tjfxh's Comments (353)

“Ok, maybe largely symbolic, but what other public figure has done anything close to this? They are all living in a bubble, isolating them from any contact with real people and their problems,”

“Well, that guy is sure sticking by his principles. He should be retired from both parties. Hope he is primaried and loses.”

“While at the people on the right were seduced by Hayek's argument that the road to serfdom lies through socialism, the corporate state was busy taking over. Now we have corporate statism AKA Mussolini's fascism.”

“What you do know. Obama and the Democrats are turning me into a teabagger. I agree with them that the government is not to be trusted to get anything right as long as there is so much money sloshing around in politics. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll be supporting the GOP, which is even more sold out. But I will vote for anyone who runs against both parties. They are both corrupt to the roots.”

“Kill the bill before it kills us and the whole Democratic Party.”

“Kill the bill before it kills us.”

“Follow the money. Kill this rotten bill before it kills the Democrats. Why are they committing suicide by forcing people into the jaws of an industry that is geared to meeting Wall Street's demand for ever-increasing profits, thereby guaranteeing that premiums will continue to rise or services will be restricted.

Shame, shame, shame on the president and all his men (and women) for selling us out for some campaign donations to fund propaganda to buy votes that he and they have no intention of ever living up to. I am way, way beyond disappointed in the Democratic Party. Why didn't the people claiming to be progressives just say no? Or are they on the take, too? Say it ain't so No, better, prove it by killing this insult to the people before it gets any further.”

“Maybe Tiger has a promising new career as a porn star if he decides to give up golf. Or perhaps as a second job.”

“It's obvious that President Obama is becoming increasingly irrelevant. He needs to figure out how to help his big donors more or he's in real trouble.”

“Take 'em to the emergency room, take names, and send them all an ambulance bill for $1000 and a treatment bill for $5000.”

“Big tent? These cretins are fine with living in a hole.”

“The mystical literature of the world (perennial wisdom) is filled with reports of the independent existence of consciousness. expressed in a variety of ways, all of which have a common theme, namely, that existence/awareness is indivisibly one and only appears to be diverse due to the limited functioning of brain/mind. the purpose of spirituality in light of these wisdom traditions is to remove that limitations. Those who undergo such training report experiences of higher realms and ultimately the Absolute, which is variously called Godhead (Meister Eckhart), Nirvana (Buddha), Brahman (Vedanta), Fana Fillah (Sufism), and Wu Ji (Taoism). See, for example, www.corespirituality.com for an explanation of perennial wisdom.

Pioneer American psychologist William James suggests in a short paper on the immortality of the soul that the brain need not be conceived as a machine that produces experiences but can rather be viewed as a receptor that receives information. On this analogy, the brain receives information in accordance with its capacity. Expand that capacity and the information it can receive is also expanded, which is reflected in experience.

This view accords with the perennial teaching about spirituality, and recent scientific research is bearing out that advanced practitioners of the various wisdom traditions display unique brain functioning that correlates with their subjective reports of expanded awareness. While correlation is not causality, the fact that regular practice of traditional spiritual "exercises" does lead to changed brain functioning and subjective reports of expanded awareness.”

“This is not about the President's freedom to receive information, as the DOJ is representing it. This was a key element was a high-level conspiracy to construct a quasi-legal defense for crimes against humanity. There needs to be a full investigation of torture, and those responsible must be brought to account, if America is to regain its moral standing in the world.”

“"Failures," or sell out to Wall Street?”

“Idea one: Stop supporting Wall Street and start supporting Main Street.

"It's the economy stupid." All of Wall Street's donations aren't going to get you reelected, Mr. President, if Main Street is in the tank in 2012. All indications are that it will be under your current policies, and after the general we'll be saying, "We hardly knew ye."”

“This is totally ridiculous and Bernanke is either totally unaware of how a modern monetary system works or he is being disingenuous. See, for example, L. Randall Wray, Understanding Modern Money (1998). Since Nixon closed the gold window, the sovereign government is the monopoly provider of a nonconvertible currency of issue and is not revenue constrained, nor can it either default on its own debt or become insolvent. The currency sovereign does not need to tax, borrow, or save to spend, since it is the currency issuer. It is a category mistake to compare the sovereign government as currency issuer with non-government as user of that currency. I am amazed that the Fed chairman would dare spout this nonsense as it were serious monetary economics. Forget about "sending him back to Princeton." Send him back to class with someone who understands how monetary economics works after April 15, 1971.”

“Of course, it will take years to fix while the administration is spending everything on rescuing Wall Street. What a bunch of bums!!!”

“Great. I'll vote for it. It will effectively end marriage, which the state shouldn't have it's nose in anyway. As far as the state is concerned marriage is a legal contract. This can be done with separate contracts suitable for the wishes of the parties instead of one size fits all. Eliminates the need for pre-nup agreements, too, not to mention expensive divorces. Of course, the lawyers will be against it since divorce is their bread and butter.”

“They are probably the only ones pleased. Nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq, while middle class destruction proceeds apace in the US. WTF?”

“Iran is crazy pushing the US like it is. Didn't they learn anything from Saddam. Do they want to see their country destroyed like Iraq?

With the rotten economic situation in the US, the US is just looking for another big war to get into that the public supports, and right now public support is building for a take down.”

“Yup, this sure is progress.”

“Wrong. This assumes that the government is a user of currency, on the analogy of households and firms, which are revenue-constrained. As the issuer of currency, a sovereign government is not revenue-constrained in a nonconvertible flexible-rate monetary system. The government is not financially constrained and does not have to tax or borrow to spend. It just issues currency directly. As long as the public want to save while there is an output gap, spending is non-inflationary. When the economy picks up, the government just slows down spending and it can even destroy funds it has previously created if necessary to prevent inflation.”

“Ferguson is primarily a historian. He should know that Nixon closed the gold window on August 15, 1971, but Ferguson is still using economic models based on a convertible fixed-exchange currency, not a nonconvertible floating rate one. There is no comparison between the two, since the later is not financially constrained like the former. Under the convertible fixed-rate system, it was virtually impossible to achieve full employment and price stability. This is possible under a nonconvertible flexible-rate system, using fiscal policy and a job guarantee. See, for example, L Randall Wary, Understanding Modern Money: The Key to Full Employment and Price Stability (1998).”

“This is blithering idiocy that betrays total ignorance of macroeconomic principles and lacks a real understanding of how the economy works. Either the author is a doofus or is being disingenuous. The deficit is not big enough under the circumstance to close the output gap and reduce unemployment. The cost of this monumental policy failure in addition to the immense personal suffering involved? Trillions is the difference between an economy fully utilizing its capital and labor resources and one that is operating at more than 30% below full capacity. This is just more GOP neoliberal propaganda that is ideologically based, not empirically grounded.”

“"It's the economy, stupid." The Dems are headed for the trash can unless they stop coddling Wall Street and just throwing crumbs to Main Street. Wake up, folks, before you are looking for a job on the outside as lobbyists looking in.”