SW03ES

They are REALLY nice vehicles. If you want something a little more masculine, might want to look at the GMC Acadia like Josh suggested, same vehicle. The Acadia Denalis are really nice. Surprisingly expensive though.

See, you don't really understand what the debt limit is. If the limit is not raised, that is precisely what will NOT happen. We're not discussing shutting the government down, that was two months ago. He won't sign a balanced budget amendment because we can't afford to do that right now, not without making cuts that could potentially push the economy back into recession. Personally? I think he should grow a pair and raise the debt limit through the 14th Amendment and be done with it. And Government doesn't support Abortion... It hasn't even gone into effect yet. Its impossible to know if it will succeed or fail. This is a perfect example of the danger of these chain letters that sensationalize one aspect of something without telling the full story. Odds are nobody here is going to ever see this 3.8% tax. Even though I'm sure we have many members who make over $200k individually or $250k jointly, they have to have a gain over and above $250k individually or $500k jointly. I can tell you even here in high priced DC where we sell plenty of $1M+ homes, it is VERY rare for a couple selling their primary residence to net enough profit to incur capital gains taxes, and even if they did, the 3.8% is only of the amount over that exemption. Now, this may impact some high income investors who sell properties without the benefit of any exemption, but there are MANY mechanisms we use to structure the transfers of this profit that circumvent the need to pay capital gains taxes. Those mechanisms may not get people out of paying this 3.8%, but thats kinda the point. Its my professional opinion that this will have no impact on the real estate market whatsoever.

I don't disagree with any of that, but what you have to realize is that we have to temper the speed at which we move towards those things with the still fragile recovering economy. We can't just stop the spending right now... It is not just "business as usual" in America, or anywhere in the world for that matter... The goal would be to reduce spending and increase revenues to where we wouldn't have to raise the debt ceiling next time...but this time the money has been spent...it MUST be raised, and it will be raised.

Your opinion. Anyways, like I said if the Christian right would lay off their war on America's youth, I think you'd find people wouldn't care so much about the word "God" being thrown around. Much like if we didn't try and control their land and way of life, you'd find radical muslims wouldn't care so much about us either. See, this is the problem. Because I am not religious, and don't think the government should legislate people's lifestyles and have a pragmatic view of the cultural changes that are occurring in our country...I'm "on the left"? I have not made one statement in here about fiscal policy or anything of that nature. THAT is the problem with the conservative movement in the United States. If you don't believe in God...you can't be conservative regardless of what your record has shown. Whats your source for the statement that illegal aliens have brought "health epidemics" to our country? See, you don't understand what the debt ceiling is. The money has already been spent, failing to raise the debt ceiling simply will cause us to default on that debt, that money we have ALREADY spent, a default that will cause the US to loose its top credit rating and endanger the stability of the debt we already owe to other countries. So much of how the modern global economy works is tied up in the availability of super-assured bonds that our triple A rating provides. We simply don't know what will happen to the global economy if we default. The government won't be able to pay a good chunk of its bills, including potentially pay to soldiers, retirees, etc. Failing to raise the debt ceiling is akin to telling our country's creditors "We know we spent the money, but we're not going to pay". Its like running up a credit card and never paying the bill. Again, this is money ALREADY SPENT. Why do you think the GOP has taken default off the table? We can raise the debt ceiling, and still work on trying to bring down the deficit...but not raising the debt ceiling is NOT an option. NOBODY thinks this deficit spending can continue, but we can't just shut it off because the economy is still fragile. We need to draw it down over time. And like it or not, we NEED to raise taxes on those who can pay. My taxes would get raised, I'm not running up and down the street jumping for joy over it...but we don't have any choice.

No problem at all, you are perfectly entitled to believe in and live your life according to the bible. My issue is the same as your issue, the bible should no more be legislated from than the Qur'an, the Torah, whatever... I think if evangelicals stopped trying to insert the bible in people's lives without their consent, people who don't believe would be a whole lot less combative against Christianity. Although, all throughout the history of Christianity Christians have been unable to avoid doing that...but thats a separate discussion. Of course they do, but I for one am tired of being looked down upon by older people like Lenore who feel that anybody from our generation who has strong beliefs is "brainwashed" or "a progressive" or whatever. People our age don't care if two men want to get married, by and large, and we don't care if women want to have abortions. We don't care about inserting religion into political discourse. What the old timers cry is that this is an "attack on the ideals of America". It most certainly is not. When America was founded, black people were property, there was no structured media or news, it took weeks to get messages anywhere, nobody could even fathom technology of stem cell research. Things change, times change. People change. The country needs to, and is GOING to change. We can't let people from the outgoing generations stifle this country's growth because they can't understand or make way for that change. Its never going to be 1955 again. People have s*x. They have it when they are 13, they get pregnant. Its everywhere. NOBODY waits until they are married anymore. Hell...a lot of people in younger generations don't care about being married at all. People get STDs, they die. Its cultural, its societal. You can't legislate those things. We can either pretend that the issue doesn't exist, like the evangelical right wants to, and preach abstinence and watch the problem spiral out of control. OR, we can put some of this technology to work we've invested so much in and make life safer and better for our citizenry. Why can't we do that? Oh yeah...the BIBLE! Millions of people die of heart disease and cancer in this country. Alzheimers runs rampent. I watched my father, a proud businessman spend his last month of life at 67 with a failing heart ranting and raving up and down the halls of a nursing home with dementia. There's something out there that could have potentially grown him a new heart, or respawned damaged brain tissue and prolonged his life or at least made the last year better...stem cell research. But no, we can't fund and explore that...why? Oh yeah...the BIBLE! So...you can see how I feel about the bible. Exactly the problem IMHO, and this is why they hate Obama so much. Young guy, funny name, black, can pick a rapper out of a lineup, has a slick education and plenty of money in his pocket. He must be a socialst right? Red, evil son of a !Removed! right? Change is scary, but get on board or we're going to run you over with the bus. Nor should it happen, nor do everyday Muslims want it to happen. The right wing uses "Sharia law" as a reason to persecute muslims and stop them from building mosques and places to worship. They chant "Its not just a religion, they have LAWS!". Thats just more ignorance spouting off, and more ignorants soaking it up to fuel their own hatred. EVERY religion has laws, every religion has tenants. It Judaism its called "Halakha" Just like Sharia law it has been used through history as legally enforceable law. Does anyone attack Jews and claim that we shouldn't allow any more synogogues to be built because they want to make it illegal to eat Shellfish? This is insanity. The only people guilty of trying to form US laws around the rules and laws of their own religion are Christians.

First of all I am NOT a "progressive", so stop calling me that. And I have no problem with Christians, I was raised Christian as were my parents and their parents. I personally am not religious, but I don't fault anyone for being religious as that is their choice. I believe in something higher, I think our consciousness passes over to something beyond when we die. I believe in living a good and moral life. What doesn't work for me is organized sit in a church every week religion. I agree with you, religion does a lot of good...but it doesn't do no harm either. As you said, the issue is RADICAL Christianity just like the Muslims trying to build a Mosque in Mufreesboro, TN aren't the problem, its RADICAL muslims. In my opinion though, the modern day Republican party has been taken over by RADICAL evangelical Christians that seek to dictate to those who may not believe in their religion that they must live according to the tenants of their religion. They have made it their goal to dictate what women can do with their own bodies, what other religions can build in terms of places to worship, who can and cannot get married when the only argument for their position is some ficticious book that they take as the word of God. Thats great that its the word of their God, but it is not MY God. As you said, this country was built on the foundation of freedom of religion whether it was founded by Christians or not. It was founded by white people too, does that mean only they have rights? Founded by Men too, do only they have rights? The bible should not even come into question when it comes to legislation. A conservative is supposed to let people make their own choices right? So why is it wrong, according to Republicans for the government to force people to buy healthcare, to make the wealthy pay slightly higher taxes, to regulate how business is conducted to protect the citizenry, but its not wrong for the government to bar women from having abortions, legislate abstinence education and disallow publicly available contraceptives, to keep !Removed! people from getting married, to disallow Muslims from building mosques and to force by law school children to recite a pledge of allegiance that references a God their family might not believe in? Why? Because of the bible. Because the bible says its right. Sorry...I don't give a !Removed! about the bible. I don't care if you do, but keep it out of my face. When the radical evangelicals are driven out of the Republican party, I and those like me will be back. Until then we'll have to make due with what we've got on the other side. I have built, grown and sold several small businesses in my short life. I am a very successful small businessperson. I don't have to talk to small businesspeople, I am one. What, specifically have your small business owning friends said are specific Obama administration policies that have "tied their hands"? Because...I see no such impediments in my businesses... Again, I am NOT a progressive thinker. Sorry, but I don't lend any credence to anybody so openly affected by their own bigotry and prejudice. You can't take distrust of an entire race of people "out of context". LMAO! I live in Washington my friend, and I can't remember the last time my commute was interrupted by a "militant rally". Its not 1967 anymore. God is not a political figure. I respect you and your sacrifice and service to this country, but this is a new world...its a world belonging to my generation...not yours. Its time you let us chart our own course. You were asked to fight for this country, not God. If you chose to fight also for God, that was your choice. But God does not BELONG on those monuments. I don't really care whether he's there or not, and I have a sneaking suspicion if the radical Christian right would end the assault of Homosexuals, Muslims, and Women you'd find "progressives" wouldn't care so much about "God" being on a monument or a dollar bill. They bring that fight to you to hurt you, because you hurt them. A quote as taken out of context as the one's you're lamenting that those that disagree with you use about Hermann Cain. I don't see you as having one iota of an open mind. Sorry.

There's not a lot I can add to that, I agree 100% with all of it. Thats the kind of thoughtful dialog Americans deserve...not stupid chain letters and name calling. My fear is that all of this is going to cause the American people to make the wrong choice for President. I'm not saying the right choice is Obama, but the right choice for sure is not Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, this yahoo who used to own a Pizza chain and hates Muslims or anybody who doesn't believe in evolution and thinks the world is 2000 years old. We need a SERIOUS President. I don't see anybody on the other side who's any better than Obama, and they come with the additional baggage of being potentially controlled by Christian extremists. I used to like Mitt Romney before he lost his spine.

Typical of the right-wing. When pressed to back up their claims...nothing there.

Actually I'm a fairly conservative person myself. My issues with the Republican party as it currently stands comes from their involvement with the radical religious right and attempts to circumvent conservative ideals for the purpose of legislating out of the bible. I don't care if women want to have abortions, if muslims wan't to build Mosques, or if people say the word "God" in the pledge of allegiance. in 2011, thats what the Republican party is all about. Which is why I left. Obama is the first democrat I have *ever* voted for. It IS a chain letter...and chain letters are silly. Therefore...its a silly chain letter. And all the economists, republican and democrat, were wrong? I don't think you truly understand the ramifications of allowing the economy to fail. People would starve to death Lenore... Actually the VAST majority of that debt was incurred fighting overseas wars. The programs we are fighting about make up a very small % of the total federal budget. So he enacted policies before the entered the white house? Please see the following timeline: http://www.sfgate.com/timeline/bailout/ As you can see, the federal bailout of AIG clearly happened BEFORE Obama took office. Yes he bailed out GM, and the government has done pretty well off of that deal. Obama's stimulus packages centered around specific New Deal type government programs. Bailous of Wall St banks happened during the Bush administration. Obama took office in the middle of it. Lets see some sources. Compare the number of vacations to other modern presidents. Please also furnish us with the amount of staff this administration has, and compare it to the staff that previous administrations have had, and include sources. And people are struggling here too. My wife has been out of work since 2008... How is it a disaster? Please list the specific parts of the plan that you have an issue with. Source please, and also please describe what "the Obama care" is. Strong assertion, please list the administration members who are terrorists and communists and source how you came to those conclusions. Quite frankly? I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about. You and people like you hate this guy so much because you've bought into the BS these right wing fanatics have been feeding you hook, line and sinker. You have absolutely no basis for any of these statements or accusations, you simply spout them out there and never even consider for a moment that you might be wrong. Why? I don't know why...I think it might have to do with the guy being young, highly educated...and quite frankly...black. Prove me wrong. I don't love the guy, quite frankly I think he needs to grow a pair on these debt ceiling talks. He's a lot weaker than I thought he'd be. I do not however think he's a communist, a socialist, whatever. He's an American, he loves this country same as we all do. What he thinks needs to be done may differ from what you or his opponents thinks needs to be done, but to call him all kind of "anti-American" things like this was 1950s Mccarthyism is whats unAmerican IMHO. If you want to find someone who's un-American, look at the people who spread those silly chain letters.

If you take that as an attack on your character, then how do you get through life in this world on a daily basis? Its a fair question...what you posted was a "silly chain letter", thats a fact. Why don't you post some ideas of your own backed up by research or knowledge that you've discovered for yourself? You mean the banking system that almost collapsed the world economy and was bailed out by Obama's predecessor, a conservative Republican? AIG? You do realize AIG was bailed out in 2008...and Obama took office in 2009 right? Again, please specific examples showing that Obama is a SOCIALIST. What specific things has he said, written, and done throughout his life that would lead you to believe he's a socialist? What has he done that paralells things that Mussolini did? Specific examples please.

I think what we're seeing is just that these gauges aren't very precise...

Um, when did I post any ideological viewpoint at all? All I said was that what you posted WAS a chain letter. That is not in debate. I also posted that I don't see how Jim insulted you. Nobody slammed your views. Prove it to us. Cite specific examples of things he has said, policies he has implemented, etc that show he "truly is a socialist". Draw comparisons between Obama and Mussolini citing specific examples. Cite specific examples from the actions of this administration of "coverups" and "ignoring of our Constitution". Cite specific examples and also link them to the specific parts of the constitution that have been violated. If you can do that, then we can have a serious debate. If not...then you're just posting silly chain letters and there's no independent thought there.

Got it back and all is well!

Actually, its a Lexus forum. I don't see how Jim insulted you. What you posted was in fact, a chain letter. Do you deny that? Your original post wasn't a respectful political argument that invited opposing viewpoints on the same level to join into a discussion amongst equals. If you want to have a real discussion then fine, but posting some ideological chain letter is not inviting a real discussion. This is not your point of view, or an opinion you've formed yourself. Like Jim said...its a silly chain letter.

First off, the package is a total rip off in the first place. But, these packages are always done by third parties. You wouldn't want a tech at the Lexus dealer to do that anyways because they aren't trained to do so. This is common practice and is a non-issue. Nothing in the law says that someone can't charge whatever they want for a service. You overpaid, and you should have done more research beforehand. Your fault, not the dealer's. Did you ever look into the options available on your vehicle to see if the rear seat entertainment option was on the sticker?

Some recalls specify that the customer gets a free tank of gas...

95% of all leases are 3 year. 2 year leases are pretty rare because they can be pretty expensive from a monthly standpoint. I don't think thats a great deal at all by the way...shoot for $4k off.

The HS250h I had as a loaner a few weeks ago had a remote start...

Well we wound up postponing our beach trip, I've been way too busy at work... I stopped by to look at it today and it looks great! They wanted to make sure I was happy with the match before they put it all back together. Should have it back tomorrow...

Which taillight is it? There's an access panel in the trunk, no need to remove the assembly...

If you unlock the car and then walk away without opening a door, it will relock in 30 seconds. However, it cannot be set so that it just automatically locks itself after a period of time under all circumstances. Your Camry didn't do that either, if it did that was an aftermarket setup someone installed. No Toyota has such a feature... You just have to train yourself to always lock it. I lock mine in my garage.

The LS460 is certainly still offered new here...

Good luck Josh! Keep us posted...

Oh man NC...thats worse than my story!

A Ford dealer did the same thing to me not that long ago when I test drove a new Explorer, he actually said to me "shame on you". Unbelievable huh?