GOP Failure Watch Part III

Discussion in 'Politics & Current Events' started by argentine soccer fan, Sep 2, 2012.

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  1. JohnR

    JohnR Member+

    Jun 23, 2000
    Chicago, IL
    OK I'll take this one seriously. The answer is Yes.

    Bill O'Reilly believes that major concern for college basketball players are girls who try to entrap them with false rape accusations and people who ply them with free drugs, and that this is a relatively recent thing (which comes from another part of the interview).

    If you watched Fox News believing in Bill O'Reilly, and thinking he is informing you, you just "learned" nonsense. You would have been less ignorant if you had not turned on this "News" channel at all.
     
  2. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    I actually meant it seriously. Well, at least a little bit. But I don't think Fox News is helping the GOP in the long run by consistently misinforming their viewers. Doesn't matter what if the topic is health insurance, foreign policy, or the trials and tribulations of young male athletes.

    In other words, "We Report... What Roger Ailes Decides" might keep the base fired up short term, but in the long term, it's better to have an informed base capable of forming coalitions with those who disagree with them.

    I hope, anyway.
     
  3. JohnR

    JohnR Member+

    Jun 23, 2000
    Chicago, IL
    You incurable optimist, you.
     
    American Brummie repped this.
  4. dapip

    dapip Member+

    Sep 5, 2003
    South Florida
    Club:
    Millonarios Bogota
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/04/16/3427197/dennis-ross-minimum-wage/

    Because we know that the real problem is that raising the minimum wage will derail the economy..











    Don't look at what CEOs are getting paid that is not an issue...
     
  5. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Fvck that.

    Blue State Liberals vote for higher taxes and a bigger government, the bigger government takes their tax money and gives it to the red States and to thank them the Red Staters vote Republican.

    That is pretty fvcking stupid IMO.
     
    Dyvel, JohnR and dapip repped this.
  6. JohnR

    JohnR Member+

    Jun 23, 2000
    Chicago, IL
    And there I was thinking I was being a true Christian.
     
  7. Smurfquake

    Smurfquake Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 8, 2000
    San Carlos, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's the burden we bear for being smarter and living in better places than the red state Republicans.

    I've mentioned my theory on the federal system before, right? Money naturally flows from places that suck to places that rule. Here in California, we make internets and iPhones and Teslas, and anyone who buys or uses those things sends their money to California. Other blue states make good stuff that people buy too, except for New York, they just take a cut of every financial transaction in the universe. ;)

    People in red states don't make anything so valuable - maybe they grow cotton or soybeans or corn and get a little money for that, but then they go see a movie and the money goes to Hollywood, which is in a blue state, of course.

    So we in the blue states need to send money back to the red states, so their economies don't collapse, and then a bunch of red state refugees all move from Mississippi to Illinois and start voting Republicans in. That's what the federal system does for us -- it keeps the red states from collapsing.

    Europe hasn't figured this out -- Germany makes stuff and sells it in Greece, and then all the money in Greece winds up in Germany, and then the Greeks can't get jobs in Greece, so they move to Germany, and then Germany has to deal with a bunch of Greeks.

    So please, red states, keep on voting Republican, and whatever you do, stay in your red states. Blue states suck, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
     
  8. YankHibee

    YankHibee Member+

    Mar 28, 2005
    indianapolis
    The product the coasts generate the biggest quantities of is pretense.
     
    stanger and Naughtius Maximus repped this.
  9. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    That's not entirely true. We generate a fair amount of pretense in fly-over country. It's just not of very high quality compared to what you get on the coasts.
     
  10. Naughtius Maximus

    Jul 10, 2001
    Shropshire
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Well, presumably you mean the European Union... the individual countries have most DEFINITELY figured it out... that's why our welfare systems are generally superior.

    Actually, even the EU has figured it out in broad terms. That's why that nice Mr. Farage wants the UK to leave, because he's fed up subsidising the rest of Europe... except for the bit he wants, obviously.

    http://www.theguardian.com/politics...ge-rejects-outrageous-eu-expenses-allegations

    [​IMG]

    "I want a wedge of cash THAT wide" :)
     
  11. dapip

    dapip Member+

    Sep 5, 2003
    South Florida
    Club:
    Millonarios Bogota
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
  12. Naughtius Maximus

    Jul 10, 2001
    Shropshire
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I read this part...

    While those with systems already installed won’t be affected, the new class of customers will now be charged a monthly fee — a shift that happened quickly and caught many in the state off guard.

    “We knew nothing about it and all of a sudden it’s attached to some other bill,” Ctaci Gary, owner of Sun City Oklahoma, told ThinkProgress. “It just appeared out of nowhere.”


    I've heard of this sort of thing before and it's always confused me.

    I'm no expert on the matter so maybe someone can educate me so, tell me... when you guys are writing laws, do you put a load of words into a box, toss it up into the air and see what it says when they come down?

    if so, I can't help thinking a modicum of planning might be the way to go in the future. Y'know, get somebody to actually READ them first to see what they say... that kinda thing :)

    I agree it's pretty crazy, 'off-the-wall' sort of idea but, HEY!... that's the kind of guy I AM :)

    :D
     
  13. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    [quote="dapip, post: 29961108, member: 33092"
    Don't look at what CEOs are getting paid that is not an issue...[/quote]

    That's not the government's job.
     
  14. dapip

    dapip Member+

    Sep 5, 2003
    South Florida
    Club:
    Millonarios Bogota
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    Silly British! Of course we don't do it like that.

    ALEC writes the proposed laws and the GOP passes the bills onto their federal, state or local legislatures. Duhhhh!


    What GOP Politicians are very good at is at moving parts of lets say an abortion restriction bill (that had no chance of passing by itself) and hide them under the property use bill (and off course being the fetus property of the father or the state there is no conflict here) and then either debate them at midnight or blackmail the Democrats to pass it or they will tell everyone that they hate America.
     
  15. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    So you are saying the Democrats never attach an unrelated item to a bill?

    Are you aware at all of how our government works?
     
  16. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Our legislature is basically a large game of bribery. If you ask @American Brummie, he will tell you that it helps "grease the wheels" but I don't buy that.

    If you want a bill passed you need to garner support, sometimes from across the aisle. The easiest way is to say you will attach a couple of million bucks so your cohort can have a statue of himself in his hometown if he votes for it.

    It's totally wasteful and ridiculous, but pros like Brummie think it's just fine and dandy.
     
  17. dapip

    dapip Member+

    Sep 5, 2003
    South Florida
    Club:
    Millonarios Bogota
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    I did not say that.


    You seem oblivious to how corporate donors have unlimited access to politicians and the bills they pass and that is where I put most emphasis on my post. I didn't mention the "political process" part of it, because in GOP dominated legislatures the need to reach across the aisle is minimal, they just ram the bill through and/or coward the oposition. Modern day GOP is not about reaching across the aisle.
     
  18. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    ALL POLITICIANS are good at moving parts. How much crap did the Democrats add to the ACA? It's the way the system works, not something that's party-specific. Those donors give to the left as well as the right.
     
  19. HerthaBerwyn

    HerthaBerwyn Member+

    May 24, 2003
    Chicago
    The two party system must go.
     
  20. American Brummie

    Jun 19, 2009
    There Be Dragons Here
    Club:
    Birmingham City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think that only someone who has recently suffered a massive head trauma could equate my position of trading policy and pork barrel with "erecting a statue of himself in his hometown." It would take a rapid and severe depletion of brain cells in the frontal cortex to conclude that my belief in compromise is the equivalent of the base misuse of public funds.

    Only an idiot would think that building bridges, schools, and other forms of public investment - pork barrel spending - and building a statue of oneself - not pork barrel spending - would be the same.

    I do not think that most political figures would agree with you. Nor do I think you could find that your position is even 10%, or 5%, or 1%, of the number of bills or the size of the expenditure of pork-barrel funds.

    I do not think I can insult you any more today. Good day, sir.
     
  21. dapip

    dapip Member+

    Sep 5, 2003
    South Florida
    Club:
    Millonarios Bogota
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    In general that is how democracy works, you reach across the aisle and reach a deal. Politicians focus on showing results (and off course on personal benefit) and that is basically an universal feature of politics ergo not exclusive to the USA or to a political party. By definition the Dems do it too and you are correct on what you say but keep missing the point.

    The GOP in America has adopted two practices that are not exactly democratic and shows to what extent they are the party of corporate America:

    The first one is to have their bills written for them:

    http://www.alec.org/

    [​IMG]
    The second one is the No negotiation posture that started around Gingrich's time as a speaker. It sells to the voters but it does not deliver results unless they have super majorities (like they do in most red states). As a result when the GOP does not have absolut majorities and/or they are not able to twist arms to get their bills passed we have ineffective government, regardless of the procedures, simply because they will not negotiate on what they propose and they will try to destroy anything that the other side proposes (See government shutdown, Obamacare).

    That is why our government is ineffective. It is not because politicians pat each other in the back and laugh at you and me, it is because at some point one party stopped the patting.
     
  22. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ok, statues were a bit of an exaggeration. Try this one.

    http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/economic_development/technical_and_analytical/westva.cfm

    Thank you, Robert Byrd.
     
  23. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    So out of 1800+ members, only 14 are not currently in a legislative position within their state. Not exactly the same as "having their bills written for them", as you stated. These are the people that are supposed to be writing laws.

    Nice try. At least is wasn't all picture.
     
  24. JohnR

    JohnR Member+

    Jun 23, 2000
    Chicago, IL
    The GOP's #1 campaign issue in the 2014 elections is to attack a bill passed in 2009. Far sighted that.
     
  25. dapip

    dapip Member+

    Sep 5, 2003
    South Florida
    Club:
    Millonarios Bogota
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    They don't write the bills. Meet the actual writers:

    http://www.republicreport.org/2012/meet-the-alec-staffers-who-help-corporations-write-our-laws/

    Or they take what they like from other states and pass it in their own states:

    http://www.thenation.com/blog/166978/how-alec-took-floridas-license-kill-law-national#

     

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