REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Who do we stiff?

POSTED BY: NEWOLDBROWNCOAT
UPDATED: Sunday, July 31, 2011 13:02
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Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:23 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT


They're talking "prioritized payment" now, paying some debts and not others. Which means some folks get paid and some don't. SO who do we stiff?

Investment bankers, international bond holders, speculators? The Chinese who hold "all of America's debt"? Fat chance. And the late Saddam Hussein tried that on Kuwait in 1992, caused the first Gulf War.

Social Security and Medicare? Them old geezers VOTE. And vote their pocketbooks. That's why Social Security is the third rail of politics.

Veterans benefits? Another bunch of old geezers, many injured in military service. They vote too. And they're
cranky, and know how to use guns. Ya don't want them marching in the streets, exercising their First Amendment right to gather peacefully to demand redress of grievance and their Second Amendment right to bear arms at the same time.

Defense contractors and the military industrial complex? That is the only group both parties love.

The active duty military? Them guys know how to use guns, and have 'em in hand. But what are they gonna do? Go on strike in Iraq? "Sorry, Sarge, I ain't goin' on patrol 'till I get paid." Mass fraggings? More Fort Hood massacres, only by "good Caucasian Americans"? I don't see any effective response by them, and paying them is only a matter of honor and respect for their sacrifices. Look for them to get stiffed.

Who else? "Heartless government bureaucrats." Well, maybe. The ones that run our police depts, water and sewer utilities, repair our roads and highways. That'll work out well.

School teachers - Sure, f*** them, they ain't teachin' our kids anyway, only them ni***hs.

Prison guards, cops, the Border Patrol and TSA screeners? Can't not pay them, they're protectin' us against terrorists, criminals and minorities.

Who else can we stiff?



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Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:38 PM

DREAMTROVE


The first stiff goes to internal govt. IOUs, then the FED, a similar amount, then probably the mortgage holders, and we won't stiff the bond holders or foreign owners of debt. It's a simple matter of consequences. If you still an internal govt. agency, it sends you a letter complaining. If you stiff the fed, they lobby you. If you stiff corporate america, they fund the opposition and kick you out of office. If you stiff the commies, they assassinate you and install a friendly regime.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Thursday, July 28, 2011 6:09 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!



heh heh... you said " stiff "





" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Thursday, July 28, 2011 6:56 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:

heh heh... you said " stiff "







I ask a polite, serious question, and you, the polite serious 'Raptor reply with that? That's the best you got, Beavis? or are you ButtHead? Never mind, I already got an opinion on your answer...

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Thursday, July 28, 2011 8:01 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


If the Chinese are able to lend you a trillion dollars, they clearly won't miss it if it is late.

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Friday, July 29, 2011 1:48 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
If the Chinese are able to lend you a trillion dollars, they clearly won't miss it if it is late.




Probably not, but that's not really the principle they're operating on, I don't think. I view China as being more like the neighborhood loan shark. Sure, they can afford to take a loss and walk away, but I have a feeling they'd rather stick around and break a few things just to "teach us a lesson"...

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Friday, July 29, 2011 6:54 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


I agree, Mike; but it doesn't matter in the end...our rating will most likely be downgraded, so we'll all pay for it. The rich can afford it, the rest of us can't, so there goes the "sluggish recovery" out the window.

C'mon, NewOld, you knew that sort of thing would be his response. You expected otherwise???

Once again; why anyone tries to communicate with Raptor is beyond me. Nothing ever changes; he'll always be as obnoxious as possible (I STILL think he does it just to trigger others and get attention); he'll never stop attacking anyone who disagrees with him, and he'll never understand anything logical.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Friday, July 29, 2011 7:31 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up


As with the current funding problems at the FAA, civil servants and folks doing government work on contract will be the first ones not paid.

If you think filing claims with SSA, Medicare, etc. was fun before, you just wouldn't believe how it's going to be with staffing cut to only 'essential' personnel. And given that the current Administration can decide who's 'essential', bet that they'll make it as painful as possible so thay can make political hay out of it later.

Congressional staffs, and others who take care of stuff for the pols, will of course all be 'essential'.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Friday, July 29, 2011 7:35 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Unfortunately, all too true. And of COURSE staffers are "essential", how else would our horny legislators get off? Not to mention bringing them coffee, taking their laundry in, and other "essential" things.

Oh, how I WISH staffs would be cut; we'd see how long the Tea Partiers liked cutting things if they had to do things for THEMSELVES!


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Friday, July 29, 2011 7:43 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Along those lines, here's one answer:
Quote:

If lawmakers fail to raise the ceiling by Tuesday, the Treasury Department has said it will no longer be able to guarantee that it can pay all the country's bills in full and on time.

That's because Treasury will not be taking in enough revenue to cover all the bills coming due in August. And without a debt ceiling increase, it will be prohibited from borrowing new money in the bond market to make up the difference.

So, something will have to give.

The consensus thinking has been that Treasury will prioritize who to pay first and who to put off. And at the top of the list of who gets paid will be investors owed interest on U.S. debt. If the investors aren't paid, that would constitute a default, which would have a host of negative consequences for the country.

Of course, it's possible Treasury may decide it doesn't actually have the authority to prioritize and will instead pay interest owed to bond investors but pay other bills as they come due -- first come, first served, said former Treasury official Jay Powell, who coauthored a Bipartisan Policy Center report on the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling.

Assuming, however, that Treasury believes it has the authority to prioritize, it's not clear yet who will be paid first alongside investors. The Treasury has said it will provide more information as Tuesday approaches, and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch has requested that the department turn over its plan by 5 p.m. on Thursday.

The plan, however, isn't likely to make anyone feel better.

Will I get my Social Security check?

That's because everyone to whom money is owed besides bond investors have either qualified for federal benefits, provided goods or services to the government, are serving in the military or otherwise work for Uncle Sam. Money will also be due to agencies to which Congress has legally appropriated money to run federal programs.

On deck to be paid every month: retirees, veterans, business owners, federal workers, active-duty soldiers, Medicare physicians and government agencies that need money to keep the lights on, to name just a few.

"While at midnight on August 2nd we don't all turn into pumpkins," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a press briefing, he described the process of picking who to pay and who to put off as a "Sophie's choice."

How the math might work: The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that Treasury will be short by about $134 billion for the month of August.

That cash deficit will build steadily throughout the month.

So, on Aug. 3, for instance, the center estimates that Treasury will take in $12 billion in revenue and have to pay out $32 billion, creating a $20 billion cash deficit. Among the biggest bills due that day: $23 billion for Social Security payments, $2.2 billion for Medicare and Medicaid payments, and $1.8 billion due to defense vendors.

On Aug. 4, the group estimates that the cash deficit will increase to $26 billion, with only $4 billion in revenue coming in, compared to $10 billion in bills, the largest of which would be for Medicaid and Medicare.

Come Aug. 5, the cash deficit grows another $5 billion to $31 billion.

By Aug. 15, the Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that the running cash deficit will hit $74 billion. That day the Treasury will take in an estimated $22 billion in revenue and have to pay out roughly $41 billion. The biggest bill that day is a $30 billion interest payment.

Cash on hand: What's not yet clear is how much cash Treasury might have on hand going into August.

The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates it might have enough, in theory, to pay bills in full until Aug. 10.

Even if that's right, however, Treasury may still decide to withhold some payments sooner to preserve cash to ensure it can make interest payments after Aug. 10.

It may also keep some cash on hand to ensure it can make principal payments on bonds coming due after Aug. 10.

Treasury will be able to hold bond auctions to roll over existing debt as it matures -- more than $450 billion is expected to come due in August.

However, if there isn't enough demand for Treasuries because of the uncertainty the political crisis in Washington has caused, those auctions may fail to raise all that Treasury needs to pay the principal due.

So Uncle Sam would have to pony up using the revenue coming in. That would mean even less money available to pay seniors, vets, small business owners and others who are part of the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/28/news/economy/debt_ceiling_prioritizing
_payments/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2
what the damned Tea Partiers don't get: The government isn't taking in enough to pay it's bills NOW, and it will only get worse, much worse. Anyone with any common sense should realize we need to raise the ceiling, THEN get down to the business of cutting...AND RAISING REVENUE...to stay afloat. Idiots seem to think if we just don't raise it, we can happily cut as we go along to bring it in balance.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Friday, July 29, 2011 3:48 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Tea-baggers aren't real big on paying their bills.

Case in point:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/29/joe-walsh-child-support-w_n_9
13631.html


Quote:

Documents have newly surfaced detailing the extent of U.S. Representative Joe Walsh's (R-Ill.) alleged lapse on his child support payments to his ex-wife Laura Walsh.

According to a court filing, made public Friday afternoon by The National Memo, Tea Party darling Walsh paid only limited child support between November of 2005 and March of 2008, and stopped paying altogether after that point.

Unpaid obligations and interest combine to $115,294, the filing claims.

The document also purports to debunk Walsh's claim, in not paying child support, that he simply didn't have the money:

Over the course of the 2010 campaign, Joe personally loaned his campaign $35,500, which, given that he failed to make any child support payments to Laura because he "had no money" is surprising.

Joe has paid himself back at least $14,200 for the loans he gave himself. Again, he failed to make any child support payments to Laura from these returned loan proceeds.



He also reportedly took his new girlfriend on at least two overseas vacations while "not having any money" to pay his child support.

This is the typical tea-bagging GOP member. "Fuck EVERYBODY - I got mine!"

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Friday, July 29, 2011 3:55 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


I gotta disagree, Mike. This is a typical dead-beatdad; I'll bet you can find more than one in BOTH parties. And everywhere else in our society. It's certainly hypocritical at the very least, given they scream about "fiscal responsibility", but it's only oe person.

One can be an ass, a Tea Party Darling AND a dead-beat dad all at the same time, that doesn't mean it reflects all of anything. He's certainly a bastard, but that and "politician" might be synonyms, so it doesn't expand to anything beyond "bastard dead-beat dad".


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Friday, July 29, 2011 3:58 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:

heh heh... you said " stiff "






I ask a polite, serious question, and you, the polite serious 'Raptor reply with that? That's the best you got, Beavis? or are you ButtHead? Never mind, I already got an opinion on your answer...




Francis, lighten up.

I said it with a

Geeeze....it's Friday.


" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Friday, July 29, 2011 4:25 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:

Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
If the Chinese are able to lend you a trillion dollars, they clearly won't miss it if it is late.




Probably not, but that's not really the principle they're operating on, I don't think. I view China as being more like the neighborhood loan shark. Sure, they can afford to take a loss and walk away, but I have a feeling they'd rather stick around and break a few things just to "teach us a lesson"...



What do you think they can do? Just out of interest...

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Friday, July 29, 2011 4:48 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Magons, what CAN'T they do, at this point?

When someone is holding literally TRILLIONS of dollars of your bad debt, and they know you're broke, but they also know you have some really nice stuff still, you kind of put yourself in a bad situation, y'know?

What if China chose August 3rd to call in their debt? What if they said, "Pay up!"? Could we? Would China then be in a position to say, "Well, since you can't pay what you owe us, we'll just be repossessing Taiwan now, m'kay?"

And what are we in a position to do about it?

China is in a strong economic position at the moment. Because of the borrow-and-spend policies of the GOP from 2000 thru 2008, we have been left in a weakened negotiation position. Any negotiator knows that you get what you can when you can, and negotiating from a weak position is an automatic losing proposition.

So that's worst case; more likely, it will be trade concessions, treaty issues, opening up the U.S. to Chinese factories and firms, and the like.


If you ever said "Support the Troops!", you are a socialist. You've taken money from me, by force and at gunpoint, and you've given it to people who are on a mission I don't support, and are murdering others in my name, and I am given no choice in the matter.

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Friday, July 29, 2011 4:52 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
I gotta disagree, Mike. This is a typical dead-beatdad; I'll bet you can find more than one in BOTH parties. And everywhere else in our society. It's certainly hypocritical at the very least, given they scream about "fiscal responsibility", but it's only oe person.

One can be an ass, a Tea Party Darling AND a dead-beat dad all at the same time, that doesn't mean it reflects all of anything. He's certainly a bastard, but that and "politician" might be synonyms, so it doesn't expand to anything beyond "bastard dead-beat dad".


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off








Well, I'm going off Rappy's central theme: You can always tell what an entire political movement stands for by the worst actions of any one of its members. So, since this guy is the mouthpiece of the Republican tea-baggers, this is the party's and the movement's official stance: Run out on your bills and your responsibilities, and fuck 'em if they don't like it!

Rappy will agree with me that this is how they all roll.

If you ever said "Support the Troops!", you are a socialist. You've taken money from me, by force and at gunpoint, and you've given it to people who are on a mission I don't support, and are murdering others in my name, and I am given no choice in the matter.

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Friday, July 29, 2011 5:12 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Yeah, I know you were "Raptorfying" when you wrote that, I just thought in fairness I should disagree. I know that's how RAPTOR feels, but you've got more than two brain cells running together, so I figured YOU didn't believe such idiocy...just wanted to getcha to say it.

I think we ought to start a list of "RaptorRules" or something.

1. You can always tell what an entire political movement stands for by the worst actions of any one of its members.

2. ?


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Friday, July 29, 2011 5:29 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:

I think we ought to start a list of "RaptorRules" or something.

1. You can always tell what an entire political movement stands for by the worst actions of any one of its members.

2.?





2. How 'bout when we start a thread with a goofy title, we add to it: " Not 'Rap", like some of us sometimes do " not PN."

3. How 'bout we just start not replying to any post he makes? Answer everybody else, but totally ignore him. Maybe he'll get tired and go away... That's about what I'm going to do, in self preservation. It ain't worth the trouble.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 12:11 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

How 'bout we just start not replying to any post he makes?
I agree. Rappy isn't here to discuss, because discussion requires that you actually.... yanno... listen and think. Rappy's head is so full of bullshit it's plugging up his ears and rotting his brain. And whenever he metaphorically opens his mouth, it leaks out and gets all over the board. Eewww!

Because rappy can put words into grammatically correct sentences it's natural to think his problem is "ignorance". Yanno, lack of information. But I learned a powerful lesson about delusion from rappy ... he suffers from a willful failure to engage logic and facts, pretty much like flat-earthers but a LOT more mean-spirited.

Even after I realized the nature of his addiction to nasty ideas I thought... well... rappy is a human bean, and as such worthy of at least a modicum of respect. And then for a while he was good object lesson to others. For an even shorter while he had some worth as amusement. I've come to the point where I think the only thing that will change rappy's mind is a bullet. (Please don't take that as a threat. It's not, just an assessment.)

So, about rappy? SOOOO not worth it!

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 12:16 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Back to the discussion at hand.

What Obama fails to recognize that the Tea-baggers don't need to NOT raise the debt ceiling, they ONLY need to tie up the discussion to get what they want- To starve government. The victory is theirs by (ahem) default.

Obama should just ignore them and keep paying out money to everyone. After all, ALL of this spending was AUTHORIZED by Congress and APPROVED by Presidents... mostly Republican. On that basis, just go full steam ahead, because THERE IS NO DEBT CRISIS.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 12:28 AM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
Magons, what CAN'T they do, at this point?

When someone is holding literally TRILLIONS of dollars of your bad debt, and they know you're broke, but they also know you have some really nice stuff still, you kind of put yourself in a bad situation, y'know?

What if China chose August 3rd to call in their debt? What if they said, "Pay up!"? Could we? Would China then be in a position to say, "Well, since you can't pay what you owe us, we'll just be repossessing Taiwan now, m'kay?"

And what are we in a position to do about it?

China is in a strong economic position at the moment. Because of the borrow-and-spend policies of the GOP from 2000 thru 2008, we have been left in a weakened negotiation position. Any negotiator knows that you get what you can when you can, and negotiating from a weak position is an automatic losing proposition.

So that's worst case; more likely, it will be trade concessions, treaty issues, opening up the U.S. to Chinese factories and firms, and the like.


If you ever said "Support the Troops!", you are a socialist. You've taken money from me, by force and at gunpoint, and you've given it to people who are on a mission I don't support, and are murdering others in my name, and I am given no choice in the matter.



eh, welcome to reality. we're owned by china and america and et al.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 1:13 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
[
Because rappy can put words into grammatically correct sentences it's natural to think his problem is "ignorance". Yanno, lack of information. But I learned a powerful lesson about delusion from rappy ... he suffers from a willful failure to engage logic and facts, pretty much like flat-earthers but a LOT more mean-spirited.


Thanx, Sig. I just had an epiphany- I never looked at it that way, but you're exactly right, that was exactly how and why I was looking at him. Hate to give up on somebody who presents the appearance of being capable and rational, but that's just it-- it's an appearance and he realy ain't.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 1:26 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


NewOB: BTW- I don't mean "delusion" in the general sense, I mean "delusion" as in the original psychiatric definition
Quote:

... the psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers was the first to define the three main criteria for a belief to be considered delusional in his 1917 book General Psychopathology. These criteria are:

* certainty (held with absolute conviction)
* incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary)
* impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre or patently untrue)

Rappy pretty much fits the bill. And as a psychiatric phenomenon he deserves my sympathy. But certainly not my conversation.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 1:38 AM

OLDENGLANDDRY

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 2:02 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


There are several parts to the question "who do we stiff?"

One part is "what happens to the dollar?" and another part is "what happens to our Treasuries?" There is also "what happens to the stock market?" and "what happens to the economy?"

One quick answer is that anyone holding Treasuries will be stiffed. That means the Chinese, the Saudis and other most oil-producing nations, insurances, retirement funds, and other entities that are contractually obligated to hold AAA-rated paper, and so forth. I would look for nations with huge trade imbalances with the USA and large sovereign funds, retirement plans and so forth.

But I don't think they're going to be that put out. The USA is not in a debt crisis; any rational investor is going to look at our balance sheet and figure... hey, this nation has a lot more money coming in than it needs to pay its interest, and a lot less debt than a lot of other nations. I suspect they will take a practical approach.

Now, frankly, I have little sympathy for the insurances... and even less for the S&P which is threatening a meaningless* downgrade. (*After all, those collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps that imploded in 2008 and almost took down the monolines and AIG had AAA rating. WTF? Is S&P going to tell us they have a bead on what's secure and what isn't, given that kind of track record???)

So IMHO Treasuries are still a safe bet, and those holding them will be OK. The problem comes "down the line", when Federal workers and contractors don't get paid. That will in essence shrink the economy, and the average American citizen will once again get stiffed.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:17 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
[
Because rappy can put words into grammatically correct sentences it's natural to think his problem is "ignorance". Yanno, lack of information. But I learned a powerful lesson about delusion from rappy ... he suffers from a willful failure to engage logic and facts, pretty much like flat-earthers but a LOT more mean-spirited.


Thanx, Sig. I just had an epiphany- I never looked at it that way, but you're exactly right, that was exactly how and why I was looking at him. Hate to give up on somebody who presents the appearance of being capable and rational, but that's just it-- it's an appearance and he realy ain't.



It's more than just a "willful failure to engage logic and facts", y'all. It is, in fact, an AGGRESSIVE willingness to embrace falsehoods and illogic.

Point out that the economy has been growing, albeit sluggishly, and Rappy responds by claiming (like Mitt Romney did, which he immediately retracted once called on his bullshit claims) that Obama has made everything worse. There are no facts supporting such claims, yet he'll insist that it is so, and that "it's not even open to debate".

On the other hand, when you show Rappy how much worse things got under Bush, from the time he was(n't) elected until he left in disgrace amid the destruction he'd caused here and abroad, he'll steadfastly insist that Bush was in fact one of the greatest Presidents in American history.

In other words, he purposely inserts known, provable falsehoods into his mind, and slams shut the door of reason, then welds it shut after barricading himself inside with a roomful of lies.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:53 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


NewOld, the list is of RAPTOR RULES, not rules ABOUT Raptor. It's a joking list of the rules Raptor would like everyone else to follow, not about how WE should deal with HIM. It's a joke anyway and totally unimportant, it's just that certain ways of thinking repeat and repeat with him, and they're not logical, they're mostly amusing or stupid.

I do, however, applaud your desire to ignore him. That would work if everyone did it, but a) it's been suggested before and never went anywhere and b) his intent is to trigger people, and we all get tricked into responding at one time or another.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:54 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Sig, that definition of delusional is beautiful; it fits Raptor to a "T"! And you got it:
Quote:

he suffers from a willful failure to engage logic and facts, pretty much like flat-earthers but a LOT more mean-spirited.
I'm still hung up on whether it's that or the desire for attention and his having learned that the best way to get a response is to say outrageous things and try to trigger people.

And gawd, did you nail it with
Quote:

What Obama fails to recognize that the Tea-baggers don't need to NOT raise the debt ceiling, they ONLY need to tie up the discussion to get what they want- To starve government. The victory is theirs by (ahem) default.

Obama should just ignore them and keep paying out money to everyone. After all, ALL of this spending was AUTHORIZED by Congress and APPROVED by Presidents... mostly Republican. On that basis, just go full steam ahead, because THERE IS NO DEBT CRISIS.

That's it in a nutshell, and their reason for wanting to raise it short term is so they can do it all over again, in an election year, in the hopes they can score points by doing so AND because another battle will win them further concessions.
Quote:

The problem comes "down the line", when Federal workers and contractors don't get paid. That will in essence shrink the economy, and the average American citizen will once again get stiffed.
Yup; the result of not raising the debt ceiling is a compound one; each month it gets worse and eventually, well...



Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:55 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Mike, does he
Quote:

purposely inserts known, provable falsehoods
into his MIND, or into what he writes? Like I said, I'm still on the fence as to whether it's delusion or deliberate statements to goad others.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off



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Saturday, July 30, 2011 10:28 AM

FREMDFIRMA



Problem is, there's a lot of people like that in this country, courtesy of our tremendously abusive education-indoctrination system, often mixed with religion and parental values like racism, classism, and intolerance in general...

Of themselves they're not really a threat, but in combination with a would-be-tyrant, they're the ones rushing headfirst to don the jackboots with glee, just waiting, hoping, praying for the day of the rope, the night of the knives.

And I mean to pre-empt that in any way possible, best case by reforming the systems that create them, which I have done with far more success than ever expected - but the finished product, as you say, has only one cure.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 11:54 AM

DREAMTROVE


I concur with Frem: The education system pre-programs future jackboots. Part of the problem is that it doesn't take a full jackboot programming for them to be effective. The swat team riot police are probably fully gone, but our soldiers and support staff are likely redeemable and reversible, so I would say "at the most advanced stages, jackbootism is perhaps irreversible" but at many earlier levels it can be cured. I think this is important because many of these half-way agents of TPTB are doing their dirty work and yet aren't entirely sold on the whole picture which they don't necessarily see.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 2:13 PM

FREMDFIRMA



Well, if this debt showdown goes badly, and the troops don't get paid...
I suppose we'll see which ones balk at the prospect of doin that shit for free, and expose the total hypocrisy of some of them supposed true believer crusader types, which I'd lay money will balk even FASTER, all rhetoric aside.
ESPECIALLY when it dawns on them that along with that not-gettin-paid thing, that also means SGLI will not be paid out either.

Which is, in it's own way, what led me to type-3 conscientious objection, I don't *do* bulk rate.



You're right about fifth-column subversion though, cause I still consider the primary "hero" of tiananmen square to be that nameless tank driver who refused to run the poor fool over.
If the trigger pullers won't pull the trigger, then tyranny has no teeth.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 6:13 PM

DREAMTROVE


Realistically the troops salaries are not in any danger: The military has an account with over $2 trillion to pay their salaries from, and they are the top priority for the govt. to spent its already $2 trillion a year more in revenue even if it never borrows a cent. The military payroll is $95 billion. I think we can afford to pay them forever at that rate.

Besides, the jackasses in power might not be the brightest bulbs ever lit, but they're not that dumb.


That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Saturday, July 30, 2011 9:48 PM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Besides, the jackasses in power might not be the brightest bulbs ever lit, but they're not that dumb.


Never underestimate the stupidity of a politician.

Anxiety in Afghanistan over troops pay if U.S. defaults
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre76t0mh-us-usa-debt-afghanistan/
Quote:

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pentagon officials were working hard to plan for a potential default but cautioned that the circumstances were extraordinary.

"So I honestly can't answer that question," he told troops at Kandahar air base in southern Afghanistan, as several expressed anxiety over budget wrangling in Washington.

Potentially suspending pay to U.S. forces waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is an extremely sensitive subject in the United States and Mullen acknowledged that many troops lived paycheck to paycheck.

"So if paychecks were to stop, it would have a devastating impact," Mullen said, answering questions from troops.

"I'd like to give you a better answer than that right now, I just honestly don't know," he said.


When you hear a fucking ADMIRAL say the words "I don't know.", it's time to start shitting bricks, seriously.



-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Sunday, July 31, 2011 3:07 AM

DREAMTROVE


Nah, it's not. He's fucking with them. He doesn't want anyone to cut off the line of blood money.

Will they stiff the troops? Of course, because that will push people to get that cashflow running again.

Do they have to? Of course not. The military has a bank account with over two trillion dollars in it to pay the payroll of $95 billion. Looks like they've got it covered for 20 years without another dime. (Okay, less than that when you count in how much they're giving to terrorists who are on our side today by will start shooting at us tomorrow.) But they'll get their dime, even if the debt ceiling isn't raised. The essential tasks of this govt. *including* the military and all entitlements to the poor cost around 1.4 trillion. There's plenty of room to do that and pay down the debt. Don't believe me? Look at the budget of any other country in the world, even insanely bloated ones like China and Japan. Everyone, it seems, can do this one better than we can.

What the admiral is peeing his pants over is the fear that there wouldn't be any gratuitous *increases* in spending and so they wouldn't be able to launch a large scale war against Iran or the central Asian republics.

It's the same damn thing they're doing to social security. Obama just killed another cost of living increase, and wants to permanent kill the concept, on social security, which, when he's business devaluing the currency is just going to make the aid to the poor evaporate. He knows these people vote, but it's the same damn strategy, and it's the same as the republicans: Hurt the little people, make them feel it, so they'll oppose budget cuts.

They're never going to cut out half trillion dollar items of corporate welfare. No one would feel the pain but them. The only way to kill the corporate corruption, the only way to kill the war, is to cut off the damned flow of funds. Clinton didn't balance the budget by raising revenue, he cut spending, and he managed to continue to run the govt, pay soldiers, and fight wars on less tax revenue than Obama has right now. Let's cut back to that right now. Obama has a total of 3 trillion in cash, he can start right now cutting gratuitous wastes like corporate handouts and welfare to millionaires.


That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Sunday, July 31, 2011 5:28 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
NewOB: BTW- I don't mean "delusion" in the general sense, I mean "delusion" as in the original psychiatric definition
Quote:

... the psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers was the first to define the three main criteria for a belief to be considered delusional in his 1917 book General Psychopathology. These criteria are:

* certainty (held with absolute conviction)
* incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary)
* impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre or patently untrue)

Rappy pretty much fits the bill. And as a psychiatric phenomenon he deserves my sympathy. But certainly not my conversation.



And yet, here you are, posting reply after reply, dedicated to talking about - me.




The problem w/ your definitions is that , yes, while I do admit to being strong in my convictions, it's not out of ME being incorrigible or unwavering. You're just not offering any valid counter to my points of view.

This place would run a hell of a lot more smoothly if y'all would focus more on the facts, and less on attacking individuals with whom you disagree.

But, alas, we are human. And even scientists, when debating conflicting theories, are susceptible of making things personal, when their arguments break down. Just shows that it can happen to the best of us.


" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Sunday, July 31, 2011 5:35 AM

M52NICKERSON

DALEK!


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
The problem w/ your definitions is that , yes, while I do admit to being strong in my convictions, it's not out of ME being incorrigible or unwavering. You're just not offering any valid counter to my points of view.



More then one person has offered valid counter that shred your arguments. You just ignore then or don't respond. After a certain point it becomes pointless to argue with you. Kind of like talking to a book, no matter what you say it always says the same thing.

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

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Sunday, July 31, 2011 1:02 PM

FREMDFIRMA



Nah, cause a book actually contains knowledge of some sort...
Rappy - not so much.

-F

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