TomAiello

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Everything posted by TomAiello

  1. TomAiello
    Especially the largest, and most powerful health insurance payer in the nation. You know, the one that makes more than half of all healthcare expenditures? The one that's so powerful it sets the rates and forces every other insurance company (and hospital, and doctor) to follow them? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  2. TomAiello
    Who cares who's fault it is? Let's stop pointing fingers and start solving the problem (instead of making it worse). Since 1980, the best we've been able to do is "go into debt slower" with Clinton. The last time we actually paid down federal debt, Harry Truman was in the white house. Despite one party or the other trying to claim the issue, or blame the opposition, this isn't a party-specific issue. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  3. TomAiello
    I'd love to see the numbers, adjusted for other taxes, preferably breaking down sales taxes, property taxes and "other" taxes (as well as state and federal income taxes). Do you happen to have them, or know where they could be found? I initiated the "sub-discussion" in post #41 of this thread with the post: -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  4. TomAiello
    Again, the USA is a Republic. Our elected leaders are sworn to uphold the Constitution, and it's up to SCOTUS to see that they do. That stopped working when FDR took over, and it's been going down hill since. On this issue (taxation), the republic may actually be less effective than a democracy, because it's possible to take the cash from the public coffers and pay off a (relatively small) number of representatives, instead of having to pay off a (relatively large) number of direct voters. Broadly, the problem that Adam outlined (the majority can always vote to take away the property of the minority) is still present, whether the system is a republic or a democracy (honestly, I've got my doubts that it's either at present--more like an oligarchy). Regardless, I concur that the framework of the Republic is hardly being respected by the government, or by the people, now or at any time in the past 100 years or so. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  5. TomAiello
    Is it killing you that the more interviews she has, the more and more she's trying to sound like Roberts, Thomas and Scalia? She was obviously extremely well prepped, and is saying pretty much exactly what she thinks people want to hear in order to confirm her. Whether she actually believes those things, or will act like that once on the court, I have my doubts. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  6. TomAiello
    While I don't agree with your underlying idea, it's interesting to note that we're probably reaching the point of technological development where large scale direct democracy might actually be practical. On the broader point, I'm very skeptical. Watching some of the absurdity that democracies get up to, I'm less and less in favor of democracy every year. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  7. TomAiello
    I don't think we should have a position. But then, that's my opinion on most foreign policy questions. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  8. TomAiello
    I find it amusing that people are pointing fingers: "It's the Republican/Democrats fault! Look at who held Congress/the White House during the years of XXXX!" It's both parties fault, and more generally, all of our faults. If we don't stop pointing fingers and start digging our way out, we're in serious trouble. In fact, I think we're in serious trouble already. I don't know about you guys, but personally I'm moving my assets away from dollar denominated anything. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  9. TomAiello
    Is CO2 the only gas being released into the atmosphere? Plus, how do we know it's not harmful to breathe increased concentrations of it? People thought cigarette smoke wasn't harmful for a long time, too. Heck, the government approved Thalidomide for pre-natal use because it was "safe." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  10. TomAiello
    I know. I'd prefer to stop doing so. Or rather, I'd prefer to have people stop putting stuff into the air I breathe. Having them pay into some fund doesn't seem to me to be the best way to go about this. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  11. TomAiello
    You mean like photosynthesis? I was looking for something that could be used within a vehicle, to remove the carbon from the exhaust before it was released into my breathing air. It might be feasible to build gardens onto industrial complexes to fix the carbon, but I don't think it will scale well to individual users. The problem with using the "communal atmosphere" as a transport device for waste byproducts is that I have to breathe the communal atmosphere. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  12. TomAiello
    Great video! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  13. TomAiello
    I find it interesting that your response to the facts about who pays taxes is simple disbelief and denial. Numbers here. Source (cited at the bottom of the page): Congressional Budget Office. 40% of Americans pay no federal income tax. About 75% of taxes are paid by 20% of Americans. Given this, I am astounded that people want to raise taxes on the most heavily taxed, while leaving the untaxed (and in many cases negatively taxed via refundable credits) to continue free riding. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  14. TomAiello
    Are there any processes to quickly remove the Carbon from CO2? Or is it theoretically possible to create one? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  15. TomAiello
    Do you happen to have one that shows control of Congress? I have a theory that spending is greatest when the same party controls Congress and the White House, but I haven't actually looked into the numbers, -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  16. TomAiello
    It depends on who you think does the spending. Congress? The President? The GOP does need to look in the mirror a bit and realize that the most fiscally responsible president of modern times was actually Bill Clinton--and it pains me to say that. The problem is that there is no incentive for Congress to actually balance the budget, and huge incentives for them to continue spending all of us into massive debt. It's not so much a problem with this or that party (since both parties are very guilty), as a systemic problem with the way our government is financed, how it spends money, and how decisions are made. This is the ultimate case of the government being shortsighted. "Long term" planning for government finance means more than one presidential term, because your party's guy is still in his first term. After that, it's a free for all, because hey, someone else will deal with the mess, right? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  17. TomAiello
    Is there a reason that no one has seriously considered that as an alternative? It seems really weird that we have all these measures to deal with exhaust. Why not just outlaw exhaust, make everybody collect and dispose of their own waste products, and be done with it? It'd just get priced into the end products and whoever wanted them (at that price) would be willing to pay for the entire process (including the cleanup). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  18. TomAiello
    40% of Americans pay no Federal Income taxes. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  19. TomAiello
    Wow, really? Why did the factories install those things in the first place? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  20. TomAiello
    How do you tell those guys apart? They all look the same to me. Same vapid smile, same giant ears... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  21. TomAiello
    Yep. And the difficulty is in sorting out to what degree, and from what angle. Which leads me back to my original point. The problem is that a scientific inquiry has been converted into a political issue, and since it's being used as such, it's become prone to the same problems as the rest of politics. Which is a terrible way to conduct a scientific inquiry. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  22. TomAiello
    Because it is, in the end, an individual issue? The taxes I pay are pretty significant to me, as an individual. I'm sure they are to other individuals, too. Unless you want to form a group that will take care of my taxes for me? And thereby convert this into a group issue? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  23. TomAiello
    I'd like to. My concern is that "science" sources have been shown to have, in some instances, suppressed scientific research that might lead in directions opposite the dominant political belief. That's not very scientific. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  24. TomAiello
    The closer to home they stay, the less likely they are to go astray. Charitable giving done on a person-to-person basis within a community is far more cost efficient than wealth redistribution done on a national (or in this case international) level. Aside from the obvious problems sorting out just who is "rich" and who "poor" and just what they ought to be doing to help, there is the greater question of whether it's moral to force people to be compassionate. Doesn't that kind of defeat the definition of compassion? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  25. TomAiello
    You probably ought to cut the guy some slack on that--I know I can't express the difference in Russian, and I give him some credit for trying even though he's well out of his language. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com