Posts made by Smacktard

There’s nothing in Lee’s charcater to suggest he would knowingly send out one of his own divisions to be slaughtered. The only general to oppose the attack was Longstreeet, who had been behind the stone wall at Frederiskberg and knew how cut up attackers could get, trying to take a fortified position. Pickett was thrilled to finally get his divsion in the fight.

And Lee had done quite well on the first two days. The first day, the Union was driven out of the town and to the hills. The 2nd day, Sickle’s division was sluaghtered because he was an idiot and marched out 1/4 mile ahead of the battle line (lost a leg for it) . Lee came within  an ace of rolling up the Union line at Little Round Top. If it had been anyone other than Chamberlain (who was one of the best soldiers in the entire war), Lee would have taken the hills and been able to flank Meade’s lines.

So the notion that Lee had failed miserable on both days is false. The first day went very well and he came so close on the 2nd day. The casualty figures bear this out: 23,000 union casualties after the fight, and 20,000-25,000 confederate. And that figure is AFTER Pickett’s charge. Before the assault, Lee had been doing very well.

Lee’s own explanation says it all: “I asked more of men than should have been asked of them.” He had come to believe his army could do the impossible (which it had throughout the war). Against Burnside, Hooker or McClellan the charge might have worked. But Meade was a capable general, and Hancock (whose division Pickett ran into) was an excellent soldier.

And as someone else pointed out: the war dragged on another two years. Had Lee seceretely wanted to surrender, he had ample oppurtunity after Gettysberg.

Just as a historical fact, the confederates best chance for victory came AFTER Gettysberg, when McClellan (anti-war), was set to trounce Lincoln in the election. Joe Johnston, the confederate commander at Atlanta, wouldn’t give Sherman a fight becasue he knew Lincoln would lose the election. Davis replaced Johnson with Hood, who promptly wrecked his army attacking Sherman, Sherman captured Atlanta, and Lincoln won reelection.

Very volatile situation. Too politically charged to talk about though?

@ncscswitch:

It could still be a full $5000 benefit… AND a social welfare program under McCain’s plan.

What he does not state is whether or not it is a REFUNDABLE Tax Credit (which it sounds like he might be, but that is not 100% certain).

If it is a refundable tax credit, then it would be like EIC…  You can get back more in a refund than you paid during the year.

If its like that, then you really open the floodgates. Still, it would be preferable to Hillarys all-or-nothign plan. But no matter how you slice it, its gonna cost a lot. America just doesnt have the money anymore  :-(

This is about as specific as McCain gets on the “issues” page of his website:

“Reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance, and provide all individuals with a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to increase incentives for insurance coverage. Individuals owning innovative multi-year policies that cost less than the full credit can deposit remainder in expanded health savings accounts.”

Two problems:

1. Median income families with children don’t pay hardly any income tax at all (median household income is $48000. Assume AGI of $40,000. Standard deduction of $10000, plus $3300 for spouse, yourself, and two kids. Taxable income= $25000. Tax= $2900. Two Child Tax Credits makes total tax $900)

So a typical two-kid family will save $900 a year, not $5000.

2. McCain runs into the same problem as Barac and Hillary. $5000 a year DOES buy fairly good coverage (assuming no preexisting conditions, which is a BIG assumption) How many families will go for that? 20 million? That’s $100 billion a year in tax credits. That + Iraq + Afghanistan + Medicare + Social Security = financial catastrophe.

I thought you just put your hand over your heart for the pledge.I 've always just taken my hat off whenever the Anthem is played.

A lotof Baracs troubles have been of the self-inflicted variety.

@Adlertag:

@Smacktard:

FDR has to get props for being one of the greatest wartime leaders weve had. His legacy of big federal govt, though, keeps him out of the top 5.

This s*itty leader let Stalin have most of Europe after the war just to please the big military industrial complex in Jew$ofA, because they needed some antagonist to justifie their existence.

Why do I picture you with a dog eared copy of the Elders of Zion? Do you really think Jews had antyhing to do with the decision to NOT attack Russia and liberate Eastern Europe? It wasnt an option. Christ, Russia had 2.5 million men JUST for the Berlin Offensive. They had over 11 million men in their army at the end of world war 2. They would have been close to their supply lines, and fighting on one front. We still were fighting Japan when Germany surrendered. We hadnt even tested our first atomic bomb yet.

If the Dems cant win in this environment, they should pack it in. Start a new “know nothing” party or something.

FDR has to get props for being one of the greatest wartime leaders weve had. His legacy of big federal govt, though, keeps him out of the top 5.

Well, its an attack on his character, but as long as Obamas not taken out of context or misquoted (and you dont need to do that to make him look bad), its going to be that rarity in politics- an accurate political attack.

OK. Read this Switch:

"WASHINGTON -It is already easy to imagine the Republican attack ads against Barack Obama.

They open with video of his wife, Michelle, saying she was proud of America “for the first time in my adult lifetime” because of her husband’s presidential candidacy. Cut to the Illinois Senator explaining that he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin because it is a “substitute for true patriotism.” Then flash a clip of Obama explaining that his Caucasian grandmother was a “typical white person” because she uttered racial epithets and was afraid of black people.

Finally, the coup de grace, pictures of Obama’s angry, arm-waving preacher blaming the United States for 9/11 and shouting “God Damn America” to the rafters of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ." http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=392200

Thats exactly how its gonna go down. Obama, the new Gary Hart?

@Cmdr:

That would, of course, mandate the immediate surrender and withdrawal of troops from such front line assignments like Germany, Italy, France, India, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, Midway, etc and serious considerations for keeping troops in the Useless Nations.

Just out of curiousity, how many troops do you think we have in Vietnam and India?

Lets just focus on one thing here. Its very illuminating. I said

The Dow hasn’t hit 10,000 since 2005

You said:

@Cmdr:

Rounded it has.

No it hasnt. From 2007 to PRESENT it hasn’t fallen below 11500. If you’re rounding 11500 to 10,000, youre an idiot. http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=DJIA&sid=1643&o_symb=DJIA&freq=1&time=9

April 2007 it dropped below 11,000 which is in the 10,000 range.

No it didn’t. April 2007, it never dropped below 12,000. How do you go through life not knowing how to read a basic chart?

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=DJIA&sid=1643&o_symb=DJIA&freq=1&time=9

we say it’s 12,000.

No we don’t. We say it closed at 12361.

Just like under the 109th Congress it peaked in the 14,000s.

No it didn’t. It didnt hit 14000 until July 2007. During the 110th Congress

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped a record 14,000 this week, but other concerns about the economy remained, including an increase in housing foreclosures. A columnist explains the economic factors.”

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec07/market_07-20.html
July 20, 2007

And that basically sums up the difference between us. You have no clue what youre talking about and I have to correct you.

If you want to shorten my name, “Smack” will do, otherwise i’ll have to come up with a similar name for you, and the mods will get involved and nobody wins.

@Cmdr:

(2) She can get FL and MI seated at the convention.  Without a revote she would get 100% of the delegates from both states being the only one to receive any votes IN those two states.

Only for Michigan. Barac was on the ballot in Florida and won 33% of the vote.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/fl/florida_democratic_primary-261.html

@Cmdr:

@Smacktard:

@Cmdr:

Wow, Tard-boy, even when you stumble right into your own traps you are oblivious.

Thats it? I prove you wrong on almost everything and all you got is a lame personal attack? Kind of a hollow victory. Anyway I shall smite thee righetously and move on.

You’ve proved no one wrong on anything.

Foster does not give up his seat in Nov.
The Dow hasn’t hit 10,000 since 2005
There are online newspapers in Foster’s district (14th congressional)
Turnout in the Foster race was 22%
Foster won by over 5000 votes and 6%
Barac has never said “he isn’t too disappointed with being back in second place because he never thought the black candidate would beat Hillary”
Congress routinely votes on (and passes) legislation in Jan and Feb
The beginning of Congress’s term is when they’re sworn in, not when they pass “most of their legislation”
Neither Congress nor Bush have anything to do with the credit/housing crisis.

And thats off the top of my head. But anyway. The most telling point is you won’t put your money wher your mouth is. I’m willing to bet on my predictions. Youre not. Nuff said. I’ll also make a pretty safe prediction that youre desperate to have the last word.

55%

Most times you are proud to be an American.
Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe
Still, you know there’s no place better suited to be your home.
You love your freedom and no one’s going to take it away from you!

I then took it like it was the year 2000 and scored 83%.

@Cmdr:

Wow, Tard-boy, even when you stumble right into your own traps you are oblivious.

Thats it? I prove you wrong on almost everything and all you got is a lame personal attack? Kind of a hollow victory. Anyway I shall smite thee righetously and move on.

The dollar’s plummeting, the Fed just financed a JP Morgan take-over of Bear Stearns, foreclosures are rising, home prices are dropping, GDP growth is anemic, national debt is obscnene, energy prices are sky rocketing, Iraq is $12 billion a month.

Should we grin and bear it (work on restoring our fundamentals), or should the Fed continue to lower interest rates and bail out investment banks?

Who doesnt love a juicy prostitution scandal?