I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Off-Topic => Political Debates - Thick Skin Required for Entry => Topic started by: Rerun on July 04, 2015, 06:16:59 AM
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May as well start a little firestorm on IHD. We haven't had this for a while and we could use a post boost. LOL
Remember "Thick Skin" you have to agree to disagree.
Hillary - She is a liar and she won't use her last name. She is going on the Ticket as Hillary. Some idiot Americans won't associate her with Bill.
Jeb Bush - At least he is honest about his name.
Donald Trump - The Media is having this big deal about what he said about "Immigrants" which is not true he meant "Illegal Immigrants" and they know that and it is true. Not all but most.
Joe Biden - Seriously? WTF! If he even gets one vote I'll be surprised!
Ben Carson - I like him.
Chris Christie - We can't afford him as president. Donuts at every meeting!
Carly Fiorina - I've seen her interviewed a few times and she is spot on.
What do you say?
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May as well start a little firestorm on IHD. We haven't had this for a while and we could use a post boost. LOL
Remember "Thick Skin" you have to agree to disagree.
Hillary - She is a liar and she won't use her last name. She is going on the Ticket as Hillary. Some idiot Americans won't associate her with Bill.
Jeb Bush - At least he is honest about his name.
Donald Trump - The Media is having this big deal about what he said about "Immigrants" which is not true he meant "Illegal Immigrants" and they know that and it is true. Not all but most.
Joe Biden - Seriously? WTF! If he even gets one vote I'll be surprised!
Ben Carson - I like him.
Chris Christie - We can't afford him as president. Donuts at every meeting!
Carly Fiorina - I've seen her interviewed a few times and she is spot on.
What do you say?
Hillary ... there are an awful lot of idiot Americans.
Jeb ....will be considered a rerun .. (no pun intended)
Donald .... not a chance. Will speak truth and nobody wants to hear that.
Joe Biden .... OMG. NOOOOOOO!
Ben Carson ... I like him too but he speaks the truth too often also.
Chris .... cheaper than a round of golf!
Carly .... do not understand why she is not getting some traction.
And I will add...... I listened to Booby Jindell announce ....... he at least said all the right things.
Is this the best we've got ? :waiting;
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Hillary.... NOT a chance.
Jeb Bush...........Nowhere Near ready to run
Donald Trump..............Well, at least, I doubt he can be bought and I like a lot of his ideas. He just might be good!!
Joe Biden.............. Oh, come now!!!!
Ben Carson................I like him and which he could have been our first black President.
Chris Christie................Nope, too late for Chris.
Carly Fiorina....................She is a smart one too, but I dont think she is strong enough as yet.
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Hillary ... there are an awful lot of idiot Americans.
As well as Americans enrolled in the FSA (Free Stuff Army)
The threat of having to pay their own cell phone bill will drive many of the takers to the Democrats, no matter who is the candidate.
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Hillary.... Like her, don't know if she survives primaries but if she does I will vote for her.
Jeb Bush........... Like George,but with a brain.
Donald Trump..............Like the Scarecrow need to go find the Wizard and get a brain.
Joe Biden.............. A little too verbal but his heart is always in the right place.
Ben Carson................Possibile but I doubt the southern republicans would vote for him.
Chris Christie................Inlive in New Jersey I also know a bully when I see one, if he elected the first opposition he faces and all the interstates will be closed for a traffic study..
Carly Fiorina.............. Knew her a AT&T had the people skills of a snake, booted from hp even though she did a good job, people skills lacking again.
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hillary (killary) rodham clinton -her involvement and attitude towards murdered Americans in Benghazi is all we need to know about her.
elizabeth warren -she and hillary are one of the same.
jeb bush -conniving.
joe biden -sexual predator
chris christie -an excuse-maker and would be a huge regret.
Trump -he spoke the truth about a corrupt Mexican govt screwing us over and the thugs they let run loose, including straight over in to our own country.
Cruz -will protect us by defending our Constitution.
Fiorina -she's right; Putin cannot be dissuaded by hillary's reset button.
Carson -most intelligent person in the room.
Allen West -not running but should someday. Meantime, would make a great Secretary of Defense.
Benjamin Netanyahu -more American than some Americans. That's the problem.
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:rofl; :rofl; :clap;
I love the honesty! We need someone who will annihilate these ISIS creeps. They are just horrible people. Who would have thought they would have gotten this far! Trump is the only one who said he would knock them out first thing.
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:rofl; :rofl; :clap;
I love the honesty! We need someone who will annihilate these ISIS creeps. They are just horrible people. Who would have thought they would have gotten this far! Trump is the only one who said he would knock them out first thing.
Has he said how he's going to do that? If he has, I missed it. Is he going to put boots on the ground?
I can't wait to see him debate Chris Christie!! I hope they are both high enough in the polls so that Fox will include them in the first televised debate they'll be hosting!!
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Benjamin Netanyahu -more American than some Americans. That's the problem.
That's a terrible thing to say. Netanyahu cares nothing for this country that gives Israel so much money and support. He is disrespectful of the United States.
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Love Marco Rubio's latest campaign ad that includes a spot with Netanyahu speaking. ;D
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Noahvale, it was Boehner who grossly mishandled Netanyahu,s speech before Congress. I can,t blame him for accepting Boehner,s gift.
Good for him for taking advantage of our excellent university system. I,m thrilled to learn that he has fond memories of his time here and has made wealthy friends. But I am not sure his so called respect for the USA will protect Israel from having to face criminal charges stemming from their most recent war with Palestine.
I am baffled by any American,s admiration of this man and of Putin.
But it is irrelevant since he will not be president. I have no respect for that man and cannot understand why some of our elected officials are so eager to kowtow to him.
The GOP candidates are afraid of Trump, and he knows he has them right where he wants him.
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Speaking of Netanyahu, who do you all see him hoping to be the next president? Which is the most pro Israel GOP candidate?
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Who do you think the Cuban Castro Brothers will want as President? Or the president of Iran? Our new friends!? Seriously?
I'll take Israel any day ....
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I would like to remind all the pro republican dialysis patients
Republicans are starting the new Congress by attacking Social Security funding through a subtle, obscure policy measure buried in the gigantic bill that establishes parliamentary rules for the new session.
The rules measure, passed late Tuesday after other day-one business like formal swearing-in ceremonies for members were completed, escalates the threat of a significant cut to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) within the next two years. The measure bans a common accounting technique that the people who manage Social Security funding have used many times in the past to prevent benefit cuts. The two funds that comprise the Social Security system have essentially borrowed from one another as necessary over the years to ensure that benefits can be paid in full each year. SSDI, which is the primary program for providing federal benefits to people unable to work due to disability, is projected to hit a shortfall in late 2016. Reallocating revenue from the much larger Social Security retirement benefits fund to SSDI would cover the shortfall, and trust fund managers have performed such reallocations 11 times since the late 1950s.
But the Republican rules package prohibits Congress from authorizing such a transfer. That will force a showdown over how to finance disability benefits sometime in the next two years, with the threat of a nearly 20 percent cut to SSDI payments looming over the debate. The measure was overshadowed in the news by a separate rules package measure that threatens to rig the legislative process in favor of trickle-down tax policy, until the beginning of this week when critics began to decry the change.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities called the rule an “attempt to pit retirement and disability beneficiaries against each other” that misrepresents how the two funds operate, and pointed out that the only reason SSDI is in funding trouble next year is that it got short-changed by the past two reallocations of funding between disability and retirement benefits. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) accused the GOP of “inventing a Social Security crisis that will threaten benefits for millions & put our most vulnerable at risk.” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called it “a dangerous new rule” that will “set the stage to cut benefits for seniors and disabled Americans,” and pointed out that reallocating funds between the accounts is so uncontroversial that President Reagan oversaw four of the 11 times it has been done in the past.
Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), who is taking credit for engineering the rules change, has received significant campaign financing from at least one well-heeled conservative supporter of cutting Social Security. Reed has gotten over $134,000 in contributions from people tied to vulture capitalist Paul Singer’s firm Elliott Management, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Singer is most famous for his battle to force the nation of Argentina to prioritize debt payments to Elliott Management over public expenditures for its 41 million citizens. But the generous Republican donor is also a sharp critic of American government spending and has called for cutting benefits in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Reed told the Associated Press that his rules proposal is intended to force a reckoning over social insurance spending. “We need real reform,” he said, and “this makes that real reform that much more likely.” Leaving aside the question of what Reed means by “real reform,” and the fact that the proposed reallocation would have extended disability funding by 17 years while reducing retirement funding by just one year, the move is raising serious procedural concerns among retiree advocates.
Social Security experts Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson labeled the move “hostage-taking to force changes that the American people do not want to a vital program” in a piece for the Huffington Post. Reed’s rule means that “we could be facing a deadline, and certainly over the last couple of years ,we’ve seen Congress seemingly unable to pass bills, even with deadlines in front of them,” the American Association of Retired Persons’ David Certner told the AP.
Remember the goal of the republicans is to drastically cut disability payments to every one in two years. I worked for forty five years to earn these payments now these jack lets want to take half of my payments.
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Rerun, you can have your buddy Netanyahu. You are welcome to keep paying for his defense and his military equipment. You are welcome to all of your right wing candidates who want to keep you in a constant state of fear and terror, who want you to keep paying for more weapons and more military advisors so that more and more money goes to all of those who have their fingers in the pie that is the vast military industrial complex.
And you bet, I'd much rather be friends with Cuba so that our markets can open to them and so that their people can have some decent standard of living. The more open that society is, the more exposed their people are to the outside world, the less relevant the Castro brothers will become. I don't wish to condemn those people to a continued life of backwardness. And we should not be held hostage by the feelings of a small group of ageing people in Little Havana. We have to move on and not make decisions based in a past that most young people today have no real reason to remember.
And yes, I want to see Iran's nuclear program contained as much as possible. Again, Netanyahu is fearmongering when his country would be the greatest beneficiary to a declawed Iran. The deal may not work, but you have to remember that the American people democratically elected Barack Obama by a wide margin because he promised to talk to our foes so that we could live in a slightly less dangerous world.
And Noahvale, San Francisco decided to declare itself a "Sanctuary City", and they are going to continue to be so even after the murder of Kate Steinie. If that girl had been Hispanic or African American, you wouldn't even know her name. So sure, the media can ask Hillary or Bernie any question they like about San Francisco, but I don't think that city is going to be swayed.
I want to hear more about how Mike Huckabee is trying to redefine marriage by saying that it should be about raising children and that now it seems that people are being too selfish by marrying for reasons of merely love and sentimentality. Do you think the media will ask the other GOP candidates whether or not THEY believe that love of a spouse is a valid reason to get married?
Trump has the ego the size of a small planet. He cannot wait to strut his stuff in a debate. He doesn't want to be president. He wants attention, and he will say absolutely anything to get it. And no, GOP candidates have NOT distanced themselves from his comments on immigration. They've only commented on the "tone" of his words. I will say that Jeb Bush HAS distanced himself....after two weeks of mulling it over. And Trump is right back on his case. So Trump is going to force those candidates into some very uncomfortable situations, and I just cannot WAIT to see how they respond.
As for Israel and war crimes, Noahvale, here's an assessment of the UN's report on the subject from the Foreign Policy Journal, hardly a left wing rag. Enjoy.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/07/06/un-report-on-war-crimes-during-israels-51-day-assault-on-gaza/
Oh, and the US was the only country to veto this report. We've let ourselves become puppets of this man. Oh, but he's a "great American", so I guess that's OK.
But my question still stands as it was not merely rhetorical. Who do you all think Netanyahu would like to see as the GOP nominee?
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Can we just vote no on all the candidates? None them appear to my liking...especially Ms. Hillary...
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Liz Warren should definitely not be considered. Here's why: she is connected to the largest US Marxist organization, "Democratic Socialists of America". She has taught at a "national teach-in" alongside Frances Fox Piven, the honorary chair of Democratic Socialists of America and of the famous Cloward-Pivens Socialist Manifesto. No wonder Communist Party USA likes her.
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If that girl in San Francisco would have been black there would be continuous riots and burning still going on in most every black city in America. And they would have blamed the police for not doing their jobs.
The President is all worried about global warming and is talking to Iran about nuclear advancement. We will not have to worry about a slow global warming death, it will be quick and to the point! But if you listen to the astrologists and their theory on comets coming to blast us or the BIG ONE on the west coast which will push the west coast into the ocean. Who are the fear mongers? Hmmmm?
I think medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security should be looked at! There is a lot of fraud in the disability arena. Dialysis being paid for should be looked at. The last EOB I got was for the month of May for $74,000. The Democrats would probably want medicare to raise their limits because poor DaVita is struggling to make ends meet. boo hoo hoo
I think this country is too far in debt to be saved. I listen to Greece's problems and ours are way worse. But we just keep putting our heads in the sand.
All the Gays hold signs that say "LOVE WINS" and they are the same people who cheer on Abortions. We kill thousands of babies every single day in this country but "Love Wins". Really?
Sex is a covenant under marriage between a man and a woman.... period. So sex any other way is wrong whether people believe it or not. So, getting married after the fact gay or not .... you have missed the boat on being moral. Bill Cosby is immoral, and I believed him. But, there ya go I should have known!
I don't think a bakery who has Morals and values should have to make any nasty cake or a gay marriage cake when there are TONS of bakeries who will. I don't think a Jewish bakery should have to make a cake with a swastika on it either. Or a Vegan bakery should have to make a cake with a moose on it! If I were asked to make a cake that I was opposed to, I'd be sorry for the person who ate it. It would probably taste like pickle juice. Would I get fined for making a bad tasting cake? I hope they ask the GOP candidates this.
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Since this discussion is supposed to be about the 2016 candidates, let's try to focus on them.
I do not intend to vote for any GOP candidate, but I will listen to reason. So here's the challenge...
Instead of telling us that such and such a candidate is "smart" or "cute" or "tells it like it is", tell us one policy move/change that each candidate proposes.
Donald Trump talks a lot about immigration. What does he propose doing about the millions of illegals here already, and how will he carry out his proposals?
Marco Rubio talks a lot about Cuba and how he vehemently disagrees with the new US relations with that country. Does he propose to roll back the advances that have been made thus far? If so, how will he do that?
Ted Cruz has made no secret of his hatred of the ACA. Now that it is the law of the land, what does he propose doing to revoke it, and with what will he replace it?
Rand Paul talks a lot about how he is against intervening in the Middle East and getting into yet another war in that part of the world. What does he propose that the US should do in this regard? The American people do not want to be drawn into yet another blurry conflict, so how will he convince the party's hawks that we should withdraw the little support that we've already given?
Rick Perry is from a state that has built its fortune on oil. The state has already forbidden any town or area in Texas that does not want fracking to be able to legally block that method of oil production. With the price of oil in freefall, what will he do to protect Texas, and thus America, from the economic impact of that?
Jeb Bush looks to be, at least on the surface, a reasonable man. What will be the pillars of his foreign policy?
Carly Fiorina has been the head of an international corporation. I'm sure she realizes that it's the big medical providers who are the big fraudsters of Medicare (like DaVita). Will she go after her fellow corporatists and make sure they no longer can steal taxpayer's money and condemn dialysis patients from sub-optimal treatment so that they can preserve their bottom line?
All of these candidates are being pulled to the right by their base. How will they respond to the rising popularity and power of leftist parties in Europe?
Ok, so, here I've asked specific questions about specific candidates. I do not vote for candidates based upon their demeanor or whether or not I'd feel comfortable drinking a beer with them. I want to know what they will do, what they have to offer us, if elected. I will not be drawn into discussions about President Obama and what a disaster he has been and how much this secret Muslim despises you and me merely because we are Americans because we all know how much he hates the USA and is intent upon destroying the Constitution and this awful thing and that dreadful thing and blah blah blah. He is not the one up for election, so let's try to keep discussion where it is supposed to be, which is on the candidates (especially on those in the GOP since there are so many).
(Rerun, your comparison of the US and Greece is way off base. The US economy is strong because it avoided austerity as a measure to tackle debt, thus enabling business to grow. Greece does not produce anything and has a history of weak government. They never belonged in the Eurozone in the first place, but they cooked their books so that it would appear that they'd qualify.)
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I'm not sure I want to know where everyone stands on politics, since this can get in the way of treating each other like humans. I will resist the urge to argue, but I have nothing to hide either.
Disclosure: I am a lifelong Democrat. At the age of 7, I was passing out McGovern campaign material in my neighborhood. I was thrilled (at age 9) when Nixon resigned. I have never been a big fan of Reagan, and have been disappointed and confused by the way his image was so skillfully rehabilitated since leaving office as a not very popular president with Iran Contra dogging him. Every year, I think I get a little less liberal, but the "center" moves so far right every year it is hard to keep up.
So with that, I'll give you my unbiased view. Hillary Clinton is the most likely Democratic candidate and I'd proudly vote for her. The idea that she is hiding her last name is nonsense. I have no idea why anyone would hide their association with the last genuine US economic boom in which real wages and wealth rose across the board. One of my minor regrets in life is accepting a fairly well-paying postdoc in Switzerland in 1996 instead of coming directly to the Bay Area and raking in serious money during the Clinton Boom. I can understand if the kids don't know about the Clinton Boom, but around here the age is pretty high, so maybe memories are shorter than I think.
I personally like Biden, but I think his day is long past. I appreciate him as VP and I always enjoy his speeches. He's one of the last old school liberals out there. I'm a liberal too. I am not ashamed of the term. I am not "progressive" especially. I think that FDR had a good understanding of how the public and private sectors could be mutually beneficial. Eisenhower understood this too, though he was Republican. In fact, it wasn't until Reagan that the GOP started to resemble "smash the state" anarchists--a position that is hypocritical since they obviously seek power in the government that they pretend to view as an antagonist. ("Don't rely on the government to help you. It is too busy helping me line my pockets.")
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren... probably not gonna happen, but I hope their ideas can influence the debate.
Jeb Bush. True, he does not hide his last name, John-Ellis-Bush Bush must simply revel in it to refer to it twice like that. Honestly, I don't see how he could be worse than Dubya, and he is about the only serious looking candidate the GOP has offered so far. I think that when the dust clears, the GOP winds up with the most electable candidate (e.g. McCain, Romney), so I would not be surprised to see him nominated (in fact I am not sure who else there is).
The list is way too long to say much. I have a few random thoughts, but I won't be voting for any of them.
Ben Carson is a brilliant neurosurgeon, but suffice it to say neurosurgery is a specialty and does not imply expertise in much else.
Chris Christie must simply have an enormous ego if he thinks he has a shot. His image is tarnished, and he is disliked from both sides of the political spectrum for different reasons.
Trump is not a serious candidate. He's a publicity hound, and not even all that special as billionaires go. Why do people bother writing about him at all?
Where do I stop? Carly Fiorina. Including her for no reason except that I always get a good laugh out of it. Her chief claim to fame is destroying Silicon Valley's most venerated corporation, Hewlett Packard. And she has tried to make a go of it in politics since then without any success.
Rick Perry. I remember taking him seriously in 2011 ("He's like Bush, only dumber. Our side doesn't have a chance.") I wouldn't vote for him as dogcatcher, but the funny thing is I actually agree with things he says sometimes. Like "git America workin agin". Yes! That is an excellent idea. Not just get Americans working at jobs, but getting the whole thing working, because it is kinda broken. Sadly, I don't think Perry has the faintest idea what doing this would entail. Perry also said that the GOP should reach out to black voters, and that is also a good idea, but probably not gonna happen either.
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MooseMom: I think your ground rules are good, though I admit I neglected them. I think it is important to note that US President is not primarily a single-issue role, though it does make sense for presidents to come in with an agenda. It is highly unlikely that I will be an issue voter in this election. I expect the choice between Democratic and Republican candidate to be pretty stark.
One issue that matters to me is upholding the Affordable Care Act. My support is such that I once wrote an angry reply to an email from a Democratic senator (not in my state) talking about how it was good but flawed and he would "fix" it, in which I explained that he should be getting out there and telling voters that it is already working very well. Of course, it is doubtful there was anyone on the other end of this to read my reply. I am lifelong Democrat, but Democratic politicians are such wimps.
Needless to say (see last post) I would not be voting for a GOP candidate anyway, but if I had to explain why on an issues basis, it would probably be that. Nearly any GOP president will cooperate with a GOP congress to destroy the only significant advance in US healthcare since the passage of medicare. Nearly any Democratic president will use the veto if necessary. There is just not a lot to analyze here.
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Or in other words (and you may apply this without agreeing with my politics):
Given a choice between apple pie and a steaming pile of you know what, I don't have to ask if it's Granny Smith or Macintosh to make a decision.
And this principle usually suffices on election day as well.
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PaulBC, the specific questions I posed were not to be meant to imply that I think any candidate should be a single issue candidate. I was just going on which specific issues I'd heard various candidates talk about. I assume they've spoken about other things; these just happen to be the issues that I remember most clearly. Saying that, though, I can certainly understand why any specific voter might be a single issue voter. I tend to agree with you in that if the GOP nominee guaranteed the repeal of the ACA, I'd quickly become a single issue voter.
If there are ways to make the ACA work better, I'd be happy for a candidate to propose specific ways to accomplish this. Most major pieces of legislation can use some streamlining. I don't think most Americans are in favor of its repeal, and I don't think the electorate would be happy to watch a GOP controlled Congress spend yet more time pursuing this dead end.
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Who do you think the Cuban Castro Brothers will want as President? Or the president of Iran? Our new friends!? Seriously?
I'll take Israel any day ....
:thumbup;
Who do you think the Cuban Castro Brothers will want as President? Or the president of Iran? Our new friends!? Seriously?
I'll take Israel any day ....
:thumbup;
:thumbup;
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Instead of telling us that such and such a candidate is "smart" or "cute" or "tells it like it is", tell us one policy move/change that each candidate proposes.
OK MM I'll bite:
Hillary??
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Instead of telling us that such and such a candidate is "smart" or "cute" or "tells it like it is", tell us one policy move/change that each candidate proposes.
OK MM I'll bite:
Hillary??
I've seen only one speech that Clinton has given that I'd define as anywhere near "substantive", and that was an economic policy speech she gave last week. As usual, it was pretty thin on specifics, but there were a few. One, she proposes working toward clarification of who is considered an employee (thus being granted benefits) and who is considered a "contractor" (who would not get benefits), and she was probably directly looking at Uber.
She proposed more government support of small businesses, especially those who are in R&D/medical devise/research industries.
I believe I remember her supporting an apprenticeship tax credit for business to encourage them to train new workers; I'll have to look that up to be sure.
But other than that, I don't really have much. I will need to hear more from everyone who is running.
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Jeb Bush - At least he is honest about his name.
"Jeb"'s real first name is John.
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Thank God! I thought who the hell would name their kid Jeb. Well, maybe the Beverly Hillbillies.
:flower;
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What do you all make of the Ted Cruz/"natural born citizen" question? Is he eligible to be President or not?
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Trump is a fascist. Cruz is a Theocrat. Rubio is irresponsible having missed more Senate votes than any other senator. Fiorina quit. So did Christie. Jeb is not the smarter brother.
GOP foreign policy: we now have more foreign enemies than at anytime in history. GOPers fear ISIS while North Korea develops nukes and a missile that can reach my house and China builds little islands in the China sea to expand their territorial waters toward the Phillipines, and Russia is now involved in the Syrian conflict.
Say, who started that middle-eastern war?
My vote will be to better the lives of Americans including my neighbor and his neighbor, not the 1%. I want peace. I wany prosperity. I want clean air to breath. I don't want dialysis. Maybe I'll croak before the elections? Hmmmmmm!
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Ted Cruz is the devil incarnate. So his "origins" defy national location. What an utterly creepy and disgusting man he is. He is the most frightening of all the candidates. He's smart and he's evil. Heaven help us if he wins.
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I would seriously move out of the country if Cruz gets elected.
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The main problem with out current primary system is that the wacko wing in each party, right and left sets the agenda for the debates. Tea Party on the Republican side liberals on the democratic side. This list of failed democratic candidates forced the democrats to change the rules and Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama resulted, far more main stream then Mike Dukakis and the others nominated from 1980 onward. The republicans are being force to defend positions that a majority of Americans do not support to cater the tea party. I hope the democrats keep their eye on the prize and pick a main stream candidate. If this goes the way it might a trump sanders debacle my only hope is Bloomberg runs as a independent.
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Isn't it fascinating how what is happening in Europe is also happening here in the US? Syriza, UKIP and the like?
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My interpretation of what America needs:
A democracy that supports economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a capitalist economy, and a policy regime involving welfare state provisions, collective bargaining arrangements, regulation of the economy in the general interest, measures for income redistribution, and a commitment to representative democracy. (Wiki).
1. Every adult citizen votes.
2. No gerrymandering.
3. No filibusters.
4. No Senator or Congressman may individually halt the progress of a proposal.
5. No private campaign contributions or favors. Campaigns to be government financed.
6. Gun control.
7. R&D for artificial kidneys.
8. R&D for cancer cure.
9. Winning lotto numbers for me.
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Sometimes I wonder if the simple solution (yet no so simple) to our challenges is to just get rid of all the lobbying practice that is allowed to run amok with our rights and writing bills that go into law. Their are currently over 12,000 of them. The second would be to return to goverment's role in breaking up big monopolies like Ma Bell/ ATT&T in the past. We have too many corporate monopolies in all our sectors. Lastly, find a way to make sure that government agencies that are supposed to be our watch dogs (EPA, FDA...) are doing their jobs, not sure of getting rid of lobbying would take care of that automatically? Any thoughts?
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Lobbyists and corporate "ownership" of our agencies (and practically the whole government) distorts the functions of our watchdogs. So the foxes are doing the guarding and the watchdogs are doing their bidding.
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I know this; I don't want to end up living in a commune. :o
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I know this; I don't want to end up living in a commune. :o
Why would you end up living in a commune?
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I know this; I don't want to end up living in a commune. :o
Why would you end up living in a commune?
Maybe I should say "I'm not feelin' the Bern".
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What do you all think about the what should happen now after the death of Justice Scalia?
(Weirdly enough, when it was first reported that he died in a west Texas resort not far from the Mexico border, I just knew exactly where it was. I stayed at Cibolo Creek Ranch about 20 years ago. It was in August, and of course it was very hot; I think because of that, we were the only guests there. We had the run of the place, and the managers couldn't have been nicer. Texas is a great place in which to have a vacation.)
Have the debates on either side helped you reach any decisions, or have they changed your mind?
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I was watching a program by John Stossel yesterday and he made a remark that put it into perspective for me. He said both republicans and democrat candidates want to spend more money. Republicans want to increase military spending while democrat candidates want to spend money on just about everything. I dont like either choices. Hilary does have her trustworthiness issues, but the only consideration I have for her is that under the 2 term Clinton's presidency in the past they were able to turn the deficit into a surplus. It would be interesting if Mike Bloomberg decides to jump into the race.
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I know this; I don't want to end up living in a commune. :o
Why would you end up living in a commune?
Maybe I should say "I'm not feelin' the Bern".
It is quite a leap to think that electing Sanders would force you into a commune. Why did you come to that conclusion?
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Definition of Socialism found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary
1. Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
2. A system of society or group living in which there is NO private property: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are OWNED AND CONTROLLED by the state.
3. A stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
If Bernie becomes Prez, we might very well find ourselves living in communes after he runs out of everyone else's money and bankrupting our employers to pay for all the freebies he's promising.
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Bernie Sanders is NOT a socialist. He is a democratic socialist. A very different animal. Do you think the Scandinavian countries are socialist? No. They are democratic socialists. And they are doing very well, thank you very much. Do you think FDR was a socialist? Bernies ideas are very New Deal and cut to core of American values.
Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few.
http://www.dsausa.org/what_is_democratic_socialism
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Yes, Bernie is a "Democratic Socialist". Yes, read up on the Democrat Socialists of America (and their friends Communist Party USA). By the way, as a senator, Obama campaigned for Bernie back in '06 (there are video youtubes of it). Another interesting guy is Harry Boyte, a political activist and former advisor to Obama. He helped promote the teachings of radical Saul Alinsky (sound familiar?). Boyte also helped form the DSA and their "Communitarian Caucus" nka the "Congressional Progressive Caucus". And yes, Scandinavia is doing well. By the way, the US provides much of their defense.
No wonder Bernie and Hillary are fighting over who is more progressive. lol
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I think it would be a waste of time and money for Obama to try to nominate another Justice right now. Just wait until after the election and let the new president do it.
I would like an autopsy on Sclia
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Hello young people and you old farts:
For those who are not political science majors, Bernie Sanders is not a real socialist, he is what is known as a Social Democrat. Look it up. Not Democratic Socialist, Social Democrat. I am aware that Sanders mixes the terms but we have a history of his work in politics to measure him by. Look up the Nordic Model of socialism.
My macular degeneration is making typing difficult, please excuse the typos.
My agenda for evaluating presidential candidates is WAR. No more war. The consequences of war are too numerous to list here, suffic to say that we have no business warring in the middle-east. Then there are the American people; we need to turn the economy around to benefit the poor and the middle-class via various measures. That sounds like policiews offered by Sanders. Hillary hasn't really said much other than we ought to do something. She did vote to invade Iraq.
For me, there isn't an intelligent Republican running for President. Cruz and Trump would easily fall into the fascist category since both want to build a wall on international borders, ban Muslims for entering the US and would deport 11.5 million immigrants already here. There is, of course, Climate Change and no Republican will support that. Look at election fraud by gerrymandering and voter suppression techinques if all of the foregoing doesn't rock your boat.
But things change with time. We shall see.
Enter the death of Scalia. Senate Republicans loaded their pants with juvenile observations that Obama should not make an appointment to the Supreme Court. Once again the GOP is not thinking about the business of government, their priority is politics. The Constitution requires Obama to nominate. The Senate can procrastinate at their own peril.
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If he had been hunting with Cheny then a autopsy would be a good idea. However he had just turn a rotator cuff for the second time and had been evaluated for surgery and was turned down due to a weak heart.
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Can you imagine a Bush v Gore situation after the 2016 general election with only 8 sitting Supreme Court Justices?
The fact that Mitch McConnell and the GOP didn't even let an hour go by before declaring that Obama shouldn't put forth a nomination, much less even allow the vote to go to the floor, is fodder for Trump and Sanders supporters. It is the clearest imaginable example of how Washington doesn't work anymore. They would happily let our country flail about for an entire year, and maybe even more, without a full Court. It is astonishingly brazen. I don't understand how anyone who claims that President Obama "hates the Constitution" would dare say that he should abdicate this particular obligation clearly stated in that revered document. The President of the United States serves a term of 4 years, not of 3. Does Mr. McConnell hate the Constitution?
Senator McConnell, on the first day of the new Presidency, said that his goal was to make Mr. Obama a one-term president. This set the stage for the divided country we now have. Obama ran and WON on the promise that he would unite the country. He cannot do this alone. This is why the American people elected him TWO times. The American people have already spoken. Twice. The GOP nominees are all saying that they want to unite the country. Well, they can start right now by insisting that the Senate allow a vote. Two of the candidates are current Senators, and they should lead the way and prove they are not liars, calling for McConnell to follow the Constitution and allow a vote. Let's see if "uniting the country" really matters to them.
Or maybe its just that Senator McConnell believes that President Obama is merely 3/5ths of a president.