Generational Dynamics
Fourth Turning Forum Archive


Popular links:
Generational Dynamics Web Site
Generational Dynamics Forum
Fourth Turning Archive home page
New Fourth Turning Forum

Thread: 2012 Elections - Page 158







Post#3926 at 09-15-2011 02:54 PM by summer in the fall [at joined Jul 2011 #posts 1,540]
---
09-15-2011, 02:54 PM #3926
Join Date
Jul 2011
Posts
1,540

Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
He is right, however, that the private-sector bankers and financial world in general, are in the catbird seat for making money with very little to show for it from a societal viewpoint. Prior to my discovery of the MMT community, I railed on and on about how we need to return banking and the financial sector back to its boring old days before de-regulation set in. Now, after MMT, I firmly believe the entire apparatus, extremely over-compensated middlemen, should be shut down and replaced by a system in which the Nation's citizens do their banking directly with their govt.
Is that the equivalent to completely nationalizing the banks?

And that part of the film I set the link to which describes money being spent into the economy through infrastructure, how is that different from MMT? Thanks.

Cheers.







Post#3927 at 09-15-2011 02:57 PM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
---
09-15-2011, 02:57 PM #3927
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Texas
Posts
5,892

Quote Originally Posted by Weave View Post
Palin most likely will not run but this book has no bearing on her decision. Books such as these, without good source material rarely get taken seriously whether from the left or the right.
Agreed. It's got nothing to do with this book. There have been lots of things negative things written about Palin over the past 3 years and yet her followers are still faithful to her. I don't think there much more that can be said about Palin that hasn't already been said. Another book isn't going to change anyone's view of her at this point. I think most people in America have pretty much already made up their mind about her. Either they love her or they hate her.







Post#3928 at 09-15-2011 03:39 PM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
---
09-15-2011, 03:39 PM #3928
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
David Kaiser '47
Posts
5,220

Quote Originally Posted by wtrg8 View Post
I wouldn't take too much stock in these Neo-Con Tools, David. I cannot believe he wanted to take that decision out of the parent's hands in the first place.
I don't agree. When I was a kid parents couldn't opt out of polio vaccines or dpt. This isn't really any different.







Post#3929 at 09-15-2011 03:52 PM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
---
09-15-2011, 03:52 PM #3929
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Texas
Posts
5,892

Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
I don't agree. When I was a kid parents couldn't opt out of polio vaccines or dpt. This isn't really any different.
My children are not allowed to attend to school unless their vaccinations are up to date. (And no, the HPV vaccine is not on the list.) I suppose I could have opted out of not having my son get his chicken pox booster shot before he started junior high (if I had so desired), but then he wouldn't have been able to attend to school. He would be at home right now instead.

But this is not just because we live in Texas. When we lived in Illinois I was required to show proof of my son's shot record before my son entered kindergarten too.

So this is not some kind of new and unusual thing. Kids are simply required to have immunizations in order to attend school and I believe it's also required by a lot of colleges and universities too. So even if opting out of getting your children's vaccinated is a choice, there are consequences to it too. Like not be able to go to school. Perhaps the parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated for different diseases might get around it by homeschooling them or sending them to private school that doesn't require it. I can't say for certain.







Post#3930 at 09-15-2011 04:01 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
---
09-15-2011, 04:01 PM #3930
Join Date
Jul 2005
Location
NYC
Posts
10,443

Wow, what a miss!

Quote Originally Posted by summer in the fall View Post
Is that the equivalent to completely nationalizing the banks?

And that part of the film I set the link to which describes money being spent into the economy through infrastructure, how is that different from MMT? Thanks.

Cheers.
Holy shi-take mushrooms, batman!!! I completely missed that or never got to it!

Being completely ignorant of how to link to the middle of a video (how the heck do you do that?!), I assumed I needed to start at the beginning. Impatient, if not ADD, me never got to the end with the solution of the govt expenditures (which is exactly what I said in my previous post was missing!!!).

On its surface, this looks like a complete convergence between MMT and what the money-as-debt is telling us - at least his solution. I'll need to think this through more, but they are very very much in the same ballpark.

About nationalizing banks: it sounds like the same direction but the notion and practice of "nationalization" has been with us for some time and has a lot of baggage associated with it. Sort of like talking to someone about socialism and all they picture are Stalin's purges. Devil is in the details; so I'm not sure, but again it is along those lines.

Wow, thanks for spending the time to hang in there with me and show I missed something - very subtle/gentle but very effective guiding; I like that! Are you a teacher?
"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#3931 at 09-15-2011 04:13 PM by Aramea [at joined Jan 2011 #posts 743]
---
09-15-2011, 04:13 PM #3931
Join Date
Jan 2011
Posts
743

Quote Originally Posted by ASB65 View Post
My children are not allowed to attend to school unless their vaccinations are up to date. (And no, the HPV vaccine is not on the list.) I suppose I could have opted out of not having my son get his chicken pox booster shot before he started junior high (if I had so desired), but then he wouldn't have been able to attend to school. He would be at home right now instead.

But this is not just because we live in Texas. When we lived in Illinois I was required to show proof of my son's shot record before my son entered kindergarten too.

So this is not some kind of new and unusual thing. Kids are simply required to have immunizations in order to attend school and I believe it's also required by a lot of colleges and universities too. So even if opting out of getting your children's vaccinated is a choice, there are consequences to it too. Like not be able to go to school. Perhaps the parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated for different diseases might get around it by homeschooling them or sending them to private school that doesn't require it. I can't say for certain.
This is how I look at it as well. In Georgia you can't enroll your kid in public school without vaccines. This effectively ends the discussion because precedent has been set for "mandatory" vaccines. There are many reasons to dislike Gov. Perry but this is not amongst them ..







Post#3932 at 09-15-2011 04:19 PM by Aramea [at joined Jan 2011 #posts 743]
---
09-15-2011, 04:19 PM #3932
Join Date
Jan 2011
Posts
743

Apropos quote from HuffPo reader on article regarding Boehner shooting down jobs bill:

The median personal wealth for members of Congress grew to $911,510 in 2009, up from $785,515 in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Nearly half of the members of Congress are millionair­es.

Do they need paid 174K a year?

No.

It appears that members of Congress have done well during the recession.

Was it a fair trade?

What did Americans get for their dollar?

Slow_Turning: The median personal wealth for members of Congress grew to
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social...108076795.html








Post#3933 at 09-15-2011 04:33 PM by Justin '77 [at Meh. joined Sep 2001 #posts 12,182]
---
09-15-2011, 04:33 PM #3933
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
Meh.
Posts
12,182

Quote Originally Posted by ASB65 View Post
My children are not allowed to attend to school unless their vaccinations are up to date. (And no, the HPV vaccine is not on the list.) I suppose I could have opted out of not having my son get his chicken pox booster shot before he started junior high (if I had so desired), but then he wouldn't have been able to attend to school. He would be at home right now instead.

But this is not just because we live in Texas. When we lived in Illinois I was required to show proof of my son's shot record before my son entered kindergarten too.

So this is not some kind of new and unusual thing. Kids are simply required to have immunizations in order to attend school and I believe it's also required by a lot of colleges and universities too. So even if opting out of getting your children's vaccinated is a choice, there are consequences to it too. Like not be able to go to school. Perhaps the parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated for different diseases might get around it by homeschooling them or sending them to private school that doesn't require it. I can't say for certain.
I suspect that's not quite the case. We've found, in the three states we've tried it*, that there is almost always a 'religious fanatic' exemption for that. Kids who are not vaccinated indeed can attend public schools -- it's just that, in the event of a case of whatever-disease, they would be excluded for the duration.

----
*Our boys got their shots in Russia -- the schools and preschools do medical for all kids there. It's the same stuff, more or less, but the records are kind of a pain in the ass for Official American organs. It's just easier for us to claim to be delusional than it is to go through the pain in the ass (and expense) of getting sufficiently-certified translations, apostiles, notarizations, etc, etc to get an American school system to take the records we have.
"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

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







Post#3934 at 09-15-2011 04:34 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
---
09-15-2011, 04:34 PM #3934
Join Date
Jul 2005
Location
NYC
Posts
10,443

Ezra nails it

Ezra Klein with real insight -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...rss=ezra-klein

The White House’s new strategy

During the debt-ceiling negotiations, the Obama administration offered the Republicans two concessions that Democrats really didn’t like: A cut to Social Security, through a mechanism known as “chained-CPI,” and a lift in Medicare’s eligibility age. The administration was expected to make both concessions part of the debt-reduction package it plans to announce next week. Now, it looks as if neither item will appear in the final plan. And the reason why is best explained by comparing two New York special elections that went very, very differently for the Democrats.

On May 24, 2011, Democrat Kathy Hochul was elected to fill the House seat vacated by Republican Chris Lee. She wasn’t supposed to win that election. In fact, she wasn’t supposed to come particularly close. But House Republicans had just voted for the Ryan budget, and Hochul ran a campaign attacking her opponent, Jane Corwin, for her willingness to slash Medicare while cutting taxes for wealthy Americans. Ads like this one eventually led to Hochul’s upset:

[see the link for video]

On Sept. 14, 2011, Republican Bob Turner was elected to fill the House seat vacated by Democrat Anthony Weiner. He wasn’t supposed to win that election. In fact, he wasn’t supposed to come particularly close. But Democrats had long ago lost whatever clarity of message the Ryan budget had handed them, and the Obama administration’s endless negotiating during the debt deal, far from making them appear the only reasonable adults in the room, had simply underscored the perception that the president was unable to lead Washington at a moment that desperately called for strong leadership.

Turner ran against Obama’s economic record, and his record on Israel. But he was concerned enough about attacks on his position on Medicare to release this robocall in which former-New York mayor Ed Koch swore up and down that Turner would never touch the program:

[see link for video]


The Obama administration got to test its postpartisan approach and in its first real electoral test, it failed. Republicans refused to cut the deal, voters weren’t interested in parsing reports about which backroom players offered what concessions, and the impression of Obama as a weakened leader without a clear plan for dealing with the economic crisis solidified. By contrast, the more traditional Democratic strategy -- protect popular government programs, oppose further tax cuts for the wealthy -- had worked a few months earlier, and was still clearly scaring Republican candidates.
Now for the collective "Duh!"

The flaw in the White House’s plan, as it turned out, was that they were letting the Republicans have it both ways. The White House was joining with them in proposing unpopular entitlement cuts and talking about deficits rather than jobs, but they weren’t getting the grand compromise that they needed to show voters that compromising was an effective form of presidential leadership.

The first sign the White House was realizing this was when they proposed paying for their jobs plan by taxing the rich. That was a clear nonstarter in Congress -- even among some of the Democrats -- and an unusual foray into policy-as-messaging for a White House that tended to prefer presenting policy proposals that were already a compromise.

Next week, we’ll see if that was simply a temporary divergence from the One True Path or a whole new strategy. If the White House emerges with a plan that is firmly in the middle and makes it impossible to run against Republican ideas in 2012, then we’ll know they’re not interested in returning to the post-Ryan strategy, and they still think being the adults in the room will win them the election.[[OR]] If they emerge with a plan that cuts the deficit in ways that the American people like and the Republicans can’t accept, we’ll know they have chosen to change direction sharply.

In that world, Republicans will be left with two choices: either give the Democrats a deal on the deficit and jobs -- and make no mistake, the White House would still jump at the chance to raise the Medicare eligibility age in return for a grand bargain -- or duke it out in the election. That’s the funny thing about ceasing to compromise in public. It can make it more likely that you actually get a compromise in private
Politically, this is dead on - and I guess necessary to get the right people in office to avoid an austerity nightmare and likely depression.

But the whole frame around the federal deficit as THE problem or even taxation as THE problem is simply crazy when we are staring into the abyss of a double, and perhaps as bad, double dip
"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#3935 at 09-15-2011 04:41 PM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
---
09-15-2011, 04:41 PM #3935
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Texas
Posts
5,892

Quote Originally Posted by Aramea View Post
This is how I look at it as well. In Georgia you can't enroll your kid in public school without vaccines. This effectively ends the discussion because precedent has been set for "mandatory" vaccines. There are many reasons to dislike Gov. Perry but this is not amongst them ..
Well of course. And this precedence was set years ago. We had to show proof of vaccination when I was a kid! I remember having to go the doctor for booster shots, whining about it, and my mother saying, "You have to get them before they let you in school." That was back in the 1970's. This truly is much to do about nothing.

And like it wasn't pointed out in another post, a few pages back. The whole reason Bachman went after him on this was because her intent was to try and show that he did it to line the pockets of Merck, a campaign donor of his. But in her typical way, she got off topic and went off on this tanget about how it causes mental retardation. She should have stayed on target because that was a good talking point. But she is after all, Michelle Bachman, so what do you expect.
Last edited by ASB65; 09-15-2011 at 04:52 PM.







Post#3936 at 09-15-2011 04:51 PM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
---
09-15-2011, 04:51 PM #3936
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Texas
Posts
5,892

Quote Originally Posted by Justin '77 View Post
I suspect that's not quite the case. We've found, in the three states we've tried it*, that there is almost always a 'religious fanatic' exemption for that. Kids who are not vaccinated indeed can attend public schools -- it's just that, in the event of a case of whatever-disease, they would be excluded for the duration.

----
*Our boys got their shots in Russia -- the schools and preschools do medical for all kids there. It's the same stuff, more or less, but the records are kind of a pain in the ass for Official American organs. It's just easier for us to claim to be delusional than it is to go through the pain in the ass (and expense) of getting sufficiently-certified translations, apostiles, notarizations, etc, etc to get an American school system to take the records we have.
I can't blame you there. I can see it would be easier to claim religious fanatic. I remember when we first moved to Texas. Two days after school started, we got a letter saying our son would not be able to attend school until he got a hepatitis A (or B, can't remember which one) shot. Which ever one it was, it's required here in Texas but wasn't in Illinois so he did have one. I think we were given like 2 days to get it done or he was out of school until proof of the shot was shown. I remember even though Sam was only 2 at the time, I went ahead and got one for him too at same time, since I knew eventually he would enter the Texas school system too.

I don't recall seeing on that note anything about how we could get out of it for religious purposes, but I suppose if I was a religious fanatic who was against shots, then perhaps I could have gotten away without him having that shot.
Last edited by ASB65; 09-15-2011 at 04:54 PM.







Post#3937 at 09-15-2011 04:57 PM by The Grey Badger [at Albuquerque, NM joined Sep 2001 #posts 8,876]
---
09-15-2011, 04:57 PM #3937
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Posts
8,876

Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
On another front, here is a fantastic new development in the Bachmann vaccine controversy. I would paraphrase it, but I couldn't possibly do it justice. The Bachmann-Hannity exchange is priceless. We really are fighting over the nature of reality in this election cycle.
I would dearly love to see the people who claim to create their own reality stub their toes on Bishop Berkeley's rock.
How to spot a shill, by John Michael Greer: "What you watch for is (a) a brand new commenter who (b) has nothing to say about the topic under discussion but (c) trots out a smoothly written opinion piece that (d) hits all the standard talking points currently being used by a specific political or corporate interest, while (e) avoiding any other points anyone else has made on that subject."

"If the shoe fits..." The Grey Badger.







Post#3938 at 09-16-2011 03:24 AM by Ted '79 [at joined Jan 2008 #posts 322]
---
09-16-2011, 03:24 AM #3938
Join Date
Jan 2008
Posts
322

Quote Originally Posted by The Grey Badger View Post
I would dearly love to see the people who claim to create their own reality stub their toes on Bishop Berkeley's rock.
I was thinking the same thing.

Quote Originally Posted by Samuel Johnson
"I refute it *thus*." :kicks rock:
Or as I've quoted before...

Quote Originally Posted by Alan Sokal
[A]nyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the windows of my [21st floor] apartment.
...

Quote Originally Posted by Alioth68 View Post
No, my "gold star" comment had to do with rejecting the whole notion of objective reality--which imposes a standard some find difficult to accept, some very willfully reject, or some don't feel they have to pay any attention to.
Yes, that's the most extreme form of postmodernism. As in Sokal's summary above.

I made my extended analogy because I wanted to point out how what started as a call to reject assumptions that had till then been treated as reality...assumptions like, "Anyone with [characteristic] has nothing to say"...over time became more and more extreme until it turned into, "There is no such thing as objective reality." The former is important and was necessary at the time. The latter is far too extreme and no longer useful.

If this is a feature of postmodernism, it seems to be the denial that anyone knows what they mean to say, that no one knows their own mind, and that statements as to the content thereof are all equally valid from anyone else. I can see how that can dovetail from the denial of the existence of reality. Anything goes, and real communication becomes meaningless if not impossible.
You're right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihumanism

Central to antihumanism is...the rejection of the view that humans are autonomous subjects. [...] Jacques Derrida argued that the fundamentally ambiguous nature of language makes intention unknowable and leaves language to structure and govern thoughts and actions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction

In describing deconstruction, Derrida famously observed that "there is nothing outside the text." That is to say, all of the references used to interpret a text are themselves texts, even the "text" of reality as a reader knows it. There is no truly objective, non-textual reference from which interpretation can begin....

Deconstruction generally tries to demonstrate that any text is not a discrete whole but contains several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings; that any text therefore has more than one interpretation; that the text itself links these interpretations inextricably; that the incompatibility of these interpretations is irreducible; and thus that an interpretative reading cannot go beyond a certain point.
IOW, deconstruction = proving that everything anyone says is ultimately self-contradictory and meaningless. And postmodernism often takes deconstruction as an end in itself.

I have to say BTW that I didn't get the impression you wanted to force anyone to change their posting style. More that you wanted people to see where you're coming from. Which is what I tend to want, too. I'd even say it's a widely-shared goal -- part of the culture of discussion groups. It's not unreasonable to assume other discussion group members will share that attitude.







Post#3939 at 09-16-2011 08:45 AM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
---
09-16-2011, 08:45 AM #3939
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
David Kaiser '47
Posts
5,220

I've said many times that when Obama appointed Larry Summers to run his economic team I was so appalled that I essentially went into denial.

This book, alas, seems to show what a catastrophe it was. I wonder if it explains how Obama got to know him without recognizing him for the person he is.







Post#3940 at 09-16-2011 10:33 AM by James50 [at Atlanta, GA US joined Feb 2010 #posts 3,605]
---
09-16-2011, 10:33 AM #3940
Join Date
Feb 2010
Location
Atlanta, GA US
Posts
3,605

Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
I've said many times that when Obama appointed Larry Summers to run his economic team I was so appalled that I essentially went into denial.
The article you linked discussed his style more than his substance. What was wrong with the substance that appalled you or was it his style only you thought destructive?

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#3941 at 09-16-2011 12:23 PM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
---
09-16-2011, 12:23 PM #3941
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
David Kaiser '47
Posts
5,220

Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
The article you linked discussed his style more than his substance. What was wrong with the substance that appalled you or was it his style only you thought destructive?

James50
It's both. He was well established as part of the problem substantively--he was in the middle of the Clinton financial deregulation campaign, and we needed some one to reverse it.







Post#3942 at 09-16-2011 03:33 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
---
09-16-2011, 03:33 PM #3942
Join Date
Sep 2001
Location
'47 cohort still lost in Falwelland
Posts
16,709

Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
I've said many times that when Obama appointed Larry Summers to run his economic team I was so appalled that I essentially went into denial.

This book, alas, seems to show what a catastrophe it was. I wonder if it explains how Obama got to know him without recognizing him for the person he is.
Actually, I think the Tim Geithner apointment was far worse. That doesn't make the Summers appointment less tragic, of course. Obama needed a fresh team, but chose retreads for virtually every important job. He's CLinton 2.0, right down to having Hilllary in the thick of it.

At least Hillary seems to understand that, and has stayed out of the politics.
Last edited by Marx & Lennon; 09-16-2011 at 03:36 PM.
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#3943 at 09-16-2011 04:54 PM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
---
09-16-2011, 04:54 PM #3943
Join Date
Dec 2005
Posts
7,116

Quote Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon View Post
Actually, I think the Tim Geithner apointment was far worse. That doesn't make the Summers appointment less tragic, of course. Obama needed a fresh team, but chose retreads for virtually every important job. He's CLinton 2.0, right down to having Hilllary in the thick of it.

At least Hillary seems to understand that, and has stayed out of the politics.
It's hard to find a better example of an organization locked into postseasonal behavior than the Obama administration.

James Carville opined that Obama should fire a lot of people today. I couldn't agree more. His political people don't get the country at all. They think that they will win the independents and gain back their base with scare tactics. But Godzilla Unchained vs. I'm Not as Bad was tried by Mr. Carter in 1980 and the results, well...







Post#3944 at 09-16-2011 07:09 PM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
---
09-16-2011, 07:09 PM #3944
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
David Kaiser '47
Posts
5,220

I'm in an interesting dilemma myself. I have gotten two emails from the White House because I gave time and money last time out. If I give $75 now I get a chance to have dinner with the President. But oddly, I have no enthusiasm for doing it. .. I can't imagine what I would say to him.







Post#3945 at 09-16-2011 07:37 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
---
09-16-2011, 07:37 PM #3945
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
San Jose CA
Posts
22,504

Quote Originally Posted by annla899 View Post
I think the vote in Weiner's former district is more a response to his idiotic sexual behavior than it is to any great shift in voting in that District in the longer run.
You're right that the shift is temporary, but if what you "think" is true, then we're in serious trouble. To vote against someone because his predecessor did idiotic sexual behavior (which behavior was not a big deal at all to begin with), is even more stupid than people who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 because his predecessor said he "did not have an affair with that woman." If people in NY of all places did such a stupid thing, that is even more grounds for really thinking Americans are stupid beyond belief, and that there's no hope for our country.
Last edited by Eric the Green; 09-16-2011 at 07:49 PM.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#3946 at 09-16-2011 07:38 PM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
---
09-16-2011, 07:38 PM #3946
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Texas
Posts
5,892

Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
I'm in an interesting dilemma myself. I have gotten two emails from the White House because I gave time and money last time out. If I give $75 now I get a chance to have dinner with the President. But oddly, I have no enthusiasm for doing it. .. I can't imagine what I would say to him.
It only cost $75 to have dinner with the President. Wow, that's cheap. I'd pay $75 to have dinner with anyone who was the President. I say go for it. And I'm sure you can find plenty of things to talk about with him. If you don't want to give him a critique of his presidency, you can always talk to him about history. I understand he is a big Abe Lincoln buff. Heck, maybe you could give him a brief lesson on the S&H theory. He might find it interesting and enlightening.







Post#3947 at 09-16-2011 07:46 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
---
09-16-2011, 07:46 PM #3947
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
San Jose CA
Posts
22,504

Quote Originally Posted by KaiserD2 View Post
I'm in an interesting dilemma myself. I have gotten two emails from the White House because I gave time and money last time out. If I give $75 now I get a chance to have dinner with the President. But oddly, I have no enthusiasm for doing it. .. I can't imagine what I would say to him.
I got an invitation too, but I thought it said I only had to give $5 to get a chance.
I didn't pay the $5.
Of course, I could imagine lots of things to say to him. I have already said lots of things. I think we all need to say to him what we think. I encourage everyone to go to http://whitehouse.gov/contact and send him emails.

Here's what my email said: "Today, I want to ask if you'll join me and three other supporters for a meal and conversation sometime soon.

Please donate $5 or more to be automatically entered for a chance to join me for dinner.

If this sounds a bit familiar to you, it's because we've done this before. In fact, my hope is that I'll be able to keep doing these dinners throughout the campaign."

Why did I get such a better deal than you, David, a published author about history, who knows people and all? What's the deal?
Last edited by Eric the Green; 09-16-2011 at 07:51 PM.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#3948 at 09-16-2011 07:58 PM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
---
09-16-2011, 07:58 PM #3948
Join Date
Mar 2010
Location
Texas
Posts
5,892

Quote Originally Posted by Eric the Green View Post
I got an invitation too, but I thought it said I only had to give $5 to get a chance.
I didn't pay the $5.
Of course, I could imagine lots of things to say to him. I have already said lots of things. I think we all need to say to him what we think. I encourage everyone to go to http://whitehouse.gov/contact and send him emails.

Here's what my email said: "Today, I want to ask if you'll join me and three other supporters for a meal and conversation sometime soon.

Please donate $5 or more to be automatically entered for a chance to join me for dinner.

If this sounds a bit familiar to you, it's because we've done this before. In fact, my hope is that I'll be able to keep doing these dinners throughout the campaign."

Why did I get such a better deal than you, David, a published author about history, who knows people and all? What's the deal?
LOL...Maybe the dinner was "on sale" for west coast residents. You know, with California being bankrupt and all. Perhaps they figure east coast residents can afford it more.







Post#3949 at 09-17-2011 11:54 AM by radind [at Alabama joined Sep 2009 #posts 1,595]
---
09-17-2011, 11:54 AM #3949
Join Date
Sep 2009
Location
Alabama
Posts
1,595

Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
The way presidential politics has worked for some time is that the candidates play to their base during primary season, but then move to the center for a general election. ... What sold for Perry in Texas will not sell in a general election. ....

We are not going to abolish Social Security or Medicare although I doubt either will be as generous with the Boomers as they have been with the GIs and Silents. ...

James50
Social Security is definitely not going away. Perry will have todeal with this issue.
The real truth about Social Security | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freee...11/09/pensions

"SOCIAL SECURITY manages to be one of the most popular and misunderstood government programmes. It serves two purposes: to provide an income floor which keeps people out of poverty in retirement (a form of insurance), and to replace income from previous work (a forced saving scheme). There may be more efficient ways to achieve these goals, but generally, Social Security does a decent job at both.
But there is a stunning amount of ignorance when it comes to its financing. On the right, people like Rick Perry call it a Ponzi scheme based on lies. The left prefers to believe there's nothing wrong with the programme and figures when revenues and the trust fund can no longer cover benefit payments some simple accounting trick will save the day. Both views are wrong and dangerous."...







Post#3950 at 09-17-2011 12:07 PM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
---
09-17-2011, 12:07 PM #3950
Join Date
Jul 2001
Location
David Kaiser '47
Posts
5,220

Quote Originally Posted by ASB65 View Post
It only cost $75 to have dinner with the President. Wow, that's cheap. I'd pay $75 to have dinner with anyone who was the President. I say go for it. And I'm sure you can find plenty of things to talk about with him. If you don't want to give him a critique of his presidency, you can always talk to him about history. I understand he is a big Abe Lincoln buff. Heck, maybe you could give him a brief lesson on the S&H theory. He might find it interesting and enlightening.
No, Amy. It costs $75 to have a chance to have dinner with the President--I would be part of a drawing. The odds of winning must be very low. (Although apparently the initial response was very disappointing, because they repeated the appeal a day later.) And actually, since everything I read suggests he doesn't respond well to fundamental criticism, it would probably be a waste of both our time. .. .
-----------------------------------------