TomAiello

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Everything posted by TomAiello

  1. TomAiello
    It's different because the capitalist self-interest is founded on free choice. The government sponsored self-interest is founded on taking away other people's choices, by having the government force them to fund you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  2. TomAiello
    Precisely. Welfare for corporations (or unions) is still welfare, and just as bad (in fact worse, I think) than the sort handed out to individuals. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  3. TomAiello
    Actually, such people are generally given their own television and/or radio programs, and write best-selling books. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  4. TomAiello
    Ah, good to know. So it shouldn't matter if the Iranians build a couple hundred, right? Or if the Israeli's decide to use some on the Iranians? I mean, after all, they're irrelevant, right? Just curious if you have any numbers on the relative costs of maintenance v. decommissioning. I don't have any numbers on that, but it sounds like you probably do. Can you point me at them? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  5. TomAiello
    In general, I think the birth requirement for POTUS is outdated. Who is more American than someone born elsewhere who choses to become an American? But, the issue here is one of transparency and trust (big Obama campaign issues). If it turned out that he was lying about such a central issue as his qualifications to be President (and remember, there are really only a handful of them--born in the USA, 35 years old), it'd destroy a lot of the faith people feel in him. If people want to eliminate the "born in" requirement, there's a process for doing that, and I'd support such a movement. But it'd be patently unfair to cheat the system while other ineligible leaders (Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example) are excluded from running. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  6. TomAiello
    If the county board bans skydiving, you can always head to another county. If the federal government bans it, you're going to have a much harder time moving to another country. Also, I have yet to hear of a county banning motorcycles. Can you provide a reference for a case where that has happened? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  7. TomAiello
    OK, lemme get this straight: They're pretending to refuse to enable other people's bullshit, as a way of actually enabling other people's bullshit, so they can enable the bullshitting of other people with their own bullshit. Got it. Stranger things have happened. But, like I said, that's my more cynical part talking. By and large, I just think that the administration is being dumb about how they handle this issue, which isn't very typical, as they've been pretty sharp on most of their issue handling. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  8. TomAiello
    Since it's already that way in 40 states, the 41st one isn't likely to make much difference in what they do or do not say. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  9. TomAiello
    But would they BASE jump from the roof of the buiilding afterward, and land in garbage trucks? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  10. TomAiello
    The problem there is that you guys employ forgetful, lazy people. The correct solution is to fire them and replace them with people who aren't forgetful and lazy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  11. TomAiello
    I think you is. I think the whole issue is a distraction. There are a billion (well, actually a trillion) better things to focus on. I do have to admit, though, that the administration's apparent unwillingness to release such a simple document only feeds the fires. It would be so simple to just release the document, show the proof, and move on. Which, of course, makes me wonder why they haven't done that. The more cynical part of me thinks that they're refusing to release it because they want attention focused on this non-issue while they work on their policy agenda. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  12. TomAiello
    Absolutely. The obvious solution here is to stop paying for those programs. Then there would be no solid justification for continuing with our current rendition of prohibition. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  13. TomAiello
    Clearly the answer is that all English newspapers are low quality. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  14. TomAiello
    That's two different "they"s. Now, the bill is largely paid by local hospitals. In your proposed system (as I understand it--please correct me if I'm wrong), the bill would be paid by the federal government (basically spread amongst all the taxpayers). The major difference, in this context, is that local hospitals, even if they wish to, are unable to ban skydiving or motorcycles. The federal government, on the other hand, seems quite capable of doing so. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  15. TomAiello
    Knock it off. Posting links to a personal attack is still making a personal attack. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  16. TomAiello
    Not for profit healthcare is, on average, more expensive than for-profit healthcare in this country. In one article the Wall Street Journal found a non-profit system that charged 5 times as much as it's nearest for profit competitor. That non-profit has executives making 7 figure salaries and an in-house venture capital investment fund. Before you cry out for "non-profit" I recommend examining what, exactly, that means. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  17. TomAiello
    Easy enough to ban motorcycles and skydiving then. It's only fair that if I pay for your healthcare I can make you stop doing things that might raise my costs. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  18. TomAiello
    Didn't the President call out the Mayo Clinic by name as the sort of thing he wants available to all Americans? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  19. TomAiello
    We should all post our birth certificates online for the whole world to see. As soon as we all run for President? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  20. TomAiello
    I bet Ron Paul would have. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  21. TomAiello
    Didn't see it, but I'd like to. Wars have always been used as an excuse to clamp down on domestic dissent. If you can convince the people that silencing dissent is "patriotic" because we're "fighting the enemy of us all" then you can effectively silence your political opposition. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  22. TomAiello
    Who are these "Republicans" you reference? The same people who selected McCain as their nominee? It seems like you've decided that a small group (who obviously didn't control the selection of the last Presidential nominee) is the "Republicans." Why do that? Is it easier to dislike them if you can mentally ignore anyone who doesn't fit into your pre-conceived demonization? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  23. TomAiello
    I had a good friend in college, who, when we were out running once, saw a driver flick a cigarette butt out his window. He picked it up, ran up to the car that the next stop sign, and knocked on the window. The driver rolled the window down and my friend said "you dropped this!" and threw the butt back into the car. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  24. TomAiello
    Several years ago I stopped carrying my ACLU card and started donating to the Institute for Justice instead, because I think they do a much better job than the ACLU (or the NRA, for that matter--they were supporters of Heller from the beginning) at supporting the Bill of Rights. You should check them out. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  25. TomAiello
    By what metric? Quality of care? How do you define that? Infant mortality? Life expectancy (which doesn't depend on health care, in large part)? Waiting times? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com