Pic Pick

May 7th, 2008, 11:16 PM EDT

Posted in Liberaland by Alan

Responses to this post...

  1. I’m not comfortable with this picture. Pretty damned scary, if you ask me.

    Could someone please tell me why we can’t use the wealthiest of the wealthy to pay off the national debt? I’m just learning about this issue and haven’t been able to find anything on that solution online. No need to bash me for the question, I’m not advocating an increase in taxes. I just want to understand.

    Thanks!

    Posted by cherylcarroll
    May 7th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

  2. Bush is spending time with his fan club

    Posted by Jason from Alabama
    May 7th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

  3. >>Could someone please tell me why we can’t use the wealthiest of the wealthy to pay off the national debt?

    The rich already account for the vast majority of tax revenue, and paying off the debt is not even a big deal anyways. Our national debt today is actually smaller, as a percentage of GDP, than it was in the early 1990s. Or in 1950, for that matter.

    Perspective:

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/27/US_Public_debt_per_GDP_1791-2006.svg/697px-US_Public_debt_per_GDP_1791-2006.svg.png

    Posted by rob
    May 7th, 2008 at 11:53 pm

  4. i am going to pass out if i keep looking at that pic pick. oy alan

    Posted by zoey
    May 8th, 2008 at 12:04 am

  5. Well we can’t force the wealhiest Americans to pay off our debt. I’m using general figures here but the top 2% of our country, say 6 million people, would have to contribute about $15 million a piece as our national debt is $9.2 Trillion. Why would all or even any of them want to do that?

    I’m sure that some of them are humanitarians but I don’t think they’re willing to be that generous.

    Posted by Epiphany
    May 8th, 2008 at 12:26 am

  6. Yeah, I think the Bush administration has been too comfy with the top 2% but I’d hate to go to an opposite extreme and over burden our wealthy citizens.

    I feel some new taxes are in order and I trust the Obama presidency to spend it well.

    I believe this war will end in a couple years after Barack takes office and that will put some money into our economy.

    I see that green technology is very promising and Obama is a firm believer in leading the world with American green technology -what does that mean? It means better solar, battery, fuel economy technology. It means safer, cleaner nuclear and creating jobs by implementing these measures nation wide.

    Brazil shocked the world by running their country on corn, America can do more by running ours on new technology.

    The little I’ve read on it points to energy solutions I didn’t even realize possible. It’s amazing what we’re working on, but the Bush pittance will be replaced by an Obama well-funded initiative.

    America needs to change and our economy will prosper but in order to embrace a promising new future we need to really reimagine how our country runs.

    Posted by Noel
    May 8th, 2008 at 12:40 am

  7. Good night everyone.

    I’ll leave you with this thought, one day ships will launch missles into the middle east.

    Ships by the name of the USS Clinton, the USS Bush, and of course the USS Obama.

    Heh.

    Posted by Noel
    May 8th, 2008 at 1:05 am

  8. You know actually this photo is a pretty good metaphor for the state of the nation, the economy, the environment, and the ultimate fate of the human race.

    No fate but what we make.

    Posted by RC from Smithtown
    May 8th, 2008 at 1:35 am

  9. Oh, sure.

    Thanks to Photoshop, people can now “go” anywhere.

    Posted by anonymouse
    May 8th, 2008 at 1:43 am

  10. The reason the wealthiest of the wealthy don’t pay off our national debt is probably because they don’t want to..should they be made to?…and of course, why?

    Nice picture; Norway?

    Posted by Budda
    May 8th, 2008 at 2:16 am

  11. Corn isn’t all that great as an energy source.
    Brazil uses sugar, it more efficient that
    bio mass.

    Posted by Boogieman
    May 8th, 2008 at 2:39 am

  12. Stopping the Iraq War cold would account for $12 Billion a month. We could always start there.

    Posted by JadedSage
    May 8th, 2008 at 11:49 am

  13. This just in:
    more than 43,000 troops found medically unfit for combat have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan anyway.

    Posted by RC from Smithtown
    May 8th, 2008 at 11:52 am

  14. Thanks a lot, RC. I’m about to have some kind of nervous breakdown. I just finished Zinn’s AMERICAN EMPIRE, and I’m 3 chapters into Alan’s RED, WHITE, AND LIBERAL. I’m being bombarded with information right now that’s showing me how corrupt members of our government can be… I can’t take anymore. It’s outrageous.

    I’m going on vacation from politics and history before I snap.

    Posted by cherylcarroll
    May 8th, 2008 at 12:22 pm


  15. God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

    “Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.” Benjamin Franklin

    Posted by RC from Smithtown
    May 8th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

  16. Why penalize those that haved achieved financial success? This is a capatalist society. The idea of penalizing the wealthy,or as Marx/Engles would say “the aristocracy” is classic communism.

    Posted by Craig in Bull Island
    May 8th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

  17. I’m not saying “penalize” them. It’s just that the national debt is such a big deal to everyone. So I’m trying to understand, if it’s so important, why don’t we just

    1. borrow the money from the wealthy

    or

    2. allow them to pay it, and then give them a tax break for “x” number of years until their taxes are equal to the amount of money that they contributed to the debt

    I’m just throwing out ideas to help my brain understand the issue, that’s all. But it seems to me like we’re going to pretty much always be in debt. But then I don’t understand why everyone’s so concerned about it.

    Thanks for the input provided thus far.

    RC~ thanks for the nice quotes. I’m still about ready to snap, though. And Alan’s “pic pick” may be a great metaphor, but I’m scared of heights and so it’s scaring the hell out of me! :-)

    Posted by cherylcarroll
    May 8th, 2008 at 8:01 pm

  18. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-30-watchlist_N.htm

    How completely ridiculous, insane, and apalling

    Posted by Michael
    May 8th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

  19. As for penalizing people, I think it’s like the Sicilians say: the Devil laughs when the poor give to the rich.

    Posted by RC from Smithtown
    May 9th, 2008 at 1:48 am

  20. There is no F#@*ing way I would stand on that rock for more then 1/2 a second!

    Posted by Tax paying fool
    May 9th, 2008 at 10:12 pm

  21. Dude, I would have never walked my ass on that rock.

    Posted by cherylcarroll
    May 9th, 2008 at 11:54 pm