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    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    man it really frosts you, doesn't it, that even some folks who have a lot of money aren't as selfish as you are. I guess they should be more like the Koch brothers, donating money to cancer research while dumping their carcinogenic formaldehyde and benzene into rivers where poor folks live. Now that is the kind of leading citizen I am sure someone like you can get behind!


    This ought to drive you crazy then - new polling shows that the income group most approving of OWS are those that make over $100,000 a year.

    Chew on that for a while.
    They are selfish. my friend, if they aren't sharing their wealth. Isn't that YOUR definition?

    Comment


      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Keeping on point here (I know you would rather shift the discussion elsewhere)....


      all 46 voting Republicans opposed the motion to debate and then give the jobs bill an up or down vote (1 Republican did not vote)

      50 out of 53 Democrats voted to move to debate and a floor vote on the bill. Reid initially voted yes and changed his vote to "no" for procedural reasons (so he could bring the ill forward again). Two Democrats voted with the Republicans.

      60 votes were need consider the bill further, so ewven with the three more D votes (ReidI, Nelson, & Tester), 7 Republican votes would have been needed.

      So given these numbers, perfectly accurate to say that the R's killed the bill. "jobs. jobs, jobs" - I think the electorate will remember this come election day.
      So now do you want to discuss Reid's use of the nuclear option? Or is that OK with you because the Democrats use it to their advantage to keep the Republicans from being able to vote on amendments to bills. You can't have it both ways, you know. Either you want these bills discussed in the open or you don't. Oh, well, I get it. Only if it advances YOUR agenda otherwise you just want to shut down any debate.

      Comment


        You people who want to blame the mess we are in on the other party are never going to see things change for the better. NEVER! Unless you quit playing the blame game!!! Understand that both parties are at fault. BOTH PARTIES!!!! One is as bad as the other and for you to continue to support the status quo means we will just have more of the same election after election. This is the message that could come out of Occupy Wall Street. We'll have to wait and see. However, there was a great article written this summer for The Atlantic by former Republican congressman, Mickey Edwards called "How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans". Right there some of you closed minded idiots will discount what is written because it is written by a Republican. That is your choice, but if you do, know that liberals like Zariah Fareed seem to think there are some pretty good, thought provoking suggestions in that article. The only way we are going to right this ship is for this country to come together as Americans. Continuing to try to divide us is the sure way to see we fail and if we do, things are going to get a whole lot worse for a whole lot of people.

        http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...ricans/8521/1/

        Here's the outline of Edwards suggestions:

        1. Break the power of partisans to keep candidates off the general-election ballot.
        2. Turn over the process of redrawing congressional districts to independent, nonpartisan commissions.
        3. Allow members of any party to offer amendments to any House bill and—with rare exceptions—put those amendments to a vote.
        4. Change the leadership structure of congressional committees.
        5. Fill committee vacancies by lot.
        6. Choose committee staff solely on the basis of professional qualifications.

        "In a democracy that is open to intelligent and civil debate about competing ideas rather than programmed for automatic opposition to another party’s proposals, we might yet find ourselves able to manage the task of self-government. Our current political dysfunction is not inevitable; it results from deliberate decisions that have backfired and left us mired in the trenches of hyper-partisan warfare. Political parties will not disappear; as a free people, we will continue to honor freedom of association. The goal is not to destroy parties but to transcend them; to welcome their contributions but end their dominance; and to take back from these private clubs control of our own elections and our own Congress."

        Comment


          Widest wealth gap between US whites, minorities

          http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/new...php?id=1663005

          The wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels since the U.S. government began tabulating them a quarter-century ago. The recession and uneven recovery have erased decades of minority gains, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics, according to an analysis of new Census data.
          The analysis shows the racial and ethnic impact of the recent economic meltdown, which ravaged housing values and sent unemployment soaring. It also offers the most direct government evidence yet of the stark wealth divide, a disparity between predominantly younger minorities whose main asset is their home and older whites who are more likely to have 401(k) retirement accounts or other stock holdings.

          "I am afraid that this pushes us back to what the Kerner Commission characterized as `two societies, separate and unequal,'" said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, referring to the 1960s presidential commission that examined U.S. race relations. "The great difference is that the second society has now become both black and Hispanic."

          The median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009 was $113,149, compared to $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks, according to the analysis released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. Those ratios, roughly 20 to 1 for blacks and 18 to 1 for Hispanics, far exceed the low mark of 7 to 1 for both groups reached in 1995, when the nation's economic expansion lifted many low-income groups to the middle class.

          The white-black wealth gap also is the widest since census began tracking such data in 1984, when the ratio was roughly 12 to 1.

          "What's pushing the wealth of whites is the rebound in the stock market and corporate savings, while younger Hispanics and African-Americans who bought homes in the last decade, because that was the American dream, are seeing big declines," said Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who specializes in income inequality.

          Stock holdings play an important role in the economic well-being of white households. Stock funds, IRA and Keogh accounts as well as 401(k) and savings accounts were responsible for 28 percent of whites' net worth, compared with 19 percent for blacks and 15 percent for Hispanics.

          "There's a good chance the wealth gap will widen further," Smeeding said, citing the stalled housing market. "What we need to do is help lower-income people move up."

          According to the Pew study, the housing boom of the early to mid 2000s particularly boosted the wealth of Hispanics, who were disproportionately employed in the thriving construction industry. Hispanics also were more likely to live and buy homes in states such as California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, which were in the forefront of the real estate bubble, enjoying early gains in home values.

          Those gains quickly shriveled in the housing collapse. After reaching a median wealth of $18,359 in 2005, the wealth of Hispanics _ who had derived nearly two-thirds of their net worth from home equity _ declined by 66 percent by 2009. Among blacks, who now have the highest unemployment rate at 16.2 percent, their household wealth fell 53 percent from $12,124 to $5,677.

          In contrast, the median household wealth of whites dipped a modest 16 percent from $134,992 to $113,149, cushioned in part by a stock market recovery that began in mid-2009.

          "The findings are a reminder, if one was needed, of what a large share of blacks and Hispanics live on the economic margins," said Paul Taylor, director of Pew Social & Demographic Trends. "When the economy tanked, they're the groups that took the heaviest blows."

          The latest data come as President Barack Obama and congressional leaders face an Aug. 2 deadline to figure out a deal to cut deficits and raise the debt ceiling or risk seeing the U.S. default on its financial obligations. Democrats and Republicans have been wrangling over proposals that could cut trillions of dollars from programs such as the Medicare health plan, mainly for older Americans, and the government's retirement plan, Social Security; they also are divided over whether to bring in new tax revenue, such as by closing corporate tax loopholes or increasing taxes for the wealthy.

          In a White House meeting last week, the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and other black groups urged Obama to resist deep cuts such as in housing assistance or safety net programs including Social Security and Medicaid, a medical program mainly for the poor and uninsured, saying it would disproportionately hurt urban areas with some of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment. The U.S. poverty rate currently stands at 14.3 percent, with the ranks of the working-age poor at the highest level since the 1960s. Some analysts believe the poverty rate will climb higher when new figures are released in September.

          "Typically in recessions, minorities suffer from being last hired and first fired. They are likely to lose jobs more rapidly at the beginning of the recession, and are far slower to gain jobs as the economy recovers," said Harrison, who is now a sociologist at Howard University. "One suspects that blacks who lost jobs in the recession, or who have tried to help family members or relatives who did, have now spent whatever savings or other cashable assets they had."

          Other findings:

          _About 35 percent of black households and 31 percent of Hispanic households had zero or negative net worth in 2009, compared with 15 percent of white households. In 2005, the comparable shares were 29 percent for blacks, 23 percent for Hispanics and 11 percent for whites.

          _Asians lost their top ranking to whites in median household wealth, dropping from $168,103 in 2005 to $78,066 in 2009. Similar to Hispanics, many Asians were concentrated in states like California that were hit hard by the housing downturn. More recent arrivals of new Asian immigrants, who tend to be poor, also pushed down their median wealth.

          _Across all race and ethnic groups, the wealth gap between rich and poor widened. The share of wealth held by the top 10 percent of U.S. households increased from 49 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2009. The threshold for entry into the wealthiest top 10 percent, however, dipped lower: from $646,327 in 2005 to $598,435.

          The numbers are based on the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation, which sampled more than 36,000 households on wealth from September-December 2009. Census first began publishing wealth data from this survey, broken down by race and ethnicity, in 1984.

          Comment


            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            So now do you want to discuss Reid's use of the nuclear option? Or is that OK with you because the Democrats use it to their advantage to keep the Republicans from being able to vote on amendments to bills. You can't have it both ways, you know. Either you want these bills discussed in the open or you don't. Oh, well, I get it. Only if it advances YOUR agenda otherwise you just want to shut down any debate.
            First the Republicans asked for three amendments.....then when Reid said ok they asked for four.......then when he said ok to that they asked for 5.....then 6....then 7...i think that's when he played that card.

            Anyone paying attention (not everyone but I am) recognizes the R's antics for what they are.

            No love for D's at all but the difference between D's and R's is like the difference between self-abuse and suicide, respectively.

            Love to throw them all out but the R's need to go first and hardest.

            Maybe McConnell should tell us that his most improtant job is dealing with the unemployment crisis...but wait...he's told us his most important job is seeing Obama is defeated...so I guess a couple hundred million americans could just go to hell till then

            Comment


              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              You people who want to blame the mess we are in on the other party are never going to see things change for the better. NEVER! Unless you quit playing the blame game!!! Understand that both parties are at fault. BOTH PARTIES!!!! One is as bad as the other and for you to continue to support the status quo means we will just have more of the same election after election. This is the message that could come out of Occupy Wall Street. We'll have to wait and see. However, there was a great article written this summer for The Atlantic by former Republican congressman, Mickey Edwards called "How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans". Right there some of you closed minded idiots will discount what is written because it is written by a Republican. That is your choice, but if you do, know that liberals like Zariah Fareed seem to think there are some pretty good, thought provoking suggestions in that article. The only way we are going to right this ship is for this country to come together as Americans. Continuing to try to divide us is the sure way to see we fail and if we do, things are going to get a whole lot worse for a whole lot of people.

              http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...ricans/8521/1/

              Here's the outline of Edwards suggestions:

              1. Break the power of partisans to keep candidates off the general-election ballot.
              2. Turn over the process of redrawing congressional districts to independent, nonpartisan commissions.
              3. Allow members of any party to offer amendments to any House bill and—with rare exceptions—put those amendments to a vote.
              4. Change the leadership structure of congressional committees.
              5. Fill committee vacancies by lot.
              6. Choose committee staff solely on the basis of professional qualifications.

              "In a democracy that is open to intelligent and civil debate about competing ideas rather than programmed for automatic opposition to another party’s proposals, we might yet find ourselves able to manage the task of self-government. Our current political dysfunction is not inevitable; it results from deliberate decisions that have backfired and left us mired in the trenches of hyper-partisan warfare. Political parties will not disappear; as a free people, we will continue to honor freedom of association. The goal is not to destroy parties but to transcend them; to welcome their contributions but end their dominance; and to take back from these private clubs control of our own elections and our own Congress."
              Excellent suggestions!

              Let's get rid of the fillibuster too!

              Comment


                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                Why don't these people give their money away to the poor and live a modest life like the rest of us? I know! Because they are "special"....and hypocrites all of them.

                Supporters of OWS:

                #1 Yoko Ono Net Worth - $500 million.

                #2 Russell Simmons Net Worth - $325 million

                Keep in mind that on top of being a hip-hop mogul Simmons is the founder of a high fee credit card company called UniRush Financial Services.

                #3 Roseanne Barr Net Worth - $80 million

                Roseanne thinks anyone with over $100 million should be beheaded. Interesting that her net worth is $80 million. I guess she doesnt make “the cut”.

                #4 Deepak Chopra Net Worth - $80 million

                Chopra said #OWS is turning anger into awareness. The fortune he has made off his fluff filled books has just turned me to anger.

                #5 Kanye West Net Worth - $70 million

                #6 Alec Baldwin Net Worth - $65 million

                #7 Susan Sarandon Net Worth - $50 million

                #8 Michael Moore Net Worth - $50 million

                #9 Tim Robbins Net Worth - $50 million

                #10 Nancy Pelosi Net Worth - $35.5 million



                Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sh...#ixzz1aax0IPMY
                Maybe they feel like this young lady does:

                http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/...6afd33ae_z.jpg

                Comment


                  Tell Your Representative That H.R. 358 Endangers Women's Health

                  Attacking women's ability to obtain reproductive health care services remains one of Speaker Boehner's top priorities. Boehner and the House leadership will bring to a vote a dangerous bill that will undermine women's health and even put women's lives at risk.

                  H.R. 358 is dangerous to women's health. It is so extreme that some women facing pregnancy complications could die. Some of its most dangerous provisions include:

                  Preventing purchase of health insurance that includes abortion care: Millions of women would either be prevented from purchasing insurance plans that cover abortion or would lose the coverage they currently have.
                  Allowing hospitals to refuse to perform emergency abortions: H.R. 358 would allow hospitals to deny emergency abortions to women whose life or health could be saved by the procedure.
                  Taking away existing health insurance coverage: H.R. 358 opens an enormous loophole in the new health care law that would allow states to broaden refusal laws, which would mean that insurance companies could deny women access to contraceptives without co-pays that we secured, with your help, over the summer.

                  Instead of working to create jobs and help the struggling economy, Speaker Boehner is instead continuing his attack on women's health. But he isn't stopping at abortion. H.R. 358 could also limit women's ability to have access to affordable birth control.

                  Protect women's health and lives: tell your Representative to oppose this dangerous bill.
                  https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site...rAction&id=717

                  Comment


                    From the Congressional Budget Office..."The share of taxes paid by the top fifth of the population grew sharply between 1979 and 2007. Almost all of that growth can be attributed to an increase in that group’s share of before-tax income. In 2007, households in the highest quintile earned 55 percent of before-tax income and paid almost 70 percent of federal taxes; for all other quintiles, the share of federal taxes was less than the share of income."...I'll interpret for those who don't get it...The top 20% (1/5 = 20%) of the population (the wealthy) earned 55% of the total gross income, and PAID 70% of all income taxes received.....

                    Additionally, from the CBO website..."Between 1979 and 2007, the average tax rate for federal taxes combined declined for all income groups. The average individual income tax rate also declined over those years; the largest decrease
                    occurred for the fifth of the population with the LOWEST income."

                    And finally, same website..."The overall federal tax system is progressive,
                    which means that average tax rates generally rise with income. In 2007, households in the bottom fifth, or quintile, of the income distribution
                    (with average income of $18,400, under a broad definition of income) paid
                    about 4 percent of their income in federal taxes, while the middle quintile, with average income of $64,500, paid 14 percent, and the highest quintile, with average income of $264,700, paid 25 percent. Average federal tax rates rise within the top quintile: The top 1 percent of households, not shown, faced an average rate of about 30 percent."

                    Comment


                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Maybe they feel like this young lady does:

                      http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/...6afd33ae_z.jpg
                      So what's stopping her from writing a check?

                      Comment


                        http://ckthisout.com/wp-content/uplo...t-or-treat.jpg

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          Maybe they feel like this young lady does:

                          http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/...6afd33ae_z.jpg
                          Or how about this guy?

                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=wrPGoPFRUdc

                          Comment


                            Now this kid has it right!

                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fNeU...eature=related

                            Comment


                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              Maybe they feel like this young lady does:

                              http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/...6afd33ae_z.jpg
                              https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...06263808_n.jpg

                              Comment


                                https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...50835387_n.jpg

                                Comment

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