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Posts
FPTP is a problem, won't argue that. About the only thing that FPTP has going for is that a mentally retarded 1st grader can understand it. And voting in a 3rd party won't fix this problem. Voting in a 3rd party won't even address this problem. But fixing the FPTP problem wasn't the point of the discussion.
But if you think that FPTP is the /only/ thing causing party stagnation, then your understanding of the situation is incomplete. Let me ask you this, if FPTP alone causes a two-party system and forces party stagnation, then why has the US had 3rd party upsets in the past? Why do other governments (such as the UK) that use FPTP have 3rd party representation? (Anouther example: My county uses FPTP, yet has a 3rd party represented in it's government)
And the question I'm currently trying to understand better myself; why haven't we had serious 3rd party representation in so damn long? Even if we move away from FPTP, if there are other causes of party stagnation that go unaddressed then we haven't fixed the problem. I know that ballot access laws and the attitude of "A 3rd party vote is a thrown away vote" contribute to this problem. Any insights and contributions to answering this problem are welcome.
We won't have viable third parties as long as each district is winner-take all, and the party machine is capable of enforcing voting discipline in Congress. You mainly see viable third parties in places where they have a parliamentary list system (or strong ethnic divides).
You can't credit Obama for ending the occupation of Iraq and then turn a blind eye to when the bullets start flying again. That's not fair.
It is if I didn't give a wet fart about the state of affairs in Iraq in 2002 and I still don't in 2011. We fucked up and shouldn't have gone in in the first place. That shithole was never going to be a shining beacon of democracy and freedom in the region and our bombing the shit out of it didn't set it on a much better path.
#FreeScheck
#FreeSKFM
I'm not sure what value comes from him being visibly angry. It seems like it makes the people on the left who actually read particular relevant instances of reporting marginally happier for a time without actually doing anything with respect to legislation.
it's cathartic for us.
You have to fight through some bad days, to earn the best days of your life.
Nothing he does affects legislation in the short term because the GOP response will always be the same. So things that a) draw a contrast between the parties that is clear and b) make his base happier are a good thing. As those things alter the composition of Congress, which does affect legislation.
But if he's mad then he's against it.
My Band "The Wicked Girls" http://soundcloud.com/the-wicked-girls/sets
not to mention the cathartic nature of it all. I mean we can be as pissed off as we want, but when the President himself, mr. Cool and collected, is also visibly pissed off, then we KNOW that we are right and we cna get even more pissed off without just sounding like a bunch of petulant babies.
but that's just my take on it....
You have to fight through some bad days, to earn the best days of your life.
Angry only works if you reserve it for special occasions.
Also, the house GOP has no good options at this point. After the Super Committee failed, I doubt basing your entire argument on that another one of those will work to fix this is a good idea.
God, the worst part is none of this matters at all because their moron base will just eat up whatever they put out there.
Cantor saying this is just kicking the can down the road, so the answer is more obstruction? YEAH! HE'S A HERO!
It's so fucking demoralizing. Nothing gets through to stupid and (often willfully) ignorant.
If Obama gets tough, he's a communist dictator, if he doesn't get tough, the Republicans walk all over him.
Yeah, but their moderates and the independents. They are going to be pissy about this.
Anything that helps me beat my father into submission when it comes to voting is a good thing.
You have to fight through some bad days, to earn the best days of your life.
I'm sorry this is dumb. What did you expect? Or want for that matter? Stay there till we went bankrupt? Iraq was going to blow up regardless how many more years and billions of dollars we stayed and spent there. Houses built on awful foundations tend to collapse.
Blaming the guy that put the sunk-cost-effect-monster to sleep for the shitshow that happens (and was always going to happen) afterwards is disingenuous in the extreme.
Do we have some sort of moral imperative to fix what we've broken? Sure, but like it or not the American people aren't having or paying for it.
EDIT: Unless you were being facetious...
My take is that the educated mr. Obama has lowered himself to the level of the hoi polloi. Less Jackson, more Adams and Madison, please, Obama.
"Money tends to corrupt, and lots of money corrupts lotsely" - Me.
If the level of discourse of "the people" is just one step away from the gnarling of rabid beasts, then yes, I'd expect a President to rise above it. Or else the body politic becomes an ochlocracy.
"Money tends to corrupt, and lots of money corrupts lotsely" - Me.
Yes, back to the 1880s!
EDIT: Hi5 AMFE
Ron "I don't understand the concept of fiat currency" Paul?
I wasn't aware a return to an antiquated and idiotic model of government constituted positive change.
Agreed, if you miss how America used to be in the 1850s, vote for Ron Paul! No jobs, no healthcare, no infrastructure, no education, but hey you can get all the drugs you want!
"Money tends to corrupt, and lots of money corrupts lotsely" - Me.
and the poor had the decency to die in the streets
So the republicans are opposing a tax cut and Obama is attacking them for it.
I don't understand this any more.
Frederick Douglass > any black person alive today.
"Money tends to corrupt, and lots of money corrupts lotsely" - Me.
It's the SSI tax, so it only applies to income under 93k.
My Band "The Wicked Girls" http://soundcloud.com/the-wicked-girls/sets
It's pretty enraging. The GOP spent a month saying they didn't want to extend the tax cuts at all. Then they passed a bill full of the porkiest of pork, the Senate rewrote it (the Senate GOP kept them from extending the thing for a full year) and pass a not really better one this weekend.
The House GOP was behind it, then Cantor forgot to wipe the santorum off and so now the House GOP is pretending that they're looking out for the little guy. The worst is when you see the freshmen congressmen who honestly think they're doing the right thing because they're just lock step in with the Cantor club.
The idea is we put the band-aid on, then come back next year to put out a full bill. It's not an ideal situation, but on December 21st it's probably the best we're going to get.
...
Who the hell taught you history?
Meh, if you're going to go sarcastic on me, I'll go realistic on you and say that the thousands of people who died (or are still dying) - who are black, by the way - at Congo or Rwanda (by God, what is the name of the capitals of those curious tribes?) so videogame developers could have their cassiterite or coltan so "enlightenedbum" could play Ultima VII or Civilization 4 haven't bothered you in the least.
"Money tends to corrupt, and lots of money corrupts lotsely" - Me.
Oh it's a tax cut for the not-rich?
Well obviously you can't support that. They'd probably spend it on refrigerators instead of job-creating.
What the fuck are you talking about?
Several minerals key to modern computer technology are in/were in war-torn regions of Africa. If western companies purchase raw materials from shady regimes, those regimes then use that money to finance their wars and oppression, etc, etc.
It's one of the (many) dark things underlying the global economy that most people don't know much about. (Including myself, I'm just pretty sure that's what he's talking about)