White flag?
 

Who the fuck is Bensten?

Do yall mean Bentsen? (Just asking because you repeated Penske's spelling and so I'm not sure if I'm missing something)

White flag?
 

No, you didn't miss anything. I wasn't paying attention.

Though now that you mention it, I don't know if Penske was referring to Lloyd or nephew Ken.

White flag?
 

Ah. One would assume Lloyd. Which is hardly condemnable - a Texan involved in politics giving money to a conservative democrat with a rock solid hold on his seat.

Of course, I'm sure the questions will be flying at the confirmation about her support of a racist/democrat.

White flag?
 

dissent. The far right will sit out or vote for Gary Bauer. The problem with you pragmatic moral relativists is you have no guiding principles and thus you can't understand how people with principle act. I voted for Perot in 92 on principle. Bush lied about tax increases. I voted against him knowing full well that this was part of trend that would put Clinton in office. the far right have far more principle than I do. If it was as easy as they have no one else to vote for, the party would not have had to pander to them for the last 25 years. Bush increased the dependency on these voting bloc and now has fucked the party. You win. You should be happy.

White flag?
 

I don't want to pay tax attorneys and financial planners. Its a zero sum game. Either I pay the government or the private sector. Either way it is a drag on the efficient and prodcutive use of the money. I would rather see the tax gone, the estate tax avoidance people put out of business and then have the money go into investment in the economy or at least into the economy in the form of useful consumption, i.e. not consumption of tax avoidance schemes.

White flag?
 

The only point I will address is I think the concept of a stealth nominee is a disservice to the process. It was bullshit when the Reps did it with Souter and Thomas and bullshit now. Put someone up there with a record and then debate it. Roberts did not have the most expansive record but he had decades of public service so there was at least more than bare hints of what was going on. I blame the Borkers, but I would rather see Luttig get borked then have a lightweight nominated for the stealth factor.

Give Peace a Chance
 

What's the issue? She made herself news by consorting with the terrorists whose goal it is to drive the Jews into the sea. In the process she got bulldozed. The left and her idiot parents hold her out as a martyr when in fact she was a moron who sided with babykillers in a war zone and in the process she got killed. Her picture should be out there as a cautionary warning to the children of the other empty headed leftists out there as to what happens when you make a deal with the devils.

White flag?
 

Before this process, who, outside of Texas, had heard of her. She is not universally respected. Has she ever appeared before the SupCt.?

White flag?
 

1. I can't say I have tracked all of his nominees, but JRB doesn't come out Texas, does she? Gonzalez at least had a more public career. And there were plenty of people not associated with him directly, Jones, McConnell, Luttig, with far more accomplishment. Its a lousy nomination.

2. Not particularly. He's no Kennedy or Biden, but I wouldn't give his campaign money and I am concerned about a nominee from a conservative president who did. I doubt Scalia or Thomas did, what do you think?

White flag?
 

Gimme a flocking break. It's monday and I am experiencing a loss this morning.

White flag?
 

I agree with you. I was just pointing out to Penske, in support of Gatti's post, that he was being more than a little bit hasty in condemning the choice. The woman could well be a stealth William Bennett. It wouldn't surprise me at all if she was, given her closeness to Bush.

I don't think there's anything wrong in principle with appointing a non-judge to the Court. In this particular case, though, I have a hunch she was appointed because she would support the hard right agenda, but she had no track record to object to.

White flag?
 

This is stupid. The point is, obviously, from a partisan standpoint, it indicates something less than what he said he would do. Would Scalia have given BenTsen a donation? I doubt it.

White flag?
 

Neither served on the bench before their appointment. Neither did Byron White.

Warren was appointed by Eisenhower and later proved to be Ike's greatest single regret.

White flag?
 

I don't think Scalia has ever run a business in Texas. I could be wrong.

White flag?
 

A legitimate point. However, when will you stop blaming the folks from nearly 20 years ago, and shift the blame to some more recent Democrats?

S_A_M
(Efs)

White flag?
 

I don't disagree with that equation, but I think that a non-judge should have a more objectively universally exalted position in the legal profession (or politics, based on history). She doesn't. And for the record, I am against pure stealth. The people I have touted have all had judicial records and the accomplishment to get to the judges seat. Or if not, have a record of accomplishment, remember I have touted Senator Hatch and Ted Olson. This lady, outside of Texas, no offence RT, is a zero.

Bush has pissed on the process. You can support him on this one, but I may be done.

White flag?
 

A lovely thought. Unfortunately, it is wrong-headed and against your self-interest. Odds are very rare your estate will be subject to the estate tax. However, it is a virtual certainty that with the estate tax eliminated, you will pay more taxes over your lifetime due to an increase in the income tax to make up the estate tax shortfall.

Spending cuts will make up the difference you say? Ha ha ha. You have had Bush in office for nearly five years now. Try shitting in one hand and putting the dollars from spending cuts in the other. See which hand fills up first.

White flag?
 

Fair enough, did W ever donate to BenTsen? did Rove? Delay?

White flag?
 

Uh, when I look around I still see Kennedy and Biden. On the other side I see Spector. Without going back and parsing the votes of anyone else who is still around from that period, I will lay the lion's share of the blame on those three arsejacks.

Give Peace a Chance
 

The issue is you being an asshole.

White flag?
 

Dissent.

1. Maybe I am self-interested because maybe I have married or will marry someone who stands to inherit an estate that could be taxed. And ftr, if it is my current wife, then the money would be all self-made.

2. Even though I will be dead, I want my money going to my kids and not the government. Although if the estate tax is still around, I will find a way to skirt it without engaging consultants. As it stands now I plan to renounce my citizenship and move abroad in about 20 years which will leave me about 30-40 years life expentancy which will allow me to outlive the tail applicability of the tax code.

3. What you miss about me is that I am not against the concept of some tax to fund the Feds, but I wanted focused. Get rid of the estate tax and increase the income tax and force people to look at what government is taxing you for and what it is spending it on. Unlike Delay I think there is fat to be cut and I think it is a debate that has been ongoing since Reagan addressed the little people's concern about it. The estate tax is like a stealth tax...."only the superrich pay it"......"you're dead, what do you care"....bullshit. Every tax has an oppressive cost and I want that cost out front, not hidden. Then the people can make an informed decision.

Give Peace a Chance
 

In what way?

Give Peace a Chance
 

The assholey way.

White flag?
 

If your (future or current) wife is inheriting the money, how is that self-made?

White flag?
 

You blame Democrats? What a shock.

White flag?
 

That was my point. She's in the "nominated for being a loyal toadie" category.

White flag?
 

From Bainbridge

Blogging and Backtracking
 

Since Ty doesn't appear to be here at the moment, I'll post this. Drum has a pretty good observation on the current episode of Tourette's being experienced by the conservative blogosphere.

• Here's a thought about how blogging (and the web in general) have changed politics. In times past, everyone would have had at least a few hours to compose themselves before producing an opinion about Harriet Miers's fitness to be a Supreme Court justice. That's a few hours spent on the phone, around the water cooler, and just generally thinking about how your comments are going to sound once they become public.
  
  No longer. This time, conservative cries of dismay were littering the internet within minutes of the announcement, and there's not much doubt that these were genuine reactions. The disappointment was real, and despite the apparent efforts of at least one conservative to erase his first impression, that just won't work. Once it's up on the web, it's up forever.
  
  I have little doubt that the conservative brain trust will quickly take a deep collective breath and decide that they really ought to support George Bush's nominee. But instead of this deep breath being taken in private, it's going to have to be taken very, very publicly. All that stuff I wrote a few hours ago? I was just kidding. Hasn't everyone contributed money to Al Gore at one time or another? We shouldn't make such a big deal out of that.
  
  If nothing else, the internet is likely to usher in a golden age of backtracking. Either that or people are eventually going to learn to think for a few minutes before they blog.
  
  I'll put my money on backtracking.
  
  UPDATE: Then again, maybe not. Go scroll though The Corner and you'd almost think you were reading Democratic Underground. They're not going to have an easy time backing off some of that stuff.

Blogging and Backtracking
 

This is not true. Trust me on this.

Give Peace a Chance
 

Whiff!

White flag?
 

The person bequesting it self-made. My understanding of the underpinnings of the estate tax is it is to prevent the development of an aristocracy. Too late. The Kennedys already exist and will gladly pay legions of attorneys and financial planners to skirt the tax. But the guy who slaves, 60, 70, 80 hours a week for 30 or 40 years and compiles $10-20M, gets the hit. Or spends 10-20% of it devising a plan to get around, where that 10-20% is real money to this person. I might be for the wealth tax with no exemptions, but the Ted Kennedys, and Warren Buffets and Soros and Bill Gates of the world wouldn't want that, they want the tax on the backs of the lesser wealth, to preserve their aristocracy.

The only protection at this point is the 2nd Amendment.

White flag?
 

STP, I blame Spector too. He's a Rep, right?

Give Peace a Chance
 

The Law and Order types that are against the war don't bother me. It is the people that say it was immoral for us to invade Iraq.

When people say that, it was good to get rid of Saddam Hussein, and the intentions were OK, but we were just going to make things worse and it was a waste of resources and manpower. I call this the Naive argument. It was Naive for the the US to make it better. Although I don't agree with that argument I can respect it.

I also respect the strategic argument. People that believe US foreign policy should be solely based on US interests (and it was not in our strategic interest to invade Iraq). I don't agree with it but I can understand the logic of that argument.

The arguments that seem inherintly flawed and irrational are the ones about the immorality of taking Saddam Hussein out (the war monger theory). The outrage at attacking Iraq. Like somehow taking out a man that killed 300,000 of his own people directly and million in a war with Iran is somehow an immoral act.

Also the focus on Bush "lying" to get us into the war. Either the war was the right move or not. What Bush used to whip up public opinion to support the war is irrelevent. It has nothing to do with whether or not the war was the right move.

White flag?
 

2. We agree. We should both stop posting for a couple of weeks and then maybe meet for drinks and bask in this warm afterglow.

White flag?
 

I have never missed the fact that you are in favor of some tax. I just think you are wrong about the best way to levy it. The source of tax revenue has absolutely nothing to do with the people seeing what the government is taxing and what it's spending the revenue on. If you have issues with spending, then address them through the ballot box. Once the deficit is gone (that being the real tax on our children), then we can cut taxes to reduce a govt. surplus.

The current proposals for the estate tax have the exemption level going up to as much as $20 million. The question I have for you is, what is wrong with taxing the people least in need of money (the wealthy dead) at the expense of the people least deserving (those who did not earn it)?

White flag?
 

Meh. The person dying isn't being punished -- s/he is dead. It's keeping down the aristocracy before it has a chance to take root. Easier to kill the weeds when they are little. Etc.

White flag?
 

I was shocked when he blamed Bush this morning. I knew it would not last. My faith in the order of things is restored.

Blogging and Backtracking
 

I don't know if any of all y'all read my blog, but I am solid in what I have written. It's a travesty. I may passionately despise her philosophy and root for her imminent demise, but I can't deny that Ginsburg was qualified and she was duly approved as such (I do think it's a sad statement that Roberts did not garner the same level of approval as she did, but I don't expect the dims to be objective in the service of our nation). This lady is not qualified, other than under the bare minimum standards, i.e. she's old enough and yet still has a pulse; a citisen, etc.

A sad sad day. Reagan must be weeping. My only comfort is that he has the babyjesuschristsuperstar to comfort him.

Blogging and Backtracking
 

You have a blog separate from what you post here?

Blogging and Backtracking
 

It's a travesty.