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October 13, 2012 03:03 PM UTC

Weekend Open Thread

  • 103 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.”

–Napoleon Bonaparte

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103 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

      1. FACT CHECKING WITH OBAMA-BIDEN

        1. Gays serving peacefully and without threat in the military, check

        2. No work requirement for welfare, check

        3. New $1 Trillion healthcare tax on middle class, check

        4. Nearly 15% “official” U-6 unemployment, check

        5. All Americans forced to buy health insurance and have an ID to prove it, check

        6. Most Americans free to vote without ID, check

        7. Most Americans required to have an ID for public library “checkout” privileges or buy certain over-the-counter medications, check

        8. High double digit “official” unemployment for women, blacks and Hispanics, check

        9. More nuke negotiation room promised to Vladimir, check

        10. Personally gave the order to take down Osama, he watched it live, and took the credit, check

        11. Still scaring seniors and minorities with leadership comments such as, “their going to put y’all back in chains”, check

        12. Over $1 Trillion in unaccounted “stimuli”, check

        13. National debt at $16 Trillion and no plan to tamp it back, check

        14. Lowest house sales and mortgage interest rates in 40 years, check

        15. Lowest business starts per capita – ever, check

        16. Nearly 50 million Americans on food stamps, check

        17. Business-individuals-non profits forced to offer health plans that counter their religion, check

        18. 25,000 potential Keystone pipeline jobs frozen, check

        19. Solyndra-Vestis-Abound workers promised gov’t driven sunshine now unemployed, check

        20. Trillions in new FICA tax receipts promised, check

        21. More government spending, higher taxes & less local control of government promised, check

        22. 50%+ DPS dropout rate yet charters succeeding, check

        23. Social Security as we know it on course to collapse with no rational plan to fix it, check

        24. Medicare/caid as we know it on course to collapse with no plan to fix, check

        25. Fast & Furious … exporting weapons for terrorists and attempting to cover it up, check

        26. Firm plans to hike income and capital gains taxes, check

        27. Firm plans to divert even more private capital for government spending, check

        28. 31 million Americans out of work, check

        29. Obama budget pushes USA to fiscal cliff by 2022, check

        30. Obama promised to cut deficit by 50%, national debt hiked from $10T to $16T, check

        31. Obama promised unemployment under 8%, now 43 months above 8%, check

        32. 3% surtax on American medical device manufacturers, check

        33. Obamacare erects barriers to competition for drugcos and against consumers, check

        34. $4, $5, & $6 gas available nationwide, check

        Dividing America vs uniting and leading America, check

        1. Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does this quote apply to you?

                1. quoting Einstein…?

                  I searched a couple of sites and read through three pages of her quotes. That one was not among them.

                  The other site said it was Al.

  2. Prior to The Federal Reserve Establishing total dominance over mankind, The Huffington Post wrote a terrific criticism.  The author clearly illustrates how The Fed has literally bought and paid for the entire economics profession including but not limited to, academia.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

    Unfortunately, today it is blasphemy to speak against Fed. The most recent Huffington Post article is 180 from the 2009 article.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

    This most recent Huff article is completely and thoroughly rebutted by Thomas Woods and Robert Murphy at Liberty Classroom.

    http://www.libertyclassroom.co…

    3. Unfortunately, today it is blasphemy to speak against Fed. The most recent Huffington Post article is 180 from the 2009 article.

      Just where the f*ck have you been?  A major mass of TeaBagger dissent was aimed at the Fed — are you stupid enough to try and say they didn’t rate any articles?

      Guess you just gloss over the almost-weekly Wall St. or NYTimes pieces critical of Ben B (its not like either of those two rags have any readership — right).

      Honesty doesn’t matter for you to make your idiotic point.

        2. while I tend to favor your point of view,

          I think Van Dammer was clear enough.  

          But neither the nyt nor the wsj would abide an audit of the Fed, IMHO.  

            1. I have decided to open up an Associate Membership in my fan club to you.  

              Annual dues are $8.  No application fee.  

              Go to the website to apply.  

              1. that f’n site’s behind an f’n paywall . . . belonging to a supposedly deposed f’n Nigerian prince . . .

                I ain’t f’n wirin’ ’em any f’n money, . . . but do you think they’ll take my f’n Amex . . . I mean, if I approve the f’n funds in f’n Euros?

  3. Was out of town for family stuff and since returning have been avoiding this forum in the wake of spate of scary polls. Didn’t know how much depressing doom and gloom would be found and it’s been depressing enough. And now this. Romney has captured the coveted Lindsay Lohan endorsement! Oh no, not that!

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics…

      1. it’s not nearly as depressing as i feared it would be.  Now if Obama just channels  a good sized helping of Joe (with more presidential gravitas to go along with the passion and specificity but not too much over politeness) and a lot of Warren (creamed Brown in their 3rd debate) for his next debate, we may all be able to look at polls a week from now without stomach cramps. Well except for Nock, ‘tad, Arap, and friends.

        On the other hand I’m sure the way things stand at the moment is all kinds of gratifying for dwyer, may the days of dwyer’s told you so gratification be very, very short lived.

          1. too much Barack is too apt to do the lets all hold hands and sing thing. See the first 2 years plus of this term.

            He took the stuff about how what voters really wanted was a new loving feeling in DC way too seriously (everybody always says they want a more civil tone, hate negative ads and campaigning, etc.  Also we strongly support being nice to puppies and kittens) when what we wanted most was to get the policies he ran on in place, arm twisting and throwing weight around to do so, completely OK.  

            The first debate was a lot like the failed kinder gentler strategy employed in the fruitless two and a half year search for Rs willing to play nice back. The next two have to be a good deal more forceful, less Tea with the Queen.

            Biden and Warren are good examples to look to for clues. Not to make himself over in anyone else’s image.  Just note what works better than what you did and make it your own.  

          1. she of the suspicious looking Adam’s apple, has also expressed how desirable it would be if women couldn’t vote because that would mean no Dem would ever win.

    1. to the front page “endorsement” of George Bush.

      Strange that moderate Pace would need to buck his own party, but Tipton is okay even though he’s been in lockstep with his own party and (Post‘s opinion) too far right.

      P.S. Curse you for tricking me into checking out the Denver Past.   🙂

      1. How do I know you don’t have secret magical powers?

        It did remind me of that odd Bush endorsement with everything negative until the very end and then… surprise… we endorse the guy. The only difference is that they did come up with more than one good thing to say about Tipton, not, as you point out, that they made much sense. Still, it was more than their single lame excuse for supporting Bush in 2004, tacked on to the very end of what read like a Bush rejection piece.  As I recall it was something like not changing Commander in Chief in the middle of a war.  Doubt Singleton will let them use that to endorse Obama instead of Mittens, though.

        The abbreviated Coffman endorsement was only slightly less nonsensical than the Tipton piece and they mentioned Miklosi. Didn’t even mention Coors in the brief Perlmutter endorsement. Guess that’s the Singleton concession to fair and balanced: Completely throwing Mr. Tin Hat Not A Beer under the bus.

        1. Are you sure you read the endorsement, and not a summary of the endorsements somewhere? The Perlmutter endorsement http://bit.ly/X2e6hL had plenty to say about Coors the “engaging fellow” part of the Coors clan “– yes, the beer,” and his views being “too hard right for a district,” and a string of “Disappointing” positions on regulations, health care, manufacturing policy and energy. There’s even his Personhood support, for good measure.

        2. It’s online now, and makes even less sense than the rest of their unenthusiastic endorsements.

          Basically, they think Coffman, even though a member of the Tea Party caucus, will “compromise” and sign on to a revenue increase if that’s what it takes to cut a deficit deal.  They also think his tilting at GOP windmills to cut defense spending will somehow bear fruit.

          Do they really believe that with the Post’s virtually guaranteed endorsement of Romney and his $2 trillion in additional defense spending plan?  

          I can’t say how much influence Singleton has anymore — isn’t he basically retired now?  But whoever is left in charge is definitely wandering around aimlessly.

          I thought it curious that they published 5 letters critical of Biden’s debate performance, and none in favor.  And yet their online poll gave Biden similar numbers that the CBS poll indicated — 51.6% for Biden vs. 33.3% for Ryan.

          I know I’ve stopped even bothering to write letters to the Post editors anymore after getting more than a dozen published there or in the Rocky between 2007/2008.

          TIME magazine did pick up my last letter which was a response to columnist Joe Klein’s  depressing lament that given the likelihood of a GOP-dominated Congress continuing to block any Obama deals on the budget, vs. what Romney might do, he momentarily toyed with it as a viable option.

          At the risk of adding to Mr. Klein’s depression, I do not believe appeasement of the Tea Party terrorist wing of the Republican Party will work.  While a President Romney might have more flexibility to negotiate with a Republican-controlled Congress, I doubt we would, as a nation, benefit from the devil’s bargain that would no doubt result.

          If President Obama is re-elected, but fails to also win (or extend) control of either the House or Senate, then the brutal imposition of the “poison-pill” budget measures might just be the harsh medicine the voters and their (soon-to-be-ex-) representatives need to face reality, and start down the path of true bipartisan governance.

          1. when Boehner and Cantor say it is OK. That way he won’t have to use any parts above his shoulders. Boehner will approve before Cantor. Boehner will be paying attention to the very low approvall rate of R congressionals and he doesn’t ever want to give up the gavel. Cantor is more foolish

            1. Not only do we need to hold on to the Senate majority, we need to seriously cut into the GOP  House majority — particularly among the Tea Party freshmen.  

              Once the Tea Party loses their influence, then yes, Boehner would regain some negotiating leverage over the rest of his caucus.  He’s not a crazy like our own Frank “1-vote majority means an unlimited mandate” McNulty.

              But after moving to Aurora, I got redistricted out of CD7 and into CD6, so my preference would be to cut into the GOP House majority starting with Coffman.

          2. They publish letters, pro and con, roughly in proportion to what they receive.  Sometimes not many people on one side bother to write.  For instance, a lib columnist writes something libs take as a given but righties get all  ticked off. The letters are mostly from ticked off righties, not atta boy libs, so a majority of the letters that appear are critical.

            That particular day, Biden boosters must not have taken the time to write in. I didn’t. It happens. I’ve also seen overwhelming majorities of letters expressing the progressive view.  

            I’ve been getting letters published pretty regularly for years now.  They don’t like to publish anyone more than once a month but after getting one in I try to continue to write, knowing that my next few won’t get published but will contribute to the count representing the side I agree with which will contribute to the percentage of letters reflecting that point of view.

            The letters to the editor are actually handled quite fairly. Just keep them to 150 words if you don’t want them edited to death in ways you won’t like and under 200 if you want them published at all. They won’t bother editing down anything much longer than that. Severe self editing is the key to getting published and not much messed with.  

            1. I’ve become spoiled by the ease of posting on a blog where there aren’t any editors to reject our work.

              The downside being there aren’t any editors to filter our lesser efforts 😉

              I’ve often wondered which is more effective — writing for an audience of political geeks and insiders, or to the general public.

              I think you just convinced me that the answer is to reach out to both.

              Guess I’ll have to fire off a few more letters to the Post (while they’re still around), but working harder to keep it concise and to the point.

              Hope you can make the next meet up at Rosa Linda’s on Nov 10th.  You might have missed the invitation.  I’ve got a $100 gift certificate to cover part of the cost.

                1. Nope — open to all.  BC indicated she was out of town, so I didn’t know if she even knew about the meetup.  

                  Separately, I’m underwriting the first $100 for all with the gift certificate I bought a week or so ago.  I have no idea how many may actually show up.  My wife and I spent about $80 yesterday for lunch (with tip), but that included 4 margaritas 😉

                  The menu included entrees ranging from $6 to $12, and a large selection of beers.  So you could get out of there for between $12 to $20 per person.  10 people at $20 would be good business for Rosa Linda’s.

                  The space is very flexible for putting tables together for a variable number of guests.

                    1. Yesterday, they had plenty of open tables.  I made a reservation for 10, just in case.  They have on- and off-street parking.

                      Didn’t realize Gaetano’s is just up the block on Tejon.  A little bit of Denver history, and pretty decent food if I recall (it’s been many years since friends took us there).  

    2. Tipton can be whatever his current interviewers want him to be. He’s a dream of a candidate to handle, because he will spew any line he’s told to.

      Toss red meat to the base? Check. Sound reasonable in Durango or Pueblo, check. Make bipartisan noises to the Toast? Check.

      So when he gets back to DC, he gets his marching orders and steps into line, blissfully unaware it might contradict what he’s been saying before.

      The Denver daily rag should have known better.

    1. be sure and tell them that A-bot and ‘tad can be very obnoxious. But, tell them we won’t let them run out on their tab which is part of the R platform

        3. If today was any indication, we’ll be the only loud, obnoxious ones.  But there should be plenty of room, lots of interesting discussions, and fantastic eats at bargain prices (thus the near-lunchtime, but post-rush time).

          Hope you make the trip up from Somalia Springs!

          Fair warning — the margaritas pack as much punch as the salsas 😉

    2. the candidate, and the platform, not so much.

      to win, keep the focus off the candidate and on the “hope and change.”

      I’m guessing a generic Dem would trounce Romney.  

  11. Racist Republicans (not necessarily redundant, that’s not all of them) are so stupid they don’t even know they’re racist, witnessed by the New Jersey business owner whose store window features a display of the President as a witch doctor.

    “This whole thing started as a statement from an individual voicing his opinion,” Skuby told ABC News during a phone conversation that was briefly interrupted when someone from the street came in to give him a piece of their mind. “Now it has brought total negativity to Spring Lake.”

    He said people have made him out to be a racist because of his anti-Obama display.

    “If you want to call me a racist then go ahead. I can assure you I am not a racist; I just really want to see Obama go.” Skuby said. “This is a good example of where race relations are under this guy’s administration. … This has absolutely nothing to do with race.”

    Skuby said that if Mitt Romney had the same plan as the president; his picture would be in the window.

    Right, Mitt Romney as a witch doctor, that makes sense.  Maybe a Mormon bishop in magic underpants, but really?  The negativity in his town came from outside?  Look in the mirror jackass!

    1. It’s a good example of where race relations are under your own store ownership in Spring Lake. Tend to yourself; the rest of the country has a pretty tough job working it out fore themselves elsewhere under this (decent, hardworking, patriotic) guy’s administration. Hey, here, let me help you with that mote in your eye.

      1. Obama is Caucasian,  

        at least as much as my chirren, whose mother told me tonight were also Caucasian.  

        See, I’m a lifelong learner.  

        For those who haven’t met her, Mrs. BX doesn’t look “white.”  She’s from West of the US.  I think she’s a legal immigrant.  

          1. ….a few years ago say that maybe that birth certificate is valid, but Hawaii isn’t part of the “real” United States.  

            And she has a right to vote…..

    1. The conclusion will be completely lost on the “Born on 3rd base” crowd.

      It is no accident that in America today the gap between the very rich and everyone else is wider than at any time since the Gilded Age. Now, as then, the titans are seeking an even greater political voice to match their economic power.

      Now, as then, the inevitable danger is that they will confuse their own self-interest with the common good. The irony of the political rise of the plutocrats is that, like Venice’s oligarchs, they threaten the system that created them.

  15. COLORADO DISTRICT COURT REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR TRIAL.

    This decision is an immense victory for Colorado PERA retirees.  The General Assembly may not shift taxpayer obligations onto the backs of a small group of elderly PERA retirees.  Since the Colorado political establishment and media do not welcome this ruling, it is not being reported in the press.  (Odd, that the initial district court ruling was trumpeted, is it not?)

    From the saveperacola.com website:

    “We Have A Contract for COLA!!!

    October 13, 2012

    The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that PERA retirees have a contract with PERA that includes their annual benefit increases (aka COLA.) The unanimous court wrote:

    We agree with plaintiffs, subject to certain limitations explained below. Specifically, we conclude that plaintiffs have a contractual right, but that the court must still determine whether any impairment of the right is substantial and, if so, whether the reduction was reasonable and necessary to serve a significant and legitimate public purpose. Therefore, we reverse the summary judgment and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings.

    You may read the 37 page decision at this link:

    http://saveperacola.files.word…

    Plaintiffs will now confer with their attorneys as to how to proceed in the case. While we have won a significant battle, we expect PERA and Colorado to now vigorously defend their claim that there was “actuarial necessity” for reducing the COLA.

    Thank you to the hundreds of donors to Save PERA COLA’s legal fees. We could not have gotten this far without you. We have far to go. If you can, please send another check. Visit our website at

    http://www.SavePERACOLA.com/support.”

    Friend Save Pera Cola on Facebook, visit saveperacola.com, support the rule of law in our excellent state!

  16. “With a wide-ranging geography as well as socio-economic and political demography, the district is best served by those who favor practicality over ideology. By that measure and many others, Sal Pace is well-suited to represent the district in the U.S. House of Representatives.” – The Durango Herald, 10/13/12

    http://www.durangoherald.com/a…

    Wonder how long it will take Arap to jump in with his standard childish reaction.

      1. But I find having people come to my aid with nice big pics as above makes me lazy. Like the 47% except, as I found out when I finished up our taxes in time to make the extension deadline, crappy as things have been we’re still paying actual federal income taxes.  Darn!

        I promise to check and try to do it myself, like a big girl, next time.  

  18. ” What is, in any language, your favorite word”, the President thought a moment and said, “Grace”.

    When asked the same question, Governor Romney immediately replied, “Indomitable”.

    Where have we seen this before…?

    Is this Dubya, reborn? No wonder half his advisors are from Bushes White House. What do you think…Dick Cheney as Sec. of Defense?

    Actually, I kind of wonder what a Rmoney cabinet would look like. It is nearing Halloween. Scary shit is appropriate this time of year.

     

  20. Along with the failure of elites meme, there’s this from Digny:

    Over the past four years or so I’ve been fairly astonished as the willingness of the Masters of the Universe to kill the golden goose. I mean, you don’t have to be an economic genius or a professional historian to see that it’s generally been a bad idea for the wealthy to become so greedy that they create an unstable, unequal society and a stagnant economic system run by inbred bluebloods. But they seem intent upon doing just that.

    http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

    I believe there are important implications for this thesis. It’s fascinating.

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