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To be fair, after Bush I would want the other guy to be incompetent too.
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Jun 1, 2014 08:13
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Yeah the entire Republican platform right now is basically "Obama did something. How do we make it wrong?" edit: actually, now I am doubting my own memory. Were the Republicans EVER the party of doing things, rather than the party of preventing things from being done? Domestically I mean, internationally obviously they are the party of unnecessary war.
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Jun 1, 2014 08:15
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Samurai Sanders posted:I wonder, will this last several years as the party of no ever come back to hurt them later on, or will things just go on as usual? That depends on what you mean by "doing things." They did things when Bush and Reagan were in office the problem was that they weren't exactly beneficial things and many of the things that they did led to the problems we're having currently.
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Jun 1, 2014 08:20
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Samurai Sanders posted:I wonder, will this last several years as the party of no ever come back to hurt them later on, or will things just go on as usual? Eh, southern strategy and all that poo poo, but they were for the interstate system and letting blacks off the plantations, too. And poo poo got done.
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Jun 1, 2014 09:16
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Why does D&D go through this process of kvetching about vets benefits every few months, especially with vets who agree with you? Beyond a few isolated cases among the officer corps most military are middle class or poorer trying to scrape out a decent living with what little is left to them. Yes, a lot of those benefits should be available to everyone. Having a section of society that is getting free education only strengthens the argument that everyone should get it. The military collects data on all aspects of the GI Bill and so far the takeaway is that its a net benefit. More money is produced as a result than it costs to put a vet through school. Also the military is absolutely an entirely different beast than regular work. Its not necessarily easier or harder, it's just wildly different. I've done lovely jobs before the military and after. They're not the same. There is no employer in the country that can come to your house, tell you how to clean it, and then punish you for not doing it according to their personal whims, a punishment that often involves garnishing wages. It's the total and complete control over your life that makes it different. Some people actually like the control because they don't have to think and can just go on auto pilot. Personally I loving hated the loss of freedom.
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Jun 1, 2014 09:35
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I mean if our military were a size appropriate to our needs, it wouldn't really be possible to run it as a social program. Given it's dangerous and destructively expensive size, it is nonetheless somewhat of a democratizing force (domestically). In that it does take steps towards gender equality, and that it is the only thing approximating a social safety net (for young, fit people 18-30). There's really very little jealousy of veterans going around the country, though. And since the Republicans have been trusted to carry the torch for the troops, you're pretty much dead hosed as the rest of us. There will eventually be enough people standing around, that they won't need to offer much of anything in return to get high school seniors to come sling a rifle.
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Jun 1, 2014 09:55
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agarjogger posted:And since the Republicans have been trusted to carry the torch for the troops, you're pretty much dead hosed as the rest of us. Yea, I'm actually surprised they haven't managed to scale back the benefits during this recession. They've toyed around with the idea of messing with retirements but nothing so far.
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Jun 1, 2014 10:04
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Relentlessboredomm posted:Why does D&D go through this process of kvetching about vets benefits every few months, especially with vets who agree with you? "[Out-Group identified as part of the problem] doesn't deserve what I want," is a bipartisan sentiment!
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Jun 1, 2014 10:34
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Andrew Cuomo managed to secure the Working Families Party ballot line with 58% of the vote after reaching an agreement with the party leadership whereby they would endorse him in exchange for him endorsing the idea of having a Democratic State Senate.
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Jun 1, 2014 12:27
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I think it's more that the vet thing ends up splitting us over a small difference: vets and sympathizers, who want to justify veteran's benefits; and others, who want to point out that non-vets deserve those benefits as well. Which is really silly, since it's rare for anyone here to disagree that everyone deserves a functioning social safety net. So really, it's just a bunch of people who agree talking past each other.
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Jun 1, 2014 12:50
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Hodgepodge posted:I think it's more that the vet thing ends up splitting us over a small difference: vets and sympathizers, who want to justify veteran's benefits; and others, who want to point out that non-vets deserve those benefits as well. Except it is not rare. In here, maybe, but out there, "no social safety net" is a legit platform supportrd by tens of millions of americans.
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Jun 1, 2014 14:00
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Joementum posted:Andrew Cuomo managed to secure the Working Families Party ballot line with 58% of the vote after reaching an agreement with the party leadership whereby they would endorse him in exchange for him endorsing the idea of having a Democratic State Senate. Does that mean he is no longer going to try and prevent other dems from accepting their endorsement?
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Jun 1, 2014 14:11
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The person the White House decided to send to the Sunday shows to let everyone know that they didn't notify Congress before making this POW agreement? Susan Rice on ABC and CNN. And Ted Cruz is on ABC right after her.
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Jun 1, 2014 14:13
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Vahakyla posted:Except it is not rare. Many of them dependent on Social Security and Medicare themselves 
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Jun 1, 2014 14:15
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Joementum posted:Andrew Cuomo managed to secure the Working Families Party ballot line with 58% of the vote after reaching an agreement with the party leadership whereby they would endorse him in exchange for him endorsing the idea of having a Democratic State Senate. This is just depressing as all hell and it's why, as the left in this country we can't have nice things because we just can't hold our elected officials accountable the way the right can. Andrew Cuomo governs like a republican, a pretty conservative republican and apparently he has no pay literally no political price from his base for that.
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Jun 1, 2014 14:43
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Warchicken posted:I had a dream about aliens landing and making it illegal to speak dishonestly as a politician but I woke up before anything good happened https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0aNxzF7MAk
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Jun 1, 2014 14:44
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come back guys we need you
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mcmagic posted:This is just depressing as all hell and it's why, as the left in this country we can't have nice things because we just can't hold our elected officials accountable the way the right can. Andrew Cuomo governs like a republican, a pretty conservative republican and apparently he has no pay literally no political price from his base for that. But his base are Rockefeller Republicans...? 
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Jun 1, 2014 14:55
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Relentlessboredomm posted:Yea, I'm actually surprised they haven't managed to scale back the benefits during this recession. They've toyed around with the idea of messing with retirements but nothing so far. No, they actually cut them. The bill to "reverse" that only restored existing retirements and left future ones cut
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Jun 1, 2014 16:45
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ThirdPartyView posted:But his base are Rockefeller Republicans...? Yeah. But those aren't Rockefeller republicans who nominated him last night.
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Jun 1, 2014 16:49
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GAYMIEN SANDOW posted:Impeaching Obama would be great because either the Republicans fail and they've impeached two Democratic presidents in a row and lost and look like crap, or they succeed and remove him from office. Then we get President Biden. His second executive order would be to declare being Republican illegal in The Party Zone. His first would be to rename the United States to The Party Zone. The best thing about Biden is the dumb cult of personality he has for no good reason, when he'd be to the right of Clinton and probably Obama. It's worse than the people drooling all over the idea of Hilary becoming president for any reason other than she's not a member of the GOP.
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Jun 1, 2014 17:04
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Whenever someone bitches about politics, I always respond with "Don't blame me: I voted for Kodos." BUSH 2112 fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Jun 1, 2014 |
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Jun 1, 2014 17:16
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PostNouveau posted:I don't know how much to read into this, but Ted Cruz just barely beat Ben Carson 30%-29% in the straw poll at the grassroots activist straw poll at the Republican Leadership Conference. Carson didn't even attend the event. I like pretty much everything about this. Cruz has been pulling everything out of his bag of tricks to appear presidential and just barely edged out the 'no really were not racist' prospect of the moment. Carson never had a chance at the presidency. He just doesn't have the speaking ability and presence when in an event that isn't completely precoordinated and scripted. He also has a need to be recognized as the smartest man in the room and seems to get shaken when people don't defer to him. He would implode spectacularly in the primaries.
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Jun 1, 2014 17:16
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Fried Chicken posted:No, they actually cut them. The bill to "reverse" that only restored existing retirements and left future ones cut Oh I hadn't heard that last little bit. So what is the current retirement for future military members? Is it the 401k style plan they were floating a while back? I actually support cutting back on the retirement benefits so long as everyone currently in is grandfathered into the old plan. That said, my support comes from the knowledge that a shittier retirement means less of the truly bright and capable people will stay in for 20 increasing the ever present brain drain. Hopefully that in turn will expose the massive system wide inefficiencies papered over with stacks of money and the broken backs of enlisted. Before I joined the military I was all about cutting the DoD budget and now after I'm all about cutting the DoD budget but for wildly different reasons. \/\/\/Ahh thanks, that sounds only a bit worse than the current iteration. Relentlessboredomm fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Jun 1, 2014 |
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Jun 1, 2014 17:37
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Relentlessboredomm posted:Oh I hadn't heard that last little bit. So what is the current retirement for future military members? Is it the 401k style plan they were floating a while back? It's the same general scheme, it just grows less in value from when you retire from the military to when you get to normal retirement age. Think of it as Chained CPI for military retirements.
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Jun 1, 2014 17:43
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Evil Fluffy posted:The best thing about Biden is the dumb cult of personality he has for no good reason, when he'd be to the right of Clinton and probably Obama. It's worse than the people drooling all over the idea of Hilary becoming president for any reason other than she's not a member of the GOP. 1) Biden's a complicated critter in terms of "left-right". On balance he'd probably be slightly to the left of Obama (other than the drug thing, which is terrible) and noticeably more effective given a non-insane Congress. 2) Obama's to the right of Clinton? Really?
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Jun 1, 2014 18:23
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Evil Fluffy posted:The best thing about Biden is the dumb cult of personality he has for no good reason, when he'd be to the right of Clinton and probably Obama. It's worse than the people drooling all over the idea of Hilary becoming president for any reason other than she's not a member of the GOP. So? Itīs not like we can get the best candidate. We have to just settle with democrats, instead. Biden would be heck of a let better than anything the GOP could ever offer.
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Jun 1, 2014 18:23
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GreyjoyBastard posted:1) Biden's a complicated critter in terms of "left-right". On balance he'd probably be slightly to the left of Obama (other than the drug thing, which is terrible) and noticeably more effective given a non-insane Congress. Biden is strongly pro Israel, being from Delaware he is pretty pro corporate, and takes a hard line on the war on drugs. The flip side to that is his domestic economic vision is big on the middle class (through tax breaks rather than wages, see the corporate point), is big on infrastructure investment, and is extremely aggressive on promoting women's and trans' causes even if his push will cost him support. He's an interesting cat
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Jun 1, 2014 18:44
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Fried Chicken posted:Biden is strongly pro Israel, being from Delaware he is pretty pro corporate, and takes a hard line on the war on drugs. The flip side to that is his domestic economic vision is big on the middle class (through tax breaks rather than wages, see the corporate point), is big on infrastructure investment, and is extremely aggressive on promoting women's and trans' causes even if his push will cost him support. I'll give him what .450? poo poo an average like that would earn him legendary status after half a season.
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Jun 1, 2014 18:50
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Fried Chicken posted:Biden is strongly pro Israel, being from Delaware he is pretty pro corporate, and takes a hard line on the war on drugs. The flip side to that is his domestic economic vision is big on the middle class (through tax breaks rather than wages, see the corporate point), is big on infrastructure investment, and is extremely aggressive on promoting women's and trans' causes even if his push will cost him support. People keep forgetting the Diamond Joe thing is a joke (mostly because of the onion) no one is seriously like gently caress yeah Joe unless it's up against a Republican because they think gently caress Republicans (limits of a two party system and all).
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Jun 1, 2014 18:54
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Good Citizen posted:I like pretty much everything about this. Cruz has been pulling everything out of his bag of tricks to appear presidential and just barely edged out the 'no really were not racist' prospect of the moment. And this is why I'm so happy about Perry taking his run all serious. Cruz is going to self-destruct all over him.
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Jun 1, 2014 18:56
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SirKibbles posted:People keep forgetting the Diamond Joe thing is a joke (mostly because of the onion) no one is seriously like gently caress yeah Joe unless it's up against a Republican because they think gently caress Republicans (limits of a two party system and all). Yeah, the guy is a complete teetotaler and his Amtrak thing was because he went home all the time rather than stay in DC and get dragged into the usual after hours shenanigans there. The guy's leisure activity is reading law review papers. For as much as he has the look of a smiling Irish bastard the real Joe Biden is pretty boring. It's like the whole "Nixon was a liberal!" Thing. That was originally a Colbert joke, and since people get their news from comedy instead of digging through the actual record it becomes part of the public consciousness and readily repeated.
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Jun 1, 2014 18:58
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SirKibbles posted:People keep forgetting the Diamond Joe thing is a joke (mostly because of the onion) no one is seriously like gently caress yeah Joe unless it's up against a Republican because they think gently caress Republicans (limits of a two party system and all). And slightly more seriously, he's perfected using the office of VP to punk the GOP, which is admirable in and of itself.
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Jun 1, 2014 18:59
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DemeaninDemon posted:I'll give him what .450? poo poo an average like that would earn him legendary status after half a season. I'd put it lower than that, as the pro corporate stuff ties in with IP, trade treaties, criminal prosecution of corporate malfeasance, and NSA deals, and the pro Israel stuff translates into wars across the Middle East right now.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:04
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Joementum posted:The person the White House decided to send to the Sunday shows to let everyone know that they didn't notify Congress before making this POW agreement? I missed Rice, and only caught a bit of Cruz, but it sounded like he was twisting in the wind a bit. Wanting to criticize the administration's decision on the trade, but struggling to offer an alternative. Business as usual for the Republicans.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:06
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ReidRansom posted:I missed Rice, and only caught a bit of Cruz, but it sounded like he was twisting in the wind a bit. Wanting to criticize the administration's decision on the trade, but struggling to offer an alternative. Business as usual for the Republicans. My ex-marine/cop/Liberty University freshman high school friend was upset about the trade. Apparently the guy they're getting back abandoned his unit and tried to quit the war. Then he got captured and now we're sending back 4 TOTALLY GUILTY ter'rists to get his winy rear end back. Or something like that.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:10
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anonumos posted:My ex-marine/cop/Liberty University freshman high school friend was upset about the trade. Apparently the guy they're getting back abandoned his unit and tried to quit the war. Then he got captured and now we're sending back 4 TOTALLY GUILTY ter'rists to get his winy rear end back. Or something like that. It's always fascinating to me which members of society are considered worthwhile by people. This kind of human is alright but that kind is distasteful so my typical moral rigidity just flies out the window when discussing that kind. It must be wonderful to have so little self awareness and not even recognize the internal hypocrisy.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:19
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SirKibbles posted:People keep forgetting the Diamond Joe thing is a joke (mostly because of the onion) no one is seriously like gently caress yeah Joe unless it's up against a Republican because they think gently caress Republicans (limits of a two party system and all). Stuff like this is real though   regardless of political positions, man is legit entertaining as a politician so having him as VP is the best thing ever.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:24
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Fried Chicken posted:I'd put it lower than that, as the pro corporate stuff ties in with IP, trade treaties, criminal prosecution of corporate malfeasance, and NSA deals, and the pro Israel stuff translates into wars across the Middle East right now. Alright I'll bring it down below 300 because seriously gently caress Israel.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:28
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anonumos posted:My ex-marine/cop/Liberty University freshman high school friend was upset about the trade. Apparently the guy they're getting back abandoned his unit and tried to quit the war. Then he got captured and now we're sending back 4 TOTALLY GUILTY ter'rists to get his winy rear end back. Or something like that. Well your friend isn't wrong about the history. Guy got dis allusions with the war, left his unit intending to join the Taliban, but it turned out the Taliban weren't the good guys he envisioned. He got held for 5 years and now we let 5 guys out of gitmo for him. I'd argue that's no different from the standard pow exchange, though I don't see why we went ahead and got him back. He wanted to be with the Taliban, well, that's where he was. Anyways, it's amusing to see how the narrative swaps that it totally didn't matter that he deserted with the intent of joining the opposing force because he was an American to now how he and his family are horrible because Obama is a terrorist loving traitor
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Jun 1, 2014 19:52
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And don't forget Joe's massively pro-drones, and not in a 'well it's either soldiers or drones but in an ideal world there'd be nothing over there' kinda way, he's straight up totes behind replacing all the living soldiers we can with death robots.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:53
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