Part I; Aging Americans and Part II; Hiatt Can't Say Lie

A few facts about aging Americans, at Mother Jones, struck me as particularly telling:

In 1985, 18% of Americans in their late 60s still had jobs. In 2006, 29% did.

Half of working Americans have saved $50,000 or less for their retirement. 25% have saved nothing.
(snip)
Members of the Calorie Restriction Society believe that a near-starvation diet will increase their life spans.

Life expectancy in Darfur, where people typically get only 60% of their recommended calories, is 58.

40% of MySpace users are between 35 and 54. Site cofounder Tom Anderson made himself 4 years younger on his page.

When Anderson was outed, Newsweek quipped, "History might've unfolded differently if those first few users had known that the site's hipster co-architect was already well into his 30s."

I recall learning that my mother-in-law, like my mother, kept her age secret because she thought it would make her job situation chancy. Those jobs are unlikely to be sought for pleasure in later life, folks.

While Diane and I are not particularly interested in that rejuvenation stuff, I do think that mental activity is something that appeals to us. Why does so much of the anti-aging research revolve around appearance, I wonder. Of course, reading cabdrollery will give you the mental stimulation that you are after.

Anyway, I don't plan to starve to preserve my youth, thanx anyway. Instead I will have the intensely fine enjoyment of my first two homegrown okra awaiting me at dinner.

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So you won't need to give WaPo's Fred Hiatt the hits, I am going to print a few comments on his editorial today calling McAyn's lies "misleading".

His statement:
BARACK OBAMA and John McCain have important differences on tax policy. These are fair game for campaign ads, and no one expects 30-second spots to be suffused with nuance. But Mr. McCain's latest attack on the Obama tax plan crosses the line from reasonable argument to unacceptably misleading.

"Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000," the announcer warns. The basis for this statement is the senator's vote for the fiscal 2009 budget resolution, a nonbinding blueprint that assumed that all the Bush tax cuts would expire as scheduled. However, Mr. Obama has repeatedly said he wants to extend the Bush tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year.
(snip)
.....The McCain ad continues in the same dishonest vein: "He promises more taxes on small business, seniors, your life savings, your family." Mr. Obama would increase taxes on small business -- but only the tiny sliver that earn more than $250,000 a year.

ghostcommander wrote:
There have been only 5,000,000 jobs created by the Republican cheney/bush mis-administration and so many of those jobs have been in the very large growth of jobs in the government. Those jobs went to corrupt and incompetent political hacks who have been ever so willing to rob the present and future taxpayer's Treasury. Under the Clinton administration over 20,000,000 new jobs were created that added value to the economy. The Democratic Clinton administration created those jobs while reducing government spending that resulted in a budget surplus. That surplus was used by Clinton to pay down on the National Debt twice. Statistically, the economy has always done better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Tax cuts for the rich and give-aways by the corrupt and incompetent mis-administration of the Republicans have resulted in an almost 100% increase in the National Debt, devaluation of the dollar, higher oil prices, higher food prices and lower wages for the middle and lower classes. Our wages are equivalent to where they were in 1997. The truth is that millions cannot buy what is being produced or imported and the economy may not recover for years to come. The Republicans have taken the USA to the back door of the Great Depression and have cracked the door open. The recovery of the USA will take 30 to 40 years just to get back where we were on 1-20-2001. Do not be a suicide voter, vote the facts and not your emotions.
8/10/2008 1:52:40 PM
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Pebble1776 wrote:
McCain and Republican Party policies will make America a low wage society. They want American labor to decline to the point where wages match those of India and China. And thats no lie.
8/10/2008 9:27:52 AM
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Avedon wrote:
"But Mr. McCain's latest attack on the Obama tax plan crosses the line from reasonable argument to unacceptably misleading."

If you're allergic to the simple English word "lies", you could always say, "false witness".

Jeez, you're such a prude when it comes to acknowledging the dishonesty of a Republican.
8/10/2008 8:12:57 AM
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jocabel wrote:
The truth makes media favorite McCain look bad, so of course he had to lie. That Obama 'isn't blameless' attempts to equate his correct info with lies, typical of WaPo treatment of progressives.
8/10/2008 8:07:34 AM
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kstack wrote:
Repeat after me: "McCain is lying." Not "misleading." Not "misspeaking." Not "there is no evidence for this claim."
He's "lying." It's not so hard. And it's true.
8/10/2008 7:57:15 AM
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