tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post7251610786345188503..comments2024-02-19T07:24:42.397-08:00Comments on Anglican Curmudgeon: Obama Proposes to Tax AIG Payments to VetsA. S. Haleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-11040058700746557322009-03-21T09:45:00.000-07:002009-03-21T09:45:00.000-07:00Thank you for the reference to PowerLine.Much to m...Thank you for the reference to PowerLine.<BR/><BR/>Much to my dismay (the requirements of honesty impel me to add "and anger"), I am more familiar with the history of FDR's mistakes in response to the Great Depression than I would like to be. You may therefore imagine that their rehearsal by the present administration does not improve my disposition. We are all in for what has the potential to be a long and hard slog to get back to something resembling reasonably comfortable circumstances. In particular, as a military retiree, and having recognized the inherently criminal structure of both Social Security and Medicare (does the surname Ponzi sound familiar?), the recent rumblings of a "breach of contract" with veterans, among other actions, raises alarms about the good faith of our elected representatives (both executive and legislative).<BR/><BR/>I am not sanguine that my own retirement (I am 63 years of age, turning 64 before Hallowe'en) will be much beyond survivable until our Lord calls me home.<BR/><BR/>Blessings and regards,<BR/>Keith ToepferMartial Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059467870069787735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-30038091651962939812009-03-21T04:02:00.000-07:002009-03-21T04:02:00.000-07:00You're right (as always), MA---actually, the artic...You're right (as always), MA---actually, the article I read comparing the current protectionism by Congress to the 1930's made the same mistake. You should follow all the recent posts over at the PowerLine blog on this subject---history is repeating itself in front of our eyes.A. S. Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-32904545090907746472009-03-20T14:42:00.000-07:002009-03-20T14:42:00.000-07:00Dear Mr. Haley,You ask "Is it just me, or does any...Dear Mr. Haley,<BR/><BR/>You ask "Is it just me, or does anyone else think the roller coaster is accelerating downward?"<BR/><BR/>I am reasonably confident that it is accelerating downward. Now, this does not imply that the acceleration is inexorable, simply that, at this moment it is increasing. As Christians and, I would hope, peace loving people (even we veterans and retired military), I think we ought to hope that the acceleration will be reversed (<I>i.e.</I>, become negative, and then reverse direction (<I>i.e.</I>, beginning returning uphill.<BR/><BR/>However, based on at least five millenia of <B>recorded</B> history and some several additional millenia (perhaps another four or five, if you credit Michael Wood's account in <I>Story of India</I>, there will almost assuredly come a point in time (barring the intervention of our Lord's return) when our society will have more downward kinetic energy downwards than we have energy to halt, let alone reverse. Such is the story of human civilizations. Whether that time is now, or will come later, the present situation is not one about which we should be sanguine.<BR/><BR/>Blessings and regards,<BR/>Keith Toepfer<BR/><BR/>P.S. I believe your reference to Smoot-Hartley should be to Smoot-Hawley, the 1929 Tarriff Act. I suspect that you have confused <I>Hawley</I> and <I>Hartley</I> (as in the Taft-Hartley Act, a 1947 Labor Act).Martial Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059467870069787735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-86202913912483310862009-03-18T16:47:00.000-07:002009-03-18T16:47:00.000-07:00Alas, Perpetua, as many of the links show, all too...Alas, Perpetua, as many of the links show, all too much of this post is <B>true</B>. I just extrapolated from the current mindset to provide a framework on which to hang the appalling details.<BR/><BR/>I commend to all who get this far <A HREF="http://jacksonville.typepad.com/patum_peperium/2009/03/the-silverspooned-snobs-and-their-sneers-.html" REL="nofollow">Mrs. Peperium's current post</A> on how all the silver-tongued snobs are starting to look a little tarnished after we've seen how Obama is simply not up to handling the job. <BR/><BR/>Note that he is currently on his way to Los Angeles, not to meet with Gov. Schwarzenegger about the impending collapse of California, but to set a milestone by becoming <A HREF="http://bellalu0.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/obama-to-appear-on-jay-leno-its-not-a-joke/" REL="nofollow">the first president to appear on Jay Leno.</A> How's that for fiddling while Rome burns?<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, Congress is in a state of delirium---fanatically going after $165 million in bonuses while <A HREF="http://www.mlive.com/us-politics/index.ssf/2009/03/dems_dragging_feet_on_consumer.html" REL="nofollow">billions and billions of dollars in inventory and small businesses</A> are literally going up in smoke. It's Smoot-Hartley all over again, but this time in a guise entitled "The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act."<BR/><BR/>Is it just me, or does anyone else think the roller coaster is accelerating downward?A. S. Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-42022078556777975712009-03-18T16:36:00.000-07:002009-03-18T16:36:00.000-07:00I have to stop bringing my laptop into restaurants...I have to stop bringing my laptop into restaurants at lunch. When I laugh out loud, people look at me funny. Thanks Mr. Haley.Keith Bramletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12980722580405660470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-28513447959913951362009-03-18T15:30:00.000-07:002009-03-18T15:30:00.000-07:00Regarding Anglican Pewster's comment:At first I th...Regarding Anglican Pewster's comment:<BR/>At first I thought this was real and then I thought it was satire. I am pretty sure it is satire, uh, isn't it? It is. It is. I'm sure. But ...Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16632860530530786486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-88450391701132789872009-03-18T11:37:00.000-07:002009-03-18T11:37:00.000-07:00Revolution? Who needs it, we've got "change."The v...Revolution? Who needs it, we've got <B>"change."</B><BR/><BR/>The video's advice to send tea bags to your congressmen sounds neat, but due to the threats of dangerous substances being delivered via the mail, I would suggest you do not follow that advice. Instead, you might send a picture such as <A HREF="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uxBClV3objk/SBGyWxHs55I/AAAAAAAAAe4/yfzpHD5nGs8/s320/Tea_Bag_Repeat.jpg" REL="nofollow">this one.</A>Undergroundpewsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10182191422663119484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-78091515467072287252009-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:002009-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:00We didn't hire AIG to watch over our tax money. We...We didn't hire AIG to watch over our tax money. We hired the government. The government owns AIG to the tune of 80%<BR/><BR/>The real people we should blame:<BR/><BR/>http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/17/obamas-stimulus-bill-explicitly-grants-aig-the-legal-right-to-hand-out-bonuses/Juhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971070789037251364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-63740244941641284772009-03-18T09:43:00.000-07:002009-03-18T09:43:00.000-07:00Sadly, Rick, it increasingly seems to me that anyt...Sadly, Rick, it increasingly seems to me that anything short of a bloody revolution is not going to alter the self-destructive course of this once great nation which is surely being destroyed from within. The current state of America is certainly not what our brave forefathers envisioned and is most definitely not the America I desire for our children.jacque5280https://www.blogger.com/profile/02762439063982301117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-15808739008692238962009-03-18T09:18:00.000-07:002009-03-18T09:18:00.000-07:00Rick, and Pewster: Here's a similar suggestion (I ...Rick, and Pewster: Here's a similar suggestion (I may put up a separate post on this later), from good old Tom Paine:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA" REL="nofollow">Common Sense</A>A. S. Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-40900672839147268012009-03-18T06:55:00.000-07:002009-03-18T06:55:00.000-07:00At first I thought this was a work of satire. I th...At first I thought this was a work of satire. I think a million veteran march may be in order.Undergroundpewsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10182191422663119484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-79748843005539942332009-03-18T06:52:00.000-07:002009-03-18T06:52:00.000-07:00Some days it's just hard to understand why we aren...Some days it's just hard to understand why we aren't in full throated French Revolution mode with all lawmakers hiding in terror from angry mobs of citizens roaming the streets intent on stringing them up on any vacant lamp post. Perhaps it is because we are so stupid as to elect and then re-elect these bastards.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01134718615424085878noreply@blogger.com