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Thread: 2012 Elections - Page 110







Post#2726 at 08-17-2011 10:24 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
God knows, I want Obama to succeed, but this bus tour stuff is depressing.



Guess I am into the Heinlein quotes today:



Please, Mr. President, I don't want to hear about bad luck. Hope was better.

James50
Ugh, that Robert Heinlein quote sounds like something an Ayn-Randoid would say. The economic elites are NOT the ones who create prosperity, nor are they the source of creativity in society.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#2727 at 08-17-2011 10:28 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
Who the heck is trying to outlaw birth control?
A lot of the radical theocratic Evangelicals want to completely roll back women's rights, including birth control and the right to vote. They also want to legalize debt-slavery.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#2728 at 08-18-2011 12:07 AM by Child of Socrates [at Cybrarian from America's Dairyland, 1961 cohort joined Sep 2001 #posts 14,092]
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Quote Originally Posted by Copperfield View Post
Oh you aren't challenging me, nor am I a "libertarian type." You might not realize this but anarchist != libertarian. You are a librarian type right? You might want to look those philosophical differences up just to... You know... Avoid that confusion in the future.
They're in the same general ballpark. In any case, you're using the same rhetoric that other libertarians and anarchists have tried on me in the past. I don't find it convincing.

I also would never state that you love freedom. Your comments suggest otherwise.
I actually do value individual freedom a great deal. But I also value justice, and sometimes that means that a few individuals get their toes stepped on.

If you'd like to have a rational conversation with me about my actual philosophy, and how I try to balance freedom with justice, fantastic.

But just shooting your mouth off that I'm a slave to the Man and "don't love freedom" is a nonstarter with me.







Post#2729 at 08-18-2011 12:09 AM by Child of Socrates [at Cybrarian from America's Dairyland, 1961 cohort joined Sep 2001 #posts 14,092]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
Which anti-abortion folks are taking it that far, i.e. working towards legislation which would outlaw birth control?
Rani, you're taking my statement here and going off on a tangent. My point is that some people get all bent out of shape about the feds oppressing them, when individual states can be just as oppressive, if not more so.







Post#2730 at 08-18-2011 12:32 AM by Brian Rush [at California joined Jul 2001 #posts 12,392]
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Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
It really should not be necessary to say this, but hate to just let it pass. The purpose of limiting abortion is to protect the life of the person in the womb. From that perspective, it has nothing to do with protecting individual freedom, but everything to do with protecting life. This is the great and continuing divide of the abortion debate.
Yep. Not about liberty at all, except on our side. Of course, if we all agreed that what was in the womb in the early stages was a person, then there'd be no debate at all . . .
"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"

My blog: https://brianrushwriter.wordpress.com/

The Order Master (volume one of Refuge), a science fantasy. Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GZZWEAS
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Post#2731 at 08-18-2011 02:14 AM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Quote Originally Posted by pizal81 View Post
That being said I do think it is a shame that someone can win the debate and not even be considered a contender for president.
That is what struck me. After Paul almost won the straw poll, the media immediately annointed Rick Perry along with Romney and Bachmann as the "top tier." So who decides who is in the top tier? Aren't the voters supposed to decide? Am I just naive about that?

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mo...--the-top-tier
Last edited by Eric the Green; 08-18-2011 at 04:09 AM.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#2732 at 08-18-2011 02:37 AM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
A very interesting article based on long-term polling data about who the Tea Party actually are. No extreme group has ever had comparable power in American politics in my opinion. It may however not last.
Interesting article, considering also that it confirms some of what I have said about them.

Beginning in 2006 we interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 Americans as part of our continuing research into national political attitudes, and we returned to interview many of the same people again this summer. As a result, we can look at what people told us, long before there was a Tea Party, to predict who would become a Tea Party supporter five years later. We can also account for multiple influences simultaneously — isolating the impact of one factor while holding others constant.

Our analysis casts doubt on the Tea Party’s “origin story.” Early on, Tea Partiers were often described as nonpartisan political neophytes. Actually, the Tea Party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born, and were more likely than others to have contacted government officials. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of Tea Party support today.
And those who say the Tea Party are not racist might want to read that article too. There is at least some doubt about that.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#2733 at 08-18-2011 03:37 AM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Wonderful Rick Perry

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...689,full.story

Reporting from Washington—
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has powered his political career on the largesse of donors like Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who gave the governor $1.12 million in recent years.

And donors like Simmons have found the rewards to be mutual, reaping benefits from Texas during Perry's tenure.

Perry has received a total of $37 million over the last decade from just 150 individuals and couples, who are likely to form the backbone of his new effort to win the Republican presidential nomination. The tally represented more than a third of the $102 million he had raised as governor through December, according to data compiled by the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice.

Nearly half of those mega-donors received hefty business contracts, tax breaks or appointments under Perry, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#2734 at 08-18-2011 03:50 AM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Well, here's more:

Along with Simmons — who won permission to build a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in Texas, a project that promises to generate hundreds of millions of dollars — The Times found dozens of examples in which major donors to Perry have benefited during his tenure.

Auto magnate B.J. "Red" McCombs, who contributed nearly $400,000 to the governor, is the primary financial backer for a Formula One racetrack to be built near Austin. The state has pledged $25 million a year in subsidies to support the project.

The Houston-based engineering firm of James Dannenbaum, who gave more than $320,000 to Perry, received multiple transportation contracts from the state. In 2007, Perry appointed Dannenbaum to a coveted post on the University of Texas' board of regents.

A Mississippi-based poultry company run by Joe Sanderson, who gave $165,000 to Perry, received a $500,000 grant from a state business incentive fund championed by Perry to open a chicken hatchery and processing plant in Waco.

With its mix of big-money industries like oil and campaign finance rules that allow unlimited political donations, Texas has a reputation for monied campaigns. And its elected officials have long sought to elevate their political patrons.

Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said donors had benefited more under Perry's administration than they did under recent governors such as Democrat Ann Richards and Republican George W. Bush, Perry's predecessor.

"It's not unprecedented, but we haven't seen it in a while," he said.

In his 11 years in office, Perry has smoothed the path for corporate interests by stocking state agencies with pro-business appointees, said Jim Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...689,full.story
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#2735 at 08-18-2011 06:33 AM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by Mikebert View Post
I would say Michele Bachman is someone who can instill loyalty or "team spirit" in the ideological members of the current GOP. Paul represents almost nothing that the GOP stands for. The only places where he might encourage some loyalty amongst GOP voters are in exactly those place where he abandons his libertarian beliefs, such as use of coercion to prevent abortion, which he has sort of favored at various times.

Bachman is NOT being treated as a marginal figure by the media. Sarah Palin would be an example too, but had McCain won and then died in office she would be president, so she was hardly marginal.

One can never imagine a Bachman supporter supporting a Democrat without a sea change in political views. A Bachman gets people who find her appealing out to the polls where they will reliably vote GOP, that is what loyalty is about.

People who voted for Paul can easily vote Democratic as well as Republican without significantly changing their views: a colleague of mine has voted for Paul and Gore for president. I don't wee how treating Paul the way he is treated will get people who find him appealing out to the polls--and even if it does, it is by no means certain that they will vote GOP. That's hardly loyalty.

Paul serves another purpose. Paul is included because what he stands for will hurt a majority of voters and so he is 100% certain to lose. This makes him safe. His presence means his ideas get a viewing by a new generation most of whom will reject them as they age, and this inoculates the system against a certain type of reform.

There are no equivalents of Paul on the other side. Dennis K is a liberal, who are the conservatives of the Left. He is safe because he is one of them, as are all liberals. Actual leftists are excluded completely from the conversation. This is because one cannot guarantee that their ideas will automatically be rejected by a majority, which makes them potentially dangerous. After all things like Social Security and Medicare, which are hardly rejected by the majority today were Leftist ideas once.
Great post Mike.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#2736 at 08-18-2011 07:04 AM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
"Want" and "trying" are two completely different things.
Here's the quote again:

Which anti-abortion folks are taking it that far, i.e. working towards legislation which would outlaw birth control?
Have been paying attention to Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida? Hidden agendas become real when they can.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#2737 at 08-18-2011 08:46 AM by Hutch74 [at Wisconsin joined Mar 2010 #posts 1,008]
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Quote Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon View Post
Have been paying attention to Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida? Hidden agendas become real when they can.
Please provide the specific legislation in Wisconsin that has been proposed that outlaws birth control. Otherwise the above and Odins post simply is nothing more than fear mongering.







Post#2738 at 08-18-2011 09:16 AM by Justin '77 [at Meh. joined Sep 2001 #posts 12,182]
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Quote Originally Posted by Brian Rush View Post
Yep. Not about liberty at all, except on our side. Of course, if we all agreed that what was in the womb in the early stages was a person, then there'd be no debate at all . . .
And that's the trick. On the one side, you've got arguments from liberty, on the other side, you've got arguments from life. And since both are the necessary conclusions from a fundamental judgement-of-fact, neither is capable of compromising with the other. Which is as it should be, given the actual nature of the disagreement.

The problem is that the sphere in which people have elected (or not, maybe; it could be that people would be willing to do it right, were they not products of a system which resists the development of anything outside it) to decide the issue is the political-ethical one. That's not where a solution can possibly lie to what is fundamentally a metaphysical* disagreement.

--
*I think that's the right name of the branch of philosophy that includes questions of 'what is a "person"?'
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que cela, la loi ? On peut donc être dehors. Je ne comprends pas. Quant à moi, suis-je dans la loi ? suis-je hors la loi ? Je n'en sais rien. Mourir de faim, est-ce être dans la loi ?" -- Tellmarch

"Человек не может снять с себя ответственности за свои поступки." - L. Tolstoy

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is no doubt obvious, the cult of the experts is both self-serving, for those who propound it, and fraudulent." - Noam Chomsky







Post#2739 at 08-18-2011 09:37 AM by antichrist [at I'm in the Big City now, boy! joined Sep 2003 #posts 1,655]
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Quote Originally Posted by Child of Socrates View Post
...

I don't personally think that having to purchase health insurance is all that intrusive. The consequences of not having it in a catastrophic situation are pretty dire. It just makes sense to have it.
With all due respect I couldn't disagree more. Sure it makes sense from a pragmatic point of view - I have health insurance for my family. BUT what about poor folks, or retired folks, or anyone who can't afford to pony up something like 10-15k per year? It's hugely intrusive if you can't afford it.

Not having car insurance is easy to solve if you can't afford it. Ditch the car. Not having health insurance if you can't afford it? Ditch life? That doesn't work. Our system is certainly broken, but this doesn't fix anything.

Having the government -- state OR federal -- telling me I can't use birth control (some anti-abortion folks DO take it that far) is much more intrusive.
This does not follow from the earlier point. I certainly agree that legislation outlawing birth control would be a travesty. However, legislation mandating everyone to spend 10-15k per year on health insurance DOES exist, while legislation outlawing birth control is HIGHLY UNLIKELY.

It doesn't follow.







Post#2740 at 08-18-2011 09:53 AM by Child of Socrates [at Cybrarian from America's Dairyland, 1961 cohort joined Sep 2001 #posts 14,092]
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Quote Originally Posted by antichrist View Post
With all due respect I couldn't disagree more. Sure it makes sense from a pragmatic point of view - I have health insurance for my family. BUT what about poor folks, or retired folks, or anyone who can't afford to pony up something like 10-15k per year? It's hugely intrusive if you can't afford it.
I'm not saying that people should pony up that amount. Don't retired folks already pay a small amount into the Medicare system? Don't poor people covered by Medicaid still have co-pays on their prescriptions?

You know what my next response is going to be: single-payer, or Medicare for all. That would be ideal.

Not having car insurance is easy to solve if you can't afford it. Ditch the car. Not having health insurance if you can't afford it? Ditch life? That doesn't work. Our system is certainly broken, but this doesn't fix anything.
The system can't afford all these visits to emergency rooms for issues that might have been spotted if people had the means to get primary care in the first place.


This does not follow from the earlier point. I certainly agree that legislation outlawing birth control would be a travesty. However, legislation mandating everyone to spend 10-15k per year on health insurance DOES exist, while legislation outlawing birth control is HIGHLY UNLIKELY.

It doesn't follow.
Again, I'm not arguing the likelihood of either occurring, I'm arguing the level of intrusiveness involved in each case.

But, anyway....I'm going to be off the grid for some time, so you all will have to continue without me.







Post#2741 at 08-18-2011 10:00 AM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,014]
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Quote Originally Posted by Eric the Green View Post
Well, here's more:

Along with Simmons — who won permission to build a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in Texas, a project that promises to generate hundreds of millions of dollars — The Times found dozens of examples in which major donors to Perry have benefited during his tenure.

Auto magnate B.J. "Red" McCombs, who contributed nearly $400,000 to the governor, is the primary financial backer for a Formula One racetrack to be built near Austin. The state has pledged $25 million a year in subsidies to support the project.

The Houston-based engineering firm of James Dannenbaum, who gave more than $320,000 to Perry, received multiple transportation contracts from the state. In 2007, Perry appointed Dannenbaum to a coveted post on the University of Texas' board of regents.

A Mississippi-based poultry company run by Joe Sanderson, who gave $165,000 to Perry, received a $500,000 grant from a state business incentive fund championed by Perry to open a chicken hatchery and processing plant in Waco.

With its mix of big-money industries like oil and campaign finance rules that allow unlimited political donations, Texas has a reputation for monied campaigns. And its elected officials have long sought to elevate their political patrons.

Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said donors had benefited more under Perry's administration than they did under recent governors such as Democrat Ann Richards and Republican George W. Bush, Perry's predecessor.

"It's not unprecedented, but we haven't seen it in a while," he said.

In his 11 years in office, Perry has smoothed the path for corporate interests by stocking state agencies with pro-business appointees, said Jim Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...689,full.story
Just what we need: Texas-sized, Texas-style cronyism in the federal government. Not!

More here

Rick Perry is as much a big-government fellow as any liberal... except that his style of big government would simply enrich a few and make life miserable for those who lack connections.
Last edited by pbrower2a; 08-18-2011 at 10:08 AM.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."


― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters







Post#2742 at 08-18-2011 10:43 AM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
Looks like I need to ask it again ...

Who the heck is trying to outlaw birth control?
The Religious Right is now very definitely trying to put Planned Parenthood entirely out of business. If they actually favored birth control other than abortion I do not think they would be doing that.







Post#2743 at 08-18-2011 11:38 AM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by Eric the Green View Post
That is what struck me. After Paul almost won the straw poll, the media immediately annointed Rick Perry along with Romney and Bachmann as the "top tier." So who decides who is in the top tier? Aren't the voters supposed to decide? Am I just naive about that?

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mo...--the-top-tier
The Corporate Media simply ignores non-establishment candidates, or make them look like buffoons. Or, if the non-Establish candidate has a serious shot (like Howard Dean) they politically assassinate them.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#2744 at 08-18-2011 12:29 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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GOP's worse nightmare

- the scenario that makes them constantly lie to you -

http://moslereconomics.com/2011/08/1...ings-slipping/


President Obama’s ratings slipping

As bad as it’s ever been.
I could turn it all around over a two day weekend.
Full FICA suspension
One time revenue distribution to the state govts of $500 per capita
$8/hr Federally funded transition job for anyone willing and able to work
(see my ‘proposals’ on this website)

Unemployment starts falling towards 4%
Stocks double in short order bailing out pension funds

Strong approve would go to 65%
Strong disapprove would go to less than 35%…
Yes, it's naive from a political standpoint of getting anything like this through Congress
but that's because Americans have lost, no given over, their minds.

Now back to your usual programming -

"federal debt is bad, federal debt is bad, federal debt is bad, deficits will kill you, deficits will kill you, deficits will kill you, freedom fries, freedom fries, cut spending, cut spending, obamacare, obamacare, freedom fries, freedom fries,..."
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#2745 at 08-18-2011 01:58 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Breaking News

Breaking News


S & P Downgrades Iowa’s IQ
Straw Poll ‘Alarms’ Ratings Agency


AMES, IOWA (The Borowitz Report) – Calling the results of today’s Iowa straw poll “alarming,” Standard and Poor’s took the unprecedented action of downgrading Iowa’s IQ.

While the effects of such an extraordinary measure are hard to predict, experts say the IQ downgrade could result in Iowans having difficulty completing sentences or operating a television remote.

“This downgrade would be very upsetting to Republicans in Iowa,” said an S & P spokesman. “Fortunately, there’s no way they’ll understand it.”

The winner in the straw poll, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn), gave a rousing victory speech that was simulcast in English across the state.

But there may be tough sledding ahead for Rep. Bachmann, as a new poll shows her losing support to Texas Governor Rick Perry among voters who describe themselves as morons.

Gov. Perry kicked off his presidential campaign today in South Carolina, unveiling a new stump speech in which he promised to repeal the twentieth century.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#2746 at 08-18-2011 02:07 PM by princeofcats67 [at joined Jan 2010 #posts 1,995]
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Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
Breaking News-S & P Downgrades Iowa’s IQ
Straw Poll ‘Alarms’ Ratings Agency
...But I thought "The Left's" talking-point was to de-legitimize S&P?

Prince

PS:"You Guys" need to make up your mind!
I Am A Child of God/Nature/The Universe
I Think Globally and Act Individually(and possibly, voluntarily join-together with Others)
I Pray for World Peace & I Choose Less-Just Say: "NO!, Thank You."







Post#2747 at 08-18-2011 02:45 PM by A.LOS79 [at Jersey joined Apr 2003 #posts 516]
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This election is going to have a lot of polarizing action and Obama to say the least will have a real challenge.
"Suppressed" Late-waveGenXer & GenY Cusper born in 1979

"Has Oswald missed the specifics would have been different but the saeculum would of still carved it's path. The Second Turning would of came one way or another. It was Time."
The Fourth Turning pg.170 Chapter 6 The First Turning

http://angelolosito.webs.com/







Post#2748 at 08-18-2011 04:11 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Quote Originally Posted by antichrist View Post
With all due respect I couldn't disagree more. Sure it makes sense from a pragmatic point of view - I have health insurance for my family. BUT what about poor folks, or retired folks, or anyone who can't afford to pony up something like 10-15k per year? It's hugely intrusive if you can't afford it.
I can understand how mandating that people buy health insurance is "government interfering in your own affairs," as the conservatives love to say about legislation that only regulates bad conduct by business. But it does indeed make sense, and without the mandate that everyone participate, it won't work and insurance will remain too expensive for everyone. And the legislation contains mitigating provisions for those who are poor (plus Medicaid remains). Retired folks are already covered, of course, if they paid Medicare taxes.
Not having car insurance is easy to solve if you can't afford it. Ditch the car. Not having health insurance if you can't afford it? Ditch life? That doesn't work. Our system is certainly broken, but this doesn't fix anything.
It's a start. And you can still ditch the system (though if they catch you, you pay a tax penalty). You're not "ditching life" if you don't have health insurance; you just pay for service.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#2749 at 08-18-2011 05:38 PM by James50 [at Atlanta, GA US joined Feb 2010 #posts 3,605]
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Holy smokes! Is it possible that Obama could simply quit? I thought of this the night he announced Bin Laden's death, but it was just my gut trying to make sense of a sudden White House announcement.

So, at a time when the only issue that really matters is jobs and falling living standards, the president will head into the fall campaign next year with not much to say except "it could have been worse." That's not a winning message, obviously. Which leaves him with a campaign based almost entirely on (what Bill Clinton used to call) "the politics of personal destruction."

Such a campaign would leave President Obama stone cold, even if he's perfectly willing to do it to get the job done. He would hate every minute of it. He didn't travel the road he traveled and scale the mountains he climbed, to have the capstone of his political career read: "Mitt Romney is a Mormon weirdo" or "Rick Perry is a psychopath."

In Washington, the "plugged-in" people will tell you gravely that the president isn't enjoying the work. He feels, it is said, "beleaguered" and "unappreciated" and "deeply unhappy" about the state of our politics. The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has been nibbling around this Obama gloom for a while; she's always had great radar for presidential funks. If you read between the lines of her columns, you get an almost tactile sense of Obama's blues.

A long-time Democratic politician told me the other day that he would not be "terribly" surprised if Obama called it quits early next year. When I asked him if he really believed that, he said "no, not really, but you can smell it. It's in the air around him."
Here

Well, OK, let's do the thought experiment. Late this year, before New Hampshire or Iowa, Obama comes on TV some Sunday night like LBJ did in 1968 and says he is not running. Instead he says he will devote himself to real deficit reduction that would bring entitlements under control and make his re-election impossible.

So who becomes the front-runner? Hillary Clinton? Russ Fiengold? Bernie Sanders? Come on all you lefties with S&H in your back pockets out there, give me a hand. What would happen then?

James50
The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. - G.K. Chesterton







Post#2750 at 08-18-2011 05:55 PM by annla899 [at joined Sep 2008 #posts 2,860]
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08-18-2011, 05:55 PM #2750
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Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
Holy smokes! Is it possible that Obama could simply quit? I thought of this the night he announced Bin Laden's death, but it was just my gut trying to make sense of a sudden White House announcement.


Here

Well, OK, let's do the thought experiment. Late this year, before New Hampshire or Iowa, Obama comes on TV some Sunday night like LBJ did in 1968 and says he is not running. Instead he says he will devote himself to real deficit reduction that would bring entitlements under control and make his re-election impossible.

So who becomes the front-runner? Hillary Clinton? Russ Fiengold? Bernie Sanders? Come on all you lefties with S&H in your back pockets out there, give me a hand. What would happen then?

James50
The Peggy Noonan quote that the country is "tuning the president out" is apt, but I think its due more to all the screaming on both sides of the political spectrum, especially the 24/7 relentless news. A number of Obama supporters I've spoken to have said they wouldn't blame him if he did decide not to run.


In comparison to many I don't consider myself a lefty. Well, in truth, I'd probably prefer a democratic socialist gov't a la Europe, but this is the country I was born in and choose to live and work in, so I accept the reality of the USA.

Sanders could never run, really, as he's a Socialist. Feingold's too liberal for many Dems and for the country in general. HRC is probably pretty darn tired at this point. Maybe Andrew Cuomo? He's a governor of a large state with a high approval rating. He's no Xer, but a Boomer/Joneser--born in '57, the same year as I was.
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