Over here Squatters are called Informal Settlers. The pols need there votes. Thats an agenda right there.
Perjorative Words and Agendas
- Thread starter mep
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That's exactly why the democrats are for amnesty of 11 million illegal aliens. Easy votes.
And NOT ONE OF THEM WOULD VOTE REPUB....any idea why Christian, LOL
The smart ones will who have skills and won't a go on public assistance.
Uh Huh! "The smart ones will have skills and won't a go on public assistance"!
Sorry, BUT I suspect the smart one's are going to vote Dem, the DUMB one's are going to vote REPUB, LOL.
Yeah the Dem's have been doing a real great job since Bush...the party of hey what do I get for free. Pathetic !
Biggest new entitlement program since the 60s -- Medicare prescription drug coverage, George W. Bush (what's worse? it specifically required that Medicare pay full retail for the drugs)
Last president to sign a Social Security bailout -- Ronald Reagan
Smallest government as a % of gross national product since WWII -- Clinton
Greatest reduction of non-military federal government personnel (and in boom times, no less) -- Clinton.
Republicans campaign on small government and fiscal responsibility, Rockitman, they've never governed that way. Oh and you want to talk about what you get for free? Let's get into corporate subsidies.
Tim
Last president to sign a Social Security bailout -- Ronald Reagan
Smallest government as a % of gross national product since WWII -- Clinton
Greatest reduction of non-military federal government personnel (and in boom times, no less) -- Clinton.
Republicans campaign on small government and fiscal responsibility, Rockitman, they've never governed that way. Oh and you want to talk about what you get for free? Let's get into corporate subsidies.
Tim
Bravo Tim. please tout your party's greatest success as of late....revised 1st quarter GDP of 1.8%. Dem's are bad for biz, period. You need a good economy for everyone to prosper. Too bad 52% of this country doesn't get it.
Ps, don't ya think this thread is getting a little too political ?
You guys should follow our example
Here in Australia we have excised Australia from our own immigration zone. That's right, Australia is no longer in Australia's immigration zone.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/parliament-excises-mainland-from-migration-zone/4693940
Here in Australia we have excised Australia from our own immigration zone. That's right, Australia is no longer in Australia's immigration zone.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/parliament-excises-mainland-from-migration-zone/4693940
Not my party, really. Their objectives are often questionable and their successes at reaching those objectives range from weak to non-existent. But at least if they run on a platform (healthcare reform, immigration reform, ending the wars, closing GITMO) they pursue it, however ineffectively. The point of my post was that the Republicans have been running on small government and fiscal responsibility for 30 years, and once in power, they've actually achieved less of it than the tax and spend liberals they vilify on their way there.
Personally, I'd like to see a third and fourth party in America. I think we need the radicals on both sides to raise issues and keep agendas from becoming too impotent, but we need them raising issues and influencing agendas, not defining and driving them. When the later happens, you get what the Dems had in the 70s and the GOP has now -- mainstream parties so out of sync with mainstream America, that they are both unwilling and unable to govern. Got enough nutbags (or cowards who fear the nutbags) in Congress who would rather see gridlock than ideological compromise? You no longer have a representative democracy.
And the argument that Dems are worse for business than the GOP is a very difficult one to support with history, though I'd be happy to hear it if history, hypocrisy, the markets for publicly traded companies and the inability, by design, to see beyond the next election and the next quarter are not too political.
To get started, some facts (don't you hate it when those are introduced into a debate) about the metric you seem to think is a direct reflection on whether or not particular politics are good for business. GDP growth by president:
Barack Obama, 1.2% annual G.D.P. growth rate (previously 1.5%)
George W. Bush, 1.6% (previously 1.7%)
George H.W. Bush, 2.1%
Gerald Ford, 2.2%
Dwight Eisenhower, 2.5%
Richard Nixon, 3.0%
Jimmy Carter, 3.2%
Ronald Reagan, 3.5%
Bill Clinton, 3.8%
Lyndon B. Johnson, 5.0%
John F. Kennedy, 5.4%
Who's at the top of the list? Kennedy and Johnson, the socialists, followed by Clinton. Hell, Carter, the incompetent, is ahead of Eisenhower, Ford and both Bushes. Now can you really make the argument that Presidents have a great impact on the GDPs during their administrations? No, you can't. It's nearly as hard as making the argument that Republicans are better for business than Democrats.
Tim
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This is such a complex and highly politicized issue that I hesitate to wade in, but....
1. I generally agree with MEP that changing cultural mores (and political agendas) drive the use of language, but it's not all bad. Look at what Paula Deen is being gored over now, and remember, the word was a generally accepted label (albeit a perjorative one) 50 years ago.
2. On immigration, my personal experience is that the majority of spanish speaking (Mexican/Central American) immigrants coming over the southern border are hard working and family oriented. I'm not excusing gangs, or drug gangsters. But we have more issues than just that border- overstaying visas, enforcement within our borders, not just the 'fence,' etc.
3. The related economic issues speak to a vast divide between the unskilled, low paying jobs and the wealthy. The economic turmoil of the last 5 years has hurt the professional class (lawyers, bankers- I'm not talking about the CEOs or big money hedge fund guys but the middle management levels). Add to that the complexity of health care reform and the need for qualified doctors. And the squeeze on the 'middle' class- however you define it relative to the cost of living, e.g. being 'middle class' in NYC or San Francisco is more expensive than other parts of the country.
4. We don't manufacture, not only because it is cheaper overseas but because a lot of traditional manufacturing is not really in demand any more. I grew up in Pittsburgh when heavy industry still ruled the economy. Today, much is plastics, electronics and technology driven that once designed, can be assembled at lower cost. (Think about the automobile- it's a paradigm for this kind of change- yes, still built with success in the Southern states using modern technologies but it's a far cry from old school Detroit and the industries which supported the parts and components business).
5. I'd love to see:
-improvements in infrastructure, crumbling highways and bridges. Remember how the WPA worked? Some of that is still standing, and I'm not sure all the workers were skilled to start with;
-legislation that requires an accurate executive summary, so you don't have to wade through 1,000 plus pages and cross reference amendatory changes;
-no more pork- every bill has to stand on its own and be necessary and related to its core objective;
-an alternative political party that is viable.
I'm going to avoid talking about the current administration or Congress because I think it will just degenerate into a politically charged discussion.
1. I generally agree with MEP that changing cultural mores (and political agendas) drive the use of language, but it's not all bad. Look at what Paula Deen is being gored over now, and remember, the word was a generally accepted label (albeit a perjorative one) 50 years ago.
2. On immigration, my personal experience is that the majority of spanish speaking (Mexican/Central American) immigrants coming over the southern border are hard working and family oriented. I'm not excusing gangs, or drug gangsters. But we have more issues than just that border- overstaying visas, enforcement within our borders, not just the 'fence,' etc.
3. The related economic issues speak to a vast divide between the unskilled, low paying jobs and the wealthy. The economic turmoil of the last 5 years has hurt the professional class (lawyers, bankers- I'm not talking about the CEOs or big money hedge fund guys but the middle management levels). Add to that the complexity of health care reform and the need for qualified doctors. And the squeeze on the 'middle' class- however you define it relative to the cost of living, e.g. being 'middle class' in NYC or San Francisco is more expensive than other parts of the country.
4. We don't manufacture, not only because it is cheaper overseas but because a lot of traditional manufacturing is not really in demand any more. I grew up in Pittsburgh when heavy industry still ruled the economy. Today, much is plastics, electronics and technology driven that once designed, can be assembled at lower cost. (Think about the automobile- it's a paradigm for this kind of change- yes, still built with success in the Southern states using modern technologies but it's a far cry from old school Detroit and the industries which supported the parts and components business).
5. I'd love to see:
-improvements in infrastructure, crumbling highways and bridges. Remember how the WPA worked? Some of that is still standing, and I'm not sure all the workers were skilled to start with;
-legislation that requires an accurate executive summary, so you don't have to wade through 1,000 plus pages and cross reference amendatory changes;
-no more pork- every bill has to stand on its own and be necessary and related to its core objective;
-an alternative political party that is viable.
I'm going to avoid talking about the current administration or Congress because I think it will just degenerate into a politically charged discussion.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Bill-That was a very reasoned position that you staked out and I can't say that I disagree with any part of it. As for the "no more pork," how I wish that was against the law. Politicians like to rant and rave against pork when given a public platform, but in private they love to add pork to a piece of legislation that they know will pass. John Murtha was the king of congressional plus-ups and really reshaped Johnstown, PA because of his plus-ups. If he was still alive, I think he may have been convicted for being corrupt and basically stealing if not wasting tax payers money. They shouldn't be naming a ship after him, they should be naming a jail cell after him.
Bill, Well reasoned answers but I would add a few comments/opinions...
1. Certainly changes in culturally mores drive the use of language. But unlike others I don't see the Paula Deen episode as an issue of freedom of speech--the government is not hauling her ass to jail for what she said. Too many people seem to think that freedom of speech means freedom from the consequences of their speech. In today's world, where nothing can be flushed down the memory hole, people need to be extremely cautious regarding their speech. Once it is on the internet, it is forever. But if you are part of the favored class, hateful/offensive speech is more likely to be forgiven. Witness Alec Baldwin's recent anti-gay twitter diatribes. One of the major problems with today's PC environment is how decidedly illiberal it is; limiting our ability to discuss important issues. It's difficult to discuss terrorism when one side won't use the term, instead opting for "man-made catastrophe" or "workplace violence". And our universities, which should be the beacons of free speech are the worst of all...
2. One of the main problems with immigration in this country is that we aren't asking the most fundamental of questions, i.e. What kind of immigrants does this country want, need and should encourage? Someone earlier in this thread alluded to workers paradise that is Mexico...what no one talks about is how Mexico treats its, ahem...'undocumented workers': http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/04/28/861736/-How-Mexico-Handles-Illegal-Immigrants#
3. Way too complex to tackle here
4. Manufacturing in the US is doing well..http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104576122353274221570.html.html. The paradigm shift we are struggling with is that requires significantly fewer workers to manufacture.
5. In response to the things you'd like to see:
a. Wait a minute, didn't we just spend nearly a trillion dollars on a stimulus? Let's just say not enough went to 'shovel ready jobs'.
b. A 1,000+ page bill that needs to be passed "in order to find out what is in it" is an affront to the conception of a democratic republic of self governing people. Worse, it encourages the growth of the bloated administrative state of unelected bureaucrats who are answerable to no one. Irrespective of what one thinks of Obamacare, it has already produced >10,000 pages of new regulations and the bureaucracy is just getting warmed up in the bullpen...
c. Everyone claims to hate legislative pork, except when it comes to their district.
d. IMO, a viable 3rd party would not be a panacea to our problems.
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