US gubmint shutdown + default + subprime sequel?

[Vladimir]

Making detailed offers in private meetings sounds like something you do when you're serious about reaching an agreement. Passing a bill that nobody but the Tea Party will support, on the other hand, is un-serious. Let's say President 44 wrote up all of the offers he has made to Boehner and put them out on the web in a PDF. Do you think that would change anything? Bring us any closer to a deal? Didn't think so. The republicans are fully aware of what compromises 44 is willing to make.

Re: storming, do you really want to go there? Do you really want to get into who has been more rude and impossible? 'Cause there's plenty of that to go around.

A sudden and unplanned 44% reduction in federal budget means many will have to do without. Debt service must be paid. Soldiers must be paid. So I don't know how unrealistic it is to eye Social Security and say, "You're going to have to wait a bit while this gets sorted out."

Again, offers, however detailed, do not constitute a plan. You've so much as admitted that the Republicans are the only side that has submitted a detailed plan. It doesn't matter if you agree with it or not. "Un-serious" is unconvincing.

Let the President write up not just his offers, but a comprehensive plan. As you stated, he has not. What I think it would change is irrelevant. If one side brings a soccer ball to a basketball game, mock them, and bring your own ball.

Again you reference a loony article that reflects your personal biases. Spare me the feigned outrage. As I recall, he made it quite clear during a speech that Social Security checks would not go out; likely in an effort to frighten the largest and most active voting block as a part of his "appeal to the people" (if he used those words).

You're unwilling do directly admit that as impractical as the Republican plan may be, that it is the only one out there. "Dead on arrival," proposals, and phone calls are as much of the game as the plan you despise.

Wouldn't you rather wait until Venus is in conjunction to our Ascendant? The energy of Venus in conjunction adds grace to our undoing and stimulates our self-projection.

In other words, what are you on about?

AII

Once the old people die we'll have more money.

These people are adults, why is this happening?

Likely for power and influence. That's how adults play.

[Vladimir]

oops.

[Lemur]

"Un-serious" is unconvincing.

Okay, here's my "detailed plan": you give me all of your worldly possessions and become my manservant for life without pay. There. That's a detailed plan. Is it serious, or a joke? Have you ever attended a real negotiation in your entire life?

[Vladimir]

Okay, here's my "detailed plan": you give me all of your worldly possessions and become my manservant for life without pay. There. That's a detailed plan. Is it serious, or a joke? Have you ever attended a real negotiation in your entire life?

No but I have been a manservant and service is its own reward.

[Adrian II]

Once the old people die we'll have more money.

Are your parents dead yet?

AII

[Banquo's Ghost]

Are your parents dead yet?

AII

I'm a baby boomer and filthy rich. I am unsure as to whether I should live or die for the Vladimir plan to work.

[Vladimir]

I'm a baby boomer and filthy rich. I am unsure as to whether I should live or die for the Vladimir plan to work.

No I don't wish for anyone to die.

Depends. I'm really interested to see the numbers on baby boomer's contribution to growth and revenue vs. burden on the economy. The Social Security crunch, rising costs for Medicare, and rising health care costs can be attributed to the aging boomer population. I know boomers contributed a great deal to growth, prosperity, and scientific achievement for the last several decades. To not veer too sharply off topic, these costs are part of the reason for the current budget crunch and I wonder what the budget situation will look like once they've passed. Or, even the economy for that matter. I don't know how much death taxes will contribute to federal revenue but they may mask the true economic picture.

My boomer parents are still alive. I have a lot of respect for my father's work ethic but he often expressed a belief that just because he was an American he was entitled to a certain standard of living. He's a retired steelworker, which, is a great profession that paid well but became less competitive over time.

BTW: I'm kinda honored that you two replied in tandem to my post.

[Adrian II]

No I don't wish for anyone to die.

Thank goodness, I was afraid we would have to say goodbye to Banquo's Ghost in orde to cash in on that ancestral estate, those old socks full of guineas hidden underneath his drinks cabinet and the Columbian gold stashed behind Arnold K. Toynbee's 12-volume A Study of History in the blue room.

AII