McCain Hates Pilots

[PCL_128]

Why shouldn't it be left up to the states? Yes, because they know what's better for us than we do.

The states are free to adopt a higher minimum wage, and many do. The problem is that many of the states that don't have a higher minimum wage are the poorest states in the nation. Everyone in this country should be able to work a job that keeps them out of poverty. It shouldn't be a "states rights" issue.

 

[JoeMerchant]

The states are free to adopt a higher minimum wage, and many do. The problem is that many of the states that don't have a higher minimum wage are the poorest states in the nation. Everyone in this country should be able to work a job that keeps them out of poverty. It shouldn't be a "states rights" issue.

So we can elimate poverty by raising the minimum wage....sounds so simple.......

How high can we raise it? $10, $15,...how about $20.....???

 

[tomgoodman]

Constitutional basis for minimum-wage law?

There is also nothing in there that authorizes congress to enact minimum wage laws.

If challenged on the matter, Congress would probably cite the "Commerce Clause" (Art. 1 Sec. 8). Over the years, its implied authority has been expanded to cover almost anything connected with business. Whether this deemed to be good or bad probably depends more upon how one likes the result obtained than upon the process. It's pretty clear that the Supreme Court has deferred to Congress in this area since upholding the Fair Labor Standards Act (which first established a minimum wage in 1938).

 

[PCL_128]

So we can elimate poverty by raising the minimum wage....sounds so simple.......

No, as you know, some people live in poverty by choice. Others are mentally ill and need other help. But those living in poverty while working for a living would be brought out of poverty by a higher minimum wage.

How high can we raise it? $10, $15,...how about $20.....???

Personally, I think it should be $10, but studies would have to be done to determine what the best figure would be.

 

[Tweaker]

My research confirmed what I already felt to be true.

McCain's voting record in the 109th Congress is the third most conservative (as of November 2005). On the other hand, his voting record during the 107th Congress, from January 2001 through November of 2002, places him as the 6th most liberal Republican senator, according to the same data and analysis at voteview.com.

That is a huge problem for me. I will never know which McCain will show up each day and neither will Wall Street. Chaos and much handwringing will ensue.

Also, an earlier post stated that he almost sunk an American aircraft carrier. I learned that this was untrue. A Phantom piloted by someone else fired a missle on deck, hitting his Skyhawk. He jumped and his bombs blew up injuring him and killing many others on board.

Personally, I like McCain a lot. He has a great sense of humor. (see Bomb Iran song) He is also an honorable person. That said, I would never vote for him. If he gets the nomination, the Republican party will either be temporarily in a coma, be permanently destroyed, or a new 3rd party will get a huge boost. I hope for the latter.

 

[pilotyip]

We meet them and they are us.

I certainly hope so. They're raping the rest of us.

Most of the professional pilots who have been in the business for over 10 years are in that upper 10%

 

[pilotyip]

PCL, you sound like a victim. The truth is that none of us would be where we are if these evil rich people had never invested their money in the companies we work for, buy products from, and obtain services from. Look at a third world county. They don't have "big business" and see where their QOL is.

I will say it. THANK YOU BIG BUSINESS AND RICH PEOPLE for:

building my house
making my car
producing my food
clothes
gas
computers
cell phone
etc.

Everything the libs are proposing would reduce incentives from companies to produce.

Higher taxes on business and investors. Higher fuel taxes, etc. All of these would directly affect your job. Dems are not about helping the little guy, they are all about CONTROL.

Hey! stop that, this is a pilot board we do not deal in reality here. Not to mention these same people provide us our present jobs, as much as many here seem to hate them.

 

[CitationLover]

Also, an earlier post stated that he almost sunk an American aircraft carrier. I learned that this was untrue. A Phantom piloted by someone else fired a missle on deck, hitting his Skyhawk. He jumped and his bombs blew up injuring him and killing many others on board.

Although the straight talk express is BS, this statement is also BS (regarding McCain or the F4 pilot).

The bombs that exploded were old WW2 era bombs. Problem #1. The deckman were in the habit of plugging the electrical pins in early to the zuni pod to save time. Problem #2. The F4 would have an electrical surge when switching from external power to its own power source. Problem #3. The F4 pilot had NO IDEA that switching electrical power over would fire a zuni rocket across the deck and hit McCain's A4. Then the ensuing fire would overheat older WW2 bombs and cause them to explode killing the fire control squad instantly. The problem was Navy policy, procedures, and sloppy management not of one specific individual.

The good thing that came out of this was the future fire fighting techniques that are now in play aboard all ships at sea. The 132 people who died aboard the Forrestal did not die in vain and the ensuing new techniques have probably save as many lives since then.

 

[Ralph Wiggums]

1. Capital gains....like when a middle class family sells it's house for 200K more than it bought the house for.....then turns around and buys a new house....Should that be taxed as "ordinary income"?

Joe,

At least get your facts right. If a family sells their home and buys another one of equal or greater value, any gain realized on the prior sale is not taxed. In fact, that gain can be carried over for an unlimited number of transactions. And then, when the last home is sold and a smaller, downsized residence is purchased, a married couple can exclude $500,000 of gain accumulated from the prior sales from any taxes.

http://www.real-estate-owner.com/primary-residence-exclusion.html

The 15% Capital Gains tax rate is a total sop to the rich. Very few middle class Americans will ever pay any tax on capital gains. Why? The gains from their primary residence are shielded as explained above.

Their stock holdings are almost exclusively held within the confines of an IRA or 401(k). When they take disbursements from these accounts, the money is taxed as ORDINARY INCOME, not as long term capital gains. This is despite the fact that they have endured the same market risk and provided business "with the capital it needs," just like Joe Big-bucks.

The difference is Joe Big-bucks gets to pay only 15% on his gains, while you pay at your highest marginal rate. Don't kid yourself. The 15% capital gains tax rate is just another way the rich screw the middle class, brought to you in living color by W.

Read Perfectly Legal, by David Cay Johnston if you want more information.

http://books.google.com/books?id=rtEFAAAACAAJ&dq=perfectly+legal

Here's an excerpt:

Tom Toth says he is comfortable with the fact that not everyone received a rebate. And he is also comfortable with the aspect of the Bush tax cuts that drew the most criticism, the fact that 43 percent of the income tax cuts, and more than half of the total tax cuts, go to the top 1 percent. "The top 1 percent is probably paying more than 43 percent of all the taxes, so they should be getting the cuts," he said.

But Tom is mistaken. The tax burden on the top 1 percent is nowhere near that hgh, although so many politicians and antitax advocates have made such false claims so many times that millions of Americans believe it to be true. The top 1 percent paid 36 percent of the income taxes in 2001. But when the burden of all federal taxes is added up --- corporate profits, estate, gift, Social Security, Medicare and excise taxes --- they only paid 25 percent.

When the Bush tax cuts of 2001, 2002, and 2003 are fully in place in 2010, the share of taxes paid by the bottom 95 percent of tax payers will rise by 3.8 percentage points, while for the top 5 percent it will fall by the same amount. Nearly all the tax savings will go to the top 1 percent, whose share will decline by 2.7 percentage points.

 

[CitationLover]

an increase in the capital gains rate might force people to *gasp* invest in their employees.......

 

[skyaddict]

That said, I would never vote for him. If he gets the nomination, the Republican party will either be temporarily in a coma, be permanently destroyed, or a new 3rd party will get a huge boost. I hope for the latter.

Romney, with all his pros (sharp as a tack, proven business experience, etc) and cons (pandered via soundbytes to try and win the Rep base but really has shown far less courage to stand by any views than McCain- who admitedly has toned them down to win back the base) is *completely* unelectable running against Obama. Arguably, he is Obama's "dream" opponent. He just might be electable against Billary but there is zero chance of someone who is a slick, rich white man beating Obama at the maverick/change label game.

McCain can actually beat either- even Obama although it won't be a cakewalk. As for the Republican base and McCain's conservatism or lack thereof- it will be a challenge because, by contrast, the Dem base will rally in a lovefest much faster against either of their candidates (and it will be a Hillary/Obama ticket if she wins, erasing the Billary race card game quickly enough), but in the past 3 years, the electoral center has shifted leftwards more to the traditional center from the center-right where it was before, and this is the main reason McCain is the most electable of the Reps. A pure-base strategy is doomed to fail. Of course, if Billary is the nominee, the Rep base will be energized, discounting complete loons like Ann Coultier.

To bash McCain on equivocation re. tax cuts or social conservatism ignores that he looks ironclad in the conservatism that truly counts now (federal budgets headed towards bankruptcy as the boomers retire)- responsible fiscal conservatism. Entitlements are at the core of spending issues, and his bipartisan experience is more likely to yield progress than confrontation that goes nowhere. And tax cuts without spending cuts are just another form of printing money.

As far as a three party system goes- I would prefer it too instead of this back and forth game. But our party machines are so entrenched, I just don't see it happening in my lifetime. I would like to see independents be able to vote in either party's primary in all states- that would really weaken the base's power for both parties and reduce soundbyte pandering, which I think is sorely needed.

 

[atafan]

from January 2001 through November of 2002, places him as the 6th most liberal Republican senator, according to the same data and analysis at voteview.com.

Exactly! McCain was so p*ssed because Bush beat him he started an all out war against the party and especially Bush. He was hell bent on destroying the people who kept him out of the White House. He has become a liberal and almost changed parties.

McCain has not proven to be honorable and is exactly what is wrong with Washington. He says he is a maverick, I say he's just a liberal, why else does the press and most dems love this man? They love anyone who sticks it to the right and especially President Bush.

McCain is, in my opinion, a small minded, miserable, sniveling, back stabbing, mean and nasty old man. I no longer consider him honorable because he will do what ever he has to, to be the President.

I believe that Mitt Romney is the best and only other viable option and he has my vote.

Have a nice day!

 

[skydash]

• Latest "poverty" figures from the census bureau:Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio. Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning. Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person. The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.) Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.

As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.

 

[apache]

Betrayal, deceit, corruption and John McCain​

By Ted Sampley
U.S. Veteran Dispatch
http://www.usvetdsp.com​

November 14, 2007

Last week, Sen. John McCain launched on fellow Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani criticizing the former New York City mayor because Bernie Kerik, police commissioner under Giuliani, was indicted and accused of fraudulent dealings.

"A president's judgment matters and Rudy Giuliani has repeatedly placed personal loyalty over regard for the facts," declared McCain, suggesting that Giuliani's support of Kerik showed a serious lapse in judgment.

Kerik, 52, according to a 16-count federal indictment, received cash and gifts for lobbying regulators on behalf of a New Jersey construction and waste-management firm. Prosecutors allege that Kerik cheated on taxes and lied to investigators--including those recommending him for a cabinet-level post on behalf of President George W. Bush.

McCain has forgotten his own history of involvement with betrayal, deceit and corruption

When McCain returned to the United States in 1973 after more than five years as a prisoner of war, he found his wife was a different person. Carol McCain, once a model, had been badly injured in a car wreck in 1969. The accident "left her 4 inches shorter and on crutches, and she gained a good deal of weight." Despite her injures, she had refused to allow her POW husband to be notified about her condition, fearing that such news would not be good for him while he was being held prisoner.

But, just a couple years later, McCain, while pondering a future in politics, met Cindy Hensley, an attractive 25-year-old woman from a very wealthy politically-connected Arizona family. While still married to Carol, McCain began an adulterous relationship with Cindy. He married Cindy in May 1980 -- just a month after dumping his crippled wife and securing a divorce.

McCain followed his young, millionairess wife back to Arizona. Not long after settling in, the former POW newlywed was introduced to Darrow "Duke" Tully, publisher of the conservative and powerful Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Gazette.

Tully, who quickly became a close friend of McCain, wasted no time in using the power of his newspapers to jump start McCain's political career. His newspapers endorsed McCain's first run for Congress and touted him as successor for retiring Sen. Barry Goldwater.

Described as "equal parts cowboy, commando, swashbuckler and elegant tycoon" by the Chicago Tribune, Tully was "a George Patton who drove a Corvette, a Randolph Hearst who flew an F-16, a John Wayne in aviator glasses and Air Force dress blues."

Tully appeared to have a lot in common with his close friend, former Navy combat pilot and war hero McCain. Tully boasted of his 100 missions over Vietnam, retiring from the Air Force as a lieutenant-colonel. Tully's military service, according to Tully, included air combat in Korea, where he once was forced to crash land his P-51 Mustang fighter and spent time in a hospital as a result--so he said. His smashed front teeth were replaced with stainless steel, he also said.

Tully, just like his friend McCain, claimed he had received the Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.

Tully painstaking groomed McCain for public office. He introduced him to the influential and gave him guest column space in The Arizona Republic. He manipulated endless favorable references from the paper's other columnists. McCain, in turn, honored Tully by asking him to be godfather of one of his children

However, the day after Christmas 1985, it was revealed in the Chicago Tribune, that McCain's close friend Duke Tully had "an imagination as big as his ego."

Tully had never even been the military.

At the same time McCain's political ambitions were being assisted by Tully, he had cultivated political relationships with developer and future Arizona governor Fife Symington III and lawyer, politician and banker Charles Keating Jr.

When Goldwater did not to run for re-election to the Senate in 1986, McCain's powerful new friends quickly catapulted him into Goldwater's Arizona senate seat.

In the senate, McCain managed to stay low key until suddenly he found himself on television trying to explain himself as one of the "Keating 5," five senators who became enmeshed in the scandal involving the collapsed Lincoln Savings and Loan and the financial machinations of Charles Keating.

Keating was convicted of federal fraud and racketeering charges and in 1997, McCain's friend Symington was forced out of office after being convicted on seven counts of fraud.

For years McCain has successfully cultivated a false facade as the "straight-talking" politician unsullied by big-money influence of special-interest groups. He has shrewdly manipulated most of the national press corps into ignoring (or forgiving) facts that expose him as a disreputable character and enemy of the truth..

Reports from a variety of U.S. publications exposed McCain's true scandalous character

The Arizona Republic - October 17, 1989" . . . both in telephone conversations with reporters and on a live radio talk show, the Republican senator was far from calm. He was agitated. Angry. And the way he dealt with unpleasant questions was to bully the questioners . . . 'You're a liar,' McCain snapped Sept. 29 when an Arizona Republic reporter asked him about business ties between his wife, Cindy McCain, and Keating . . . 'That's the spouse's involvement, you idiot,' McCain sneered later in the same conversation. 'You do understand English, don't you?' ". . . Not content with just bullying reporters, McCain tried belittling them: 'It's up to you to find that out, kids.' . . . McCain wasn't talking to liars. He wasn't talking to juveniles. The senator was talking to two reporters."

The Arizona Republic - October 17, 1989 -- "McCain, in a radio talk-show appearance last week condemned disclosures of his family's ties to Keating as 'irresponsible journalism.'"

The Phoenix Gazette, November 13, 1989 -- "Reporters also 'discovered' that the senator's wife and father-in-law invested $359,100.00 in one of Mr. Keating's projects in 1986 . . ."

The Arizona Republic, April 29, 1990 -- "McCain's involvement with Keating . . . when reporters called him with questions last year about previously unknown ties to Keating, an investment by wife Cindy McCain in a Keating shopping center and trips to Keating's Bahamas home, McCain went into a rage."

New Republic, Dec. 31, 1990--"The only Republican of the bunch [the five Senators], John McCain of Arizona wins credit for finally drawing the line. After the second of the two April meetings [with Federal regulators] he told Mr. [Sen. Dennis] DeConcini [D-Ariz.] and Mr. Keating that he wouldn't lean on the regulators any more. Mr. Keating called him a wimp. But before the rupture, Mr. McCain and his family were regular guests of Mr. Keating's on trips to the Bahamas. Mr. McCain reimbursed the owner of Lincoln Savings and Loan for only a small fraction of the cost of these holidays. Yet, he never reported the vacations on Senate disclosure forms, or his income taxes. He said he thought his wife had paid Mr. Keating back. This is hard to believe."

Part I

 

[apache]

Part II

Economist, Mar. 9, 1991--"Mr. McCain, despite his claims of innocense, was the only one of the five who benefitted personally--family holidays in the Bahamas on Mr. Keating's tab."

New Republic, Sept. 9, 1991--Calling McCain part of the "Senatorial Lincoln Brigade," the New Republic reported that Keating, while bankrupting his savings and loan, had channeled $1.4 million to the campaigns or causes of the five senators, who in turn pressured the savings and loan regulators to back off our friend."

Regardie's magazine, April-May 1992 issue. "Ultimately, the fall of Lincoln Savings and Loan will cost the U.S. taxpayers $2 billion. It lost $1 million dollars a day from the time Keating bought it in 1984 until its collapse in 1989, and yet he continued to pay off McCain as 'one of his assets.'"

Cindy McCain escaped prosecution for stealing/using drugs

The Arizona Republic, August 24, 1994 -- "Cindy McCain, the wife of U.S. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, admitted in a series of media interviews Monday that she became addicted to the painkillers Percocet and Vicodin. She said that she used the drugs from 1989 to 1992 and acknowledged that she had stolen some pills from the American Voluntary Medical Team, a charitable organization of which she is president . . . at one point, McCain, 40, was ingesting 15 to 20 pills a day . . . the normal dosage for seriously ill patients is 6 to 10 a day for a short period."

The Phoenix Gazette, August 25, 1994 -- "Cindy McCain was investigated recently by the Drug Enforcement Administration for stealing and using Percocet and Vicodin, both narcotic painkillers from her aid organization . . . the county attorney's report provides a window to drug dealings within Cindy McCain's nonprofit corporation . . . Gosinski also alleged that Cindy McCain abused her husband's office and diplomatic privileges by transporting illegal substances overseas. He also claimed, according to her lawyers, that Cindy McCain tried to prevent him from providing accurate information to the DEA."

Playboy, July 1999. -- "Ms. McCain admitted stealing Percocet and Vicodin from the American Voluntary Medical Team, an organization that aids Third World countries. Percocet and Vicodin are schedule 2 drugs, in the same legal category as opium. Each pill theft carries a penalty of one year in prison and a monetary fine." However, McCain did not face prosecution. She was allowed to enter a pretrial diversion program and escaped with no blemish to her record. Source: James Bovard, Prison Sentences of the Politically Connected.

McCain's Crime family connection

The Arizona Republic Jan. 17, 1995 "About 300 guests turned out Saturday night to celebrate the 90th birthday of Joseph 'Joe Bananas' Bonanno, retired boss of New York's Bonanno crime family. He retired to Tucson in 1968 . . . John McCain, R-Ariz., and Gov. Fife Symington sent their regards by telegram."