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[explodet]

And now, an interlude.

No Game Boy Left Behind

(I thought this clip was cute)

 

[DJ_Tet]

Despite studies showing that white men were most likely to traffic drugs through airports, the FAA's official policy until 9/11 was to target black women for drug searches, the idea being that they would be forced to smuggle drugs by their black boyfriends.

Oh the War on Drugs is a totally off-topic discussion as far as I'm concerned. I think I speak for all free-thinking individuals in saying that if the govt. wanted to stop drugs from entering our country via air travel, they could, and would. That isn't a democrat v republican issue, that's an issue that shows why we NEED a third or fourth choice in elections. That has nothing to do with anything I said, but I agree with you totally.

 

[DJ_Tet]

If republicans want the black vote, they're going to have to work long and hard to replace the bridges that they've burned, and so far, they haven't even bought the lumber.

("Personal responsibility" my ass)

Republicans do want the black vote, but Democrats depend on the black vote. The Republicans offer ideals and options to help minorities better their situation, while Dems want things to remain status quo so they can keep guaranteed voters. It's the same with seniors.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Republicans do want the black vote, but Democrats depend on the black vote. The Republicans offer ideals and options to help minorities better their situation, while Dems want things to remain status quo so they can keep guaranteed voters. It's the same with seniors.

If you hadn't already said you wouldn't elaborate, I'd ask you too. Which ideals and options do you mean here?

 

[DJ_Tet]

Did you listen to Bush's speech or did you keep your eyes rolled in the back of your head the whole time?

He made specific mentions to the fact that no seniors will be denied prescription drug coverage. As far as minorities and the poor (god forbid I seperate the two with a slash), the mentions there came with schooling, both in primary form and credits for people going back to college (community college was mentioned a few times).

I don't mind legit questions, I just won't be elaborating towards political hyperbole, my kind is way outnumbered here, and I won't change your opinions, nor you mine. It's just a waste of time. I will explain some of my assertions though.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Did you listen to Bush's speech or did you keep your eyes rolled in the back of your head the whole time?

He made specific mentions to the fact that no seniors will be denied prescription drug coverage. As far as minorities and the poor (god forbid I seperate the two with a slash), the mentions there came with schooling, both in primary form and credits for people going back to college (community college was mentioned a few times).

I don't mind legit questions, I just won't be elaborating towards political hyperbole, my kind is way outnumbered here, and I won't change your opinions, nor you mine. It's just a waste of time. I will explain some of my assertions though.

Those don't seem to be exclusively Republican things, though. I mean, the reason most lefty Congressmen and the AARP were against the Medicare reform that passed was because they thought it should do even more for the people but less for the drug companies. Likewise one of the things John Edwards has been talking about since he was running for President was making college accessible for everyone.

Funny thing about the community college, though. An hour or so before Bush's speech, during some musical number I switched from C-SPAN to C-SPAN 2, where they were playing footage from the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Al Gore was making very similar comments about tax credits for community college. I followed politics jack-all until the 2000 election; did they never follow through on this, or what?

 

[fart]

the last four years has seen community college funding turn to shit at the state level in most states that i'm aware of (community colleges don't receive appreciable federal funding that i know of)

 

[DJ_Tet]

The funny thing about politics, the more you follow them, the more both parties start to sound alike. It's unfortunate, and it's why open minded people like you seem to be, and like I am, need a legitimate 3rd or 4th party to vote for.

As far as fart's comment, I can agree at least in my state (NC) that funding for Community Colleges turned to shit. Whether that was a state or national issue, I couldn't tell you. I can tell you it was nice to hear a candidate address it however.

We all know a candidate addressing an issue during a speech and actually doing something about it is two entirely different things however.

 

[btrboyev]

He made specific mentions to the fact that no seniors will be denied prescription drug coverage. As far as minorities and the poor (god forbid I seperate the two with a slash), the mentions there came with schooling, both in primary form and credits for people going back to college (community college was mentioned a few times).

um bush's medicare reform for the seniors does not guarantee prescription drug coverage. And if you look at the coverage its not enough only covering 75% of the cost up to only like $2000..and if you go over that limit, seniors will have to pay upwards of over $3000 of their own money. And there have been credits for those wishing to go back to college for a while now.


found some articles on the bill

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/4449/1/191

http://tvitimes.tvi.cc/031202/medicare.htm

 

[etiolate]

Zell Miller is the scariest end boss ever.

 

[DJ_Tet]

um bush's medicare reform for the seniors does not guarantee prescription drug coverage. And if you look at the coverage its not enough

It's not enough? The seniors have had their whole life to secure housing, are the richest people on the planet, but it's not enough?

Damn. I hope I have people like you around when I'm a senior. God forbid I pay 25% of my medical costs when I've had a lifetime to secure funds. I can't wait to see libs scrambling for funds when my ass is old. THE FUNDS WON'T BE THERE.


edit: Not only have the seniors had a lifetime to secure funds, they've been handed Medicare, plus the most favorable economy in generations. But yeah, let's pay 100% of their remaining costs.

 

[DJ_Tet]

And there have been credits for those wishing to go back to college for a while now.

Of course there are, I took advantage of them myself. I have to wonder why there has been no comments on the income tax "thing" though.

Everything else is old ideas, why not tackle a new one? It's newer than national health care, which if you're over 15, you've already seen shot down.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Here's a bit from Bush's convention speech I enjoyed.

In an ownership society, more people will own their health plans, and have the confidence of owning a piece of their retirement. We will always keep the promise of Social Security for our older workers. With the huge Baby Boom generation approaching retirement, many of our children and grandchildren understandably worry whether Social Security will be there when they need it. We must strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account - a nest egg you can call your own, and government can never take away.

So he's trying to protect people from... him?

http://slate.msn.com/id/2093707/

In the 2000 campaign, Vice President Al Gore said we should sequester the Social Security surpluses in a "lockbox" to prevent appropriators from spending them. Bush agreed in principle. But that commitment went out the window soon after the inauguration. In his first three budgets, Bush (who had the good fortune to take office at a time when the surpluses were growing rapidly) and Congress used $480 billion in excess Social Security payroll taxes to fund basic government operations—about $160 billion per year!

By so doing, Washington spenders have masked the size of the deficit. For Fiscal 2004—which began in October 2003—if you factor out the $164 billion Social Security surplus, the on-budget deficit will be at least $639 billion, rather close to the modern peak of 6 percent of GDP. And according to its own projections (the bottom line of Table 8 represents the Social Security surplus), the administration plans to spend an additional $990 billion in such funds between now and 2008. That year, according to the Office of Management and Budget's projections, the on-budget deficit will be about $464 billion. Only by using that year's $238 billion Social Security surplus does the administration arrive at a total, unified deficit of $226 billion. And the ultimate on-budget deficit will almost certainly be worse. OMB has proven in the past few years that its projections can't be trusted.

The accounting for Social Security surpluses has always been dishonest. But in the past few years, the Bush administration has made this shady accounting a central pillar of its fiscal strategy. The unprecedented reliance on these funds hides the failure of the administration to ensure that there is some reasonable correlation between the resources it has at its disposal and the spending commitments it makes.

I have to wonder why there has been no comments on the income tax "thing" though.

Everything else is old ideas, why not tackle a new one? It's newer than national health care, which if you're over 15, you've already seen shot down.

Well, without more details there's not a lot more to say than what we covered in a thread a few weeks ago, based on a part of some other Republican's book.

 

[DJ_Tet]

I missed that thread. Why would anyone be against getting rid of the IRS?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I missed that thread. Why would anyone be against getting rid of the IRS?

Well, it would depend on the real differences between the IRS and the Replacement. In this thread, most of the discussion was about progressive versus regressive taxation.
http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=8510

 

[DJ_Tet]

Yeah the President didn't go as far as I was hoping, but I still hold out hope that the abolishment of income tax will come. Hell, like I said, it's at least as likely as Kerry getting a National Health Care, and much more beneficial overall.

 

[Dilbert]

It's not enough? The seniors have had their whole life to secure housing, are the richest people on the planet, but it's not enough?

Damn. I hope I have people like you around when I'm a senior. God forbid I pay 25% of my medical costs when I've had a lifetime to secure funds. I can't wait to see libs scrambling for funds when my ass is old. THE FUNDS WON'T BE THERE.


edit: Not only have the seniors had a lifetime to secure funds, they've been handed Medicare, plus the most favorable economy in generations. But yeah, let's pay 100% of their remaining costs.

You are a cold, cold person.

In case you hadn't noticed -- oh wait, you HAVEN'T noticed -- there is a huge gap in wealth between the richest Americans and the poorest Americans. In many cases, income has gone DOWN for poorer Americans, and the "middle class" is starting to vanish.

So what exactly makes you think that people living paycheck to paycheck are in a position to sock away enough money to retire on later? And if that really IS the Republican plan, then where is the legislation to jack up the minimum wage to something reasonable?

 

[DJ_Tet]

I'm not talking about people now, but people then, during the biggest boom of economics in history. The people that have demanded the most of our economy throughout our history. The baby-boomers. My father was not a smart man, but STILL managed to retire a multi-millionare. You democrats want to support everyone, and it's just not possible. Where do you draw the line? At some point, people have to look after themselves, i.e. personal responsability.


edit--btw I live paycheck to paycheck, for whatever that's worth, like most of our generation. I'd think our generation might get tired of supporting baby-boomers, but what do I know?



edit2==Don't put words in my mouth. You really didn't respond to a single point I brought up. Very clever.

 

[Killthee]

link?

I can't find them :/

do they still have the Democratic ones?

Choose Audiobooks for Genre and click on the pic of the RNC or DNC in the middle of the page. Or search for RNC or DNC.

 

[impirius]

he referred to "States' Rights" a long-time code word for discrimination.

Look, it doesn't matter if Bush knew that "state's rights" was a racist term or not.

Why do you say that?

 

[Azih]

There's a lot of things in Bush's speech that left me shaking my head.

More than half of the uninsured are small business employees and their families. In a new term, we must allow small firms to join together to purchase insurance at the discounts available to big companies.

Which doesn't help the people who most need better health care, those who aren't small business employees.

A whole TON of Bush's policy ideas consisted of giving tax credits to savings, which is disingenous at a time when most Americans are in debt and savings are far far off. And really, tax credits help those who can pay taxes (the more you can pay, the more you get helped), leaving the most desperate in the lurch.

And he said nothing about the record deficets and debt which is going to hurt the States in every way in the future.

 

[sc0la]

Choose Audiobooks for Genre and click on the pic of the RNC or DNC in the middle of the page. Or search for RNC or DNC.

Remember on NPR.org you can generally find speeches from both conventions for free in the archive. not sure if iTunes convention stuff is free.

 

[KingV]

Despite studies showing that white men were most likely to traffic drugs through airports, the FAA's official policy until 9/11 was to target black women for drug searches, the idea being that they would be forced to smuggle drugs by their black boyfriends.

I call bullshit on this. It may be that the agents themselves targeted African Americans, but if that's the case they were surely violating FAA regulations. This sort of racial profiling is very much illegal, and without further proof I say this is either fabrication, urban legend, or based on personal accounts. I'm willing to accept that some people in the FAA specifically targeted black passengers, but if so they did so against *official* FAA regulations, unless of course you can find something that proves otherwise.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Remember on NPR.org you can generally find speeches from both conventions for free in the archive. not sure if iTunes convention stuff is free.

Well, when they were brought up in this topic it was mentioned they were free. Does NPR have them available for download, though, or just for streaming? And to people more familiar with Apple's stuff than myself, will their free downloads only work on iTunes/iPod?

 

[Hitokage]

Remember on NPR.org you can generally find speeches from both conventions for free in the archive. not sure if iTunes convention stuff is free.

NPR's web archive is incredible, might I add.

Joshua: If you conduct some HTML-source-URL voodoo you can save it to your HD, I believe... although I've never actually tried doing it.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Is Dick Cheney's half-faced smirk the result of a stroke or heart attack, or is that just a theory I came up with and now have mixed into my memories?

NPR's web archive is incredible, might I add.

Joshua: If you conduct some HTML-source-URL voodoo you can save it to your HD, I believe... although I've never actually tried doing it.

*checks* Streaming Real, so I suppose with the right program it could be done.

 

[Diablos]

I'm walking out in a force ten gale.
birds thrown around, bullets for hail.
the roof is pulling off by its fingernails.
your voice is rapping on my window sill

yesterday's headlines blown by the wind.
yesterday's people end up scatterbrain.
then any fool can easy pick a hole. (I only wish I could fall in)
a moving target in a firing range.

somewhere I'm not
scatterbrain.
somewhere I'm not
scatterbrain.
lightning fuse
powercut.
scatterbrain

"It was one in the morning, a wind had risen and something curious too had happened; as if everyone in the city, simultaneously, had become sick of news of any kind; for thousands of newspaper pages blew through the small park on the way crosstown, blundered like pale bats against the trees, tangled themselves around the feet of Rooney and Rachel, and of a bum sleeping across the way. Millions of unread and useless words had come to a kind of life in Sheridan Square; while the two on the bench wove cross-talk of their own, oblivious, among them."

^ The current state of politics.