Jauronimo Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 That's zen. I wonder what BO will have told Henry Flagler or George Eastman. He would have explained to George about how his views are still evolving until a point where same sex marriage is politically feasible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 My boyhood friend Jack became a doctor -- and a conservative. He had gone to public schools, attended college with the help of a government scholarship, went to medical school on the Army's dime, and learned his specialty in military hospitals. He insisted that the government had done nothing for him. In that way, he is both the soul and the wit of the Republican Party. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/07/31/romneys_credibility_gap_114959.html Prosperity may not always take a village, but it sure doesn't take the village idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/07/31/romneys_credibility_gap_114959.html So no one becomes successful in a vacuum. The government is there to provide things such as roads (that suck) and bridges (that are falling apart). We know this. But I still have yet to hear anyone explain to me what the point of those remarks was other than to pander to folks like you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/07/31/romneys_credibility_gap_114959.html Pretty much everything in that article has already been addressed in this thread. No matter how many times the true believers would like to enumerate the many triumphs of government funding it will not change the central fact that we the people fund the government. Its certainly cute that Obama or any politician would like more credit for spending some of our tax dollars on things that actually improve our lives (bridges, roads, public transit), but it seems that DC needs a quick reminder as to where their fun money comes from. Since the author insisted on pushing a weak argument he could at least be consistent or stay on point. Romney has never argued that the government plays no role, so what exactly is the author refuting? Citing spending figures means absolutely nothing, as last I checked, Republican leadership has not claimed credit for private sector success. It appears that Cohen just wanted to mention Bush. This article may be the first time Romney has ever been accused being a hard core conservative as well. Total kraP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldTraveller Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) Jonathan Chait says the president’s "you didn't build that" speech revived racial resentments about redistributive fiscal policy, partly because the president was speaking in a “black dialect.” Maybe this was a problem with the speech, but the key problem was much simpler: The president was needlessly insulting. He wasn’t just calling on successful people to pay more in tax but was being dismissive of their accomplishments. The point that we've been making over and over, not just the words, but the tone. Andd you know it's bad when you have David Frum "conservative" fraud piling on. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-30/why-you-didn-t-build-that-resonates.html - I agree with David Frum that the most toxic part of the speech is Barack Obama talking about the sources of success: "I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there." Really? The president is always struck by people who take credit for their own successes? Obviously, every successful outcome in life -- and every failed one -- arises from a combination of internal and external factors. But the president’s tone when he said this, amused by the very idea of people taking credit for their achievements, was off-putting. Frum mostly talks about why this statement irks rich people, but I believe it resonates badly with people at all income levels. Lots of people -- most, I hope -- are proud of something they’ve achieved in their lives and feel like that achievement owes much to their own hard work and talents. You don’t have to make over $250,000 a year to be annoyed when the president mocks people for taking credit for their achievements. And it’s an especially jarring statement because of what it’s used to justify -- higher taxes, with the implication being that they are called for because people do not deserve their own pre-tax wealth. People are rightly unnerved by an argument that amounts to “we can tax you because you didn’t deserve this anyway.” Faced with such an argument, defending your own contribution to your success isn’t just a point of pride -- it’s an argument you must make to defend the principle that you are entitled to your own private property. - This is the other point that I've made, that the whole point of this speech from Obama was a way to justify higher taxes, and that successful people owe it to society, not because they worked hard or were smart, but because it was government that was a driving factor in helping pave their way for the success they have. - he president’s speech calls to mind a second-season West Wing episode, in which speechwriter Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) explains to the staff of some liberal house members why he won’t insert a line in President Bartlet’s upcoming speech. They want the president to attack Republican tax cut proposals as financing “private jets and swimming pools” for the wealthy. As Seaborn argues: Henry, last fall, every time your boss got on the stump and said, "It's time for the rich to pay their fair share," I hid under a couch and changed my name. I left Gage Whitney making $400,000 a year, which means I paid twenty-seven times the national average in income tax. I paid my fair share, and the fair share of twenty-six other people. And I'm happy to 'cause that's the only way it's gonna work, and it's in my best interest that everybody be able to go to schools and drive on roads, but I don't get twenty-seven votes on Election Day. The fire department doesn't come to my house twenty-seven times faster and the water doesn't come out of my faucet twenty-seven times hotter. The top one percent of wage earners in this country pay for twenty-two percent of this country. Let's not call them names while they're doing it, is all I'm saying. When Barack Obama has made an argument for progressive taxation that even Aaron Sorkin finds distasteful, he has erred. That’s not a problem that has anything to do with the president being black. Chait seems taken aback by how much his post offended conservative writers. But when Chait argues the “real reason” attacks on the president are working is racial resentment (and, for good measure, that racial resentment is “the entire key to the rise of the Republican Party” since the 1960s), the implication is that complaints about the “you didn’t build that” speech are per se invalid. Chait didn’t directly accuse anybody of being a racist, but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be annoyed about his post. It’s true that racial undertones are everywhere in American discourse. But not everything that has a racial component is principally about race. Scott Brown’s campaign mashed up “you didn’t build that” with Elizabeth Warren’s similar remarks, which share the president’s derisive tone but of course lack any African-American speaking rhythms. The Brown hit is effective -- and it shows that the president’s speech would have been problematic from the mouth of a white politician, too. - The tone matters Edited July 31, 2012 by WorldTraveller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) And it’s an especially jarring statement because of what it’s used to justify -- higher taxes, with the implication being that they are called for because people do not deserve their own pre-tax wealth. People are rightly unnerved by an argument that amounts to “we can tax you because you didn’t deserve this anyway.” Faced with such an argument, defending your own contribution to your success isn’t just a point of pride -- it’s an argument you must make to defend the principle that you are entitled to your own private property. The real Barack Obama is on full display. I'm hoping people pick up on it before he gets re-elected, because if he talks like this during a campaign, who knows what else we'll learn about him when he doesn't have another election in front him. Edited July 31, 2012 by LABillzFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldTraveller Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Like Krauthammer says, this should be replayed over and over and over till the end of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/01/georgia-businessman-posts-sign-after-didnt-build-that-debate/#ixzz22K2GACc1 "I built this business without gov't help. Obama can Kiss my ass," reads the sign outside Gaster Lumber & Hardware in Savannah, Ga. Owner Ray Gaster posted that and two similar ones at all three of his company's locations in response to Obama's comments during a speech to supporters in Virignia, which struck a nerve with small business owners around the nation." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 "Ohio, you know better. I know better. We know this country wasn’t built from the top down. It was built by the middle class. (Applause.) It was built by farmers and factory workers, and startups and small businesses, and companies that sent American products overseas, not sending American jobs overseas. That’s what built Ohio, and that’s what built America." (Applause.) http://beta.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/viewart/20120801/NEWS01/120801005/Transcript-President-Obama-s-Mansfield-speech Ok Mr President, who built it? Would you make up your mind already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 "When I heard what he said, I said 'I'm going to give him an answer in Chicago language--something he's used to.'" - Ray Gaster http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/01/georgia-businessman-posts-sign-after-didnt-build-that-debate/#ixzz22K2GACc1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 "When I heard what he said, I said 'I'm going to give him an answer in Chicago language--something he's used to.'" - Ray Gaster http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/01/georgia-businessman-posts-sign-after-didnt-build-that-debate/#ixzz22K2GACc1 Dear Mr. Gaster, We appreciate you input. The Huffington Post, DailyKos and IRS will be in touch shortly to continue this dialogue. Sincerely, The WH. P.S. If necessary, Holder may swing by as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Dear Mr. Gaster, We appreciate you input. The Huffington Post, DailyKos and IRS will be in touch shortly to continue this dialogue. Sincerely, The WH. P.S. If necessary, Holder may swing by as well. Holder? Lucky Janet Reno doesn't show up with a couple tanks. This will, of course be dismissed as the rants of a racist Georgia cracker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 http://news.yahoo.com/half-us-counties-now-considered-disaster-areas-210826921.html Half the counties in the country disaster ares. Who needs the government now? The farmers do! Should the government not spend billions on aiding agriculture in this desperate hour Tea Partiers? I see the government is, but no word of anger from the Tea Party? Why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 http://news.yahoo.com/half-us-counties-now-considered-disaster-areas-210826921.html Half the counties in the country disaster ares. Who needs the government now? The farmers do! Should the government not spend billions on aiding agriculture in this desperate hour Tea Partiers? I see the government is, but no word of anger from the Tea Party? Why not? You already posted something similiar to this and somehow tried to connect the Tea Party with the Farm Bill that was recently passed. If you did your homework, you'd find out that this bill mainly deals with food stamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Dear Mr. Gaster, We appreciate you input. The Huffington Post, DailyKos and IRS will be in touch shortly to continue this dialogue. Sincerely, The WH. P.S. If necessary, Holder may swing by as well. I wouldnt put it past them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/07/31/romneys_credibility_gap_114959.html What a shock to see another bearded commie making up fake characters and telling us all how we are stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Great Twitter feed regarding Obama Birthday Party Games here. A couple of favorites: You-Didn't-Build-A-Bear. Pin The Blame On Bush. One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato…wait…you have too many Potatoes Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Great Twitter feed regarding Obama Birthday Party Games here. A couple of favorites: You-Didn't-Build-A-Bear. Pin The Blame On Bush. One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato…wait…you have too many Potatoes Great stuff. Oooh Oooh Oooh, I wanna play. How about: Let's all go outside and play Hide and Go Find a Job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Kick the deficit can down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 (edited) They could have a pool party and play: Marco! . . . . . . . . . Rubio! Edited August 5, 2012 by /dev/null Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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