Despite a disappointing finish, Thompson doesn't bow out

Chicago Tribune ^ | January 21, 2008 | William Douglas

[RangerM]

Not the same tape as on ICaught’s website.

You have your opinion, and I have mine.

Here is another audio clip where Fred Thompson laments the existence of the income tax system saying “lowering the rates always to me is a good thing, but they can always be raised again”. He doesn’t endorse the fairtax, but now he endorses the continued existence of the same income tax system that allows rates to be raised (again)?

http://easylink.playstream.com/fairtax/FredThompsonOnFT-070710.wax

[Kellis91789]

I’ll escape to some Caribean backwater. Or, if they put tight security on the airports, Mexico is going to need a really high fence to keep out all the gringos.

[Camel Joe]

ROFLMAO

[BfloGuy]

I don’t believe in any fairy tale scenarios, but Fred seemed to be hitting his stride last week and I’m glad he’s staying in. He’ll continue to get money and support from me.

[napscoordinator]

This is January. A lot can happen by July. Keep your powder dry.

This is said a lot around here. We keep giving excuses but we never see results. That is all that matters. Show me the votes!

[RangerM]

I don’t know.

I understand what you are saying here, but I can also see how it can be easily interpreted my way.

Wouldn’t you agree that a better way to say this, to bolster your point, would be to say “25% on income after the first $100,000”?

Notwithstanding, his plan is “optional”. Is this reform or not? In either case, exersizing the option or not, he is still advocating for a progressive income tax; something he has denounced previously.

[napscoordinator]

ROTFLMAO! That was great! There is the Church of FRed mentality around here. The problem is the same people were the “head in the sand” we are saying we were going to gain seats in the Senate in 2006. I just wish they could be realistic and live in the real world. That is not hard to do, heck I try everyday. lol.

[napscoordinator]

You want so badly to find some controversy that you come up with crap like that?

RangerM does not need to find controversy. How about results? That is what matters. I guess you don’t understand elections. The main objective is to win! Hopefully you will understand that soon.

[Always Right]

Not the same tape as on ICaught’s website.

I think the end part was the same video. Regardless, there is no unedited video where the question is clearly audible.

[napscoordinator]

perhaps a term for Hillary that is just as successful as Jimmeh Cahrters is what we need to point us in the right direction again.

Your forgetting the most important part of this election. The Supreme Court! Three seats most likely. Three liberal seats is what you risk having...

[napscoordinator]

Rush has sold us out too.

He wanted to see Fred do more. He wanted to see Fred win at least one state first.

[RangerM]

And how would you reconcile the Hannity clip with his now tacit acceptance of the progressive income tax system?

or is Thompson ok with a progressive income tax system?

[napscoordinator]

How are we supposed to affect primary results in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina if we don’t live there?

Nevada and Wyoming too.

[Kellis91789]

“...on income above these amounts.”

Seems pretty clear to me.

I am not a fan of Fred’s plan, I just wanted to make sure nobody has misconstrued it.

I think it is both Progressive and completely untaxes a large number of voters. Both of which are bad ideas, in my opinion. I would have been MUCH happier if he had come out with a Flat rate 10% no deductions, no exemptions, no credits, no phony corporate taxes plan.

When people screamed, “That will be a huge tax increase for the poor!” he should have replied, “Even the poor in this country should support the government that protects their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Ten cents on the dollar is not too much to pay for that protection.” When people screamed, “But the poor already pay very high regressive FICA taxes !” he should have replied, “FICA taxes do not pay for one single dime of national security, judiciary, infrastructure, welfare, or any other general government expenditure. FICA taxes pay for Social Security and Medicare only, and people are paying those taxes to receive credits for future benefits from those insurance programs. Let’s not confuse the cost of government with the cost of insurance programs people are contributing to for their own benefit.”

[Edit35]

...(Romney) was terrible on the abortion issue.

Please name me some specific 'terrible' things Romney did, and please don't include the bogus claim that Romney forced a $50 co-pay for abortions because it has been shown ad naseum on FR how the Massachusetts Supreme Court, backed by decisions of the US Supreme Court, forced the state to accept an abortion co-pay provision....

On the OTHER hand, here are some PROLIFE things Gov. Romney did in Massachusetts.

- Governor Romney Vetoed Legislation That Would Have Provided For The "Morning After Pill" Without A Prescription. (Governor Mitt Romney, Op-Ed, "Why I Vetoed The Contraception Bill," The Boston Globe, 7/26/05)

- Governor Romney Promoted Abstinence Education In The Classroom. (Office Of Governor Mitt Romney, "Romney Announces Award Of Abstinence Education Contract," Press Release, 4/20/06)

- Governor Romney Vetoed Legislation That Would Have Changed The Longstanding Definition Of The Beginning Of Human Life From Fertilization To Implantation. (Governor Mitt Romney, Letter To The Massachusetts State Senate And House Of Representatives, 5/12/05)

- Governor Romney Supports Parental Notification Laws And Opposed Efforts To Weaken Parental Involvement. (John McElhenny, "O'Brien And Romney Spar In Last Debate Before Election," The Associated Press, 10/29/02)

- Governor Romney Supports Adult Stem Cell Research But Has Opposed Efforts To Advance Embryo-Destructive Research In Massachusetts. (Theo Emery, "Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Vetoes Stem Cell Bill," The Associated Press, 5/27/05)

[Camel Joe]

No I haven’t forgotten, I’m just out of “benefit of the doubt” and as such I do not trust any of the others to make appointments as I would have them.

[RangerM]

The joke of the day is the crap they are spouting (right now) about tax rebates........to people who don’t pay income taxes in the first place.

They certainly don’t have a problem taking it away in progressive amounts, but giving it back that way is another matter.

[Kellis91789]

I know.

I was sickened yesterday that Chris Wallace didn’t correct Shumer when he fell into the “but the poor pay huge FICA taxes” refrain.

I wish he’d asked, “So are you suggesting that this tax rebate come from the Social Security Trust Fund, and that we put those programs in even more dire financial trouble ?”

People do not seem to care about the separation of these taxes and the expenditures they are supposed to be dedicated to. They want the “consolidated budget” so they can claim poor people pay taxes, but that logically makes SS/M a pure welfare system.

[SkyPilot]

"I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose." — Mitt Romney, Massachussets Governor election debate October 29, 2002

"Every action I have taken as governor of Massachussets has been pro-life."

— Mitt Romney, Republican Debate, August 5, 2007

When he ran for US Senate in liberal-leaning Massachusetts in 1994, Romney said abortion should be ''safe and legal." As a candidate for governor in 2002, he said he would keep the state's abortion rights laws intact and has since said that he kept that promise. But this year, as he began preparing a potential run for president, Romney said he is ''in a different place" than he was when he first ran for office in 1994 and has stressed that he is ''personally prolife." Romney was asked repeatedly by the Globe last week to elaborate on his abortion stance, and he refused. ''I think I've said it a few hundred times through my campaign the same thing I'll say today, which is that I personally do not favor abortion. But as governor of Massachusetts, I will keep the laws as they exist," Romney said Wednesday. That answer is unfulfilling to advocates on both sides of the polarizing issue at a time when the next president could shape the makeup of the US Supreme Court. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced Friday that she was stepping down, and more openings are expected in the coming years.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said this week that as president he would allow individual states to keep abortion legal, two weeks after telling a national television audience that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure nationwide.

Mitt Romney Flip-Flop on Abortion (Video)

Romney's Flip-flops on Abortion (More Video)

Critics Fault Romney's Abortion Record

Romney's Abortion Flip-Flop

CHRONOLOGY OF MITT ROMNEY’S ABORTION POSITIONS (IN HIS OWN WORDS): 1994: Mitt Romney was pro-choice - 2001: Mitt Romney was not pro-choice - 2002: Mitt Romney was again pro-choice - 2007: Mitt Romney acknowledges he was "effectively pro-choice," but says he "was always for life." - January 2007: "Over the last multiple years, as you know, I have been effectively pro-choice." (Bruce Smith, "Romney Campaigns in SC with Sen. DeMint," The Associated Press, 1/29/07) - February 2007: "I am firmly pro-life… I was always for life." (Jim Davenport, "Romney Affirms Opposition to Abortion," The Associated Press, 2/9/2007)

[BlueNgold]

Nice list, but what did he do to FURTHER the life cause?
These were all defended by his policial position that he would defend the status quo.