OT: Politics Thread - Do Not Open Unless You Want to Argue

[jerseyjigroe]

Solving the current debt problem wont happen until both parties stop worry about what is good for their party.

Social programs are a part of life - Republicans have to accept that. They are way out of control and must be reformed. Clinton has some great ideas with welfare reform but most republicans won't acknowledge that. Democrats can't give money away to every Tom, Dick and Harry. Social Security should go away and be replaced with 401k's. This will put money into the market and keep money out of the federal government.

Schools must be reformed - and lesson plans revised. In most poor schools, they don't get taught how credit cards work and how money works. They aren't encouraged to go to college so most think their life will be out on the streets anyway. Besides, you can't learn if you are worried if someone is going to cut you between classes.

Gambling should be legal is all 50 states - This will increase revenue. The lottery system is in place in most states and are usually only played by the lower income families who are throwing their money away on the chance to change their life completely. Casinos, although predominately have lower class, do bring in the high rollers to help with the revenues.

Um...not to nit-pick BUT welfare reform happened in the 90's BECAUSE of the GOP led Congress.

 

[SLY]

I know......

Honestly though, your first point is dead on, never even thought of that.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Um...not to nit-pick BUT welfare reform happened in the 90's BECAUSE of the GOP led Congress.

Gingrich and Clinton actually worked together.....and got a lot done....novel fucking concept......

The "Team Politics" aspect of society today is embarrassingly shallow.

 

[huskers1217]

While I agree children should be taught about monetary responsibility, this is completely farfethced. I was a white kid living in the ghetto most of my childhood. That did not stop me from learning and maturing. Much of my life outside of school was on the streets, yet I still managed to see that hard work gets you to where you want to go. Too many people just give up on life. And that is largely due to the govt and their entitlement programs... It is too easy to seek aid, needs to stop.

People give up on life because they are taught that they are in the ghetto and that is where they will stay. Most people I know don't want to be on welfare but they aren't taught that there is another way. i know some love the welfare. I have seen that too.

 

[huskers1217]

We also need conscious rap back.

KRS-One, Ice-T, Public Enemy, 2 PAC - gave some people hope. i don't see that in todays music.

 

[jerseyjigroe]

Gingrich and Clinton actually worked together.....and got a lot done....novel fucking concept......

The "Team Politics" aspect of society today is embarrassingly shallow.

I'm not a big fan of Clinton but he wasn't dumb. He was more of a pragmatist than Obama. He would do the politically expedient thing and make deals (which helped him get re-elected). Obama is too much of an ideologue to do that.

 

[jerseyjigroe]

We also need conscious rap back.

KRS-One, Ice-T, Public Enemy, 2 PAC - gave some people hope. i don't see that in todays music.

Ah, the good ol' days of when people rapped about killing cops.

 

[huskers1217]

Ah, the good ol' days of when people rapped about anti police brutality.

fify

 

[huskers1217]

one more thing...can we please get these credit card companies not to give you a shitload of credit the minute you hit 18.

 

[jerseyjigroe]

fify

Nope sorry. There are better ways to protest police brutality than by releasing songs called "Cop Killer".

 

[SLY]

I'm sorry huskers1217, but I believe it is that mentality that keeps people down. It is not hard to turn on a TV or open a newspaper and see that there is a better life. It is up to people to find it in themselves to attain a better lifestyle. It is not up to others and the government to do so for you.

Rap does not help the less fortunate get ahead.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Nothing is going to change until we get term limits in congress, and THAT is a fact.

I would rather eliminate direct representation of members of Congress rather than term limits. The way that seems to work the best is where you vote for a party rather than an individual because I think you'd get a ton of benefit from this:

1) The elected officials would truly be a better cross-section of the public. Minority groups who do not have enough population in any district to elect a single representative would be better represented as long as they collectively have about .23% of the vote (1/435 = one seat in the US House).

2) The elected officials would more closely resemble those with the best ideas rather than those who can present themselves the best. Too many politicians these days are nothing more than snake oil salesmen who are great at giving sound bytes and/or look great on TV, but can't legislate to save their damned lives.

3) Elected officials would spend less time running for re-election (not to mention that elections would be cheaper in general) and more time legislating.

4) We'd see more than 2 political parties controlling all of the power.

5) Politicians would spend less time "politicing" because they would never know when they might need to reach out to one of those groups that they've previously been alienating, especially in a situation where no single party has a clear cut majority (i.e., coalition government).

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

While I agree with a lot of what this man is saying, I don't believe the debt ceiling should be raised. People do need to wake up, and perhaps an extreme economical collapse will do just that. Continuing to raise the debt ceiling is just going to weaken the U.S. dollar even more. I also don't agree with the seniors not receiving the aid that they were promised. These people spent their whole lives working and paying into programs that were promised to take care of them. Young people who do not work and survive off of entitlement programs should be the ones to get hit here. Enough with the freebies. I dont know numbers, nor many details, but that is where I would start with this problem. Do not raise the debt ceiling and cripple our worth even more.

The U.S. people really do need to wake the fuck up and demand for a change in how the U.S. conducts itself. Living off of credit is just ridiculous. In trying to help every god damn country out there we are just handing our "superpower" status over to other countries.

What would you do? Canadians can weigh in on this as well if they would like...

I agree with most of what was said in the article Jeff, but I can't agree on this part.

Failure to raise the debt ceiling, if it results in the US defaulting on its obligations, would be an absolute disaster. And I understand what you say about it being a wake-up call, but the issue at this point is bigger than a US-only issue.

If the US begins to default on its debts, the consensus opinion is that we're going to see a global economic collapse on a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression.

The entire economic system for most of the world is based on a US government debt being the most stable, guaranteed investment on the planet.

Defaulting on that for political purposes is too much.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

VOTE 2012!​

 

[SLY]

lmao

 

[Comeds]

Break up the US into 6 or 7 smaller countries. Its too big and hasn't worked years, it will collapse at some point anyway so its better to have a planned break up.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Break up the US into 6 or 7 smaller countries. Its too big and hasn't worked years, it will collapse at some point anyway so its better to have a planned break up.

Not a bad idea. I just hope that 1 of these new smaller countries has Detroit, Chicago, Boston, New York, Toronto and Montreal in it.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Im down with joining the new country of Cascadia

 

[SLY]

lol

 

[elocomotive]

Break up the US into 6 or 7 smaller countries. Its too big and hasn't worked years, it will collapse at some point anyway so its better to have a planned break up.

So Jeffersonian.

Can we draw the new map based on the new NHL divisions?