Rob's House

Sure, so do a lot of other things. Like looks, charisma, voice, social status, etc. There are only certain one's that you can adjust or compensate for, which doesn't level the playing field, just skews it in a different way.

The IRS is about as forgiving as the mob. My mom's friend has MS, is in assisted living, and can't even wipe her own ass (a fate almost as dreadful as being called a fat ass by 12 year olds). While the IRS is busy collecting every dime it can to make sure needy able bodied 20 somethings have all their necessities met and contributors to various politicians campaigns get their kickbacks, it ruthlessly gutted this woman's savings to satisfy tax debt, most of which consisted of snowballing penalties and interest on the penalties resulting from negligible amounts erroneously withheld by a disabled woman lacking her faculties. It's a hell of a "service" it provides.

Forget it, he's on a roll.

No offense, but based on what you just wrote I can definitively say you don't understand the subject matter well enough to have strong opinions on it. I know, I've been guilty of the same hubris. But before you start deferring to authority and parroting the Chomsky's of the world you should stand back and question everything you think you've learned and really try to understand the counterarguments to your theories. Your example here is contrived in so many ways. First off, property taxes are typically implemented by municipalities and are in no way related to Federal taxation or similar to capital gains. Capital gains would not come in to play until you sell the house at which time you would either pay tax on the increased value or you could potentially deduct your loss (I don't know the specifics of how much you can and can't deduct. I suspect Chef could enlighen us on the subject), which is precisely how it works with investments. But regardless, you're conflating unrelated taxes and levels of government to reach your conclusion.

Property taxes are generally a % of the assessed value. If your assessed value goes up you pay the same % on the higher amount. If the assessed value goes down you pay the same % on the lower amount. What's the problem? Edit: And specifically, what subsidies are you referring to?

You didn't answer Chef's question (which I'm curious about myself). How is the state giving the people who take losses free money?

Well isn't that basically true already? You know, except in the case of athletes who aren't happy with their contracts.

I'll have to defer to MDP on this one. I'm not sure how his Twilight Zone government handles monetary policy. Maybe in his world instead of money you just get labor vouchers. Perhaps you could print these up, and people would receive them based on the value of their labor (to be negotiated by two parties). Then people could freely trade these vouchers for each others goods and services. Or I guess the strong could just fleece the weak since the government stopped protecting the rights of the people. MDP, can you clarify for us? We've hit a speed bump in trying to synthesize your world view.

We can debate the tenents of national socialism all we want, but anyone who wants the government to compete with the private sector is a special kind of stupid. That's like saying Roger Goodel should compete with the owners. Edit: Actually it's worse, I just can't think of an analogy that does this idiocy justice.

If the state weren't protecting corporations couldn't they just hire mercenaries and protect themselves. I'm guessing with the bill the average MNC gets from the IRS they could afford pretty decent security. Maybe whole new corporations would arise whose sole function is to provide protection for other corporations. Or perhaps, in the alternative, there would be no protection and we'd be the Wild West meets Somalia. Edit: And seeing how corporations are just individuals who have organized, isn't the most fundamental purpose of the government to protect those people's rights? And if the government isn't to protect the rights of the people, what function does it serve? Oh yeah, to make sure everyone has the same amount of stuff regardless of what they contribute (I know, I know, labor is the only valuable contribution )

It's so true. I was thinking the same thing earlier after mistakenly posting in the OTW thread. I say "It bothers me the way people get so carried away by their emotions." They hear "!@#$ the old lady, !@#$ everyone who donates to her, & someone should force them to stop &/or confiscate her money." Or more typically I say "all powerful government is dangerous" & they hear "we should disband the government, empower rich people & corporations and subjugate the poor & middle class." It's really tough to have meaningful discourse with someone like that.

Dude, you could get so much kitty with that. Just sayin.

I had a similar experience my freshman year in college. Long story short, our friend said some muscle-bound frat boy at a basketball game said they were going to kick our asses. I'd had enough tequila to take on the world so I walked down the bleachers til I saw him, walked right up on him & his boys & let him know what for and invited him outside. Campus police tossed me right then, which was good b/c no one knew the balls I'd just put on display were courtesy of Jose Cuervo, & if this guy had unleashed on me I'd have been in trouble. Luckily it just went down as Rob's crazy, I later became friends with the guy, & for the next 3 years I was known as a guy not to be !@#$ed with.

How are Quinn Early and T.O. even in the conversation. Quinn Early gave us good consistent production, & T.O. Led the team in receiving & had to deal w/ Trentative Edwards under center for half the season.

I just felt like I should post in this thread.

Come on over to the PPP thread, son. Then I'll tell you what I really think. To clarify, I feel sorry for her & don't begrudge her the cash. More power to her. What bothers me is the way so many people view & process this kind of situation. All gas (heart) with no steering wheel (brains).

Thanks for putting words in my mouth and beating that straw man. Sorry you're too slow to get what I was saying. I'll try to dumb it down for you in the future.

I thought it was ill to call her a pig, but having now seen her (she's a total !@#$ing babe) I don't think he instilled much in the way of body image insecurity in her.

Sorry man, it's just too absurd for me to feel warm & fuzzy about. It sucks that she had to sit through that, but if that's the worst thing that ever happened to her she's had a pretty sweet life. The lack of perspective on display with runaway emotion leaving logic at the starting point bothers me.

Why do you guys hate Alec Baldwin? The guy's awesome. His politics are mildly retarded but he's a great actor, he beats up photographers at 53, AND admits he thinks it's funny. There's something to be said for that kind of honesty.

Mine looks a lot like me.

Don't bet against the Leprechaun; you're libel to end up with balls in your mouth.

Yeah, but we didn't see their suffering on YouTube so it isn't as important.

Trayvon part 2. The school is contemplating what is effectively expulsion over an offense that rightfully warrants about a week long suspension. I saw way worse than this on the bus in middle school. Rumor had it a 7th grader who rode my bus had a hot dog break off inside her. The abuse escalated over several days from someone throwing a condom at her yelling "that'll help your hotdog slide better, slut" to, by the last day of school, the whole bus chanting "face down, hotdog up, that's the way Heather likes to !@#$." All she did was bury her head in her hands and cry. It was pretty !@#$ed up. That was a 13 yr old girl who was deeply scarred. I think a woman in her 60s can handle the verbal barbs of a bunch of kids. Our society hasn't become more abusive; we've become a bunch of hyper-sensitive, overly emotional, feminine hygiene products who have lost perspective on how the world is and mindlessly drift to these incidents as though they are somehow relevant to our lives.

I mean WTF? Who the hell buys their purse at Wegmans? Honestly?