Recruiting forum off topic thread (merged)

[KnoxVillain]

Can we get some soccer talk up in here?

Pretty lackluster start to the Premier League this weekend.

 

[Glitch]

Pretty lackluster start to the Premier League this weekend.

Get this crap out of here!

Sorry. I know I requested it but that is my knee jerk reaction to soccer talk.

 

[Skullbone]

Ted Cruz is the farthest thing from a breath of fresh air than ever. He's completely looney and even his constituents see that. He's one of the most hypocritical candidates out there. Walker is just as bad. Explain while this country was circling the drain left by Bush and the republicans that huge corporations and Wall Street got massive tax breaks and didn't have to pay billions in taxes that would've helped the economy from crashing? Republicans support the rich and not the middle class and especially the poor. That's been proven over and over again. That whole silly crap about my children and grand children will have to pay for everything when they're older is complete horses**t. And that's typical propaganda coming from the republican side. It's such a weak and pathetic argument. That should be least of your worries. No telling what this country will be like in 20-30 years, that's why that argument is lame. Sorry you don't believe in class labels, but that's exactly what this country was founded on and it continues today. And I'm sorry you see the president and current congress as communists. Pretty cynical out look..

No. All of that is just a big no. Having to pay for debt is not a myth and it's not a pathetic argument. You're basically saying the laws of economics and history are irrelevant just because you don't know "what the country will be like in 20-30 years." Now that's a weak and pathetic argument. I don't know who taught you, but this country was not founded upon class labels. It created an environment in which people could escape class labels freely. As far as my viewing the President as a Marxist, I don't think it's cynicism if it's true. To be fair I only accused the Republican leadership of pretending to oppose communist policies. I don't think they're necessarily communist, but rather tolerating communist polices in order to maintain power, be it as a majority or a minority in Washington perpetually. Frankly, I don't care for either.

 

[DeusExMachina]

To change the subject, and because I couldn't find the "show off your pooch" thread in the Pub.....this is me and my little girl Sasha watching the race yesterday.

 

[DaddyChad]

To change the subject, and because I couldn't find the "show off your pooch" thread in the Pub.....this is me and my little girl Sasha watching the race yesterday.

I have a German Short Haired that thinks she is a lap dog too.

Edit: Is she a Siberian Husky?

 

[DeusExMachina]

I have a German Short Haired that thinks she is a lap dog too.

Edit: Is she a Siberian Husky?

She is, indeed. 100% stubborn as all get-out too.

 

[74volz]

FWIW I'm pretty anti-Hillary as well. I've been doing some research on Bernie Sanders though, and he seems pretty legit, although possibly too far left to win in the general election.

There's a lot that Bernie is saying that's pretty good. Especially bringing down big corporations and taxing the hell out of them. Which is desperately needed. I'd love to see him bring down the pathetic Koch brothers. But yes he's a little too far left. Sadly there's nobody sticking out to do the job..

 

[74volz]

No. All of that is just a big no. Having to pay for debt is not a myth and it's not a pathetic argument. You're basically saying the laws of economics and history are irrelevant just because you don't know "what the country will be like in 20-30 years." Now that's a weak and pathetic argument. I don't know who taught you, but this country was not founded upon class labels. It created an environment in which people could escape class labels freely. As far as my viewing the President as a Marxist, I don't think it's cynicism if it's true. To be fair I only accused the Republican leadership of pretending to oppose communist policies. I don't think they're necessarily communist, but rather tolerating communist polices in order to maintain power, be it as a majority or a minority in Washington perpetually. Frankly, I don't care for either.

But we're always always paying debt. That will never change. It'll be that way as long as humans are on this earth. What did you expect to happen when our country was circling the drain? Obama got us out of it. He had to spend, there was no other way. So worrying about paying it back is ridiculous. That's so far down the road that who knows what will happen in the mean time. That's why that argument is weak. This country has always had a rich class a middle class a poor class. That's the way it's been from the get go. And politicians will always do whatever it takes to maintain power. That's why they're politicians. There's so many examples of that over the course of history. The hardest thing is finding the one that will give you the best hope for the people of this country. Right now I only see pieces of what would be best from some candidates. But in the end you gotta vote for one. It's not a pretty picture..

 

[Glitch]

There's a lot that Bernie is saying that's pretty good. Especially bringing down big corporations and taxing the hell out of them. Which is desperately needed. I'd love to see him bring down the pathetic Koch brothers. But yes he's a little too far left. Sadly there's nobody sticking out to do the job..

Yes. Let's tax the crap out of bring corporations so they will ship more jobs overseas. TAXING THE RICH AND BIG CORPORATIONS IS NOT THE SOLUTION. Sorry for yelling but that BS really burns me up. It was proven during the Reagan administration that you can lower taxes and still increase the overall dollars in taxes collected. Why do people insist on this class warfare and expect one set of people to pay an ever increasing percentage of their income to pay for "entitlement" programs that go to many people who simply do not work! Stop trying to tax your way to prosperity!

Oh and GO VOLS buddy!

 

[Glitch]

But we're always always paying debt. That will never change. It'll be that way as long as humans are on this earth. What did you expect to happen when our country was circling the drain? Obama got us out of it. He had to spend, there was no other way. So worrying about paying it back is ridiculous. That's so far down the road that who knows what will happen in the mean time. That's why that argument is weak. This country has always had a rich class a middle class a poor class. That's the way it's been from the get go. And politicians will always do whatever it takes to maintain power. That's why they're politicians. There's so many examples of that over the course of history. The hardest thing is finding the one that will give you the best hope for the people of this country. Right now I only see pieces of what would be best from some candidates. But in the end you gotta vote for one. It's not a pretty picture..

Greece. That's what happens.

 

[74volz]

Yes. Let's tax the crap out of bring corporations so they will ship more jobs overseas. TAXING THE RICH AND BIG CORPORATIONS IS NOT THE SOLUTION. Sorry for yelling but that BS really burns me up. It was proven during the Reagan administration that you can lower taxes and still increase the overall dollars in taxes collected. Why do people insist on this class warfare and expect one set of people to pay an ever increasing percentage of their income to pay for "entitlement" programs that go to many people who simply do not work! Stop trying to tax your way to prosperity!

Oh and GO VOLS buddy!

It's about inequality of the wealth. Billions and billions of dollars were not paid in taxes by big corporations, banks before the market crashed in 08. If they paid their taxes instead of keeping their billions in off shore bank accounts that could have helped the economy and save thousands of people losing their jobs and more. Now today those same big corporations and banks are telling the middle class and lower class to deal with it. That's effed up. This inequality is worse than at any time in our country's history since 1928. When you have millionaires in this country paying a lower effective tax rate than the average middle class American, of course it is a problem and of course it is right to ask the wealthy to pay more. How do you not see this as a problem? Oh yeah, and go vols!

 

[KnoxVillain]

Get this crap out of here!

Sorry. I know I requested it but that is my knee jerk reaction to soccer talk.

"foot fairies", "not a real sport", "not physical enough", "need more goals", "euro-trash"...etc

There we go...got that discussion out of the way now. Back to politics on a Tennessee fan site! lol:

 

[Glitch]

It's about inequality of the wealth. Billions and billions of dollars were not paid in taxes by big corporations, banks before the market crashed in 08. If they paid their taxes instead of keeping their billions in off shore bank accounts that could have helped the economy and save thousands of people losing their jobs and more. Now today those same big corporations and banks are telling the middle class and lower class to deal with it. That's effed up. This inequality is worse than at any time in our country's history since 1928. When you have millionaires in this country paying a lower effective tax rate than the average middle class American, of course it is a problem and of course it is right to ask the wealthy to pay more. How do you not see this as a problem? Oh yeah, and go vols!

By all means close loopholes but if the highest tax rate wasn't so astronomical the rich probably would spend all that effort to hide their money in off shore accounts.

 

[Skullbone]

It's about inequality of the wealth. Billions and billions of dollars were not paid in taxes by big corporations, banks before the market crashed in 08. If they paid their taxes instead of keeping their billions in off shore bank accounts that could have helped the economy and save thousands of people losing their jobs and more. Now today those same big corporations and banks are telling the middle class and lower class to deal with it. That's effed up. This inequality is worse than at any time in our country's history since 1928. When you have millionaires in this country paying a lower effective tax rate than the average middle class American, of course it is a problem and of course it is right to ask the wealthy to pay more. How do you not see this as a problem? Oh yeah, and go vols!

For starters, it's not the role of our government here to insure equality of outcomes. That's Marxism. That was a right under the Soviet Constitution and it did not turn out to be so equal. Equal misery perhaps. Our problem isn't that we don't get to seize enough corporate money. We already have some the highest corporate taxes in the civilized world. Corporations keep money abroad because they are international corporations and the US is the only civilized country to make them pay twice as such. Why would they keep it here? It's business, not UNICEF. That's just common sense. Even if they did it wouldn't be enough to make occupooper types happy. That guy who gave up his CEO salary so everyone could make the same amount working with his company was a great story, but the fact is his employees are even more disgruntled and the business is on the brink of bankruptcy. Meanwhile the poor CEO is renting rooms in his home to pay the bills. Everyone loses. Did you know that if you could seize every red penny of money from the rich in the US it would crash the economy for decades and still couldn't fund the government for even one year? If you took all their money and even went as far as to seize their physical assets and investments also it still would only yield $270.00 per citizen. And for what? Jack spit. That's what.

 

[MockingVol]

What I would do:

1. Install a nationwide flat tax. Whether corporation, millionaire, or McDonald's fry cook, they would all pay the same percentage of their income.

2. For immigration, I would install a more streamlined naturalization process. For those here already on an illegal basis, they would be given a chance earn their citizenship by reporting themselves and then paying an increased tax rate and living under other restrictions for a one year period. This increased tax percentage will go towards setting up schools to teach these people English and other things they need to know to act as a functioning part of society. For those that do not turn themselves in though there would be a hard crack down to smoke out and remove these people as they are criminals.

3. Practice more of an isolationist policy when it comes to foreign affairs. We don't have to have our hand dipped into every event that happens outside of our borders. Other cultires have completely different social structures and norms so it is pompous of us to dictate to others what they must do.

4. Put a focus on the aging infrastructure of our country and go about a major renovation process which will create tons of jobs.

5. Divert some funds from military to the sciences( Medicine and Tech) . Stress on the word "some"; it does not mean cutting back by half or something ridiculous like that. Military is not only important for defense, but also helps when it comes to business on a worldwide scale.

6. The prison system needs some form of change. I propose that that while hygiene is up kept that they are only allowed the most basic of necessities. Prisons would also act as work a sort of work camp where these individuals that would usually be no more than a drain on society can aid society through factory-esque labor or working agriculture. Prison should be the absolute worst place one can imagine going to be a true deterrent to crime.

7. I would abolish political parties as they are a poison running through the veins of our country. People should not be elected because ther have a good face/voice/pedigree and parrot our whatever the party desires; they should be elected for being experts in the field that care first and foremost about our great country. The current system puts a greater emphasis on getting parties in place than taking care of our citizenry.

8. Entitlement programs are fiscally irresponsible, but can't be completely cut. Things like unemployment should only be available on a limited basis. I have witnessed firsthand well too many people that take advantage of these programs. Many of these leaches live a more comfortable lifestyle than middle class Americans. These people are a burden on society and should be rooted out. If you can't afford nice things, then you shouldn't have them. Live within your means.

You could vote for me in like 13 years if it wasn't for the fact I hate politicians, and score about a zero on the politically correctness scale.

 

[kmkemp11]

What I would do:

1. Install a nationwide flat tax. Whether corporation, millionaire, or McDonald's fry cook, they would all pay the same percentage of their income.

Although I agree with a lot of your post, I have to take exception to the flat tax. It sounds good, but basically it makes the poor even poorer. It also fails to acknowledge that each marginal dollar brings lower marginal utility than the last.

What's wrong with the progressive tax that we already have (excluding the excessive loopholes/incentives that make it overly complex and ripe for abuse)?

 

[74volz]

For starters, it's not the role of our government here to insure equality of outcomes. That's Marxism. That was a right under the Soviet Constitution and it did not turn out to be so equal. Equal misery perhaps. Our problem isn't that we don't get to seize enough corporate money. We already have some the highest corporate taxes in the civilized world. Corporations keep money abroad because they are international corporations and the US is the only civilized country to make them pay twice as such. Why would they keep it here? It's business, not UNICEF. That's just common sense. Even if they did it wouldn't be enough to make occupooper types happy. That guy who gave up his CEO salary so everyone could make the same amount working with his company was a great story, but the fact is his employees are even more disgruntled and the business is on the brink of bankruptcy. Meanwhile the poor CEO is renting rooms in his home to pay the bills. Everyone loses. Did you know that if you could seize every red penny of money from the rich in the US it would crash the economy for decades and still couldn't fund the government for even one year? If you took all their money and even went as far as to seize their physical assets and investments also it still would only yield $270.00 per citizen. And for what? Jack spit. That's what.

Interesting. So it doesn't bother you what the big corporations and banks did to the people and how that crashed the economy. Certainly defending them which is very odd. Unless you're one of the super rich. I'm not calling for equality for everybody at all. I'm just sick of seeing big corps, banks, etc. get away with whatever they want. It's ruining the country and especially elections. I want what's best for the people. It's turning into the rich and the poor. That's pretty scary. But then again you somehow don't see classes in this country. So what exactly do you want to see happen in this country? Everything is about communism and Marxism to you. I'm curious to know. Also, that guy that gave everyone a $70,000 salary did it all wrong. People that have been there for a while got the $70 and so did the new people hired on. He should've started the new people out with a lower salary and bumped it up gradually. That's what most of the employees are disgruntled about. It wasn't a very well thought out experiment. It screwed up what could of been an interesting example. But I'm sure other small companies will try it another way. So that's what..

 

[kmkemp11]

8. Entitlement programs are fiscally irresponsible, but can't be completely cut. Things like unemployment should only be available on a limited basis. I have witnessed firsthand well too many people that take advantage of these programs. Many of these leaches live a more comfortable lifestyle than middle class Americans. These people are a burden on society and should be rooted out. If you can't afford nice things, then you shouldn't have them. Live within your means.

Although I'm not convinced that they live "better than middle class lifestyles", I'll concede that there are leaches. I guess that I'm just of the opinion that the USA is plenty rich enough to put at least a roof over everyone's heads along with basic nutrition. I'm sympathetic to the point of view that that's not the government's job. But I always respond with "whose then?". If you're relying on charity... sorry, but that doesn't get it done. If charity was enough, we wouldn't have homeless today, and we wouldn't have to talk about this.

Having a "economic floor" of a roof over your head and basic meals is a moral issue for me, but also it would be a long-term job creator. There are any number of people who would love to take a shot at owning their own business but shy away because they don't have the requisite financial cushion to fall back on should they fail. And most businesses fail, so the risk/reward is not great unless you're already rich. Changing that equation could open up a lot of doors. I'm not sure to what degree, though. Like I said, that is just a bonus in my view.

 

[volatil]

National Sales tax excluding food and medical. Abolish the IRS

 

[MockingVol]

Although I'm not convinced that they live "better than middle class lifestyles", I'll concede that there are leaches. I guess that I'm just of the opinion that the USA is plenty rich enough to put at least a roof over everyone's heads along with basic nutrition. I'm sympathetic to the point of view that that's not the government's job. But I always respond with "whose then?". If you're relying on charity... sorry, but that doesn't get it done. If charity was enough, we wouldn't have homeless today, and we wouldn't have to talk about this.

Having a "economic floor" of a roof over your head and basic meals is a moral issue for me, but also it would be a long-term job creator. There are any number of people who would love to take a shot at owning their own business but shy away because they don't have the requisite financial cushion to fall back on should they fail. And most businesses fail, so the risk/reward is not great unless you're already rich. Changing that equation could open up a lot of doors. I'm not sure to what degree, though. Like I said, that is just a bonus in my view.

Where I grew up I saw it on a first hand basis. I've seen people that completely rely on the government for their livelihood that drive brand new cars, have deep/nice wardrobes, and brand new cell phones.

It is on the person themself to supply a roof and basic nutrition. If they can't attain those basic necessities 1. They better not have any smart phones or anything like that. 2. There are religious and humanitarian organizations that can get these people on their feet, but working to provide for one's self and not expecting a free ride should be mandatory.

On that note; cars, phones, and other non-necessary items are not the only things one should not have if you can't afford needs. That also applies to having children. If you can barely afford yourself you have no business bringing new lives into this world. People that are chronically poor but keep on having children should have their ability to procreate stripped from them. These people are doing a disservice to not only our country, but also to the lives they are bringing into this world.

 

[Skullbone]

Interesting. So it doesn't bother you what the big corporations and banks did to the people and how that crashed the economy. Certainly defending them which is very odd. Unless you're one of the super rich. I'm not calling for equality for everybody at all. I'm just sick of seeing big corps, banks, etc. get away with whatever they want. It's ruining the country and especially elections. I want what's best for the people. It's turning into the rich and the poor. That's pretty scary. But then again you somehow don't see classes in this country. So what exactly do you want to see happen in this country? Everything is about communism and Marxism to you. I'm curious to know. Also, that guy that gave everyone a $70,000 salary did it all wrong. People that have been there for a while got the $70 and so did the new people hired on. He should've started the new people out with a lower salary and bumped it up gradually. That's what most of the employees are disgruntled about. It wasn't a very well thought out experiment. It screwed up what could of been an interesting example. But I'm sure other small companies will try it another way. So that's what..

Brother, I respectfully disagree with everything you said there. I reject the premise altogether. I don't think we're ever going to agree on much politically speaking, but I can live with that. I don't agree with or like what you're saying, but I'll defend your right to say it at the very least.

 

[74volz]

Brother, I respectfully disagree with everything you said there. I reject the premise altogether. I don't think we're ever going to agree on much politically speaking, but I can live with that. I don't agree with or like what you're saying, but I'll defend your right to say it at the very least.

Gotcha. We may never agree on some things. I'm cool with it. I enjoyed the topic with you today and am just damn ready for the season to start. But we do agree that we both want to see the vols win, win big and win championships again. Take it easy skullbone ✌️

 

[DaddyChad]

Although I'm not convinced that they live "better than middle class lifestyles", I'll concede that there are leaches. I guess that I'm just of the opinion that the USA is plenty rich enough to put at least a roof over everyone's heads along with basic nutrition. I'm sympathetic to the point of view that that's not the government's job. But I always respond with "whose then?". If you're relying on charity... sorry, but that doesn't get it done. If charity was enough, we wouldn't have homeless today, and we wouldn't have to talk about this.

Having a "economic floor" of a roof over your head and basic meals is a moral issue for me, but also it would be a long-term job creator. There are any number of people who would love to take a shot at owning their own business but shy away because they don't have the requisite financial cushion to fall back on should they fail. And most businesses fail, so the risk/reward is not great unless you're already rich. Changing that equation could open up a lot of doors. I'm not sure to what degree, though. Like I said, that is just a bonus in my view.

I have no problem with welfare to get someone on their feet but creating the culture of dependence on welfare is annoying. Help people help themselves. I know that will not work in all cases with people with serious handicaps, etc but stop people from working the system.

 

[Vols4us]

National Sales tax excluding food and medical. Abolish the IRS

It works in TN, it will work nationwide. As Huckabee says, even the illegals, prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers have to buy stuff. But the powers that be always work against the logical and best ways of doing things. They want everything convoluted to make it harder to track their corruption.

 

[DaddyChad]

Interesting. So it doesn't bother you what the big corporations and banks did to the people and how that crashed the economy. Certainly defending them which is very odd. Unless you're one of the super rich. I'm not calling for equality for everybody at all. I'm just sick of seeing big corps, banks, etc. get away with whatever they want. It's ruining the country and especially elections. I want what's best for the people. It's turning into the rich and the poor. That's pretty scary. But then again you somehow don't see classes in this country. So what exactly do you want to see happen in this country? Everything is about communism and Marxism to you. I'm curious to know. Also, that guy that gave everyone a $70,000 salary did it all wrong. People that have been there for a while got the $70 and so did the new people hired on. He should've started the new people out with a lower salary and bumped it up gradually. That's what most of the employees are disgruntled about. It wasn't a very well thought out experiment. It screwed up what could of been an interesting example. But I'm sure other small companies will try it another way. So that's what..

Blame your boy Clinton for that. The pressure to lend to those that had no possible way of making payments on their mortgages was directly tied to him. I know it's fun to hang all the blame on Bush and he has his role as well but Clinton probably had a bigger hand in the economic collapse.

President Clinton's tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years. Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment.