Jay, while I don't often disagree with what you write I do this time.

You wrote, "but the poor bastard was mugged by reality." Now I'm challenging you to demonstrate that Barack Obama is a POOR bastard. Come on, just the prize money from Noble is enough to elevate him from the ranks of the poor. Add in the value of that house and property he somehow acquired in Chicago, proceeds from those books, the money from Michelle's last paying job and POOR is not an appropriate word to describe either or both of them.

On the other hand, if you wish to continue to use the term "bastard" when you refer to him I find myself willing to go along with that assessment of him.

“When you hear this talk on the TV about how Obama’s a tax-and-spend liberal and he’s going to destroy businesses, it’s just not true,” Mr. Obama said Thursday in Kaukauna, Wis. (NYT - June 13, 2008) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/us/politics/13check.html

You missed my favorite, where Obama tried to preempt the GOP attack. That carried him through the 2008 election, but this I think is going to be the pre-eminent sound bite for a 2012 commercial.

A clip of Obama making the statement. Then a graphic and text showing the mountain of debt Obama has saddled us with. Then a closing "Obama lied and our economy died."

But but but but ....

Liberal stammer.

The way Republicans are acting in Congress and in some statehouses, we're probably stuck with him for SIX more years.

What is that makes the right wing, especially the Christian evangelical right wing ironically so upset about Obama´s stint as a community organizer. Wouldn´t being corporate laywer or constitutional law professor be more appropraite ad hominen slanging, given conservative aversion to anything that smacks of elitism.

Wizbang incoherence and prejudice on anything and everything that relates to Obama from his birth to youth to his education to his innocent past times is breathtaking. And if anyone dared criticise his GOP predecessor they had Bush derangement syndrome.

Steve, Obama´s "stint as a community organizer" reminds us that MOB rule is the outcome of "community organizing" 99.99% of the time. Witness the mobs shutting down Wisconsin, invading and shutting businesses, overrunning the home of a private citizen and scaring the hell out of a young boy trapped inside...and so on.

What Obama, Jess Jackson, alSharpton and the like do is get people "organized" into a mob that THEY control in order to force organizations, and sometimes States, into actions that are contrary to their and our well being.

The mobs in Wisconsin were "organized" to chant:
"This is what Democracy looks like" over...and over...and over...

Of course, that's NOT what "Democracy" looks like...it's what tyranny looks like.

Bears repeating.

I hold the Presidency in the utmost respect.

I will extend that respect to the President.

When we have one.

#5

Shining example of the ignorance that lead to Obama

irongrampa, to paraphrase, you will only respect a president that you voted for..sounds like a profile of the average conservative commentator on this site.

With all due respect, what has Barry ever done that should garner respect? Win numerous liberal awards? Increase the debt on our children? Create jobs? Unite the country?

All he has done has taken the office to a new low and shown that you can take a man out of the gutter, but you cannot take the gutter out of the man.

Stevie, Barry is NOT a lawyer since he lied about aliases to the Bar and he never was a law professor (he was a guest speaker).

Barry is pathological liar who was born to Marxists, raised by Marxists, mentored by Marxists, and is surrounded by Marxist friends including in his cabinet.

The inept man-child has been spoiled all his life and has a racist chip on his shoulder the size of Kenya.

"Now he's in the ultimate position of responsibility, and it's obvious that he has no clue what he's doing."

It's all Bush's fault.

As for Crickmore - just more projection - again.

THE cHICAGO LAW SCHOO SAID HE WAS .http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media
Im rushed for time ,checking out of hotel, but as for the other claims and counter claims, that he isn´t even president etc, what is next?, Jesus had a easier time authenticating his virgin birth than Obama.

SC your last line says it all.

Rand Paul has been a welcome surprise. He really impresses me and is one sharp cookie. I can just imagine how he would decimate dear leader in a presidential debate.

"Jesus had a easier time authenticating his virgin birth than Obama."

Are you intimating Barry was born of a virgin? Gone off the deep end a little early haven't you.

"I'm rushed for time" = I've ran out of kool aid.

For the uninitiated, note that Steve, instead of answering the criticisms of Obama I made, brings up other criticisms that I have not made and addresses those. This changes this from a conversation to a monologue, which simplifies matters for Steve -- he brings up and then shoots down matters that weren't even on the table. He does this to distract people from the actual criticisms I bring up.

This is politely known as "changing the subject."

This is less politely known as "being a dishonest asshole."

J.

Crick,

It amazes me that so many progressives will make excuses for Obama to no end then turn around and make claims that others will not like anything Obama has done and mostly because of race.

Here is one for you crick. I think Obama has done a great job of showing how not to run a country and waking up the American people to the threat of Obama and the Soros open society.

I just want Crick to tell me what financial system he wants to replace capitalism with since that is the end game.

And if Obama is for the little guy then why has his job killing policies only lined the pockets of the wealthy as the progressives claim? How about the crony paybacks Obama has given out hand over fist? And how about the healthcare fiasco that is the gift that keeps on giving to the big unions and wealthy corporations? Obama has turned out to be the bigggest corporate welfare president in history and he has done it in 2 yrs and change. What a huge failure/liar/phony Obama has been.

"The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program was created by the federal health care law passed by Democrats and signed by President Obama last year. The purpose was to encourage employers not to drop health coverage of early retirees before some of the key provisions of the health care law take effect in 2014.

But much of the money has gone to some big-name companies and organizations, including more than $200 million for the United Auto Workers, $140 million for AT&T and $91.7 million for Verizon.

And General Electric, which made news this week for not owing federal taxes on $14.2 billion in profit, got $36.6 million through the retiree program."

JT,

I looked to see if there were any drafts on the same subject before I posted... And there are still a whole lot of Obama then and now comparisons to be made (even allowing for the list you have composed).

RON PAUL!!!

We really need a higher quality of troll around here... crampless and chicka don't seem to ever get beyond annoying and ignorant.

In Chico's defense, he doesn't have affirmative action checking his work before he posts.

JDL, would that be the same GE that is Obama's bestest favorite big corporation, whose CEO is his closest business advisor, or am I confusing it with another General Electric?

All snark aside, from what I understand, GE Financial Services really, seriously, majorly took it in the shorts the last couple of years, and GE used those losses to offset its gains in other areas -- a perfectly legal and ethical move.

I know someone who's still carrying forward stock losses from over a decade ago, when she really, REALLY had a bad year. She's only allowed to claim so much per year, and she had enough losses to carry over for about 20 years, as I recall.

J.

We mock and deride the major item on Obama's resume which reads, "Community Organizer" because there is no such occupation or profession. It's a made-up job title for a leftist rabble rouser rousing the rabble to rant for more government benefits.

What, you thought he was Captain of the Neighborhood Watch and coordinated the car pool for midnight basketball? Nah, just the political agitatin' stuff, that's all.

Obama is a worthless buffoon who is completed unqualified for public office - he didn't even deserve to be in the Illinois State Senate, voting "Present" some 130 times. In his part of a US Senate term, he already had the worst attendance record of any Senator BEFORE he spent the last two years of it running for President. His record is the worst of any Senator ever - even the dying Byrd and Thurmond showed up more in their last four years in office than did Obama.

So, yeah, I laugh at the clown - to keep from crying at what he's done to the country and the world. To approve of this moron's disastrous performance is either to be beyond cognition or actively hoping for America's demise.

Jay,

So since she invested badly the taxpayers should feel sorry for her and pay for early retires of GE or anyone for that matter to get healthcare? I would think that with a 12 billion profit they could fork out their own cash to pay for their early retirees healthcare.

How about the money I lost in my 401 and other investments? Where is my guaranteed return on my retirement fund like many public teacher unions get no matter what the market does?

So jay is ok with GE and many other "green" companies that get preferential treatment and their CEO gets to help set policy.

And can Jay tell me why Immelt is still the CEO after the comapny was tanking all those years and your friend lost her money? Is it that they wanted to take advantage of Jeffreys relationship with Obama? Must be nice to get some "inside' help with profits.

JDL, let me put some actual (albeit made-up -- I don't remember them, and wouldn't give them out even if I did) numbers to my friend's situation to make it clearer:

She lost 42K in the stock market in 2000. Under the tax law, she can't claim more than 3K in losses per year. So that year she claimed 3K in losses. And every year for the next 13 years, she claims another 3K in losses until 2013. She still has to report any gains she makes in those years, but each year is offset by 3K to account for that really, really, really bad year (she fired her broker and hired a new one -- he made a BUNDLE off her from fees and commissions while losing all that money for her).

I think that's a fair principle. I'm not so certain I agree with the limits one can claim in a single year, but that's how it is. My friend did lose the money off her income, so she should be able to report that and discount it from her gains and general income.

And the same principle holds for GE. If they lost more than they can claim in a single year, then hell yes, they can carry it forward to settle it up.

That's not to say that I favor GE in a lot of other areas -- just this one. If they lost, say, a billion last year from GEFS, and the tax laws say that they can't claim more than 50 million a year (I don't know the numbers here, either), then they have a 50-million writeoff for the next 20 years.

I think that's fair.

J.

The carry-forward requirement for capital losses is one of the many antiquated parts of the tax code, as is clear from the laughably low limit on annual loss.

This was a political tax law designed to prevent "millionaires paying no income tax" due to a capital loss. But a capital loss is a real loss; sometimes one can at least control when to realize it but not always, as Jay's friend found out. Of course if you realize a capital gain, you don't get to spread it out over several years, you get to pay all the tax this year.

If our tax laws were designed to generate the most economic growth (and also, not coincidentally, the highest long-term revenue for governments at all levels), capital losses would be fully deductible against current net income, and capital gains would not be taxed at all.

The way we treat capital gains and losses is entirely irrational and distorts the marketplace, which hurts us all where it hurts the most.

As far as corporations go, they don't pay any taxes anyway - they only collect them. It's an awful inefficiency to do it that way, and again distorts the marketplace as companies plan strategies to minimize tax liability instead of concentrating on improving their business functions.

Corporate taxation is just a way for the government to hide the true tax rate you are paying. Every product you purchase has dozens if not hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of hidden taxes built into the shelf price.

In 1964 the American Bakery Association presented a study of the shelf price of a loaf of bread to show how little the baker (and the farmer) actually kept of it. Nearly half the shelf price was found to be taxes some business or individual had to pay along the way and build into the cost.

Since then, the tax take has soared, so you can understand why they don't want you to know.

Hey Steve Crickmore re no. 8...
I am surte you showed the utmost respect to Bush while in office....right?