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

GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
The "Occupy Wall Street" protesters have posted their demands. Try to read them without slapping your forehead.

$20/hr minimum wage, regardless of actual employment status, and all debts (ALL debts, globally, nationally, personally, private, public, governmental, ALL of it) forgiven.

I for one look forward to the illuminati giving in to these demands when the stench of unwashed humanity on wall street finally becomes too much for them to bear, so that I can begin my promising career of NEVER LEAVING THE COUCH AGAIN.
 
Covar

Covar

What going to school for over four years in many cases earning a masters or multiple degrees only to go into a profession where you're earning 30-40k a year is not a poor financial decision?
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Covar said:
What going to school for over four years in many cases earning a masters or multiple degrees only to go into a profession where you're earning 30-40k a year is not a poor financial decision?
Click to expand...
Civil service jobs need to be done, and were once considered one of the most honorable professions. They also used to make much more. The fact that they aren't adequately compensated really says more about the state of American society than any financial decisions the servants make.
 
Norris

Norris

Covar said:
What going to school for over four years in many cases earning a masters or multiple degrees only to go into a profession where you're earning 30-40k a year is not a poor financial decision?
Click to expand...
Buying a solid gold toilet and devoting your life to teaching children are not even remotely comparable in terms of financial decisions.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Norris said:
Buying a solid gold toilet and devoting your life to teaching children are not even remotely comparable in terms of financial decisions.
Click to expand...
But they are both about as financially ruinous, and both about as predictable in that outcome.
 
Norris

Norris

GasBandit said:
But they are both about as financially ruinous, and both about as predictable in that outcome.
Click to expand...
Most teachers don't end up bankrupt. I know your vision of a perfect society includes education only for those wealthy enough to afford it, but some of us find the relative selflessness of being a public school teacher more noble than being an idiot who can't save their ridiculously generous paychecks.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Norris said:
Most teachers don't end up bankrupt. I know your vision of a perfect society includes education only for those wealthy enough to afford it, but some of us find the relative selflessness of being a public school teacher more noble than being an idiot who can't save their ridiculously generous paychecks.
Click to expand...
I said nothing about nobility, only about predictability of financial situation. When I lived in Colorado Springs, I took a lot of my "pay" in scenery, as does everyone else who still lives there today. Teachers have been struggling financially for the entirety of living memory. If one decides to still be a teacher with that knowledge, then I'll salute their dedication - but that doesn't mean it wasn't a calculated choice that that person made, knowing full well the inevitable outcome of their decision. If anything, it's even more financially egregious than the NFL doofus, because at least the jock has the excuse of being stupid.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
War On Medicine of the Day
from The Daily What by Cheezburger Network



War On Medicine of the Day: U.S. attorneys in California today sent letters to at least 16 medical marijuana dispensaries informing them that they must close up shop within 45 days or risk being brought up on federal charges prohibiting the possession and sale of the drug.

This despite the fact that medical marijuana is legal in the state of California.

The Associated Press reports that the notice is part of larger crackdown on pot dispensaries in the state, the details of which will be revealed in full tomorrow.

“Under United States law,” read the letter, “a dispensary’s operations involving sales and distribution of marijuana are illegal and subject to criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions.”

The letters, which claim that federal law “takes precedence over state law” set up a possible states’ rights showdown.

In late June, the Obama administration reversed its policy of leniency toward medical marijuana dispensaries, saying that so-called “pot shops” were subject to persecution in accordance with federal anti-drug laws.

A recent Rand Corp. study found that the crime rate in areas where medical marijuana dispensaries were shut down actually increased by up to 59%.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Espy said:
???
Click to expand...
When you copy and paste stuff from outside sources, it sometimes keeps the encoding. This means that sometimes the text will stay black instead of converting to the default color of the style your using. So since I use XFDark Green, I can't read black text on a black background.
 
Norris

Norris

Federal law trumps state law. It sucks for things like medical marijuana (although Kevin Smith has a weed card, so it is not exactly a strict standard) but I am pretty sure we had a war about this kind of thing and the "states can nullify!" side lost.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Harry Reid, 2005: You can't use the nuclear option to break our filibusters! THE WORLD WILL END!

Harry Reid, 2011: Yeah, I'm using the nuclear option.
Added at: 10:39
Elizabeth Warren on Scott Brown: “I didn’t take my clothes off [to pay for school]“; Scott Brown on Elizabeth Warren: “Thank God.”
 
Espy

Espy

GasBandit said:
Harry Reid, 2005: You can't use the nuclear option to break our filibusters! THE WORLD WILL END!

Harry Reid, 2011: Yeah, I'm using the nuclear option.
Click to expand...
Wow, a political party that claimed to be against something then when it was their turn to use it was for it? Shocking.

The only interesting thing about it is if all the people who were screaming about how evil it was for the Republicans to use it think the same of their party now.
 
Krisken

Krisken

Espy said:
Wow, a political party that claimed to be against something then when it was their turn to use it was for it? Shocking.

The only interesting thing about it is if all the people who were screaming about how evil it was for the Republicans to use it think the same of their party now.
Click to expand...
It was a dumb move by Democrats. Why take such a risk something overpowered can be used in the future on something so stupid?

The country is run by tools.

Oh, and the Warren thing is dumb. I'd much rather see the issues they are passionate about (and believe me, they couldn't be any more different from each other) than this useless crap.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Norris said:
Federal law trumps state law. It sucks for things like medical marijuana (although Kevin Smith has a weed card, so it is not exactly a strict standard) but I am pretty sure we had a war about this kind of thing and the "states can nullify!" side lost.
Click to expand...
Welp, now it's gonna be illegal even just to TALK about PLANNING on doing it somewhere where it IS legal.

Dangerous Precedent of the Day
from The Daily What by Cheezburger Network


Dangerous Precedent of the Day: Hot on the heels of a major crackdown by the Obama administration on medical marijuana dispensaries, the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed a bill sponsored by chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) that aims to criminalize the discussion or planning of any activities abroad that would violate the United States’ Controlled Substances Act.

This includes activities which would be perfectly legal in the countries where they would be performed.

“Under this bill, if a young couple plans a wedding in Amsterdam, and as part of the wedding, they plan to buy the bridal party some marijuana, they would be subject to prosecution,” Drug Policy Alliance director Bill Piper is quoted as saying. “The strange thing is that the purchase of and smoking the marijuana while you’re there wouldn’t be illegal. But this law would make planning the wedding from the U.S. a federal crime.”

The bill is so vague, the doctors and academics discussing drug decriminalization and needle exchange programs with foreign colleagues might be subject to charges. Even something as innocent as an email to a friend in Mexico about over-the-counter drugs that require a prescription in the US might land a person in hot water.

The law was proposed in response to a 2007 court case involving two Miami men convicted of planning to transfer cocaine from Colombia to Saudi Arabia who had their convictions overturned because the drugs were not intended for US distribution.

Piper notes that the Smith bill goes too far in making it illegal to plan legal drug-related activities.
“They could have limited this law to prohibiting the planning of activities that are illegal in the countries where they take place,” he said. “That would have allowed them to convict the guys in the Miami case. There was an amendment proposed to do that and it was voted down on party lines. They intentionally made sure the bill includes activities that legal in other countries. Which means this is an attempt to apply U.S. law all over the globe.”
Click to expand...
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
US Budget Numbers Simplified To The Household Level
from My Money Blog by Jonathan

Someone sent this to me via e-mail, and I don’t know the original source. From the $38.5 trillion number, that seems to refer to the budget cut deal that averted a US government shutdown in April 2011. In any case, it does make the numbers much more easy to grasp.
Some stats about the US government:
  • U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
  • Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
  • New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
  • National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
  • Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000
Now, remove 8 zeroes and pretend it’s a household budget:
  • Annual family income: $21,700
  • Money the family spent: $38,200
  • New debt on the credit card: $16,500
  • Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
  • Total budget cuts: $385
I know that this is macroeconomics vs. microeconomics. But the orders of magnitude are correct, and it can’t look good to anybody. I’ve never really liked the macroeconomics theory that it’s okay for governments to carry huge amounts of debt as long as it’s “only” a certain percentage of GDP. The idea is that you’ll grow your way out of it.
Now, I’m more of a microeconomics guy. I try to figure out the rules of the game and play it the best that I can. I avoid getting emotionally involved in things that I view are out of my control. But to me, it just seems like all the politicians ever do is kick the can down the road. You can’t do that forever.
Click to expand...
 
Krisken

Krisken

Please, that would ruin the 'family'. The kids need clothes, the house needs protecting and upgrades, and the car needs fixing.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Krisken said:
Please, that would ruin the 'family'. The kids need clothes, the house needs protecting and upgrades, and the car needs fixing.
Click to expand...
The kids are not unclothed, we're protecting a few too many of the neighbors' houses, and we don't have to send the car to the dealership to get it fixed. A house with a 21k income should never have been allowed to get anywhere CLOSE to six-digit debt.

You don't have the money, you don't get to spend it.
 
Krisken

Krisken

GasBandit said:
The kids are not unclothed, we're protecting a few too many of the neighbors' houses, and we don't have to send the car to the dealership to get it fixed. A house with a 21k income should never have been allowed to get anywhere CLOSE to six-digit debt.

You don't have the money, you don't get to spend it.
Click to expand...
Hey, you know damn well I've been advocating to get out of all the other houses.

If only things were as simple as you make it out to be :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top