[Rhodes22-list] Politics - It Will Bankrupt polluters!

Sun Nov 2 13:17:51 EST 2008

Robert,

Thanks for coming out of the woods, so to speak.

1 - Guilt by association.  Sitting in a  pew for 20 years listening to
racist, anti-Semitic rants by a minister and claiming him as a
spiritual mentor is hardly a casual association, ditto, Ayers,
Khalidi, Komsky, Palmer, et al.

2 -  The standard AVS system off the shelf from the vendor costs less
to process transactions via Mastercard and Visa than one that has had
its security measures disabled (.05 versus .015 per transaction
according to one industry source).

3 - Good Obama talking point but it misses the issue.  What happened
at the event that Obama attended?  Why the secrecy?  Let us watch the
tape and as you say, we'll determine what is relevant.

4 - We have emission standards for coal plants already and we could
always tighten standards more.  Carbon Sequestration is in its infancy
and is not yet a viable alternative.  What he said is pretty clear - a
carbon cap and trade system would bankrupt coal-fired electrical
plants, the source of 50% of our electricity.  The lack of a video is
what makes Obama's words even more important. Just as the "cling to
their guns and religion" statement he made to one group of people he
thought wouldn't be widely distributed.  He spews the positive
attributes of clean coal when he's on the stump in coal producing
states.  What are his real thoughts and intentions?

5 - You are correct that the surge owes much of its success to the
Sunni Awakening.  However, without the surge, the Sunni Awakening
would probably have failed. Had we removed US forces on a fixed
timetable, Al Qaeda in Iraq would still be in control.

6 - David Axlerod and the other Obama campaign organizers are to be
congratulated for running a brilliant marketing campaign, almost as
good as the pet rock. Now as to the mental decline of McCain, I'm not
a doctor so I'll have to consider your "expertise" in this area.  His
mother acts and speaks pretty sharp for a woman in her 90's, but
again, I'm no doctor.

As Tip O'neil used to say, "all politics is local".  The Obama tax
program, especially the removal of the SS cap, will cost my family a
substantial sum of money.  That's money I could use to expand my
sideline business or distribute to whomever I choose, or not at all.
The expansion of SS "taxes" with no additional benefits and the
transfer of benefits to lower income workers is a fundamental shift in
the entire history and philosophy of the social security system that
goes beyond a mere tax increase.  For every individual, business, or
investor, there is a tipping point where taking additional risk or
making additional effort is no longer worthwhile.  For my wife and I,
the Obama tax plan (as we now know it) will result in over 50% of our
incremental dollars going to the government in the form of taxation.
If it would actually do some good, say build infrastructure or retire
debt that our kids don't have to pay, I might do it anyway.  Excessive
taxation has never worked here or anywhere else on the planet at any
point in history.  If Sen. Obama was as intelligent as he and others
proclaim, he'd know that.  But then, enhanced revenue has never what
his plan is all about, is it?

Brad

On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 10:12 AM, Robert J. Nickerson
<infoman at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Sigh....  I guess I must break my vow to myself to not stick my toe in this
> political quagmire.
>
> First a small bio - I am a medal winning veteran, ivy league educated
> retired systems analyst (banking), owner of a GB modified Starwind 19 with a
> Rhodes 22 in mast main purchased from Stan, and considered by most of my
> friends to be a conservative.  I took the political test and showed scored
> as a moderate fiscal conservative and a moderate social liberal.  I hate
> party labels but if I was pressed I can best stomach being called a
> libertarian.  I have voted in every presidential election but either against
> a candidate or writing in someone (one election I wrote in Colin Powell for
> president).
>
> I will make six points and disappear again.
>
> 1.  I will defend anyone's right to vote, promote, proselytize and work for,
> and donate to any candidate they wish.  I do not defend the right to
> innuendo, falsehoods, scare tactics, and guilt by association.
>
> 2. As a system analyst I had intimate knowledge of credit and debit
> authorization systems.  Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, and Discover all have
> various levels of fees for their services depending on the level of
> validation that is done at the time of information collected.  What the
> Obama site is doing is not illegal.  What you testers are doing by inputting
> false information most likely is illegal.
>
> 3.  Brad, you keep hammering on the withheld video tape of Obama at the 2003
> party for the Palestine-American Columbia University professor Rashid
> Khalidi.  Perhaps you should also note that the Center for Palestine
> Research and Studies that Rashid Khalidi helped found received at least
> $448,000.00 from an organization who has John McCain as a chairman.  I leave
> the reader to decide which is more relevant.
>
> 4.  This latest youtube (no video is telling) is out of context as usual.
> The full context shows that the statement was about the fact that there was
> no need to pass laws forcing emission standards or carbon sequestration
> standards because if a coal plant was built without them, it would bankrupt
> itself if the cap and trade was in place.
>
> 5.  To me, a microcosm of the election is the analysis of Iran.  Obama says
> he would sit down with leaders with no preconditions.  McCain and Palin
> laugh at this though it is a recommendation of many world leaders and
> bipartisan think tanks.
> Palin sneers at sitting down with President Ahmadinejad of Iran.  Obama
> correctly notes that the president is not the ultimate leader of Iran but
> more of a figurehead; he would sit down with the Supreme Leader Ali
> Khamene'i.  I would also note the success of the "surge" in Iraq owes much
> to the Anbar Awakening alliance with Sunni tribal sheiks.
>
> 6.  This is opinion: Obama is the first candidate of a major party I will
> actively vote for.  I feel McCain is past his prime and careful examination
> of his speech patterns indicate beginnings of mental decline.  I would
> prefer that no one with a temper like his be anywhere near the "button".
> Please note if Hilary was the nominee I would have been forced to vote for
> McCain against her.
> My take is that the way the Obama campaign has been organized and run is the
> best indication of his organizational skills and intelligence.  I also have
> enough belief in the inherent honesty and goodness of most people that if
> there was the vast socialist, communist,  Islamic, left wing conspiracy that
> the McCain supporters postulate it would truly have surfaced.  The law of
> Occam's razor applies.
>
> If I wanted to do innuendo I would ask this:  how do we know that McCain
> isn't a Manchurian candidate?  Was he brainwashed in a communist prison?
> No, I don't believe this, but that accusation is about as probable as most
> of those leveled against Obama.
>
> All right, have at me.  I return to lurking as I seem to have much less free
> time than most of the serial posters here even though I am retired.  By the
> way, I have never searched youtube or other sites at all, much less with the
> frequency demonstrated here.
>
> Final note - I am aware that the mainstream media has its own agenda.  I am
> also aware of incidents and associations in McCain's past that have been
> made available to the public that have not been exploited by the MSM or the
> democratic party that to me are equal to those that the republicans are
> excoriating Obama for.  To me, they almost all are irrelevant.
>
> I am sorry to have violated my promise to myself not to post, but will
> assure you this is the last before the election.  I truly believe that
> electing Obama has a chance to restore the United States diplomatic status
> and moral authority in much of the world.
>
> Robert J. Nickerson
> Colchester, Vermont
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 8:50 AM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Politics - It Will Bankrupt Them!
>
>
>> Listen to this - (just released so the MSM hasn't digested it yet)
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdi4onAQBWQ
>>
>> Folks, you don't have to be a genius to figure out how dangerous this
>> philosophy is as economic and energy policy.  Are we supposed to go
>> back to using whale oil or are we going to build nukes?  This guy is
>> clueless.
>>
>> Something tells me the party leadership in China is laughing their
>> asses off about now.
>>
>> Brad
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