Thursday, August 4, 2011

Thursday LTE's 08/04/11

Good AM, folks! The LTE page today is mostly "Obama stinks!", "No, the Republicans Do!" Have at it.

Sense and reason

Who works; who pays? Who earns; who learns? Who knows, and is able by health and circumstance? Who collects and distributes by what power? Who benefits, how and how much?

When these and associated questions have answers with respect to sense and reason, not race nor gender, nor wealth nor advantage, democracy is achieved, fairness prevails and issues are resolved (even debt and deficits).

In effect, when "We the People" means all of the people, not just the rich and privileged, the U.S. and all nations work responsibly well.

MARCIALITO CAM
Winston-Salem

Sum It Up:
The Sum It Up question from Sunday was: Will a Republican defeat Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election?

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As we watch this president slowly destroy everything we hold dear in America, we can only pray that he is defeated in 2012!

JoANN DUNN

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I would love to see a Republican win. But unless we go into a full-blown depression, I don't think one will. Unfortunately, it is going to take something like that to wake people up to see what Obama is doing to this country and our economy.

ANTHONY FLETCHER

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No. Right now, the Republican Party looks a little like Humpty Dumpty after his fall, and I just don't see anyone strong enough to get it together by 2012 (but I'm always wrong about political matters).

ROMAINE POINDEXTER

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No way. The GOP has moved to the extreme right. It was always against the middle class, it's never been more obvious since the 2010 mid-term elections. Unions, teachers, Social Security, Medicare, voter registration, same-sex marriage, Planned Parenthood - they are the enemy, according to Fox News and the GOP. All while serving their puppet-masters, Big Oil, millionaires, banks, Wall Street and insurance companies, with low taxes and loop holes. Vote GOP and you vote against your own interests.

DENNIS WINNICKI

* * * * *

If the Republicans do, then the Mayan doomsday prediction may be true!

AL BAKER

* * * * *

Obama must be defeated in 2012 or there is no hope for this country. He has single-handedly destroyed the credit, the military strength and the economy of this country in three years. He makes Jimmy Carter, with his double-digit inflation and unemployment, look like a statesman.

LINDA DIORIO

* * * * *

Surely the American people aren't dumb enough to elect Barack Obama again. He has been on the road to ruining our country. I would vote for any Republican at this point.

JAN PLEASANTS

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No. That has been the main objective of the Republicans since Barack Obama was elected in 2008. Surely the American people will realize that the present state of affairs is a result of past Republican decisions.

MARY H. MURPHY

* * * * *

Obama will get re-elected, no doubt. He's a pretty good president. I'm thankful that he got bin Laden. Maybe we can get out of the war business for a change.

WILLIAM SAMS

* * * * *

I certainly hope so. If not, the U.S. dollar will continue to decline, along with our standard of living and our stature in the world community. Sadly, the majority of Americans don't really know about politics and don't really care about anything except their own myopic lives but, if the existing trend continues, they will soon wake up to the fact that, just like the Roman Empire, the U.S. is crumbling and degenerating from within. "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."

STANLEY G. SIMM

* * * * *

No. Americans are not as stupid, indifferent or lazy to vote as some hope. We can see the truth of what the GOP is about: the party of the rich for the rich. We can see that the draconian changes that have ended up on the cutting board to make us more fiscally responsible are more about every day common Americans, seniors, children, the poor and needy having to do without while continued low tax rates and benefits, loopholes, etc. for the richest Americans, especially big corporations clearly has not promoted job growth or community investments to make all our lives more stable and prosperous. They're not even interested in providing affordable health care so that their work force can be healthy, happy, stable and strong.
Shame on them all .

I sure hope the likes of Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney or another conservative religious Texan won't win. Heaven help us — I shake at the thought of going back to the George W. Bush years! That's what we'll get, though, if one should win.

DALE JARRETT

37 comments:

  1. The lone LTE: Interesting how windy such a short LTE can be.

    Sum it up. On balance, IMO, President Obama needs to go.

    Sum It Up respondent Winnicki misses on my political outlook (but then I'm not a Republican), but with one exception: unions are indeed the enemy. At the moment, they and the NLRB seek to trample individual employee rights and to interfere with businesses' right to locate where they wish and where they are welcome. This is being arranged by Obama's appointees. He and they need to go.

    The Democratic Party needs to change its name. The NLRB's policies are antidemocratic. The party should correctly rename itself the Labor Union (Not just "Labor") Party. That would be an unaccustomed step for the National Democratic Party, toward a condition of honesty.

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  2. :), good morning, Stab! I see you found your identity.

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  3. Good AM, Bob!

    Just my usual lurch to the right, but AGW will come up and I'll wobble leftward, thus maintaining an iron grip on the wishywashy center :) Kinda like the guy who has one hand in searing hot water, and the other in bitterly cold water. Statistically, he's comfortable.

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  4. Stab...I have gleaned from a few comments that you managed to misplace yourself yesterday? Hope you relocate your normal orbit.

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  5. Yes, a Journal poster placed on the left side of the spectrum, caused considerable dissonance. I started humming the "Internationale", reading the "Huff Post," and looking for consciousness-raising events. I finally medicated my consciousness with a Stella, later in the evening, and reemplaced myself into my proper orbital. Home sweet home.

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  6. Ahh, I see Mr Cam is back with some bygone "thought" questions from some Lefty professor. All of his "who" questions can pretty much be answered if he will look in his mirror. None of these questions will be answered according to "sense and reason" as neither are fixed concepts for doing so. "Democracy is achieved"? Not likely and I'll bet Mr Cam won't like his "democracy". "Fairness prevails"....good grief. If that happens, then what is needed is a great benefactor and in Cam's world, we know who that is. "Fairness" is a sorry substitute for the rule of law and the presence of justice. It is rather the rule of men. Attitudes like Mr Cam's are a part of the reason we as a nation have come to the condition we are in.

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  7. Stab...good!! It is a terrible thing to misplace one's identity.

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  8. I forgot my manners earlier: Hi WW!

    Losing one's identity is not necessarily bad. It depends on who's looking for or at you. Thus, this shadow forum came to be :D

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  9. Sum it up! Well, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only sane and critical thinking person in Forsyth County re: Reelection of Obama.

    It's too bad a bunch of fools had to fail for Obama's lies and propaganda in the first place and vote for him. I could go through the list but it's too long. I'll just cite one: "No more politics as usual". He got that one at least right. It's worse now.

    In other sobering news: People always ask why do you worry about what gay and lesbians do? Well, with Obamacare, everybody's health related activities affect everyone else.

    Here's the latest:

    MSM account for nearly half of the more than one million people living with HIV in the U.S. (48%, or an estimated 532,000 total persons).

    MSM account for more than half of all new HIV infections in the U.S. each year (53%, or an estimated 28,700 infections). While CDC estimates that MSM account for just 4 percent of the U.S. male population aged 13 and older, the rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM in the U.S. is more than 44 times that of other men (range: 522–989 per 100,000 MSM vs. 12 per 100,000 other men).

    MSM are the only risk group in the U.S. in which new HIV infections are increasing. While new infections have declined among both heterosexuals and injection drug users, the annual number of new HIV infections among MSM
    has been steadily increasing since the early 1990s.

    *These are not my stats. They are taken from the CDC.

    *Note: For all the uninformed-MSM stands for men having sex with men.

    I wonder how many trillions of dollars this epidemic will cost?

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  10. Good AM, Linds. I assume you are similarly exercised about smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, boozing, and auto accidents.

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  11. I'm voting for Obama again but won't be excited about it.

    He made an error in not pushing for a second stimulus in late '09 when he had a shot of getting it through the Senate. He compounded that error by pretending that the original stimulus was big enough, when it clearly was not. And he allowed the debate to shift to austerity, which right now is completely nuts.

    But the alternatives would be much worse. All they have to offer are more tax cuts, even when the Bush tax cuts proved to be a miserable failure. And we need to preserve the gains made in the ACA. It's a damn sight from perfect, but it's a lot better than what we had.

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  12. For all you bad-end users-here's the number/contact point to call regarding HIV.

    Call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit www.hivtest.org to find HIV and STD testing locations near you.

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  13. Arthur...why if the remains of John M. Keynes could reach enough body tissue, he could really "enjoy" himself after reading your stimulus post. That would do more "stimulus" than any more Federal "stimulus".

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  14. My dearest brother Bucky Beaver-

    The baddest end of any human is the part where all the hot air comes out, and we're not talking about cutting cheese here:

    "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
    The U.S. Congress
    Oops, that should be:
    Macbeth, Act V, Scene V

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  15. The national debt will almost double under Obama by election time. From 10 trillion to almost 20 trillion. His policies have resulted in the largest increase in our debt in history. It's absolutely incredibly irresponible.

    We're now finding out that his Obamacare scored by the CBO didn't include free contraceptives for women.... this will again increase health care costs. Remember when Obama said health care costs would go down with Obamacare?

    One thing we know for sure-Obama is the biggest liar we've ever had as president.

    I actually think Sarah Palin could beat Obama now even with the liberal media constantly lambasting her.

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  16. Rush/Kit.....what's on your agenda tonight? Perhaps some ketamine?

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  17. News flash..........bad-end abuse may slow if Republican elected.

    Here's the link:

    http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/08/mitt-romney-gay-marriage-pledge-/1

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  18. Well I see Bucky has thrown the saddle on the stove 'cause he is riding the range today.

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  19. Hi Arthur!

    I assume that you subscribe to Krugman's Keep Borrowing" philosophy. Aren't there concerns that lenders may decide they don't want to lend?

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  20. Linds, your concern over health care cost is noted, but you didn't respond to my question. Also, how many billions have been spent by our various governments treating heterosexuals for VD?

    I'm sure O.T. can verify that many a Navy sick bay has had to cure sailors who made liberty, then shipped out all clapped and crabbed up, or worse.

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  21. Good afternoon folks!
    LTE: More stream of conscienceness from Mr. Cam. I will agree that the economy works much better when 80% are able to fully participate unlike the 20% of today. The economic numbers and stock market are bearing that out.
    Sum it up: Way, way, way too early to predict. At this time in 1991, Bush had a 90% approval rating while the D's were scrambling to find someone to run and wound up settling on an unknown Arkansas governor. Should the current schism in the Republican party continue into next year resulting in a rancorous primary season, that will most likely throw the election Obama's way.

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  22. "One thing we know for sure-Obama is the biggest liar we've ever had as president."

    Well, Bucky Beaver me boy, I see that your deficiencies extend into American history as well. Forget the mealy-mouthed most recent occupant of the White House..."mission accomplished" "Saddam has weapons of mass destruction" "etc,etc, etc"...he was an amateur compared to others such as Harding, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, etc.

    My needle seems stuck:

    Said about Bucky Beaver's rants:
    "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"
    O.T. Rush, Act LXVIII, Scene VIII

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  23. Yes, clap, crabs and alcohol...that's why the US Navy has such an excellent medical corps.

    Since we hosted Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 3 (HAL-3, Bountyhunters) and Light Attack Squadron 4 (VAL-4, Black Ponies, the first OV-10 Broncos to see combat), we had a substantial medical facility and right next door was the Army's 29th Medical Evacuation Hospital.

    Both facilities spent more time treating social diseases and alcohol problems (mostly overdsoses and accidental shootings of each other) than they did combat injuries.

    And then, of course, there was the infamous night when some panicy guy in a machine gun tower reported that the VC were attacking through our garbage dump and opened fire with his M-60, killing several scavenging dogs. Two of the dogs were only wounded, so our corpsmen patched them up and saved their lives, thus giving us two more mouths to feed for the duration. They were worthless as watchdogs. If they heard a cocking handle being operated anywhere within a mile they took cover in the nearest bunker for the night.

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  24. "assume that you subscribe to Krugman's Keep Borrowing" philosophy. Aren't there concerns that lenders may decide they don't want to lend?"

    Not right now. Debt to GDP is 60%, which is high, but manageable. 10-year treasury yields are 2.65% (very low), which means that people are still willing to lend money us. I don't see how cutting government spending and laying off state employees will help matters. Reassure the markets? People are still lending money to us.

    If we cut government spending now, that will just depress the economy further for no good purpose. The righties seem to believe that if we cut gov't, the private sector will come riding to the rescue, and demand will somehow magically improve. They also believe hyper-inflation is just around the corner. They've been really wrong about those things so far.

    So yeah, I believe Krugman's analysis is valid.

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  25. O.T., were the attack helicopters Cobras or gunned-up Hueys?

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  26. Arthur, I see a lot of government spending still ongoing, at the Federal level. Here in NC, I do not see the logic in cutting taxes while laying off people. There may be an economic reason for so doing, but we're running the state for people, not for hard pure economics or for me to save 15 cents on a 10-pack of Stellas.

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  27. Thought provoking link below.

    The Growth of the Internet and the Happy Recession.

    Link below with examples which the article contends portent deflation not inflation.

    http://www.digital-dd.com/the-growth-of-the-internet-and-the-happy-recession/

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  28. O.T., I'm also reminded of a quote by Mark Twain: “Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid.”

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  29. Hi Wordly!

    Deflation is scary, can change into depression.

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  30. Interesting article. His optimistic talk about balance at the end worries me, because the fixed incomes of the older people are drawn from sources that have a certain value. If serious deflation occurs, those sources will have less and less value, to the point of drying up.

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  31. It appears that the House and Senate have cut a deal on temporary FAA funding.

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  32. The racist morons have returned to the Journal forum. It didn't take long.

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  33. Looks like the Dow was none too happy with the budget deal. Crashing the economy in order to promote a perverted, progressive social agenda obviously did not make good business sense to investors.

    Obama needs to go quickly, or there will nothing left.

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  34. Gave the wrong call sign for HAL-3. They were Seawolves. Bounty Hunters were nearby Army unit. Both flew UH-1 gunships.

    The only AH-1 Cobra unit in the area was Death Dealers...I seem to recall part of 235 Aerial Weapons Company (235 AWC) based at Can Tho Army airfield. They saved our bacon more than once, as did Seawolves and Bounty Hunters.

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  35. Bucky Beaver, my dear brother, maybe you ought to read what serious conservative analysts are saying about the market dive instead of parroting the right wing fruitcake line.

    The market isn't about your paranoid ideology but about the economy...they're talking about the missing tax hikes and the balance in spending...more money for the rich and less money for the poor means that consumer spending...necessary to kick start our flaccid economy...is out of balance. Way too much spending on luxury items and not enough on mom and pop business items.

    That, and adopting the short term solution over the longer term solution, has done little to shore up investor confidence, so down the market goes. Some of that is just knee jerk reaction...we'll have to wait and see if that turns around. I'm not all that confident at the moment.

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  36. Arthur: saw the Forum. Apparently the FB solution isn't working well over there. The decorum there today doesn't compare well with that of the posters here.

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  37. I think everybody who voted for Obama should take the time tonight to go into their bathrooms, not the public ones where gay bucks hang out, but your own. Once there, look yourself in the mirror, and say "I'm an idiot". Say it as many times as you need to....you'll feel better, and I'll feel better. Good night.

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