Official Campaign 2008 Hot Stove Thread

[A_Wanderer]

That post is worth it for the responses alone, just waiting for "race realism" to be added to the debate.

 

[deep]

Thank goodness things like this really never make it into the discussion.

Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion (£26 billion), said: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”

Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent. Mr Buffett told his audience, which included John Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Alan Patricof, the founder of the US branch of Apax Partners, that US government policy had accentuated a disparity of wealth that hurt the economy by stifling opportunity and motivation.

I know for a fact I pay a lot less (percentage wise) than most of you working stiffs reading this.

I especially would like to thank the Social Conservatives (and Jack)
that keep delivering investment - capital gains favored treatment over sweat earned wages.

We don't need any class warfare.
It is my investments and capital gains that are allowing you to have what life style you still have.

You owe me.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

That post is worth it for the responses alone, just waiting for "race realism" to be added to the debate.

Yeah it's all that and a barrel o'monkeys

 

[A_Wanderer]

I don't agree with it but that doesn't make it any less entertaining.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Glad you're so entertained

 

[deep]

More fun than a barrel of monkeys

sure we have all heard it

Once I put three monkeys in a barrel (it was more like a drum) then put the lid on

what a horrible sound
several hours later when I removed the lid
not fun at all

a cock fight is more fun
most of the time
one cock lives

 

[A_Wanderer]

Thats the spirit, after all doesn't free speech extend to everybody? Doesn't the misogynist have the same right as the misandrist? Of course neither should have freedom from criticism but being able to see views expressed even if they are tongue in cheeck swipes and get put down is fine.

I would like to see a candidate that defends bong hits for Jesus, wants to roll back the USA PATRIOT act and would pursue the war on terror differently; I think that Ron Paul satisfies those pretty well even if I find some of his positions wrong.

 

[financeguy]

Once again you bring nothing but classy, educated, and informed opinions to FYM.

It was a joke.

 

[BVS]

It was a joke.

That's always a good fallback...

 

[najeena]

According to the Taipei Times, the Harry Walker agency, which handles Al Gore's speeches, has canceled his events for the next six months. Very interesting...

 

[deep]

Poll: GOP goes for 'none of the above'

Clinton continues to hold a strong lead for Democrats

The Associated Press
Updated: 6:10 a.m. PT July 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - A new poll reveals a clear leader in the Republican presidential race: nobody.

The AP-Ipsos survey shows nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back any of the top candidates -- Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney. And no one has emerged as the front-runner among evangelicals.

On the other hand, the Democratic race remains static. Hillary Rodham Clinton still holds a sizable lead over Barack Obama, even among black and Hispanic voters.

Giuliani's popularity continues to drop. His support is down to 21 percent, off six points from June and 14 points since March.

The former New York mayor is running virtually even with Thompson, who -- at a steady 19 percent -- has become a threat without even officially entering the race. McCain is off a bit at 15 percent, and Romney remains at eleven.

Clinton keeps her strong 36-to-20 percent lead over Obama among Democrats. She boasts a 13-point advantage among blacks and is up an even stronger 28 points among Hispanics.

The AP-Ipsos poll of more than a thousand adults was conducted by telephone last week. The margin of error is plus or minus three percent.

McCain is on the ropes.

I can't even speculate what will happen in the GOP primaries.

could it go down to the convention?

with some brokering between the candidates?

 

[redhotswami]

not like I would've voted for him, but I was surprised to hear Gilmore had dropped. I wonder if he would've turned the VA vote back to red if he had stayed in.

 

[verte76]

McCain on the ropes. Who'd have thunk it? I'm not surprised that Hillary is leading in the polls. The Clintons don't lose elections.

 

[Irvine511]

McCain is on the ropes.

we were told, just a few short months ago, that no one stood a chance against McCain and we should just call off the election and let him into the white house in january 09.

yet another delusion?

 

[deep]

I still would not completely count him out

how many times did Jake LaMotta come off the ropes in the 12th round and deliver a knock out?

and also,
Kerry was counted out at this stage in 2003


ironically, in 2000 Bush / Rove cut his legs off

now, because of his association with Bush / Rove - his legs are cut off again

 

[deep]

From Wm Kristol

Even at Bush's current low point in popularity, the leading GOP presidential candidates are competitive in the polls with Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Furthermore, one great advantage of the current partisan squabbling in Washington is that while it hurts Bush, it also damages the popularity of the Democratic Congress-- where both Clinton and Obama serve. A little mutual assured destruction between the Bush administration and Congress could leave the Republican nominee, who will most likely have no affiliation with either, in decent shape.

And what happens when voters realize in November 2008 that, if they choose a Democrat for president, they'll also get a Democratic Congress and therefore liberal Supreme Court justices? Many Americans will recoil from the prospect of being governed by an unchecked triumvirate of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. So the chances of a Republican winning the presidency in 2008 aren't bad.

What it comes down to is this: If Petraeus succeeds in Iraq, a Republican can win in 2008.

 

[diamond]

Go Petraeus

 

[Irvine511]

i love the assumption that the word "win" has any sort of meaning for Iraq. there's nothing to be won.

this isn't "Saving Private Ryan."

 

[redhotswami]

i wonder when these frontrunners are gonna start talking about domestic emergencies.

Ninth Ward, New Orleans, LA March 2007

 

[maycocksean]

i love the assumption that the word "win" has any sort of meaning for Iraq. there's nothing to be won.

this isn't "Saving Private Ryan."

But nonetheless, if America can be perceived to be "winning" than that will definitely help a Republican candidate. At it's most cynical I could actually see the argument made by some on the Right that the Dems "want America to lose." I don't think that's true of most Democrats or even the candidates, but for someone cynical enough to recognize what a perceived "victory" would mean for the Democrats, the need for percieved "loss" IS vital. The Democratic equivalent of someone like Karl Rove would need for the U.S. to "lose" in Iraq.

Which leads me to the question of what would be perceived as "winning" in Iraq.

I think the single biggest factor would be a marked decrease in violence in Iraq. When we stop losing soldiers in Iraq, even if we don't leave, I think that would be perceived as a victory in the eyes of the American public. It would be for me. And that's something that can't be "spun" one way or another, really. Either our troops are dying or they're not.

 

[LMP]

I love the '08 Campaign:

 

[U2democrat]

It always kind of creeps me out when I see one of the candidates on there.

 

[diamond]

sexyness?

 

[BVS]

I love it when we stick to the subject

 

[U2democrat]

ETA: NM, the picture showed up. I've seen Nader speak twice...one time in front of an EXTREMELY liberal crowd, and he got booed b/c he cost Gore 2000. The second time I saw him I fell asleep.



I hate this being undecided I wish someone could just step in the race and save everything. Who that could be, I have no idea

 

[redhotswami]

I used to Nader until he drank a coke. To be so anti-corporation, why in the world would he drink coke...of all corporations!

Laura - there's always Dennis

 

[Rono]

I love the '08 Campaign:

Haha. o, it is already started. i did see the live coverage of the discussion about cutting money on the public broadcasting. the democrates came up with very good reasons to not do that, like it is the only free source of information and it is the only emergency information channel on the inlands of america. the reps came up with,....this money can be used for iraq veterans.


i can see it in the future reps commercials.

remember, the democrate party is against more money for veterans.

 

[Irvine511]

remember, the democrate party is against more money for veterans.

what!?!?!!

i had no idea.



well, i guess i'll just have to vote Republican then.

 

[Rono]

what!?!?!!

i had no idea.



well, i guess i'll just have to vote Republican then.

 

[maycocksean]

I used to Nader until he drank a coke. To be so anti-corporation, why in the world would he drink coke...of all corporations!

Laura - there's always Dennis

MUST we be that anti-corporate? I LIKE Coke.