TomAiello

Truthfully, a very good argument can be made that those with more wealth are actually wealthy because they benefit society more, not the other way around. Leaving aside the example of Justin Timberlake, do you really think you've done more for people than Dave Matthews? His music has spoken to millions of people. What have you or I done that's touched even a fraction so many? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Moderation has nothing to do with personal posting. Being a moderator makes him no more or less likely to respond to your question. In answer to your question: Justin Timberlake owes the American people a big, fat apology for inflicting that "music" on us. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

"Of all the sexual aberrations, the most peculiar is chastity." - Gennifer Flowers -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I understand the NHS had to revoke their immortality clause, as it was causing excessive cost over-runs. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I actually heard an interview with Rahm Emmanuel on NPR yesterday, in which he attacked the CBO as "partisan," so I guess that's already started. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, from a lobby-watching perspective, it was pretty interesting stuff. I was pretty shocked that, despite the widely publicized "swing to the left" in the last electoral cycle, 58 Senators voted in favor of this. I'd have thought the number would be a lot lower. Given the vote count on this, I think that the President is going to have a lot of trouble meeting his campaign promise of renewing the old AWB. I'm pretty pleased about that. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've got a lot of mixed feelings about this. I don't think the bill ought to be necessary, to begin with. If a state issues a permit to carry without restriction, the Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause means that permit is valid nationwide. I'm concerned about the federal government claiming the power to push the states around by specific act, because I think the feds are already way over-powerful in the state-fed balance. I'd love to see carry permits honored nationwide. I guess as a political compromise, I'd support this, but I can see several other ways of achieving this end (a SCOTUS decision enforcing FFC for CCW permits, for example) that I'd prefer. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

so you're not an astronaut

Because it's in her body. I do think that she ought to talk with him about things, and they should try to come to a conclusion together. But when push comes to shove (like when the law gets involved) it's got to be her decision, just because the impact on her, directly, is so much larger, and because there is no way for her to reduce her involvement. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why are we letting those insurance companies dictate the shape of the "reform" to benefit themselves?

Honestly, I think they're going to screw this up, too. Did you see that Oakland had revamped it's tax rates to increase the business tax on Medical Marijuana dispensaries by an order of magnitude (from less than 2 bucks per thousand in sales to more than 20)? And that's not including the sales tax. Differential taxation based on your personal morals is ridiculous. Look at how people are smuggling cigarettes already because of the punitive taxes on them, it seems like a huge mistake to push marijuana into that realm, too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Enough already. Please review the Forum Rules, specifically: 1. No Personal Attacks. I've banned you from this forum for 14 days. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It would certainly help. The private school I'd like to enroll my daughter in costs about $4000/yr. If I got back half my property tax as an educational voucher, that would come pretty close to covering the tuition. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What is your definition of rich?

I would say that greed, deregulation, and dishonest executives played a MUCH larger role. I'd say that government regulation, done to benefit whoever spends the most on lobbyists, has played a much large role. The best way to eliminate that sort of bias (toward the best paid lobbyists) is to reduce the role of government--not to massively increase it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It is the height of arrogance to assume that someone who studies something in an academic sense is going to know more about it than someone who actually works with it day in and day out. "Them po' dumb docters...they don't know nuthin' 'bout no healthy care...they needs us to tell them how it goes..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why couldn't we trade him for someone good?

Imagine if I wanted to buy a rifle that cost $10,000. Would you argue that firearms were incredibly expensive, and that my 2nd Amendment rights were being infringed? Or would you argue that I ought to just buy a cheaper gun for $400, instead? What if the gun lobby had convinced Congress to pass a law outlawing any weapon that cost less than $10,000. And now they had a bill up for vote that would require every American to purchase a gun? Sounds pretty silly when you substitute guns for healthcare, doesn't it? Make you think that maybe the regulations driving the cost of guns up might be the problem? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If the reason that guns were so expensive was government action, then I could see the argument that the government was infringing that right. In that case, I'd want the government to stop it's interference, so that I could purchase a gun at a realistic market value I don't, however, think that the government needs to subsidize every firearm on the market, to reduce the cost to a level that I'd view as "affordable" (to me). It seems perfectly reasonable that I'd have to pay the true cost of producing the firearm in question, should I wish to possess it. Sure. And insofar as a the government is making healthcare more expensive (which it is), I'm willing to agree with you there, too. The government should not be taking action to make healthcare more expensive. It should get out of the way and allow me to purchase healthcare at a realistic market value. And that argument does have some meat to it. Healthcare in this country is definitely made more expensive by government intervention. Every new set of regulations is that much more office work that has to be paid for out of your healthcare dollar. Some will argue that the regulations are worth the cost, and that we ought to allow them. Others (like you, I assume) will argue that affordability is everything, and that we ought to slash the bureaucracy to bring price levels down. Unfortunately, special interests (like the insurance industry) have a powerful lobby, and will tend to push for more rules and regulations. For example, in the latest house bill, the insurance companies lobbied (successfully) for the inclusion of a clause that would require every American to purchase their products, or face punitive taxation. Now that's an effective special interest lobby. Imagine if the NRA managed to get a law passed that said every American had to purchase a firearm, or face government sanction. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think we all do have the ability to earn enough money to support ourselves, though. That's a long ways short of being President, or an astronaut. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Purely curiosity-I'm trying to figure out where you are coming from. What do you do for a living? He already stated that he's currently unemployed, and a student. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Not really. To have the government spend money, it has to get that money somewhere. It currently gets that money by confiscating the earnings of citizens (essentially forcing them to perform uncompensated labor on it's behalf). In essence, the government is taking the uncompensated labor it forces from others, and using it for your benefit (to purchase your $200k operation). That's not very different from forcing someone to grow cotton so that you can sell it to fund your operation. In both cases, someone is being forced to surrender the fruits of their labor to benefit another. Not true. If our government spends the $200k on your procedure, it, by definition, does not have the $200k to spend on something else, like feeding the hungry (or the government program of your choice). Real choices have to be made about how to spend the money. Simply saying that a single human life is at stake doesn't change the choices--there may very well be human lives at stake in the other options, too. Here's the thing. A right is something you are allowed to do for yourself. It's not something you demand from someone else. You have a right to own a gun. You do not have a right to make the government purchase one for you. You have a right to free speech. You do not have a right to be provided pen and paper (or television time, or a computer) to promote your views. You have a right to freedom of the press. You do not have a right to be given a newspaper of your very own at taxpayer expense. You have a right to contract for healthcare services. You do not have a right to have services provided to you. A right is the freedom to do something--it's not a material good (or service) that is provided to you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

He's talking about the USPA. Don't worry if you don't get it--you're not missing anything. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Once again out of curiosity-in what other instance is a person afforded no rights when they hold liability? Payment of taxes? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Excellent. I can't wait for him to come out with a how to video on the bat'leth. I can just see him swinging it around and yelling "crap! crap! craptastic!" -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com