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PoliGAF 2012 Community Thread |OT2| This thread title is now under military control

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D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
AlteredBeast said:
Offer the people with jobs offset by tank manufacturing declines helping to build the high-speed rail, roads, etc. If they don't want them, then tough shit. We don't need any more tanks.
Click to expand...

Sure, that'd be great, but it would also be pretty tough to accomplish politically.
 
A

Al-ibn Kermit

Junior Member
reilo said:
United States: 3,794,101 sq mi
Europe: 3,930,000 sq mi

Germany: 137,847 sq mi
France: 260,558 sq mi
Texas: 268,581 sq mi
California: 163,696 sq mi



Pardon?
Click to expand...

You probably shouldn't count Alaska in that comparison.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguous_United_States

Together, the 48 contiguous states and D.C. occupy a combined area of 3,119,884.69 square miles (8,080,464.3 km2). Of this, 2,959,064.44 square miles (7,663,941.7 km2) is land, composing 83.65% of U.S. land area.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
AlteredBeast said:
Because everyone in politics is either corrupt or retarded.
Click to expand...

No disagreement from me. I have a hard time being optimistic about this kind of shit. I think it'll be tough to get any kind of shift like that without widespread public support. Unfortunately, right now it's hard to get that even for generalized infrastructure investment, let alone when specific details come into play.
 
C

Chichikov

Member
Cyan said:
By my quick wiki-based math, the population density of Western Europe (as defined by wiki) is ~111/km^2. Population density of the contiguous US is ~39/km^2.

I'd say TA has a point.
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I'll quote myself from the last page -
New Jersey has higher population density than any country in Europe (excluding the stupid city-states).
There are 8 states with higher population density than France and 10 with higher density as Europe as a whole.

I don't think the population density argument really stand to scrutiny.
 
L

Loudninja

Member
Obama Camp: Romney ‘Fumbling The Foreign Policy Football’
“He’s now been to two countries and he’s had two countries where he has made a series of fumbles,” said campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki aboard Air Force One, according to a pool report. “He’s been fumbling the foreign policy football from country to country. And there’s a threshold question that he has to answer for the American people and that’s whether he’s prepared to be commander-in-chief.”
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http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/obama-camp-romney-fumbling-foreign-policy-football
 
C

CharlieDigital

Banned
Chichikov said:
I'll quote myself from the last page -
New Jersey has higher population density than any country in Europe (excluding the stupid city-states).
There are 8 states with higher population density than France and 10 with higher density as Europe as a whole.

I don't think the population density argument really stand to scrutiny.
Click to expand...

It only holds up if you shift the goal posts. No one in their right mind is arguing for trans-continental HSR. If it happens, it's a bonus, but regional HSR is definitely viable and needed (especially along the coasts), even if it operates at a loss as that loss becomes 1) a business subsidy in the sense that it gives businesses access to employees that they otherwise would not be able to attract due to travel, distances and 2) a tool to facilitate free market conditions for middle-class employees in the sense that it gives them mobility to access more jobs and makes their employment more fluid (in much the same way that single-payer helps create a free market in employment by decoupling health insurance from employment).
 
C

Clevinger

Member
"PublicPolicyPolling ‏@ppppolls
Connecticut's going to be up there for the state where Obama drops the most from 2008 to 2012- won it by 23, now up single digits"

dat drop
 
J

Jackson50

Member
Dan said:
You'd run into a ton of stuff like this:

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_new...-the-army-tank-that-could-not-be-stopped?lite
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, there are innumerable examples of such galling waste. And as we dissipate billions on superfluous defense projects at the expense of our deteriorating infrastructure, we continue to fritter away billions on foreign projects plagued with waste and corruption. I've lost count on the number of posts I've made on waste in only Afghanistan.
U.S. Fund to Rebuild Afghanistan Is Criticized
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: July 30, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two years ago, as the final pieces of the Obama administration’s troop surge were moving into place in southern Afghanistan, American officials identified a handful of infrastructure projects that they hoped would build popular support for the Afghan government in the Taliban’s heartland.

The Pentagon and State Department secured $400 million from Congress for what was christened the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund and drew up plans for seven projects, five of them aimed at increasing the electricity supply in southern Afghanistan to light shops and power factories. The projects were to be completed by mid-2013, just as the NATO combat mission was to wind down.

Yet as the remaining surge forces prepare to leave Afghanistan, significant work on five of the seven projects has not yet begun and is unlikely to be completed until well after the NATO mission ends in 2014, according to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the government agency charged with documenting how billions of dollars in American reconstruction funds are being spent.

As a result, a program that was intended to bring soldiers and civilians together to buttress the Obama administration’s counterinsurgency strategy could end up undercutting it, according to the report, which is to be released Monday.

The difficulties the report describes provide insight into why the results of the surge have appeared ambiguous and the broader American-led reconstruction effort in Afghanistan has often foundered, despite the nearly $90 billion that Congress has appropriated for it over the past decade.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/w...-afghanistan-is-criticized.html?_r=1&ref=asia
Click to expand...
 
C

cartoon_soldier

Member
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/30/ehud-barak-sings-praises-of-obama-administration/

"I think that from my point of view as defense minister they are extremely good, extremely deep and profound. I can see long years, um, administrations of both sides of political aisle deeply supporting the state of Israeli and I believe that reflects a profound feeling among the American people," said Barak. "But I should tell you honestly that this administration under President Obama is doing in regard to our security more than anything that I can remember in the past."
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BUT WE MOST BOMB IRAN FIRST!

And you know that issue with settlements? Discuss that in private...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/mitt-romney-israel-settlements_n_1721080.html

Of course, he also wanted Income Inequality to be discussed in private...

Edit:

lol

Uh-oh, he's developed self-awareness. RT @cschweitz: Obama fundraising e-mail: "Yep, me again. Surprise: I'm here to ask you for money."
Click to expand...
 
E

eBay Huckster

Member
ToxicAdam said:
Do those states have cities like Minsk, Kiev, Bucharest and Istanbul?
Click to expand...

No, those states have third world hellholes masquerading as cities.

The_Technomancer said:
The Great Lakes area would love some high-speed rail. Run it from Minneapolis through Milwaukee and down to Chicago, then through Indianapolis and Columbus and connect up with whatever the east coast has.
Click to expand...

Also provide connections to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit and St. Louis and oh god damn it now I'm remembering why I hate John Kasich (and also the original 3C plan).
 
R

RDreamer

Member
The_Technomancer said:
The Great Lakes area would love some high-speed rail. Run it from Minneapolis through Milwaukee and down to Chicago, then through Indianapolis and Columbus and connect up with whatever the east coast has.
Click to expand...

Apparently we wouldn't. Scott Walker put a stop to that project, calling it government waste. It was one the biggest issues he rode into office.
 
N

NihonTiger90

Member
eBay Huckster said:
Also provide connections to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit and St. Louis and oh god damn it now I'm remembering why I hate John Kasich (and also the original 3C plan).
Click to expand...

Yeah, Strickland dropped the ball by making 3C the first corridor (should have been the 80/90 corridor to link Chicago and Cleveland even though the Turnpike Authority would have flipped their shit) but Kasich never offered an alternative besides shut it down and build moar highways.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Oh Mittens:

“Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? eight percent," Romney told donors at a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, speaking of a health care system that is compulsory for Israelis and funded by the government. "You spend eight percent of GDP on health care. You're a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18% of our GDP on health care. Ten percentage points more. [...] Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways — not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to find and manage our health care costs."
Click to expand...

Israel has UHC for those of you playing along.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
Wall Street Already Betting On Who Wins in November

With just 100 days left until the U.S. presidential election, investors are beginning to make bigger bets on which candidate will carry the day.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
One analysis concludes that last week's sharp three-day market surge can only mean that Wall Street is banking on a victory from Republican Mitt Romney.

That's the logical interpretation one can draw from a rally amid conditions that otherwise would demand a selloff, Morgan Stanley chief U.S. equity strategist Adam S. Parker said in an analysis that asserts there is no other reason now to like stocks than a Romney win.
Click to expand...

I don't know a lot about the stock market, but that seems really bogus and like a big stretch. Also seems kind of stupid of them if they would be betting on a Romney win, considering he's not favored at all yet...
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
One analysis concludes that last week's sharp three-day market surge can only mean that Wall Street is banking on a victory from Republican Mitt Romney.
Click to expand...

:lol
 
C

Chichikov

Member
G

Ghost_Protocol

Member
I just realized something.... I really like Leon Panetta. Been watching a few interviews with him lately and the guy clearly knows what he's talking about, and cares at the same time. Totally reasonable.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
Chichikov said:
It sure does.

p.s.
The beauty of such "arguments" is that they need no proving.
Markets up?
They're excited about the candidate I like!
Markets down?
They're worried that the candidate I don't like might win!
Click to expand...

That's what I figured. I just found it kind of funny that it's the big headline over at Drudge right now.
 
J

Jooney

Member
One analysis concludes that last week's sharp three-day market surge can only mean that Wall Street is banking on a victory from Republican Mitt Romney.
Click to expand...

... and if the market had dropped, it surely would have been read as an indicator that Obama is on his way out.

Heads I win, Tails you lose!
 
R

RustyNails

Member
Wall Street also bet on housing market and the Dot Com craze in late 90s.

When you're in a casino drunk out of your ass, you're better off doing bets than Wall St.
 
P

pigeon

Banned
RDreamer said:
I don't know a lot about the stock market, but that seems really bogus and like a big stretch. Also seems kind of stupid of them if they would be betting on a Romney win, considering he's not favored at all yet...
Click to expand...

https://www.google.com/finance?chdn...chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=INDEXDJX:.DJI&ntsp=0

Here's the last five days. See the big jump as the markets open on the 26th? Check story K.

Daily Finance said:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) looks to be headed north at open today on comments from European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, who reassured investors that the ECB would do whatever is necessary to prop up the eurozone.
Click to expand...

These analysts are full of crap. Notice the ten point gap between Intrade's chance of Obama winning (57%) and 538's (66.9%)? Some of that is general Euro pessimism, but some of it is pure partisan arbitrage.
 
C

Chumly

Member
RDreamer said:
Wall Street Already Betting On Who Wins in November



I don't know a lot about the stock market, but that seems really bogus and like a big stretch. Also seems kind of stupid of them if they would be betting on a Romney win, considering he's not favored at all yet...
Click to expand...
People are so dumb. My uncle tried to tell me that the stock market will explode and companies will start hiring hundreds of thousands if Romney wins because people just cant trust Obama. I couldn't roll my eyes big enough.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Chumly said:
People are so dumb. My uncle tried to tell me that the stock market will explode and companies will start hiring hundreds of thousands if Romney wins because people just cant trust Obama. I couldn't roll my eyes big enough.
Click to expand...

My old man is the same, its not something that is looked at through a prism of fact but of one of belief. Belief is a strong thing, even when it's dumb.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
Romney hasn't calculated whether he payed lower than a 13.9% effective rate in any year

Muir: You are here on what some have termed your world audition and democrats, not surprisingly, continue to hammer you back home on taxes, you remain firm two years and two years only. So from what you have released and from what we have seen we know that there was one year when you paid about 13.9% tax rate. Can we clear this up by asking a simple yes or no question? Was there ever any year when you paid lower than 13.9%?

Romney: I haven't calculated that. I'm happy to go back and look but my view is I've paid all the taxes required by law. From time to time I've been audited as happens I think to other citizens as well and the accounting firm which prepares myy taxes has done a very thorough and complete job pay taxes as legally due. I don't pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don't think I'd be qualified to become president. I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.

Muir: You said you would go back and look, would you look for us?

Romney: I haven't looked at the tax rate paid year by year. I know that I pay a very substantial amount of taxes and every year since the beginning of my career so far as I can recall.
Click to expand...


Like hell he doesn't know what his effective tax rate was. And I seriously have to wtf at his comment about not being qualified to be president if he paid more than are legally due. So if you don't take advantage of every loophole and thing you can come across suddenly you're unqualified? What if you'd rather the country you love get a bit more rather than you get back every single penny you possibly can?

Also, lol at the substantial amount. Yeah, sure, it's a substantial amount, but it sure isn't a substantial percentage of your income. Come the fuck on....
 
C

Chichikov

Member
RDreamer said:
Romney hasn't calculated whether he payed lower than a 13.9% effective rate in any year




Like hell he doesn't know what his effective tax rate was. And I seriously have to wtf at his comment about not being qualified to be president if he paid more than are legally due. So if you don't take advantage of every loophole and thing you can come across suddenly you're unqualified? What if you'd rather the country you love get a bit more rather than you get back every single penny you possibly can?

Also, lol at the substantial amount. Yeah, sure, it's a substantial amount, but it sure isn't a substantial percentage of your income. Come the fuck on....
Click to expand...
I think it's pretty safe to say he paid less than 13.9% at this point.

And fuck him for implying that he wouldn't be qualified to become a president unless he had a bank account in the Caymans.
Such bullshit.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Chichikov said:
I think it's pretty safe to say he paid less than 13.9% at this point.

And fuck him for implying that he wouldn't be qualified to become a president unless he had a bank account in the Caymans.
Such bullshit.
Click to expand...

Also ignores the VERY IMPORTANT FACT that people like him custom crafted and lobbied the taxcode to allow this horseshit.
 
B

BotoxAgent

Member
If he knew he was running for President all these years, he should have just paid his taxes in full. The dude is rich as fuck, so the amount of he has to pay he probably won't miss.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
Did you guys see this response to the outrage over Romney's culture gaffe

After Mr. Romney’s remarks drew criticism, his campaign said that The Associated Press had “grossly mischaracterized” the remarks by not providing the full context. For instance, the campaign said, after mentioning the per capita G.D.P. of Israel and Palestine, Mr. Romney also said: “And that is also between other countries that are near or next to each other. Chile and Ecuador, Mexico and the United States.”
Click to expand...

Guys, seriously, we weren't trying to offend Palestinians by saying their culture sucks. You see, we were also saying that the culture in Ecuador and Mexico sucks along with them!
 
T

Tamanon

Banned
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Chumly said:
People are so dumb. My uncle tried to tell me that the stock market will explode and companies will start hiring hundreds of thousands if Romney wins because people just cant trust Obama. I couldn't roll my eyes big enough.
Click to expand...

B-Dubs said:
My old man is the same, its not something that is looked at through a prism of fact but of one of belief. Belief is a strong thing, even when it's dumb.
Click to expand...

You guys should tell your families that Democrats are significantly better at creating jobs than Republicans:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/

Change Bush's 3 million to 1 million btw.

I'm curious to know what they're response would be. I mentioned this to my ex-roommates, who surprisingly didn't dispute it, but still insisted for Jebus knows what reason that THIS time having a Republican president would be different.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
RDreamer said:
Romney hasn't calculated whether he payed lower than a 13.9% effective rate in any year

Like hell he doesn't know what his effective tax rate was. And I seriously have to wtf at his comment about not being qualified to be president if he paid more than are legally due. So if you don't take advantage of every loophole and thing you can come across suddenly you're unqualified? What if you'd rather the country you love get a bit more rather than you get back every single penny you possibly can?

Also, lol at the substantial amount. Yeah, sure, it's a substantial amount, but it sure isn't a substantial percentage of your income. Come the fuck on....
Click to expand...

The sheer volume of evasive bullshit in that response is incredible. To parse:

"I haven't calculated that."​

How can I answer a question when I simply have no idea? Nothing to see here.

"I've paid all the taxes required by law."​

...and even if I did pay less than 13.9% in taxes, it was totally legal. If I did, that is, which I have no idea about.

"I don't pay more than are legally due"​

Seriously, all my tax evasion and sheltering is totally legal.

"I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires."​

Seriously, totally legal to pay so incredibly very little in taxes. Super legal, in fact.

"I know that I pay a very substantial amount of taxes and every year"​

Despite paying a low rate thanks to aggressive tax evasion, I play lots in taxes. Because I'm rich as fuck.

"...so far as I can recall."​

By the way, if it's ever proven that I did in fact pay less in taxes than 13.9%, and also happens to be shown that I knew this - which I don't! - I simply forgot and all of the above bullshit is now absolved by this caveat.

Can't wait until the returns are leaked in October.
 
R

RustyNails

Member
GhaleonEB said:
The sheer volume of evasive bullshit in that response is incredible. To parse:

"I haven't calculated that."​

Lack of knowlege is his first layer of defense. How can he answer a question when he has no idea?
Click to expand...
"Oh you mean ANN Romney's horse? I don't know anything about it I swear!"

He's bullshitting. He very well knows every tax rate he paid every year, and everything about Ann's prancing horse.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Jooney said:
What's the significance of the 13.9% figure? Is that the Capital Gains tax rate?
Click to expand...

That's the federal tax rate Romney paid in 2010, which is the only year he has released tax returns for. It is heavily speculated that the reason he is refusing to disclose any information from previous years is because he paid lower rates, possibly near zero, through heavy tax sheltering.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
GhaleonEB said:
The sheer volume of evasive bullshit in that response is incredible. To parse:

"I haven't calculated that."​

How can I answer a question when I simply have no idea? Nothing to see here.

"I've paid all the taxes required by law."​

...and even if I did pay less than 13.9% in taxes, it was totally legal. If I did, that is, which I have no idea about.

"I don't pay more than are legally due"​

Seriously, all my tax evasion and sheltering is totally legal.

"I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires."​

Seriously, totally legal to pay so incredibly very little in taxes. Super legal, in fact.

"I know that I pay a very substantial amount of taxes and every year"​

Despite paying a low rate thanks to aggressive tax evasion, I play lots in taxes. Because I'm rich as fuck.

"...so far as I can recall."​

By the way, if it's ever proven that I did in fact pay less in taxes than 13.9%, and also happens to be shown that I knew this - which I don't! - I simply forgot and all of the above bullshit is now absolved by this caveat.

Can't wait until the returns are leaked in October.
Click to expand...

Nice try, but Romney is not the type of person to be embarrased for being successful. Which is exactly why he'll never release his tax returns.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
My boy Steve Benen also mentioned some stuff that went unnoticed from Mittens' Israel trip:

"Culture makes all the difference," Mr. Romney said. "And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things."

"As you come here and you see the G.D.P. per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000, and compare that with the G.D.P. per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality," he said.

There's quite a bit wrong with this. For one thing, Romney's figures are inaccurate. For another, it's curious to hear him praise Israel's GDP, given that Israel has a top marginal income tax rate of 48% on income over $125,000. Isn't this the sort of economic policy that offends Romney to the core?

But even if we put those details aside, the argument Romney presented -- Israel has the superior "culture," which is why Palestinians have less money -- is simply offensive on its face.

It clearly displays a degree of ignorance about "the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority," where economic activities are restricted and opportunities to create a robust GDP are limited. But also note the underlying elitism -- inferior cultures, Romney seemed to argue, are the ones with lower per capita GDP.

Does the presidential hopefully really want to stick to this line? Given that here in the U.S., "blue" states tend to have higher per capita GDP than "red" states, does Romney believe this is the evidence of the superiority of cultural differences?
Click to expand...
 
J

Jooney

Member
GhaleonEB said:
That's the federal tax rate Romney paid in 2010, which is the only year he has released tax returns for. It is heavily speculated that the reason he is refusing to disclose any information from previous years is because he paid lower rates, possibly near zero, through heavy tax sheltering.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ghal.
 
C

Chumly

Member
Oblivion said:
You guys should tell your families that Democrats are significantly better at creating jobs than Republicans:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/

Change Bush's 3 million to 1 million btw.

I'm curious to know what they're response would be. I mentioned this to my ex-roommates, who surprisingly didn't dispute it, but still insisted for Jebus knows what reason that THIS time having a Republican president would be different.
Click to expand...
Delusion knows no bounds. I could tell them that and they would immediately chalk it up to liberal media.
 
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