Monday Open Thread
Welcome to your Monday open thread. It’s everyone’s favorite day of the week! Enjoy your Monday, and share your thoughts below.
Alan Simpson has said a lot of strange things (like 310,000,00 tits and Snoopy Poopy Poop Dog) so I figure people have stopped listening to him. It’s a shame because he’s been telling Republicans what they don’t want to hear, namely that taxes will have to increase to balance the budget.
Simpson appeared in Denver recently, and argued “vigorously for tax increases to help balance the budget.”
Simpson said he confronted anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist when the commission met and they exchanged words over the legacy of Ronald Reagan, claimed by both as their personal hero. When Reagan was president, he raised taxes 11 times, Simpson said, a bit of history that made Norquist squirm.
“I knew Ronald Reagan and you, Grover, are no Ronald Reagan,” Simpson said he told the president of Americans for Tax Reform, who famously said his goal was to make government small enough it could be drowned in a bathtub. Reagan didn’t raise taxes to give Norquist something to complain about, Simpson said. “He probably did it to make the country run.”
“We’ve never had a war with no tax to support it, including the Revolution,” Simpson said, after pointing out that taxes account for an increasingly smaller share of the economy. But the harsh partisan atmosphere in Washington makes any discussion of tax increases dangerous, Simpson said. “People are told in Congress if they raise taxes by a nickel, they’ll be strung up by their heels in the town square.”
For all of the comments Simpson makes that leave one dumbfounded and asking, “What was he thinking?” this was actually a very sensible thing to say. It’s also a message that too few Republicans are even willing to acknowledge out loud.
Shame on Simpson for taking St. Reagan’s name in vain. Republicans will continue to pretend that Reagan only cut taxes and that he didn’t create a huge deficit.
I got this link from a special correspondent. It’s an article showing there are actual brain structure differences between liberals and conservatives. Cause or effect?
This is going to sound sort of obvious, but here we go: A study from University College London published this week in Current Biology has discovered that there are actually differences in the brains of liberals and conservatives. Specifically, liberals’ brains tend to be bigger in the area that deals with processing complex ideas and situations, while conservatives’ brains are bigger in the area that processes fear.
According to the report: “We found that greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala.”
People with larger amygdalae respond to perceived threats with more aggression and “are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions.” The anterior cingulate cortex, however, “monitors uncertainty and conflict.” “Thus,” says the report, “it is conceivable that individuals with a larger ACC have a higher capacity to tolerate uncertainty and conflicts, allowing them to accept more liberal views.”
You can definitely see the difference in the rhetoric that both sides use. I think the conservative advantage here is that everyone responds to fear-based arguments on some level. That’s why their rhetoric has such power, even if a lot of it is nonsense.
Tags: Open Thread
This is from Equality Delaware post on Facebook today — Notes from the Delaware House Floor on the passing of SB 30.
An occasion to be really proud of Delaware again — as an astonishing amount of bigotry and clownishness offered up by opponents got turned back.
no no no. They CANT be conservative because of a mental birth defect! how are we, as politically correct tolerant Liberals, supposed to make fun of them is they “are born that way”? Conservatism is a CHOICE.
Just want to wish everyone here a very Happy and Kosher Passover. B’shanah Haba’ah B’Yerusheliam.
I still don’t know what the hell Obama’s budget speech meant but it is clear it is some kind of turning point. Now the wingnuts are for the first time beginning to feel the bitterness of compromise, and they don’t like it. Erickson:
My question is: Whe the hell didn’t Chambliss and the Repubs come forth with this in December when they DEFEATED a tax increaase to help pay off the deficit?
Unfortunately I think I know the answer, and it isn’t a good one: Because the December (House) bill didn’t provide for increases on the middle class. I think Obama is offering them a deal that will. Erickson again:
“Expanding the base” is code for raising taxes on the middle and working classes, perhaps by eliminating some deductions. It could also refer to closing corporate loopholes while lowering rates, I suppose.
So full disclosure… I am a single dude with no family to support, I do alright and really try to live below my means so, I am not an average example of the middle class.
That said, I regularly get a tax refund and i ALWAYS splurge it on shit I dont really need. My point? if I had to pay an extra 100 dollars a year in taxes, I’d be fine…. especially if was going to ensure that I could retire before I turn 80. We aren’t talking about giant hikes in taxes here. We are talking about a couple extra dollars from each paycheck for most people. Unless you are just ideologically against the idea of taxes, what is the big deal?
another crazy idea i had…. because i commute. Take away ALL the subsidies for the oil cartels and allow half of it to be used by people who have to pay an ever rising amount of money to go to work. We know the GOP will NEVER let a socialist mass transit anti-god system in this country, so stop charging people to make money.
raise my taxes. take an extra 5 bucks out. Enough with this silly notion that slightly lower taxes will be the difference between a comfortable modest happy life and Beverly Hills
OK shameless self-plug: please see my editorial in Sunday’s WNJ on state employee unions:
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110417/OPINION08/104170318/1109/opinion08/Public-employee-unions-Delaware-aren-t-demonized
It is nice to be a Democrat and put your tax check in the mail with a sense of pride, rather than seething resentment.
Ben,when you are NOT a single dude, you might feel differently. I pay substantial real estate and school taxes, in addition to our income taxes. Any refund we get we recklessly splurge on medical bills. I have zero SS coming to me, except as a married person, and some of the spouse’s will go to his ex. If I won the lottery tomorrow it would mean I could afford what the government already imagines I can afford to pay for my kids’ college expenses.
$100 more a year would come smack out of my ability to pay doctor co-pays, and that’s a fact. And we can’t expect this will change, except for the worse, anytime soon.
The Progressive Majority reporting from Madison on Sat. There were 1500 baggers there and 3500 progressives. Palin was booed so much they were silencing her. Here’s a great one from Wonder Woman:
Stealing a line from LGBT community she said, ” Were here, were clear, get used to it”…these people can’t even come up with their own slogans.
Walker testifing before Congress last week said, “In Wisconsin, we are doing something truly progressive”. I think someone slipped these nuts some LSD.
heragain,
thats why i used the disclaimer that i dont consider myself the average middle class example. Still, if everyone pays a little bit more relative to what they can afford, (millionaires would pay a few thousand more a year) we would be able to take care of our citizens and not go bankrupt… also, no more subsidies for oil companies.
S&P Cuts U.S. Ratings Outlook to Negative
Market Watch April 18, 2011 Steve Goldstein
Standard & Poor’s cut its ratings outlook on the U.S. to negative from stable while keeping its Triple-A rating on the world’s largest economy.
“More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Nikola G. Swann….
it’s the spending stupid
Leave it to half a man to give you half the reason.
It’s the revenue too, nimrod.
And it also highlighs the debt ceiling debacle facing the GOP.
VC,
It you revert to the pre Bush tax rates (everybody’s taxes go up) and you still need to cut over $1.2 Trillion Dollars.
of instead you focused on the evil rich and raised the tax rate for those earing more than $500,000 to 100%…
you would still need to cut a Trillion dollars from the Obama budget.
but you keep dreaming about tax hikes..
Who said anything about evil? Putting words in people’s mouths is a sign of a weak argument.
What about the shared sacrifice? Should not the ones who benefited the most over the past decade be the ones first in line to help get out of this mess? But no, you’re just a temporarily embarrassed future millionaire looking out for your wannabe own.
Btw – your last point? Fucking wrong, per usual, Mr. Ctrl+C Ctrl+V…..
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/business/economy/13leonhardt.html
@ Steve Newton- Where were the LURID pictures?
The only disturbing pictures I saw were of Governor Walker.
And OVERHEATED rhetoric?
Pal, when your LIFE’S on the line any rhetoric is understandable.
Things went rather peacefully there, surprisingly enough, considering the under-handed tactics used by the BLUNT-SKULLS.
skippertee
way to miss the point
but thanks for playing
I didn’t miss your point.
Your opening sentence was inaccurate and sucked.
The rest was OK.
Placement of Campaign Signs on School property? This morning I noticed Faith Newtons campaign signs for the upcoming Red Clay school board election posted prominently at Baltz, Warner and another elementary school. There was also one at Ferris. I always thought school grounds were off limits except when they were polling places, and then only on Election day. But after contacting both NCCO Dept of Elections and Red Clay, I found out there is no policy prohibiting the placement of signs. I hope they enact a policy before the next election, because otherwise our school yards are going to look like litter boxes next time. Alternatively maybe they could sell advertising space on schools and school property? Anyone have any thoughts on this election? I saw on Kilroy’s Delaware that her supporters are only complaining about her opponent, Buckly, without offering solutions.
I saw Faith’s signs at A.I.H.S. when I dropped off my son this morning. Seemed odd to me, especially since it was the ONLY sign on the property.
Totally unrelated–is Faith Juice’s sister?
The rating’s agencies were part and parcel of the 2008 financial horror that nearly brought down the world economy and have led to this time of austerity politics while the wealthy are holding all of the cards and paying the least of the taxes, percentage-wise anyway.
Here’s the natural pushback on the S&P declaration – total skepticism of whose bed they are shouting from (via memeorandum) –
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online: Today’s (Needless) Hysteria: the S&P Panic — I agree with Clive Crook’s puzzlement about the S&P downgrade “bombshell” today: … And I like James K. Galbraith’s derisive guffaw, as reported by Dave Lindorff: … I know that markets run on fear, greed, instinct, and panic as much as on logic.
–Discussion:
CEPR: If a Negative S&P Outlook for the U.S. Explains a Drop in Stock Prices, Why Did the Dollar Rise and Interest Rates Fall
J. Bradford DeLong / Brad DeLong’s Grasping Reality …: Overinterpreting Short-Term Market Movements: The S&P U.S. Treasury Rating Downgrade Threat
John Cole / Balloon Juice: Here Come The Bond Vigilantes
Matthew Saltmarsh / New York Times: S.&P. Lowers Outlook for U.S.,
Dave Lindorff / This Can’t Be Happening:
An ‘Oh Please!’ Moment: Is S&P Running Interference for the Right to Help Crush Social Security and Medicare?25 minutes ago
Link Search: IceRocket, Google, and Ask
+Discussion: New Deal 2.0, naked capitalism, The Atlantic Online and Crooked Timber
And as far as school board elections, the RTTT reform mash-up at Glasgow HS is coming to a head tonight at the CSD Board meeting at Shue school. Some conservative operators are using this extreme crisis of confidence in Markell by the union as an excuse to place ‘one of their own’ on the school board. Watch out for a CSD candidate who supports charter schools, vouchers to private schools, no taxes and no unions in our public schools.
@Litterbug
It is perfectly legal for school board candidates to place signs on school property. If you will think back to 2008, Kim Williams and Eric Randolph–among others–inundated the schools with signs for weeks before the election.
If Jack Buckley doesn’t choose to get his name out there, that’s his problem.
As for the contention that Dr. Newton is not offering solutions, perhaps a visit to
http://havefaithinredclay.blogspot.com/
will help you out.
There’s a post up from yesterday talking in detail about how to turn schools around in terms of discipline, academics, and choice.
I can’t see where Jack Buckley has ever–anywhere–addressed discipline problems or the district’s academic problems. 58% of the student body being suspended last year at Dickinson? And what’s his answer.
@Nancy
It’s possible to support some but not all of those positions you mention and not be some sort of conservative stealth candidate. Dr Newton supports Choice and Charter, but not vouchers. She has worked for multiple Red Clay referenda and has been a long-time supporter of the teachers’ union. Ask any of the teachers who had her as a principal.
I’m going to have to take a pass on Faith Newton. I’m uncomfortable with people who were part of the problem suddenly discovering the problem once they leave their district office job. I feel the same way about newly retired generals suddenly speaking out.
And her view of increasing Choice is a deal breaker for me. Rampant abuse of Choice led to trailer classrooms at AI and hurt Dickinson and McKean.
Pandora
It would help if you knew what you were talking about here.
Precisely how would you say Dr Newton was “part of the problem”? Can you cite a specific example?
Jack Buckley loves to talk about cleaning up the financial mess, but it was Dr Newton who cleaned up the Consolidated Grant during Jack’s first two years on the Board.
He likes to talk about “the previous administration,” but there is no “previous administration.” Jack himself was School Board president when Merv was hired. gee, the former deputy supt, that’s reform! As for the district office, almost everybody in there now Broomall, Norris, Nash, Davenport, etc etc are exactly the same people who were there when Dr Newton was there. So if she’s “part of the problem” why aren’t they? Or have you bitten hook line and sinker on his BS that he alone saved the district from ruin?
“I feel the same way about newly retired generals suddenly speaking out”–what part of when you are in a job you have limited ability to criticize your employer publicly don’t you understand?
“increasing Choice is a deal breaker for me. Rampant abuse of choice led to trailer classrooms at AI and hurt Dickinson and McKean.”
The trailer classrooms have been at AI since the early to mid-1990s and predate Choice. What do you want to do? Tear them out fifteen years later after they have been paid for? Ask students or parents, they are an integral part of that campus now, no matter how they got there. Do you agree with the district’s current plan to shrink AI High by about 20% of enrollment over the next four years and force the overage into Dickinson and McKean?
Hurt Dickinson and McKean? How so? Got any stats to prove this generally fact-free assertion? McKean has been turning around for the past 3-4 years once they finally put competent administrators into the building. Dickinson is what McKean would have looked like if two good principals in a row had not been hired. Explain to me exactly how you manage to blame Choice for a 58% suspension rate.
“Explain to me exactly how you manage to blame Choice for a 58% suspension rate.”
If non-suspension prone students choice out, the remaining suspension prone students represent a larger percentage of the school population.
Seems fairly straight forward to me.
As for the district office, almost everybody in there now Broomall, Norris, Nash, Davenport, etc etc are exactly the same people who were there when Dr Newton was there. So if she’s “part of the problem” why aren’t they?
They are part of the problem.
“I feel the same way about newly retired generals suddenly speaking out”–what part of when you are in a job you have limited ability to criticize your employer publicly don’t you understand?
I do understand the problem. It’s fine that people in high level positions, who depend on their paycheck, keep quiet. I get that, but being a whistle blower only scores you points when the whistle blower risks his/her career to point out that something is wrong. Again, I don’t expect them to do that, but it becomes tiresome to suddenly hear about all the problems once a person leaves their position. This is a pet peeve of mine. You don’t have a problem with it? Fine.
Do you agree with the district’s current plan to shrink AI High by about 20% of enrollment over the next four years and force the overage into Dickinson and McKean?
Yes.
Explain to me exactly how you manage to blame Choice for a 58% suspension rate.
By allowing AI to become overcrowded through choice it turned Dickinson into a dumping ground school which, in turn, made more parents desperate to get into AI which led to more overcrowding. The 58% suspension rate is what happens when you create dumping ground schools.
Exactly, Jason! And the exodus was created by school boards and administration abuse of Choice. Overcrowd schools through Choice? No problem! Create high poverty schools through Choice (before Neighborhood Schools Law took effect)? Go for it!
This problem has been over 10 years in the making. Anyone who is shocked hasn’t been paying attention.