The point is that while there are valid reasons one might support Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton, the desire to avoid unpleasantness isn’t one of them."
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"My sense is that the fight for the Democratic nomination has gotten terribly off track. The blame is widely shared. Yes, Bill Clinton has been somewhat boorish (though I can’t make sense of the claims that he’s somehow breaking unwritten rules, which seem to have been newly created for the occasion). But many Obama supporters also seem far too ready to demonize their opponents."
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3 comments:
So, since I'm basically a techno-geek kind of guy, I have to ask you about the Senator Clinton ads currently saturating our CA airwaves... please feel free to check my math and reasoning -- I promise it's simpler than my earlier comparison scoresheet.
Clinton's[1] said she'll create 5 million jobs with a budget of 50 billion dollars to be taken from the oil companies by dropping their tax preferences (more on this later). Now, Betty relies on me to be a walking calculator, so my mind immediately says that will be 5 million jobs at 10k$/yr each... or, that is to say, below minimum wage.
By saying that the money comes from removing tax preferences, it doesn't sound like a tax increase, yet if the oil barons are paying x$ in taxes today and suddenly they pay x+50B$, that's a net increase in taxes that will be coming out of what? You guessed it, consumers' pockets... making this a regressive consumer tax.
Great -- a Democratic candidate doing something at least as Voodoo-esque as Ron Reagan.
This is what makes my poor head spin: the Repulikidz are spending like drunken sailors and the Democrats are like one of those Barbie dolls programmed to have its string pulled and say, "math is hard!"
Oy vey, Maria.
[1] I think it's only fair to refer to Senator Clinton by her last name like all the other candidates. It just bugs me that she's the only one to be deferentially referred to by her first name. I find that offensive.
Short response formulated as D and I discussed your math. She is saying it'll take 50 billion dollars to create 5 million jobs, not 50 billion dollars to pay 5 million folks 10K/year in salaries/wages.
And while it is true that oil companies may then raise prices in order to recoup some of the profits lost once the tax preferences are removed, there is and always will be a price point they hit that will reduce demand because people simply won't be able to pay. If the result of this is that we move faster to find more environmentally-friendly ways to motor around, I'm all for it. Plus, currently with tax preferences those greedy bastards are still effectively price gouging the consumers.
At least she has some more concrete plans for what she'll do. I just keep hearing Mr. Obama say "change" and "hope" as if the words themselves will result in something tangible. Although, to be fair, I have also heard that he outlines things more coherently on his website so I should check that out before I complain too loudly that he is all smoke and mirrors.
And really, I must state again, it doesn't matter to me who wins the nomination because that is the person who will get my vote. I shudder at having another four years of a Repub in office, especially McCain who seems excited at the prospect of future wars.
Yeah, McC has that, "I'll teach those bastiges" look to him, as if he's trying to get even for years of abuse by hostiles. Not a guiding light by my standards.
Sadly, while I began considering the possibility of letting someone I consider a sleazebag (Bill) back anywhere near Penn. Ave., I began to realize, the "slumlord" reference cuts both ways:
http://tinyurl.com/3c8znb
and Obama has yet to mention any of Whitewater (debunked by now), Travelgate, the commodity flap or Vince Foster, et al. You tell me who (including their spouse) is running the cleaner campaign.
I wish to God she could put a sock in Bill's mouth... every time it opens it hearkens me back to the contentious years that caused me to consider abandoning my (Repub) ship o'fools (at least Rudy's out) just to give a wedgie to the status quo.
Sigh.
May the candidate with the purest heart prevail... and I don't know which that might be.
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