Guard Dog

I'm willing to concede the lassiez-faire, libertarian argument has been lost for good and all.

@Gorgon & Morgoth: How do you figure? I said reasonable cuts, not total cuts. Runaway entitlement spending is the biggest share of our problem now. @Malcador: Yes 15% on everyone who earns an income. 40-50% of Americans pay no federal taxes now. Typically they are the ones who benefit most from the "Social Programs" it is only fair they should help pay for it. Just as an example there is a big controversy in Florida right now. Public school teachers are now being asked to pay part of their salary towards their retirement. Just 3% and the State pays the rest. They are stamping their feet and screaming like a bunch of spoiled six year olds about it too. God forbid they have to pay part of their retirement LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE IN FLORIDA. Our biggest problem is that so many people have been getting handouts now they never consider that the cost of those handouts is being borne by someone else. I think it's only fair that everyone pay.

Congrats Krez. Woke to the sound of a loud crash at 3 AM. Coyotes had knocked over the gril.... again. Actually I had not heard or seen hide nor hair of them since the flood. As aggravating as they are, I was sort of glad to see they are ok. There were four of them on my porch.

Um, ratings downgrades mean higher borrowing costs - which is something that will have a tangible impact on all Americans. This isn't some non-issue the media is hyping up (OK, so they probably ARE hyping it up). This is exactly the concern. Although looking at other nations this has happened to it is not a sure thing interest rates will go up. They have significantly in some places but only a little in others. The real question is "how much?". The cost of borrowing in the US is certainly going to go up and that will have a depressing effect on an already weak economy and it will hit the consumer. But if it only increases a little it may be just a speed bump, not a wall. I know the powers that be are clamoring for tax increases on the "wealthy" but the truth is the top three income brackets are paying 95% of the taxes now. What they should do is dump the current tax code and create a 15% flat tax that EVERYONE pays. No deductions, no write offs, no credits. If you earned one dollar or a billion your tax will be 15%. Do that, eliminate capital gains taxes (which essentially punishes investors for investing wisely) and our problems are solved inside of five years with some reasonable cuts to defense spending foreign aid, social welfare, etc. Pigs will fly first I'm afraid. They will raise capital gains taxes which will cause fewer investors to put their money into stocks, make people less likely to sell their homes (which won't matter I guess if interest rates climb no one could afford to buy them anyway) and send more investors overseas. They will increase corporate taxes which will send more jobs to Mexico and China. And they will raise income tax which will mean less consumer spending which is the engine that drives the whole thing. I think it was Winston Churchill who said "Americans will always do the right thing, but only after they have tried everything else." I just hope there is something left once we have tried everything else.

S&P Downgrades US credit for the first time...ever. And Obama wants to introduce new spending measures next week including a new round of "Quantative Easing" which is political speak for "Print more money and spend it". And the collapse is comng closer. Tick tock tick tock. As I sit here drinking my fine Kentucky bourbon I find myself thinking of a fateful October Thursday in 1929. I also find myself thinking of the words of Abraham Lincoln "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

I actually agree with you here. It would be foolish in the extreme not to make some preperations to that end. I've cleared parts of my property to get two vegtable gardens going (even if the world does not collapse I still am trying to grow the perfect tomato) and I do have a pretty big store of canned and dry goods. Plus I have around 5000 rounds of ammo for my firearms. I live literally right next to a small river and less than a mile from a big one. An the Hatchee wildlife management area is just a few hundred yards from my back door. If I could just learn how to make moonshine I'd be totally self sufficient.

Aha, remember Gorgon, we are just talking about Federal tax here. Most states also charge an income tax, ususally between 3-10%, sales tax on all transactions ($.03-$.10 on the dollar), property is taxed by state and municipalities, services are taxed like cable and cell and home phone service, etc. The actual tax burden on the American tax payer is a lot more than just what income tax bracket they fall in. In some states like California and New York the aggregate exceeds 60% for middle income families. And yet these states are still failing financially. Go figure.

Raising taxes means less revenue for business and consumers. If I have less money I will buy less stuff. If I buy less stuff the companies and retailers I buy from earn less, and on top of that their if operating costs went up because of a tax increase it's doubly bad for them. If a business has it's operating costs increase it will raise the price of it's product if possible, or retrench (meaning fire employees) if they can't. Those employees were tax payers while they were employed, now they are not. Raising taxes does increase revenue in the short term up to a point. But it becomes self defeating real quick. It's called the Laffer Curve and it's been around for a long time. There is a great quote attributed to Winston Churchill "For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to lift himself up by the handle.".

You're confusing your terms there somewhat. U.S. aggregate debt is around 100% of GDP. "Borrowing" usually refers to the annual fiscal shortfall-- the difference between what the government takes in and what it spends. It's something of a "no duh" point that total debt is higher than it was during the Bush years-- every year the government doesn't run a surplus, it goes up. And there haven't been any surplusses since right around the first round of Bush tax cuts. As for how the Obama folks are handling fiscal and economic matters, generally, I can't say I'm pleased. But the chief problem is that, when push comes to shove, they're basically acting as a 3rd term of GWB would. (Which, in hindsight, should've been obvious when they named their Treasury Secretary.) Instead of making a serious attempt at fixing the Wall Street issues that brought things down in '08, they've stuck with the bankers and tried to re-inflate the debt bubble that popped (debt, in this context, referring to corporate and consumer debt). For all the complaining, the Dodd-Frank Act was a half-hearted wave in the direction of "reform"-- there was a moment where it was possible to do something useful, and they let it pass. That said, the government is in a bind right now, as there really aren't any good options (and haven't been since the '08 crash became inevitable around '05 or '06). Increasing federal debt will hurt the economy. Raising taxes will hurt the economy. Cutting spending will hurt the economy. Letting the Fed quietly inflate the dollar to reduce the real value of the nation's debts will hurt the economy. It's a question more of relative efficacy of these options and of whose ox gets gored. As I've said before, America is looking somewhat screwed over the course of the next decade-- we'll end this with a lower standard of living than we started with. But the rest of the developed world is looking more screwed. The dollar may end up being worth $0.30, but everything else will be worth $0.10. Where do you think the value of real commodities like gold end up? That is a subject near and dear to my heart because contrary to all the advice I've gotten over the years I really do have all my eggs in that one basket. But so far it's been a good basket to be in. I don't like the fact that I am essentially betting on the US economy to wreck but that has been happening in slow motion for the past four or five years and it seems the political leaders do not have the will to stop it.

Volunteer fire department? It might just be my imagination, but you've seemed more grumpy than usual lately. EA not the career move you'd hoped for? Nothing like that. I've had an awesome time at EA, but hey've a habit of hiring people as contractors, and my contract was due to end at a time of year which one does not wish to find themselves unemployed. I'd decided I'd start looking for a new job in August unless something was decided upon, my manager said there was a 75% chance of renewal but there wasn't much he could do other than say "Keep this guy". I'd decided I begin looking in August for something else, it took me about a day, which is far quicker than I expected. I was offered my new job, on the spot, which was a massive shock. Well that and I'm beginning something indie which I am hoping everyone here is going to love. So yeah, watch this space . I'll buy it.

This just in, US borrowing has now reached 100% of the GDP. Note, that is not spending, that is just borrowing. When Obama took office it was arounf 70% or thereabouts. Oh, and by the way the stock market took a billion dollar plunge today. Now that miserable keynsian SOB of a President wants to raise taxes hoping that will increase revenues, heedless of how higher taxes depress economic growth. Not that there is any of that to speak of. He's putting the pedal to the metal with the edge of the cliff in sight. This is why I got out of the stock market all together and started buying gold when it looked like he was going to get elected. I started buying when it was just shy of $900/oz. Today it is $1654 and predicted to hit $2k by years end. It seems a lot of folks do not expect the dollar to be worth a rats turd by the end of his administration. Actually, I don't know why I hate him so much, his incompetence is making me a fortune. To quote Krez, Australia & Germany do look like better investments for business because they are not hell bent on self destruction. http://news.yahoo.com/us-aaa-rating-still-...-204040123.html

indeed. might be worth looking into just how much the fed has contributed to things like roads (huge) and state prisons and law enforcement (substantial) ... though am gonna admit that we believe that dog-catchers is likely 100% local. oh, and as much as we has problems with the method in which "social welfare" programs is administered, an insurmountable problem regarding any major overhaul o' such programs is the fact that near 50% of all such disbursements is going to aid children. is not practical or politic to be taking every "welfare" kid away from their parent's custody, but then how else does one gets monies to needy children? is not so simple as you might believe to sever fed from state where it relates it basic infrastructure spending. am not always a huge fan regarding the manner in which the fed handles many programs, but typically there ain't no easy solutions... "just stop spending for _______ ," is hardly a viable alternative in virtual all cases, and rarely is the mistakes being made the result o' corruption and evil. HA! Good Fun! ps am guessing that gd ain't a fan o' fed health care spending. well neither is Gromnir. however, at this point you gots serious problems extricating the fed, especially in a time when the economy is working towards recovery. the fed is not like other business, but one thing that is common is that for big and small, private and fed, the easiest way to cut spending is to cut employees. so, reduce services and employment. No you are right. Much as I might wish otherwise we cannot get the genie back into the bottle. The best we can hope for is to delay the inevitable for as long as possible, but with the understanding that collapse is inevitable.

Well, I've demonstrated my self control by laying off for a while. I may have to demonstrate my wisdom by having one or two tonight. I don't have any booze in the house so I'll probably just stop my the VFW on the way home. Of course the downside of the VFW is there are no women there. But it is just 10 min from my house.

I broke my mouse on my work PC today. I think the stress is getting to me. I have no girlfriend at the moment so sex is out, I haven't had a drink in weeks, and with the hours I've been working (146 in the last 13 days) I have not had time to do any kind of workout lately. Something has got to give!

Just to interject here. Most of you know where I stand on this stuff. Government is necessary and not an evil thing so long as it remains within it's boundries. It begins to get into trouble when it gets it's hands into things beyond it's scope, like health care, social welfare, etc. The issue really is that it is not capable of doing them well and the cost of doing them poorly is ruineous which I doubt anyone will disagree with. But many of you are using that old tired straw man on WoD here. By arguing against government you are saying he is against roads, fire departments, etc. We have different levels of governments here in the US. The FEDERAL government is the one in a debt crisis right now. FEDERAL requirements on state spending is causing many state governments to founder. The FEDERAL government does not pay for fire, police, roads, dog-catchers, life guards, etc. State and local governments do for the most part. Complaining about run away federal spending is not complaining about the existence of basic social sevices. Lets keep the ball on the court here.

Is it true they are dropping Crasters part all together? HBO objected to the child sacrifice and copious inbreeding I heard?

Cut the grass, trimmed the trees, cut the bushes, cleared the branches and debris from the stream and fixed the roof on the gazebo. Now I'm going to play Empire TW. Wals post the other day reminded me that I have yet to win as the Russians.

Outside the US I'd have to say Taegu is the RoK is my favorite. In the US you can't beat Honolulu, actually all of Oahu is great. San Diego, and Bozeman Montana, and the Tampa Bay area (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Clearwater) are all tied for second in my book. The only European city I've ever been to is Frankfurt and I was only there overnight so I really could not say how I like it. It looked nice from the air. I'd love to see London, Rome, and Ireland (all of it) someday. I've been to many cities in Asia, Japan and the Philippenes but I can't honestly say I loved any of them except Hiji in Okinawa but it is not really a city. Tokyo is a sight to see for sure but it was WAY too big and hectic for me. And expensive in the extreme. Of course the exchange rate was lousy then and I was in the military so I did not have a lot of money. I've been to two small cities in Saudi Arabia and a few in Kuwait including Kuwait City bit it was not a good time for them if you know what I mean.

I read all four of GRRMs ASoIaF books back to back to refresh for Dance of Dragons. Ugh... no more. It's like eating too much macaroni & cheese. Instead of Dance I started reading Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller.

Are you missing Game Stop yet? The pay was probably the same but I'm sure the clientele was better.

Speaking only for myself I would not buy US Bonds right now if they took dried coyote poop as payment. But it is not because of the current "crisis" which as Enoch correctly points out is a made-up political theatre event. No I am convinced the US will without question spend itself into insolvency at some point in the not too distant future but it will not be next week. Right now the only investments I think are safe is real estate (which is never the wrong way to go) and commodities. But real commodities are over priced right now so be ready to sell before everyone realizes the world is not ending.

The sum of which will likely be a fair bit less than you were paying in NZ. Unless you end up in California or New York. In which case just drop your shorts, bend over and grab your ankles.

Ah Canadians are all right. I feel sorry for them actually. When sliding rocks on ice into red circles become a sport you know they are bored out of their minds. Besides without Canada where would we get Molson Canadian?

I don't think your wife would go for Alberta after living in CA. Not that the bay area is the warmest part of the state. It was not an actual job offer with salary and stuff spelled out. It was just a conversation to gage my interest. Which, nothing against Canada, is zero. The only move I would consider now is to Colorado, Wyoming or Montana. Somewhere where real estate is cheap. Oh an you were right they do have baseball. Indy league : http://www.capsbaseball.ca/

Good News: I was offered a job for more money today. Bad News: It's in Edmonton. I did not want to move to Virginia for more money because is was such a hassle. Edmonton is 5X the hassle. Reasons why I don't want to move to Edmonton: 1) It gets really, really cold there. 2) I understand it's pretty expensive. 3) No baseball? Something wrong with that. 4) Why the hell do Canadians have a 55 yard line on their football fields? WTF! 5) Dosen't Volo live somewhere around there? 6) Taxes 7) I don't think I've ever met a Canadian woman. Are there women in Canada? 8 ) Bears 9) I heard it gets pretty cold there. 10) Oh yeah, the cold weather. On the upside at least I would not have to learn a new language. Not like moving to Alabama. Anyway I told them thanks but no thanks. I like it here in Memphis. Except for the crime, flooding, plummeting property values, bugs, traffic. But hey at least there are no bears.