Alaska Darin

He's dirty. Most of them are.

Keep in mind Social Security didn't need to be reformed during the previous administration. That was back when the Democrats were playing the role of "The Party of No". That was totally different, right liberals?

I had no idea that the requirement for "warrior" went through you. Thanks for "denegrating" my service. I'm sure it wasn't nearly as "warrior" like as yours. In your opinion. Which I don't care about. Now toss out another "right wing circle jerk" while contributing absolutely nothing to any conversation and pretending everyone else is at fault. Oh, the victim that you are. First you get to define warrior, now you get to speak for everyone. You're awesome. Yeah, that's exactly the thing. I certainly hate to disappoint, though I'm quite sure I don't need your permission. Your "I'm done with this" is pretty typical of your run and hide technique, so it was anticipated. You've been looking for a way out since the beginning. Thanks though for spending all this time pretending you're somehow different than the things you're accusing me of being - mostly because I hurt your little feelings by proxy. Everyone else is the hypocrite. Your condescension is noted.

It'll be worse.

In the strictest term used by the paper pusher's, I'm the dependent of a retiree. I guess that matters when it comes to me getting on base and going to the commissary or something. There's certainly a reason you keep using it but I'm sure you're not "denegrating" my wife because even you aren't that stupid. I'll let you know when I care about that. Which is why you threw up charges like "Fair and Balanced", right? And the reason you didn't post a single example to back up that lame ass ****. You've got that totally reversed. You don't like it. I don't care.

I don't know what a "retired dependent" is but if that's your version of an insult I can see why you think you're somehow winning an argument.

I can B word about whatever I want. I know you former military guys are desperate to keep wearing your rank all over the place. Try facing reality. In other words: You threw up a bunch of **** at the wall because you're desperate for some attention. Then you got called on it and couldn't back it up with even a single example. Not surprising since it's pretty much your M.O. But thanks for accusing me of smokescreen and obfuscation (try a new term). Do yourself a favor and STFU. The 20 years you spent in a tube with other dudes has had obvious long term affects. You're like a choad who can type. You swim around hoping to bump into something.

Specific examples, please. You know how to use the search function, so it shouldn't be difficult. Goody. Maybe you can find me a gold star. My portfolio for "People whose opinions I give a flying !@#$ about" is severely lacking in gold stars. Really? Where? I'm pretty sure I've stated over and over again that I friggin' hate Liberals and Liberalism. There isn't a more bankrupt ideology currently offered. I also hate the Republican party. Is that the "Fair and Balanced" you're referring to? Sarcasm is completely different than bull ****. I'm not surprised you're having a tough time with that.

The majority of us who think this bill is terrible think it's terrible because it's terrible. It'd be terrible no matter who was pushing it. It's a terrible bill. Period.

There's a good analogy!

I don't identify with "conservatives". Because. Why exactly am I supposed to be "Fair and Balanced"? Let's look at the two quotations back-to-back. Yeah, I'm the hypocrite who uses nonsensical strawman attacks. Someone swallowed way too much sea water.

Sword fight?

If you fall under my liberal definition, there's no "hypocricy" to it. Try, with all your might, to understand the difference. Promo and I have a long history. I'm pretty sure I explained myself quite well. Which is probably why I don't smash rk, wacka, etc? Right? Or not. It's probably also why I don't vote for Democrats OR Republicans and am not a member of the Libertarian "party". The fact of the matter is the adage "a person is smart but people are stupid" should be drilled into everyone's head at a young age. Once you get indoctrinated into just about anything of size, you lose your ability to reason rationally. Lockstep? That's pretty funny. Somehow I doubt that your inability to post more than an "ocasional" jibe here has anything to do with that. Much more likely that you don't want to expose your beliefs to the ridicule they likely deserve, swabby.

You mean because they aren't? Libertarians are pretty much the opposite of liberals. Do you really need that explained?

Considering I'm far from "right winger", am agnostic, and don't think government has any place in education... I just don't like the tossing around of the word "all". I didn't read the article past the "they took out Democratic" and substituted "Constitutional Republic". Whoa. That's huge. Or not.

All?

Priceless.

Considering how horrible the current season is, it would have been more wise to end it after last season. And there's no way anyone is going to sit through a 24 hour movie.

I was reading an article about the current governor wanting to raise income taxes 50% (from 3% to 4.5%) because the state is running out of money and is going to have to cut teachers, police, and fire. They aren't offering to cut political staffs or perks for the elected (of course). So I did ONE Google search to see how big a problem government worker pensions were in the great state of Illinois. Enjoy. Business Week Take Illinois. The fifth-wealthiest state in total income, Illinois nevertheless has a 30-year history of shirking its pension promises. According to an analysis by the Civic Federation, a Chicago research group sponsored by the business community, since 1970 Illinois has not once paid its annual pension bill in full. Over the next 40 years the state will have to contribute $275.1 billion if it is to reach its goal of 90% funding -- and that's presuming no benefit changes are made. Through bull markets, bear markets, and sideways markets, the state has consistently lagged, and over time those delays have become more and more expensive. The culprit: reverse compounding. A pension plan's obligations are determined in part by the expected investment return on its assets. In the case of Illinois, that is 8%. So for every dollar not added to assets in time, the state is effectively borrowing from the pension plan at 8% interest. That's a high price in today's market, where municipal bonds typically pay closer to 6%. Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich says that if the state follows its current spending plan, it will have paid $220 billion in interest before it fills the hole. After 30 years of the state's procrastination, the pension burden has grown backbreaking. Illinois' five pension funds are $35 billion in the red, a serious shortfall for a state with a general operating budget of $43 billion this year. Illinois owes $2.6 billion this year, and within five years that will reach $4 billion annually. By comparison the state will spend $5.9 billion total on kindergarten through 12th-grade education next year. "If we were a business we wouldn't be in Chapter 11, we'd be in Chapter 13," says Ralph M. Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax & Budget Accountability, a Chicago-based nonprofit think tank. "We'd have to liquidate." Illinois is not a fast-growing state that can hope that future population and tax growth will bail it out. D'Arcy of the University of Illinois calculates that Illinois should be 97%-funded based on the rate of its income growth. Instead, retirement funds are 62%-funded. The challenge to fixing the state's pension mess is, again, politics. Right now the halls of the state legislature in Springfield are a lobbying battleground between proponents of a plan proposed by the governor to cut benefits for new workers and union-led forces opposed to such a two-tier system. In many ways, the union argument is quite persuasive: State workers in Illinois have perks that are generally in line with or even a bit below those of other state's civil servants. Workers have consistently made their contributions to the pensions -- it's the state that has failed to pay its share. And Illinois has an antiquated tax system that probably is holding revenue down. Over the years, even as the state failed to pay for existing pension promises, the Springfield politicians HAVE ADDED MORE. In the past 10 years benefit sweeteners have added $5.8 billion in new benefits, largely through early retirement inducements. And there has been a general creep up in the level of promises made. Today, one-third of Illinois state employees get hazard rates of pension payments originally intended only for state police, according to the governor. Elected officials are hesitant to ask the rest of their voters to pay for these promises through higher taxes. One primary reason: Outside of government workers, very few employees have these kinds of deals anymore. "Our people at 55 years of age can get 75% to 80% of their salary [as pension], and it's a pretty nice salary," says Illinois State Representative Robert S. Molaro, a member of a commission convened by the governor to make recommendations for fixing the pension system. "It will be hard for us to go to the taxpayers and ask them to pay for our pensions with benefits you in the private sector couldn't even dream of." Since this article was written 5 years ago, I did another internet search to see how much worse it's gotten since. The pension fund deficit has grown nearly 50%. From $35 BILLION to $85 BILLION. BTW, this is the kind of thing that happens when you use government math projections for budgeting. Welcome to the real "Clinton Economy". C'mon liberals. Make excuses for this garbage. Then tell me how we're going to be able to put the government in charge of health care and save money. In the time it's taken you to read this (assuming you've gotten this far), the state of Illinois has fallen about $15,000 further in debt.

The government has been doing the same thing for years. It gave us the ridiculous satisfaction of "we have a surplus!"

Very Special Forces?

That thing is a work of art. How much?

Amen, brother. Amen. When we used to go out to dinner a lot, we'd always let the establishment know that we wouldn't be returning until they figured out how to keep the smokers completely separate. We voted with our dollars.

I guess that means the question was hard. I figured.