If the 9-9-9 plan got a B-, then getting a B+ is not very impressive.

"Decreasing the burden" means less revenue. How is he going to balance the budget?


Total BS. The capital GAINS were never taxed, only the starting capital. Why should a speculator's income not be taxed like everyone else's?

Still, it is the least silly plan I have seen yet. Huntsman is the only one who seems to be taking this seriously.

This "double taxation" is a Republican myth

For an investment in stock, any dividends paid to the investor are "new $" income to the investor.
When the investor sells that stock, the "capital gain" is the selling price
minus the purchase price and fees incurred during the transaction cycle.
The same is true on purchase of equipment, real estate, REI's, etc.

Anyone that proposes that "capital gain" is different from ordinary income
is saying one $US dollar is different from another $US dollar,
... and guess who says that... the people that don't earn their living or extra $ from salaries or wages.

Capital gains should be taxed at the same rate and right along with ordinary income.
.

I am embarrassed to say I first opened this article when I misread it's title. :o

But it turns out there are two interesting aspects to the article.
First Gingrich's camplaign plans, and then there is the sausage-making aspects
of a candidate even getting on various states' ballots for the primaries.

NY Times
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
December 20, 2011, 4:26 pm

Gingrich Heads to Virginia for Ballot Push

and then there are the challenges to get on the state ballots...

and besides all that:

Gingrich is slipping in the polls, and racking up negative comments from conservatives
who say he is:— a man who can “bring us together, and alienate the hell out of us,”.

Meanwhile, Ron Paul may actually be looking for a win in Iowa...Romney, not so much.
.

Gingrich to gay Iowan: Vote for Obama

done and done mr gingrich

looks like somebody doesn't want to represent all Americans...

Wow!

I admire his honesty. I wish more politicians would show their true colors like that. It would make our job as voters much easier.

How to determine a politician's "true colors". Wow, that is really our job as citizens if we are to make an informed choice. I think they're all honest, that is, even if they're making contradictory statements, then they're honestly flexible/nuanced/flipfloppy/openminded--fill in the blank. I find Gingrich's statement surprisingly plain, but I wonder how it will be spun. And the spin matters. I can imagine that it could be ignored, or dismissed as joking or otherwise discounted.

V's post above is appropriate to both Gingrich (above) and Ron Paul (below)

Now, as Paul appears heading towards a win in the Iowa caucuses.
several headlines are appearing with derogatory subtexts.
But it appears to me that these articles are based on controversial
Newletters published under Ron Paul's name in the 1980's.

The Atlantic
Michael Brendan Dougherty
12/21/11
The Story Behind Ron Paul's Racist Newsletters
Dec 21 201

The article goes on to discuss how others view those Newletters,
particularly as they are not now as "relevant" as they were in the 80's.
.

Speaking of dogs that won't be in fights:

Gingrich and Perry fail to collect enough signatures to qualify to be listed on the ballots in Virginia.

Gingrich (and probably Perry, too) can have write-in campaigns, of course. But this seems like a bit of a blow to their campaigns. One effect working against them is that write-in candidates are not as likely to succeed, usually because they're just... not on the ballot, they're not known. They require more work on the part of the voter. These two candidates don't have that problem though, they are known, but will they be remembered? Another effect, the Republican party has chosen to allocate their delegates proportionally, so maybe they can gather some scraps even if their chances of winning are reduced.

You have to wonder what's wrong with Gingrich's and Perry's campaign staff that they can't even get organized enough to get 10,000 signatures on a petition to be placed on the ballot. If they can't accomplish a simple thing like that, how are they going to react to the far more complex duties of the presidency?

That story makes me sicker than the pepper spray murder story.

Organization trumping money, isn't that a good thing in politics? Granted, paying people to collect sigs is probably what most do but 10 thousand out of a population of 8 million seems like a low threshold.

Maybe this contributed to the problem...

Are GOP candidates likely to gain the US Presidency in the Nov '12 national
election with pledges such as this in their political history ?
Or, are they only getting their jollies in whipping up the fever
of the far right wing of the Republican party.

NY Times
By ERIK ECKHOLM
December 22, 2011

Republican Presidential Candidates Embrace Granting Legal Rights to Human Embryos
And besides all that:

http://www.goddiscussion.com/87963/r...op-candidates/
God Discussion
December 24, 2011
By God Discussion Reporter

Ron Paul signs Personhood USA pledge, joining four other GOP candidates
IMO, a candidate signing this pledge is asking to be rejected by the general electorate.

It is a low threshold. It is the same threshold that, say, Perry and Paul were able to surpass. It is the published rule that everybody who cared about knew about. What galls me, what seriously turns me off about Gingrich is his PATHETIC moaning about the "failed system" has disqualified him. He reminds me of the peasant crying about being oppressed in Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

His blaming the system for his own failure, his demonstrated willingness to blame the violence inherent in the system fills me with dread. We have co-equal branches of government, buddy. You should know that. And it is the definition of the judicial branch to decide, by using their JUDGEMENT, what the meaning of a law is and how it applies and the constitutionality of a law. Not the President, signing statements be damned.