Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

As to the labor force participation rate (a metric not used until Obama got unemployment to record low levels) that includes retirees, disabled and children as non-participants doesn't it?

People like me use the metric because it is a contributor to a misleading official unemployment number that suggests that we have a robust economy with a shortage of workers.

[SeattleLionsFan]

People like me use the metric because it is a contributor to a misleading official unemployment number that suggests that we have a robust economy with a shortage of workers.

So my 70 year old mother should be considered unemployed? What about her 95 year old mother before she died earlier this year?

What are the participation numbers for those 25-55? That way we can separate out the noise of baby boomers hitting retirement age.

[hack]

Yes you do. You know exactly what I mean. You just don't want to be intellectually honest and admit that these are concepts that you are okay with.

If you want to discuss things with me you will have to be specific. It wouldn't be the first time I mistook the literal meaning of something for something else in discussing something with you or ideological peers here.

More generally, if you are going to accuse me of such or anything else personal then it stops there. If this continues, it stops here. If you want to call the left in general a pack of mentally ill people or media a horns-and-tails crowd then go ahead, but if direct anything at me personally then that is a problem. I extend a degree of courtesy to you and I expect the same in return.

[AlabamAlum]

I extend a degree of courtesy to all god's creatures.

Except that douche-canoe John Urschel.

[hack]

Yeah but seeing as you're from the south we know you're just being polite.

[AlabamAlum]

I'm wearing my new copper-fit(tm) socks. I'm up for anything.

[AlabamAlum]

Yeah but seeing as you're from the south we know you're just being polite.

I am very polite. Very.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I extend a degree of courtesy to all god's creatures.

Except that douche-canoe John Urschel.

...... and talent who deserves nothing more than our scorn.

Interesting reading on immigration.

Entropy has the most supportable position on immigration of all you dudes who've voiced one ..... I think talent agrees with him so, maybe that's not a good endorsement.

I read E's position as being somewhat akin to this and very likely to suffer the same fate even though it makes a ton of sense:

In 2005, Senators John McCain & Ted Kennedy proposed a guest-worker program & a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. Both sides torpedoed the efforts. Opposition to the bill from the right was based primarily on demands to secure the border. In response to those concerns, border security resources--including personnel, fencing, and high-tech surveillance--were increased substantially. Deportations of illegal immigrants increased substantially, to about 250,000 annually.

In 2007, another bipartisan immigration reform effort was made, led by Senators John Kyl and Kennedy. The bill would have introduced a point system to identify and favor high-value immigrants, increased significantly the number of employment-based green cards, reduced family preferences, and established a guest-worker program. That effort failed as well: some liberals opposed it on the grounds of protecting American workers, while conservative opponents denounced it on the grounds of amnesty and border security.

Despite the best efforts of legislators to get something done, political polarization will continue to fuck both Americans and immigrants.

[AlabamAlum]

Jeff,

Talent is the worst.

[WingsFan]

Tell em Newt!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4__NN-faVY"]Newt Gingrich: Madonna Should Be Arrested For Comments About Blowing Up White House - YouTube[/ame]

[SeattleLionsFan]

Whooohoo! I see they are focused on the big ideas.

Meanwhile, Trump gets riled up watching OReilly and threatens to "send in the Feds" to Chicago.

[WingsFan]

My Facebook feed-

Donald J. Trump
1 hr ?
If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

[Dr. Strangelove]

[ame]https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/824141389810270209[/ame]

[ame]https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/824143865892503556[/ame]

[Hannibal]

So my 70 year old mother should be considered unemployed? What about her 95 year old mother before she died earlier this year?

What are the participation numbers for those 25-55? That way we can separate out the noise of baby boomers hitting retirement age.

I confess I don't know what portion of the workforce non-participation is due to the wave of baby boomers retiring and what is due to people who have just stopped trying to work. I think that there are both effects at play. I do know that Obama was not a fan of Bill Clinton's 1990s welfare reforms and that in the past decade, the definition of "disability" has been expanded greatly. If the low work force participation issue is a permanent one that will not disappear with a robust economy, then that to me presents another huge challenge entirely -- one that means that as a country we cannot afford to be charitable -- either through our foreign policy or our immigration policy. There is no debate about whether we are going to have the welfare state anymore. It's over and you guys won. The debate is now whether we should have a welfare state where a limited and dwindling number of net tax payers support either 300 million people or 400 million people. I vote 300 million. How about you?

In addition to a fledgeling welfare state, we also have a hugely progressive income tax. Through a combination of lower and middle class tax cuts and tax credits, about half of the country is paying little to no income tax. That means that anyone who earns minimum wage is a drain on the system. That's why none of the Libertarian or Economic arguments in favor of free immigration, which I used to be very sympathetic to, hold water for me.

[entropy]

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/st...41389810270209

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/st...43865892503556

agree with both of these..