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[McDohl]

I.
Had.
Better.
Get.
My.
Veterans.
Affairs.
GI.
Bill.
Check.
 

[Mongrel]

Hey hey hey, it could always be worse.

He could suddenly lose his eloquence too and turn into Coolidge.

[Pacobird]

Hi

As a practical matter, this doesn't change anything.  Corporations were already shoveling money into their PACs, as the dissent notes. 

The problematic thing about this decision is the sweeping dicta about money as an expression of political speech.


EDIT: Oh my.  That is just goofy.  It's not as bad as all that, however.  It's a freeze, not a cut.  PS: McDohl, it says in the article the VA is exempt from this.

[Mongrel]

Hi

As a practical matter, this doesn't change anything.  Corporations were already shoveling money into their PACs, as the dissent notes. 

The problematic thing about this decision is the sweeping dicta about money as an expression of political speech.

Agreed x eleventy-billion.

It's pretty naive to say that corporate money wasn't already severely affecting legislation. Hell, it's been that way for decades. And repealing this will change nothing about that trend.

[Pacobird]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSNeL0QYfqo

The explanation is that the U.S. has been bankrupted several times over and China has been aggressively encouraging its own consumer market.  Comparisons to Hoover are accurate but not entirely fair.

[Ted Belmont]

I.
Had.
Better.
Get.
My.
Veterans.
Affairs.
GI.
Bill.
Check.
 

[Mongrel]

Well, it's probably fair to say that the current debt carries huge sovereignty baggage, where the Depression was basically borne domestically.

[McDohl]

Yeah, I went back and read it, and yeah, VA still has their budget.

[Catloaf]

...was going to admonish Catloaf for his post, but fuck it, big red letters + vague references to assassination of people he disagrees with politically = go directly to jail.

Yeah, I'm embarrassed about that post now.  I just really fucking hate that ruling and the premise behind it.

Oh, they tacked an update to that post for you, Lyrai.

The administration insist that important programs will be kept alive and functioning, and that funding for, say, education initiatives will rise, while funding for other programs will decline -- and that the president's priorities will be well-funded.  The freeze is irrelevant to health care because medicare, medicaid and taxes are all mandatory. So too are many of the programs for the neediest, such as unemployment insurance and Pell Grants.  And many of the other programs were plussed up recently so the White House is freezing them at a very high level.

Which basically sounds like "No New Taxes" but whatever, bottom line is he's not shutting off the valve to "necessary" services which I am inclined to assume includes disability.  So calm down.

So.... Then what the hell is actually being cut?  If a program isn't "Important" then why the fuck is the federal government doing it?  There's an argument to be made on everything that the government spends money on, that's why they have to do all those budget bills in congress, isn't it?

I'm very confused, very sad and very disappointed in Obama.

[Frocto]

It's interesting to see which of you turn into huge fucking babies when you are mildly shook up

[McDohl]

 

[Mongrel]

Well, in fairness, not panicking doesn't mean you're A-OK either. I have like no sense of urgency. There could be a house on fire and I'd be all.....hmmmmmmmm that house is... on fiiiire... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm *stare*.

Nor does that mean I don't get mad at things either.

[McDohl]

It's interesting to see which of you turn into huge fucking babies when you are mildly shook up

Also, Frocto, you have to consider that this VA living allowance, as well as my tuition payments, is extremely important, otherwise I will end up late on a car loan payment, among other things.  Plus I owe my parents money.  I need this money, and I need it yesterday.

[James Edward Smith]

Car loan payment? I'll never understand people who finance cars. I mean, everyone who isn't a Rockafella ends up with a morgage on their house but used cars are not that expensive. I've always bought my cars cash.

1995 Ford Aspire - from my sister for $2,000
2000 Chevy Cavalier - $8,000 (Totalled in a bad accident on the highway, otherwise I'd still be driving it)
2004 VW Jetta - $11,000

If I'd financed all I'd have is less money now.

[Mongrel]

Wow, I didn't know you got in an accident in the Cav... when the hell did that happen?

Also, two points: 1 - you are more disciplined with money than most folks I know Geo. Not to mention generally higher costs in the US. I doubt a fresh-out-of-the-military student paying American tuition had even 2k lying around, and 2 - a car is much more of a forced necessity in the states, and many US laws have anti-clunker laws that make the supply of cheap used cars much smaller than they are here. In know in Ontario I could find any number of $500 cars (hell, my dad bought a 95 Saturn for $500 that he's still driving over three years later... that car owes him NOTHING), but in Baltimore a used car simply couldn't be had for less than 3 or 4 grand.

I'd agree that it's generally dumb to finance cars if it isn't a necessity.

[Büge]

Now do you mean Rockefeller as in John D., oil magnate, or Rockafella the lead rapper of the Robba Barons?

[James Edward Smith]

I'm not sure anymore, they both seem so tempting.

[Pacobird]

ah yes the rent-a-center gambit

i will be sure to help you spread the word to all those people for whom $11,000 is six months' pay that they can achieve financial independence by having more cash on hand

[Miss Cat Ears]

But how can having more money NOW NOW NOW possibly hurt me in the future?

[SCD]

All this time we were wondering if Obama would be a Clinton or a Carter.  Who knew he'd throw a curveball and become a Hoover?

Hmm..  no one comes to mind here..