbons you loosers!
they forget that REAGAN trade arms to IRAN!
These GOP idiots (Graham and team) want to shoot down Russian planes, they call Putin a bully, look at these puzzzies sitting behind a desk. They are not Teddy Roosevelt.
Grahm and the morons - but no draft. Choking up, almost crying. He want to go to war, anywhere, anyplace.
hey neo-cons? how do you rebuild the military and go on the offense and cut taxes? m a g i c
Vero Beach, FL Housing Craters; Prices Plunge 8% YoY
http://www.movoto.com/vero-beach-fl/market-trends/
Oh man. The preview/intro for the Debate is like one for a reality TV show.
How corny, overly dramatic and dumb.
Housing Lola housing!
McKinney, TX Housing Prices Crater 16% YoY
http://www.movoto.com/mckinney-tx/market-trends/
PUNT?
lol@Poet
Hillary Clinton is a liar, a fraud, and a murderer.
“Hillary Clinton is a liar, a fraud, and a murderer.”
True, but her adult diapers are of the highest quality.
Rubio wants more NSA spying on American citizens.
Rand Paul just f*ing nailed him on immigration.
F* these neocons.
The libertarian lessons of Star Wars. Another great article by Dan Sanchez.
http://original.antiwar.com/dan_sanchez/2015/12/14/the-road-to-galactic-serfdom/
“The power, and the devastation, is very important to me.”
Did your candidate bluster or sulk in tonight’s debate?
Cruz Blusters and Trump Sulks at Tense Republican Debate
Frank Bruni
DEC. 15, 2015
The New York Times
They’re continuous stretches of material, usually rectangular, sometimes round. They’re not staggered, interrupted, with stops, starts, holes and sharp jags so that they smother and blot out only the evil bits of floor but leave adjacent, innocent ones untouched.
When you call for carpet bombing, as Cruz did again on Tuesday night, you are not outlining a strategy of pinpoint targeting or of any discernment.
You are sounding big and bold and advocating something indiscriminate. That’s the nature of a carpet. You can’t pretend otherwise.
Unless you’re Cruz, who can pretend just about anything.
“You would carpet bomb where ISIS is, not a city, but the location of the troops,” he said, as if there’s no mingling and the fighters of the Islamic State are somehow clustered apart from everyone they control, extinguished with the mere dropping of a rug.
“The object isn’t to level a city,” he added, never specifying how he would separate the good edifices and actors from the bad.
That’s some magic carpet.
And it was a prime example of the bluster and oversimplification on vivid, infuriating display in this Republican presidential debate, the fifth.
It was dominated as none of the four before it by one word, one syllable — “safe,” which was uttered so regularly that it was essentially the heartbeat of the debate.
In the wake of the Paris carnage, following the San Bernardino massacre, on a day when the country’s second-largest school district told children to stay home so that they wouldn’t be victims of violence, Americans wanted to know when and how they’d ever feel unafraid again.
And each of the nine contenders on the stage had one goal above all others: to convince viewers that he or she could be the agent of that fiercely desired security. That he or she could bring back “safe.”
But many of the aspirants had additional aims: to wound the rivals for the nomination who stood most directly in their way. As the night wore on, it degenerated into tedious, often puerile quarrels: between Cruz and Marco Rubio; between Rubio and Rand Paul; between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump.
Actually, the Bush-Trump crossfire was welcome and satisfying, because Bush more than anyone in any of these debates effectively called Trump out for his galling recklessness, and Trump’s responses were as naked a display of his adolescent narcissism as he’s engaged in yet. That’s saying something.
“He’s a chaos candidate,” Bush said when asked to elaborate on a tweet in which he’d called Trump “unhinged.” “And he’ll be a chaos president. He would not be the commander in chief we need to keep our country safe.”
Trump shot back that Bush’s whole candidacy had been a disaster.
Bush shook his head pityingly. “Donald, you’re not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency,” he said.
He twice derided Trump’s comment a while back that he got his foreign policy advice from television shows, saying, “I don’t know if that’s Saturday morning or Sunday morning.” Saturday morning is cartoon time.
Trump crowed about his poll numbers versus Bush’s.
Did he help or hurt himself? I’m not foolish enough to continue guessing and being wrong. He keeps proving that the political laws of gravity don’t apply to him. No, he floats egomaniacally through his own cosmos, where no one is richer, smarter or in better physical shape, and where all other bodies orbit his. He’s solar. Singular.
…
This is awesome news, as it will serve to both benefit U.S. oil producers and knock prices down still further.
ft dot com > World > US >
US Politics & Policy
Last updated: December 16, 2015 5:44 am
Congress agrees budget deal to lift US crude export ban
Ed Crooks in New York and Shawn Donnan in Washington
A oil worker works on a oil pump “nodding donkey “at an oil field near Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. Since gaining its independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has become an important energy exporter and transport hub for Caspian Sea oil and gas.
Photographer: Jeyhun Abdulla/Bloomberg News
©Bloomberg
Tight restrictions on US crude oil exports, in place for 40 years, would be lifted as part of a budget deal agreed in Congress on Tuesday evening, news agencies reported.
The deal presented to Republicans in a late-night meeting by House Speaker Paul Ryan would also raise spending on defence and a number of domestic programmes. It would also avoid a government shutdown that had been looming as soon as Wednesday.
President Barack Obama’s administration has expressed opposition to relaxing the controls on crude exports, but he is seen as likely to accept a broad spending bill that also includes liberalisation of oil sales.
The crude export restrictions were introduced in 1975 to support the price controls put in place as a response to the oil crisis of 1973-74. They remained in place even after those controls were scrapped in 1981.
Removing the curbs was a policy priority for US oil producers struggling after the plunge in crude prices since the summer of last year. The industry has argued that allowing free trade in oil would boost US production, investment and jobs.
Analysts say large volumes of crude are unlikely to flow out of the US as soon as the restrictions are lifted. The spread between the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, for delivery in Oklahoma, and internationally traded Brent is only about $1.25 per barrel, meaning that any benefit for US producers from selling in world markets would be swallowed up in transport costs.
In the long term, however, the liberalisation of exports will help companies producing in the US by enabling them to find the most profitable markets for their oil.
The curbs on oil exports have been eased in recent years, but the US exported only 409,000 barrels of crude per day in September, just 4 per cent of its total production.
The budget deal marks a major victory for Mr Ryan, a former vice-presidential candidate who since taking over as speaker last month, has made ending the gridlock in Congress a priority and promised a new pragmatism.
“That’s the way I think Congress ought to run,” he told an event earlier on Tuesday. “Let’s get back to legislators legislating. Let’s get back to actually doing things methodically, deliberating. We call this regular order around here — I call it democracy.”
…
crater