Ben Stein Says The Reason Republicans Reject HCR Is Because They Pay More Taxes Than Democrats
Head. Bangs. Desk.
Reason #2,348,293,297 why Americans are so tragically misinformed about the issues facing us today. CNN cut away from the Health Care Summit today to give us the oh-so-important musings of former Nixon speechwriter and D-list actor Ben Stein and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile. What? We need to cut away to get more unsubstantiated talking points?
But it gets even better. Stein launches into his socio-economic theories of why health care reform is unpopular with the Republican Party, and it's not because they're beholden to corporations and worship at the altar of the "free markets". It's not because their bank accounts are busting from donations by the health care industry. It's not even because they reflexively obstruct and are against anything the Obama administration is for. Oh no, it's because Republicans pay more taxes than Democrats do:
You asked one of the most brilliant questions I have ever heard anyone ask on TV, which is why are so many Republicans against more government interference in the health care system, and so many Democrats in favor of it? And the answer is much higher percentage of Republicans are taxpayers than Democrats and the Republicans are the people paying for it, and the Democrats are the people receiving it. So that has a lot to explain there.
There are a tremendous number of wealthy Democrats and wealthy Republicans, but as a general matter, Republicans as a group pay income tax at a much higher rate than Democrats, and I think that has a lot to do with everything. They also have a much higher rate, and are paying members of the insurance pools, and they realize that the insurance premiums are going up so that people who otherwise would not get insurance are going to get insurance and it has a lot to do with the fact that Republicans are a different group of people than Democrats.
You have to ask yourself why CNN felt that Ben Stein's opinion on anything (let us not forget that he also rejects evolution) is at all informative to the American public.
In fact, feel free to ask them directly: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/
situation was better under GOP rule while most of the rest of America's was worse. That's why he's a lying and a shilling.
Stein's opinion isn't worth a pence.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
.
Ben can wax all he wants for what HE believes to be his truth...
... But facts attached to reality do not bear him out.
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Feed Americans.
I heard him say that today and was just floored. WTF was he thinking? There might be more rich republicans but there are also more tax loop holes for them to find.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
It's called a "talking point". It'll be repeated, and the truth won't be verified.
Welcome to United States.
right on!
Why on earth did you guys interview Ben "Red Eyes" Stern? His opinions about who pays more taxes and THAT's why Republicans object to the Democratic Health Care Plan lack substance and are not based on veracity but are just off-the-top-of-his-head claims that have no basis at all in fact.
Really, he's another Republican twit.
=====
(There are so many...)
Conservative/Repugs/RightWhing-ers? They seem to range for stupid and obnoxious to stupid & malevolent, and every synonym there is for stupid&evil in-between.
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
"[I]t has a lot to do with the fact that Republicans are a different group of people than Democrats."
That Ben Stein is some thinker, isn't he?
Former Nixon speechwriter, eh?
That would explain his thoughts on healthcare, coming from the Administration of the father of the HMO. Horrible, horrible man that Nixon was. Too bad his cronies are back in style.
As Hunter S Thompson once said, "he [Nixon] should be cut up and fed to sharks."
don't advocate for poisoning sharks!
"don't advocate for poisoning sharks!"
Sharks and leeches wouldn't harm Ben Stein.
It's called 'professional courtesy'
"different group of people" ??? Yes, the Repugs are the rich white (usually) people, and the Democrats are the struggling middle class - poor - various colors of people, some on public assistance, which the Repugs consider "big government welfare and entitlements/Medicaid" and don't want to pay for. Get it?
Somebody said it recently, and I don't remember who, but it was something like : "The rich pay Fox News to brainwash the middle class to hate the poor and therefore to vote Republican (and against their own best interests)." It's really brilliantly evil, and it's working. Yes, they want us all to be servants again. Don't you forget it.
Even after all these years, I just cannot wrap my head around the ineptitude of our news organizations. It's surreal. They do such a disservice to this great country.
They aren't inept. They are part of the elitist control system that wants to return you to servitude. They are part of the problem, never forget that.
Democracy is the road to socialism. ~ Karl Marx
for lying was on the table, these discussions would be vastly different.
I remember hearing something about how freedom of speech isn't dealing with speech you like but rather allowing that which you would spend your whole life fighting against.
In this case, I don't like what he has to say (and I think it's bull), but I'll defend his right to state his opinions.
... until it gets in the way of facts, which is what news is supposed to be: the accurate reporting of events happening around the world.
We regulate speech when it is in the public interest, requiring things like truth in advertising, or general safety, just as we regulate firearms - even though the Constitution assures us of a right to bear arms.
The point that I had been trying to make was that we don't condone the inference that prevarication (in our opinions) could possibly be followed up with violence.
If some right-wing hack said the same thing, I'm sure that we would be up in arms about it. Let's try to be better, shall we?
Agreed. It's just as easy for us to do the things we hate when others do it. Groupthink can be dangerous.
Democracy is the road to socialism. ~ Karl Marx
No one said he didn't have a right to his half-assed talking points.
You are correct he does and should have the right to say it but when this kind of drivel is the larger balance of what is seen and it goes unchallenged on a regular basis...well,I think that is the point of the post.
Then make your money do your talking. If you don't like what Stein says (and you should be livid over it), make sure CNN knows it by taking your money elsewhere. Money is all they care about. Make it hurt and they will change.
Democracy is the road to socialism. ~ Karl Marx
He thinks hes funny, he likes to say things like that to get a reaction. He is desperate for media attention....he is so very irrelavent!!
because then all the greedy fucks in the GOP would leave the Republican party... to save money!
Ben Stein (and the rest of idiots of the Republican Party) always seem to forget about social security taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, propery tax, etc. Democrats pay those as well, and lower income Democrats pay a higher percentage of their income towards them than higher income Republicans do.
For bringing some perception and sanity to the discussion.
What I don't understand is why Ben Stein of all people is supposed to be some sort of authority on taxes. He's an ACTOR for heaven's sake!
And he sucks at both equally.
Ad hominem attacks don't help anyone's cause.
He's wrong, let's leave it at that.
n/m
... everyone was entitled to their opinion, and you'd defend their right to express it.
So if Pillow thinks Stein sucks as an actor, that's an opinion. If he thinks he's a political hack, that's an opinion.
Ooops.
Whatever you do, just don't tell Mr. Scott the Enterprise is a garbage scow.
I had just been pointing out that ad hominem attacks are pointless. If Stein wants to make an ass out of himself, that's his business, but I would rather we not stoop to the same level of attacks here.
I wasn't saying that he *couldn't* say it, just that it didn't further his point. You can say that Stein's points are incorrect, but it doesn't give your argument any more gravity by slandering him personally.
I was trying to be *nice*. It's amazing how quickly people pick at you when you argue for civility. (Obviously we have no control over Stein, but at least we can be better by example.)
Civility died a long time ago. It's incredibly difficult to get it anywhere. It doesn't garner attention or make money.
Democracy is the road to socialism. ~ Karl Marx
"Republicans as a group pay income tax at a much higher rate than Democrats"
A quick search tells me that GOP districts tend to have average median income around 4K higher than Democratic districts, so I don't see where he gets this "much higher rate" from.
...than Democrats as a group, as I hear recently on Tom Hartman's radio show I think. I believe the statistic was in the range of 17% income tax rate for the upper 10% of wage earners in the country, and the rest paying more like 26% or thereabouts. So he's just wrong. And he's trying to use code for "you poor brown Democrat people" which I REALLY resent.
Having money turns most people into greedy, selfish fucks who then naturally gravitate towards the Republican party.
I'm shocked.
It's pretty simple logic here. You have to have people working under you (being employed or enslaved by you, whichever you prefer) to earn these mythical gobs of money. If you were providing for their health and pension equitably, they wouldn't be clamoring for better things, you see. And if you provided them with these things, *you* wouldn't be as rich as you are.
Taxing everybody to help the majority of people isn't wrong, it's people helping themselves and others out. You'd think the party of Jeebus would like that more. Could swear that guy said some stuff about helping out people. Y'know, before he got nailed to a cross and all that. Schmucks.
On top of that, I've noticed that red states tend to receive more federal money than blue states, which tend to produce more federal money. That seems to bury his claim, doesn't it?
These hacks believe in the Gospel of Greed, not the Gospel of Jeebus. They worship at the bank, not the altar.
Democracy is the road to socialism. ~ Karl Marx
He's a perfect example of the "I've got mine, too fucking bad about you" type that came out of the Reagan Era. And, if you listen to him long enough, he'll get around to saying that the only thing Richard Nixon did wrong was get caught. he always manages to work that into a conversation. Basically, he's an asshole.
Free market theory states that there are winners and losers, too, but it's woefully inadequate in this case. Health insurance isn't a profitable industry, since healthcare (which is paid for by health insurance) is inevitable. The only ways you can make profit on this are:
1) Raise rates
2) Deny services
We've seen both.
Republicans do have the ideology of I've got mine, to hell with the rest of you fucking lowlifes. Don't you just love the party of Christ and God.
"What the hell? Republicans say they're speaking for me? Didn't they listen to my kid at all? What a bunch of morons." - God
WTF! Say what! I mean what the hell, is there a repulican left in the country with a coherent thougt to offer on the important issues of the day. I watched the terminally orange John Boehner with his stack of papers he totes around with him talking about the size of the bill and government taking over the health care system. If only that were true. Do you suppose Boehner's compensating for something he lacks in his constant talking about the "size" of the health care bill? These conservatives have been revealed as the true gang that can't shoot straight. They are chocked full of morons and idiots and are totally incapable of serious, grown-up discussions on anything.
I would almost wager money that no one dared speak the cursed words "single payer" throughout the whole blasted circle-jerk.
The house always wins -- the house in this case being pharma and the insurance industry.
Agreed!
In factual terms, Stein is probably correct. See some Pew research figures from 2004, here: http://people-press.org/commentary/?analysisi...
In the chart at the bottom of that page, you'll see that there is a clear trend of inverse income correlation - poor people tend to identify as democrats, rich people tend to identify as republicans, by significant margins. And although our tax system is a lot LESS progressive than it used to be, it's still pretty progressive (the higher your income, the higher a fraction of it you pay in taxes), suggesting that Republicans contribute more, in aggregate, to taxes than Democrats do.
If you think he's wrong, by all means, post your own figures. I think he's an odious troll, and he's certainly wrong about many other things, but he doesn't appear to be wrong about this.
What floors us is that he pretty much said that their aversion to HCR is the supposed political leanings of those who they believe would most benefit from it. He has no problem letting people die for the crimes of being poor AND a Democrat.
Supporting a society is the burden of the haves, not the have nots.
We are judged as a society by how we treat our least fortunate. And in at least that respect, we fail miserably as a country.
What good is the largest military on earth while growing numbers are becoming homeless and sick?
... my reading of Nicole's post is that she thought Stein was factually wrong (as he was on evolution), not that he was morally outrageous.
Anyway, I agree with you, yes, it's terrible to imply that wealth should correlate with your decision-making power, but I don't think that's exactly what Stein is saying. He's basically saying "rich people want taxes to be lower", which is accurate, and not that surprising, and really not that outrageous. They're perfectly free to feel that way; what I object to is them leveraging their wealth to tip the scales of power in their favor. That's not what's being discussed here (maybe very obliquely). As objectionable as you might find their political views, and as sneaky and conniving as you might find their praxis, all of this is still very much within the scope of the American political process - i.e., as democratic as our society has so far demanded.
Which is healthcare reform.
Clearly, Stein makes more than me. So do most members of Congress. Does that mean I don't count? That my concerns about providing for the well-being of my family is my being a WATB and expecting a handout, or that I'm a closet socialist that expects them to get down here in the dirt with me?
What good is a democratic system that can't provide some kind of parity for its citizens? Isn't that what the American Dream is about? Not just opportunity, but a standard of living beyond third-world countries?
Yes, Repubs generally make more money and therefore pay more in progressive income tax, but the table you cite somehow adds up to over 100% for both Dems and Reps columns--always a bad sign. But shouldn't the people who make a higher percentage of the GDP pay more in taxes, regardless of their politics? Otherwise, Ben Stein seems to argue that Repubs are discriminated against because they are more privileged. Does that make any fucking sense to you?
Also, the figures doesn't take into account sales tax, gas tax, etc. etc. as mentioned above.
You're reading the chart wrong - the percentage is "percentage of this income bracket that identifies as repub/democrat", not "percentage of democrats falling in this income bracket" - rows should add up to < 100%, not columns.
Anyway, yes, I agree he's morally wrong. But factually, he's not, and he's probably accurate in describing the motivations of Republicans - they tend to pay more in taxes, hate it, and wish they didn't have to support other people.
Look at who receives the most federal dollars: red states. Look who gets less for their tax dollars: blue states.
You pay a lower percentage of your income the higher up on the socio-economic ladder you go. Warren Buffett has famously said that he pays less taxes (as a percentage of his income) than his secretary.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax/ar...
Don't give Ben Stein any credibility. He's earned none and deserves none.
You're arguing (as did the guy below) that capital gains trumps everything else. Maybe that's true; I'm not sure what fraction of tax revenue is capital gains taxes, but I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of Americans make almost no income from capital gains. There are a handful of Warren Buffets, yes, who are getting away with paying less tax than they should, but there are far, far more middle managers making $100K who pay out a higher fraction of their income.
In addition, let's not forget that, even if Buffet is paying a smaller percentage of his income, he's still paying more in taxes (in dollar terms) than probably his entire secretarial pool put together. Times ten. Times a hundred, even.
Can we refrain from speaking of states as homogeneous entities? The majority of Republicans (as with the majority of Americans) live in so-called "blue states".
...because they vote Democratic. "Red states" have a preponderance of registered Republicans.
At least that's what John King was telling us 18 months ago.
You need to be way less categorical in your thinking. That is a gross oversimplification of a complex political landscape, and continuing to use that gross oversimplification for analysis and policy choice would be ridiculous in the extreme. Are you honestly suggesting that there be some sort of punishment for poor people in "red states" because in aggregate the state tends to vote Republican?
Okay, so I just saw this, and now no one will read my response, but screw it -- here goes...
When I said that the columns don't add to 100%, the point was that the table is set to be interpreted as, "Among people who earn $X to $X, YY% identify themselves as Dems and ZZ% identify themselves as Repubs." You would have to be very careful going the other way, which is to say something like, "Most Repubs earn above $X, and most Dems earn below $Y," as the person above me in the thread was suggesting. This may seem like a subtle distinction, but the reason why this table has to be interpreted in this one direction is because we don't know the denominators in each row. For example, there could be 20 million people in one row, and 20 people in another. Which row estimates would you have more confidence in, as your looking down those columns?
Thus, WHENEVER YOU TRY TO COMPARE DESCRIPTIVE STATS WITHOUT THE RAW NUMBERS, YOU'RE ON SHAKY GROUND. BUT IF YOUR DESCRIPTIVE STATS ARE PERCENTAGES AND THE ROW/COLUMN YOU'RE STARTING WITH DOESN'T ADD UP TO 100%, YOU'RE AN ABSOLUTE FOOL TO TRY TO INTERPRET THEM.
BTW, I'm a school psychologist and I eat statistics for breakfast.
If they pay more taxes then they're idiots. My brother was a tax attorney. He made his living helping rich people avoid paying taxes by using the system. So, if these wealthy republicans are paying more taxes than democrats then fuck them because they're either too stupid or too lazy to find someone to help them legally avoid it.
The progressive tax system is not even in the same stratosphere it used to be. And you're wrong that as a percentage of earned income, i.e. that income that comes from working for a living, the higher your income the, tax percentage is higher, but if you are a lazy son of a bitch who earns his money sitting by a pool while your investments fund people who outsource jobs overseas, hide money in the cayman islands, deny people health care, screw over the Americans with bailouts, poison our foods and water, and sells us poisoned and damanged products, then the tax you pay as a percentage is only 15%. Working people would love this tax rate. So no, as a percentage, the taxes are not necessarily higher, you would be correct in actual dollars paid. However, it goes without saying, we have a progressive tax system because we as a society agreed many decades ago, that to have a functioning society and democracy, we needed to fund it adequately, and since those at the top of the income scale benefit the most from this society than those at the bottm, and because general rules of fairness demand it, there is a progressive tax system put in place so as to not unfairly burden families without great financial means to be able to put a roof over their heads, to feed their family, to educate their children, to provide for efficient infrastrucutre systems to support a national system of commerce, to provide for a military industry, and to provide Health Care for its citizens. If you don't want to pay the price of living in a fair, efficient, civilized society, get the hell out and let the ones of us who actually give a damn about everyone in our society, and not just those in their class, run this democracy. It amazes me to see rich people who pay lobbyists billions of dollars to create financial and economic policies to benefit them to the empth degree, that those same people have a problem with providing the society they depend on for consumers and an educated workforce with just the basics of life.
Even GW recognized that his Republican base was "the haves", so who among us feels sorry for the wealthy who pay more taxes? What's unfortunate is that they successfully hide so much of their wealth from the taxman, while others among us who can't avoid a tax drain on our income commit suicide by running a plane into an IRS building.
...above when they noted that "red states tend to receive more federal money than blue states, which tend to produce more federal money", and "GOP districts tend to have average median income around 4K higher than Democratic districts".
I would guess the former case in point might be due to those red states not collecting sales tax and/or state income tax that the blue states do, thus they are holding their hands out for the rest of the country to bail them out of situations they aren't asking their state constituents to pay for.
And the latter case in point are the GOPers who migrate to those states so that they don't have to pay state income tax or sales tax, thus their average median income (net) is higher than the more sensible Dems who believe in paying as they go, at the state level.
Someone prove me wrong. I live in Oregon. We have state income tax, and we're a blue state paying more to the Feds than we get back. Alaska, for instance, takes in billions in taxes from the oil companies, but they keep it all for themselves and pay it out in the Permanent Fund Dividend each year to each and every Alaska resident who lived in the state for the entire previous year. Then they ask the Feds (the rest of us) to send money to fill in the missing millions in their state budget every year.
You're suggesting that "blue states" are some monolithic Democrat paradise, and "red states" are a Republican hell. In fact, the picture is not so clear. This might make some good reading for you:
http://redbluerichpoor.com/media/red_state_bl...
Those figures mean little if you are not figuring the amount of Democrats compared to the amount of republicans as well...
For example, I undertsand there are considerably more registered dems than repubs:
72 million registered Democrats
55 million registered Republicans
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_registered...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)
And that was in 2004, I would not be surprised if the difference is even greater now.
So there are a lot more Democrats paying taxes than Republicans even if they tend to make a little more on average.
In addition, you would have to believe that people tell pollsters their real income.
...In Fact Republicans as a group pay LOWER income tax rates than Democrats as a group, as I hear recently on Tom Hartman's radio show I think. I believe the statistic was in the range of 17% income tax rate for the upper 10% of wage earners in the country, and the rest paying more like 26% or thereabouts. So he's just wrong. And he's trying to use code for "you poor brown Democrat people" which I REALLY resent.
I still would have a problem with him. Actually, I'd probably have a problem with him even if he hadn't said anything, but whatever.
Anyway, for the last however-long, we've been hearing that Republicans were the party of Real Americans. Average Joe Sixpack the Plumber. Hard working people, with down-to-earth, small town, Middle America values. The Democrats, on the other hand, are the elites with their college education and expensive haircuts and fancy suits.
Now when I hear "Joe Sixpack" or "Hard Working", I'm usually not thinking "stinking rich". And when I'm hearing "Elites" and "$400 Haircut", I'm likewise not thinking poor.
Is Ben trying to have it both ways? Is he channeling Jesus, saying the rich are poor and the poor are rich? Or is he just speaking for himself and the rest of the paid shills? In which case, his argument is: "I don't want HCR, because I'm a greedy SOB!"
That's all well and good, to say you're a Scrooge and you therefore oppose parting with your cash. But can't even "Joe Sixpack", the Middle-America republican see through that? No, don't answer that, I assume he's pretty sure that Joe can't.
Smart man. Very stupid statement. Doesn't add up. I've lost so much respect for him.
NOBODY 2012
Ben Stein on TV in Canada:
"We couldn't find any scientists who could explain why the lightning falls from the sky."
That is because it doesn't fall, god throws it.
But they were both male trees!
This explains everything!
to breach soon. Buy flood insurance. Plot an escape route to higher ground. Take you duct tape becasue terrorists may strike even during an evacuation.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Just the head God throws it. Underlings are not so equipped.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
And every catholic kid knows that thunder is caused by the angels going bowling.
Garbage
Pure Garbage.
I cannot stand Wolf Blitzer and their "best political team on television."
Phony objectionalism is phony.
Mind you, Stein worked for that piece of crap
--
http://www.whitehousetapes.org/pages/listen_tapes_rmn.htm
--
John D. Ehrlichman: “On the … on the health business …”
President Nixon: “Yeah.”
Ehrlichman: “… we have now narrowed down the vice president’s problems on this thing to one issue and that is whether we should include these health maintenance organizations like Edgar Kaiser’s Permanente thing. The vice president just cannot see it. We tried 15 ways from Friday to explain it to him and then help him to understand it. He finally says, ‘Well, I don’t think they’ll work, but if the President thinks it’s a good idea, I’ll support him a hundred percent.’”
President Nixon: “Well, what’s … what’s the judgment?”
Ehrlichman: “Well, everybody else’s judgment very strongly is that we go with it.”
President Nixon: “All right.”
Ehrlichman: “And, uh, uh, he’s the one holdout that we have in the whole office.”
President Nixon: “Say that I … I … I’d tell him I have doubts about it, but I think that it’s, uh, now let me ask you, now you give me your judgment. You know I’m not to keen on any of these damn medical programs.”
Ehrlichman: “This, uh, let me, let me tell you how I am …”
President Nixon: [Unclear.]
Ehrlichman: “This … this is a …”
President Nixon: “I don’t [unclear] …”
Ehrlichman: “… private enterprise one.”
President Nixon: “Well, that appeals to me.”
Ehrlichman: “Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can … the reason he can do it … I had Edgar Kaiser come in … talk to me about this and I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care, because …”
President Nixon: [Unclear.]
Ehrlichman: “… the less care they give them, the more money they make.”
President Nixon: “Fine.” [Unclear.]
Ehrlichman: [Unclear] “… and the incentives run the right way.”
President Nixon: “Not bad.”
The financial elite "belong" to neither party, and only vote or support the people who vote and act in their favor. It just so happens it's the GOP who mainly favors them at this point, although many Dems are also in their pockets.
Our government is nothing but a tool of the financial elite, and we can include the MSM in the elites. So you'll hardly ever hear a story there about who really runs DC.
They kept breaking away when an articulate Democrat got a crack at speaking. What idiot on CNN decided that Stein had expertise on healthcare as to offer any value in the first place? I never watch CNN anymore and only turned it on today because MSNBC broke for the Olympics.
I agree. Why give these Fox News people a platform on your or others networks. Doing so helps legitimizes Fox.
Next you know CNN will have Glenn Beck on.....er, wait, never mind.
I didn't hear him myself, but I just heard a caller into a local radio station claim that Michael Steele said that health care is not a right but a privilege. He compared having health care to having a driver's license. This is the same stance limpballs has taken....if you're wealthy enough to have good health care, it's like being wealthy enough to own a bungalow on the beach.
The caller, a registered nurse, was simply disgusted with Steele.
Sure enough, a quick search revealed that Steele actually said these things.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010...
I'm so sick of repuglicans.
What he's REALLY saying is that HEALTH itself is a privilege, not a right.
If you're not born with great genes, a robust immune system, a terrific family history of health and longevity, then you're f'ked.
Let's face it.
Republicans simply don't believe that the poor deserve good health care.They haven't earned the money to pay for what the Great And Not To Be Questioned Market has deemed a fair and equitable price,and thus will be weeded out of the gene pool by Darwin's cold and glittering scythe.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
Can you sue if they pass tort reform?
Get a frankenstein of beer...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I heard him say it.
What an idiot.
...at least on The Situation Room Wolf Blitzer never seems to ask the follow-up questions that would support or debunk a "conservative" guest's claims. He just lets them babble on unfettered, then says, "well, after the break..." or "moving on from there..."
What's most irritating is that they're making a pretense at being neutral, or centrist in their reporting, which they're not. At least Fox "News" makes no pretense about their poor grasp on reality and their no-facts "reporting".
I can't stomach CNN anymore.
They're fond of asking hypothetical questions but when(concerning the health care debate) are they going to ask the most glaring one?
"Are Republicans acting in good faith"?
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
gets far righties for the GOP point of view and moderates for the Dems?
Or Dems who don't have any other gig at the moment and need CNN to keep them on the speed dial.
Why is CNN still having him on?
Irrelevant. It's not so much how much taxes are paid, but how or to what end the tax revenues are allocated or spent. We would not need to raise new taxes to pay for health care, if we merely re-channeled some of the existing tax revenues currently being spent on defense to areas of greater need or priority.
And remember, an incompetent offense is the worst defense.
Of course they pay more taxes; they have more money. They should pay more in taxes.
The GOP is the perferred party of bible-addicted dumb-asses who voted over and over again to move their factories and jobs to China. And it is the preferred party of those who leveraged this stupidity to amass their ill-gotten gains.
Millions of Americans who have gotten by all their working lives on spinning BS in the business environment have been slammed into the cold, cruel wall of "reality". BS only works until it stops working, and then many finally learn that "perception is NOT reality".. at least not theirs. But unfortunately, since so many Americans suffer a crippling learning disability, the most highly capitalized garbage will succeed in recycling itself.
The GOP credo is "fuck you, we own it". But you did not earn it, fuck you too, and thanks for the endless comedy.
Stein is a real nut. He knows all that there is to know, and yet he remains witless.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Only CNN would bring Stein on the set to fill us in on the situation.
Instead of getting real. CNN is getting Pathetic. Keeping the wrong people honest.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
cogent analysis from Stein ever? Because it is. Anyone? Say it?
Anyone?
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Well Ben, it's those lying, stealing,cheating republicans who DON'T PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES, that's who. To the tune of some $300 Billion dollars in off shore accts. They are just cheats. They (Yuppies) were,even, selling dope under the guise of children stores too. Not genius...Criminal! So, Ben, go away. And don't come on the Sunday Morning Show either. I always go get a cup of coffee whenever he's on tv. And the odd couple commercial....forget about it.
He's not even a comic. Just a nasally sounding old man.
CNN is doing a real bad summit review. It's full of rhetoric just the same as before the summit. And it's mostly Republicans they are talking to. Didn't the Republicans say what they needed to during the summit. Not according the CNN. Not enough monologue and too many facts to discuss for CNN to embrace.
Just as before, CNN does not talk about health care reform. They talk about President Obama and the mindless rhetoric from their Republican TV friends. What a rut! Plus it's a serious disservice to their viewers. Please CNN - put an end to this theatre and get back to real. Thanks!
Let's see how many minutes CNN spends talking about HCF, vs. how much time they talk about a Republican or the President or the Democrats at the summit. Now that's a statistic CNN should post.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
MSNBC gave the mic to Armstrong ferCrissake Williams this morning, hoo boy did I break out my satellite radio in a hurry. C-SPAN 3 was simulcast on C-SPAN radio. I think they booked Williams to make the Republicans look like idiots, and I'm not saying he didn't succeed, but it's like a toilet that wasn't flushed. Yes, everybody shits, but I don't want to see it.
Hey Ben, can you even see the common man from your ivory tower.
What a prick!
Believe it or not Ben was good enough to reply after I emailed him concerning his defense of Karl Rove and his weaselly shenanigans connected to the Valerie Plame farce.As it turns out Ben is quite a civil,even pleasant guy-just 100 % wrong about..er..."everything".
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
deal with when I visited the USA was "When did you learn to speak English" this sums it up!
Ben Stein should stick to making REAL BAD commercials for late night (after 2am and before 5) commercials that NO ONE watches...
His opinions DON'T MATTER except to witch doctors and ex. part time alaskan chiefs-o-staff......
His audience WORLDWIDE is about 14.... Almost the same size as CNN's !!
Ummm...waddya think my glyph means?
I ain't the Green Lantern after falling down drunk.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
But since they own politicians who write laws in their favor, plus they keep their money offshore (some even giving up their US citizenship to avoid taxes), they never pay a fraction of their fair share for living in this great country. The rich are freeloading welfare queens who make money when other people's children die in wars.
Trailer park mortgages don't come cheep.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
That's because the republicans's stole everybody else's money, and the GOPer's are now the only people who have any $$$$.
Still, their tax rate is rediculously low, which is why the government is in such shitty shape.
The greedy, cheap, stingy bastards!
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
Everyone knows that Blue states pay more federal taxes than Red states, and that Blue states have a higher percentage of Democrats, so doesn't that argue that Democrats pay more taxes than Republicans?
Fricken stupid bas tard. I refuse to watch his ramblings.. Oh, but I just did and I still feel what I just wrote. Gee repub thugs don't get sick. Oh, Democrats don't pay taxes. How idiotic can it get, much more probably.
He's even starting to LOOK like Mussolini, not just sound like him.
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
News? Analyses? Actual journalism?
They are nothing but a conservative/neocon/corporatist propaganda organ. They don't do news; they don't do analyses; they don't do journalism...only the shabby imitations of them, and that only to the unavoidable minimum extent needed to promugate their propaganda.
Do not dignify these manipulative liars by giving them your attention. show some respect for your own minds. Turn them off. Better, turn your TV off. Better, throw your TV in the trash.
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