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[Mephansteras]

Rick Santorum's newest crusade.

*SIGH*

[RedKing]

I find it sort of funny how you're debating 'god's judgement' on page 666.

I was going to make a similar comment that IT IS TIME....UNLEASH THE PIT OF ABADDON! AND THEIR K-STREET LOBBYISTS!


So, anybody paying attention to the rhetoric with the "fiscal cliff" negotiations? Basically, the Republicans are back to "We're not going to do shit, and we're going to say it's all your fault."

Because, y'know....winning strategy for them last month, right?

Mitch McConnell even went so far as to say "So we’ll continue to wait on the President, and hope that he has what it takes to bring people together to forge a compromise. If he does, we’ll get there. If he doesn’t, we won’t. It’s that simple.”

I.e. "We're going to be dicks. If the President has what it takes to make us stop being dicks, we'll compromise. Otherwise, fuck him and the horse he rode in on, and it's his fault for not calling in the Secret Service to hold a gun to our fucking heads."

Seriously...if I was Obama, I'd position snipers in the Capitol gallery and say, "Okay...nobody gets out until you guys work out a compromise that balances tax increases and spending cuts. You try to leave, Corporal Thompson up there is going to put one between your hearing aids. And if you even think of calling that douchebag Norquist, your state will be holding a special election to find your replacement. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, BITCHES??"

...it's probably a good thing I'm not President. 

[Darvi]

Are you kidding? I'd vote for you.

[Nadaka]

Shit, I would extraordinary rendition those bastards to Guantanamo for making terrorist threats against the country.

Mostly joking of course.

[Leafsnail]

Rick Santorum's newest crusade.

Thank god someone finally had the guts to stand up to the disabled.

[misko27]

Rick Santorum's newest crusade.

Thank god someone finally had the guts to stand up to the disabled.

You read my mind. How Courageous.

[Frumple]

I do somewhat often wonder if genuine consequences on the level of broken limbs et al would straighten out the politics in... well, most countries, really. "Fly right or we remove your femur with your fibula, y'ken?"

"But Barbarism, Frumple!"

"Well, yes, but extraordinary responsibility should come with extraordinary consequence, should it not? If one is not willing to risk life and limb for one's constituents, what worth are they as a representative?"

[Nadaka]

Rick Santorum's newest crusade.

Thank god someone finally had the guts to stand up to the disabled.

They are truly the privileged elite, with the most spacious bathroom stalls, the closest parking spaces and entire industries dedicated to supporting that "lifestyle".

[Scoops Novel]

His poor daughter. At this stage, my usual wish of throwing them into Africa and taking them back after a couple of weeks would probably only give them a scent of paradise.

[PyroDesu]

And if you even think of calling that douchebag Norquist, your state will be holding a special election to find your replacement. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, BITCHES??"

Both of my state's senators, both Republicans, have recently, publicly, announced that they are rejecting Norquist's pledge, and that the only thing that they are obligated to is the oath they were sworn in on.

Whether or not this means they're actually going to do something, I don't know.

[Mego]

Rick Santorum's newest crusade.

Thank god someone finally had the guts to stand up to the disabled.

They are truly the privileged elite, with the most spacious bathroom stalls, the closest parking spaces and entire industries dedicated to supporting that "lifestyle".

It took me a second to realize you weren't referring to Santorum & Co.

[mainiac]

Seriously...if I was Obama, I'd position snipers in the Capitol gallery and say, "Okay...nobody gets out until you guys work out a compromise that balances tax increases and spending cuts. You try to leave, Corporal Thompson up there is going to put one between your hearing aids. And if you even think of calling that douchebag Norquist, your state will be holding a special election to find your replacement. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, BITCHES??"

...it's probably a good thing I'm not President. 

So if you were president you'd follow in the stellar economic example of the UK...



Red line is the US.  Blue line is the UK.  2010 is when the UK decided that the responsible thing was a mix of budget cuts and tax increases.  Both lines are scaled to pre-recession peak.  Notice how the US economy is growing and the UK economy is shrinking.

This ain't rocket science, people.  You do not try to balance the budget until the economy gets close to normal employment levels.

My hope is that the fiscal cliff looms and Obama "caves" and agrees to a 2 year extension of all tax breaks and spending.  Probably a face saving but small amounts of tax hikes and spending cuts that are equal in size and too small to derail the recovery.  The republicans would be stupid to agree to such a deal, assuming that they are completely unpatriotic bastards.  It would do little to hurt the economy and mean they would probably lose control of the house of representatives in 2014 as democrats bask in the unemployment rate falling under 7% or even 6%.  But the republicans might not realize this because they have rejected mainstream economics in favor of supply side jesus economics.  So I can hope.

[Frumple]

... that graph makes me want to strangle people. Just... just putting that out there. When you do something like that. You go from zero up. Because that shit is deceptive as hell. Lies, damn lies, and statistics? There's your statistics.

Hell, might even be accurate, or the point being made a good one. But how that's presented? A graph maker needs to be kneecapped. That kind of crap doesn't help the dialectic.

Probably just a bit tired (about to take a nap) but... that rubs the wrong way, man. Don't even necessarily disagree with the point you're making, mainiac (at worst, I'd say it's probably simplifying the situation far too much, but whatev'.). That's just a terrible graph. All of my half-conscious hate, for that graph.

[mainiac]

... that graph makes me want to strangle people. Just... just putting that out there. When you do something like that. You go from zero up. Because that shit is deceptive as hell. Lies, damn lies, and statistics? There's your statistics.

Ok, I'm downright offended here.  That graph is not deceptive.  Why on earth would I want to make 0 the bottom of the scale?  I'm showing trend, not absolute quantity.  I always go to tedious lengths to avoid omitting pertinent details and you are accusing me of deception because a graph doesn't start at 0?

[Leafsnail]

It's basically undeniable that the UK government managed to turn a steady recovery into a double-dip recession via their austerity measures.

Incidentally the loss in revenue and increase in unemployment caused by this recollapse means the deficit hasn't really been helped much