SR VII

Zappa88 wrote: Dear Monsters, Be Patient is one the best albums of this decade.

Who's the band (or solo artist)?

Damn, and now I'm craving pizza.

Epignosis wrote: I swore of Internet debating years ago anyway. It amazes me that people can come here and write twelve pages of posts debating whether "Close to the Edge" or "Supper's Ready" is better.

Yeah. That's great.

Zappa88 wrote: Epignosis wrote: Go play Jeopardy, Zappa.  We need players.   Sorry, no can do! Gotta finish typing up my 8 pages on why Leonard Lance will defeat Linda Stender, NJ-7 (there you go, political elite of PA), then get outta my Halloween costume, make some frozen pizza and finish fixing my lawn mower.   I'll check ya'll in a few hours.

Alright. I'm temporarily leaving any moment now as well.

MovingPictures07 wrote: NaturalScience wrote: Call me an optimist. I think Obama will govern more from the center than he wants to, much like Clinton did. But I also think Obama's lying when he says he'll only raise taxes on the wealthy.  When the Bush tax cuts expire, expect a giant shrug of the shoulders, and talk about sacrifice and "necessary investments". I don't think so, because the house and senate are Democrat power. There will be no filobusters because the dominant party will be able to completely pass anything they want without any opposition, so long as they are united on that front. It will logically then be Carter years or worse, most likely. If Obama does get elected, I hope you're right, Pat.

Well, remember the ultimate opposition is the people, and this is a center-right country (like it or not).  Even if "leftist" policies are enacted, after 4 years the government will be called to account - somewhat.

Re: taxes, of course all income taxes and indeed virtually the sole raison d'etre of the federal government is wealth redistribution, so small changes to individual tax rates are perhaps not so important in light of that; but what does piss me off the most is the lack of accountability and the lack of metrics to assess performance - if one claims that government program X is worth funding at billions a year, why does no one ask how it's doing?  Is it making this better?  By what criteria are improvements, if any, being made?

NaturalScience wrote: MovingPictures07 wrote: NaturalScience wrote: Call me an optimist. I think Obama will govern more from the center than he wants to, much like Clinton did. But I also think Obama's lying when he says he'll only raise taxes on the wealthy.  When the Bush tax cuts expire, expect a giant shrug of the shoulders, and talk about sacrifice and "necessary investments". I don't think so, because the house and senate are Democrat power. There will be no filobusters because the dominant party will be able to completely pass anything they want without any opposition, so long as they are united on that front. It will logically then be Carter years or worse, most likely. If Obama does get elected, I hope you're right, Pat. Well, remember the ultimate opposition is the people, and this is a center-right country (like it or not).  Even if "leftist" policies are enacted, after 4 years the government will be called to account - somewhat. Very true. If he's smart he would watch his step. The pendulum tends to swing back, only over time it has been re-aligning itself more and more towards corruption and away from individual's rights (in general). That's my concern. Re: taxes, of course all income taxes and indeed virtually the sole raison d'etre of the federal government is wealth redistribution, so small changes to individual tax rates are perhaps not so important in light of that; but what does piss me off the most is the lack of accountability and the lack of metrics to assess performance - if one claims that government program X is worth funding at billions a year, why does no one ask how it's doing?  Is it making this better?  By what criteria are improvements, if any, being made? I see your point. I do wonder the same things you do; we should be more informed on government spending and it should be assessed whether it is worth funding. I know for sure better options of some of it, and I have a hunch there's a decent amount of stuff that hardly gets any press that isn't effectively worth the money that's being put into it.

I can't decide if I'm going to vote for Obama or write in my cat for president.  Decisions, decisions. 

I tend to disagree.

I'll make it easy...I'm pretty sure my dad would get his a** kicked.

'ello.