livendive

Member? Hell, he's probably become a senior advisor to the clergy. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You think that's what they're saying? have a job? How about "Times are tough...let's give you a meaningful tax break so you'll have more money to inject into the economy"? Unfortunately what I'm seeing is "times are tough...let the government save you." Pass. A tax break is no different than handing out a check, with the exception of who gets it. And here's a hint...when the government says they're going to spend x money on projects a, b, and c, they have to hire companies to build that bridge, change out those computers, modernize that building, or clean up that nuclear waste site. A spending bill is all about giving people jobs and getting something in return, as opposed to giving people checks/tax breaks and getting nothing in return. My company does a fair amount of work on federal projects (through other contractors), and with this injection of stimulus funding, we went from down-sizing mode to hiring mode...albeit with lots of strings attached so that we can demonstrate exactly how those dollars get spent. There's gonna be an entire cottage industry springing up to track & report the spending of this stimulus money, probably too much red tape, but at least this money IS going to create jobs at a time when they were going away. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Actually I'd prefer they hand me a check to spend as I see fit. Think that would stimulate the economy? Oh wait...gotta figure out what to do with me $13 when I get it. Oddly enough, I never picked you as an advocate for welfare. Personally, I'd rather pay people to do something that's for the common good than simply give them a check for nothing. It's your and my tax dollars being spent...shouldn't we get something for them? Blues, Dave Nice try. That's our money...we paid it (or will). And what is it you think we're going to 'get'. Hardly welfare. If the government says, "Hey, times are tough, here...have a check", that's welfare in my book. I'd most prefer that they stay out of the spending thing altogether, but if they must, I find "Hey, times are tough, here...have a job" much more palatable. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Actually I'd prefer they hand me a check to spend as I see fit. Think that would stimulate the economy? Oh wait...gotta figure out what to do with me $13 when I get it. Oddly enough, I never picked you as an advocate for welfare. Personally, I'd rather pay people to do something that's for the common good than simply give them a check for nothing. It's your and my tax dollars being spent...shouldn't we get something for them? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Do you have any idea what is involved in spending this kind of money? Would you prefer the government just hand huge checks to a bunch of companies with an order to "Do, umm, something with it"? That would be the GWB model for contracting. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You should wear that fat elvis suit when you meet him for the pre-op, and tell him you'll only destroy it if the surgery works. Hope this cuts down on the owies. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That, and liars. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If the GOP was actually the party of fiscal conservatism and individual responsibility, they'd get far more of my votes than the Dems. However I've yet to see them actually demonstrate that they stand for such things. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

In my side business (skydiving school), I pay B&O tax on 100% of gross receipts. The money that I pass on to contractors is also subject to B&O tax on their gross, as well as income tax on their net. There is most certainly double-taxation going on with taxes being charged for transactions that only include money being transferred from one individual/entity to another. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Congrats, and welcome to the world of always flying "on the fly". Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

is this the same simple economics that didn't predict the credit crunch and depression? mmmmmm..... You're the one who suggest doubling the minimum wage. It's another tax on small business, the largest employer. How about we wait and see how well the health care proposal works, along with the bailouts, and the failure of GM and AIG, the tanking market, and the new taxes on those evil people who make over 250K before we go so far off track we can't find our way back. Somewhat off the subject, but I think that the whole minimum wage issue is just one front in a seldom discussed but rampant class warfare in the US. The poor and working class rail about the evil corporations while the better off (especially those with an (r) next to their name) are opposed to both mandated living wages and increased welfare. If a young woman is working full-time at minimum wage, she’s not going to be able to support herself. If she marries or otherwise cohabitates with another young person who is also working full-time for minimum wage, they might be able to make ends meet, but just barely. Throw a baby into the mix, and there’s gonna be some welfare brought into the discussion, raising cackles of a different nature. Sure, it’d be possible for one to babysit while the other works dayshift, and then the other babysit while the first works graves, but that’s going to be the exception not the rule. I’d like to believe that at some point, the union type folks will accept that their employers deserve to lead a more comfortable life due to their extra efforts, talents, and/or investments, and the business owners will understand that it’s better for everyone if they pay all full-time employees at least enough to live on, but I don’t suspect either of these will actually come to pass in my lifetime. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm with Gawain on this one. Let them fail, restructure, and try to come back stronger. If they're unviable, I certainly don't want to throw good money after bad. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think I may have found the point of confusion. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So what happened to the size of our government between 2001 and 2007, when the so called "conservative" party had the white house and congress? Which party is in bed with the religious folks who want to criminalize drugs, porn, and abortion? Which party supports greater governmental power in the form of warrantless wiretaps, DUI checkpoints, etc? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Bah...you're just afraid to admit that a sizable portion of those 60% now consider the Democrats to be less liberal than the Republicans. Personally, I'd call myself somewhat conservative (moderate on some issues, quite conservative on others). I also voted for Obama. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Rush doesn't lead the conservatives, he leads those who live soundbite to soundbite. Those who think for themselves recognize him for what he is, an entertaining blowhard. The same is true of Coulter and Franken. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That page is blocked at my work, so I don't know what the fuss is about. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm very concerned about the future of my country and the direction the dems are taking. I guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we. It may be a wrong direction, but at least it's a different wrong direction. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So you want all this spending to be for naught? Personally, I hope that since we're spending the money anyhow, we at least get what we're hoping for out of it. If you want this to fail, it means you want that money to be a complete waste. Maybe try to put America ahead of political points next time. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That's definitely crossed my mind, too. The problem for President Obama is that he labeled his administration the 'New Era of Responsibility.' You could make a pretty convincing argument that these back taxes are honest mistakes, but it's also a very large PR problem with repeated appointee issues like this. That was kind of my thought. There was one in particular that I thought seemed like an easily made honest mistake...whoever the guy was who checked his maid's papers but didn't notice they lapsed for a couple weeks or something like that, and then were renewed. He had some oddball earnings that he thought he'd payed the taxes on, and when I put myself in his shoes, I'd have thought so too. But collectively, there are just too many of these coming to light and it looks bad. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hey one of those rare dates, that not even people on the other side of the Atlantic can mess up - dd-mm-yy I wouldn't call 12 dates a year particularly rare. And in any case, I only do that for other people. In my personal and small business accounting, I use the only logical format, YY(YY)-MM-DD. Blues, Dave The hyphens are superfluous. YYYYMMDD You're absolutely correct, and I'm not sure why I put them in my post, as I don't anywhere else. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hey one of those rare dates, that not even people on the other side of the Atlantic can mess up - dd-mm-yy I wouldn't call 12 dates a year particularly rare. And in any case, I only do that for other people. In my personal and small business accounting, I use the only logical format, YY(YY)-MM-DD. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So what happened in September 01 was Clinton's fault, not Bush's, but what happened in February 09 was Obama's fault, not Bush's? Got it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Not only that, but today is Square Root Day (03-03-09)...yippeee! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

In an attempt to find something positive about this, is it possible that this is typical behavior among political appointees and we're just getting better at scrutinizing them? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)