Jim

Mid-term weather looking promising: Cold Front

If we can hammer it out, why can't congress?

You're absolutely spot on. Until the tax code is revamped and loopholes are eliminated, it's all just smoke and mirrors. The working class will continue to be sodomized by the affluent. Dems are just Repub-lite. Isn't the simple solution to tax dividends/interest/appreciation over a modest amount (say $50k a year) as ordinary income?

That they morph into an engorged wood tick like GD? Or that they cozy up to criminal plutocrats? Or both?

With the two-tier job category in place you'll start out at a whopping $28k a year. Hardly extravagant.

Just about every dem harped on the Bush tax cuts ONLY affecting the wealthy in any substantive way. Now everyone is saying, woah, hold on... let's rethink reverting them all back to Clinton levels. And you damn well know it. You asked what I was saying back then - and I told you. But - if your point is that Congress went along - yep, they are to blame as well - but more so the Repubs since they were in charge. In the 2001 cuts in the Senate vote 12 Dems crossed over. The 2003 cuts were more controversial since both wars had started. It was passed by reconciliation and the Senate vote was 50-51, with VP Darth Vader breaking the tie. Only 2 Dems crossed over for that vote.

The same thing - unnecessary war and stupid to have a tax cut.

Oh, I will get dinged, but I'll manage. I just don't think "borrow and spend" is fiscally responsible. Just for the record here's what I said way back in mid 2011. e.

No. That's not true. I've been consistent on the need to get read of ALL the Bushie tax cuts. They were irresponsible and have significantly contributed to our present position - that and running an unnecessary invasion of Iraq. AND the logic of running those wars as "off-budget" items. Brilliant.

You should be jumping for joy - the cliff gives you Clinton-era tax rates for ALL! You know the era of massive growth and prosperity! I actually DO think all the Bush era tax cuts should be eliminated - above and below $250k. Do the $250k now and phase in the others late given the weak economy. It was irresponsible to cut taxes and go to war at the same time. And yea, cut the military 10% - that minor trim is way overdue.

It was the Republicans that wanted the "fiscal cliff" set up as a result of their uncompromising position on the last go-around on the debt ceiling. And now they are doing the same thing - no compromise. It's not reassuring at all to the financial markets and an odd way of running a budget. As for democracy - the majority of Americans want a the tax break for $250k+ earners to expire. Just get on with it already.

Well, there's a quite a few straw dogs in that narrative. No one is proposing ignition breathlizers - it's simple - there is a drunk driving law, you ignore it and there are consequences. Same thing with level of armament. Some levels of distruction are just too much for any reasonable person - a tank? Yea, the problem arises when Ted turns wacko or "forgets" to secure it and his crazy stepson decides to take it for a spin to chash in on some old middle-school trauma. We have reviewed the Bill of Rights before as society has progressed - so there's no reason to think it's set in concrete. There is a point about the flood of guns already out there. But I don't see it as a reason to do nothing for the future of our kids.

So - Boner could't even get his own Plan B passed in the House - so what could possibly be palatable to the teabaggers? Congress will likely come up with some minor agreement and then set another cliff deadline in 4 months, or we'll have a similar self-imposed debate around the debt limit. What a way to run a country - thanks Republicans and Teabaggers.

I'm glad the NRA is working on a brilliant new solution. Tough times demand creative thinking. We Need More Guns

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cIcqUokPiTw

While I'd prefer to do more, this seems like a reasonable start - in addition to required background checks/waiting periods/registrations for gun shows and a tighter leash on sellers at shows.

What a bunch of crap. If that skinny-assed punk got into the school w/o a gun it would have taken about 3 of those kids to crawl all over him and take out the maggot. Yea, well Jackie Chan could have killed as many - brilliant argument. Bottom line - these shooters are cowards. A gun gives them perceived power that they can then take out whatever false retribution their tweaked minds have concocted. Guns are just way to available in our society.

While the overall homicide rate in the US is trending downward, it is still way above other countries with a similar living standard (really, don't throw Mexico and Columbia into the statistics), but mass killings are on an upward trend. Studies show a strong correlation between the availability of handguns and the homicide rate AND that there are less gun deaths in states with stricter gun control. Awash in Guns I grew up around hunting buddies, did the deer/turkey thing; as a wildlife ecologist spent quite a bit of time in hunter camps getting samples (deer heads, body parts for genetics/parasite studies) and under stand how some folks love of the outdoors translates into hunting. What I don't get is the fear factor that drives a lot of gun ownership; either of the government or just the general boogie man. Why are folks such chickenlittles that they feel the need to have a gun in the house that is more likely to end up killing a family member than an intruder. Don't get it.

. I want to know what this mother was like, and if she should have owned the guns she did or not. Considering how it turned out, I'd say she should not have owned them. Exactly. It always something like this - oh he got them from his grandfather/parent/brother/friend's house. The short of it is that if we were not a society awash in guns this troubled person would not have even got into the school. The current model of free-market guns is not working. Among 1st world countries we are an outlier in gun violence.

Legally, illegally - either way I'd say it is not working. Tell one of the parents you think more guns is the answer.

There's no reason to repeat the numerous mass school shootings in the U.S. You can Google that well enough. It's sad. Very sad. To say that the easy access to firearms plays no issue in this is intellectually dishonest, naive, or just a plain lie. We are drowning in availability of guns. How to solve it? I don't know at this point.

It's a pretty good assumption that we have comparable percentage of crazy people compared to other countries. One difference. Ours have gun access.

Hmmm. No reason to waste money and legal time - seems like a common sense decision.

Was in the vicinity also - but I've yet to go up Arrowhead. Looks like fun!

We could mark this day on the calendar for next year and carry on with a mellow conversation at the first annual pub-smoke, with munchies of course.