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[Aaron Strife]

Can't we just make 1 less missile instead of cutting PBS? I mean, how much of the national budget is it really? It is just something to throw out there so it looks like he is giving specifics, in reality, it is probably a microscopic part of the budget (just a guess).

But think of all the jobs that will be created by that one missile!

When has PBS ever created jobs anyway

 

[Oblivion]

Which is despite the fact that space exploration has already and always helped do that.

Oh, I do agree with you on that.

I was just incredulous at the idea that Obama wanted to cut NASA funding just for the sake of cutting funding.

 

[dabig2]

so there is .0000000001% of the budget. Good start!

You gotta start somewhere!

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

Oh, I do agree with you on that.

I was just incredulous at the idea that Obama wanted to cut NASA funding just for the sake of cutting funding.

Well he does in a sense since he doesn't really value space exploration, but it's not something that doesn't have any logic behind it (a faulty and stupid one). Though you can tell he really cares very little for the agency, it seems like he wants a civilian DARPA, which isn't the point of NASA.

Why would anybody want Sesame Street to be profitable?

So it can invest in new equipment, develop content rich websites, and other services that while requiring less external funding that be reinvested in other needed places.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

They have a fiduciary duty to their MuppetHolders.

Controlling board member:

 

[Jackson50]

Could someone linnk me to some of this BigSciliy's posts? I keep hearing about him and wanna see it for myself.

It's difficult to fully encapsulate BS. But this post produced his most infamous graph; I still don't understand his beef with S1lent.

It shows something. Unfortunately, just not what you think it does. It demonstrates how broken Washington has become due to the virtual arms-race of procedural and structural maneuvering to subvert the process. This is seen on both side of the isle.

Ask yourself what a Republican in the 103rd would have said. My hunch is something amazingly similar to what you're saying. Yet, the beat-goes-on.

Pretend you have no a priori knowledge of what's to come (why it's boxed out), what would a democratic Senator say about republican obstructionism?

That's it's increased!

What would a republican senator say as time went on? (look up to previous graph) That the democrats were forcing ever more cloture votes and being obstructionists!​

The constant (light blue trend) is the increase in procedural tactics that both sides are utilizing: thus, to say that one party is fully to blame or that it's 'record breaking' is something of a matter of perspective: yet, work still gets done, START could still be reworked to be better and passed in the new congress.

*edit* Here's the actual chart.

 

[Aaron Strife]

My favorite part is how it actually went down after Republicans took the Senate again.

Democrats in Power: Alright guys, everyone's gotta play fair, we want to make sure everyone's voice is heard and we've debated every issue ^_^

Republicans in Minority: They're not being faaaaair! They won't even hear my amendment to arm small school children with AK-47s!

Republicans in Power: FEJWIOFJWLEKJGWELJK BANNING ABORTION AND GAY MARRIAGE AND WELFARE

Democrats in Minority: Well gosh, I guess we had it coming! We'll even vote along with you guys.

 

[Clevinger]

*edit* Here's the actual chart.

I'm guessing I don't want to know what an updated chart would look like without a glass of whiskey in my hand.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

It's difficult to fully encapsulate BS. But this post produced his most infamous graph; I still don't understand his beef with S1lent.

*edit* Here's the actual chart.

Hahaha, oh lord!

Thanks

 

[zchen]

So this movie is making the rounds in theatres right now;

2016

[/b]

Basically it's a movie by birthers for birthers. Right wing radio has been pushing it for the last few weeks, and I guess it just hit theatres this weekend.

Sad. Real sad.

Heard the commercial for it on the radio just the other day. I want these people to just stfu, can't stand this birther crap.

 

[Jooney]

Heard the commercial for it on the radio just the other day. I want these people to just stfu, can't stand this birther crap.

In before Kosmo Fahrenheit 911 false equivalency.

Dinesh D'Souza has gone from annoying debater on the theologian circuit to full on birther. There's a part of me that thinks he's smart enough to know that the theory is bonkers and he's just doing this to make bank off gullible fools.

 

[Dram]

Veteran GOP Rep. Cliff Stearns concedes defeat

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-cliff-stearns-concedes-defeat-20120815,0,5724634.story

Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns has conceded victory to political novice Ted Yoho, a tea party favorite who bested the veteran congressman by just over 800 votes in Tuesday’s primary contest.

Stearns is a 12-term congressman representing the Gainesville, Fla., area. He was competing for a district that was redrawn through redistricting to include voters from a larger geographic area that he had not previously represented.

Yoho, a veterinarian who has never held elected office, is the latest tea party challenger to succeed in casting an incumbent Republican as out of touch with voters. He’ll face Democrat J.R. Gaillot, a local businessman, in November.

Stearns had been in the spotlight recently because of his role leading investigations into the collapse of solar energy company Solyndra, Inc., and federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

 

[TacticalFox88]

They can bitch and moan about bin Laden all they want, it's not going to resonate with anyone beyond the kosmo vote.

If the team had fucked things up then the GOP would have happily hung the entire snafu around Obama's neck complete with bright neon sign and air horns.

That's the thing that pisses me off the most.

Had the operation in Pakistan had failed and several members of ST6 had been killed and OBL had gotten away, Republicans would've HAMMERED him non-stop about the failure constantly reminding everyone that he failed to get Bin Laden, except for the fact, you know, Bush did too. On multiple occasions when the opportunity presented itself.

Now that the operation WAS successful in literally every way possible, they're crying foul trying to not give him credit saying "Obama didn't take bin Laden out! The Seals did! Why is he getting teh creditz! omg!111!'

By their logic we shouldn't give FDR credit for the New Deal, LBJ credit for the Great Society, The Four Generals for D-Day, Lincoln for his role in the Civil War, etc.

Just fucking extreme amounts of stupidity all around.

 

[Guevara]

Veteran GOP Rep. Cliff Stearns concedes defeat

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-cliff-stearns-concedes-defeat-20120815,0,5724634.story

What an asshole. Guess pandering on Solyndra and PP wasn't even enough.

And what, do none of the UF students register to vote?

 

[Loudninja]

Elections chief sets uniform voting hours for Ohio

COLUMBUS: Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is setting uniform hours for early voting statewide for the first time.

The Republican elections chief said Wednesday he’ll direct election boards to remain open until 7 p.m. on weekdays for most of the two weeks leading up to the election. But he ruled against Saturday hours.

The decision extends hours for some election boards but means others that intended to be open on Saturdays in October won’t be able to do so.

The move comes as Democrats and civil rights groups pressured Husted to broaden access to the polls..

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/panel-sends-ohio-redistricting-plan-to-voters-1.327312

I like how Saturdays are somehow taboo, what a joke.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Ann Romney commenting on the tax returns just brings the issue back into the forefront of the campaign.

Exactly what I was thinking. Keep commenting please.

 

[pigeon]

Elections chief sets uniform voting hours for Ohio

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/panel-sends-ohio-redistricting-plan-to-voters-1.327312

I like how Saturdays are somehow taboo, what a joke.

Glad this worked out, assuming it worked out -- I'm not sure what the implications of no Saturday voting are.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

By their logic we shouldn't give FDR credit for the New Deal, LBJ credit for the Great Society, The Four Generals for D-Day, Lincoln for his role in the Civil War, etc.

Or Bin Laden for 9/11

 

[Nazgul_Hunter]

By their logic we shouldn't give FDR credit for the New Deal, LBJ credit for the Great Society, The Four Generals for D-Day, Lincoln for his role in the Civil War, etc.

Just fucking extreme amounts of stupidity all around.

Yes, they're essentially saying that no people in a leadership position should be given credit for the execution of things because it's the people on the field that actually perform the actions. What kind of socialist bullcrap is that? Lol

 

[Aaron Strife]

Yes, they're essentially saying that no people in a leadership position should be given credit for the execution of things because it's the people on the field that actually perform the actions. What kind of socialist bullcrap is that? Lol

I think if you spread the credit around, it's good for everybody.

Thank you George Bush!

 

[RustyNails]

Dinesh D'Souza has gone from annoying debater on the theologian circuit to full on birther. There's a part of me that thinks he's smart enough to know that the theory is bonkers and he's just doing this to make bank off gullible fools.

That guy used to date Ann Coulter.

Yes, you read those words correctly. I'm sorry.

 

[zchen]

When the 1989 Semi Auto Import ban, the Sporting Test bullshit, 922(r) is repealed, parts of the 1968 GCA are removed, and I can buy a new civilian owned machine gun (keep in mind NFA owned machines have be used in only two verifable crimes including one where a Texas Ranger emptied a Thompson into his wife and her lover after finding them in bed...that's it). Then I'll say they've won.

Granted the 1989 Semi Auto Import Ban is like parts of the sporting test in the GCA of 1968 mostly protectionist legislation so the gun companies most likely wouldn't want that tossed.



Gah, how could I forget that!

Amen, brother Manos.

 

[speculawyer]

I still can't believe BigSciliy thought posting those blatantly edited and obscured graphs was smart. Did he really think no one would notice or call him out on it?

Well he was trying to make some sort of point that cloture votes were increasing over time. But it was a pretty bogus point considering the massive leap they took that was the whole original point of the graph.

 

[speculawyer]

Dinesh D'Souza has gone from annoying debater on the theologian circuit to full on birther. There's a part of me that thinks he's smart enough to know that the theory is bonkers and he's just doing this to make bank off gullible fools.

I can't be bothered to see what stupidity it predicts but now I hope more than ever that Obama wins so it will annoy the twerp and show how completely wrong that idiot is.

That guy is a such a dick that he wrote a whole book blaming 9/11 on liberals because of our liberal ways offended the Muslims so much. A book so fundamentally stupid and offensive that even conservatives were offended by its inanity.

He has truly earned his nickname Distort D'Newsa.

 

[markatisu]

Exactly what I was thinking. Keep commenting please.

I Love how the commenting was more whining, we won't release our taxes because you guys are mean and pick at them

Even if they did everything legal shit like that just makes you look shady as hell, its always going to be worse if people have to use their own imaginations

 

[Pre]

Why do conservatives have such a hard-on to get rid of funding for PBS, NPR, Art endowments, humanities, Department of Education, EPA, etc?

I know here in South Carolina the entire legislature rallied against Nikki Haley when she opted to slash the arts commissions from the budget.

I think liberals have the same hard-on regarding defense spending. I think both liberals and conservatives are too fervent about cutting those respective things.

As a conservative, I don't hate PBS, NPR, etc. but I don't think the government should be funding those things, even though it is a very, very small part of our overall spending. If they are popular enough, they can survive without government funding. But ultimately I'm not too concerned if that money isn't freed up.

The Department of Education goes back to the larger issue of education in general and I also support eliminating it because I feel it has been ineffective in improving education in the United States and is largely a waste of money. It's been a while, but the last data I read showed that test scores have at the very least stagnated since the creation of the department, and when we're spending more money per pupil than any nation other than Luxembourg I doubt very seriously if throwing more money at the situation is smart. I don't necessarily think we should gut education spending, but we need to look at being more efficient with it.

Which leads us to defense spending. I'm not against making cuts in defense spending, but I think it needs to be done in a way that doesn't compromise our military strength. We should look to eliminate waste. Just as with education, we should look to do more with less money.

 

[TacticalFox88]

I think liberals have the same hard-on regarding defense spending. I think both liberals and conservatives are too fervent about cutting those respective things.

As a conservative, I don't hate PBS, NPR, etc. but I don't think the government should be funding those things, even though it is a very, very small part of our overall spending. If they are popular enough, they can survive without government funding. But ultimately I'm not too concerned if that money isn't freed up.

The Department of Education goes back to the larger issue of education in general and I also support eliminating it because I feel it has been ineffective in improving education in the United States and is largely a waste of money. It's been a while, but the last data I read showed that test scores have at the very least stagnated since the creation of the department, and when we're spending more money per pupil than any nation other than Luxembourg I doubt very seriously if throwing more money at the situation is smart. I don't necessarily think we should gut education spending, but we need to look at being more efficient with it.

Which leads us to defense spending. I'm not against making cuts in defense spending, but I think it needs to be done in a way that doesn't compromise our military strength. We should look to eliminate waste. Just as with education, we should look to do more with less money.

The US Military is so far ahead of every other country on earth it's utterly ridiculous. No amount of cutting will compromise our Military strength.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

The US Military is so far ahead of every other country on earth it's utterly ridiculous. No amount of cutting will compromise our Military strength.

Seriously. You could half the budget overnight and still be the most powerful military on Earth.

I dont think the Commies are gonna invade anytime soon. It's all so unnecessary.

 

[Pre]

The US Military is so far ahead of every other country on earth it's utterly ridiculous. No amount of cutting will compromise our Military strength.

I think that we should still be careful about how we go about cutting defense spending. I want a leaner and meaner military, with emphasis on both.

Seriously. You could half the budget overnight and still be the most powerful military on Earth.

I dont think the Commies are gonna invade anytime soon. It's all so unnecessary.

It seems to me that many nations can maintain smaller militaries because we are partly responsible for their defense. I'm not suggesting that a European invasion is coming anytime soon, but if someone did invade Europe, we would certainly be relied upon to lend our full support. I don't really want to play global cop, but it is unfortunately part of what we do.

 

[ClassyPenguin]

Seriously. You could half the budget overnight and still be the most powerful military on Earth.

I dont think the Commies are gonna invade anytime soon. It's all so unnecessary.

Yes, because all out recent enemies have fifth generation fighter planes instead of the most rudimentary weapons.

It's so wasteful, let NASA or the DOE have some of that research money.

 

[pigeon]

It seems to me that many nations can maintain smaller militaries because we are partly responsible for their defense. I'm not suggesting that a European invasion is coming anytime soon, but if someone did invade Europe, we would certainly be relied upon to lend our full support. I don't really want to play global cop, but it is unfortunately part of what we do.

I don't think this is necessarily unreasonable, but I would ask how much that really requires. America's military is famously built up to the point of being able to fight two separate wars with major powers at the same time. To me that seems pretty excessive -- I can't really envision a situation where we would need to do that with nobody else pitching in on our side.* What do you think is a reasonable benchmark?

* Well, I can, but it would involve us really fucking up.

 

[Black Republican]

how am i seein black people in these lily white iowa obama events? i thought they made up like less than 5% of the state? heh

 

[KingGondo]

how am i seein black people in these lily white iowa obama events? i thought they made up like less than 5% of the state? heh

There are black people in Iowa who would jump at the chance to see the first black president in person?

heh

 

[Pre]

I don't think this is necessarily unreasonable, but I would ask how much that really requires. America's military is famously built up to the point of being able to fight two separate wars with major powers at the same time. To me that seems pretty excessive -- I can't really envision a situation where we would need to do that with nobody else pitching in on our side.* What do you think is a reasonable benchmark?

* Well, I can, but it would involve us really fucking up.

I don't know what a reasonable benchmark would be in terms of being able to defend both ourselves and our allies. I'm not familiar with what money goes where, so I'm coming largely from a position of ignorance. My position is built upon two things: a) there is likely a significant amount of waste in our defense spending, such as research and b) we should maintain a formidable military across the board.

I don't know how much can be cut without putting us below our hypothetical benchmark, but I would like to see as much of that spending as possible eliminated while allowing us to fulfill our international obligations.

 

[The Librarian]

We spend more on defense than the next 25 nations (or something like that) combined.

Let's take a $100 billion out of defense and give it to NASA. Let's go to the moon or Mars.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

We spend more on defense than the next 25 nations (or something like that) combined.

Let's take a $100 billion out of defense and give it to NASA. Let's go to the moon or Mars.

You know Obama wouldn't spend any of that on NASA.

 

[The Librarian]

You know Obama wouldn't spend any of that on NASA.

I don't understand the point of your post. That was all hypothetical.

 

[Hop]

I don't know what a reasonable benchmark would be in terms of being able to defend both ourselves and our allies. I'm not familiar with what money goes where, so I'm coming largely from a position of ignorance. My position is built upon two things: a) there is likely a significant amount of waste in our defense spending, such as research and b) we should maintain a formidable military across the board.

Point of order, you're using Department of Defense research right now.

Spoiler

I wouldn't be surprised if we could cut defense by as much as 50% and not see any significant ill effects, but I know the moment anything negative happens it'd be blamed on the cuts.

 

[delirium]

Seriously. You could half the budget overnight and still be the most powerful military on Earth.

I dont think the Commies are gonna invade anytime soon. It's all so unnecessary.

US's military isn't use for defense; rather its use for power projection. Why is the US part of so many diplomatic talks all over the world and other countries aren't? Because we can project power all over the world.

 

[KingGondo]

Point of order, you're using Department of Defense research right now.

Spoiler

I wouldn't be surprised if we could cut defense by as much as 50% and not see any significant ill effects, but I know the moment anything negative happens it'd be blamed on the cuts.

To be fair, it would have a significant effect on the economy. They don't call it the Military Industrial Complex for nothing.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

I don't understand the point of your post. That was all hypothetical.

It was meant to point out that it would never happen. NASA is getting screwed this administration.

 

[Hop]

To be fair, it would have a significant effect on the economy. They don't call it the Military Industrial Complex for nothing.

True. Probably better that we consider 'defense cuts' in the mindset of reallocating those funds to, say, infrastructure. Something where society sees more of a benefit.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

You know Obama wouldn't spend any of that on NASA.

If Obama had his way, we wouldn't even have Star Trek on Netflix.

 

[Pre]

We spend more on defense than the next 25 nations (or something like that) combined.

Let's take a $100 billion out of defense and give it to NASA. Let's go to the moon or Mars.

I don't intend this as an insult, but I find this line of thinking problematic. When we make significant spending cuts, we need to use the savings to lower the deficit, not simply redirect where that money is going.

 

[Suikoguy]

To be fair, it would have a significant effect on the economy. They don't call it the Military Industrial Complex for nothing.

True, but they are mostly empty dollars being spent.
With very few multiplier effects.

 

[thezerofire]

I don't intend this as an insult, but I find this line of thinking problematic. When we make significant spending cuts, we need to use the savings to lower the deficit, not simply redirect where that money is going.

why?

 

[PhoenixDark]

You know Obama wouldn't spend any of that on NASA.

If NASA can send a robot to Mars on their current budget, they're don't need anymore money. I don't want my tax dollars wasted by the Pentagon or NASA

 

[DeathbyVolcano]

Last figure I read, we account for 40% of military strength in the world. The only nation that some even close is China...which still isn't close at all.

 

[pigeon]

True. Probably better that we consider 'defense cuts' in the mindset of reallocating those funds to, say, infrastructure. Something where society sees more of a benefit.

I read a post recently that suggested that a hundred square miles of solar panels in, say, the Arizona desert could power the whole country. Obviously this completely ignores the complexities of electricity storage and transformers and whatnot, but it's still an impressive example of what we could be doing in terms of infrastructure. (Envelope calculation at an exorbitant $500 per square foot of solar panel puts the cost of such a project at just shy of $150 billion. Which is obviously a lot of money, but not so much that we couldn't halve the defense budget and build two of these every year.)

 

[Plinko]

That guy used to date Ann Coulter.

Yes, you read those words correctly. I'm sorry.

I think Bill Maher did, too.