Last week in Republican politics...

[caffeine]

1. The Republican party defends BP and doesn’t believe they should have to be subjected to a “government shakedown”. Party members such as (no suprise here) Michelle Bachman and Joe Barton, not to mention Fox News, aka Republican Headquarters, apparently believe that the costs should be passed down to the taxpayers, not the multi billion dollar company that caused the problem.

Washington Post reports that John Boehner, Republican minority leader, has said "BP and the federal government should take full responsibility for what's happening." Later, he clarified that he had misheard the question--repeating what he's been saying since early May, "not a dime of taxpayer money should be used to clean up [BP's] mess."

2. Republicans publicly announce that they will vote against any legislation brought about by the Democrats. (If they stop anything from being done and Obama fails, Republicans win.)

Since there currently is a Democrat majority in the Senate and House, the Democrats don't really need their help for a majority vote.

3. In accordance with #2, Republicans vote against extending unemployment benefits to U.S. citizens who are unemployed. They accuse the unemployed and call them “spoiled” and “lazy”. Obviously they are not quite in touch with the current state of the economy. And this was not just the doing of a few party members. Every single Republican in congress voted against this legislation. Other opposed legislation includes providing for homeless veterans in the United States.

This doesn't surprise me since Republicans have a history of staying financially conservative.

(... Republicans are meanies ...)

In a republic, the type of government we live in, the people elect its representatives. Disagree with others all you want, but you can't simply say "Republicans in power do not care at all for US citizens" or "These people are so out of touch with mainstream Americans it’s not even funny" since our government doesn't really work that way. And if it were true that the representatives were really that out of touch with their voters, the media would expose it, and voters wouldn't reelect them. If you're simply advocating more "voter awareness" then I totally agree with you, but that's a two way street. Democrats and Republicans (and everyone else) all need to pay attention.

I feel that taxes should be higher for the rich. The current spread, which is about 10% for low income, 30% for middle income, and 10% for higher income, just doesn't make any sense to me.

I just did a quick search and found that tax percentages increase with income in a linear fashion.

As for your second point: why can't the rich (annual income of $10 million or greater) pay the 80% income tax like they did in the 60's before Reagan came into power? There were no problems then.

You're referring to marginal tax, which is the tax on the last dollar. There's usually a big difference between that and average tax rates. If we were to tax Joe Businessman 80% on all his income tax and he made 400k a year, that'd leave him with 80k to pay for all his business expenses and payroll. As a result, he'd have to downsize to stay in business, which kills jobs. That would also mean selling less widgets, which puts a dent in taxable sales to boot. This is an oversimplification, and why there's a corporate tax division, but you get the idea.

Still, there definitely are drawbacks to overtaxing even the rich. For example, near the end of the Great Depression, income over $200k was taxed a whopping 94%, while corporations also felt major tax strain. Some economists say that it wasn't until Congress knocked down these taxes that unemployment stabilized (WWII provided jobs, but those jobs would end with the war). They contend that businessmen needed money incentives to reinvest and expand, opening up more jobs as a result. You've got to give people a reason to take a risk and invest in a new profit-center.

I hope this clears up some things for you, Skooble.

[Hsanrb]

Not sure what game you mean, there's still players on BB, TOJ, and TF if those are what you play.  What do you play?  Also, there's nothing wrong with people who hop around games trying to experience other versions of Tetris and learn new techniques from each version.  Games evolve and improve over time, some players move on to these better games.  I see this as a good thing, not a bad thing.  If you are expecting everyone to just play a single Tetris version forever, that's not going to happen no matter what forum you're on.  Good luck though.

Since your the admin I'd reply. I play TGM/Texmaster if I'm playing Tetris, and I play Tetris Friends when I'm in "kill time" mode. Usually waiting for the first win of the day timer to end, or content to patch/dl. Great site, but I play games to stay away from politics, and when this is the top thread in the general forum I don't even bother to see what else (mostly an entertaining read or a video) that could be worth my time.

[ohitsstef]

i saw "tax rich people"

and my jaw dropped



as if we're not fuccked in the butt already with income tax


-not that im wealthy.. i feel wealthy though

[EnFuego]

Why tax rich people more (higher percent)?
That is like saying the better people in tetris should have messier garbage and a higher line clear delay than people who are not as good. Maybe the better players had better games to practice on, but who cares? You will get good at tetris regardless of what game you play on!

(that is my tetris metaphor for socialism)

Vote independent! Both republicans and democrats have to worry too much about pissing off the wrong people and need to appeal to too many.

[Blink]

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]
Not to mention no one plays the same game anymore and I'm not a game jumper so I'm done.
[/quote]

Since your the admin I'd reply. I play TGM/Texmaster if I'm playing Tetris, and I play Tetris Friends when I'm in "kill time" mode.

In that case, nothing has really changed.  Players didn't hop from TGM/Texmaster to some other game.  TF is still being played, and has gained some more users with their last update.  I'm confused even more about the game hopping statement now that I know which games you play.  Those are primarily singleplayer games, which were never the most popular Tetris games to begin with and are fun to play regardless of who else is playing.

[Boingloing]

I don't like political parties. too much commitment to specific ideas.

[Spirale]

I think you guys need more socialism

.

1) Until the border is secured, and I mean knit tight to the point that the only way you can enter the US is when we know you are in here (aka the system.) NO IMMIGRATION BILL SHOULD PASS! If this means we pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq to put soldiers on the border, we do it. Obama is taking the border hostage for "comprehensive immigration reform" No idea what that means, I don't think we'll see the bill, but there are citizens who make their way through the system and are now going to get jipped over by illegals who go through whatever the new system Obama is trying to get.

[Ryan]

just saw chows post and my respect for him went up greatly.  I agree!

[DAS44]

1. Do you really want America's biggest Petrol company to fall? Then GG ur petrol prices will be fked. ($20 a gallon anyone?)

3. The money to fund 1. has to come from somewhere.

Ok just an observation and no I didn't do any research but... BP stands for British Petroleum

I'm of the belief that they should pay through the teeth for this. That may just be me. Truly it isnt the company's fault but the workers on the station. They should have stopped drulling when chinks of the rubber gasket came up. Should the rich pay for it? Well, they are rich eh? The American public, tends to have issues with being taxed (stamp act anyone?), and some people may be under the impression that taxes are going to be rained down upon us. Honestly, this is an incredibly wealthy country, we can pay for it if we want, but lets all throw a fit about it eh?

democrats are ruining our country. ur all idiots if u think obama is a good pres.

Spoken like a truly ignorant teenager. obama inherited one of the largest economic messes in American history, only the truly stupid would expect him to fix the issue in one year. He does not have complete power it is as much the Senate's fault as his. I do believe he is trying to do too much at once, but you cant expect him to "fix" the trillion dollar debt this country owes in a year's time. If you voted for him expecting the greatest president ever, you expected way too much; if you think he's the worst president ever, you're wrong again. Just because the media focuses on much of the negative that is going on in the world doesnt mean that he isnt doing anything right, nor should you expect him to be able to pull off everything he wanted to. The health care bill, in my opinion is a great thing. If you disagree go talk to the families out there who have a seriously sick child and don't have the cash to pay for their treatment, go tell a cancerous kid you dont think he should be treated, honestly.

imma stop. theres 2 things u cant ever change someones mind over: religion and politics. we cud be aruguing over how retarted democrats are all night without gettting anywhere so bye.

A: I've been convinced of other points of view in both topic areas, its not so clear cut
B: Define retarded please, I do believe many of them went to Ivy League schools, and worked hard for what they got.
C: Differing views do not make someone an idiot, thanks for sounding ignorant.
D: Well that post was worded like a true child (retard even? Nope)

------------------------
My view:

Taxing:
The rich should be taxed more than the middle and lower classes, mainly because thay have the means to do so without sacrificing a larger percentage of their income. While I dont think they should be taxed ridiculously (like noogy said, who's payin fer all this crap?) but they should be taxed "more". Just an observation but, arent most of the people doing the work in this country middle and lower class? Are all the people who are discovering new technologies rich? No, but many of their projects are funded by those of higher class.

Spill in the Gulf:

First off I'm going to quote a friend down there who lives right next to the ocean in Louisiana, where all that oil is washing up.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]And we also have loads of oil on our beaches now; what a wonderful world to wake up too every morning to have your air smell like the local garage. Its a huge shame[/quote]

I think, that if BP can pay for it, they should. They should be liable for the faults of their workers, yes yes the people higher up in the chain didnt do anything "wrong" per se. They built a well secured oil rig, and the workers messed it up. Like I said, they employ the people, they should pay for the damages.

What much of this thread misses is the actual impact on the wildlife. Can we all stop thinking about money for a second and focus on how many <insert animal name here> have died and are dying? Or the destruction of ecosystems? The affect on the way of life of the people down there? Are we all truly so self centered that we can only think about who's paying? Maybe we should think about who we are helping..

Yeah, this makes me think, who's paying for all this? (sarcasm)
Imagine this but, bigger...
[!--ImageUrlBegin--][a href=\\\"http://forsythe4kc.com/uploaded_images/oil_spill1_L.jpg\\\" target=\\\"_new\\\"][!--ImageUrlEBegin--][img width=\\\"400\\\" class=\\\"attach\\\" src=\\\"http://forsythe4kc.com/uploaded_images/oil_spill1_L.jpg\\\" border=\\\'0\\\' alt=\\\"IPB Image\\\" /][!--ImageUrlEnd--][/a][!--ImageUrlEEnd--]



then again the US citizens would recover from paying for it eh?

Just my view..

[Hsanrb]

In that case, nothing has really changed.  Players didn't hop from TGM/Texmaster to some other game.  TF is still being played, and has gained some more users with their last update.  I'm confused even more about the game hopping statement now that I know which games you play.  Those are primarily singleplayer games, which were never the most popular Tetris games to begin with and are fun to play regardless of who else is playing.

Actually, maybe I should screenshot my desktop and list all the games I've been "asked to try" and misinterrupted game hopping with "lets try all these games and find the best" when everyday people were asked to try a new game... I've got iiblocks (haven't played) Nullpomino (until theres an automatic update I'm tired of doing the manual labor when a new patch is a weekly occurance, I want quick tetris and if typing tetris friends is easier I'll do so. I have TOJ, I have TetrisFriends, I didn't join the tetrinet (or whatever its called) bandwagon. Maybe I'm waiting until we all settle on one and I'll play again. There was another web based on think Multrinet?

PS: Tetris Friends may have more users, but its laggier than I've ever seen Arena. I'd blame my keyboard, but I have more misholds, misdrops (both spaces, and lag refusing to register the drop I hit so I move the block I thought I dropped.)  so I'm not sure if thats always a positive. Its worse than the 2-3s initial lag via TOJ when I play someone in the US who has a slow internet and the time it takes for me to receive "game start" is like 5 blocks behind my opponent.