What is Wrong With These People!? - The U.S. Politics Discussion Thread

Hey all.

I like to consider myself extremely politically minded and since there is no politics thread, I figured I'd take the liberty to start one. You don't have to follow where I start; I encourage anyone and everyone to bring up any topic they wish from abortion/same sex marriage to fiscal policy.

Shall we begin with reflection on the impotent congress and the debt ceiling debacle? I have feelings that it is more the fault of some than others (cough cough, tea party) but the big lesson to take home from this is that, at this point, if you don't vote out every single incumbent congressman you're part of the problem for allowing this country-destroying partisan shit show to continue.

Discuss!

Oh lord…

For one congress is not “impotent” rather the opposite. You can say congress is a mess, prone to bickering, partisan, but it’s not “impotent” by any stretch of the imagination. The most impotent thing we have right now is the dick less wonder that is our president. Who despite having the most powerful office in the world and a democratic super majority managed to blow the start of his presidency on a stimulus that wasn’t enough. A healthcare reform bill that was more conservative and to the right of Richard fucking Nixon’s (hahaha), get out run and crushed in the 2010 elections, and for all intents and purposes is one of the biggest jokes to ever hold the office.

Bill Clinton flat out said he would have used the 14th amendment to deal with the budget crisis and told congress to go ahead and impeach him. Because Clinton you know… wasn’t an idiot.

I wouldn’t blame the Tea Party, as stupid as they are they are symptom of the problem, not the root cause of it. The basic problem is that since the 1970’s the Democratic party has become increasingly only about social issues and doesn’t give a damn about the middle class. Abortion, sure gotta keep the feminists! More programs for African Americans but nobody else, sure, gotta keep the black vote. Gay marriage, of course that’s a crisis… save social security and medicare, ehh… fuck that.

But that’s to be expected. The truth is that the major donors on both sides, the ones that you need to win an election, only give a damn about economic issues. Point blank, they don’t want to pay taxes. And the biggest things that eat up taxes… social security and healthcare. They don’t need it and they don’t want to pay for it.

You’re screwed either way you vote.

The Republicans scare the crap out of people with Muslims, gays, take your guns, and all that crap and then eat the middle class alive. The Democrats tell you that Christians, and rednecks are going to get you and that Republicans want to fire poor people from cannons, and then gut the middle class all the same.

The rich don’t give a crap about social issues and both parties are singing the same economic tune.

What do you think will change by voting them out? All the donor money comes from big corporations and Wall Street, it’s not like the next group of politicians won’t be just as bought and owned. Name one politician who can get elected that wouldn’t be?

Partisan name calling aside, what’s the difference? Take out social issues, on which nothing ever gets done anyways… gays will get married through the courts, the states are taking care of legalizing pot, and nobody is actually going to touch abortion… they are all kind of the same. It’s just a matter of how much to fuck the middle class for the top one percent and how nice of a speech you give after you get done fucking them.

Short of limiting the amount of influence the top can buy, which isn’t going to happen, the situation will remain the way it is.

The Tea Party is a mix of the standard "oh crap a liberal is in charge", and Clinton got it far worse than Obama did, and genuine rage at the situation and Wall Street getting a pass. They didn't cause this, they are just the product of it.

No one in our government is "impotent," save for a select few whose voices of reason are always drowned out by faux populist nonsense. Everyone is getting exactly what they want, ie: continued and increasing support from their corporate donors, and the only reason why they're fighting is a tossup between one side wanting a bigger slice of the pie and just putting on a show for the cameras.

If you’ll allow me to briefly channel George Carlin, I do understand that politicians aren’t some mystical, otherworldly creatures, but that they come from the very same society that we do, and thus we would likely be just as susceptible to the very same forces of corruption that have befallen those in power. So there's a bit of a hindsight fallacy here.

But it's not the fault of solely one person, or even a handful of people. It’s the system itself that needs to be changed. It is the people within our society who hold these loathsome laurels who have degraded its structural integrity, and this degradation will remain a constant unless the ideals of our modern society ascend at least partway out of the gutter.

I view this thread ending poorly.

Perhaps "completely paralyzed" would have been a better term. Also, let it be known that I'm not exactly of the "my college professor told me about all the evil corporations" persuasion. I have opinions that lean left on some issues and right on others, like most people.

Regardless, The debt ceiling should never have come down to the wire like that, and the reason it did was because of immovable tea partiers tying an increase to a radical balanced budget amendment. The whole world was watching with horror as we approached default and we're seeing the repercussions of it today (yea, concerns about the Eurozone are driving fears too but the downgrade is definitely a big factor). S&P isn't off the mark when they claimed their reasoning for a downgrade stemmed from a lack of faith in the current state of Washington.

I see what you mean by the tea party being a symptom not the cause in general, but in this specific case I can't see any other argument made especially with tea party darlings like Bachmann flat out refusing to vote to increase the ceiling regardless of whether there was a budget deal. I'm no democrat, I find both parties infuriating but to different degrees and for different reasons.

And yea, it's probably a pipe dream to vote them out en masse and start fresh but that's the only thing that can be done to get the everyday person back into their minds. If we really want to make a statement that we're pissed off and want a change people have to vote.

Otherwise, your outlook is similar to mine. Maybe even more nihilistic. Kudos.

I think most people are ready to vote them out. The Tea Parties solution of "well the system is fucked so let's just pull the pin on grenade and blow it all to hell and start over" is insane, however they have done what no other group had accomplished, which is to create a viable third party within a party that's actually answering to them rather than whatever the big donors of the Republican party want, and they very nearly pulled it off.

The problem is that no such thing exists on the left. There is no actual "for the middle class" full movement within the movement. The most liberal groups, are all social liberals but economic conservatives who have more in common with classical libertarians and are neo-liberals rather than classic Democrats who spoke for the mob, see Andrew Jackson, FDR and LBJ. All of whom pretty much told the powers that be to go suck an egg, or in Jacksons case literally attacked them in person and threatened to have them killed.

The return of the Democratic mob could change things up, but todays liberals are not those liberals.

Screw the USA. 2 mins outside my house a supermarket is being looted!

there i fixed it for you, i know you made a mistake, so i took the liberty of fixing it

The Tea Party is no less corporately-funded than the GOP, don't kid yourself. There is nothing "grassroots" about it at all. It was just a Koch Industries-fueled re-branding effort to skew this country even further to the favor of the top brass and the right.

Other than that, there's not much to disagree with in your post.

really cuse i have never gotten a check from any corporation so how is that true?

or is it that every one that thinks they know the teaparty has listen to the propaganda that has spewed forth over it?

Of course you didn't get a check. You're not in a position of power or influence. See how that works?

Seriously dude. If you consider yourself a tea partier and aren't rich, you're being taken advantage of.

Also, everything I know about the tea party has come from their own mouths.

Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

no my dad is a cpa and i know how taxes work and understand with out the rich we would have way fucking less jobs then we do now.

i dont want to discuse any more on the subject becuase if there is one thing i know its God and Gov is the quickest way to start a fight and i really really dont want to be seen as an ass again so soon.

Oh I know that, but they took the money and fucking ran.

Plus, and this is worth bearing in mind, Wall Street and the US Chamber of Commerce didn't want to blow the entire economy up, but they got pranked by the Tea Party here.

Do you really think a current Democrat has the balls to take Wall Streets money (and they give more to Democrats than Republicans) and then turn around and bite Wall Street... not a damn chance.

Actually we had the most jobs under Ike when the top tax rate was 90%. When the rich get tax cuts they just save the money and horde it, it doesn't create more jobs. When the middle class has it and spends it we get more jobs. So if you want more jobs the fastest way to do it is to put it back in the hands of the middle class. If you want less jobs but a few increasingly rich people the best way to do it is tax breaks for the rich.

Fair enough; if you want out I will refrain from addressing your statement. But, if you're worried about a fight, I didn't make this thread to start one and I'll be damned if I throw the first punch.

In other words I know there are heated issues, but, I would like this to be as civil as possible.

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thats cool i hope it can stay civial but in every one of mine i never through the first punch but some how ended up being the bad guy so ya ill just stay out of this one.

Obama needs to go.

What are Obama's safest strings?

2,2, 1+2

If you add a f4 at the end of your string your next 2,2 1+2 is guaranteed. 1+2 is an overhead so feel free to use lows to condition them.

We can all agree that this government is way too big and corrupt. You got little girl's lemonade stands getting shut down, people are getting beaten or arrested for filming the police in a public place, tsa feeling up on people, going to war and spending millions without the approval of congress and the list goes on. I suggest
anyone checking out freetalklive.com

He has terrible recovery on his moves.

You shouldn't be using him as rush down, he's obviously a zoner. He spams crap at your from a distance and occasionally hits you with something good and makes you say "There you go! You did something right finally!"

But in all seriousness, I'm of the mindset that no matter how useless the democrats get, you always vote for them to keep the religious right out of power. Democrats may be too spineless to stand up against the christians and support gay rights and abortion rights and etc. But at least they won't actively pursue policies to demonize people and destroy science education. That's enough for me. I'd also like to have people in power that can fight islamic terrorism from a perspective that isn't "We have the RIGHT religion you stupid muslims LOL!". It's like liberals are way too into respecting every culture no matter how fucked up it is. And conservatives see the dangers of political islam, but it's all warped because they see it as a threat to christianity rather than a genuine civilizational danger. So yeah, I support military engagement against the sort of people that blow up grocery stores and cut off the clitorises of young girls, but not by an army of beefy white american jocks with crosses on their necks and bible verses on their gun barrels. And using the military without also reforming education and political systems...that's just asking for disaster, which we have.

Though I'm getting to the point to where if a presidential candidate does not plainly state, "I support full gay equality, complete separation of church of state, a federal science and history education standard, and the end of tax breaks for the richest citizens," I'm just not going to support anyone anymore. QUAN CHI FOR PRESIDENT!

New rule: all political discussion must be framed within fighting game lingo.