Displaying 241 To 270 Of 955 Comments Friday Music Thread – Favorite Films and Film Music Enya! » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 2:35 pm Admitting that what he is voting for will get him canned, but he is going to do it anyway because it is good for his country, takes a lot of courage. I am assuming this was about the IMF “bailout”. I don’t see where they had a lot of choice at that point. The damage had been done. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 4:53 pm OOOH! I think I like him! » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 4:17 pm ROFL As Congress has to bear the cost, and not the people, I can get behind that. Can you imagine a “factoid” or “mudpie” jar (along the lines of a “swear jar”) on the floor of the Senate or House? » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 4:12 pm Well, advocating for civility in Congress *specifically* for that reason would be bad for my karma. :” » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 3:57 pm Thank you, from an person who has Irish ancestry! The transferable vote process is one I would like to see in America. For those of you who did not follow the link, think of it as an instant run-off. I’m still wondering about the legislature selecting the Prime Minister, as it seems the Prime Minister and the legislature would always be controlled by the same party, which is not always good (as we saw when W had a GOP-controlled legislature). I have watched some broadcasts of the British parliament, and I do appreciate the traditions there which encourage civility. The US legislature would probably die en masse at such a prospect, however. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 2:31 pm Or “sly”. Or “craven”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 27, 2011 @ 3:28 pm A friend from Miami once told me that they put the capitol in Tallahassee so retirees forget where they were going before the reach it. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 3:21 pm At the beginning of the segment, as a rhetorical flourish, she stated, regarding the surplus, something along the lines of “Wisconsin is doing great! There’s no shortfall!” This is a technique of argument, stating something in the context of the past-as-present, and then proceeding forward along the time line (in this case, from the projected surplus to Walker’s bill). It’s perfectly legitimate, and it leads the viewer/reader/listener, in easy steps, from past circumstance to the present circumstances. However, I do not agree with the tactic that is being used regarding the “corporate taxes are/are not to blame”. The fact is, there was a surplus, there was then a corporate tax break, and then there was a shortfall. If the corporate tax was repealed, would there be a shortfall? No. Did the shortfall exist before the corporate tax cut? Yes. That’s a pretty strong argument for the tax cut being at fault. The GOP likes to talk about Dems loving to raise taxes. But any time there is a surplus, the GOP loves to give it away (and usually a lot extra as well). The GOP also likes to say that government needs to be run like a business. What corporation gives refunds to its customers if they post a profit? I would love to see a law or amendment that specifies that a surplus may not be taken into account for the current budget year, but applied to the next budget year as revenue. It’s about the only way I see to end-run around pseudo-cons antipathy towards saving for the future. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 2:20 pm LOL. Going to post something over in O/T about envy, to be on the safe side. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:47 pm Do what you feel is best, set topics or what is in the news. Or what *isn’t* in the news. I think the great thing about this is that you are including excerpts that explain what the article is about. I have seen article posts where the excerpt or title had little to do with the content, or was misleading. Regarding the Rachel Maddow link, I would suggest linking directly to the source. The link took me to HP, and I followed the link there to Rachel’s blog. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:45 pm That’s one bar we will *never* be able to raise. Once the bar falls into the quicksand (i.e., O’Donnell), it’s lost. The state of Delaware should be suing her for defamation of character. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:39 pm I love the “Politics of Envy” bit. I just said something similar to Abby on one of her articles today. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:37 pm If Michelle Bachmann is “Sarah Palin with a brain”, who is “Michelle Bachmann with a brain”? Maggie Gallagher? Can we start raising the bar, please? Soon? » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:29 pm “The American Dream…a Cautionary Tale” Adonai, property ownership is as much of a scam as racism. The only difference being that there is a basis for being able to say “I live here, you can’t take it away.” Claimjumpers were a huge problem in the West (and Midwest as well). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 3:54 pm Obvious to you and most people. Rarely obvious to them. A friend of mine is forced to attend a teleconference every Monday for a staff meeting (the company has offices in several states). He says he would not object so much if the VP wouldn’t sit so close to the microphone. This VP turns a twenty minute meeting into an hour long (because he’s not allowed to go longer) chore, as he constantly interrupts staff to voice unqualified opinions on IT, accounting, budgets, etc. The VP is in Sales (never put a salesperson in charge of the budget – it ain’t pretty). My friend is the de facto head of IT. When they needed to do an upgrade to software, but had to purchase new certificates for their web-based apps in order for the updates to install properly, the VP told him to do the upgrades without the certificates, as a cost-cutting measure. My friend called the president of the company on his cellphone, put the president on speaker phone, and asked “do you want the cost-cutting way to do it, or do you want our customers to actually be able to use our apps and servers, like they pay to do?” The VP is a totally Type-A, micromanaging loudmouth with no knowledge of anything but schmoozing. He’s lost five secretaries in the last year, because they wind up being better at his job than he is (because they get forced to do his job). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:59 pm PW, the question I ask myself is, “Would I let this person into my home? Would I let them crash on my couch?” If the answer is no, I certainly do not want them in a position of power. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:04 pm Who wants that headache? I fail to see the attraction. If I want a bunch of people to order around and do my bidding, I will just invest in a supply of roofies. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:03 pm Actually, I think you are supposed to give the beer to the plastic surgeon. When (and if, considering the doctor just had a beer) you come out surgery, it is remotely possible one would be more attractive, at least physically. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 12:49 pm No, of course they didn’t lie to you. BTW, I have a bunch of goods that got shipped to your city by mistake. I can’t afford to have them shipped to my city, but I’ll sell them to you for .5% of their worth. All you have to do is send me money, and I will send you the bill of lading, and you can pick them up. Let me know when you want to pay for *that* bill of goods. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 12:48 pm Considering all of us “Phone Bankers” at a call center for Wells Fargo (don’t throw things at me, we only dealt with savings and checking accounts) were able to figure it out, on our own and independently of each other, a lot of those folks are lying. When we told our manager that we did not want to refer folks for mortgages because things were going to blow up soon, he threatened to fire us if we every said anything like that again. BTW, he was an ex-Countrywide manager. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 12:44 pm I was composing a reply and it got so long that I had to cut it all out and save it as a future article. The American Dream was simple: provide your kids with an improved lifestyle. This involved a stable, secure home; a good education; healthy food; improved health (through doctor visits and vaccinations, mostly). All of this required a decent, stable job that adequately provided a living wage. However, we have been sold a dream that does has little to do with the American Dream. This new dream consists of having enough credit and/or income to buy whatever we want, having a substantial amount of leisure time, and making lots and lots of money (usually doing very little to earn it). Maybe this is due to those lucky/hard-working individuals who make it big and then are darlings of the media. Envy seems to be one of the biggest products of our society today. But the corporations have been selling this dream to us for a long time. If you drink a particular brand of beer (which means you paid for it), you will be rich and sexually attractive to potential trophy wives. If you wear clothing with *this* name on it (which means you paid for it), you will be promoted to CEO (from the mail room) within a couple days. If you live in *that* neighborhood (which means you paid for the house), bags of money will fall out of the sky into your back yard. If you use *this* credit card (which means, they hope, that you pay the bill), then oil sheiks will invite you into their homes, give you oil wells, jewels, and half their harem. I think some of you can see where I am going with this. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 12:18 pm UNEMPLOYMENT…is STILL an issue! I just had to have a conversation with someone in my family, patiently explaining that the POTUS can not veto a law that was signed into law by a different POTUS in 1958. Why? Because a lot of people have the attention spans of a gnat. If it can’t be said in small words, in two sentences. forget it. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 26, 2011 @ 12:35 am I despised Reagan back before 1980. The day I read an op-ed he published in the National Enquirer, talking about how he though gay people were really “sad” and “pathetic”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 8:21 pm I tried to coin a new word for Bush’s glossolalia and propaganda: BushLlit. reverse the “sh” and “ll”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 7:18 pm How many concessions were those companies given by the city/county/state to come to Buffalo to provide jobs? When will municipalities learn how to write a contract with penalty clauses? » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 7:07 pm I agree with the job-creation incentive idea. However, I would add the proviso that if the job is ended or shipped overseas within ten years, the corporation has to pay back 300% of the incentives. I have watched too many companies get tax breaks and incentives from governments and municipalities, and then a year or two down the line, pull out completely, leaving the taxpayers holding the (empty) bag. Consumer’s Energy did it to the city of Jackson Michigan about ten years ago. Cost to the city was in the millions, Consumer’s paid virtually nothing, and then pulled all of their great jobs out of the city in favor of another city. And this was during the first dip in the economy after George W. Bush was selected the first time (a lot of businesses in Michigan enacted hiring freezes for about 6 months after W was selected – a popular ploy by corporations). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 2:09 pm I would like to see the tax loophole closed, but we saw that fail during the 9-11 first responders health care bill debate. You can try to switch your business to those that do not outsource or offshore, but good luck. I know of two banks that do not outsource customer service, USBank and WellsFargo. Neither are anywhere near perfect and their ethics are in serious doubt. I once called a company that was *only* in the city I was in, and got a call center in India. So not even “buy local” is safe. Pseudo-cons would scream, but I would suggest a tax on outsource *and* offshore services. A “imported/transferred services” tax, on any service that is transferred from outside the company to inside the company (like human resources). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 1:12 pm Customer service does seem to be one of the most commonly outsourced jobs, along with janitorial and security. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 12:59 pm Abby, I have seen corporations insist that the janitorial services can offer services for lower costs because they are serving more than one company at a time. This is bushwah (a euphemism). The company that my call center with Wells Fargo used was formed specifically to bid on the contract with Wells Fargo, AND THAT CONTRACT ONLY. I have seen the same at other former employers as well. I have also seen contract companies actually charge more UP FRONT than the corporation was paying for their own people. Temp agencies are a good example. Think about it. The temp employee is getting the same (very often) wage as a regular employee. The temp agency is often cahrging the corporation more than 150% of the temp employee’s wages (I say one place that was more like 300%). And that is each temp employee, almost no agency I have seen discounts in bulk or only charges an administrative fee. It would be cheaper for the corporation to hire their own employees, but they don’t. I have also seen where executives or managers in the corporation are either board members or investors of the temp agency or other outsource companies. Wells Fargo has several board members who are execs with companies that provide goods or services to Wells Fargo. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 25, 2011 @ 12:58 pmComments Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit
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