PRESUMED DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE TO RUN HARD LEFT CAMPAIGN …
|| By FITSNEWS || We don’t have much use for David Brooks of The New York Times, but he’s got an interesting column out this week taking Hillary Clinton to task for her 2016 general election strategy.
And yes, Brooks is assuming – as is everyone else in America – that Clinton’s recent rash of scandals won’t impair her sufficiently so as to cost her the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. Which means she’s basically running in the 2016 general election already.
Anyway, according to Brooks’ column, Clinton has decided that the key to victory isn’t building a bigger tent, but filling the tent she’s got.
“Firing up certain Democratic supporters is easier than persuading moderates,” Brooks writes by way of explaining the gist of Clinton’s campaign calculus.
Accordingly, her campaign “will adopt left-leaning policy positions carefully designed to energize the Obama coalition – African-Americans, Latinos, single women and highly educated progressives,” thus dispensing with any need for a “persuasion campaign.”
Wait … didn’t the last three U.S. presidents (including her husband in 1992) win their first terms in office by building bigger tents?
Yes …
Brooks doesn’t like Clinton’s strategy. He thinks it will contribute to an already polarized country, hamper her ability to govern in the event she wins and erode her status as a leader (making her appear calculating and methodical instead).
But he also thinks it’s bad politics …
“The mobilization strategy overreads the progressive shift in the electorate,” Brooks noted. “It’s true that voters have drifted left on social issues. But they have not drifted left on economic and fiscal issues, as the continued unpopularity of Obamacare makes clear. If Clinton comes across as a stereotypical big-spending, big-government Democrat, she will pay a huge cost in the Upper Midwest and the Sun Belt.”
“By adopting base mobilization, Clinton seems to have made the first big decision of her presidential campaign,” he concludes. “It’s the wrong one.”
We concur …
Of course if the 2016 general election is a campaign between Clinton and a status quo “Republican,” there will be plenty of appeals to big spending and big government to go around, sadly.
92 comments
What do they want?
More for themselves and less for everyone else.
What is it that they *don’t* want?
They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking well informed well educated people… that doesn’t help them.
They don’t want people smart enough to figure out how badly they’re getting fucked.
They want obedient workers.
…and your retirement money.
They don’t give a fuck about you – at all.
They’re busy catapulting the propaganda.
And you don’t care.
… Is thus and ever shall be.
Nice Carlin quote in the beginning, but your addition isn’t quite in keeping.
You bitch about government and its owners and claim taxes aren’t an issue.
“They” use your tax money to control you.(sometimes with cops)
If taxes are an issue, why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?
You know…. like “Republicans?”
Let’s throw another ton of paper on the fire, and “destroy ISIS!” that’s the ticket….
..OR we could build a trillion dollar fence…
…OR we could deregulate the FUCKING BANKS!!! OHHHHH OHHHH!!!! OHHHHH! (Kinison)
“If taxes are an issue, why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?”
Are we speaking of “the people” or the pols?
The people as a voting block do nothing because they have bought in, they think it’s in their self interest.
The pols know it’s in their self interest…so the system remains.
It the same thing with the Iraq war, deficits, etc. et al.
*It’s
So how was my addition not quite in keeping?
Without tax money the government can’t hurt us as much.
That’s why the post 1913 growth of government…income tax and fiat currency enacted to fight WWI(because they couldn’t afford it), and then off to the races.
How does the government hurting us “as much” come in to this? You’ve already said the people as a voting block can do nothing, and the pols aren’t going to voluntarily give up power….
How are taxes any different than any other scam that no one is prepared to approach as adults?
“How are taxes any different than any other scam that no one is prepared to approach as adults?”
Well that’s my point, it is a scam, but in your lineup you’ve got “abortions, gay, guns” & “turbans”(I’m leaving out cops for now) as if these are things of “importance”. I’m assuming you mean that sarcastically, because I’m pretty sure of your viewpoints and assuming I’m right, I agree that it’s ridiculous to consider those things are “real” issues….but I disagree with taxes in your sarcasm lineup because THAT is a serious tool by which government causes harm and hence a REAL concern.
Not only is it concerning to all of us under this system, it in many ways affects poor people more than rich when you start looking at sales tax on items everyone needs to live. (gas, food, housing, etc.)
Hopefully you see my point.
Hopefully you see my point.
—–
——–
Well that’s my point, it is a scam, but in your lineup you’ve got “abortions, gay, guns” & “turbans”(I’m leaving out cops for now) as if these are things of “importance”.
Now *there’s* where you went off the rails… they are all scams. There’s never any progress… it’s a shiny object. Taxes are just the latest shiny object – I’m guessing because of all the dumbasses who bought into Ayn Rand’s idea that if you’re a libertarian, you are capable of critical thought…. and that libertarians are somehow able to fight the urge to sell out their ideological cousins to short-term gain, and will always (or more always) choose the pathway to long-term gain. (even though they’re naive as *hell* about what long-term gain *is*)
Taxes are easy…. here let me demonstrate:
Euwe (the libertarian) : How much do you make?
Dumbass: I make (redacted)
Euwe (the libertarian) : how much of that goes to taxes?
Dumbass: uh… I don’t know…. oh wait, I have my tax return here… it was (redacted) this year.
Euwe: (the libertarian) : now wouldn’t you like to keep that money?
Dumbass: uh… yeah, I guess…
Euwe: (the libertarian) : well, men with guns are stealing that money from you
Dumbass: they are?
Euwe: (the libertarian) : yep!
Dumbass: well, shit!
Euwe: (the libertarian) : if you didn’t pay taxes, you’d have all that money to spend yourself.
Dumbass: Yeah!
Euwe: (the libertarian) : so vote for the guy who says he’s against taxes.
Dumbass: You can bet I will!… um… who is that this year?
Euwe:(the libertarian) : the tea party candidate
Dumbass: …specifically
Euwe:(the libertarian) : (one of the idiots in the tea party, or a libertarian)
Dumbass: .. well, I’m voting for (redacted) then!
Euwe: (the libertarian) : there’s a good man!
I took the ride, but I have no idea where the fuck you drove me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the ride- I just wish I knew the fuck where you dropped me off.
Ayn Rand was a difficult, occasionally immoral person that had some good ideas/thoughts and the ability to integrate them into (at times) entertaining novels.
Some of her personality issues were probably due to the trauma she suffered under communism in the fairly new Soviet Union as a teenager before moving to the US.
Regardless, she had moments of clarify even if at times she was inconsistent and generally unpleasant. The thing is:
Not all libertarians worship the ground she walked on
and
her ideas were nothing “new” in the context of history, just “novel” in the way they were presented during a unique time in history.(she was ultimately an Aristotle traditionalist)
So while I don’t know where you drove me or how I’ll get back, I do know that I can carry decent conversation with whoever and make do wherever I land- even if it’s in a morgue.
*clarity
I drove you to the tax scam overlook.
Politicians use the “issues” I mentioned to get elected, not as a series of things they are going to put to rest.
How many times did the “Republicans” vote against ObamaCare?
How many “periods of silence for the innocent dead in Iraq” have been observed in Congress or the White House? Any national days of mourning, of remembrance for Iraqi allies who fought alongside us, after we fucked up on the WMD thing?
Why does Cheney still get paid to speak?
Why is Faux News still on the air?
Why is Rush Limbaugh not a national pariah?
Why is it OK for the richest people in America to control access to conservative voting lists?
Why do people cheer the concept that a dollar is the best unit of measure for the force of a vote?
Why is it anti-American not to want to divert scarce resources to creating extremely expensive and very perishable weapons for a unending, nebulous war against a feeling, and also anti-American to divert those same scarce resources to be consumed by (not rich) Americans?
Why is a trillion dollar fence which is not even complete, but already needs maintenance the top priority in vetting a conservative candidate?
Why, in a nation saturated with guns and ammunition, is one of the most public and intensely fought issues by the super influential NRA, and conservatives in general “background checks,” and “gun grabbers” when the leader of the NRA required vendors display guns to have their firing pins removed and had already made it clear background checks are a good thing?
Why do almost all the governors and DAs in the Southern States attempt very well publicized laws against gay marriage they know are unconstitutional?
Why is it an activist court that interprets the constitution only when it interprets the constitution in some way that conservatives don’t like?
Why do I watch commercials on television with a dead Tony Soprano, for fuck’s sake, encouraging me to send private funds to help wounded soldiers – who fought wars that “keep us all safe” in the employ of the United States, while executives with both arms and legs at AIG, Citibank, Goldman Sachs et. al. get 4 million dollar bonuses for being the “best and the brightest” motherfuckers that very nearly bankrupted America?
Is this thing on?
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“I mentioned libertarians because they seem to be in fashion”
Oh sweet Jesus, if that was only the case.
The core tenet of hard core libertarianism is the “non aggression principle”. On the surface, when you talk to people about it that haven’t heard of it before you’d usually get them to nod their head in approval.
HOWEVER, when it comes to applying the concept to their daily lives they start to retrench because they are fearful of what will happen if you can’t justify taking money from people “to do good things”.
So the reality is, if we define libertarianism as starting with that core tenet, you could quickly see that being libertarian seeming “to be in fashion” quickly falls off when applied consistently.
People like the feel good, surface notion of what they THINK libertarianism is about…but most of them end up pulling a lever for a “Dem” or “Repub” at the end of the day.
Even further, those fully committed to the Dems or Repubs really despise TRUE libertarians, rightfully so- because they understand the implications of the non aggression principle better than those claiming to be libertarians(but are not)….they will tolerate these self proclaimed libertarians as long as the pull the damn lever for a D or R- because at that time they are useful idiots, like most of the population.
“Are libertarians more altruistic than “Republicans?”
“altruism: the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.”(google)
If we are talking about hard core libertarians, I say “no”.
Flashing back to your Ayn Rand reference, her major contribution in her day/time was dismissing the notion that you have to be altruistic to be a good person.
A hard core libertarian can look at the world and surmise it would be a better place if everyone could at least agree to and practice the non aggression principle(and I understand that many don’t agree, but that’s a different topic)- but it’s self interest that drives that libertarians to try to convince others of the same.
It’s the desire to try to overcome Bronze age methods of rule that dominate civilization today that function primarily under aggression(control, etc.) despite the massive increases in technology & quality of life while seeing a reduction in basic life necessity scarcity in the last 100 years.
I don’t know if it will ever happen.
IMO, man emerged from the jungle and “civilization” came about only 7000-10,000 years ago. “Aggression” was how he survived prior to that time…it could be encoded so deeply in our make up that it is “nature” taking its course and it will take thousands of more years of a reduction in scarcity for it to become an unnecessary trait in the human makeup.
But despite all this, what is clear is that our modern day Game of Thrones is simply a repeat of thousands of years of “governance” since man transitioned out of hunting and gathering and become more stationary.
In reference to your question on “altruism”, what I do know is that pols in general have no real notion of “altruism”, they are definitely self interested creatures, but what makes them particularly nasty is:
#1 They don’t adhere or concern themselves with the non-aggression principle, in fact- most know deep down they live well by violating it consistently
#2 They prey upon people with a sense of altruism(which often was created by systems of governance to start) by getting them to “fight for their country” or “pay their fair share”, etc. et al
They foster this altruism via creating a nation identity and claim it’s for the common good, then proceed to use/abuse the adopters. It’s pretty sad.
“I mentioned libertarians because they seem to be in fashion”
Oh sweet Jesus, if that was only the case.
———
I don’t know why you say that. Fashion isn’t about substance, but form.
The core tenet of hard core libertarianism is the “non aggression principle”. On the surface, when you talk to people about it that haven’t heard of it before you’d usually get them to nod their head in approval.
======
non-aggression sounds great… but so does heaven.
Flashing back to your Ayn Rand reference, her major contribution in her day/time was dismissing the notion that you have to be altruistic to be a good person.
——–
she also seems to have missed that all important connection to reality that says – a politician has to pass laws in concert with other politicians in an environment of the temptation to sell out. Obviously that isn’t working with “good” people that aren’t altruistic.
I don’t know if it will ever happen.
——-
Jesus was more certain. It’s been 2000 years, and libertarians are still waiting eagerly for his return.
We sure make it easy for Republicans… we become resigned to their corruption, and instead turn our attention into trying to convince each other of the benefit or calamity that would/will result from some social issue… aligning ourselves with an issue that costs politicians nothing nor forces accountability… and voting for the one who can ring the sound bite bell they like the loudest.
The more jaded simply retreat into “fuck you,” which is unfortunately, the result of being unable or unwilling to understand the difference between a perfect meal and a meal.
My grandson shocked me. He refused to eat at all unless he got everything he asked for – which was more than he could actually ingest. He became quite upset. I was very disappointed. Of course, my wife came to his aid, and gave him all he asked for… of course, he didn’t finish it… it’s not like it mattered materially, either… I saw it as a character flaw… but did nothing about it.
Expanding on the theme, a day or so later, his father and I ordered a large pizza. When it came, he put two pieces on his plate, and took another to eat. He was intent on setting the world’s record for eating a piece of pizza…when his first piece was crust, he took another from the box, without touching his cache of two pieces… effectively hoarding half of the pizza – a 7 year old and two adults…. and he was going to town on the second piece, eyeing the remaining two.
That’s human nature. Many libertarians would lionize him for his maturity in understanding the meat of the issue – worry about the consequences only after you’ve satisfied your desires. Enlightened self-interest… learn to use language and persuasion to secure the largest share possible..
“The more jaded simply retreat into “fuck you,” which is unfortunately, the result of being unable or unwilling to understand the difference between a perfect meal and a meal.”
The problem is (IMO, I’m not speaking for hardcore libertarians in general because this issue you brought up is debated/contested within that community) that if you sit at a table where the two plates presented to you both have poison in them, you really are better off not eating either.
If the act of voting actually made things even marginally better(and I think Carlin was right, it doesn’t), you might have a case. But IMO it doesn’t. So even dispensing with the notion that voting is a NAP violation 99.9% of the time, if you did it in anticipation of some relief or betterment of your life….you’re fighting thousands of years of history where voting itself didn’t stop empire destruction via wars, taxes, inflation, etc.
As for Jesus, well, I’m not a believer but I respect those who are and they have a big “up” on me in terms of life in that they have something to look forward to. That, is awesome. Wish I could overcome my personal viewpoint on what/who Jesus was, but regardless I have no ill will at all towards those who believe.
What I find interesting though by your comment about Jesus…you seem to know deep down that “the system” isn’t the answer…(as he didn’t)
The act of voting
——-
ever watch ants? One of them will struggle with a little bit of crap tugging it this way and that, but generally in the right direction… and then give up and go to screwing with something else… another ant will see the opportunity and start tugging on the abandoned piece of crap…. and so on.. if you watch for very long, it looks like ants are schizo, or on drugs… but if you come back the next day, they’ve accomplished a lot – as a hive.
If you look at the skyline of a large city, you might see similarities with crystal growth, or other regular autonomous organization found in nature… and looking down from above.. the roads.. at night, the lights… almost organic in the way “it” spreads… like some kind of virus.
I’m not saying that there’s a connecting force, or a guiding principle or anything, but .. well, there’s a LOT of space between galaxies… why and when did *that* happen? I’m thinking the black holes in the center are pizza mavens.
As for Jesus, well, I’m not a believer but I respect those who are and they have a big “up” on me in terms of life in that they have something to look forward to
——–
depends. Some people think all they get is what they are.
“but if you come back the next day, they’ve accomplished a lot – as a hive.
If you look at the skyline of a large city, you might see similarities with crystal growth, or other regular autonomous organization found in nature”
Yes, but there’s VOLUNTARY cooperation. There’s not a small group of “head ants” organizing it all….while sucking down half the food the worker ants might try to eat.
When’s the last time you saw an ant colony engaged in civil war? Now God forbid we move into a discussion about competing ant colonies. I need to rest my brain now please.
There’s not a small group of “head ants” organizing it all….while sucking down half the food the worker ants might try to eat.
——
There are head ants, man. Try to be one.
“There are head ants, man. Try to be one.”
I am one, in my voluntary world. I shun the involuntary(violating the NAP) as best I can.
How about posting a picture of your own 100 story office building? I’ve always wanted to talk to a head ant about his hive.
lol…I’m not that successful. I only have 1 story, though it’s got some square footage.
Too bad I try really hard to live by the NAP standard, because once I decided to do it I had to walk about from a customer that would have put me in a 100 story.
“It’s not easy being green”-Kermit
forethought
apple
hotmail
webtv
bungie
lindows
MikeRoweSoft.com
aQuantive
Novell
microsoft ate more than half of their ant food.
Well…you might be missing my drift…but let’s say I wasn’t going to get my 100 story via the MIC.(a big NAP violator)
Competition in a voluntary market is a different thing…there’s no NAP violations if corps don’t use the gov’t to force people to do shit.(not sure if MS qualifies there…but not going there right now)
You may rest now. :)
Thank you.
… and thank you Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, both Bushes, both Clintons and a totally complicit Nightly News. “G’ment experts agree, everything is just fine.” … Oh Bummer.
(Nixon got caught, the others did not … so far.)
What about Teddy?
One of Roosevelt’s first notable acts as president was to deliver a 20,000-word address to Congress asking it to curb the power of large corporations (called “trusts”). He also spoke in support of organized labor, and endorsed protective tariffs.
For his aggressive use of United States antitrust law, he became known as the “trust-buster.” He brought 40 antitrust suits, and broke up major companies, such as the largest railroad and Standard Oil, the largest oil company.
“My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula – a square deal for every man.”
Roosevelt thought it was particularly important for the government to supervise the workings of the railway to avoid corruption in interstate commerce; the result was the Hepburn bill, which established control over railroad rates
Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.
Nonetheless, in 1910, Roosevelt commented on “enormously wealthy and economically powerful men” and suggested “a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes… increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.
———-
Surely he must rate at least as offensive as FDR for all that good shit he did for the average guy.
“One of Roosevelt’s first notable acts as president was to deliver a 20,000-word address to Congress asking it to curb the power of large corporations (called “trusts”). …”
Agreed! And I would have agreed with him then as now. That what we pay the Justice Department for: to put the bad guys in jail and fine the dodo out of them. (Another story)
If you will notice when the democrats (Woodrow Wilson) co-opted his “progressive” ideas (re: “trust busting”, etc.) and added their own quasi-socialist ideas about a grand expansion of government and the take-over of such … then Teddy Roosevelt did the proper thing: He formed the Bull Moose Party!
Kinison
“Come here….come here….
You know what this is?
*chuckles*
It’s sand.
Do you know what it’s gonna be a hundred years from now?
IT’S GONNA BE SAND!!! …“
Send them u-hauls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0q4o58pKwA
Tried it … https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=chaP4MCXp4w
(This is really the grand scheme of the “progressives”. To bring back slavery, like the good old days.)
I was thinking more along the lines of selling an Israel-sized sliver of Wyoming to Israel, and letting them move there.
Like,The Louisiana Purchase? Will the sliver be in Wyoming or Israel ? It might me better to just cut Florida off into an island.With all those hurricanes,it’s gonna happen anyway.It only takes 5 feet of water to lift a state off the USA.We could remove Texas,too.Turn it into a theme park and sell it to Michael Jackson’s estate.
I’d be more worried that Montana, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota might fit into some ancient promise, and the constant threat of invasion and insult would blur borderlines, and the border/settlement/fortification cycle would start a religious war that would eventually result in annexation.
I don’t want to think about ancient purposes;that’s scary,but I’d like to see a religious war between SC’s biggest Baptist churches out at Williams Brice Stadium
oh yeah-upvotex9
Blind men in the market, buying what we’re sold….
Clinton strategy.
1. Register the gays, poor, singles, women, young people and minorities, but lull straight, married, whites, elderly, males, and upper incomes into apathy.
2. Talk about gap between the rich and poor, but raise as much campaign money from the rich as possible.
3. Preach about the need for transparency, but hide as much possible about your own, your charity’s and your campaign’s finances.
4. Speak about your intent to have an open honest dialog with the people, but don’t make yourself available for questions and obfuscate when it can’t be avoided.
The GOP lost its ability to win the general election a decade ago due to demographics.
It will now have to morph into something else if it hopes to win a Presidency again.
Giving the people the power to vote themselves others money was the beginning and now will be the end.
Silly constitutional rights…when will we ever learn?
Who cares what the Constitution says? If it said an elected officer had the right to kill you would you be defending it?
Theft is theft, it doesn’t matter if someone or something says it’s ok.
Theft? What theft?
This sentence was in my original post that you responded to:
“Giving the people the power to vote themselves others money was the beginning and now will be the end.”
Did you just now see it?
Libertarians have such a warped view of what is theft and what isn’t, worried about the hands of government in your pockets no matter what it is for. Helping old farts get medicine is not looked at any differently than anything else, including things that most anyone would find objectionable. It is all theft. Save us the bellyaching please.
Libertarians have such a warped view of what is theft and what isn’t, worried about the hands of government in your pockets no matter what it is for.
TBG will readily admit that if you break into his wigwam and steal his stuff and pawn it…
…he really doesn’t give a rat’s ass as to what you spend the shekels on.
TBG is funny like dat.
He said “I don’t know man, ah she kinda funny, you know” I said “I know, everybody funny, now you funny too”-George Thorogood
Funny how people are funny about those trying to be funny(in an unfunny sense).
TGB do you believe that corporations are evil because people made bad decisions and as a result gave them control? Do you favor taking out corporation so the “working/middle class” has all their debt erased? Why are corporations the enemy?
Do you believe it is fair to steal from a corporation because you are entitled to a portion of their earnings and maybe they are so rich they can afford it, so it’s only fair?
I’m not implying you do, it is a question.
TGB do you believe that corporations are evil because people made bad decisions and as a result gave them control? Do you favor taking out corporation so the “working/middle class” has all their debt erased? Why are corporations the enemy?
Do you believe it is fair to steal from a corporation because you are entitled to a portion of their earnings and maybe they are so rich they can afford it, so it’s only fair?
I’m not implying you do, it is a question.
No.
No.
Never said they were.
No.
Thank you for your reply. :)
So an old man robbing you of a few hundred bucks with a gun wouldn’t be theft if he used it to buy himself medicine eh?
Talk about a “warped view”.
Btw chief, you and I know that 95%+ of the money stolen from us isn’t going to medicate old farts, so you can save us all your bellyaching.
Last time I checked for people robbing me I don’t think I saw any 80 year old geriatrics searching through my drawers. I would say programs like social security and medicare take up a good portion of fed spending too, maybe not 95% but still a good bit, and a good bit of what comes out of my paycheck.
95%+ people on this planet pay taxes, probably because any intelligent group of people decide having a funded government beats the hell out of the alternative. If you guys were complaining about all the stuff government is doing that doesn’t help anybody then I would be picking up a pitchfork and torch with you, but then you start whining about people being fed, people going to the doctor, people going to a public school, people getting help when they lose their job, when they would be up shit creek if government didn’t throw out a helping hand for these folks. That stuff matters, it may cost but so does a lot of nice things so we pay up. It’s like doing chores, no one likes to do it but if you don’t then the place starts to look like a pig sty.
All this lamenting over the fact that people vote for a bit of security so they don’t rot in the streets when shit happens or they get old is really just boo hooing over nothing.
“Last time I checked for people robbing me I don’t think I saw any 80 year old geriatrics searching through my drawers”
Yeah, but even if gramps did pull a .38 on you and made you drop your drawers “it’s cool” because he needed your shit to buy his shit.
“All this lamenting over the fact that people vote for a bit of security
so they don’t rot in the streets when shit happens or they get old is
really just boo hooing over nothing.”
Yeah…you keep telling yourself that and keep on keeping on with the whole voting thing.
I’m sure we’re going to see a turn around and improvement just after the next election. How did you put it? “a bit of security”
Yep.
I’m sure without all those taxes we’d be seeing more starvation and more homeless.
You know, it’s odd- when income taxes were passed in 1913 the inflation adjusted wage before a new bracket was $463,000 at which you were taxed at 1%.
You know what the highest tax rate was? 7%
You had to make $12 million in inflation adjusted dollars to reach it.
Yep…the country is far better off now with the tax system it’s had for the last 100 years or so.
Mass chaos would erupt if we got rid of them. It’d be Somalia. It’s a miracle the country lasted so long without income tax.
There is a new TV series out Mr. Robot. So far only one episode has been released but the rest are expected to be in US I think the 27th of this month. It’s based on an Anarchist/hacker. Quite interesting to watch so far. One of the big things I had not really considered in the Libertarian/Anarchist view – they would love to see corporations taken out, the too big to fail, because it has potential to erase their debt. Let’s say a big corporation owns 70% of the debt – take them out, then all that debt goes away. At least that seems to be the premise.
The Republican’s don’t have to win the general election to win the Presidency, the just have to win the electoral college.
If the Republican’s can hold the South, including Florida and Virginia and pick off Ohio, they have a shot.
Never. Gonna. Happen.
Watch the Dem primary because whoever comes out of it is the next President.
The best you can hope for is that it’s someone as incompetent as Bush the 2nd or Obama; and they inflict so much misery that people feel the need to shuffle turds by labels again.
Free shit wins every time.
Republicans can offer free shit too and better the Dems by saying it won’t cost anyone anything.
They’re better liars.
They could, but they won’t.
Plus there is the issue of credibility.
You guys will hate the electoral college in the coming years.
The Job Search Site on the Net @mk31
/..///
http://www.PlutoNetlightConsulting/Talis/central...
Lol…
Point 1: Why isn’t the GOP trying to register gays, poor people, singles, women, young people and minorities? There is no lock on those demographics. I suspect it’s b/c those groups see nothing they like from the GOP. That’s the GOP’s problem, not the Dems or the voters.
Point 2: Mitt Romney
Point 3: Mitt Romney
Point 4: Mitt Romney
Romney? Is he running again?
If they’d show it to me,I might like it,but have you heard how tiny Perry is?
And,he just lays there in a dark hotel room with an S&M mask on.It’s like fucking a corpse.Necrophilia should NOT become the next sex scandal!
ALERT: THE NEW YORK TIMES EXCLUSIVE
FROM OUR OWN RESEARCH WE WERE ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT SENATOR MARCO RUBIO USES VIRGIN OLIVE OIL ON HIS SALADS.
Is that Niggerhead Ranch?
You progressives are so glib.
Rick uses Astroglide.
If she decides to run to the left, she must count on keeping the Obama coalition together and then can ignore any moderates. I think she will have trouble in the general election. Blacks will not be inspired and motivated to get out like they did in the last two elections.
There is an even chance that Obama will be upside down in the approval polls by the election in 2016, therefore putting a further stain on a Democrat turnout. There is also a decent chance ObamaCare will be rotting in the crapper if the Supreme Court rules against him. If the economy continues to sputter along, that will be a negative for Democrats. Then there is the personal finance problems for the Clintons, and that is not going away.
Too early for predictions, too much that could go wrong, the election is still seventeen months away, and that could be an eternity in the political world. Hillary Rodham Clinton is certainly not gazing out on a rosy political horizon these days.
Keep Bernie, O’malley, and Pocahontas in the bull pen warming up.
Have you seen the GOP clown car?
The dems could put up Honey Boo Boo’s mom and still win with one hand tied their backs.
The GOP has no chance in a presidential general election.
Political experts and demographers have concluded in reality less than 10% of Americans are “undecideds” at this point.
The voters are already polarized so it makes sense to consolidate and turn out voters already with you.
If it were that simple Al Gore would have been President.
You should ask the Florida and US Supreme Courts about that my friend.
I did and they are both still controlled by Republicans.
Handy that. Magically Dubya won that election.
It is an advantage whether fair or not that most Governorships, state houses and the Supreme Court are in Republican hands.
Now we’re getting somewhere. I suspect the GOP operatives (everyone from the Kochs to Karl Rove) sense that the demographics have inexorably moved out of their grasp for president.
As a rear guard action to continue and/or salvage their agenda they are focusing more on states (governors, state houses, judges, etc.) and trying to pick fights with the feds a la 1860 style.
This too shall pass as the fat pig of older, white and scared voters moves towards the back end of the generational python and starts to die off.
Republicans have two demographic advantages. One, as people age they become more conservative. Those in the back end of the python use to be liberal hippies. Americas median age is rising.
Two, seven of the ten fastest growing states are Republican. Most of the states like Michigan that are proportionately declining are Democratic. If Republican states can stay Republicans they will pickup electoral votes.
Hmmm…wishful thinking I would say. There’s been some trending coverage especially since 2012 indicating that the GOP is really strong where they are strong (the most of the old south and some mid-west states) but losing ground in to so called purple states. Virginia, Colorado and Penn. are now considered strong purples. North Carolina is flirting with purple as well. Still, it mostly all comes down to the two main electoral power players. Ohio and Florida. Both of those have gone blue in the last two cycles.
Remember though, I am only talking about a presidential election. Clinton will most likely ignore states she knows won’t vote for her and focus a hell of a lot of time and effort on Ohio and Florida.
No wonder they get more conservative.
They only think they’re smart when they’re young. When they’re older they realize how dumb they actually were.
It is my belief she will garner her base til after the primaries and then she will become a “big tent” Democrat.
Did this election start before or after the last election? Before Reagan,real men ran for president,and politics mattered.When I think about the non-politics Fits has lived through,it’s no surprise he confuses ideology with reality.This country has never had a Liberal president.People who didn’t live through Vietnam,have a luxurious cartoon vision of the world.It’s bad there’s no more military draft.It would have changed your way of thinking.Reading The Colonel gone wild comments make it obvious the volunteer military isn’t working.
For liberals, as Brooks is, to assume the country is drifting left on social issues, is more wishful thinking. Gay Marriage is court-forced. It would lose over and over in referendum, despite media claims. And abortion laws are getting stricter in may states, in accordance with the wishes of the people. And race-baiters are viewed with disdain more than ever, now.
Just as John McCain had no chance not matter what happened, Hillary Clinton seems already to be as defeated as McCain was in 2008, regardless of all the caterwauling from those – like Brooks – who so desperately want to see her win.
I think she’s there just to nominate and send votes to O’Mally.
I don’t want this woman. She has snakes in her head.
“Highly educated progressives”. Is there a worse lot? I’ve done work for a number of large college level foreign language departments, including Yale University Press. These places are completely polluted with highly educated progressives. I’m convinced the prevalence of Berkinstocks in this subculture is the due to the fact that they can’t tie their own shoes. I once had the Director of New Media of a prestigious university ask me if someone needed to have internet access in order for a hot link in a pdf to redirect to a page on the internet. This clown was making over $300k a year. Highly educated progressives are clueless about most things.
“Highly educated progressives”. Is there a worse lot?
I would say uneducated conservative red necks. Uneducated red necks are clueless about everything. The only people less knowledgeable are Fox News watchers. They possess nothing but wrong information.
Yes, Fox News and Bush are responsible for everything. This a completely fresh perspective and oh so insightful. Keep up the weak talking points.
don’t you know Jack, or Bob, or all the other names he writes as. As soon as someone says anything bad about Hillary (right or wrong) he comes in crying like a teenage girl on twitter defending Taylor Swift or Brittany Spears. This is what he is like but if this was about Hillary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc
It took me quite awhile for me to figure out educated and smart aren’t exclusive partners. I think there is a huge apathetic “middle” in America just waiting on a everyday, common sense, everyman with a Nationalist stripe to throw his hat in the ring. Instead our Media culture insists that a small minority hash it out from the far ends of the spectrum only to have both act the same once they get in office. 2014 Republican’s behavior is a case study.
HiLIARy Clinton. “I want to be a champion for the little people. Now, where is my $300K speaking fee? And where is that $1 mil you promised me for the Clinton Foundslushfund? What, you don’t have it?? Go to the end of the line!!!”