ryoder

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Posts posted by ryoder

  2. 3 hours ago, wmw999 said:

    I blame wrestling. We need more flying scissor kicks and capes in Congress  

    Wendy P. 

    Maybe we need more professional wrestlers in elected office, e.g. Governor Ventura.

  4. Amazing how the self-labeled "patriots" can't even understand that US has a capitalist economy where prices are set by businesses, and not a command economy where prices are set the government (eg the Soviet Union).

  5. 2 minutes ago, JerryBaumchen said:

    Hi folks,

    Hannity:   trying to “scare” women voters

    Hell yes, women are scared.  And, that is exactly why they are voting to support the right to an abortion.

    Sean Hannity: Democrats trying to ‘scare women’ on abortion | The Hill

    Jerry Baumchen

    Fox News host Sean Hannity accused Democrats of trying to “scare” women voters into thinking Republicans want a nationwide ban on abortion, which he said contributed to GOP losses in Tuesday night’s elections.

    Now where would anyone get that idea?

    AP: GOP’s Graham unveils nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks

    • Like 1

  8. 2 minutes ago, JerryBaumchen said:

    Hi folks,

    Re:  “We have to recognize how much voters mistrust us (meaning elected Republicans) on this issue,” he added.

    Well, it doesn't take a Sherlock to figure that out.

    JD Vance: Ohio’s abortion vote ‘was a gut punch’ | The Hill

    The GOP needs a lot of gut punches.

    Jerry Baumchen

    I'm sure the lesson the GOP will take away from all of this is:

    "The voters can't be trusted to make the correct decisions, therefore we need to stamp out referendums!"

    • Like 4

  11. 7 minutes ago, wolfriverjoe said:

    Not really.

    Poland, Finland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, a host of others.

    Russia has done a lot of nasty things to a lot of different countries and their people.

    I think Afghanistan may also have an opinion on this, even though it was called the Soviet Union at the time.

  16. 24 minutes ago, GeorgiaDon said:

    Maybe I'm being a bit of a conspiracy theorist here, but it occurs to me that authoritarians need someone to use to scare the citizenry.  Hitler had the Jews, Trump has brown people from shithole countries.  If Netanyahu didn't have Hamas he would have had to invent something like them.  Maybe he tolerated Hamas to a degree because they were useful, until they weren't.

    For the extreme right wing in Israel, and really anywhere, the worst thing that could happen would be peace.  No-one to use as a bogey man.

    Exactly. Classic ploy of the wannabe dictator is to find a scapegoat for the sheeple to hate/fear:

    "Those people over there (points to a minority* group) are the source of all your problems! Elect me and I will persecute them to keep you safe!"

    Out lined in this book in 1951: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer

    * Minority can be ethnic/religious/racial/immigrant/etc

     

     

     

  17. 13 minutes ago, Stumpy said:

    There are rational R's?

    Well, fewer and fewer, thanks to the crazies. Just this week, another one threw up his hands and said "The hell with it":

    The Hill: Rep. Ken Buck won’t run for reelection, criticizing GOP’s election denialism

    His district is the sparsely populated Eastern plains of CO. I usually disagreed with his policies, but at least he had policies, and didn't blindly lap up the MAGA cult's bullshit.

  18. · Edited by ryoder

    28 minutes ago, Stumpy said:

    There is also that, leaving santos in place probably does more damage to the R's than the D's

    But in a house so closely divided that every vote counts, it would be nice to have a rational person in that seat...unless the D's just take advantage of the fact he is purely a grifter, and just buy his vote.

  19. 6 minutes ago, Phil1111 said:

    The new US house speaker Johnson is an evangelical christian and as everyone knows they lead politicians in accepting corruption, lies, fraud and general GOP politicking.

    So yesterday the house voted where the issue was expelling Santos.

    No surprise the vote was to keep him in power. In Washington new banana trees were sprouting everywhere.

    A counterpoint I read yesterday: There have been just 2 expulsions over the past century, and both were after conviction.  Scroll down to the table:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_from_the_United_States_Congress

    So to expell him on indictment rather than conviction, would be unusual.

  20. 3 minutes ago, GeorgiaDon said:

    Some of the interviewers I hear on BBC radio are very tough.  They ask pointed questions, and don't accept dissembling answers.  I'd love to hear some of them have a go at our US politicians, but of course our politicians are just barely smart enough to never get caught in that position.

    "BBC HARDtalk" with Stephen Sackur is a great example.

    The local NPR station switches over to BBC News during the night here, and I've heard him grilling the hell out of politicians.

    • Like 1

  23. 4 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

    Any you can vary the risk depending how you place it. Also, like Warren Buffet you pay no gains until you sell. Worrying about capital gains rates as an example of economic disparity is misplaced concern, I think. Better to wonder why huge holdings in stocks, real estate etc. with massive unrealized gains in excess of, say, one billion USD, aren't taxed. 

    Are you aware of the tactic of borrowing money while using appreciated stock as collateral, in order to avoid taxes?

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/09/business/elon-musk-wealth-tesla-stock/index.html

  25. 2 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

    Hi olof,

    I am a proponent of getting rid of all taxes/fees except income tax.  IMO that represents the true ability to pay.

    Jerry Baumchen

    That taxes the legal income, and minimizes the administrative costs.

    But sales tax also gets those with illegal income.

    e.g. the drug kingpin avoids income tax, but he pays a sales tax on his Lamborghini, his Gulfstream, and that yacht.