Jim

The data is presented in a clever way, lumping folks making $200k with those making 10 million. It's the old statistical lumping game. But what interests me in particular is the AMT issue. The next Congress is going to have to deal with this because the Republicans choose not to prior to elections. They are in a bind. Next year the AMT will start snagging folks making as little as $75k, and that will be a big wakeup. The problem of update the code and pushing out the limits to where they should really be is that it will blow a Costco sized hole in the budget projections and lay bare the problems with the Bush tax cuts. What should happen from a fiscal responsibility standpoint is to let the Bush tax cuts die their well deserved death and then raise the limit for the AMT. We really need to make a coures correction. Oh and.. The top tax rate -- the income-tax rate on the highest bracket -- is now 35 percent, half what it was in the 1970's. With the exception of a brief period between 1988 and 1993, that's the lowest rate since 1932. Other taxes that, directly or indirectly, bear mainly on the very affluent have also been cut sharply. The effective tax rate on corporate profits has been cut in half since the 1960's. The 2001 tax cut phases out the inheritance tax, which is overwhelmingly a tax on the very wealthy: in 1999, only 2 percent of estates paid any tax, and half the tax was paid by only 3,300 estates worth more than $5 million. The 2003 tax act sharply cuts taxes on dividend income, another boon to the very well off. By the time the Bush tax cuts have taken full effect, people with really high incomes will face their lowest average tax rate since the Hoover administration.

Since I don't have cable I will not be able to judge this. The title is meant to sell, which is what mainstream news does. But yelling bias is the tactic often used by the rightwingers when the veil is pull off and the truth is exposed. I'd have some more sympathy if you actually came armed to a discussion with some facts. Otherwise it's more arm waving. The fictionalized 911 program is a poor comparison.

Are you going to eat that leftover Halloween candy or can I have it?

You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." --George W. Bush, interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006

ummm it's unpatrotic, no it's related to gay marriage, and ah, taxes, higher taxes!!! And terror!! Oh they are scatching hard for anything aren't they? http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Excellent!! You're more pedictable than gravity!! Fine excecution of the Republican playbook, chaper 1, 2, 3, etc. When you have to run away from all the issues, and when in doubt, smear.

It took him 3 yrs to finally agree that the WMD thing was made up. It will take another 3 to realize what a folly this whole adventure was. He's a slow processor. Be patient. forgot

Unfortunately true.

You don't understand. Now we are giving them milestones to achieve. The Bushies are very good at disposing of recent history and their continued bumbling of the war. A few of the many major blunders: Going at it with too small a force. Rumsfeld wanted to validate his quick strike force pet project. De-Bathification. Most folks just joined the Bath party to get higher pay. They were the teachers and career beauracrats that ran the country. Disband the army. No more be said here. Stiff-arm the state department. Even Condi, then national security adviser, was told by Rumsfeld that she was not in the loop. Loyalty tests. Rather than hire seasoned professionals who knew how to set up governments the Bushies hired people with no experience but goose-stepped the party line. Hiring questions included - Who did you vote for in the last election? What is you opinion on abortion? etc. Amazing. The 28 yr old hired to get the Iraq minerals mining department up and running was searching the web for how to do this (no briefing books supplied) and finally gave up in frustration and spend his days writing poetry to his girlfriend. Iraq is lost. There was a small window of opportunity and Bush bumbled it big time.

Obviously you haven't received the memo.

What is this guy smoking?

This is sad indeed. I saw Todd give a talk at the old VW on Elliot shortly after it opened. He came in earlier in the day and was just wired - Hey, what's happening" he said wide-eyed. He gave a great talk and remembered conversations he had around the campfire in Wyoming with elk hunting clients. Many of them were business men -types and after a wiskey or two would say they wished they spend more time of their lives outside. Todd said he began to think - well, there's plenty of time so why not climb now and work later; and if everything worked out it would be climb now and climb later!! What I liked about him best was that he was encouraging, no matter what level you climbed. He just wanted folks to get out there and have an adventure. He had quite a few of his own.

Last I checked, accidental killings from over-zealous door locking or password protection were low on the list.

Other than the need for some small business folks who carry large amounts of cash and such I never understood what folks are afraid of so much that they think they need a gun. Very fearful nation.

No and yes.

Worth every cent of that $1.2 billion that Google paid. Lord o' Lord.

Off smoff - I had (field) work in Sonoma Co. Nice weather but I'm beat.

The current fleet-wide, average milage for american cars is less than that of the Model T. Can't we do better? Looking at the Smart Car for my wife's next vehicle. But that '89 Mazda just is never going to die.

Back after a week away. My apologies if I sounded a bit strident when I was "discussing" this with whoever back a few pages, and my apparent lack of clarity. My annoyance, yes, is with most folks who complain but do nothing. But I did not mean to imply that political action was the end all. Voluenteer - at something - anything, where you think you can make even a small difference. That was my point. Cheers. And for lending a hand the way you choose.

The Battle for God - by Karen Armstrong is a good read on this subject.

Well looking at facts on the ground, and such professional assessments as the NIA, it's indisputable that the invasion of Iraq will go down as the number one world policy strategic blunder in the past 25 years. But you never know. We still have a couple of years for the Bushies to upstage themselves.

You could start by s-l-o-w-l-y reading the question. I asked for you to list his accomplishments. You told me a person trait. Still waiting. Supreme court right-to-lifers. Ok that's one. That's it?

sorry dude.. busy at work only skimmed thru the stuff right now. but one thing i've liked that is a more broad answer and i think we've covered before is that he's shown leadership. he had a swift and sturn response to 9-11. putting aside whether it was the right decisions, truly it is too early to tell and i'm not claiming i like or dislike them. but he did reasonable things as a response with the approval and support of both parties. he didn't waffle around. In other words you can't answer the question. You need to research it? You could have typed up a list in the time it took you to type out that avoid-the-issue paragraph. Stunning silence.

From Bush's first post 911 speech to Congress: I know many citizens have fears tonight, and I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat. I ask you to uphold the values of America and remember why so many have come here. We're in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them. Yep!

Thanks, yes you did respond in reasoned manner. I was waiting for underworld in particular.