Tom Delay: Nutcase

[Gabe Lewis]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27438594#27442598

This guy was just on hardball. What a goddamn weirdo. Why do people who consider themselves journalist interview people like this who are obviously pathological liars.

There's no way he actually believes that Europeans pay 80-90% of their income in taxes.

[Sol Invictus]

A "radical" like Obama. It's deja vu all over again!

[Qenan]

They interview him because people tune in. That (not being to the "right" or the "left") is fundamentally what is wrong with news media.

[Hanacker]

They interview him because people tune in. That (not being to the "right" or the "left") is fundamentally what is wrong with news media.

Or maybe it's what's wrong with people.

[Eric T Cheng]

Why is Tom Delay relevant?

[Malathor]

Why is Tom Delay relevant?

Well, he played a major role in destroying the Republican party. Right now, that is pretty relevant. It's going to be even more relevant come Tuesday.

[The Bitter Cynic]

OMG, i'm watching this guy now.

Wow, he's nutz.

80-90% in taxes?

[Sebmojo]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27438594#27442598

This guy was just on hardball. What a goddamn weirdo. Why do people who consider themselves journalist interview people like this who are obviously pathological liars.

There's know way he actually believes that Europeans pay 80-90% of their income in taxes.

I vaguely remember that the top tax rate in Britain was like 90%, back in the sixties.

Seems a leetle implausible now though.... ah. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe) 55% is the highest, Sweden. Though there's VAT on top of that of 25% - maybe he was adding them together?

[dogbert]

I vaguely remember that the top tax rate in Britain was like 90%, back in the sixties.

Seems a leetle implausible now though.... ah. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe) 55% is the highest, Sweden. Though there's VAT on top of that of 25% - maybe he was adding them together?

Just to be clear, VAT is like sales tax, you pay it on things you buy. It's not an income tax.

[Robert Sharp]

He doesn't even understand what he's talking about. He says of Obama:

"He called the Constitution a charter of negative rights..." pauses for that to sink in.

The Constitution is not ONLY a charter of negative rights, but the Bill of Rights is largely such a charter. Delay thinks that 'negative' here is a pejorative. Do you know why? It's because he has zero knowledge of political theory. How does a person get into Congress without knowing what a negative right is? The First Amendment itself is CLEARLY a list of negative rights.

Edit: It's possible (I think unlikely, but possible) that he's saying that Obama is against negative rights and only wants positive rights. I think that's misleading, but it would be consistent with his message. So maybe I misunderstood him on first viewing.

[Ben Sones]

I'll add that for citizens, the Constitution is almost entirely a charter of negative rights. This is because the Constitution is all about defining government's powers; for the most part, grants of power to the government are the only things expressed as positive rights in the Constitution.

Oh, and Delay is a fucking moron. I wish someone could explain to me why we should care what Mr. "kicked out of congress for ethical abuses" thinks.

[Gabe Lewis]

I don't think anybody should care what he thinks, beyond being shocked that this lunatic ever held a government job.

On top of that, I find his ability to lie and believe it fascinating and disturbing. Finally I'm shocked that he is taken seriously, to the point that he is allowed on television.

I posted this for the same reason I read hillaryis44.org

Rubber-necking.

[salwon]

I posted this for the same reason I read hillaryis44.org


This might be off topic, but does anyone else think that the "44" browser-icon thing they have looks a lot like a butt?

Both sides in the congressional races around here are using Delay in their negative ads*. The democratic one ends with a picture of the republican next to what looks like a mug shot of Delay.

*By "negative ads" I of course mean "only fucking ads they show."

[Scrax]

I always forget this host of Hardballs name, but it was amusing that you could hear him giggling in the background. He could hardly stifle his laughter.

[Angie Gallant]

Chris Matthews, and he does that a lot. He's not good at keeping a straight face when listening to crazy shit unless he concentrates really hard, like when he let Bachmann ruin her own career. I'm not his biggest fan, but I have to admit that Matthews amuses me in a way most talking heads don't.

[Omniscia]

Speaking of the erstwhile House Majority Leader, guess who's going to be on Dancing with the Stars? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_dancing_with_the_stars)

[Malathor]

Speaking of the erstwhile House Majority Leader, guess who's going to be on Dancing with the Stars? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_dancing_with_the_stars)

"It will be a ballroom bloodbath."


I hope he means that literally.

[Lum]

like when he let Bachmann ruin her own career.

Oh, if only.

[Matthew Gallant]

http://www.truemeaningoflife.com/images/bluh.gif

[Jason McCullough]

There's no way he actually believes that Europeans pay 80-90% of their income in taxes.

He has a long history of being batshit. It wouldn't surprise me at all. He also thinks Texas is a wealthy state (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?p=1852066&posted=1#post1852066) when it's 28/50, so facts aren't really his deal.

To be fair, mistaking the top marginal rate for the average rate is a very common mistake with people obsessed with cutting taxes on the rich.

[Blackadar]

I vaguely remember that the top tax rate in Britain was like 90%, back in the sixties.

So was the top rate in the USA. :)

[Jakub]

Blackadar is right. In the 50s, the Republican's idealized "golden age", bottom was like 20-22%, top was about 92%.

/edit

Proof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States)

[Linoleum]

Blackadar is right. In the 50s, the Republican's idealized "golden age", bottom was like 20-22%, top was about 92%.

Of course, federal government outlays looked rather different back then too. And there was that small matter of paying for World War II and Korea...

[Lum]

I also suspect the number of people in the 92% bracket who actually paid 92% was nil.

[Jakub]

So Iraq and Afghanistan don't need to be paid for?

[Linoleum]

Not to the tune of well over $4 trillion they don't.

[Jakub]

Sorry, I lost you. $4 trillion?

[Linoleum]

Cost of WW2 in adjusted dollars. Add the Marshall Plan, Korea, the strategic nuclear race with the USSR and there was a lot of money being thrown around. Eisenhower was the one who gave the military-industrial complex speech, and he was a deficit hawk.

[Jakub]

True. It does seem though, that America is throwing a whole lot of money around.