Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

That was pretty impressive!

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

5:00 into raiding a house on a disturbance call, sheriff exclaims: we may have to get a warrant for this.

olderguy

iTrader: (19)

So it is not only New Jersey. Go here for the back story:

Pro Libertate: "He's a Constitutionalist" (SECOND UPDATE, October 16)

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

I like this one:

Police Officer Shoots Self In The Leg, Causes Search For Non-Existent Gunman

cordycord

iTrader: (2)

Lew asks Congress for debt increase, says it

So the representatives from our representative government are telling us how it's going to be, while the IRS wants to know how we pray in order to get tax exempt status, and the Justice department is bugging the Congressional cloak room. That must mean a Socialist is president...

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

man widdling; shot and killed. family gets 1.5 million in wrongful death suit.

POLICE SHOOTING REVIEW BOARD FINDING: "The use of deadly force by Officer Birk resulting in the death of John T. Williams was unjustified,"

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Houston police officers have shot 228 dogs since 2010. All Police Shootings of Dogs Have Been Justified, Says Houston Police Depart - Hit & Run : Reason.com

2ndGearRubber

Cops prefer cats.

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

I thought it would be nice if some people had a reason to take a break from the wailing and gnashing of teeth and recognize that "things are better than they were (using some of our favorite metrics)."

Government jobs have shrunk rapidly at the state and local levels and have tapered off to about zero net growth vs 5 years ago. [Attachment 1]

The Federal government has shrunk relative to GDP while the private sector has largely recovered from the brutal recession - enough to "carry the baton" while the government sector has been a net drag on economic growth. [Attachment 2]

Even the Federal fiscal deficit is on pace to drop significantly from its recessionary peak and - barring a recession or significant economic slowdown - should drop to a level in line with historical averages (about 4% of GDP).


I know, I know. There are tons of reasons to be grumpy and bitter and disconsolate and to rail against the tyranny of oppressive government. But, every now and then, it's okay to take stock of some positives.*




* This assumes you consider shrinking Federal fiscal deficits, reduced government employment, reduced Federal government as a percentage of real GDP, and recovery of the private sector relative to real GDP contributions a positive thing.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

LIES! ANARCHY!

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

This graph shows the Federal fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP (the numbers on the Y-axis). The data is only updated to September of 2012; it's continued to move up from there.

Fathom55

Scrappy, elaborate on that chart. I don't think it's simply showin deficiet as a % of GDP. Unless the negative reflects the "deficit"...so this chart is really showing the "surplus" as a % of GDP?

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

Good question. Source data: FRED - St. Louis Fed

The graph shows:

the Federal fiscal surplus (+) or deficit (-), NSA, in millions of dollars

divided by

the gross domestic product, NSA, in billions of dollars

all divided by 10 to even the units of measure and produce a figure in percentage

I think the STLFR actually produces a simplified chart to represent this now, but I had created and saves this one a long time ago.

A deficit is a negative value. Most people just invert the result to make it more intuitive to sync with normal conversation. A surplus is a net positive figure and a deficit is a net negative.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

Ta dah:



Same output, but more cleanly labeled.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

cordycord

iTrader: (2)

None of the 24 Libertarians ever killed 150 million people. Maybe a Socialist cartoon with Mao, Pol Pot and those guys would be funny. I'd even let that Social Democrat Hitler slide in for a cameo.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

Cordy, I'm impressed. You have even less of a grasp on history than I thought.

Radical right-wing authoritarianism (fascism is a distinct form of it) has about as much to do with "Social Democrats" as Pol Pot or Mao.

Seriously, the second anyone tries to lump fascism in with communism or socialism* (All of which are actually distinct contradictory entities [Lesser so with communism/socialism granted, but communism and socialism are their own distinct beasts nonetheless] on their own anyways) let alone trying to lump any of those in with modern politics regardless of the political position, you know they are nothing more than either a partisan hack desperately trying to score political points willing to lie through their teeth, someone who has a serious lack of education, or someone who is seriously delusional.

*: Education is good**. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Communism_vs_Socialism
(Edit) **: Excellent read on a topic related to this, as it's pretty clear you are confusing communism(economics) vs Communism(political): http://www.romm.org/soc_com.html

cordycord

iTrader: (2)

You miss the common thread Blaen. Fascism, Socialism, Communism, etceteras are all failed forms of government, and have more in common than they would with anything Libertarian.