Avon Barksdale
Member
GOP 2.0 everyone.
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PoliGAF 2013 |OT1| Never mind, Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
- Thread starter ClovingWestbrook
- Start date
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GOP 2.0 everyone.
People have amazing capacity to justify (through self lies if needed) what is in their economic best interests.
And shit, look at him, I don't know how he got his job security but I think it's obvious that there isn't a failure spectacular enough that would make conservatives stop paying him (a shit load of) money.
Ha, hadn't caught that one.
TacticalFox88
Banned
GOP has learned nothing.
It's just fucking sad at this point.
jamesinclair
Banned
Heres a fun story....
The GOP opposition of California HSR was based around a made up story:
That the ridership and projection numbers were made up and unrealistic.
Did the GOP complainers have anything to back up their claims?
Of course not, it was based off "instinct" and "common sense" and that gumshoe reasoning the GOP is known for.
So they tried to get facts on their side.
http://www.cahsrblog.com/2013/03/gao-report-validates-hsr-ridership-and-revenue-projections/
Woops.
But this is the GOP.
Facts dont mean anything
The GOP opposition of California HSR was based around a made up story:
That the ridership and projection numbers were made up and unrealistic.
Did the GOP complainers have anything to back up their claims?
Of course not, it was based off "instinct" and "common sense" and that gumshoe reasoning the GOP is known for.
So they tried to get facts on their side.
http://www.cahsrblog.com/2013/03/gao-report-validates-hsr-ridership-and-revenue-projections/
Woops.
But this is the GOP.
Facts dont mean anything
Particle Physicist
between a quark and a baryon
Fuck these people. I can't stand them anymore. :/
Link
The Autumn Wind
So I was having breakfast with my dad this morning, and the subject of same-sex marriage came up. My dad is pretty progressive for his age. He's not quite as liberal as I am, but he definitely leans left. He has no real issues with allowing same-sex marriage for any moral or religious reasons, but his concern was with how much more it will cost the government in marriage benefits. I really didn't know how to respond to that. However, I'll take that kind of hesitation over the more hateful reasons.
Tell him it'll be good for the economy and so increase the tax base. There's a whole Wonkblog post about it last week.
Aaron Strife
Banned
"This report that I've commissioned directly contradicts what I've been saying all along! That just proves that I'm right!"
Maybe he's taking lessons from Benghazi
It probably wouldn't even have a measurable effect. Pretty piss-poor rationale for discrimination regardless.
Aaron Strife
Banned
It'd actually have a positive effect, as seen in states where it's already been legalized.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/24/pf/gay-marriage-economic-impact/index.htm
Or CBO estimates which show it would decrease the deficit if it were legalized nationally.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-26/what-is-the-fiscal-impact-of-gay-marriage-.html
I'd imagine by people filing jointly, they'd be paying a higher tax bill than they would separately, even with the associated tax breaks. And of course, much of the boon states like NY are seeing comes from tourism (specifically by gay people wanting to marry), which would be mitigated if it were everywhere, but not to a point where it would be a drag on the economy.
Link
The Autumn Wind
I agree, which is what I told him. And like I said, he's not against it happening, just a concern he had.
EDIT - Thanks for the info, Aaron. I'll be sure to share it with my dad.
Carpe Libertatem
Member
It was funny when CPAC was going on and a bunch of Republican college students on twitter were going on about how wonderful DC public transit is
PhoenixDark
Banned
And it's worth noting that even republicans who genuinely want to diversify their party will be constantly smeared by the ignorance of fellow republicans like Young, the NC governor, Carson, etc. The religious right and southern GOP won't be dragged into the 21st century without kicking and screaming...and that transition period will be ugly enough to turn even more people off.
There is no democrat eqialivent to what we're seeing. You don't have a far left winger on television or the radio shitting on minorities or even religious people. This is an exclusive republican problem; that's not to say liberals and democrats aren't prejudice and racist, there are plenty out there (see: West Virginia). But they don't dominate the zeitgeist of the party.
Oh my god.
Why does he even have work anymore. I can't imagine someone like this ever getting work again in Canada. Once you hit a certain level of fame do you just fail upwards or something?
TacticalFox88
Banned
Let them.
The faster the party in its current state dies, the better off this country will be.
A Republican getting into the White House with it's caucus and platforms as insane as they are now could cause irreparable damage beyond even what Dubya did.
Exactly.
mightynine
Member
Tell him if every one of those potential same-sex marriages were instead a man and a woman getting married, no one would bat an eye at the potential cost.
Aaron Strife
Banned
Maybe they'll do us a favor and go after Susan Collins. Democrats could use the extra security in preserving the senate majority.
Not that they'll lose it, anyway.
cooljeanius
Member
Meh, Susan Collins is okay
Stimulus could've been a whole lot better were it not for Collins, Snowe and Specter.
Aaron Strife
Banned
She's ok but I'd much rather have a vote for Reid (or any other Democrat) than McConnell.
ClovingWestbrook
Banned
Wasnt aware of this:
About as significant as a bucket of piss. We just had an election where the Republican party was staunchly opposed to Medicare cuts, while running the guy who wants to completely gut it. We also had the Democratic presidential candidate promising he wouldn't touch Medicare and SS and now he's been offering them a few months after the election.
Democrat or Republican, their word or "on the record" pledge means fuck all. Pass a binding bill, you fucks.
You're still cool, Senator Sanders.
Carpe Libertatem
Member
Maybe so, but do you really want one of the last remaining moderate Republicans to disappear from Congress (and Collins and Snowe were moderate, unlike a lot of Republicans who claim to be "moderate")? I mean, it would be good for the Democratic Party, but for the country as a whole? I don't think so.
Rocket Scientist
Member
I think you do because they did more harm than good. The country would be better off without them.
Aaron Strife
Banned
Agreed. I'd rather have a solid liberal vote than a center-right conservative giving Obama "bipartisan" cover on a bill every once in a while.
Sort of reminds me of how Scott Brown explicitly campaigned as "Mr. 41" so Democrats couldn't break Republican filibusters anymore. But he's so moderate!!1
I imagine this would lead to the Republican party collapsing, period. If they double-down on their "court angry white dudes, fuck everyone else "strategy, they've pretty much signed their own death warrants, right? If that happens, maybe the left can gain some ground again in America!
....hahahah, yeah right 
zero shift
Banned
Its really refreshing coming in here to talk about politics. Politicalforum is horrible and I recently opened up an account on SomethingAwful and holy fuck!
She's not really that moderate, so yes. She has a great reputation as a moderate, but when it comes down to party line votes or filibusters, shes usually towing the line (not always, but usually).
What's wrong with SomethingAwful? I lurk there a good bit, mostly because my wife spends all her time over there (mostly in the feminism thread and stuff).
Their thread on Tea Party Community was awesome.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Labor and the Chamber of Commerce have agreed on an immigration compromise. No word on details (for instance, how many work visas will be handed out yearly) yet, but with one of the largest hurdles solved I'm feeling pretty confident.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/afl-cios-trumka-hails-immigration-pact
I'm not even worried about the inevitable right wing freakout when the bill is revealed.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/afl-cios-trumka-hails-immigration-pact
I'm not even worried about the inevitable right wing freakout when the bill is revealed.
CHEEZMO
Obsidian fan
You should head into D&D; it's full of Communists.
Aaron Strife
Banned
Enough republicans in the senate will realize the need to pass it, I think, in an effort to improve their image. We'll see if Boehner wants to break the Hastert rule again though, I'd say yes.
zero shift
Banned
Something Awful certainly is second to none when it comes to investigating communities and shit like that, (I was browsing around their SApedia and came across the Stormfront event in which a bunch of Something Awful members created accounts to debate Stromfront members) its there political conversations that make my head spin.
Take This American Life's last episode about the rise of disability claims. The show makes it pretty clear, in my eyes at least, that much of the blame lies in the fact that the collapse of the industrial job sector led to people not being able to find any other jobs, especially in small towns.
Yet the general consensus at Something Awful is that they were attacking poor people and that NPR is now a conservative network that is on the side of Reaganomics. The sad thing is that I'm not even exaggerating that much.
CHEEZMO;52108977 said:
That's where I'm at. I mean these people are the real fucking deal. I mean I consider myself pretty far left, but I would never defend Mao Zedong which isn't too uncommon there. If you are a Communist fine, I have no problem with that. Actually I'm sure we can find a lot of common ground. But if you are going to deny that Mao Zedong killied tens of millions of people and even claim that he saved more lives than killed and should be seen as a FDR-like figure then...well yeah.
I hear that quite a bit, but as someone who's been browsing SA for a good while, I haven't seen anyone go that far. No doubt that the community is pretty far to the left, but defending Mao? Really?
Even though NPR has allowed itself to cower back in certain ways, This American Life is not NPR. It's a Public Radio International program produced by WBEZ. Personally, I thought the undertone was more against Reagan than anything else. The way things were framed was in a constant 30 years of decline way, which is supported by the data but could have been ignored.
rocketknight
Member
Here is an answer to/rebuttal of that TAL story. I know it's a Daily Kos link, but it's a meta post that links to a few other resources.
zero shift
Banned
Really. There are others I've seen as well. That was just the first one off the top of my head.
This is a good article but:
I felt that this was the main focus of the entire piece.
It was, but heaven forbid we suggest that entitlement programs aren't perfect as implemented.
zero shift
Banned
I feel that this is why some people can't take the left seriously some times. Obviously these people are a very very vocal minority but I feel that they do more harm then good. Its ironic because TAL's premise supports leftist points more than their alternative explanation.
CHEEZMO
Obsidian fan
Even I've quoted Mao on GAF a few times.
I think a lot of the defensiveness comes from the expectation that any major attempt at reform would lose track of basic human concerns for those relying on the program. That's why my gut reaction was to be defensive upon hearing the story.
Perhaps we could try to give work to some people on disability. One idea I had was training people to help in the digitization of old books for 20 or so hours a week. Unfortunately I can see this idea going horribly wrong.
RustyNails
Member
The segments on disability on NPR made me rethink some of the things and I'm supposed to be a liberal commie. That bit about the mother telling her son not to work and endanger their monthly disability checks...ugh. I thought stereotypes did'nt exist..
Well, you could say that stereotypes arise from real people that make up almost irrelevantly tiny percentages of populations.
TacticalFox88
Banned
It begins...
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