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Niall "Hit The Road Barack" Ferguson Responds To The "Liberal Blogosphere"
Two days ago, historian Niall Fergsuon had the temerity to voice a personal opinion, one which happens to not exactly jive with the rest of the media's take on current events, on the cover page of Newsweek (Newsweek is still in print?) titled, succinctly enough, "Hit the road Barack: Why we need a new president." The response was fast, furious, and brutal, particularly emanating from what Ferguson has dubbed the "liberal blogosphere." Naturally in an election year, said blogosphere has much CPM-generating rumination to do (after all who knows what happens to all those ad revenues if the US corporate base implodes and all that cash on the sidelines stays there due to "policy uncertainty"), so Ferguson merely provided the chum in the water (once the time comes to pick up the calculators again after the presidential election, things will immediately quiet down but until then there is, sadly, at least two more months of ever rising cacophony). So did Ferguson back off having said his piece? Hell no. In fact, he has just made sure that the "liberal blogosphere" is will be burning the midnight oil for weeks to come engaged in completely meaningless point-counterpoint between itself and the historian, when, in reality nothing changes the simple fact that come August 2016, the US will have a simply idiotic 130%+ debt/GDP completely independent of who is in the White House, or in other words, there very well may not be another presidential election. For now, however, we have much needed bread and circuses. Below is Ferguson's just released interview from Bloomberg TV in which he responds to the salient accusations that have been leveled at him (a more essayistic version can be found here).
Ferguson on whether he’s surprised by the response to his story:
“No because the liberal blogosphere has a very tried and tested method of attacking an argument it disagrees with. That’s what has happened in this case. The first tactic is to ignore completely the arguments of the piece. The second is then to engage in nitpicking and claim to be fact checking when in fact all you're offering is a series of alternative opinions. And then you round it off by making hysterical calls for the office resignation. This is such a tried and tested method and I was fully expecting it. The usual suspects, led of course by Paul Krugman, have obliged. But they have not addressed any of the arguments I have made in the piece so I will dismiss them pretty briskly today.”
On why it makes sense to compare the net cost of the Affordable Care Act vs. the gross cost:
“The critics are the ones splitting hairs. It absolutely clear what the CBO has said, which is the costs of the ACA will not be met by new sources of revenue. They will only be met, in full, if the cost of Medicare ceases to grow at around 4%. In fact, that rate of growth will have to be halved if that is to be the case. You have to distinguish here between the direct sources of revenue created by ACA and the indirect way the CBO says it will not increase the deficit. By the way, if you go to the CBO’s long-term forecast for health spending, just take Medicare from 3% of GDP all the way up if you go to the very end of their forecast in the 2080s, to something around 13%. Either that will require a substantial increase in taxation, which is another thing President Obama pledged would not happen, or it will increase the deficit. I really do not think there is any middle ground there. This is really quite unambiguous. Krugman is being disingenuous. And sadly, my old friend Andrew Sullivan does not really understand the issue that well, which is clear from his recent post.”
On acknowledging that Obama and his team could not have foreseen how bad the economy would be:
“Right. I say that. That is why this is a classic storm in a blogger’s teacup. The point of the piece is not to go through the economic record and say, you see, he did not produce an economic miracle. I think that is not a reasonable standard. The point of the piece is to say, under those very difficult circumstances, how effective was the president as the head of the executive branch. The core of the argument, which not one of my critics has address, is that he did not manage well his economics team. More seriously, he delegated the legislation. He delegates the detail on the key issues: stimulus, health care and financial reform to his own party in Congress. We should really talk about Pelosicare, not Obamacare. That’s the key issue. It’s not about how the economy performed. We all know this was a tremendously difficult inheritance. It is about how he has performed as the leader of the executive branch and I feel it is very clear he has fallen short.”
“What I say that it is not that we should judge him as an economist. We should judge him on the promise of effective leadership and decisive change. If you assess him as a leader, not as an economist, I think it is not an impressive record. That is really the sad truth.”
On how Obama scores as a leader compared to past presidents:
“I think a fair comparison, if you accept the argument that this is more like a depression than an ordinary post war recession, would be how does he compare with Franklin Roosevelt. It is clear if you look at the economy or the boldness of the policy response, that it is not in any way of a comparison favorable to Mr. Obama. Roosevelt had a far more decisive grip on his own party and a far greater mastery of the detail of the New Deal legislation. The other point which we have not touched on is a crucial point: how effective is President Obama as a commander in chief. I think there are two points here which are absolutely crucial. The first is the really serious mishandling of what we have come to call the Arab spring, but is more understood as the general revolution in the Middle East going back to Iran in 2009, if not Iraq with Saddam Hussein. The other point is that there's not been a coherent strategy on China. The single biggest challenge this country faces is China, which will be a larger economy according to the IMF in four years’ time. That seems to be the things the critics to not want to engage—that there has not been a coherent strategy in the White House. Really, since Barack Obama entered it.”
On how he can be sure that companies will invest and hire in a Romney/Ryan administration:
“Of course, we cannot be sure about anything of that sort. What we do know is that both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are committed to raising the growth rate and it is achieving higher growth that is the key to solving most of the domestic economic issues. Remember, we were promised back in the 2010 financial year budget financial growth by this year of 4.6%. What we are actually going to get is more like 2%. What is encouraging for example about Paul Ryan’s path to prosperity is that it is fundamentally aiming at achieving growth using in some cases, Reaganite tactics which I think would be bound to have a positive impact on business confidence. If there were not a big bounce in business confidence after a Romney/Ryan victory, I would be very surprised indeed.”
On where the economy would be if Romney/Ryan were in the White House in January 2009:
“I wish we could put them in the White House in 2009. It seems to me the first thing you would not be dealing with would be the extremely time consuming exercise that we call the Affordable Care Act. That would not have been undertaken. If there had been a Republican administration, it would have been a John McCain administration rather than a Romney-Ryan administration. I certainly think there would have been significant economic pain. Would they have embarked on the same as fiscal strategy? The stimulus that the Democrats designed? No. This would have been a tax-cutting strategy rather than a spending strategy. That would have had a very different effect. What is certain is that policy would have been very different and foreign policy would have been radically different. It is hard to imagine John McCain sitting on his hands while people were in the streets of Tehran trying to overthrow one of the most dangerous regimes in the world. So, I think the differences would have been very significant.”
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who cares who gets elected president anyways? Bankruptcy is inevitable....nothing will change that.
Heads you win, tails I lose.
no, it's heads I lose, tails I lose. This democrats vs. republican fake-fight is such a joke it's incredible. Just a ruse to establish the Overton Window and limit truly constructive political thought.
When are libertarians going to start giving something back to the community? All I see on these boards are libertarians and conspiracy theorists speculating about “the next big opportunity in the markets” or “how best to protect your wealth”; nowhere do I see anybody showing any interest in paying taxes to contribute to the social good, or helping out the government to fight domestic terrorism. What about actually helping people for a change??? How about, instead of promoting tax cuts for the "job creators" (cry me a river), you actually stand behind our social welfare system for once?? How about paying some taxes for a change???
Libertarians tell people that they need to work harder, and get paid less. Well you know what?? There are a LOT of hard working people out there … and they deserve to get paid just as much as any “business man” or big shot CEO.
4/10
"I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member"
~Groucho Marx
Noise from Niall.
Consider the forum.
Call it like it is, Jews dictating what we are allowed to think because they have the (Federal Reserve) printing press.
If this bastard works for the Rothschild’s then Obama must suck so bad even the Jews don’t want him.
Translation, “you can be as communist as you want but when it comes to Jews making money get the fuck out of the way negro gonium mother fucker.”
"It won't make a difference which political party gets the white house or control of congress in the next election. It just doesn't matter any more and if you think it does, then you are sadly ignorant of the facts, hopelessly naive, or tragically stupid."
-Dave from Denver August 01, 2012
extreme liberitarians likes to ignore natural monopolies in life....
Non sequitur much?
Hit the road Barack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0rB-4mS1F4
... It is hard to imagine John McCain sitting on his hands while people were in the streets of Tehran trying to overthrow one of the most dangerous regimes in the world.
Much as I distrust Ferguson, I agree that, yes, I'm sure McCain would have got us involved in a war with Iran by now. Such... statesmanship!
LOL, BigJim, great comments!
Yup, old John "bomb my own aircraft carrier" McCain.
Old John "couldn't last 24 hours in combat without getting shot down and captured" McCain.
Old John "how many planes did I lose" McCain.
Thank god his old man got him into Annapolis, otherwise there'd be less comedy in the world.
"Reverse Ace" McCain, the only person who destroyed the 5 aircraft required to earn the title of "Ace" by destroying 5 U.S. Navy aircraft. I guess no one told him who the bad guys were.
I like Niall. He did a couple of really good and lengthy economic series, and I learned a lot from him.......in fact he called Britain "the world's most successful narco-state". This is something I would have expected from Larouche. But he (and Larouche) are entirely correct.
anyone who offers as a solution a different set of ball sucking politicians as the obvious choice to lead us to the promised land is him/herself a ball sucker and should promptly be given a pair to apply said lips so they can shut the fuck up
4:20
Ferguson is the only man let inside the libraries of the Rotheschildes, and that was because he was given permission to write their biography. I won't shoot the messenger, as I am glad these books were written, but Niall should be closely watched and his motives examined.
The House of Rothschild - Money's Prophets:
http://www.amazon.com/The-House-Rothschild-Prophets-1798-1848/dp/0140240845
The House of Rothschild - The World's Banker:
http://www.amazon.com/The-House-Rothschild-Volume-1849-1999/dp/0140286624/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b
I have a lot of respect for him. But I just can't grasp his view of Iran.
Other things don't make sense either.
Maybe when the Germans recover from their post WWII hangover they will resume killing the Rothschild’s. We can only hope. Maybe when our Fed dies we will resume hunting these bastards down.
dont forget the cockafellers too
If you're referring to the Nazis... how many Rothschilds did they kill? They seemed much more focussed on slaughtering your every-day, civilian Jews who were no more guilty or innocent than the rest of the us.
No killing of Rothschilds is necessary... just take away the privileges of their indirectly-owned central banks and let them sink or swim like everyone else.
My money is on those fucking inbreds sinking, but what is the over/under?
The war pigs don't deserve a life.
but what is the over/under?...
The Chicago Merchantile Exchange will take that futures option from you mid 2013 when they open their London office. (Pending approval, of course)
Thanks for your post; you can summarize Ferguson's views in one phrase: "Bomb Iran!"
Ferguson's getting slammed because he's a fucking liar who was caught intentionally lying in Newsweek. I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, that a Harvard professor got caught lying in a Newsweek. As if Harvard professors have never used thier corporate supplied platforms to brainwash the masses. Shit, that's his fucking job, selling the propaganda.
Yep. Niall spent a lot of time and likely great accuracy describing what happened to the monetary system in France when John Law was given the authority to 'do his thing' in Niall's 'The Ascent of Money'.... but Niall spent about 1 sentence mentioning what John Law did to bond holders in France when Law cleaned their fucking clocks.... he glosses over the pain and suffering inflicted by 'financiers' and bankers. He is a mouthpiece for the cabal, nothing more like media hyped 'economists' all are. A circular firing squad of economic opinion with the populace in the center, it gives the false impression that one is different than the other when, in fact, they only provide plausible deniability cover for the cabal's agenda and end results.
Bingo. He was pretty widely respected academically before he worked for/with the Rothschilds... since then, his reputation has taken a dive.
I caught snippets of his Reith Lectures' analyses of the problems of fractional reserve banking and he was pretty much spot-on in his diagnoses... but then he quoted from Bagehot's Lombard Street with regards to regulation and when and how the BoE should provide lender of last resort facilities, ending his speech saying, that, like Bagehot, he (Ferguson) was a realist.
What he didn't say was that Bagehot was critical of the BoE's position and the existence of central banks in the first place. Ferguson is a very smart, slippery fucker, and you should always look for the poignard hidden up his sleeve.
I think you are on the right track. Niall seems better than most.. but I think he tends to meter his info to the masses to suit certain interests.
+ 1 for the poignard.
Juicy.
Perhaps the Ferg, like Bagehot, knows that CB's are like cockroaches.
Once you get 'em, they're almost impossible to exterminate. The best you can do is to keep 'em in check.
a 'smart, slippery fucker' pretty sums up the essence of Niall. Like Dr. Doom, they provide economic opinion that contradicts the general 'economic world' consensus but never really call for any kind of changes that would threaten the cabal's status, monopoly or authority
Dear Sir,
Niall is a first class historian. And certainly has access to the 1st class information. That should make him either excellent forecaster or excellent manipulator... or...
I am quite worried with both possibilities.
Third possibility is, if he's behaviour is just self-preservation.
everyone has a price
manipulator. I could feel it very distinctly in his "The Ascent of Money". I likely will never buy another of his books I was so disgusted by it though it did seem quite accurate about events leading to certain results.
Spot on LH
The books are interesting.
"The single biggest challenge this country faces is China" ??
Neil! What happened to Chimerica? Parted ways?
Two of the biggest piles of horseshit very spewed forth.
Fergy mentions Alfred Hartmann was hired by the Rothschilds, but then mentions nothing about the scandals (BCCI) surrounding him, his Swiss intelligence background, etc., etc., etc.
Fergy attacks David Ickes in one of the introductions of his two volumes, and David would kick his cheap ass if he did that in person.
Fergy is a farce and a fraud.
When are statists of all stripes going to stop living at the expense of others?
When are statists of all stripes going to realize that force and coercion are immoral and impractical foundations upon which to organize society?
Lastly, when are the common people going to stop being bamboozled by sociopaths and psychopaths into defending their pan-destructive societal control as "necessary" and "inevitable"?
Central planning is part of HUMAN NATURE. Libertarians need to wake up to this and stop living in some made up fantasy world where we can't trust our own government and central banking officials. Spoiled brat libertarians use government roads, bridges and healthcare, and in exchange you OWE the government your time and compliance. You just take all these gifts provided by the government and then cry about how you are mistreated by the state.
3/10
Are you even trying?
@MDB
When the 'United States' became THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA... All bets were removed from the table...
Fixed that for you.
Well said. Statists are also called CONTROL FREAKS for a reason. They are freaks! A freak of nature is a deviation from the rules of natural selection and evolution. Natural selection requires competition. The state and its subsidized cartels goal is to eliminate competition and "protect the weak from failure" via bailout, social welfare, and subsidy. Examples of the weak: AIG, BAC, C, GM, Solindra, disability fraudsters, banksters etc.
The war between the individual seeking freedom and individual responsibility and those seeking central control via "experts" (Fabian socialists, fascists etc) will never cease.
The spoiled brat libertarians you refer to are none of the above. They recognize the need for taxes for common goods and I'm sure many even contribute money/time to charitable causes. The question you need to ask your spoiled brat liberal self is how much is enough. Are there not enough tax revenues to cover the social goods you refer to? Maybe you should start asking how wisely what we "OWE" is spent.
I suppose austerity is part of "Human Nature" also? It will be funny when the welfare spigot dries up. I can only imagine what us spoiled brat Libertarians will be doing. Controlling Barter Town while the unwashed masses eat themselves, I suppose?
Personally, I would rather have the rights given to us in the Constitution then your Central Planning crime syndicate, but to each their own.
I recommended you highly to Jack Kervorkian, MDB
It's of course intellectually dishonest to claim someone agrees with something just because they live in that system and are basically forced to abide by it.
Common fallacy, so I thought I'd point that out for people who take MDB seriously.
You had so much potential as a troll but you have slipped badly. Cut the obvious trolling and get back on your game. BTW- a lefty wouldn't call himself Million Dollar Bonus. Change the name to boner
Central planning failure is a common failure of human society.
One day we must evolve past it or become extinct. Thumbs down by default but the truth of the first sentence is acknowledged.
akak andmckee
Hey now little fellers, I bet you don't even understand what a Libertarian actually is? Did you know Ayn Rand called them the Hippies of the right and bitched how they glommed onto her works?
Of course not, so let's take a trip down intelligence lane shall we
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/libertarians.html
Libertarians”For the record, I shall repeat what I have said many times before: I do not join or endorse any political group or movement. More specifically, I disapprove of, disagree with, and have no connection with, the latest aberration of some conservatives, the so-called “hippies of the right,” who attempt to snare the younger or more careless ones of my readers by claiming simultanteously to be followers of my philosophy and advocates of anarchism. Anyone offering such a combination confesses his inability to understand either. Anarchism is the most irrational, anti-intellectual notion ever spun by the concrete-bound, context-dropping, whim-worshiping fringe of the collectivist movement, where it properly belongs.
“Brief Summary,”
The Objectivist, Sept. 1971, 1
Above all, do not join the wrong ideological groups or movements, in order to “do something.” By “ideological” (in this context), I mean groups or movements proclaiming some vaguely generalized, undefined (and, usually, contradictory) political goals. (E.g., the Conservative Party, which subordinates reason to faith, and substitutes theocracy for capitalism; or the “libertarian” hippies, who subordinate reason to whims, and substitute anarchism for capitalism.) To join such groups means to reverse the philosophical hierarchy and to sell out fundamental principles for the sake of some superficial political action which is bound to fail. It means that you help the defeat of your ideas and the victory of your enemies. (For a discussion of the reasons, see “The Anatomy of Compromise” in my book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.)
What Can One Do?”
Philosophy: Who Needs It, 202
The “libertarians” . . . plagiarize Ayn Rand’s principle that no man may initiate the use of physical force, and treat it as a mystically revealed, out-of-context absolute . . . .
In the philosophical battle for a free society, the one crucial connection to be upheld is that between capitalism and reason. The religious conservatives are seeking to tie capitalism to mysticism; the “libertarians” are tying capitalism to the whim-worshipping subjectivism and chaos of anarchy. To cooperate with either group is to betray capitalism, reason, and one’s own future.
Harry Binswanger, “Q & A Department: Anarchism,”
The Objectivist Forum, Aug. 1981, 12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
Libertarianism refers to the group of political philosophies that emphasize freedom, liberty, and voluntary association. Libertarians generally advocate a society with a government of small scope relative to most present day societies or no government whatsoever.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines libertarianism as the moral view that agents initially fully own themselves and have certain moral powers to acquire property rights in external things.[1] Libertarian historian George Woodcock defines libertarianism as the philosophy that fundamentally doubts authority and advocates transforming society by reform or revolution.[2] Libertarian philosopher Roderick Long defines libertarianism as "any political position that advocates a radical redistribution of power from the coercive state to voluntary associations of free individuals", whether "voluntary association" takes the form of the free market or of communal co-operatives.[3] According to the U.S. Libertarian Party, libertarianism is the advocacy of a government that is funded voluntarily and limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.[4]
Libertarian schools of thought differ over the degree to which the state should be reduced. Anarchistic schools advocate complete elimination of the state. Minarchist schools advocate a state which is limited to protecting its citizens from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud. Some schools accept public assistance for the poor.[5] Additionally, some schools are supportive of private property rights in the ownership of unappropriated land and natural resources while others reject such private ownership and often support common ownership instead.[6][7][8] Another distinction can be made among libertarians who support private ownership and those that support common ownership of the means of production; the former generally supporting a capitalist economy, the latter a socialist economic system.
Political scholars such as Noam Chomsky assert that in most countries the terms "libertarian" and "libertarianism" are synonymous with left anarchism.[9] In the United States people commonly associate the term libertarian with those who have economically conservative and socially liberal views (going by the common meanings of "conservative" and "liberal" in the United States).[10]
http://www.elhazablaze.com/2009/07/definitions-and-distinctions/
FREE MARKET: That condition of society in which all economic transactions result from voluntary choice without coercion.
THE STATE: That institution which interferes with the Free Market through the direct exercise of coercion or the granting of privileges (backed by coercion).
TAX: That form of coercion or interference with the Free Market in which the State collects tribute (the tax), allowing it to hire armed forces to practice coercion in defense of privilege, and also to engage in such wars, adventures, experiments, “reforms”, etc., as it pleases, not at its own cost, but at the cost of “its” subjects.
PRIVILEGE: From the Latin privi , private, and lege , law. An advantage granted by the State and protected by its powers of coercion. A law for private benefit.
USURY: That form of privilege or interference with the Free Market in which one State-supported group monopolizes the coinage and thereby takes tribute (interest), direct or indirect, on all or most economic transactions.
LANDLORDISM: That form of privilege or interference with the Free Market in which one State-supported group “owns” the land and thereby takes tribute (rent) from those who live, work, or produce on the land.
TARRIFF: That form of privilege or interference with the Free Market in which commodities produced outside the State are not allowed to compete equally with those produced inside the State.
CAPITALISM: That organization of society, incorporating elements of tax, usury, landlordism, and tariff, which thus denies the Free Market while pretending to exemplify it.
CONSERVATISM: That school of capitalist philosophy which claims allegiance to the Free Market while actually supporting usury, landlordism, tariff, and sometimes taxation.
LIBERALISM: That school of capitalist philosophy which attempts to correct the injustices of capitalism by adding new laws to the existing laws. Each time conservatives pass a law creating privilege, liberals pass another law modifying privilege, leading conservatives to pass a more subtle law recreating privilege, etc., until “everything not forbidden is compulsory” and “everything not compulsory is forbidden”.
SOCIALISM: The attempted abolition of all privilege by restoring power entirely to the coercive agent behind privilege, the State, thereby converting capitalist oligarchy into Statist monopoly. Whitewashing a wall by painting it black.
ANARCHISM: That organization of society in which the Free Market operates freely, without taxes, usury, landlordism, tariffs, or other forms of coercion or privilege. “Right” anarchists predict that in the Free Market people would voluntarily choose to compete more often than to cooperate; “left” anarchists predict that in the Free Market people would voluntarily choose to cooperate more often than to compete.
Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminatus! Trilogy
“Well I sometimes call myself a libertarian but that’s only because most people don’t know what anarchist means. Most people hear you’re an anarchist and they think you’re getting ready to throw a bomb at a building. They don’t understand the concept of voluntary association, the whole concept of replacing force with voluntary cooperation or contractual arrangements and so on. So libertarian is a clearer word that doesn’t arouse any immediate anxiety upon the listener. And then again, libertarians, if they were totally consistent with their principles would be anarchists.”
Robert Anton Wilson
Now little buckaroos has the light bulb fired above your head? Do you feel enlightened?
Be sure and share those tidbits of wisdom with friends and family so they can claim appropriate political affiliation instead of embarassing themselves by quoting Rand during their homage to Libertarianism.
What a load of contradictory drivel you've spewed up here, Presteign. So Rand didn't like Libertarians? And said
...or the “libertarian” hippies, who subordinate reason to whims, and substitute anarchism for capitalism.
Then you go on to quote wikipedia, wherein it says:
"In the United States people commonly associate the term libertarian with those who have economically conservative and socially liberal views (going by the common meanings of "conservative" and "liberal" in the United States)."
Make your mind up, dumbfuck. Is Rand criticising libertarians with her phrase '"libertarian' hippies", or criticising hippies?
+1 LOL some of the definitions are really good, partisan - and hilarious. Socialism's is a bit narrow, though.
Gully,
The above must've taken some time to compile. Tell me, do you always spend so much time setting up straw men arguments?
I read this while not logged in but had to log in just to approve. I've never thought of myself as "libertarian" per se, but your comment certainly resonated with me. Glad to see it has 40 so far!
you need your own comic strip or something
MillionDollarAnus needs his own thorazine drip or something.
I love MDB. He parrots the MSM (modern) liberal talking points so well, so dryly, that I find it hard not to laugh out loud.
LOL.
Plus you get all the laughs without getting the dog shit on your shoes by walking around ...say...the daily kos.
A little bit is funny, too much is a cleaning problem.
Yes, I think MDB is aactually a conservative who does a great job of speaking for the other side only to stir it all up. I don't agree witha thing that he says but enjoy his very dry humor!
BigJim,
Well said sir! The combox would be sorely lacking without MDB's neo-lib sanctimonious sermonizing, not to mention his legendary skills in thoroughly trouncing straw men.
Yeah. When are we going to start acknowledging that ability to pay for social programs has nothing to do with their need...or the fact that they cause more poverty than they fix...or that they are then turned into pawns...and losers.
Just support the system damnit.
/sarc
MDP, today proves that this mnarket is JANJUAH's MARKET. BOB JANUAH has captured the spirit of 2012 Wall Street in his latest forecasts. Alll hail, Bob the Bear. Now prepare for DA PLUNGE, MDP. PREPARE FOR THE PLUNGE, MDB
Paying taxes doesn't contribute to the public good.
All that paying taxes does is fund a rabidly paranoid security establishment in its efforts to watch every move of its citizens on the domestic front and then engage in demonstrative wars and drone assassinations to terrorize the rest of the world.
Meanwhile our own infrastructure decays.
Starving the federal beast is the very best way to "give something back" to humanity.
"The greatest act of charity a man can perform for his society is to never need their charity."
~Zap Powerz
Think of it this way my friend. Since I do pay taxes and since I dont consume more than I produce that means you and the rest of your parasite friends get more!
It would be nice to actually get something in return for the six figures I pay in income tax. I mean something special that everyone else that doesnt pay taxes do not get as well. I think I should get a card that allows me to move to the front of any line anywhere I go. Surely you parasites want to keep those remaining few of us who are actually productive productive. So to enable me and the few others that still pay taxes to be as efficient as possible, we should get to go to the front of any line anywhere.
Or, you can start paying your fair share and STFU. Either way.
The force is strong in you, newbie. Well said.
But, I feel I must add this. There are many, many things you get in return that parasites and anarchists don't. First of all, I can only wish to be among those that have six figure income taxes. That implies that you also have six figure income. That implies that you are able to have nice clothes and cars and homes. That implies that you might attract a pretty wife, which has implications of it's own, some good and some not so much, but I digress. The bottom line is this..., when you are shaving in the morning, you are probably pleased with what you see in the mirror, and that is priceless. I could go on and on, but I hope you get my point.
Ah, Dear Zap,
Obama has heard your plea and will comply forthwith.
You are to be rewarded with the 'New and Improved Class Warfare Tax Increase'.
Not because it will do anything for runaway spending, but because it's 'fair'.
It will also mollify the dumb, lazy and even the unlucky victims of unprecedented real capital destruction by ___________ (favorite villian/s)
Some of whom will vote.
How about a license plate ring that says: " Not the 1% but still trying"?
It ain't much but I think its the best you're gonna get.
"paying taxes to contribute to the social good". What percentage of YOUR income can we put you down for? I think anybody who gets a 'million dollar bonus' should pay at least 95%...afterall, it's for the social good.
Do you even know what a Libertarian is? You must consider yourself a limousine liberal with a handle like yours! You may want to go back to bloggin a the huffingtonpost. You're outnumbered here!
Paying taxes to "contribute to the social good"? Go fuck yourself asshole. Apparently I pay taxes so that some fuckhead like Jon Corzine can get off scottfree with billions of libertarians money because the government I fund won't enforce the laws equally.
And nobody deserves to be paid alot becaiuse they work hard. My 15 year old kid will out work your sorry fucked up ass. That I can guarantee you. Those who earn money throught their work, ideas and risk taking deserve to be paid alot when their ideas and production warrant it. That's what the free market is supposed to sort out but we have a centrally planned bullshit economy that fuckheads like you want that skews everything in the favr of the central planners and their little tit-sucking vampires like you.
And I would bet that my last quarterly tax payment was more than you make in a year ass wipe. Why don't you go make something so that you have to pay taxes rather than coming up with a bullshit MDB screen name and nothing of value ever.
Die off central planner and all your progeny as well.
Go double fuck yourself you demorat union troll. Taxes are for suckers.
The federal government wastes 60 cents of every dollar it takes in.
I'm personally not going to pay for some 55 year old CHP officer to retire at 110% of his salary.
Wonder how many on this board feel the same way.
Not to be argumentative, but if you live in calif, you are paying for it.
Retire/move to no state tax state - won't be paying for dick.....
I'm a socialist Millenial, so.. I'll take your money million dollar man! Put your money where your mouth is and send me a check.
ass-hole-lutly!
Are your taxes paid???
I will find out.
Ok that's not nice. I will lend you the money to pay your taxes, how's that?
So, your in NY, a deed state eh?
Libertarians Von Mises bob saget FREE MARKET BARBARA STREISAND!!!
We are dealing psychopaths that have distorted...
manipulated,
hoodwinked,
lied,
omitted,
perverted -
the truth from our grasp. History is an outright lie/fraud.
We are being ruled by a blood lineage that *think* its their divine right to rule over us in the most sinister ways.
It IS that bad...
Like him on FB!
The act of voting is just an affirmation of the corporately owned, neo-liberal duopoly. The oligarchs must sit around laughing their asses off at all the people arguing about the presidential election like it actually matters.
Like appointing a new captain to the Titanic AFTER it hit the iceberg.
Romney is NOT a neocon. He is a candy-assed country club Republican. Like the Bushes, his primary problem is insufficient recognition of evil.
Barry, on the other hand, is the real deal, a staight-up Stalinist parasite, who will gladly steal your last nickel, to breed more Obama voters in the ghetto.
Maoist - otherwise I'm right with you.
I think the bushes are the most satanic of them all, they are at the top of the new world order.
I suspect you are very young. Try this thought experiment.
If the Bushes had dictatorial powers, what if anything, would they have done differently?
If Barry Hussein had dictatorial powers, how many of his opponents (or their family members) would be alive the next morning?
"If Barry Hussein had dictatorial powers, how many of his opponents (or their family members) would be alive the next morning?"
That would be assuming that the republican party actually is opposition and both parties are not actors on a stage giving their character followers a show. Behind close doors with mics off and exit stage left (or right), I hear the laughter
Don't forget Obama eats dog.
and doesn't eat pussy.
"If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it."
-Mark Twain
LOL. NOT a Neocon? You prefer the term Fascist instead? He's a totally deranged lunatic.
The guy likes Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney and doesn't mention Ron Paul once (at least I didn't hear him). I commend him on slamming Comrade Obama, but he loses a lot of credibility by actually suggesting that Ryan/Romney will do any better than BHO.
At least with new blood in the W/H the charade will carry on for a few extra months and will give me time to sell the non-essentials and convert them into life-sustaining support items.
Read this article the other day. Once again Ferguson is spot on.
http://jamesturkblog.blogspot.ca/
Then why bother to breath, you'll die anyway.
As someone who understands both Ryan and Obama are deficit loving neocon statist warmongers, I am enjoying what the liberal blogosphere is doing right now. Trashing Romney and Ryan and the neocon element of the Republican party will hopefully give libertarians a chance to take over the Republican party and offer a real choice in 2016 between statism and libertarianism.
Real libertarians do not take over collectivist organizations, but rather, manage to operate in spite of them.
One can never control the beast, but one can starve it by withholding support.
So Ron Paul supporters have disqualified themselves from being "real" libertarians by trying to take over the Republican party?
A real Libertarian doesn't even need Ron Paul... Hell ~ for that matter they don't even need to belong to a club called 'Libertarians'... Are we clear?
"I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member."
Which is why we never accomplish anything.... other than these nifty little web chats, of course.
We don't need to accomplish anything. We just need to survive what's coming so we can be in a position to pick up the peices.
no kidding... let the other homos do the curly shuffle... I'll get along just fine as long as you stay out of my grill...
"be in a position to pick up the pieces"
AND make sure the pieces (the Big STATE) are never reassembled ever again.
All they need is a gun and some toilet roll.
Amazing how many people cannot draw that distinction. +100
Libertarians need to quit being a party and go for a tour de force type political movement. Get the candidates to kiss their ass before the republican nomination time and get more viable candidates. This third party crap is a proven failure at this point and is just a waste of time and resources. Voting your conscience is great and all, but you're guaranteed not to get your first choice voting third party and you risk not getting your second choice if it splits the vote too much.
Voting for evil is always voting for evil.
I would think that evil has a better chance of rising to the top in a plurality voting system. The middle cancels each other out and the crazies rise to the top. I prefer the system that comes down to two contenders and having to suck it up and vote for the one that I agree with most. I do think there needs to be a hell of a lot of changes to the primary system to give better representation to all the states and to get all views better represented.
Spaceman Spiff - The US has periods of history with a third party and they look a lot 2016 will look like if we continue down the same glide path which is assured with either Mitten or Obumer. Grab some popcorn and watch the show. I am pretty sure it will be a tragedy and not a comedy...starring lender of last resort and borrower of last resort.
"...he inherited all from Bush..."
"no one saw this coming...."
...same 'ole stuff
What we really need to do is find a method of destroying the Party control over the delegates.
Create a competition of ideas and solutions instead of peanut butter or jelly sloganeering.
Without this fundamental change, the nomination process will go to the Party anointed instead of the will of the people.
I'd rather see a political election system that includes rabid communists and drooling fascists who can sink or swim on their own merits in a free and open forum of ideas.
A smorgasbord with selection is preferable to the same 2 party canned ham.
Mano y mano, Ron Paul would wipe the floor with Mitt.
So, I will write him in and sleep well knowing at the very least I tried to make a difference, too little and too late though it may be.
That ol' plain speakin' pal of mine, John Prine put it thusly:
"You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder,
throw your hands in the air, say "What does it matter?"
but it don't do no good to get angry,
so help me I know
For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.
You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there
wrapped up in a trap of your very own
chain of sorrow."
He's a clever rascal.
I would welcome that, however I suspect the statists won't allow choice in the elections till after they have completely destroyed what's left of the country's industrial, financial and monetary state and they are all headed for the hills with their ill-gotten gains.
Niall... Blowing his 'street cred' stipend like a sailor on liberty in Subic Bay... (on vacation in Martha's Vineyard no less)...
You are dating yourself - Subic Bay no longer exists - no sailors since 1993-95.
the good ol days
EXACTLY... (was my point)...
Ferguson is a douche
Very poor and uneducated response.
RACIST!
That oreo is toxic.
I agree to some extent but replacing one crook with another crook will not solve the problem.
It solves the problem of Niall's relevancy, which is all that really matters to him, in the end.
Intelligentsia 101: Lookin' good and getttin' paid!
He wants pauls gig, Political Economist to the Office of the President. Comes with knee-pads...
kick Krugman a.k.a fake Marx in the face!
"Orthodoxy means not thinking - not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." - Geroge Orwell
When did it become BolgOsphere? Who put the O in Blogsphere?
O! See? HE is Omni-potent.
You simply have to see this McCain ad from 08, scratch your head and wonder...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopkn0lPzM8
ori
Likely around the same time that Blagojevich was in the news everyday.
Hate to say it ORI...
But if you're still diggin around in the McCain closet, you missed some kind of boat (& the one after that too)...
with mccain you would have also recieved a Palin, who i bet wouldnt be as quiet as whats his name from delaware
Not really. McCain v. Obama was liberal war monger v. liberal war monger. The same act is playing out on stage right now, it's just that Romney has better....or more.......hair than McCain. Shit. with today's voter nicer hair might actually help this time around for the liberal merry-go-round.
Francis, you did not even watch the video, did you? Take a look and then get back to me.
IT IS A WEIRD VIDEO> SUPER WEIRD in it's implications.
Why would McCain (or any sane opponent) run an ad like this was my question.
ori
Alright... I concede that I did not look at the video...
We'll call it a DRAW then, because I'm not really inclined to do so... (sorry ~ f_s bows out)...
~~~
Wanna know how fucked up things are???... francis_sawyer WROTE IN 'Ron Paul' in '08 (out of disgust)... This time around?... Ron Paul is on the ballot (or probably will be)... But knowing he's not going to win, I'm either not going to vote, but if I do, I'd probably lean 2 Obama simply because I'm more prepared for his [Obama's] style of demolition than the type Romney will bring...
THAT'S how fucked up it is... How weird is that?... Logical next question is... "Why VOTE at all?"... Answer: [paraphrase]
~~~
"Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II," you won't have to say, "Well... I shoveled shit in Louisiana."
~General George S. Patton
~~~
Choose... I used to go with the WRENCH... Cause FUCK HIM, that's why...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92D15qtI_Gk
strange indeed
Professors of history should stick to history.
And professors of linguistics should stick to linguistics.
The Bloomberg script readers sound offended and apologetic for the president. lol
Ferguson is a red vs. blue douche stuck 10-20 years in the past like most other historians, pure distraction.
...and only the MSM would have the moral turpitude to pretend that a meaningless declaration such as: "Despite having been...an adviser to John McCain” amounts to full disclosure.
A bunch of Hobbesian choices from my standpoint. Who gives a fuck what Niall thinks anyway?
Look fort Moody's, S&P, and Fitch to downgrade Niall Ferguson soon. Egan Jones will upgrade. NSA, CIA, FBI, DHS, TSA, et al... alphabet agencies on high alert with Niall moving to the top of the list just above J. Assange. If you can't say something nice about someone, you shouldn't say anything at all. <sarc>
he is controlled opposition since Newsweek published it
this
i wouldn't even use a rolled up Newsweek to beat my dog
/sarc (about beating the dog)
Obama is doing what the man who hates this country set out to do.....fundamentally transform America..into a third world nation.
You have been reported to the Department of Homeland Security as a Suspicious Person for questioning the dictates of El Presidente of Estados Unidos
Sadly, the ACA provided most of net figures from creating a government student loan market whereby the government picks up the spreads on it's issues debt and the student loans issued. So the government had to takeover the student loan market to pay for this pig.
It's obvious Furguson didn't read the ACA either.
So when the student loan bubble pops or god forbid tuition actually goes down on this country, the government will start going big into the red on this. But whatever, the left cant be expected to actually read anything. They just call you names, nit pick, and then claim you're insane.
Discourse in this country is really a waste of time with the people who not yet completely disillusioned.
Republicans have gone "Full Retard". It is their own fucking fault. Their tactic of getting the WWF-neo-nazi-god-fanatic fucktard vote has worked too well. They are even afraid of themselvs now to the point of spontaniously aborting their mind-rape induced fetus candidates..
God bless John Mccain for his service in the military. He is mindless political herpes and would have made an awful president. Palin?.. Get the fuck out.
This time around all they can come up with is a Mormon flip flopper mindless corporate tool(=Scientology to me) and a ski-bum muppet??.. Get the fuck out.
You can't fire them. They quit!
I don't like Obummer or the status quo but I will votr for him out of the fear of the republican ass-hat brigade if push comes to shove.
Too bad we have a two headed monster system...
So you'll vote for a proven failure over mindless red state-blue state scare mongering? GTFO