Have to admit I enjoy poking the pointed stick more than writing well reasoned analyses, however this topic does deserve further analysis.

Interesting topic particularly when we get folks with no grasp of economics nor of running a company offering their plans to handle our economic disaster. First question is what disaster? So far both Democrats and Republicans have offered plans to save the people that caused problems from the derivitive designers to the home flippers and others that got houses they had no possibility of affording.

I suspect that this week will see a Republican push back aimed at helping those that actually pay their bills. By the way bankruptcy is a good plan for companies. Ugly when it goes to selling off all the assets but useful when reorganization brings forth a stronger entity. Remember a past generation of Iaococca’s (sp?) Chrysler which emerged stronger and with innovative products. The existing system actually works when politicians keep their grubby paws off. One of my businesses (the bar/restaurant in New Orleans went full bust) but lucky for me I was more interested in tax benefits when we were establishing our LLP so I negotiated the tax benefits instead of profit participation leaving me neutral on the dissolution because I had already received my benefits.

The root issue is still bad mortgages in consumer markets and it appears that nothing is being done about this issue since a new bounty for the folks that should not get loans has been set up $15K of free money (read that as take money from those of us actually paying federal income taxes) and create a welfare program for home buyers. Scary but it will take a year or two for those loans to go bad…then who gets the blame…Bush?

Somehow I can’t seem to build an econometric model that begins to suggest that the current Omessiah plans will do anything except to offer equal opportunity poverty except for those in the ruling caste.

“Mickey told me that democrats ‘get a pass on paying taxes’ which I refuted, using myself for factual data.”

Forgetting about the concepts of irony and satire, or the admonition I gave that “asking the humorless to recognize humor is like asking the turgid to think — It can be done, but always painfully,” I want you to consider the following:

A general statement (intended as a philosophical incitement based on current events in the news) is refuted by an ad hominem reference to one democrat’s personal self-described situation.

So, in the future when a Liberal or Democrat says that Republicans are X, Conservatives do X, Republicans/conservatives are responsible for X, all you need to do is say “I’m a conservative or Republican, and that particular charge doesn’t apply to me personally, so it’s not true in any sense of the word, period.”

No more thought, no more facts, no more analysis is necessary.

And you wonder why people believe that man-made global warming is real despite the record cold temperatures these past few years, why 9-11 was an “inside job”, and why adding a few trillion dollars in new deficit spending will cut the deficit in half in a couple of years.

Moreover, as a device to further an analytical discussion, interjecting the word “lawful” only underscores the point Mickey and others in the public eye have been making. Since opinions now pass for analysis, here’s some other analysis of the matter.

Jay Leno: “I think Barack Obama is a genius. I think this is part of the plan. Do you ever notice when Barack Obama nominates someone, the first thing they do is pay their taxes? He’s found a way to pay off the deficit. Nominate every single person in the country one at a time, until they pay” off the deficit.

Jay Leno: “As you know, Tom Daschle withdrew his name to be in Obama’s cabinet, due to IRS problems. Yeah, he said, ‘I will not be a distraction.’ See, distraction is Washington talk for, ‘Uh-oh, there’s a lot more crap you don’t know about yet.’”

Jay Leno: “Wasn’t it just a couple months ago, these people were making fun of Joe the plumber for not paying his taxes?”

Jay Leno: “Daschle says that his problems with the IRS were unintentional. Well, of course they were unintentional. He never intended to get caught.”

Jay Leno: “I guess” the Democrats “think IRS means, ‘I’m really sorry.’”

Jay Leno: “The White House issued a statement today saying that the reason their nominees are having such trouble is that the new White House has set the bar very high. See, that shows you what’s wrong with politics in this country. That’s what the government considers setting the bar high, having to pay taxes like everybody

David Letterman: “I was stunned” by the Daschle story because “we don’t expect Democrats to cheat on their taxes. No, we expect Democrats to cheat on their wives. That’s how this is supposed to go!”

Conan O’Brien: “President Obama has asked the Senate to cut $50 billion from the economic stimulus plan. . Yeah. Obama says the government will no longer need the $50 billion once everyone in his cabinet pays their back taxes

Everybody thinks they pay too much (“significant”) taxes. This isn’t an emotion-based opinion forum, so what you or anyone feels is irrelevant to understanding the truth of a matter.

As to your statement that “my point that wealthy people sometimes choose to be democrats even though it could cost them in taxes if they vote democratic, you have not weighed in on this, but I suspect it’s because you think they are idiots,” it’s clears you haven’t followed the links I gave you that addressed this very subject.

“Yes, the Republicans held together for the most part in blocking the first Obama stimulus package (or more accurately, the Pelosi-Reed stimulus package), claiming that it had too much pork and wasteful spending. But when it came to advancing these same principles in the recent continuing authorization of government services, the Republicans were just as pork-filled as the Democrats. No one seriously believes that if the majority of current Republican Congressmen and Senators were suddenly to gain power, anything fundamental would change. Sure, we’d have less overt anti-capitalist legislation, but as for eliminating government waste and pork, it would be like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic time.

“Add to this the fact that liberals with money are willing to spend their money on acquiring power, while conservatives with money are in it solely for themselves. I’m not speaking here about the Obama-rich conservatives making $250,000 or so. They’ll write a check for a thousand or two every once and a while. Rather, I’m comparing the George Soros’ of the world to the Boone Pickens’ of the world. Soros pumped in bazillions of his own dough to create Moveon.org to achieve a political goal. Boone Pickens pumped in $25-50 million of his own money to educate the country about the benefits of wind power and natural gas — two commodities he just happens to have a direct financial interest in promoting.

“The wealthy Left aspires to power to exert control over others, and reshape the country into its image. The wealthy Right uses the acquisition of power as a means to further line their own pockets. Until the ROWGs (rich old white guys) on our side look beyond their own immediate interests, we’re going to keep losing this battle.”

And no, I don’t think everyone is an idiot. It only applies to certain people who work hard to earn that designation.

Congratulations.

And why, when their arguments are exposed as emotions or rhetoric and not analysis, do they always feel the need to lie or dissemble about the truth.

“I never said it [ruminator's tax burden] was significant relative to the amount of taxes you, or John Edwards, or anyone else pays. You’ve been disputing a claim that I did not make.

Ruminator’s Comment 9: “I am a democrat and I pay significant taxes. So do Bill Clinton and John Edwards.”

So, when you say ‘I pay significant taxes and so does John Doe’, this doesn’t mean that ‘you pay significant taxes and so does John Doe.’

The only comment I actually agree with that you’ve made is “writing is fun, but solving problems is hard work.”