Charlie Gibson says that families with $200K incomes are middle class. Charlie Gibson says that lowering the capital gains tax rate increases capital gains tax revenues and cites an example which shows that the one year shifting of transactions in the face of announced changes. Charlie is stupid, ignorant, and too lazy to learn.

Posted at August 22, 2008 12:49 PM in response to Charlie Gibson's Lore

My mother was proud of something my grandfather said, "The man is who picks up the garbage is as necessary as I am." Alva Weedn built and ran 3 hospitals in little towns near the Red River, was president of the Oklahoma hospital association, and was practical and thrifty enough to amputate several of his own fingers when radiation burns from holding X-ray plates occurred. He was a mensch; someone who thinks 20-30% of his fellow humans have no socially useful function to perform is sadly deformed.

Posted at August 14, 2008 1:08 AM in response to The Absent Presence

Humans need contact. Some humans need an inferior other as a contrast to their superiority. Their conversations will be a succession of @'s. If their deficiencies are not satisfied by thoughtless disagreement, they may need to talk about sleeping with your mother and needing a shower. In the old days of alt.tasteless, SW allowed setting an ignore filter. Modern SW needs to incorporate this feature.

Posted at August 14, 2008 12:47 AM in response to The Absent Presence

"Cui bono" asks thepeoplechoose. It's always possible that there has been a crime against America on the order of the administration permitting 9/11 instead of just losing 2 hijackers after clearing the borde or ignoring red flags like teach me to fly big airliner but no need to learn landing, but it's unlikely. Seymour Hersh is supposed to know of a proposal to have Navy Seals in fake Iranian speedboats gunfight with Navy destroyers so we have a casus belli with Iran, but his editors didn't think it should be reported since it was rejected on grounds of we shouldn't order our soldiers to kill our own soldiers.

I really think that Cheney/Rove/Bush have worked to enrich their friends. I really think that they have warped the government through privatization so that their affiliates prosper and can kick back contributions to the Cheney/Rove/Bush faction to keep the gravy train rolling. Anybody think it's cheaper or better to have a 50 year old contract trucker rolling past IED's than a trained Army transportation specialist? How many KBR mess hall staff are capable of picking up a M-16 with proficiency? Odds that any Blackhawk employee is cheaper or better than any E-8? But KBR and Blackhawk make politically meaningful contributions. Does privatizing 70% of our intelligence service budget make anyone feel more secure in their homes and lives?

I'm no less bitter than thepeoplechoose, I just think that the Bushistas have taken advantage of circumstance, not attacked America. After all, the budget-busting Bush tax fiasco was originally justified by the booming economy producing a budget surplus, but the justification changed within months to a declining economy requiring a budget deficit stimulus. Iraq is the prime example. The plot began before the seemingly insignificant Iraq resolution of 1998, was a goal of the Bush administration from its earliest days, but couldn't be acted upon until 9-11. Which Saddam had nothing to do with.

Posted at August 6, 2008 2:38 AM in response to The Anthrax Panic, ABC, Glenn Greenwald, and the End Times

Wen Ho Lee. Stephen Hatfill. Yes, the FBI screws up, and yes they use the front page. And yes the media are complicit. This is irrelevant to Greenwald's point. Four somebodies misinformed ABC about government tests showing bentonite in the anthrax samples. One somebody told Richard Cohen to obtain and carry Cipro before the attacks.

In the darkest conspiracy, the government prepared and mailed the anthrax, lied to implicate Iraq, obstructed the inquiry, and hounded two innocents to complete the coverup.

More likely, IMHO, a lone individual was alarmed about the vulnerability of his/her country to biological weapons and by targeting Congress and the networks and a sensational tabloid ensured that the issue would be addressed. Quite likely, IMHO, the Iraq hawks around Cheney's office seized the opportunity to point a finger at Saddam to justify the invasion they intended. Consider that Iraq had nothing to do with the twin towers, but after the administration campaign, over half of Americans thought there was a connection.

Posted at August 3, 2008 2:37 PM in response to The Anthrax Panic, ABC, Glenn Greenwald, and the End Times

Duh, you die of diagnosed liver failure and have sufficient Tylenol residue in your blood stream to destroy your liver along with the markers of liver failure, by all means cut out the liver and see if it is destroyed. If it makes you happy.

Posted at August 2, 2008 8:26 PM in response to The Anthrax Panic, ABC, Glenn Greenwald, and the End Times

From the Wikipedia article: "An FBI summary of a 1970 wiretap recorded Perle discussing classified information with someone at the Israeli embassy," writes Paul Findley (They Dare To Speak Out, Chicago, Ill, Lawrence Hill Books 1989)." This would not be a normal duty of an aide to a US Senator. However, Perle's primary loyalty would seem to be to himself as his government positions and business interests have been entangled.

Posted at August 1, 2008 1:28 AM in response to Eine Kleine Kleinmusik

If the Republicans refuse to approve any FEC appointments which do not include the little pig and Democrats refuse to approve him, then the FEC lacks a quorum and cannot use many of its meager powers to enforce a legal election. Cui bono?

Posted at April 30, 2008 12:05 AM in response to Reid Offers Deal on FEC Deadlock

Whoops, I missed Dean's generalization of the British stock transaction tax to an inclusive financial sales tax. I think such a tax should be low for "useful" investments and higher for speculation and financial engineering. For stocks, capital gains taxes already exist so I'm not sure if a transaction fee, flat or proportional, seems warranted. Warren Buffett does have a point that his tax rate shouldn't be lower than his secretary's. I don't think investment would cease if capital gains were treated more equitably.

For derivatives, a transaction fee should be enacted and it should rise with the degree of financial engineering. CDO's of CDO's should be taxed more than CDO's. The financial crash is partly due to the opacity of the novel financial instruments being traded

A large component of the crash arose from financial fraud(stated income, teaser rate, etc) with mortgages being sold by the originators to banks who knew that they were going to pass them on, so there should be transaction costs for selling debt. And regulation -- no teaser rates, no no money down, no interest only introductory rates, etc, some mortgage brokers should go to jail, and there should be some legal or contractual recourse for purchasers.

But the largest part of the problem was excessive leverage. Just because people are wealthy and Nobel bright doesn't mean they should be unregulated -- LTCM.

Posted at March 16, 2008 1:56 AM in response to A Stock Transfer Tax: The Right Medicine for Wall Street

Well, the .25% stock transfer tax is a start but it it seems poorly targeted. What one wants is a general tax on CDO, mortgage, and especially derivative transactions. Isn't Bear Stearns a bond and mortgage specialist whose collapse is wholly caused by bond and mortgage imprudence?

This sales tax would be a good prophylactic measure, but regulation is also needed. Bear Stearns, Carlyle Capital Corporation, and LTCM failed because they were excessively leveraged. Commercial banks have capital requirements. Should hedge funds and investment banks be exempt?

Posted at March 15, 2008 3:05 PM in response to A Stock Transfer Tax: The Right Medicine for Wall Street