leh-nerd skin-erd

He’s gotten national attention for his work thus far, elevating his status and his style of practicing law. One could argue it all makes sense, and he’s doing exactly what he set out to do.

We don’t hate you. We hate what you did. Maybe.

So far, the attorney has alleged the police are slow walking this, the DA is handling it politically, that the Bills are enablers of sexual assault for drafting a guy to kick footballs, and now, that an Ariaza apology and donation for participating in this horrific incident involving gang assault and piercings being ripped out might have solved the problem for him and he might still be kicking for the Buffalo Enablers. Interesting.

You're getting ornery. Settle down, take an edible, and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. You'll be fine.

I'm not sure what you think we disagree on. I didn't suggest there was a pure 'needs based' requirement for PPP, though I'd think when the government shuts the economy down and places restrictions on just about everything, then comes up with a relief plan to keep the economy afloat, it's pretty obvious a needs-based plan. PPP is an acronym for Paycheck Protection Program. If you want to argue that point, that it's not a program designed to protect paychecks, have at it, but it's silly. It's interesting that you included "owners" like it's some sort of hidden, under the radar part of the program. Owners get paychecks, too, and things like "rent, mortgage etc" are part of the cost of running a business. When paychecks covered under the PPP program were issued to employees, the employees receiving the paycheck presumably used the funds for similar expenses. PPP is a federal program, not a state program. "Florida" has nothing to do with it. That said, if you believe businesses in Florida were not impacted by COVID, you haven't been paying attention. As for Matt Gaetz qualifying, or not, what does that have to do with anything other than you not liking Matt Gaetz? The original point was that comparing PPP rules and regs to Joe Biden's student loan debt scheme. It's a foolish comparison.

To reimagine the PPP program as similar to Student Loan forgiveness under the Biden proposal requires both a manipulator, and someone easily manipulated. It would be interesting to engage in dialogue with a manipulator, sadly all we have here are the dupes who are easily manipulated. You hit key points about the government locking down the economy under threat of criminal and civil penalty, and the havoc that created for most businesses and employees not given special dispensation to thrive. The PPP program was designed to keep people working, or at least keep paychecks moving to the masses. To qualify, a business owner filled out an application and provided documentation to support the request. If approved, a loan was offered based on need and payment disbursed. If, after meeting the terms and conditions of the program, the business owner met the requirements of PPP, the loan converted to a grant. If terms and conditions were not met, the loan did not convert and as I recall, repayment was due within 12 months. The most vital element of the program was keeping employees employed while the govt kept society and the economy locked down. Failure to do so resulted in repayment terms that might be considered predatory if offered by a private bank. So, successful navigation of the PPP landscape required strict compliance with term and payments as dictated by the government. Student loan forgiveness, for better or worse, approve of it or not, invalidates terms and conditions of the loan based on the political whims of the party in charge to the level the debt is discharged. In what can only be described as a tragically ironic scenario, individuals who made their student loan payments during the COVID lockdown may not actually have benefited from the PPP program, and those benefiting from PPP may actually have allowed their student loan debt to grow in anticipation of the Biden buy out.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/25/nate-silver-liberal-elites-pressured-pfizer-to-delay-covid-vaccine/ Of course they did. The virus, death and COVID spread to at-risk communities was good for the Democrat party.

Good for you!

I dunno Irv. You taught your children a valuable lesson on love, parenting, shared commitment and meeting your obligations. The fact that others may not see it that way, or see themselves as victims of a system they had no control over is completely irrelevant to that very important point. Plus, IRV IS A RICH GUY!!!

I always thought of you as the Lard Guy, but I follow your point. Prediction: This is Phase 1. Obviously, it’s phase 17, but it sets the stage for the next forgiveness plan in a year or two. It’s good to have you back, Lard Guy.

As I said, hate Trump all you like. That changes nothing about the run up to Biden assuming the mantle, and changes nothing about the behavior of the people in the democrat party who encouraged activities that spread the virus. It changes nothing about the seeds of distrust sewn by Kamala Harris and others like her. The manifesto you shared is all well and good, but the reality behind all the words is Trump started from zero, overcame overwhelming obstacles and a hostile adversary in the dem party, and managed the relationship between public/private industry to deliver vaccine regimens that Biden and company booted quite badly given the death count on his watch. The facts are simple--less democrat manipulation, less death and virus spread. As for me being foxy, guilty. Sometimes when I go out, I try and ugly myself down a bit in an effort to help other, more traditionally homely people feel better about themselves. I'm not always successful, and I carry that damn burden every day of my handsome life.

Again, sadly, you're wrong. Hate Trump as you will, but you're making up stories that do not align with the facts. Dem leadership encouraged and often participated in mass gatherings of individuals throughout critical period of COVID spread. This was taking place when national lockdown orders were in place, and those of us who were compliant, complied. In that regard, they were screaming from the treetops for people to hunker down, stay 6' apart, let loved ones die alone and afraid in hospitals and nursing homes, while tacitly encouraging people to gather and protest arm in arm and take the virus home to their own communities. Dem leadership was directly responsible for creating vaccine confusion and creating trust issues about the vaccine. The #2 person in the party was the worst offender, telling millions of supporters not to trust a vaccine developed under a R president. Dem leadership has been very, very active in redefining and recasting what it means to be fully vaccinated. There was a time--we were all in it together back then, mostly--when dems and vax enthusiasts claimed that anyone who wouldn't vax up was basically an enemy of humanity. They went from two shots and a booster to suddenly suggesting that the country was doing a reeeeeaaaallllly good job on vaxing when nearly 70% of the citizens had "at least one" shot of a multi-shot regimen. When in doubt, the dems simply change the benchmark. It's no surprise the death count under Biden vastly exceeds that of Trump, especially in light of the tools available to Biden that were developed under Trump--Biden and co have been an absolute disaster at leading in this regard. Under Trump, they encouraged and supported behavior absolutely designed to spread the virus. Death, illness and suffering was very good politically for them in the lead-up to the election.

This is a new one. “You don’t help people manage their personal debt with employment options and a booming economy.”. I’m changing your screen name to Alfshton Kucher cuz I think you been Punk’d!

They play the long game, the Dems.

I was focused on the theory that the IRS would be focusing on tax cheats, assuming Alf was referencing the wealthy and uber-wealthy Trumps, Bidens, Gates, Cubans etc who walk among us. There are likely millions (tens of?) of individuals who have student loan debt, will meet the criteria for forgiveness, and have side hustles like tutoring students, driveway sealing, house painting, cutting hair and so on where cash is king. Individually it may not always amount to much money, but collectively, the government is missing out on some major coin. If viewed from the perspective of the greater good, it actually makes sense to pursue that revenue in addition to the much bigger fish beating the system.

Oh, absolutely doable. Sure, a student and/or his/her parents have to struggle with basic math concepts, forgo opportunities to offset costs of higher education, skip the trendy virtual learning opportunities and often drive past 6 community colleges and a couple 'stay at home' options offering more affordable outcomes, but hey, "Jimmy is going to Penn State...". What's incredible to me is how the schools that actually set the standards and requirements are not part of the solution, especially in light of some of the massive endowments in play. (The aforementioned Penn State is at $6.2 billion).* My children attended SUNY schools, we encouraged a healthy mix of youthful stupidity and commitment to education, and we offered the option for living on campus. We were able to handle the costs, and feel blessed to have been able to do so. Still, when I get the letter or phone call from one of the schools requesting additional alms for the poor, the first phrase that occurs to me includes only two words. I recognize the caller is likely a student trying to make a few bucks, so I hold my tongue. *As @LeviF has suggested, I recognize there is no incentive whatsoever to the dem party for the institution to be part of the solution.

It's going to be interesting, as many of the folks who stand to benefit from the loan scheme likely fall into the 'tax cheat' category when viewed through the lens of the tax code.

I’m all for a good “gotcha”, Tibs, and I’m happy to acknowledge when I’ve been got. You already indicated a Congressional review wouldn’t be objectionable to you, but now it’s like you forgot you that. If you’re auditioning for a spot in a commercial for people who’ve suffered memory loss from head trauma, you have me convinced. Other than that, choose a side, Waffles.

I just remember something about nothing is Biden’s fault.

I already explained that. You're getting yourself tuned around here. Either you're opposed to the investigation, or for the investigation, or don't care either way. Yesterday, you said you were unopposed to politicians investigating, which seems to imply you aren't opposed to it, and don't fall into the category who doesn't care. Once you get a handle on what you think, let me know. Remember, I can't hear all the voices in your head.

It depends on your perspective. If justice was served, it was served. Still, lots of people have lots of complaints about the police, law enforcement tactics, systemic and widespread issues in the criminal justice system. It's not uninteresting that the defendants were not convicted the first time around by THAT jury of peers, and the government opted to load up and try again. Eventually, when the weight of the government is coming for you, it seems logical it will eventually win. People seem worried only about overreach and injustice when they don't like the defendants. I haven't followed this story all that closely for a couple reasons. First, this whole concept of entrapment always makes me wonder. I can't imagine a time when a reasonable person would find themselves entangled in anything that can be referred to as a "plot" absent a reasonable explanation of innocent activity. If your buddy, we'll call him Sam, calls and asks if you can stop by the auto shop to pick up an alternator because you drive by, you do, and it turns out it's a bag of plutonium, I can see how you might have thought it was an alternator. Much beyond that, words like "kidnapping", "storming", and "zip ties for Gretchen" would be off-putting. Second, anyone who would voluntarily enter into a kidnapping type relationship resulting in hearing this crazy authoritarian woman yammering on and on should be imprisoned on on principle alone. She's a nut.

You said yesterday you weren't opposed to it, what change prompted this question from you?

I felt it was disingenuous to not answer the question about congressional inquiries into the origin of COVID, the original point Rand Paul was making. You answered here, so I withdraw the commentary. As for what they would find, it depends on the approach. If they continue down the path we currently seem to be following, nothing will come of it. Congressional leaders seem to be very tepid in their approach to this investigation, with lots of yelling about find answers to a virus that started in China and killed a million people here, but not much in the way of televised hearings and the like. It's really pretty amazing how little is being made of this given the devastation it visited upon the world. In the alternative, if they follow the precedent of Clinton emails, Russiagate, Ukraine and 1/6...maybe we get somewhere. There needs to be a focus on accountability, what high ranking officials like Fauci knew or should have known, including seeking out whistleblowers, and taking a very deep dive into the seemingly incestuous relationship between the Chinese in US governments in this regard. Fauci under oath is a good start, coupled with a review of all correspondence and information from CDC and NIAID up to and through the lockdown. There's no downside.

Speaking of disingenuous, do you support a congressional inquiry into COVID or not? Assume a liberal dem proposed it.

I don’t know about Rand Paul, there are times I think he’s one of the least sleazy people in Washington. He’s certainly no more/no less an idiot when compared to other high profile pols of the day. I was surprised by Tibs visceral response on a COVID investigation. It’s long overdue.