Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

It's not *me* offering him up, I'm just reporting... but actually, 2 3 and 4 sound like positives. ;)

I know, right? This is a great first step. Next, we declare time-outs and being grounded as violations of human rights so that we can get the UN involved.
Without those federal taxes your state wouldn't have been able to balance its budget and would be billions in debt. ;)
 
I think my view on the sonogram thing falls in the Hillary Clinton camp (from Slate.com):
Abortion is "a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women," said Clinton. Then she went further: "There is no reason why government cannot do more to educate and inform and provide assistance so that the choice guaranteed under our constitution either does not ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances."
. I don't know if I want the government to require it, that doesn't seem like a great precedent, but given our countries high abortion rate for non-medical or rape abortions it seems like it fits the educate and inform part of her stance.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
I know, right? This is a great first step. Next, we declare time-outs and being grounded as violations of human rights so that we can get the UN involved.
I would find this hilarious if I didn't know that you actually believe something like that could happen.
 
I can't see how theres a problem with getting a felony for spanking a kid. That sounds totally right.
My personal opinion on a parent physically disciplining a child is that there is a proper time, place, and intensity level for everything. But I suppose that if child beating has gotten out of hand so much that a ban on spanking is the only way to effectively combat the problem, then it's just one of those imperfect but necessary solutions in an imperfect world.
 
My personal opinion on a parent physically disciplining a child is that there is a proper time, place, and intensity level for everything. But I suppose that if child beating has gotten out of hand so much that a ban on spanking is the only way to effectively combat the problem, then it's just one of those imperfect but necessary solutions in an imperfect world.
And for holding to that view you get... A FELONY. Go to jail.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
A UCLA professor has written a book analyzing the political influence in media reporting. The professor Tim Groseclose claims that "all mainstream news outlets have a liberal bias in their reporting that makes even moderate organizations appear out of the mainstream and decidedly right-wing to news consumers who are influenced by the slant,” according to US News and World Report.

Meet Jon Huntsman, who will be throwing his hat into the GOP ring as of today.

10 reasons why Barack Obama is a one-term president.

Rep. Paul Ryan says that he would be willing to lose his seat over his budget reform efforts.

Hundreds of small banks that received TARP money appear to have found a creative way to repay the funds: obtain money from a different government program.

Here’s something to think about: If interest rates go up just 1%, that adds $1.3 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years.

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa believes that the Department of Justice is covering up valuable information about the failed “Fast and Furious” gun program.

The pace of companies moving partly or completely out of California has accelerated in 2011, thanks to taxes and regulations.

Our failure to properly educate workers could have something to do with the unemployment rate.


 
He's just about the only moderate left in the field that isn't entirely hated by the Republican party (yet). Being fairly unknown actually works to his benefit as he hasn't had to be a crazy extremist to appeal to the Republican base yet.

If (and that is a bit if) he can win the Republican primary, he stands a good chance of beating Obama. The rest of the field I don't think really pose any threat.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
President Obama expected to announce Afghanistan troop drawdown.

Leon Panetta unanimously confirmed as new secretary of defense.

Newt Gingrich continues to hemorrhage team members, loses fundraising director and consultant.

Did Obama really prevent a second Great Depression? Signs point to no.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has unveiled a $1 billion program to benefit 30,000 unemployed homeowners in 27 states and Puerto Rico with financial assistance.

Walter Williams writes about America's new racists.

North Carolina is making moves forward on school choice.

California taxpayers spent $105 million building a state-of-the-art government school that will remain unused for at least a year because education officials say they don't have money to operate it.

The government in King County, Washington now says you have to wear a life vest while swimming or face an $86 fine. Nanny state vs "it will save lives!" ... "For your own good is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction." - Janet Frame.

There are more American troops on the Korean border than there are on our own borders.
 
I can't wait until they realize that private schools won't be able to butter up their numbers when they can no longer reject students with bad grades. ;) Yeah, they look good on paper, but once reality hits it will be a cold splash of water in the face of private sector advocates.
 
Is there some reason you've been posting all of your links in black? Because I've had to highlight every post you've made in this thread for the last few weeks Gas.

I can't wait until they realize that private schools won't be able to butter up their numbers when they can no longer reject students with bad grades. ;) Yeah, they look good on paper, but once reality hits it will be a cold splash of water in the face of private sector advocates.
I'm pretty sure they aren't considered private schools once you've taken away their right to be exclusive. I'm also fairly sure that their narrative will be "Our test scores have dropped significantly since the government has stuck their nose into our business. How are we supposed to educate these kids with these restrictions?"

... then again, that's the CURRENT narrative so whatever.
 
I'm pretty sure they aren't considered private schools once you've taken away their right to be exclusive. I'm also fairly sure that their narrative will be "Our test scores have dropped significantly since the government has stuck their nose into our business. How are we supposed to educate these kids with these restrictions?"

... then again, that's the CURRENT narrative so whatever.
Right, so once all the schools become private (that is the end goal, right?), what happens to those who get kicked out?
 
Like it or not, relations between China and the U.S. are an important thing in the near future and he is the best equipped (of all of the current republican presidential candidates) to deal with this relationship adroitly.
Except that's not really all that important in American politics unless your a businessman. Or rather, it's not important to the core of the Republican party that would vote for him. Most Americans are still upset that China's been taking all of the manufacturing work we used to have, so a harsh stance against China would likely do more to help him than a fair and equitable one.

Right, so once all the schools become private (that is the end goal, right?), what happens to those who get kicked out?
That's the problem with the conservative vision: As long as they get theirs, they don't care about anyone else. Truthfully though, I suspect that there will be more than a few unscrupulous individuals who will take anyone they can just to get the money, while little of it actually goes to the students. Imagine an underfunded inner city school... and now imagine that's a franchise with locations across the country.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Is there some reason you've been posting all of your links in black? Because I've had to highlight every post you've made in this thread for the last few weeks Gas.
Hmm, except for one day where I accidentally did some wierd formatting after getting them all in, they're all showing up with blue links to me... in both chrome and firefox.
 
Hmm, except for one day where I accidentally did some wierd formatting after getting them all in, they're all showing up with blue links to me... in both chrome and firefox.
OK, I misspoke. It's not the links, it's the text WITH the links. I'm guessing you write these out ahead of time and post them into the box? Because the forum is keeping whatever text color you originally wrote them in instead of converting it to the default of whatever style the reader is using.

Since I'm using the Dark Green style, that means when you post in black text, I can't read it without highlighting it.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
OK, I misspoke. It's not the links, it's the text WITH the links. I'm guessing you write these out ahead of time and post them into the box? Because the forum is keeping whatever text color you originally wrote them in instead of converting it to the default of whatever style the reader is using.

Since I'm using the Dark Green style, that means when you post in black text, I can't read it without highlighting it.
9 times out of ten, I didn't even "write" the given sentence, or maybe I just modified the original sentence. My links are copypasta'd from a number of sources, and it seems two of my favorite ones have taken to forcing color into its sentences. I'll see if I can get around it somehow.
Added at: 12:21
See if my last link post doesn't look better now?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
By a 44 percent to 34 percent margin, Americans say they believe they are worse off than when President Barack Obama took office in early 2009.

State and local governments will need to raise taxes by $1,398 per household every year for the next 30 years if they are to fully fund their pension systems.

The truth about tax cuts.

When it comes to the auto industry, Barack Obama didn’t save union jobs, he saved union pay.

The federal deficit hit $929 billion in the first 8 months of this fiscal year, putting us on track to hit $1.4 trillion when it’s all said and done.

Government high school seniors in Maryland will have to be literate on environmental matters to graduate from now on.

The structural rate of unemployment is now more than 8%, which means that we’ll only dip below that level temporarily, during cyclical upturns.

Which group of Americans will largely decide Obama’s fate in 2012?

The financially troubled Postal Service is suspending its contributions to its employees' pension fund.

Unions in New Jersey are now suing the state for “illegally require government employees to pay more for pensions.”

Democrats join Ron Paul to introduce bill ending federal marijuana prohibition.

The national debt will exceed the size of the entire U.S. economy by 2021 — and balloon to nearly 200 percent of GDP within 25 years — without dramatic cuts to federal health and retirement programs or steep tax increases.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I can't wait till the USPS crumbles. Then I get to hear about how it's $4 to mail a fucking letter.

As for the auto thing- That's just fine. It's not like GM their best quarterly profit in a decade or anything.
I can't remember the last time I mailed an actual letter.

As for GM, I'm sure their bottom line was helped by the fact that the government gave them 49 billion dollars, and when they'd repaid 7 billion, Obama announced they had completely repaid plus interest... and most of that repayment came from the other 42 billion.
 
So, just because you don't use it, it must be a waste and eliminated. I assume this means you don't receive bills, invitations to weddings from family, stock portfolio news, bank statements, or any other mail.

From the USPS website on Postal Facts:
By the Numbers

  1. 67 billion — revenue in 2010, in dollars
  2. 171 billion — total number of mail pieces processed in 2010
  3. 563 million — average number of mail pieces processed each day
  4. 23 million — average number of mail pieces processed each hour
  5. 391,000 — average number of mail pieces processed each minute
  6. 6,516 — average number of mail pieces processed each second
  7. 40 — percentage of the world’s card and letter mail volume handled by USPS
  8. 1.9 billion — dollar amount paid every 2 weeks in salaries and benefits
  9. 574,000 — number of career employees
  10. 75 million — number of workhours reduced in 2010 – equal to 42,800 full-time employees
  11. 215,625 — number of vehicles in the Postal Service fleet — the largest civilian fleet in the world
  12. 1.25 billion — number of miles driven each year by our letter carriers and truck drivers
  13. 399 million — number of gallons of fuel used in 2010
  14. 31,871 — number of postal-managed retail locations nationwide
  15. 41.5 million — number of address changes processed in 2010
  16. 1.3 million — number of people who visit usps.com each day
  17. 223 million — dollar amount of online stamp and retail sales online at usps.com in 2010
  18. 423 million — total revenue, in dollars, from Click-N-Ship label purchases in 2010
  19. 6.7 million — number of passport applications accepted in 2010
  20. 123.6 million — number of money orders issued in 2010
  21. 577 million — dollar amount generated from Automated Postal Centers in 2010
  22. 63,000 — number of stores, banks and ATMs that sell postage stamps
  23. 735,779 — number of new delivery points added to the network in 2010
  24. 0 — tax dollars received for operating the Postal Service
 

GasBandit

Staff member
So, just because you don't use it, it must be a waste and eliminated. I assume this means you don't receive bills, invitations to weddings from family, stock portfolio news, bank statements, or any other mail.
Well, when you said "Then I get to hear about $4 postage" I had assumed you meant it would be me griping in this thread.

But since you bring it up, most of that other stuff you list I'm already opted in for paperless. About the only thing that still get snailmailed to me is junk mail, credit card/loan offers, and my water bill which comes on basically a postcard. Paperless billing/statements from Verizon, Geico, Citibank, Mastercard, the power company is on automatic debit, Janus etc take care of the rest. See, I'm saving freakin' trees, biatch.
 
Which is great, save money on trees and stuff. I'm not knocking using that. There is still 23% of the population which doesn't have internet access, though.

Plus, you've never gotten a birthday card or wedding invitation in the mail?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Which is great, save money on trees and stuff. I'm not knocking using that. There is still 23% of the population which doesn't have internet access, though.

Plus, you've never gotten a birthday card or wedding invitation in the mail?
I don't see those as valid reasons to keep the post office around.
 
Yeah, not for you. Never mind the millions of people who AREN'T YOU and use it every day. I just don't understand the desire to close it when it doesn't use any taxes (which it says right there in my numbers post).

You don't use feminine hygene products, either. Doesn't mean it is a useless service.
 
Top