The sheer number of patents in the U.S. is fueling frivolous litigation and drastic action is needed to make patents more difficult to obtain and easier to invalidate, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit said Tuesday. > more ... (0 comments)
Although I may disagree with them on some issues, there are some reasonable conservatarian voices out there (like our dear friend Gherald) who are actually serious about reducing deficits.
However, when it comes to the vast majority of Republicans in Congress, we really need to bear this fundamental truth in mind:
The main impediment to forming a consensus on a plan to reduce the deficit is that most conservatives don’t actually want to reduce the deficit. What they want is lower taxes. That’s why Ronald Reagan and George W Bush both increased the deficit and it’s why conservatives tell pollsters they don’t care about the deficit: “Fifty percent (50%) of conservatives are comfortable with a budget deficit if taxes are cut versus 63% of liberals who favor a balanced budget with higher taxes.”Ergo, the term “Deficit Peacock“.
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Hors D’oeuvres
Judge Posner for the Win: Drastic Action Necessary To Un-F*ck U.S. Patent Regime
Sometimes you really have to hand it to Judge Posner.Rep. Michele Bachmann Threatens To Leave Minnesota Over Gay Marriage
So much awesome:Congresswoman Michele Bachmann threatened to leave Minnesota today if the state goes ahead with its plans to legalize gay marriage. In an interview with a local television station, the conservative firebrand said she believes God will destroy Minneapolis once the legislation is enacted, and wants to be far away when the reckoning happens. > more ... (4 comments)
Polled GOP Respondents Say Obama Hangnail Worse Than Holocaust
Announcement: Ignorant fucktards who think all this Benghazi bullshit is the worst thing to to happen since Jesus died are required to report to their local suicide booth immediately.… there’s no doubt about how mad Republicans are about Benghazi. 41% say they consider this to be the biggest political scandal in American history > more ... (2 comments)
Bioshock Infinite Causes Christian Gamer To Cry And Make Piddles
Some excitable christian fundamentalist nerd got all worked up into a lather because the game Bioshock Infinite required the main character to undergo a baptism.
“As baptism of the Holy spirit is at the center of Christianity – of which I am a devout believer – I am basically being forced to make a choice between committing extreme blasphemy by my actions > more ... (1 comments)
Just read this: This afternoon Senator Reid asked unanimous consent to go to conference on the concurrent resolution on the Budget. Senator Cruz was unavailable to be on the floor at this time to object. Out of respect for the long tradition of comity in the Senate, Senator Reid withdrew his request. Your eyes might drift to > more ... (1 comments)Why It's Important For Atheists To Stop Worrying About Religionists' Fee-Fees
Sean Carroll rightly calling on atheists to speak out and stop being polite about it:We have a responsibility to get the word out—to not be wishy-washy on the question of religion as a way of knowing, but to be clear and direct and loud about how reality really works. > more ... (1 comments)
We Paid For the Shadow Demon, We're Gonna Use the Shadow Demon
I realize that of all things featured in life’s rich tapestry this hardly rates a mention, but apparently another Dungeons and Dragons movie is making noise in the ‘Wood: The studio is actually quite far along in the development of the project, as it will use a script by Wrath Of The Titans and Red Riding > more ... (1 comments)The Loudly Ignorant Become Less So Once Shown They're Ignorant
I’m surprised that any of the fervently ignorant people surveyed in this study ever ended up moderating their positions. I wonder if the researchers included teabaggers in the sample population…
Four researchers at three different institutions joined forces to ask a simple question: why is it that people have such extreme positions on subjects that are rather complicated and nuanced? > more ... (0 comments)
I’m a sucker for arty books and paper inventions. (Not necessarily books about art, although those can be interesting too, if unaccountably heavy and given to making my floors creak.) The Museum of Lost Wonder, various items in the Wondermark Goodsery (no relation), the Edward Gorey Dracula Playset (of course), and pop-up books of > more ... (0 comments)Today's Trivia: Presidential IQs
Just found this Wikipedia list that has IQ scores for all U.S. Presidents (excluding Obama). The biggest surprise is how low Wilson comes considering his background and education, though it kinda makes sense considering how much stock he put in his own intellect, only to make the same mistakes again and again and never learn > more ... (1 comments)Says Library Right There in the Title, That's Why
Apparently, folks ain’t yet tired of shifting water from Bucket A to Bucket B and back, or of moving piles of sand about with tweezers, and took the opportunity last year to piss in over 450 collective libraries’ ears regarding such nefarious libri malvagi as Captain Underpants and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time > more ... (0 comments)Do a Little Dance, Make a Little Love
Watched the Spike Jonze Director’s Series collection last night — man, I had not realized he had his fingers in so many of my yewt’s wonderful musical pies. Cannonball? Check. Sabotage? Check-check. Da Funk? Checkity-check-check. But what really made me want to do a little dance and/or make a little love was watching Christopher > more ... (0 comments)That's a Funny Joke. Wait, What?
File this under things that are obviously untrue but that I don’t really care that much about. It’s all about the lobbying campaign anyway with these things, but you have to wonder if it were actually true, wouldn’t she be starring in movies beside the already tired Iron Man franchise? (2 comments)Tsarnaev going to go through the criminal justice system. The right choice, but somehow I knew the Administration would call this one right. This is one thing they’ve been both right and firm on in the past. (2 comments)I'll Say It Until I'm Blue In The Face
As we all know by now, you’re as likely to be injured in a terrorist attack as much as we are likely to ever suffer an appropriate reaction to a mass killing after 9/11. Just sayin’. (0 comments)The Obama Administration is threatening to veto SOPA/PIPA’s cousin CISPA. Much as I rag on those guys at times, they have a very good record on opposing these sorts of internet invasion bills, and I’m happy to give credit when it is due. (1 comments)
THE GRAPEVINE
Well I may be in the same boat to some degree. Consider this hypothetical choice:
- Raise taxes by 30%, raise spending by 20% (what a typical Dem might want, deficit-reducing)
- Cut taxes by 30%, reduce spending by 20% (what a typical Rep might want, deficit-increasing)
This first is similar to what Obama is doing. I would gladly take the second option.
Ideally I would prefer something more like, say, cutting taxes by 30% and reducing spending by 40%. But I recognize that's not viable in our special interests-driven political economy….
Balancing the budget is important to me--just not nearly as important as reducing the size of government. I expect most Republicans would agree.
So tax cuts are the easiest rallying cry on the right, because we all want government to be smaller, just no one can seem to agree on what, specifically, should be cut. As Obama remarked in the Q&A, apprently no spending seems wasteful if it's in your district…the wasteful stuff is always in someone else's district…
I guess my conclusion is that these problems would be a hell of a lot easier to solve if we had party-based proportional representation at the national level.
Oh don't be coy. You know as well as I do that we need to raise taxesin order to dig ourselves out of the hole
Only to the extent that we don't fucking cut spending.
(within a year or two, once we've recovered)
Not to mention the fact tht you're deluding yourself if republicanswill but spending by more than 2-3 percent, at most
Its gotta go hand in hand. You know it and I know it
Mathematically it does not.
Politically I will compromise taxation as necessary. I will not however acquiesce to any increased spending as Obama's FY 2011 budget proposal projects beyond 2012. It's getting to the point where maybe can't vote for most Democrats again.
Of course, Republicans remain horrid on many issues. Dunno if one of the evils will sufficiently outpace the other…
Well, the alternative is so much better. Republicans in charge willjust cut taxes and raise spending. Good alternative.
I would never vote for them to be wholly in charge at this point--controlling the House and 41+ in the Senate is my preferred scenario.
Great. So we'll get no taxes passed and no spending cut. Good solution.
I think it's better than any solution that increases both taxes and spending, merely outpacing with the former so it can brag about being deficit neutral/reducing as it continues the tax & spend cycle.
(see, for instance, HCR and the FY2011 budget, both which significantly increase spending, outpacing it with taxes)
I don't see how we can stop the tax & spend cycle without Republicans controlling at least one chamber of Congress.
The deadlock of divided government seems to produce the most libertarian-ish results we can hope for (see: 1994 and Clinton's tenure).
Obviously it's not cool for progressives who want the government to step in and solve problems. But I think we're well past the point it started creating more problems than it solves.