Who Am I?

Who Am I? is a feature here at VFTB designed to give some of the focus back to those who make the site a success: YOU! We’ll tell you a bit about one of our regular commenters and you guess who it is. We’ll be back later in the day with the answer.

(Would you like to be included? Let me know at lizzie@viewfromthebleachers.com … the more the merrier!)

Who Am I?

I’ve been around VFTB for about a year (Lizzie thinks it’s a little bit longer!)
I’ve been a Cubs fan since age 21, thanks to my wife. Previously I was a Braves fan.
I’ve been to Wrigley about 75 times.
I’m pro-Carlos Pena, I was pro-Jim Hendry, and when asked whether I cared that Aramis Ramirez signed elsewhere, I responded “Eh”.
If I was dining with Seymour I’d order a nice dry-aged ribeye, a 10-year old Syrah, and Creme Brulee. Unless we’re in New Orleans when I prefer Gumbo, Drumfish and Bread Pudding.
I favor stats over gut, and when Jedi and Norm go to town I side with Norm.
I’m married with four young children. I’m a die-hard liberal, very tall, and have been accused of being Buddy.

Who Am I?

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Buddy

Chris from IL?
Lizzie

Hot damn Buddy you are right!!! First guess! Way to go! Thanks for playing along. And thanks also to Chris in Illinois for being our very first Who Am I guinea pig!
Doc Raker

I would of guessed Chris from Il also. I applaud your honesty Chris on being a ‘die hard liberal’, many won’t admit that these days. You are part of the Holy Trinity of VFTB, Buddy, Norm and Chris from Il. Keep up the good work and read a book about the negative unintended consequenses of liberalism, plenty to choose from.
Chris in illinois

Oh, there are plenty of unintended negative results of liberal policies to be sure, I agree 100%. I’ll take them over the intended nasty consequences of what passes for Modern Conservatism. Nothing is perfect, but like the imperfect Capitalist system, it’s the best we’ve got….
Lizzie, you’re welcome.
Seymour Butts

Is it me?
http://swantron.com jswanson

Height and meal preference soundly precluded you from consideration, Butts…if Raker’s ribbing is to be considered as based in reality. Bizarro Seymour?
Chuck

I am a bag of oatmeal.
Doc Raker

You may be closed minded to conservatism Chris and misunderstand it, nasty intended consequences are not part of conservatism the way I define it.
Chuck

No ideology is perfect and all have unintended consequences. I believe a lot of what people consider unintended consequences are, in fact, intended.
There are many dipshit tools and hacks on both sides of the isle as well as people who want to make the world a beter place. The problem lies in determining who is the former and who is the latter.
Seymour Butts

The political problem is that Democrats screw over America due to incompetence, whereas Republicans do it for sport.
BLPCB

As a society, we treat our political parties like sports teams.
Buddy

Not me, BLPCP. I actually like and root for sports teams.
BLPCB

And that’s how we are with political parties. We applaud something our party does when they’re in power, even if we opposed it when the other party was in power, and we oppose things the other party does in power, even if it’s something we supported when our party was in power. Even the politicians are like that. There was stuff in Barry’s job package that the GOP supported under Dubya, but now they oppose because it’s Barry. Or like whenever there is a vote to increase the debt limit. GOP Congressman who increased it under Dubya won’t under Barry, while Democrats who didn’t give it to Dubya will give it to Barry.
Buddy

I think you misunderstood me BLPCP. I don’t applaud either party, ever, because I think they are both corrupt, self-severing, and almost completely useless.
BLPCB

I got what you’re saying and I agree with you. But that is how we are as a whole
Buddy

Roger that. And now, back to baseball talk!
Doc Raker

Chris- It’s not about WANTING to make the world a better place, it is what policies actually do make the world a better place. History says freedom and liberty make the world a better place. Entitlements and bureaucrats do not make the world a better place eventhough that is their intent. People and parties are flawed but our Constitution created the first government in the history of the world to empower the people, not the government. The United States and our Constitution laid the foundation for the greatest growth in prosperity in the history of the world. Proseperity comes from the people, not from the government. Liberalism wants to change our Constitution and empower the government to ‘correct’ our problems, the answer lies within our people, not liberalism.
Chris in illinois

I don’t have time to respond to that in full and frankly I don’t have that kind of energy…all I’ll say is that the vast majority of the wealth created in the first hundred years of our nation’s existence was by government contract, land grant or at the end of a gun barrel…don’t take my word for it, read former Nixon advisor Kevin Phillip’s book Wealth and Democracy…little has changed since, only now the wealth is created through government contract, laws written by lobbyists and markets protected by the barrel of a gun….
http://swantron.com jswanson

Not sure I would personally cite Tricky Dick’s former advisor for argument’s sake CiI…I’ll let it slide solely due to our mutual love of rib steak and syrah (and/or shiraz.)
Doc Raker

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and George Foreman (invented his own grill) were not great because of government contract, land grant or gun, they were great because of ingenuity and entrepreneurship. They took risks that made everyone’s life better and more prosperous. I agree crony capitalism with lobbyist writing laws is a poor way to govern. I thought Barry promised to change all that? Alas, Barry is a liberal and his special interest will write his laws. The new crop of tea party republicans are the most lobby resistant politicians of our life time. But they are evil because they don’t want to spend money on all those government programs, say the people who are employed by those government programs.
BLPCB

Yes, but all these super-rich people hardly pay any tax. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have both said they don’t pay enough tax, and the GOP’s arguments that it will kill jobs is not true. They will continue to invest in things if there is money to be made, regardless of taxes. And I want to know, how does giving tax cuts to people like Barry, a school administrator, a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, and the like create more jobs? How does giving Kobe, Rose, and LeBron a tax cut because they won the genetic lottery create jobs? How does giving the winner of a 9-figure lottery jackpot a tax cut create jobs?
Buddy

George Foreman actually made my life worse. I had money on Michael Moorer back in 1994.
chris in illinois

Oh Doc, just one example: You don’t think that Ford had Government help?? The governent bought hundreds of thousands of those cars for mail vehicles, utility trucks and other municipal uses—that market doesn’t exist without the Feds. The government often aided Ford by sending out business friendly National Guard units to help ‘resolve’ labor disputes with his uppity workers. I’d also volunteer that the massive transportation system built entirely by Federal, state and local governments had something to do with the success of a product 100% dependent upon those roads.
.
.
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JSwanson: I only bring up Phillips for a few reasons: one, that book is very instructive (an example: the richest 30 people in America in 1795 had gotten that way primarily through government contracts during the Revolutionary War) and two to demonstrate that I don’t in an echo chamber of liberal bombast. Of course, conservatives will never claim the politicians they support once their hypocrisy is revealed…although Reagan still has cachet even though he dramatically raised socialist social security payroll taxes in his years in office…go figure.
Doc Raker

BLPCB- The ‘tax the rich’ rhetoric is a side show for populism, it won’t fix our fiscal problems. Here are some facts. The top 1% pay over 90% of all taxes paid. The bottom 50% wage earners pay no federal income tax at all, zero. Sounds like the bottom 50% aren’t paying their fair share to me, everyone should have some skin in the game even if it is nominal. Government revenue is not the problem, the problem is the government spends to much. If Barry got his wanted tax raise it would be a drop in the bucket compared to our real fiscal problem. Our entitlement programs are on a path to bankruptcy and the US is $15 trillion in debt and counting, 40% of every dollar spent is borrowed. Government is bloated with inefficient bureaucracies that spend tons of money on inefficient programs. That spending trend needs to be reversed and a tax hike will do next to nothing.
* On your jobs question. Jobs come from rich people or corporations taking risk with their money. This is were real wealth is made, from people creating wealth. Hiring people is an investment in order to make more money in which everyone benefits. If rich people pay more tax that means less money to take risk with in the free market place. Government jobs do not create wealth, the government takes $1 dollar from one person and gives it to some else for doing a bureaucratic job, no wealth is created. Private sector jobs grow the economy, government jobs do not. It is about growing the private sector, not the public sector.
* The majority of people who file tax returns making over $1M dollars changes greatly every year, it is not the same people. Many of these people are people who sold businesses. Penalizing these people does virtually nothing to our fiscal problems and stifles further investment into economic growth.
* The Warren Buffett tax situation is very rare. Buffett only takes $100,000 in salary and takes $40M in capital gains. The salary is taxed at one rate and the capital gains are tax on another rate, a lower rate. Keep in mind that money invested (risked) in the stock market is money that has already been taxed as someone’s salary, it shouldn’t be taxed again at all. Now someone risks that money in the stock market were it can be lost and if it makes money it is taxed again. Raise the capital gains tax to high and people won’t risk their money in the stock market at all, what is the sense of risking money that can be lost with little to gain because of punitive taxes.
Doc Raker

PS- I always thought if taxes are going to be varied it should be varied by profession. Entertainers like athletes and movie stars don’t contribute much to society and should be taxed more. People who make society better like teachers, doctors, police, firemen should pay less. Rich entrepreneurs make society better, rich entertainers don’t- I think there should be a variance in the tax code to reflect that.
Doc Raker

Yes Chris, the government is a consumer of products made in the private sector. One of governments main jobs is to provide infrastructure such as building roads like you mentioned. Redistributing wealth from one person to another person is not the job of the government.
* The first 42 presidents racked up $4 trillion dollars of debt for the US over a 224 year histoy. Our 43rd president GWB racked up $4 trillion additional debt in 8 years in which Barry CORRECTLY decried the wild reckless spending as ‘irresponsible spending which will burden our children and grandchildren.” Barry Obama has now increased our national debt by $6 trillion in 2 years and now demonizes anyone who wants to talk about the government spending less. How is that for true leadership? You know you are the Titianic heading for an iceberg but you refuse to be the leader who has to tell the passengers the bad news. Better to ignore the iceberg and hope it hits after you are elected to your second term. That’s die hard liberalism for you.
BLPCB

The debt was 5T when Clinton left, and a surplus. Bush undid the surplus and all the growth under Clinton, and it was 10T when he left. Barry has jacked it up to 15T, some of which I attest to the horrible policies of Bush (tax cuts for the super-wealthy, no regulation that allowed for this disaster, 2 wars). And don’t the debt explode under Reagan and Bush Sr.?
Doc Raker

We are on a unsustainable path of spending. Social security, medicare and medicaid need reform, until then the debt will grow and we will end up like Greece. A true leader needs to address that, a liberal like Barry will never.
http://swantron.com jswanson

My magnet guy can hook us all up with a bunch of magnets…so consider the medicare an medicaid stuff moot. We will be evened out and good to go. As far as social security is concerned…no idea. My blood serum guy thinks all retirees should get a quick “ser inj” (his term, not mine) to keep their knees working into their late eighties. I digress, but I guess they could work longer and not rely upon a check to buy their Metamucil, etc.
BLPCB

Semi off-topic: If Barry came into your workplace, what is the first thing you would say or do? Me, I would tell him the Bears and White Sox suck
Doc Raker

I would say “Hello Mr President- Great job on continuing all those GWB policies like keeping Guantanamo Bay prison open, wiring taping suspected terrorist, assassinating terror suspects in foreign lands even if they are American’s. I know you weren’t fond of them during your campaign but I guess it is the best way to protect the US huh? Thanks for being so polite to Iran when they announced they had one of our high tech drone aircraft in their hands and they were going to reverse engineer it, you simply asked politely, “May we have our plane back”, it’s so important to be polite to tyrannical apocalyptic leaders like Akejminejad or however you pronounce his name, don’t worry if he get’s nukes, just ask him politely not to use them on anyone. I know during your campaign you didn’t like all of that spending GWB was doing but so glad you realized it was the best thing to do and escalated the spending yourself, our children and grandchildren will celebrate you for adding record debt to their lives. I guess it is easier to hand out other peoples money to your political cronies when the debt will be paid back by people who can’t even vote yet verse telling the voting public they will have to do with less from the federal treasury, I guess it is easier to campaign than govern huh sir. Go ahead and fill out your paper work and I will be with you in a few minutes for your eye exam. Cash or credit card only sir, we can’t stay in business with the Obamacare reimbursement rates and to many people these days bounce checks so payment will have to be made with cash or credit card at time of service, your children or grandchildren can’t pay this debt. Thanks for coming in today.”
BLPCB

Are people actually bouncing checks at your work?
Buddy

If Barry Bonds came in, I’d say “Thanks for the picture and autograph back in 1998. You were really nice to me and my nit-wit friends, even though we were drunk out of our minds.” If Barry Sanders came in, I’d say “You retired too soon Mr. Sanders.” If Barry Williams came in, I’d say “What was it like working with Ann B. Davis?” If Barry Foote came in, I’d say “It’s a good thing your parents didn’t name you Harry.”
BLPCB

What about BO? Barry Obama
http://swantron.com jswanson

If Barry Manilow came in, I’d ask him “what’s the hottest spoit north of Havana?”
Doc Raker

Barry White came in, he was depressed,seemed like he never got enough love from some Babe.
Buddy

I saw Barry Bostwick the other day. Told him to say hello to Michael J. Fox.

Who Am I?

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