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Comments Posted By KQµårk 死神

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The Power-Hungry Games

Everything you said about the right is highly accurate KT but personally I blame those ‘independents’ most. They are swayed easily and have no idea what policies they are voting for or against. Every poll shows that people believe in most Democratic issues when you poll independents yet they never drill down and look at the issues that affect them. Unfortunately most of them are right leaning and have to be persuaded to vote for policies that actually help them.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 18, 2012 @ 9:58 am

CL that’s exactly the way I look at it as well only you expressed it much better than I could.

Obama was really our last hope to bring this country together in common cause but because the right and elements on the left put the ‘game’ before country that chance has passed. I’m not an alarmist but until the hyperpartisan gridlock is dented at least a little we will end up with two Americas.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 18, 2012 @ 9:53 am

Great points AdLib and spot on analysis. It’s all about the horse race now in the MSM. They want the election as close as possible and damn the future of the country. The voters have seemingly completely forgotten all the right wing stances Romney has taken and even though the Republican brand is tarnished they still lead all generic Congressional polls.

The magazine blogs are in on it too. Even though like you said most non-partisan polls have Obama leading ‘The Daily Beast’ has the #1 story ‘Obama and Romney in Dead Heat’. They fucking absolutely love this shit while the country’s future could be decimated by right wing policies if they get all branches of government.

I know people argue with me hear that we get what we deserve for having an ignorant electorate but the very fact the country even accepts the modern GOP as a viable political party only happens because people let it happen. Yeah if Romney gets elected we can all blame the other side but it’s still a referendum by the voters save if he wins and loses the popular vote.

My biggest worry by far that it seems the economy is slowing down a bit and because people have complete forgotten that all the remedies Romney have been prescribing have gotten us here it will hurt Obama’s reelection chances.

As for games. I’m a big time gamer so I resemble that remark. Since I can’t work it’s one of the few activities to keep plaque from starving the little grey cells.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 18, 2012 @ 9:45 am

MSM Misleads in Telling the Story of Obama’s Personal Taxes

Nobody is even saying Obama and Romney are in the same ballpark. They were making the point that Obama and his secretary are not in the same ballpark. I know you think you have some sort of gotcha point but again as long as the Obama campaign is comparing everything the same way it’s valid.

What you seem to be missing in your analysis is that you are making a conservative argument by trying to count the tax rate after all the write offs most working people don’t get.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 30, 2012 @ 12:35 pm

Spot on CL.

I could see the criticism if Obama had tried to calculate the percentage his campaign reported a DIFFERENT way then the media calculated Romney’s percentage but he didn’t. Frankly to call it a lie is the only misleading argument.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 30, 2012 @ 12:19 pm

You still are not getting it. Believe me the MSM would have tried to make the same point you are making if they thought they caught Obama in a lie. The point was the rich get many more deductions. You are claiming to be liberal but you’re implication is that tax loopholes for the rich are what we want. The reason president Obama is pushing the tax surcharges, minimum tax on the rich and even limiting like mortgage interest deductions is to avoid these loopholes and make the tax code more fair no?

Obama is being consistent. I think you are wrong calling him a hypocrite and implying he’s misleading just because he’s counting his tax rate like every one else is with Romney. Logically speaking there is nothing wrong ethically with an apples to apples comparison and that’s just what the Obama campaign did.

It’s amazing how some of these deductions have become so entrenched like mortgage interest deductions that many people don’t realize that’s a big government giveaway. I don’t want to get rid of the mortgage interest deduction completely but there should be some what for renters to deduct part of their rent to be fair. That’s how my liberal mind thinks anyway.

Corporations do the same thing when they decry high nominal tax rates. Once they whittle down their taxes with loopholes they pay in the 30-40% range but that’s NOT their tax burden which is based on on gross profits. When the likes of the Heritage foundation complains about high nominal tax rates that’s why they are misleading people.

There are plenty of things to complain about with Obama or any pol but to search for obscure ways to complain when they are reporting the facts like everyone else does is counterproductive. Worse you are setting up a false equivalency like the MSM loves to do as well. I not naive all pols spin and lie at some degree of frequency but Obama is not nearly as mendacious as Romney on any level and to imply so is also grossly wrong.

I have nothing against you personally. I do not even know you. I’m not even arguing the fact you laid out but I think you conclusion is invalid based on the usual way people interpret pol’s tax returns.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 30, 2012 @ 10:44 am

Also to show the article you quoted is even more misleading everyone quotes the effective tax rate Romney paid the same way Obama did with himself and his secretary. So you indeed have an apples to apples to apples comparison. In the taxes Romney revealed, he made about $21MM gross and paid about $3MM in Federal taxes not counting his deductions either. Like I said before you are trying to use right wing and Romney spin.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 29, 2012 @ 9:35 pm

CL you didn’t see that higher number anywhere because that’s not what Obama payed until you added all those deductions his secretary does not get. All along Obama was comparing the percentage he paid on his gross income to what his secretary paid.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 29, 2012 @ 9:28 pm

The point was all the extra deductions Obama got that the secretary did not get. But then again it’s just easier to make absurd false equivalencies.

I mean how many working families do you know that can stick away almost $50K/year in a 401k?

You sound like Romney saying his effective tax rate was over 30% because he gave so much to the Mormon Church.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 29, 2012 @ 9:14 pm

The point the MSM will never report is that Obama’s policies will raise his own taxes and Romney’s policies will give him a big tax cut.

Get ready for the MSM to make this election as close as possible. The whole Hilary Rosen nonsense shows how the MSM will help Romney’s campaign.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 15, 2012 @ 9:19 am

Obama To Be Blamed for Statements by Anyone Who Voted For Him

I noticed like Romney Rasmussen pivoted toward the general election as well. Their numbers were actually more in line with other polls during the primaries especially compared to Gallop’s. But we can’t be complacent because it seems like the public already has amnesia about all the right wing things Romney stood for during the active primaries.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 14, 2012 @ 8:32 pm

If you look at the recent polls it’s terrible news for Obama and the Dems because the gender gap is bigger for Obama and Dems with men than it is for the GOP and women.

http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 14, 2012 @ 8:23 am

The hypocrisy of this media created controversy is that if any Republican was held up to this standard they would lose all support with the absurd rantings of GOP supporters. For example just this past week two NRO writers were fired for being racists. Yet you done see anyone saying they are conservatives so Romney should be blamed for what they said.

IDK if it’s going to matter much anyway another Romney adviser implies Romney is a total fraud and phony by saying what Romney says on the campaign trail is not what he believes. Pivoting to the center is one thing but implying that everything you said was a lie is another.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 14, 2012 @ 8:03 am

Why GOP Leaders Aren’t Worried About Throwing the Affordable Care Act Under the Bus

Hi CL. Spot on 100% true as usual. The GOP hypocrisy on healthcare rises to a new lever.

But if they overturn the mandate they have JUST unleashed the era of absolute irresponsibility…

No truer words have been said.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 11, 2012 @ 10:27 am

Bravo surf. I’m so glad you mentioned the FEDERAL EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFIT (FEHB). That’s what the exchanges will look like in most states including a non profit insurance plan of some kind. For the most part Obama delivered what he promised the same type of plan government has. People now forget the whole public option was mostly a post election plan.

CL and I argued when we had the Dean and Hamsher ‘kill the bill’ people that they wanted to kill the bill because they had no skin in the game. The same goes for GOP politicians like you said. The most ridiculous part is they have skin in the game and don’t know it. Their future premiums will go down with the ACA too because they won’t be paying for as many uninsured going to the ER who can’t pay their astronomical medical bill. We will all feel the pain when the country goes bankrupt without the ACA and it’s prescriptions to change Medicare.

But of course all that could be moot based on one or two men’s decisions who already have excellent healthcare coverage and we could be headed for a bigger healthcare disaster.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 11, 2012 @ 10:23 am

Does Mitt Romney Have a Mormon Problem?

Excellent and insightful article Sue. Usually politicians are either driving by two things when they run for president. Personal ambition, they have a vision for the country they want to employ or for some misguided personal reason. Obviously President Obama is a vision candidate. Conversely, GWB obviously wanted to be president because he just wanted to stick it in his father’s eye because Bush Sr. told him all his life he would never amount to anything. It was always Jeb Bush who was suppose to be president.

I don’t think it’s as clear with Romney but you make a great argument that it’s his religion and he thinks he’s the chosen one. Romney does seem to be indoctrinated by his programming. I think being Mormon and all that entails is the biggest part but another big part is his father’s influence. George Romney was never happy with the fact that Mittens when the business route and I think some of the his political ambitions later in his life is build on a guilt trip. The sad part is it seems that Willard is the shadow of a man his father was.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 9, 2012 @ 11:45 am

Romney the Private Equity Consultant

Murph thanks for your kind comments and thoughtful insights and questions.

I have no problem with cut and paste jobs with proper reference. No use reinventing the wheel even with blog posts.

I have many things to take care of today but I’ll answer each question at some point.

Just one comment. Yes Romney is only concerned about making him and his cronies more profit. His rejection of the Detroit bailout showed he simply does not get what governing should be all about. It was never a financial issue with the GM bailout and supporting the Chrysler sale. It was a HUMAN issue. Having a million or more people out of work not even trying to bailout the auto industry would be a HUMAN disaster. So the auto bailout was a HUMAN intervention done via financing. Romney (and most Republicans) do not care about people the way Obama and most Dems do. Too many Americans have forgotten the government is suppose to be for and by the people. NOT for corporations first.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 21, 2012 @ 11:15 am

Cheers Adlib. Coming from you it means allot. Like I said obviously Romney has no core values and that’s the basic reason why he has no conscience when it comes to lying. However add that lying has been such a trait leading to his financial success and that’s what leads to him using lies as his main campaign strategy.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 8, 2012 @ 6:35 am

Thanks Sally and so true. The scrap metal mentality is no way to run a country. Good presidents have empathy and treat people like human beings not raw materials that are only here to help a very few profit.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 7, 2012 @ 2:11 pm

Thanks Sue I look forward to your article. I’m sure it will be insightful.

No doubt Romney only knows how to play a rigged game. Even his nomination bid this year is rigged. Because of his organization and cronies Romney is taking MORE delegates in a couple states he lost. A president needs to have some humility and experience some hardships to relate to people. Romney has had very little to mold him into presidential timber that way.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 7, 2012 @ 2:08 pm

Cheers for the kind words Carmen.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On April 7, 2012 @ 2:04 pm

Morning Blog

No, thank you for so many great MBs. They surely number over 1,000 now. Well since my wife and I always use our matching MB beakers for our elevenses I figured it was an appropriate gesture.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On November 20, 2012 @ 5:48 pm

WOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

Congratulations Kalima on THREE YEARS of the fabulous Morning Blog or as I like to think of it the heart beat of the Planet. Cheers for you dedication and best international roundup on the net.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On November 20, 2012 @ 10:10 am

Cheers for another great update. UK politics seems like it’s just as bad as US politics these days. Clegg is such a transparent grandstander and Cameron is an utter disaster. Austerity has been a terrible failure in Europe yet Cameron is trying to sell more of it.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 22, 2012 @ 10:51 am

Hey K it’s good to get some good news once in a while. Do you think this would happen under Bush?

Suu Kyi Receives Congressional Medal

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/09/19/suu-kyi-receives-congressional-medal.html

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 19, 2012 @ 3:30 pm

Cameron’s ridiculous austerity measures are sucking the NHS dry. I don’t think Cameron really wants to fix it because they would rather it go broke so they could try to privatize it.

I totally echo what you are saying about what is going on in the Mideast. With all rights including free speech come responsibility. I’m not an absolutist on free speech like most liberals because of this. The big difference when you have hate speech go international there is no way to contain it like in the US. If the KKK has a demonstration in the US people can have a counter demonstration to contain it. But when free speech goes overseas when people protest it can easily get out of control.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 14, 2012 @ 8:41 am

Welcome back the dynamic duo, K and her sidekick MB.

Like Obama said today ‘rape is rape’. These women should get their day in court. I don’t claim to know for sure if he is guilty or innocent, I’ll let the court decide. But people who claim to know he is innocent are just not honest. The portion of left defending Assange and criticizing Akin are just being hypocrites.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On August 20, 2012 @ 1:03 pm

Morning K. Watching Britain go backwards under the Tories is truly maddening. You would have think they would have learned that austerity and privatization are complete failures by now.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On July 22, 2012 @ 9:44 am

Great to see Morning Blog back K. Now my wife and I can have our elevenses with our matching Morning Blog beakerss and I can read the MB stories again.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On July 10, 2012 @ 11:43 am

Hi K were still ecstatic in the KQuark household enjoying the fact that the president made history in a positive way again.

I’m going to guess killing a regent (monarch) is the answer to your trivia based on the apparent etymology of the word.

I concur with you and AdLib austerity is killing the UK and Europe and it’s time for people to fight back. You’ll see a chart in TO/OT where austerity by GOP governors is one thing hindering recovery in the US.

Godspeed to Vidal Sassoon he truly was a visionary.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On May 10, 2012 @ 2:35 pm