Newt

[AquaMan]

I've worked with several serious NRA members. They seem fairly normal and well adjusted til the subject of Obama going after their guns comes up. Then they get trancelike and begin spewing stuff. Its scary. Don't expect much in the way of documentation.

No offense H. Just observing behavior. I support all the constitution and its amendments.

Whatever you do, don't engage these folks or purposely lead them into discussing the "facts". You might as well try to flip a Catholic.

[Conan71]

Uh, I based my position on the facts and you have the gall to tell me I'm the one creating my own reality? How about you tell me why it is the information I posted doesn't lead to the conclusion I derived?

You don't seem to understand that pensions are generally leveraged on the current and future workforce and that typical pension-bearing jobs are going the way of steam trains as more manufacturing jobs are exported or traditional union jobs are going non union (like Honda or Toyota plants being non-union).  As well state and local government in such tight economic times can't afford to fully fund pensions any more.  Add to that with the baby boomers cycling through retirement now, there's a growing population of people who need ever more expensive health care benefits which no one could come close to estimating those costs 30 to 40 years ago. 

The reality of the situation is that governments and companies are finding they cannot afford to have 1/3 to 1/2 of their "payroll" going to people who no longer produce for them.  A lot of debt has been created trying to keep up with pension plans.  That's also the primary reason the USPS is teetering on going tits up.  According to USPS their operations are profitable, it's the amount they have been mandated to put into reserve for pensions which is killing them.

[nathanm]

Your point about USPS is precisely correct. USPS has been mandated to prefund their pension plan in a way not required of any other private company. This is not a problem with the pension itself, it's a problem with the law making it appear that USPS has some sort of unreasonable pension burden. Their pension fund has a $75 billion surplus over what is actuarially required.

A pension is just as much a part of a worker's compensation package as his paycheck. Responsible companies have no problems managing their pension liabilities, just as they don't have trouble making payroll. Why should they, given that there haven't been large increases in longevity as you claimed?

Edited to add: By the way, I fully understand the prevailing anti-pension narrative. It's a great story that hits all the right points. I even used to believe it. Further research found me unable to understand how one gets there from the facts, so I reconsidered my opinion on the subject.

[Townsend]

Edited to add: By the way, I fully understand the prevailing anti-pension narrative. It's a great story that hits all the right points. I even used to believe it. Further research found me unable to understand how one gets there from the facts, so I reconsidered my opinion on the subject.

So when you run for office we'll all say "We knew him and he was a flip-flopper.".

[heironymouspasparagus]

Whatever you do, don't engage these folks or purposely lead them into discussing the "facts". You might as well try to flip a Catholic.

You mean like the fact that lawful gun owners use firearms over 2.5 million times a year to successfully defend themselves against violent crime where serious bodily injury or death is imminent.  FBI statistics.

[Townsend]

Gingrich: Poor kids don't work

At a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa Thursday, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said children in poor neighborhoods have "no habits of working," no one around them works and they get cash illegally.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7390203n#ixzz1fJk5c9hY

[nathanm]

Gingrich: Poor kids don't work

LOL, many of those poor kids are showing their entrepreneurial spirit by selling drugs. Of course, their business is a felony, so it doesn't work out so well in the end. So yeah, it's just that they're lazy.

[Townsend]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/12/01/143012054/ron-paul-blames-sex-obsessed-media-for-giving-gingrich-free-ride?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

Ron Paul Blames Sex-Obsessed Media For Giving Gingrich 'Free Ride'

Rep. Ron Paul may not agree with Newt Gingrich on much these days but they see eye-to-eye on least one thing — it's the news media's fault.

Paul defended his fiery new anti-Gingrich ad as a much-needed corrective to what he viewed as the news media's obsession with allegations of sexual misbehavior by Herman Cain and an alleged corresponding lack of attention to the contradictions of Gingrich's policy record.

Gingrich, too, has made news media criticism a part of nearly every one of his debate performances. So he and Paul clearly have some bones to pick with journalists. But that's about where their agreement ends.

On Thursday, standing in the produce section of a New Hampshire grocery store, Paul told reporters:

"I think that he's getting a free ride. And I've worked with him for a long time. And I think the points I made on the various issues, he's a flip-flopper, so he can hardly be the alternative to Mitt Romney.
 
"What I find is a shame is look at the amount of energy the media put into talking about sex. And how much energy does the media put into exposing what a Newt Gingrich believes and what he's done?

"So I feel like it should have been the media's job to do a little bit of that because they spent all this money and energy, I mean 90 percent of the news has been on Herman Cain. Not that doesn't deserve some reporting and people don't deserve to know about that.

"But I think the emphasis is way out of whack and that's why we put out ad on the Internet."

One irony of Paul's complaint: his ad is filled with video or text produced by news outlets that have examined Gingrich's post-speakership activities

[Hoss]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/12/01/143012054/ron-paul-blames-sex-obsessed-media-for-giving-gingrich-free-ride?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

Ron Paul Blames Sex-Obsessed Media For Giving Gingrich 'Free Ride'

....aaaand the next target has been selected!

[Townsend]

....aaaand the next target has been selected!

These freakin' guys...might as well call them the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot 2.

[heironymouspasparagus]

So when you run for office we'll all say "We knew him and he was a flip-flopper.".

I wanna be a flip flopper too!

(Is that anything like being a Pepper, too?  But I don't want to be part of an original crowd... ah, the dilemma of it all.)  Maybe I could just be a werewolf...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvCTaccEkMI

[Townsend]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/12/01/newt-surges-in-new-poll.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Newt Surges in New Poll

Watch out,Mitt. A new Rasmussen poll has Newt Gingrich surging to sizeable lead over Mitt Romney, 38 percent to 17 percent. Support seems to be draining from Rick Perry and Herman Cain, who come in with 4 percent and 8 percent, respectively. In a match-up with President Obama, Gingrich has a slight lead, 45 percent to 43 percent. In that scenario, the Rasmussen poll is a bit of an outlier, with a Real Clear Politics composite of seven major polls showing Gingrich trailing Obama by nearly six points.

[Teatownclown]

You know it's gonna get stranger, some things we just know!

"He said that if Pelosi released anything, it would show "what a tainted, political ethics operation Nancy Pelosi is engaged in," and said the House should condemn her if she uses material." http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69805.html

What a hilarious candidate....from an even funnier political potty....


Sent him a check today....Go Newt! You will make it a Landslide:

[joiei]

Rasmussen polls are tilted toward anyone Republican.   And this morning Joe Scarborough, a complete Right Wing Conservative Chicken Hawk was talking bad about Newt.   And He worked with him in the House. 

So I am still on board with Huntsman.  He is the only one who makes sense plus his foreign diplomat experience.  He has lived in China.     

[Gaspar]

Rasmussen polls are tilted toward anyone Republican.   And this morning Joe Scarborough, a complete Right Wing Conservative Chicken Hawk was talking bad about Newt.   And He worked with him in the House. 

So I am still on board with Huntsman.  He is the only one who makes sense plus his foreign diplomat experience.  He has lived in China.     

Way to creepy.  Far too moderate.