Oh my god
State of the Union 2013 |OT| less exciting than a cabin in Big Bear
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Oh my god
ConsumerSquare
Member
side by side comparison of left leaning and right leaning tweets:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...ts_are_saying_about_barack_obama_s_state.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...ts_are_saying_about_barack_obama_s_state.html
speculawyer
Member
People will whine about a big deal made about the water . . . . but the water bottle sticks out because the rest of the speech was so dull and forgettable.
By that logic, we should spend more, and get our credit downgraded. Why? Because last time it happened yields on government debt went down...
Rhomega Beta
Member
No, the worst is that we'll supposedly go bankrupt like Greece. Remember, treat government like a business...
Freezie KO
Banned
Maybe there's a middle ground between freezing all spending and... um... having a budget?
https://twitter.com/search?q=#watergate&src=hash
Yes, yes, yesssss
i have never loved the internet as much as I do at this moment
CrunchyFrog
Member
Maybe I missed something but I don't get the hubbub about the water bottle thing. *shrug*
Maybe as a distillation (heh) of the deer-in-the-headlights vibe coming from his whole spiel, but the act itself?
Maybe as a distillation (heh) of the deer-in-the-headlights vibe coming from his whole spiel, but the act itself?
speculawyer
Member
Rand Paul is better than Rubio . . . but still meh.
He really is just inheriting the family biz of faux-libertarianishism.
He really is just inheriting the family biz of faux-libertarianishism.
Officerrob
Banned
The funny thing is that Republicans actually think Democrats are nervous about Rubio after that performance. It seems that bubble they live in is still firmly in place.
vas_a_morir
Banned
I had a big explanation, but I'll just be honest with you:
It is not a sustainable business model. I think it might surprise you to know that it's not always about profits with small business owners: it's about providing a service as member of a community.It's hard to believe, I know. I too sometimes think of all business owners as bourgeoisie that light Cuban cigars with 100 dollar bills while working the proletariat to the bone. In America, it didn't used to be like that. There were corner stores that were part of small neighborhoods. That's dead. Replaced by national companies that have the leverage due to their size to negotiate a lower price from their vendors, and have their own trucks and warehouse system to cut out the middle man. I can just tell you that our community is poorer, more desolate, and more dependent on government services than ever before. Wal-Mart towers on top of a hill, over a rust-belt city of abandoned buildings that employed proportionally several times as many employees.
Raising minimum wage is about fairness. In the state of nature, those people would starve or have to compete for lowest wages without a safety net of a minimum wage. We know that's not good, and it's not right. We are better off when more people have a chance. In our current system, independent grocery stores have no chance at all. We make 5 cents on a 50 cent can of green beans, and shopping bags cost near 3 cents each. A 50 cent minimum wage increase can be devastating.
It's easy to turn your nose up at failing businesses on the outside, because you just don't know how hard it is to compete with these national retailers. And just maybe you don't live in flyover country, and don't know how crushingly hopeless it is to be young in a dying city.
I agree that it's not a sustainable business model. Before Super Wal-Mart, it was. But, that's capitalism. What good does a 1.75 minimum wage increase do in a community where there are a fraction of the people who used to work still working? I dunno. Perhaps we need it, and I definitely want people to have a living wage. But it's just not true to suggest a minimum wage increase is without concerns. I speak anecdotally, so what may be true for me, may be complete bullshit from your perspective. I am not involved in the family business myself, so forgive me if you find my analysis lacking.
I'm no conservative, so I welcome more progressive government regulation to help save middle American communities. Minimum wage increases are fine, but more needs to be done to keep small communities strong. That's my opinion, anyway.
indigo-cyclops
Member
For me it is akin to him coming up for air after being held underwater for too long. Plus the guy is just another GOP talking head, with nothing important to say.
*Time to watch HOUSE OF CARDS, folks*
speculawyer
Member
It was just a little awkward as he ducked out of the camera frame. It was no big deal but I think it stands out as being the only memorable thing about the speech. That doesn't say much about the speech, does it?
Ok, I missed Rubio's response. Did he really stop for water during his live speech?
Yes. Yes he did. It was awkward and amazingly funny.
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
Cause the speech sucked and that is why it stands out even more.
If Jets were good, would butt fumble be as funny?
Freezie KO
Banned
Ok, I missed Rubio's response. Did he really stop for water during his live speech?
It was the awkward dipping down and off camera while trying to keep eye contact with the camera that made it so bizarre.
Rhomega Beta
Member
Which we don't even have
Honestly, I've never seen anything like it. He wasn't addressing the Trout Farmers of Nova Scotia... there was barely any of the speech left. Recency effect ensures it is the aspect of his speech that is immortalized, eschewing all hope of having a better-remembered SOTU response than Jindal.Ok, I missed Rubio's response. Did he really stop for water during his live speech?
Maninthemirror
Banned
Well played by Rubio at the end tho
speculawyer
Member
I can never tell if it is fake bravado to buck up the troops or if they really think something like that. After the last election, I guess the latter may be more likely considering they did seem to buy into the Romney will win view.
I agree we should cut spending. Let's start by fixing Congressional salaries to median income in the United States, and banning bribes of any form by the public standard (not what Congress currently gets away with, ie lucrative jobs and gifts post term) jailable for life.
Then we can get the people that actually give a shit and aren't addicted to power in office and fix stuff.
Then we can get the people that actually give a shit and aren't addicted to power in office and fix stuff.
At least you can't knock him for lacking a sense of humor.
He's hip to the nets, I'll give him that.
Rubio talked about just finishing paying off his debts recently.
Sotu response viral marketing?
DAT corporate stooge
vas_a_morir
Banned
How to get ahead in the new republican party: Have a name that ends in a vowel.
No easy answer. I'm afraid we are moving toward a one-retailer future eventually. I'd like to see action in the 'spirit' of antitrust laws that would prevent one firm from controlling too much of one market in conjunction with wage increases to offset the competitive advantage large retailers would have over independent businesses with local middle-class ownership, But, that's never going to happen.
speculawyer
Member
People will remember this speech . . . well, just the drink.
soul creator
Member
Gotta Drink Fast
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
All he did was blame everything on big gov and Obama. And sip water .
Personally I love the "way to support American water" angle.
Funnily enough, Poland Spring water, the #1 water brand in America, does come from Maine and is only sold in the US, though it's owned by a Swiss company that sounds French.
It has nothing to do with Poland.
Mighty Chin
Banned
I believe that was a bottle of Moland Springs.
TheLaughingStock
Member
If we cut government spending, reform entitlements, and raise taxes on the wealthy, then...unemployment will fall, the economy will grow, and health care costs will decrease. Is that a good summary?
CarbonatedFalcon
Member
Wouldn't work. Who'd want to work for the place paying you less unless the benefits were really good? Even then, if they couldn't afford to pay you a higher minimum wage, what's the likelihood that they'd have cushy benefits?
Sure some people might be interested based on ideals, but it would be a death sentence to most small companies.
I really need to see some numbers on that. I know that we don't have them yet, but we should be getting them soon now that the president mentioned it.
Yup, Washington state's economy is sure in the shiter for having a 9 dollar minimum wage.
Oh wait...
Cutting govt spending and lowering unemployment doesnt make sense because if you cut govt spening you are likely putting a govt worker out of work
jamesinclair
Banned
Youre seriously claiming that raising the minimum wage is a death kneel to small companies?
That claim is as absurd as the false claim that higher min wage = automatic higher prices.
What bothers me is that the min wage is an endless experiment with hundreds of data points - every year states and cities raise their min at different amounts.
Youd think going from new york state into vermont would show a massive price hike and abolition of small businesses....
Except it doesnt. At all.
Even when a state is $1 above the neighboring state, youll find the same prices and the same types of businesses.
Doesn't show up, but I'm on mobile ATM.
You understand that most jobs don't pay the minimum wage now, right? How do you theorize that any of the businesses that pay minimum wage get employees at all when there are so many better-paying jobs?
You're committing the classic fallacy of assuming that the free market is really free. It isn't -- because people who don't work starve to death, they have little to no negotiating power. That's why it's so important to raise the minimum wage periodically (since people working that wage can't effectively agitate for better wages) and to improve the social safety net to help those workers defend themselves.
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