>> ^newtboy:

I think debt is a bigger problem in Europe because they have much larger debts (per capita).

I'd say per capita isn't as important as debt/GDP ratios. By that measure, Greece is in terrible shape (148% of GDP), while places like Sweeden and Denmark and Finland are all in the 30-40% range. The US is at about 60%, which isn't great, but it's not terrible, and definitely nothing like Greece.

>> ^newtboy:
They do all have soverign currency still, don't they? I thought they all just added the euro, not replaced their currency. If you're right, YIKES!

It's true. Not every EU nation has given up their own currency, but all of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) have.

>> ^newtboy:
I disagree that we have control of our currency since we left the gold standard, but that's a different discussion althogether. We certainly do have the control to devalue it, just maybe not re-value it.

Well, Fed policies can reduce the money supply too. Any time the Fed raises interest rates, that's what it's doing.

>> ^newtboy:
You say 'at worst, inflation' as if that's just fine, but remember Germany after WW1, they 'just' had inflation to pay their crushing debt, it started with them needing a wheelbarrow full of deutchmarks to buy a loaf of bread, and ended with the creation of the Nazi's and WW2.

That's hyperinflation, i.e. a process where inflation doesn't just rise, but starts exponentially increasing. That's why central banks in modern times have explicit, stable inflation targets that they communicate publicly.

Adopting a higher inflation target definitely helps a government's long term fiscal position, at the cost of weakening its exchange rate, without risking any sort of runaway inflation.

Sometimes that's a worthwhile trade to make, especially if the alternative (default) is worse.

>> ^newtboy:
There's no need to focus solely on taxes either, it's a ballance thing.
...
Our 'friends across the pond' will shortly not be supplying these programs to their citizens either, they bankrupted themselves with these kinds of programs and lack of revenue, and now their bankrupting their partners in the EU. That's why it doesn't make sense to compare our social programs to theirs and say 'they can, why can't we?'...theirs bankrupted them.

That's the thing, you say it's the programs that "bankrupted them", I'm saying "no it didn't, they went bankrupt because they didn't ask people to pay the taxes to pay for the safety net they had".

You can balance the government budget at 18% of GDP or 50% of GDP. Having paid maternity leave doesn't bankrupt you. It's having paid maternity leave, and then cutting the taxes that pay for it that bankrupts you.

>> ^newtboy:
If we had the money, I would be all for it, and 3 months paid vacation, guaranteed retirement benifits, low or no taxes, etc.,

Well, having the money is a choice we make as a society. Our GDP, even in this crisis, is $14 trillion a year. I suspect maternity leave wouldn't even cost a thousandth of one percent of that.

Again, the size of government has nothing to do with your fiscal discipline. Fiscal discipline is saying that you want to be taxed at a rate that will pay for the government as it exists. Demanding other people sacrifice so that you don't have to pay higher taxes is the height of fiscal irresponsibility.

I think debt is a bigger problem in Europe because they have much larger debts (per capita).
They do all have soverign currency still, don't they? I thought they all just added the euro, not replaced their currency. If you're right, YIKES!
I disagree that we have control of our currency since we left the gold standard, but that's a different discussion althogether. We certainly do have the control to devalue it, just maybe not re-value it.
You say 'at worst, inflation' as if that's just fine, but remember Germany after WW1, they 'just' had inflation to pay their crushing debt, it started with them needing a wheelbarrow full of deutchmarks to buy a loaf of bread, and ended with the creation of the Nazi's and WW2. I think they also defaulted in the end. Inflation can be a nation killer.
I have repeatedly said the same thing to you about ballance, but reversed. There's no need to focus solely on taxes either, it's a ballance thing. You seem to be focused solely on raising taxes as a way out of the problem, I'm saying that's only 1/2 the solution (that should not translate into 'I don't think low tax rates are a problem' or 'I think overspending is the only problem', it seems that's what you're incorrectly gleeming from my words). Maybe it's just that you don't like the WAY I said it, but you agree with my point? I don't get it.
We are NOT the rich and powerful country we claim to be, and have not been for a while...that's the issue. We need to consider ourselves a second world country and decide if we want to continue on the path of fiscal irresponsibility and become a third world country, or do we want to regain first world status. Our 'friends across the pond' will shortly not be supplying these programs to their citizens either, they bankrupted themselves with these kinds of programs and lack of revenue, and now their bankrupting their partners in the EU. That's why it doesn't make sense to compare our social programs to theirs and say 'they can, why can't we?'...theirs bankrupted them. If we had the money, I would be all for it, and 3 months paid vacation, guaranteed retirement benifits, low or no taxes, etc., as long as we never spend more than we have, I'm fine with it. It's just not fiscally possible without going into the hole even farther, and that leads to disaster. Right now, we are in debt more than the entire country produces in a year, and that only counts the debt on the books, and counts our GDP at 09 levels, which we no longer meet. That means if every person/corperation was taxed at 100%, it could not erase our debt in a year (assuming we also stop spending a dime on anything). That's a HUGE problem that should never have been allowed to happen, if you don't think it is, I think you aren't responsible with money. Living above your means on credit is irresponsible, and usually passes the bill on to others or leaves it unpaid. I have no children to worry about there, but I'm not the kind of a$$hole that plans on leaving YOUR children deep in debt in a third world country...and I don't want to end up there myself before I die.
>> ^NetRunner:
>>
The European debt situation is different, and seems to be a major cause of their current economic crisis, so is the whole credit default swap thing to a lesser extent, but they're far more removed from it.
Debt is a bigger problem in Europe because they have sovereign debt without having a sovereign currency, and don't have an established EU-wide fiscal policy.
In the US, we have control of our own currency, and have a federal fiscal policy, so a debt crisis for us would at worst lead to inflation, not to default.
Not to mention, there are two halves of a balanced budget, spending and revenue. One way to balance a budget is by cutting back on your social safety net, another way is to raise taxes. There's no reason to focus primarily or solely on cuts, if your overall goal is fiscal balance.
More broadly, I think paid maternity leave is a pretty good idea, and if we're really the rich and powerful country we claim to be, then we can afford the taxes to pay for it. If we can't afford it, then we need to think of ourselves as an impoverished 3rd world nation who aspires to one day be able to provide such a valuable benefit to our citizens. If we're simply unwilling to pay for it, then we're less humane than our European friends across the pond.

>> ^blankfist:

Ridiculous.


Have you seen the REAL skittles commercials? Like the one where some guy has a tree growing out of his stomach, and his mother comes by with a wheelbarrow, and he's like all, "Hey, Mom. Can we see a doctor to get this removed, so I can have a normal life?" and she's all "That's crazy talk" and she tickles him, and all the Skittles he's growing out of his gut-tree come raining down cuz he's laughing, and she like takes a whole crap load of skittles away, giggling, and leaves her son out in the middle of the yard?

You know, THAT one?

>> ^quantumushroom:

Wait. Are you talking about Obama?
Your yellow dog libmedia wouldn't attack an 'empty vessel' just as they wouldn't scramble on their hands and knees over spilling wheelbarrows of Palin emails, looking for dirt.
If she runs in '12 your messiah is finished. And you know it.

>> ^criticalthud:
it's not about qualifications, it's about being fucking retarded. an empty vessel.
scarier yet, the propaganda machines have bypassed substance entirely... to appeal completely to the emotional mind.



messiah? obama's a shill for the financial industry. shit, i want to see palin win, just for the ensuing political theater.
and the sooner things really get fucked, the quicker people will realize that the vast majority of politicians do not work for the people.

Wait. Are you talking about Obama?

Your yellow dog libmedia wouldn't attack an 'empty vessel' just as they wouldn't scramble on their hands and knees over spilling wheelbarrows of Palin emails, looking for dirt.

If she runs in '12 your messiah is finished. And you know it.



>> ^criticalthud:

it's not about qualifications, it's about being fucking retarded. an empty vessel.
scarier yet, the propaganda machines have bypassed substance entirely... to appeal completely to the emotional mind.

@blankfist, no, I have it right.

Schiff: If the Stimulus passes, hyperinflation will destroy the country by 2010 at the latest.

Krugman: The economy will be stuck at high unemployment with low inflation for years, despite a 0% interest rate at the Fed.

I apparently just hit my NYT paywall limit for the month, so I don't have a link for Krugman but that's Krugman in a nutshell from the late 2008 through early 2009 period on what we'd see.

I dunno about you, but I don't remember having to take wheelbarrows of cash to buy a loaf of bread last year.

2 more comments have been lost in the ether at this killed duplicate.

This video has been seconded as a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof seconded with isdupe by chicchorea.

*isdupe>> ^Fusionaut:

dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/Best-wheelbarrow-game-change-move-EVER
was about to sift it as well

This video has been nominated as a duplicate of this video by Fusionaut. If this nomination is seconded with *isdupe, the video will be killed and its votes transferred to the original.

*dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/Best-wheelbarrow-game-change-move-EVER

was about to sift it as well

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

(snip of BRP profane rant)
Well - if that plunge into logic doesn't lay out the sides then nothing really will.
Look - this isn't difficult. Judaism banned homosexuality under judeic law. Now - those who are not religious would argue that such a standard was established by evil men.


Not by evil men, but by ignorant, dersertdwelling goatherds who probably thought the wheelbarrow was the peak of scientific achievement, yes.

My point was that you are a fool if you think such rubbish gives you the right to decide what's "disagreeable" about other people's love life. Say you were white and got a black girlfriend, and I went "Well i love both black and white individuals, but I find your behaviour disagreeable" What would I be if not a disgusting, ignorant, racist idiot? if I got my "morals" from an old holy book, would that make me look any better? No. It would just go to show that I wasn't thinking for myself. Such idiocy can only come about if you actually believe that you know that the creator of the universe is a racist/homophobe, and that that makes it OK for you to be one too.

Interesting and all, but that's back breaking stuff right there. I can't imagine how this was decided upon to be the best way to do the work. I mean a cheaper and much more effective way is two or three buckets, scoop it right out of the wheelbarrow after the cement is mixed, hand it up to the guy, hand down empty bucket, repeat.

Im thinking this is the art of looking like your doing your best, but keep the job moving along slowly. One bucket would be 4-5 shovel fulls in that shovel easy...so the guy would have to mix more often and the guys up top would have to lift more and set more bricks/blocks or whatever they are doing before they have to get another bucket full.

The dress -is- quite an eyecatcher...the wheelbarrow full of pumps needed to make that "motion display", not so much.

I hate to say this, but apparently somebody has to.

When it comes to cunts and pricks, dicks and assholes, flesh eating wounds...

When it comes to boobs and breasts and Borneo tribesmen with their balls in wheelbarrows...

When it comes to that certain smell that you know ain't right but you do it anyway....

Alas, let's not forget the simple fact that you were so desperate for love that you fucked somebody ugly.

I personally consider it an honor, if not a duty, that my good friend...Bea...take the bull by its horn.

And show them all....

And if I may digress....

You fuckwad "Modest Mouse" quoters want to know what the fuck is going on?

Bukowski took something that was ugly and painful...and made it something beautiful.

Just like Bea.