Azalin

I'll give them this - they're both consistent. And tenacious.

Amen, brother.

It amazes me how many people don't understand this. They seem to think that taxing a corporation is somehow going to stick it to the stereotypical rich, greedy, CEO and his/her cabal of executives.

Ugh - unpleasant memories. That's probably why I skipped so many gym classes.

It really drives up the cost of things significantly - they use it in Spain, and I imagine most other European nations do as well.

Maybe I'm being naïve, but are there a lot of people here with dual identities?

Qapla!

Yeah, I think it's about time. I've had disagreements with birddog, JTSP, lybob, and Baskin, but none of them have degenerated into such childish nonsense as 'poopyhead'.

Civility is a two-way street around here as far as I'm concerned. I've had plenty of discussions with people I disagree with here that haven't degenerated into name-calling. On the other hand, if I say something stupid (which I actually try very hard not to do - if I'm unfamiliar with the details of a given subject I tend to ask questions instead of making statements) I expect to be called out on it. No offense, but If Greg can't get a simple answer out of that boob, then I can't see you having any success either.

You have to be the dumbest SOB on the face of the planet. WE HAVE NEVER HAD A FEDERAL CONSUMPTION TAX. That means that ANY numbers are arbitrary when suggesting an amount to be taxed. Can your feeble little cerebrum process that? No, don't bother - you have no bloody hope of ever being able to accurately process a thought, answer a question, or carry on any kind of conversation without tossing out the most laughable, juvenile, immature swill that even a 10 year-old would find ridiculous. You contribute absolutely nothing except nonsense, and your lame schtick is getting old. You're not even funny anymore, you're just an obnoxious, childish, moron who likes to try to bait people into your stupid, useless 'debates'.

I hadn't thought of it that way before, but he does appear to have a creepy preoccupation with my can. I don't play the banjo, but I'm told I'm pretty decent with a guitar.

Listen up you immature little fool - the 12-17% is the range most often suggested for a comsumption tax, but you'd have had to actually been reading the various proposals over the years to know that, which you very obviously do not, since it involves both learning and cogitating, conecpts which are completely foreign to you. You really ought to just go away.

I agree with this - from what I know of he fair tax, I like it. I don't get the potential for black markets springing up for common merchandise, though. What kind of tax is it? Income? VAT? Corporate? I don't see how anyone can dodge a consumption tax.

I wouldn't be killing the country's ability to tax, I'd be shifting it from taking money from people as they earn it to taxing as they spend it. People would have significantly larger paychecks, increasing their spending power. The more you spend, the more you're taxed - wealthy people spend more, and would therefore be taxed more. Do you really believe that adding a 12-17% tax to a pair of 200 dollar sneakers will cause rampant black market activity? Seriously? A consumption tax means no more tax dodgers. It means that drug dealers, organized crime, prostitutes - anyone who earns their income illegally automatically become taxpayers as well. It also gives a greater incentive to government officials to quit screwing with the economy and allow it to flourish, since their precious tax revenue will be dependent upon a healthy economy. And before you start giving people crap about their replies, remember that you're the one who asked.

I stopped giving money to panhandlers years ago when I realized that most of them here shun the homeless shelter (except on the rare occasion that it gets cold at night) and just sleep under bridges and use the money they get for cheap booze. One exception was recently when I saw a man in filthy clothes standing at the side of the road holding a sign that said 'I have no one'. That was a little too much for me, so I gave him 10 dollars. My friend watched him hobble across the street and said 'he's just going to use it to buy alcohol'. I said 'good - I hope he does'. We also get some real idiots out there panhandling - I saw one at the corner of Riverside & IH-35 wearing a gold chain outside his t-shirt.

buckshot?

For starters: 1) Dismantle the NSA domestic surveillance program. 2) Eliminate the IRS - replace the income tax with a consumption tax, eliminate the capital gains tax, and reduce corporate taxes to 15%. 3) Legalize marijuana, gambling, and prostitution. 4) Reform welfare by returning it to the limits imposed by the Clinton administration. 5) Make legal immigration requirements simpler for Latin Americans, Europeans, Asians, etc - one simple method for migrating to the US for everyone. 6) Rebuild the military.

Thoughts and prayers for the Biden family.

The floods came so quickly that a lot of them probably did, but snakes can swim when they have to, and will usually be able to escape flooded areas pretty easily. Some snakes, cottonmouths particularly, thrive and nest in & near water. The floods are also driving fire ants to higher ground. Places in east Texas that are flooding have even more to worry about - they have alligators.

More telling, is there a way to see how long someone spends viewing a thread?

There's a hell of a lot of them here in Texas.

I think you guys are being kind of hard on poor Al. After all, he said the same thing about Louisiana when the Ninth Ward flooded, didn't he?

Etiquette is a part of having good manners, whatever the local etiquette may be.

To me, good manners and proper etiquette show that you have respect for both yourself and for others. It also shows that you have at least a modicum of class. I don't see how anyone could make a legitimate claim that "good manners" carries a cultural bias.