In reply to Javelin:
So, You're suggesting paying those temps something around 35k each for their 90 days of employment? 
I bet most of that money paid the union for whatever reason.....which is also why they'd probably never be able to hire those temps in your plan.
In reply to yamaha:
Have you seen GS pay scales? 
In reply to Javelin:
I have indeed, specifically in the VA.......they'd pay right around 50-55k/yr for that type of work here.
My mom was a recreational therapist in the Marion VA for almost 30yrs.
JoeyM wrote: Exactly. Liberals need to be willing to give on spending cuts to their precious social programs. We can't afford all of them. (...and they might be willing to offer those $400 billion cuts again.) Conservatives need to man up, and do the Regan thing; i.e. say, "I don't like tax increases, but I'll do it to fix the budget." If your goal is to cut spending, only an idiot would vote against $400 billion in cuts in exchange for $1.6 billion in increases. The first politician in the primaries to kick Norquist so hard that he sings soprano will get my vote.
..and that folks is how compromise is made.
JOEYM FOR CONGRESS!
In reply to Xceler8x:
I believe it was $1.6 TRILLION in tax increases.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-29/geithner-said-to-offer-fiscal-plan-with-entitlement-cuts.html
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/gop-rejects-obama-tax/2012/11/29/id/465909
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/12/dueling-fiscal-cliff-deceptions/
Fletch1 wrote: In reply to Xceler8x: I believe it was $1.6 TRILLION in tax increases. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-29/geithner-said-to-offer-fiscal-plan-with-entitlement-cuts.html http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/gop-rejects-obama-tax/2012/11/29/id/465909 http://www.factcheck.org/2012/12/dueling-fiscal-cliff-deceptions/
Come on man..I'm trying to promote bipartisanship. Don't f' it up with numbers. 
Can you imagine Congress actually made up of GRMer's? The honorable poopshovel from Georgia, Speaker of the House JoeyM from Florida (on a dais made of washing machines), Senator Swank, etc?
We'd meet for like 30 minutes, hammer everything out, then spend the rest of the session car browsing CL and arguing over which car to buy.
In reply to Javelin:
I'd try to ban all 4-stroke diesels(2stroke>*) and Hybrids.....
In reply to yamaha:
Holeee carp man, the car laws we'd right would be as reberkingdiculous as the regular laws the normal dipE36 M3s are writing.
"No car shall weigh more than 3,500 pounds wet unless it is both a longroof and diesel-powered (all cars are already manual by law, House Resolution 1)"
In reply to Xceler8x:
Well, I thought I should throw some facts in there. How about $400 billion in cuts, much of it from the welfare system because it actually does feel good to actually earn a living and $400 billion in tax increases because Prescott already has enough sailboats? 
In reply to Javelin:
Declare open season on speed cameras and enforce autobahn roadway rules to weed the idiots out.
I forward a motion to never again use dollar amounts without a reference to their proportion of either the general budget or their particular subset of the budget (e.g. if we've established context and are talking about foreign aid, you don't have to reference the percentage of the total U.S. budget when talking about cuts or expenditures; you can refer to the percentage of the foreign aid budget).
That's my today's two cents (roughly five percent of today's blathering budget for my part, "trace amounts" w/regard to the general GRM forum traffic today).
In reply to Javelin:
Don't forget new car inspection laws. I know that's been a state/county thing, but I think we could pass national legislation to make it optional (it already is) and when required, can only be safety (which is a good thing, but make it a bit more like tech inspection at an autox) and tailpipe test on cars newer than 15 years (like it is in many states). If it passes the tailpipe test, it's legal, no matter how it did it. None of that "carb certification" crap.
And importation, instead of 25 years, shrink that to, say, 25 months?
Problem with loosening importation to 25 months.... you would then promptly have cheap ass people buying a ton of VERY unsafe 25 month old chinese automobiles from very shady people importing them by the shipload. (did I mention no company to stand behind them for safety recalls, service, or parts?)
If you don't think they would sell, you dont realize how much substandard junk we buy from over there to begin with.
That said, I do feel that some safety regulations could be loosened. TPMS, VSC, umpteen airbags... its gone a touch far. Plus... basing fuel economy regulations on the footprint (track x wheelbase) of a car is dumb and only incentivises manufacturers to build as big of cars as people will buy, which is much of the reason for the bloat we are seeing.
In reply to Apexcarver: Good points.
How about 10 years? I bet the cheap chinese crap will either fall apart by then, or be so totally worthless as to not be valuable enough to justify shipping them across the pacific.
In reply to Apexcarver:
or just let those stupid enough to buy them become entombed in them....
In reply to Rufledt:
berkeley the sniffer test. safety test i could agree with.
yamaha wrote: In reply to Javelin: I'd try to ban all 4-stroke diesels(2stroke>*) and Hybrids.....
Why do you hate multiculturalism?
The biggest problem with politics is money. There is too much of it in it. The words "career" and "politician" should not go together. Politics and justice are things that come disproportionally to those with the capital to invest in them.
Combine the interests of the corporate and the rich with the entitlement mentality of much of the masses and you see the back and forth which has brought us to our knees.
Fact is, what we really need is a group of vocal moderates to rise up and marginalize the extreme wings of both parties. The other problem is that moderates don't make for good news or blog articles and people would rather focus on the attention grabbing antics of the extremeists and hence creating a populus that pays no attention to the middle because they hear little about it.
Money buys attention and extreme ideas attract attention. Sadly, attention is what wins elections.
In reply to oldsaw:
Its diesel racism.....
I am willing to negotiate on the hybrid part.....I would conceed that they remain allowed but their drivers be forced to A.) Park farthest away from buildings, B.) Register with "SMUG" license plates(for public embarassment), C.) Not be allowed on Interstate highways, and D.) Be executed on the spot for ever claiming anything about the enviroment.
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