Comments Posted By Travis Monitor
Displaying 111 To 120 Of 175 Comments
DEALERGATE: STATISTICAL COINCIDENCE OR POLITICAL BIAS? (IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW)
My verdict was similar to Rick's...
"My verdict: Smoke and a 'hmmm', but no fire here. It could just be typical Governmental blundering and destruction of wealth and not a specific "Chicago way" style politicized payback."
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2009/05/chrysler-dealership-closings-hidden.htmlI think we need to put things in perspective, put politics aside for a second, and ask if the right thing is being done here wrt closings. The thing is that Chrysler management was NOT behind this. Consider this plea:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/05/letter_from_a_dodge_dealer.html
"
On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. "Something is wrong here, very wrong, irrespective of the partisan leanings of the dealers getting 'whacked'.
Combine this with the attempted Chrysler bond-holder cram-down, the attempts to give UAW control, etc. the stench is getting a bit thick.
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 28.05.2009 @ 22:39
FIRE STEELE AND BRAND THE RUMPS OF RNC COMMITTEEMEN
"MY POINT IS SIMPLE TO RICK MORAN: STOP THE CATCALLS AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE. JUST DO IT THE WAY YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE DONE. TELL US HOW WE *SHOULD* CRITIQUE OBAMA, POSITION THE GOP, AND STAND FOR OUR BELIEFS."
I realize in some ways that this make Rick's point in that this advice fits the RNC as well: Instead of name-calling on Obama, tell us how it SHOULD BE DONE in terms of an agenda for America. That is, don't just critique Obama but give CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM that provides an alternative agenda:
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 14.05.2009 @ 23:27
"Obama is wrong on socializing healthcare, here's is what is better ideas to keep choice and lower costs..."
"Travis Monitor (Freedoms Truth),
why do you always have to evoke ridiculous comparisons like now Nazi economics. "
Always?!? I did it once, only in pointing out the irony of it being a bit more apt than socialism, and immediately self-discounted it as incendiary not illuminating and NOT the way to go. Thanks for not noticing.The fact is that: The Obama administration has strongarmed multiple corporate boards, bondholders and banks already in ways that make a mockery of the phrase free market, already abused by the trillion dollar bailouts and trillion dollar stimulus. They got the health insurers scared enough to 'chip in' on buying down cost of socialized medicine. They are moving this country massively in the direction of higher spending, more regulation, more taxation, and more govt control of the economy. One small example: Employer mandates on healthcare equate to a large tax increase for most workers.
George Will's essay analysis is factually on target, but its complex prose makes it hard to express in our twitterized 30-second soundbite culture.
If 'socialism' is off the table... What's on it? How do you in simple terms describe the many fingers Obama admin is poking into the US economy? "Community Activist Government"?
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 14.05.2009 @ 23:23
#15 Joe "People like Freedoms Truth control the gop today, thats why they are in trouble. Because to them, nothing is wrong with the party.."
Nonsense on multiple levels:
1. I didnt get my presidential nominee nor am I an 'elite' or bigwig. I have no more influence on the GOP than any primary voter.
2. Your view of my view of GOP is completely wrong. I have plenty to say about what the GOP should do and I think rethinking the GOPs articulation, brand, core principles, and engagement with votes, ie, a top-to-bottom rethink and redo, is useful. I am aware and supportive of introspection:
There are brand issues that need to be fixed:
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2008/11/smartness-coolness-factors.html
I think there is a need to change some things:
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2009/05/howl-of-rinos-and-rebuilding-gop.html
3. What I dont support is un-useful 'fire Steele' catcalls, which only feeds the circular firing squad. MY POINT IS SIMPLE TO RICK MORAN: STOP THE CATCALLS AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE. JUST DO IT THE WAY YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE DONE. TELL US HOW WE *SHOULD* CRITIQUE OBAMA, POSITION THE GOP, AND STAND FOR OUR BELIEFS.
4. In general, we have a very unhelpful fetish among some 'hall monitor' type Republicans who want to waste time calling out other Republicans for being too (right-wing, shallow, anti-intellectual, moderate, elitist, populist, happy/sad/emotional/unemotional etc.) IT'S 99% POINTLESS CRITICISM. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS A BETTER WAY. If this is a bad idea, just let it drop silently and move on to a BETTER IDEA.
5. #16, I agree with need for ideas and less anti-Obama stuff at RNC, especially since others can and should take up the Obama agenda opposition. far better for the RNC front page to have GOP core values ...
eg"Here's my take on the Republicans core principles: The GOP is the party of liberty, limited government, judges who rule on law and not make them, law and order, traditional values and family values, free enterprise, equality of opportunity, strong national defense, Federalism and Government as close to the people as possible, support for the truly needy, Constitutional rights and individual responsibility."
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 14.05.2009 @ 23:11
#15 Joe "People like Freedoms Truth control the gop today, thats why they are in trouble. Because to them, nothing is wrong with the party.."
Nonsense on multiple levels:
1. I didnt get my presidential nominee nor am I an 'elite' or bigwig. I have no more influence on the GOP than any primary voter.
2. Your view of my view of GOP is completely wrong. I have plenty to say about what the GOP should do and I think rethinking the GOPs articulation, brand, core principles, and engagement with votes, ie, a top-to-bottom rethink and redo, is useful. I am aware and supportive of introspection:
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2009/05/conservative-introspection-tour.html
There are brand issues that need to be fixed:
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2008/11/smartness-coolness-factors.html
I think there is a need to change some things:
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2009/05/howl-of-rinos-and-rebuilding-gop.html
3. What I dont support is un-useful 'fire Steele' catcalls, which only feeds the circular firing squad. MY POINT IS SIMPLE TO RICK MORAN: STOP THE CATCALLS AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE. JUST DO IT THE WAY YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE DONE. TELL US HOW WE *SHOULD* CRITIQUE OBAMA, POSITION THE GOP, AND STAND FOR OUR BELIEFS.
4. In general, we have a very unhelpful fetish among some 'hall monitor' type Republicans who want to waste time calling out other Republicans for being too (right-wing, shallow, anti-intellectual, moderate, elitist, populist, happy/sad/emotional/unemotional etc.) IT'S 99% POINTLESS CRITICISM FROM ALL SIDES. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS A BETTER WAY. If this is a bad idea, just let it drop silently and move on to a BETTER IDEA.
5. #16, I agree with need for ideas and less anti-Obama stuff at RNC, especially since others can and should take up the Obama agenda opposition. far better for the RNC front page to have GOP core values ...
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2008/11/winning-youth-vote-for-republicans.html"Here's my take on the Republicans core principles: The GOP is the party of liberty, limited government, judges who rule on law and not make them, law and order, traditional values and family values, free enterprise, equality of opportunity, strong national defense, Federalism and Government as close to the people as possible, support for the truly needy, Constitutional rights and individual responsibility."
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 14.05.2009 @ 23:08
IS THE GOP ANTI-SCIENCE? OR JUST ANTI-RATIONALIST?
Not a single creationist has forced me to pay higher taxes or a higher energy bill for their mythical belief system. But I've already had to pay for gore's mythical belief system.
Creationism is not "anti-science." I know educated people who believe in creation theory and are engineers and not 'anti-science'. They dont want to stop science or attack it, they just have faith that overrides conventional thinking on certain matters. I can assure you, NOBODY gets harmed by it at all. So why the character attacks on the GOP on the basis of it?
the whole meme is just a fine example of liberal agit-prop that is successful enough to be 'conventional wisdom'. It's an attempt to make the GOP less popular is all. nothing more.
In fact, liberals are anti-science. They have attacked people who dispute global warming 'consensus' in vicious and personal ways. that is attacking the scientific process. I dont see any conservatives doing that AT ALL. Only people I know that are anti-science in a real sense are liberals.
Anyone who believes the earth is 6,000 years old is not using reason or logic. Anyone who believes man walked with the dinosaurs, ditto. Anyone who rejects carbon dating and other time measuring methods that are widely and universally accepted by the scientific community that shows the earth to be billions of years old rejects science and not just "faith that overrides conventional thinking on certain matters."
When those "certain matters" spell the difference between reality and fantasy, accepting the fantasy places one in the position of rejecting science and thus proving themselves to be anti-science.
ed.
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 12.05.2009 @ 00:09
Excellent points on Stem Cell research.
"Fine, the science on global climate change is fuzzy. Aren’t most of the things we should do to counter global warming good ideas anyway?"
No, if CO2 is harmless then we are talking about huge and stupid diversions of resources to address a non-problem. that makes people poor and gets people killed. Saving energy for economic reasons should be done on the basis of economics.
A lot of Co2 driven ideas like biofuels are a huge waste of money. so is solar.
'Let’s just take some reasonable steps toward sound energy policy."
Yeah, so lets NOT close Yucca mtn or take offshore oil off limits, or shut down nuke plants or stop coal plants or waste billions on ethanols. bad ideas ALL.I also think Sen Inhofe has been fairly good and responsible, given the fact that he is a senator up against a big power structure in the IPCC. He deserves a medal for political courage for what he does on behalf of the truth about CO2.
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 12.05.2009 @ 00:00
TENTH AMENDMENT MOVEMENT SURGES FORWARD
"Michael, the broad interpretation of the Commerce Clause, on which much direct federal control is based dates back nearly two centuries."
Nonsense. Wickard decision was important in 1940s precisely because it was new; that New Deal FDR-appointed SCOTUS was the first SCOTUS to decide thusly in favor of the commerce clause being a Congressional blank check for economic regulation.
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 7.05.2009 @ 21:51
"Further, bring up Jim Crow [in the context of the Tenth Amendment] is a gigantic strawman. "
Correct, it is a strawman argument.
The analogy would be to accusing you of being a communist because you believe in free speech includes the right to express communist beliefs. Insert Voltaire quote here.
Federalism is a KEY component of the architecture of our free society. hats off to those reminding others of its importance. The best government is self-government and the next best government is that which is closest to the people.
States rights is about the right of states and the people to hold on to their freedom.
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 7.05.2009 @ 21:46
IF REAGAN TOLERATED MODERATES, WHY CAN'T TODAY'S CONSERVATIVES?
"What I meant with competitiveness was more about funding R & D, how do you maintain a manufacturing base. Do you see a role for government here too?"
Yes I do. The EPA is about to impose dumb and draconian regulations on chemicals used in the $200 billion semiconductor industry that will drive it all overseas - bye bye US fabs, all gone to Taiwan. See recent EE Times. Cap-and-trade is going to ship all energy intensive industry to China and India if we are dumb enough to impose it. Bye bye steel, aluminum and heavy industry.
Sarbanes-Oxley has hurt the IPO market and through that the VC-funded R&D cycle. Bye bye tech sector, software.
Obama's socialized medicine will kill innovation in the healthcare sector. bye bye pharms and medical advances.
And now Obama, rather than lowering tax rates is calling corporations 'tax cheats' for legally trying to not get raped by the IRS for overseas earnings. For shame.
See a trend?
The #1 role for Govt is to stop doing counterproductive things like that which harms our competitiveness.
Comment Posted By Travis Monitor On 5.05.2009 @ 23:21
The #2 thing would be to end earmarks. that would make our R&D spend in govt far more cost-effective.
