OK, yes, I am bummed the dems lost control of it all... What I want out of this is a rational explanation about why most guys here think the repubs are better. I am going to make my case for why I don't like the republicans, and I am going to try to do it as reasonably as I can, because what I want are real economic answers to why most of you guys think the repub's are better for the economy. Oh yeah, by the way. I'm not a real democrat, I just hate the republican philosophy deeply. On most issues, with the exception of guns and taxes, I'd probably align with the lib's, believe it or not...but between R's and D's, I'll take the latter anyday. I'd rather have an ex-pothead, womanizing, self-achieving Rhodes Scholar in charge than an ex-cokehead whose family bought his way thru life... So these are the things I just don't GET about the Repub's - I mean, it's like the boat left and I wasn't on it, so please, somebody, explain these things to me: 1) They choose some strange pres candidates. Take W. Bush - he doesn't understand the issues, was a drunk driver, cokehead, and inside trader, yet preaches family values like he's Captain America. The Bush kids spend lots of time in rehab. And he has no idea of how the economy works, foreign leaders treat him like he's 12, and his vice-president has been INVISIBLE for the past 2 years... And then Ray-gun, the supreme badass and protector of the free world (LOL)...all he was good for was corruption, corruption, corruption...and he was a huge liar - "I can't remember if we sold weapons to the Iranians! I mean, it was definitely illegal, which is why we wouldn't of kept records of it, but I'm really not sure if we did or not." And then the older Bush, who was a MUCH better leader than his retarded son. NO NEW TAXES!!! Yee-ha!! Those Repub tax cuts are AMAZING. They are INVISIBLE!! 2) They spend money they don't have. Everyone complains about the dems raising taxes and spending more, and I can understand why we don't want to pay more than what we feel is our share in taxes. But what I don't get is why the repub's think it's absolutely fine to deficit spend, time and time again, when history has clearly shown that it gets us into deep sh!t every time. 3) This assisine idea to let retirees manage their social security. Would you let your aging parents, who have little knowledge of how unfair the markets really are, manage their investments?? 4) The legislation of morality. The repub crowd is big on freedom and a lack of regulation of guns and markets, but they think they can lean on the bible and base their legislative decisions on christianity, including pro-life, pro-death penalty. I really don't see the logic of these arguments. I mean, sure, they make perfect sense if you are a god-fearing christian, but to the rest of us, the inconsistencies really make us wonder what the hell is up with these guys...to me, there is considerably less freedom with the republicans, of course, unless you are really into guns or run a large corporation that benefits by skirting environmental laws. 5) Obsession with starting wars in foreign countries. They LOVE this more than anything. If I had kids who might be sent over there to get killed in some sh!tty cave, I'd probably feel even more strongly. But this weird fascination of the repub's of creating this blanket of fear over the nation has actually been working quite well for them. I remember the days of reagan, and being totally paranoid that the russians were going to attack us (ever see Red Dawn?? Cool movie, but really f^cked up in retrospect). The reality was this - our intelligence knew very well that the russians were more afraid of us than we were of them, yet reagan's lackeys engineered this fear propoganda to keep the people's attention diverted away from the sh!tty economy. Same thing that is happening now with iraq - the funny thing that you won't hear from the Bush administration is that Al-Queera and Saddass HATE each other. Al-Queera's hatred of the US really began when the saudi's allowed us to go in and boot Saddass out of Kuwait. That's right. Al-Queera wanted to go boot Saddass out of Kuwait, because they hate Hussein, and got pissed at us because we were jumping at the reins to start a war with Iraq. They thought we were the foreign infidels coming in and meddling in their affairs, and were pretty pissed about it. So in a way, you can thank Bush Sr for Al-Queera and their terrorist activities against the US...in reality, there are no links between Iraq and Afghanistan that threaten our interests. The whole thing is a DIVERSION, just like the USSR with Ray-gun... BTW - for more about US intelligence info about the russians, there is a truly cool book about submarine warfare from the 50's on - it is an AWESOME read - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...6602681/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-1020448-0407144 6) Dems love to kick ass, too, yet there is this idea that they are all pussies, and I don't get it. When Clinton was elected, one of the first things he did was send a batch of cruise missles into Iraq to make the point that he wasn't going to take any sh!t from them. And he didn't...yet, the repub's are the ones who are scared sh!tless that some black muslim crackhead is going to break into their house, and require subdual with a large-caliber weapon, hand grenade, or the like. Who's the pussy?? Personally, I think the pussies are the ones who use BS excuses, fear, and paranoia to justify hoarding weapons. "Yeah, one time I drilled this deer with my street sweeper! Five shots and it's head came clean off!!!" These are the same pussies that are afraid of a bunch of cave-dwellers bringing down civilized society... 7) Ashcroft. He is SCARY!!! (Plus he lost a Senate race to a dead guy - if that doesn't spell L-O-S-E-R, I don't know what does...) Excessive scrutiny of US citizens, wants the NSA/CIA/govt mob to be able to use their surveillance equipment on OUR citizens, which is unconsitutional and interferes with US citizens' pursuits of life, liberty and happiness. Ever hear of Stephen Hatfield? He was the guy that Ashcroft scapegoated the anthrax attacks on, despite lacking any physical evidence to support the harassment. Ashcroft also requested a few months ago that all questionable Arab-Americans, and Arab immigrants be sequestered into WWII-style prison camps and detained indefinitely, like we did to Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants during WWII. Where's the constitution NOW?? Ashcroft also holds morning prayer sessions in his government office. Separation of church and state?? I think not...anyone should be able to pray any where they want, whenever they want, but a high govt official holding prayer sessions in his office is UNPROFESSIONAL, at best. 8) The ACLU and all those freakin' liberals... This is just pure bullsh!t, plain and simple. The same people who claim that the repub's are for free markets and free this-and-that, claim that ACLU support of OTHER AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION is a bad thing. "Oh, the dem's are against the right to bear arms, and the consititution says we can, and that ACLU hates the consititution and picks and chooses which parts of it to support, blah blah blah..." Yet, we have Ashcroft wanting to suspend habeas corpus for AMERICAN CITIZENS, and the repubs think it's great...if that isn't picking and choosing which parts of the consitution suit YOUR agenda best, I don't know what is...I mean, freedom of religion?? As long as you're Christian. 8) Trickle-down economics. It's back! It doesn't work, but here it is again!! Yee-ha! 9) They hate the environment. (Apparently; if they don't, somebody please explain to me their logic).
you are blaming a lot of stuff on the reps that isn't fair. It takes two parties to really fuck things up in this country. This is the first time in 50 years that the reps have house, senate, and pres at the same time, and yet you want to blame everything on the reps.
Dude, I'm not blaming sh!t on anybody. I'm just asking someone to explain these discrepancies to me, and to explain why the bulk of posters here are hard-core Republican?
Bung, I'm really kind of surprised too. I really thought the dems would do better. The reason for Bush's popularity escapes me. Get ready for Dept. of Homeland Security. I thought repubs didn't like big government. I really can't stand either party. I'm one of those guys who "wasted" their vote voting Libertarian. Ashcroft will probably have chips in our heads by next year(to fight terrorism and help find children, of course) Gotta go, workin' on a gun post, and Bung, you're in my crosshairs (just kidding). Snake
bungrider, for someone wanting to get a better understanding of the effects on the economy of republican politics, you sure introduce a lot "sidebars" into the discussion if i too can spout for a moment, i also find the GOP alliance with "legislating morality", or the appearance of it, utterly disgusting. then again, the church has changed sooo much from what it originally was, and it's message is only taken seriously (even within those who profess to believe) by precious few, that if it helps to maintain family structure - a backbone of a healthy "social environment" - then i guess it's not so bad. and of course, if it weren't for the christians, where's the republican vote gonna come from!
Bung, I wish I had an answer for you. There is all this talk about how immoral Clinton was, yet Newt Ginrich had to be taken to court by his ex-wife just to pay child support. One is a champion of family values and the other is Slick Willie. I suspect that a lot of the more vocal people on both sides of the argument don't represent the majority. Most people seem to walk down a more sensible middle of the road path. But what is it that they can do? Until there is a huge ground swell of independent canidates, unlikely, they are stuck. Further, I think people tend to parrot what they hear. So if someone was listening to Rush Limbaugh, their statements may be a little more biased toward the right. If someone just came from a NOW rally, their statements will be biased toward women's rights. The bottom line, I'm afraid is the country is going to be no better or worse as a result of the elections. Taxes net will be the same, and business opportunities will be the same. A lot of people forget that most 82 tax cuts were repealed in the tax reform of 86. Same in the 90s, take, take, take, give, take back, repeat. Regards,
Most traders are self centered, who have chosen a career that does nothing to benefit society, and is 1000% focused on nothing but making money---trading is not a service to society industry. So you would expect this type of person to be a democrat who is concerned with social issues, the environment, the poor, racial issues, distribution of wealth etc.? Given the greedy nature of traders, they hate taxation with a passion, and the democrats are associated with raising taxes. Seems to me that most traders fit the profile of a republican to a big fat T.
Very good, trdrmac I agree, that bit about tax cuts during Ray-gun should make people wake up and stop dreaming. I agree that taxes overall will be about the same and the economy will not get much worse (or better). What I have observed is some kind of snobbish newly rich yuppie attitude in some republicans: oh my gosh no, i'm not gonna vote like all that bridge and tunnel people... so what kind of rational explanation should I expect from those people about their politics...