Tuesday Thoughts Long
1. Romney won here, although I'm not sure why. I kept my streak of voting going, although as a registered Dem, there really wasn't a lot to vote for. LOL. Kudos to Ron Paul for getting second, I'd have voted for him if I was on the GOP side (on the Dem side it would have counted under "write in" so I'll pass).
2. I traded in a 4 year old MacBook (not Pro) to Best Buy for $535. That's insane, considering it was like $1,000 in 2008. Who needs that buyback program. Thanks for the free Tivo Premiere Elite! And of course I bought the Mrs. a MacBook air for Xmas so everyone is happy. 4 tuners in one Tivo. 2TB HD Yes!
3. Tebow, not Tivo. LOL. Amazing game on Sunday. Will be very interesting on Saturday. Denver is always tough for NE so who knows what will/can happen?!
4. Only a month or so for the PS Vita. Meh. Mine's already bought thanks to a Wii console and game trade in. Like I'd play that anymore.
5. NHL - the BOS/VAN game over the weekend was awesome. The NHL's Shanahan doing a description of the reasons for the suspension of Marchand was dead on. The NHL has done a fantastic job explaining the suspensions and why they were given. Marchand can say he didn't mean it but it was rough. And I'm a Bruins fan. Of course I've never seen anything like tonight's WPG game -- each team had a penalty shot -- for dumb ass reasons. Penalty shots are not like soccer PKs -- they don't always go in. I'm not sure it's a good thing to have a penalty shot over a power play, but it sure is exciting. And of course the Bruins won.
6. I'd talk about sports games, If I was playing one. I finished the Gauntlet on Blitz. One man blitz seems to be the gimme play. 
Contact Us
Riding the Pines Podcast
Search Amazon.com
What We’re Playing
Dan:
January 11th, 2012 - 12:48
I am extremely hesitant to post this because I don’t want to turn a fun gaming blog into a political ideological battle. I’ve been reading this blog for several years and I feel a little comfortable asking this. For the record, I am registered independent, but have significant conservative leanings. I have no interest in getting into any type of social policy debate.
I just have one question and I’ve never been able to get a good, straight answer from a registered Democrat. Hoping this is the time!
What are your thoughts on solving a $1.5 – $2 trillion annual deficit and $16 trillion debt. We recently crossed the 100% debt to GDP mark which is awful. Raising taxes will not do it. I have never seen a blueprint of how raising taxes will close the deficit. However, I have seen proof that if you raised taxes to 100% on everyone that currently pays taxes, it still would not close the deficit, let alone pay down the debt.
If taxes won’t do it, then spending has to be cut…right? And I’m not talking about little cuts here or there. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Defense make up 70% of our expenditures. We’ve all read the articles about how the Pentagon is slashing left and right. So what’s left?
Just curious to hear your thoughts. As the father of a young family, it is frustrating to see our government (including politicians on both side) be so inept at fixing this crisis. However, I do believe that cutting spending along with raising taxes is needed. Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen until it is too late (ie – Greece, Spain, Italy, etc).
You have made enough comments over the years about how you’re a liberal, registered democrat, and the right wing is crazy, etc. Would love to hear your ideas on this subject!
January 11th, 2012 - 18:18
Well I think there is room to compromise. I do not advocate doubling up on taxes, but I do think there are some taxes that could be added that would not adversely affect people:
1. Remove the cap on payroll taxes. Right now a person’s compensation is taxed on FICA up to $98,000 (approximately) so if you make $500K, you still only pay FICA on $98K. I don’t think people will miss it and I also think it would be a pretty big boost to the bottom line.
2. Remove the cap that goes into effect in 2013 on FSAs. This was just idiotic. Everyone insurance co-pays are going up because of this new plan, that got combated by DROPPING the amount you can put in an FSA? Stupid.
3. Defense spending is out of control. No one wants to cut it because of 9/11. I bet there are enough earmarks and stupid projects in there that could be completely outright eliminated — some programs the DoD doesn’t even WANT!
4. SS needs to be kept whole. I’m not sure how cutting the payroll tax to 4% does that. Again, makes no sense.
5. Medicare and Medicaid are apparently bad enough that the universal health care would not take it over. If the new plan is so good for anyone under 65, shouldn’t it apply to everyone over 65? It’s all or nothing if you ask me, instead we got a hybrid clusterfrick.
6. I do think we need to invest in our infrastructure. However you can charge the people that use it. Time is money, and if I can go somewhere faster by paying a toll, I’d do it if it’s reasonable.
I give Rep. Ryan credit for starting a discussion. I don’t agree with all of it, but you have to start somewhere and he did.
Now I am very liberal on social issues, but I won’t go there. I’m more like Ron Paul in that the gov’t has no business being in my house or bedroom. I applaud Ron Paul’s consistency.
I think Mitt Romney is a worse flip flopper than John Kerry. He has yet to give a good reason why he changed his mind on everything. Any GOPer that runs on an “economy is broken” platform as unemployment continues to decrease (whatever the reason, the number is still going down and it is the benchmark from year to year) is not going to win.
Be original. Be creative. I may not agree, but hell, even 9-9-9 got people talking. What is anyone saying about Romney aside from “he can beat Obama”? He’s come up with zero ideas. None. Paul has. Even Gingrich has a track record.
Am I a huge fan of Obama? Not at the moment. However I still think he’s better that what’s being offered, with the exception of Ron Paul. If he won, I’d really have to consider all options, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Thanks for your question.
January 12th, 2012 - 08:13
Dan,
I really appreciate you taking the time to write that response. For the first time ever, I received some well thought out ideas.
I agree with you in that the GOP’s options are brutal at best. Mitt Romney has been running for President for 6-8 years and still can’t crack 40% in one of his “home states.”
Also appreciate you not delving into the social issues. I’m moderate when it comes to social issues and believe everyone’s private life is their private life. The government does not have the right to tell us who we can marry, how much salt we can eat, etc.
As I mentioned in my initial post, by far my biggest concern about the future of our country is the insane fiscal path we are on. Not only is it not sustainable, but the cliff is quickly approaching (in my opinion).
There definitely has to be compromise. Unfortunately there aren’t many moderates left in government. Both parties have moved right or left respectively. Both sides seem locked in on what they will and won’t do. Not sure where that leaves us, but its nowhere good.
Anyways, I do enjoy reading the posts on here and will continue to looking forward to many more.
Sorry that I hijacked the thread to talk politics!