Everything posted by TreeA10
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
I'm all for a hand out, a hand up, a second chance for those that find themselves needing it. I give money to charity for just that reason. That being said, I think the problem a lot of people have is how we define "temporary" and what is the consequences, if any, of going past that definition.
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Classic Thread - Why go Air Force?
That .gif is how Nsplayr looks when he sees something he disagrees with which of course leads to the 3000 word Political Professor dissertation reply.
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Classic Thread - Why go Air Force?
I do not see enough reflectivity on that dinosaur, Airman! You can't win wars if you can't be seen at night!
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
Just looking at your suggestion for Entitlement Programs, I see you have no concept of reality and failed in your study of history. Let's look at the mutually exclusive concepts in the same sentence and see if they make sense. First, we have "solvent" combined with "expanded to cover everyone". We also have "efficient" and "Medicare" (substitute government run, if you like, but you get the idea). The original Medicare program was budgeted for $16B in 1965 with a forecast cost of $60+ billion in 1980. The actual cost was $110+ billion in 1980. The smartest guys in the room made a 100% error in estimates. Last year, Medicare was something in the neighborhood of $415B. How is that cost curve looking in the future? LIberal utopians can't add, ignore history, and remind me of gamblers that keep going to Vegas saying "But if you let me borrow the money, my system will work this time."
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Classic Thread - Why go Air Force?
I have started drinking. And it is very funny.
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Forget the 2nd Amendment, now the President wants to take away College Football
Tac Airlifter, I want an A-10!!! Not sure my neighbors will approve and I can't afford the gas but it would look cool in my driveway. Regarding bans on magazines, etc. I'll agree to whatever limitations are placed on the POTUS, FLOTUS, VPOTUS, and SOH security details, including what is in the escorting Suburbans. If they don't need it for their safety and well being, then I don't need it. But if the experts deem a particular weapon or capability important, I don't see why my familys safety is inconsequential and entitled to less security.
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Forget the 2nd Amendment, now the President wants to take away College Football
https://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/23/gaining-momentum-now-42-gun-companies-have-stopped-selling-to-law-enforcement-in-anti-2nd-amendment-states/# Looks like some of the gun and ammo companies have decided not to sell to law enforcement within states that impinge on the 2nd Amendment rights of their citizens.
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Classic Thread - Why go Air Force?
Did a Southern Watch out of Al Jaber, Kuwait back in the mid 90s. Middle of the desert, summertime, the airfield still a bombed out mess for the most part following the first fracas there, exceptionally bad food, UXOs scattered about, and just a high general suck factor. There were 6 or 8 Navy F-18s flying out of there with us for a couple weeks and then came the time the Naval Aviators were supposed to go back out to the boat. You would have thought somebody shot their dogs, ran off with their wives, and told them cold beer and strippers were outlawed back home. We are talking serious unhappiness and borderline depression. I think their boat, the Roosevelt, ended up putting into port with a mechanical problem so these guys get another week with us. And they were thrilled to be there which leads me to think the boat must really, really, really suck.
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Last Beer You Drank and Rate It
Rahr Brewing out of Fort Worth is pretty good. Their brewery is located south of downtown Cowtown and they host "tours" on Saturday and Wednesdays with live music. https://www.rahrbrewing.com/ All their stuff has been good.
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Classic Thread - Why go Air Force?
Some sort of line has been crossed here. I'm offended....not by the breastfeeding, BTW.
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
Got a 95% on my last PT test. First time I didn't score 100. Promotions aren't a factor since I retired a year ago so I'll need to find some other form of harrassment and abuse to fill in the deficit. Conversing with liberals who use illiberal logic seems to be working.
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
Damn, I made an error and was only correct 3 out of 4, or 75%. Guess the political professor does not believe in partial credit. 75% of rounds on target is still a kill so I'll take it.
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General Petraeus resigns amid affair scandal
I'm wondering if the SEALS jumped on the bandwagon since someone else was taking all the credit for their work. From accounts, they thought they had high odds of failure and prison and/or death in Pakistan. But taking all the risks and getting none of the credit was fine with them in the past. Yet someone....who was that guy?....kept claiming he was a credible candidate because Osama was dead because of Him, The One. That would surely piss me off and I would want to set the record straight. Regarding classified, "The rules do no apply to me because I'm important" may have happened here. Unfortunately, she isn't important enough, like Senator Patrick Leahy when on the Senate Intelligence committee, or politically connected enough, like Sandy Berger, National Security Advisor, to dodge whatever prosecutor arrows are thrown her way.
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
The Democrats in the Senate have not passed a budget since The One took office. They have "let it ride" using the baseline budgeting rules to get increases in spending without having to actually vote thus gaining plausible deny-ability regarding the debt. Republicans have been beat over the head with blame at every opportunity by Obama and Democrats since Obama took office and have done a piss poor job at getting any traction to get anything done. The sequestration was Obama's idea despite his lies to the contrary. Woodward wrote a great article on it, Google it. This might be the only play the Republicans have and I'm good with it. I'm hoping on March 2nd, when the country realizes it didn't explode overnight, that cuts can actually be made and we'll be okay.
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General Petraeus resigns amid affair scandal
It's either classified or it's not. Borderline is not a classification that I'm aware of. Neither is "might be considered." Prosecution decision tree probably takes into account level of classification and probability (i.e. evidence) of scoring a kill but I'm not a lawyer nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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F-35 Lightning info
Wouldn't want this to be like the F-16. Old joke: How to you get your own F-16? Buy an acre of land near Luke and wait.
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is normally used to define insanity. And most people have apparently lost their minds. Up to this point, please name any and all restrictions, limitations, etc. on Government spending. I agree the Government needs flexibility but Gumby could not compete with the "flexibility" in spending to date. I'm also for the budget pendulum swinging but it appears to have been propped up, nailed, glued, bolted and chained to the "on" position regarding spending. I'd like to try something different. Anything different. You know, just get crazy, and decrease the rate of programmed increases, i.e. baseline budgeting but, from the sounds coming from Congress, this would entail the sacrifice of the first born, stopping the rotation of the earth, and other bibilical doom and gloom implications. Everything we spend money on is "must have" or planes will fall from the sky, millions of children will starve to death, and old people will die and be eaten by dogs according to The One. Okay, I embellished that last comment but not by much.
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U-2 Dragonlady info
Glad to know going Smurf isn't severe. Severe sounds like a good Friday night at the bar so it is a benchmark I'm familiar with.
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U-2 Dragonlady info
So if you have a DCS incident, that means you are more susceptible to future incidents therefore you are a higher DCS risk and thus out of the high altitude business?
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
I guess it depends on how you define the budget and requirements to get the dollars to fund it. Do you set a tax rate and spend what you collect or do you you set a spending level and tax at a rate to get it? The latter reeks of the Soviet 5 year plan which certainly was not based on a rational understanding of human nature and failed miserably. The former requires the ability of our Government to adjust spending to live within our means as the economy fluctuates. The lack of the ability to live within our means is also going to cause miserable failure.
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
Stakeholder? I don't care what we call it as long as everyone is under the same umbrella, threat, tax, penalty, inconvienience, etc.
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
I think we need something like a flat tax. Everybody needs skin in the game. With 70,000 pages of tax code, billions spent on calculating your taxes, billions more on collecting your taxes, the idiots in Congress have created a monster. It just should not be so difficult to pay your taxes.
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American Airlines
Yes, American did forgo bankruptcy and the employees gave up a lot (something like $10 billion since) to avoid a bankruptcy in 2003. That give back was squandered. The corporate playbook seems to be declare bankruptcy, strip pay and benefits, outsource as much flying as possible, repaint the airplanes, declare success, and the management walks out the door with millions. Horton, soon to be ex-CEO, is going to walk with almost $20 million for a couple years work. Not a bad gig if you can get it.