TheAnvil

I've voted in every election since I've been eligible. I voted for GWB and don't regret it one damned bit. Voted for McCain in the 2000 primary. I voted for him again in this election. Proudly.

I like merit pay.

No shit. Anybody who follows politics should have predicted this. Their leftist tilt has been more despicable than ever during this election cycle. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I'm going to headbutt your kneecaps. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

LMFAO. Biden handled that interview fairly well by dodging the questions. Marxist those comments are indeed. Now - just think if the media treated the democrats as graciously as Charlie Gibson treated Sarah Palin. All of the time. They really wouldn't like it then. LMFAO Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I disagree. They ARE possible. It will just take some very, very courageous politicians to do that. Congressional retirement system is another thing to cut immediately. Cut the retirement benefit by 50% at least. It's an obscenity. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

You're not even on the same order of magnitude when comparing the two. Do a bit of research.

Cost of alcohol to the health care system/industry as compared to that of smoking is not even close. Not by a long shot.

My dear Kallend! You clearly misunderstood my previous query. Vice tell me what entitlement programs you would be willing to place on the table for reduction, you've queried others! I'll assume you've no answer to my question and therefore no credibility when speaking of the deficit issue. Though I suppose asking others for help IS a good thing to do when you haven't a clue as to how to proceed. Not to worry. The SEXYAnvil is here to give you a few suggestions. The things below are just a starting point. There are so many things that could and should be done to get us on the path to solvency it would take a massive amount of time to detail it - far more than a jet lagged Vinny is willing to spend. Without further adieu, a few things that should be examined: First and foremost - cuts in entitlement programs alone will not solve the root issue, which is the fact that we're broke and expending more funds than we take in every year. It is a multi-faceted problem and therefore a multi-faceted approach is required. The following would serve as a basis for a plan, that would undoubtedly be refined a bit. FACET 1: Discretionary Spending. This must be capped and reduced. In addition, its focus should be shifted from DoD to DoT/DoI/DoE and a parity of sorts between departments should be reached. This should be reduced in magnitude by ten percent (minimum). FACET 2: Entitlement Spending. I'll spend a bit more time here, as this is by far the greatest driver in the budget deficit. a) Repeal GWB's prescription drug program. Too expensive. b) The new GI Bill. Officers should be excluded from this completely. Housing subsidy should be eliminated. c) SS is untenable as a system. Treating everyone equally is goat-fuck stupid, as the poverty level differs massively. This would take a thesis to describe. Suffice it to say that reform is needed, and those who buy their votes by promising more government benefits have no credibility when it comes to reforming this system. d) Medicare. Same as SS. MASSIVE reform needed. A few things that should be done immediately: -Smokers should have an immediate $50 premium in FY09 $ added to every lung-related visit. This premium should be indexed to inflation and increased appropriately. - Smokers should pay for smoking related illness treatment. Payment plan should include a premium. - Alcoholism related illnesses should be aid for as well. Just like smokers. Your choice to smoke/drink; your choice should NOT screw others over. e) Farm subsidies. Phased out to zero over a five-ten year period. Tax breaks for soybean oil production ISO biodiesel should be concurrent with this. FACET 3: Government Accounting. Time to face reality. Debt held by the anyone is debt. Bonds issued to yourself are NOT assets...they are debits and should be treated as such. FACET 4: Taxes. Ooooh. Tough issue. See, my dear Kallend. I SUPPORT some tax increases. I really support a national retail sales tax in conjunction with a flat income tax, but that wouldn't happen anytime soon. The following should be simple to implement quickly until the more preferred system could be put in place. a) Excise taxes. - Increase tax on cigarettes in $1/pack increments every year over a ten year period. - Federal alcohol tax of 0.1%-1.0% on top of other taxes. Yes, it will hurt me. I don't like it, but I would go for it. b) Income tax. - Reduce the captial gains tax rate. Encourage investment - DO NOT PUNISH ACHIEVEMENT c) Corporate taxes. - Eliminate taxes on profits earned abroad. Absolutely fucking stupid. - Reduce the corporate tax rate. Encouraging corporations to locate outside of the US in a flat-world environment via a draconian tax code is goat-fuck stupid. FACET 5: REGULATION - Repeal the law allowing bucket shops (credit default swaps) that was passed in FY2000. - Re-examine SOX. Its draconian accounting requirements have increased the cost of accounting for American corporations. Guess who's absorbing those costs - consumers and employees. Many other facets. This would be a good starting point, though. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Hell yes! Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Glad these two fucktards were caught. I don't think they had a chance in hell at assassinating Obama. Far too fucking stupid to pull off something like that. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I read the Economist every week - and mostly ignore Lexington. Great magazine on the whole, however. And Vinny the dumbass forgot his issue at home. Should have snagged one at the airport. Dammit. Borders, here I come!

As I said - I would have everything up on the table. All you can come up with from entitlements is an immediate cut in farm subsidies? Ha! Shows you're not serious. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

so you're unwilling to even start, eh? As I suspected... Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Tolerance in the SC...I don't think it's here for myriad reasons. Internet forums are pretty hilarious in general. It's a place to banter about and play - on occasion almost intellectually. This is supposed to be fun. A fun sort of intolerance, one might say. I have fun anyway - not a lot of thought required and it's interesting banter. Hell, I turned one thread in here into a training topic. Transcribed it and deleted out the names (except for mine) to protect the innocent. Everyone got a huge kick out of it - it was pretty fucking hilarious. I like a couple of the people I banter with in here quite a bit in real life, though we disagree on most things politically. Don't know many people I don't like, truth be told - there are some. If I disagree with someone politically, I can still be happy for them and sad for the country if things go their way. Really fucking sad for the country in many cases. Just because somebody disagrees with you politically doesn't mean you can't be their friend. One of my best friends is an affirmative action supporting democrat - and you should hear us argue in person. Especially after a six pack or three. LMFAO. Need to call his dumb ass when I'm on the East coast tomorrow night, come to think of it. Politics and discussion upon it can be fun and have venom at the same time. I think its when venom is over-used and used maliciously that it becomes no fun. In the '02, '04, and '06 election cycles the discourse in here ramped up in venom-level and then ramped back down after the elections. This cycle seems no worse than any of them - a bit milder in many regards, though some in particular have been a bit more pointed and venomous than usual. Others less. I always exit the forum - or any other one - with a smile.

'tis indeed. You could begin it with your recommendations for reductions in entitlement programs and agreement that everything should be on the table for elimination or reduction. But we all know you won't do that - at least not in a serious manner.

LMFAO. Good job, Randy!

So the #'s aren't really that telling at all then, given the small magnitude of people who have decided to contribute. The military makes up only a small portion of total federal employees. Too bad it's often the most politicized portion when speaking of elections. I do not like the political ball that military benefits & pay have become at all, truth be told. Makes me think of the Janissaries sometimes - in a very abstract way; we're nowhere near that, but it still comes to mind sometimes when pay & benefits issues come into the common discourse. Morons come out of the woodwork to attack anyone that doesn't support any increase in benefits or pay, regardless of structure or budgetary implications. That is not a good atmosphere for intelligent discussion. DoD plays an overly dominant role within the executive branch. I'd like to see Interior and Energy take the dominant roles along with Transportation. A balance approaching parity between departments would be a great thing for the country I believe.

They do that even when they're not angry.

Bah. If the demoKKKrats win, then I'm happy for them, but sorry for the country. I think the leftists will be so fucking angry if they lose it won't even be funny. They're expecting a victory and if they don't get it, get ready for the anger. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Interesting. And if you have those #'s available, then you should be able to tell us how many members of the military contributed to either campaign and show what percentage of the military contributed $$ to either.

Cutting spending would be a good thing, but if you'd look at the budget and see the overall $ amount spent on maintaining overseas bases - even add in the MPN$ associated with that - I think you'd be surprised at the percentages you'd get. Discretionary and entitlement spending in other areas would be a much, much easier thing to target. I wouldn't disagree with you that overseas bases should be on the table for elimination/reduction. I think EVERYTHING should be on the table, as it's time to face reality.

I think the current Congress has done a horrible job. PLEASE vote for a Republican. ESPECIALLY if the incumbent is a democrat. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Bill's correct. The involvement will continue even if we withdrew our military completely. Economic fundamentals mandate it. Shutting down our overseas bases would be a bad thing in many cases, good thing in many others. Case by case analysis would be required.

I don't think so. A few people left in disgust under Clinton - emphasis on the few. Many people leave in disgust for many other reasons not related to politics, but at the service they served itself. Many more leave because they don't like the lifestyle or wish to do other things in life. Many choose to stay. The military is a microcosm of society as a whole and there are more Obama supporters in the military than many believe. As a whole, I'd normally put the military (gut feel) at about 75/25 Republican Democrat. I'd say the # is going to be 60/40 for McCain/Obama - gut feel again.