lotstodo

It's not as clear cut as it seems. American engineers and designers are not dumber than their Asian counterparts. Engineers and designers working for the Big Three manufacturers must compete on price, content, and quality with foreign companies whose cost structure is significantly lower per man hour than theirs. GM's raw costs average $1600 more per vehicle than Toyota's just due to pensions and benefits afforded their retirees alone. You cannot make the same profit unless you somewhat sacrifice one of these three attributes. Historically, corners have been cut that may lead to quality pro

Of course we are all talking about how "unconnected" light bulbs and spending bills are, and that's true. I wonder why we are not also talking about how lifting travel restrictions to Cuba and that same spending bill are unrelated? In fact the later was, according to a leading Democrat in the appropriations committee, the last "sticking point" in the bill. Do I need to say who wanted that provision in the bill? Hint: It wasn't George Bush.

"Misunderstanding", yeah, right. What happens time and time again is that one biased "news" story comes out with a wildly horrific and unbelievable headline, and every outlet with a dog in the fight jumps on the bandwagon, sure that they are legally covered by the journalistic equivalent of "he hit me first". That would be that they relied upon an erroneous story therefore, somehow, they can't be held legally or morally liable for spreading lies and propaganda. But each time the lie is repeated, it gains credibility even if the original "source" was the journalistic equivalent a blog in Uzb

We agree 100% with one glaring exception. They are both involved, but you have the actors basakwards. If it was illegal for DC to engage in quid pro quo, it would dry up tomorrow. You cannot buy what is not for sale. Period. It is Washington offering pay for play. There are perfectly legitimate and acceptable ways to solve this problem without eating the rich. You're mad as hell and you aren't going to take it anymore, and they just successfully deflected your anger without even removing their hand from your pocket. Government is the "victim". That's rich.

Subby, I've had four businesses in the last 40 or so years. Two were successful and two failed in the first year. I just sold the last one. If I learned one thing, it is that all of those people who tell you you can't do it because you might fail are full of crap. You can fail, you probably will at least once, but you will recover, and you will use your new found knowledge to better yourself. You cant be afraid to fail, but you can plan for it. You are on your own, and that's the very best part. Don't be afraid of yourself, because if you are you will stand in the way of your own success.

I don't throw you in there with those who insist the rich owe them a living. I just think that perhaps you have been unduly influenced by all of the classism rhetoric in the press and are now prone to the collectivist definition of "fair". I think, and correct me here if I'm wrong, that you blame the rich for what is wrong with the economy. It's not that I think you are less then intelligent, or that I think that you have some ulterior motive, I just think that you have bought into the prevelence of false or slanted information that ignores the egregious actions of the political class in fa

What does gay or conservative have to do with it? The guy is a crook. He'd be a crook if he was straight and a progressive. I would be far more concerned with that $170,000 theft part than placing some label on him. The best label I can come up with though would be inmate.

Well Laurie, while you ultimately admit that not all wealth is ill gotten gains, and that not all wealthy engage in crony capitalism, you are still quite willing to throw the hard working, benevolent successful folks right under the bus with the Madoffs of the world. Why? We can end crony capitalism in all it's forms through a crystal clear tax structure, term limits, and election reforms. We can take back from the rich what they got through quid pro quo by taking away the very privileges they paid for. We can take away their influence buying by outlawing influence peddling. We can do

According to Moody’s Analytics, a economic research firm with strong ties to the present administration, the top 5% of Americans by income account for 37% of all consumer outlays. Outlays include consumer spending and interest payments on installment debt like homes, credit cards and car loans. Their savings rate went from more than 26% in 2008 to a negative 7% in the first quarter of 2010. This would indicate, as is always the case, that during periods of high unemployment it is the rich, not the middle class, who support consumerism, and that consumerism is responsible for 70% of our G

Here's a good news story. it appears that many are in a giving mood this holiday season. Donors Pay off Layaway Accounts

The top three recipients all time of Fannie and Freddie campaign contributions are Chris Dodd, Barak Obama, and John Kerry in that order. $35 million annually went to liberal nonprofits. From 1989 to 2008, the then current members of congress received a total of $4.8 million, with 57% of that going to Democrats, and some very powerful Democrats at that. At the time of the total government takeover, Congress was protecting no less than $1.7 million of their own money invested in the two GSE's. Barny Frank relaxed regulation of F&F while living with a Fannie Mae senior executive

Non-Prosecution agreements are already in the works. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement with the Commission in which each company agreed to accept responsibility for its conduct and not dispute, contest, or contradict the contents of an agreed-upon Statement of Facts without admitting nor denying liability. Each also agreed to cooperate with the Commission's litigation against the former executives. In entering into these Agreements, the Commission considered the unique circumstances presented by the companies' current status, including the financial s

:clapping: :yahoo:

Foreign banks borrowed $54 billion from you and I last WEEK.

Georgia does indeed have an untouchable trust fund to fund UI benefits in the state. Prior to the 2000 to 2004 recession, the fund contained an excess over the Federal guidelines. From 2004 to the start of this recession, the fund grew slowly, but was slightly underfunded in 2006. The guideline is 18 months of payments at the average of the three highest payout rates over the last 20 years. Georgia entered the recession with a 14 month reserve at that payment level. Three things happened beginning 2007. The rate of payout far exceeded the average of the last three highest rates, and th

I;m really sorry Sadie

A lot of folks are celebrating statisticians these days.

Poverty definition (from the US Census Bureau) Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does

Lets start an NPR forum and pasword protect it. Pretty soon PUBBY is going to have to start paying them royalties.

NPR is counting a family of 4 making $44,476 per year in this figure. Why stop there, why not say that everyone making less than $250,000 are poor. After all, those making over $250,000 are the evil rich. The cut off is totally arbitrary and designed to create classism. A typical collectivist ploy.

One week's new application numbers do not a recovery make, although it is better than nothing I guess. The economy is still not creating the 150,000 jobs per month required to keep up with population growth, and the U3 unemployment percentage dropped last month almost wholly because 487,000 people quit looking for work. In the last year, the population has increased by 1.7 million, yet the labor force has shrunk. U6 unemployment still exceeds 15%. GDP growth estimates for this fourth quarter are being revised DOWNWARD on disappointing November sales figures to between 2% and 2,5% ann

Whatever man, it's your website.

I'm saying that with 15,000 aircraft in the air and 25 years of experience, there was never a report of a baggage door failure that was not due to pilot error, corrosion, or prior damage until this idiot let an actual person ride back there. 15,000 people had to pay for the stupidity of one. Baggage was not flying from Piper Cherokee's as you would have us believe, The airplane was not made by Ford, and your out of line comments about me personally notwithstanding, I am not lying. Here's the ENTIRE NTSB narrative: NTSB Identification: FTW83LA057 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation A

Ken Jacobs was a labor organizer before he came to Berkley. He is perhaps best known for leading the fight to unionize the TSA, but he has led a lifelong campaign against Walmart. The more you know.....

You would argue with a rock. Baggage falling out of airplanes because of weak baggage compartment doors would be an issue only in your mind. The luggage compartment is surprisingly enough designed to secure luggage by actual engineers with actual degrees and actual experience in the field. They provide straps and nets to secure your luggage, which you are required to use, just as you are required to transport passengers in the passenger compartment in a seatbelt. They perform actual tests in the shop and in actual airplanes in an attempt to create failures before the type is certified.