Moe_Syzlak

You're speaking of Duvenger's Law. I have stated before that I think third parties at the Presidential level are beneficial only for raising issues the two main parties would rather not during the campaign. And that is only when they rise to the level of spoiler as Perot did. Even Nader didn't really have an impact on national discourse and only acted as a spoiler due to an unusually close election. I believe that at the Federal level, the only way for us to truly have representative democracy with viable third party candidates is to move to an instant-runoff voting system. I believe that shou

Does anyone know a good source for a breakdown of federal government expenditures?

He'll probably still win his reelection bid.

Does anyone know what percentage of overall government spending is for welfare programs? I'd like to know where we draw the line as to what is considered "welfare" too? Is Social Security welfare, for example?

Well it was the right outcome for me, but i don't think the safety is to blame. Sure one could say a safety making it a tie game allows the Giants to play a bit less desperately, but it was a safety because the Steelers were kicking from deep in their own end. The Giants didn't win by one or two. Even if it is a clean snap, the Giants likely get the ball in as good or better field position than they got it after the safety and a FG still wins it.

No problem. I need to own that guitar! For those that aren't familiar with the 90210 appearance that Wayne references, you must .

Wayne Coyne is awesome!

Maybe not be the best, but the first one that came to my mind (and one I'm sure no one else will mention) is Zoom! off Love Kraft from the Super Furry Animals. Others... Fight Test - Yoshimi - FLips Airbag - OKC - Radiohead Hells Bells - Back in Black - AC/DC Battery - Master of Puppets - Metallica Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nevermind - Nirvana Born Under Punches - Remain In Light - Talking Heads Stop - Ritual de lo Habitual - Jane's Addiction Race for the Prize - Soft Bulletin - FLips Goin' Against Your Mind - You In Reverse- BTS It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Quebec - Ween Pretty sure th

Chuck Baldwin!?! Okay, we're not going to agree then. You can say "we're just fucked," but that's not how i see it. I see it that supporters of both parties insist on their parties feeding them a line of bull in order to get elected. I think we need to be realistic and realistically, third parties need to be grown from the bottom up and the existing parties don't have magic wands. "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Quincy Adams

In fact I did vote for a local Libertarian. But the idea that someone like Bob Barr is A) going to get elected and B ) going to solve everything is also unrealistic in my opinion. Libertarian ideals sound great on paper, but are totally unworkable in reality. I shouldn't say TOTALLY, but all sorts of systems sound good on paper. Libertarianism hasn't been tested on a large scale, nor have other third party systems. As popular as it is to lay the blame at the feet of the two party system (and I do wish there was more competition), I see the idea that IF ONLY a third party could win the election

Well that's the point! I don't consider every program essential but the electorate isn't made up of just me. Eliminating all the spending I feel is wasteful is totally unrealistic, just as eliminating all the spending you feel is wasteful is unrealistic. So, given that, what do you do? Do you continue to try to tighten the government spending belt? Of course! But that isn't going to magically happen and both parties have proven incapable of doing that. So, in the meantime, what do we do? Do we build the deficit or do we increase revenue? A lot of you conservatives call liberals idealists as if

I edited my post. Your response was there by the time I finished my edit. Either you didn't see the edit or you don't think, after seeing the edit, that it addresses your issue sufficiently. If it is the latter, please elaborate as I'm confused on your recommendation for a better solution.

See above.

What if 25% doesn't cut it? Do we borrow and pass the debt to our children? No doubt. Both parties have their wasteful spending, but one person's waste is another's essential project. That's the problem. Even well-meaning politicians trying to represent their constituents are going to work for govt spending that someone in some other political district will think is unnecessary. You can't please everyone. Hopefully we will learn to live within our means, but we can't pass that "wish" off to future generations blindly either.

Nice story. I hadn't heard that. I was 16 in '87 but dating someone close to the band and did the fall '87 east coast tour Almost Famous style. Jerry was so happy to just be alive and playing. To now be able to attribute at least some of that to Merl gives me newfound appreciation for a genuine sweetheart of a man. Thanks!

Well to me that misses the whole point of how ridiculous that statement is. Taxes pay for infrastructure. The infrastructure we need. No one ever says, "I believe my landlord will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would." Why? Because it is accepted that you pay for services. People seem to have this idea that government, military, roads, bridges and every other form of infrastructure that our taxes pay for just happens. And the government is just taking money for the hell of it because they don't trust us with our own money. I'm all for more fiscal responsibility in Washingt

Dona Nobis Pacem. Beautiful. Andrew more than holds his own.

A real nice place to raise your kids

Those were our plants on stage.

that IS sad news. My roommate and I loaned him a bunch of our houseplants for one of his rainforest shows back in the 90s. He is SUCH a nice guy.

I pretty much like all of the output from the '70s. I'm not really big on the early Mothers stuff and so can't really comment on the differences between the two versions of WOIIFTM. Studio albums definitely started to sound sterile in the '80s, but there was still some great music written during that time and the live performances were still great. I still think Make A Jazz Noise Here and The Best Band You Never heard In Your Life are fantastic, though the best of the two could have probably been combined for one kickass double live CD.

I encode my MP3s at a relatively high bit rate. I did some listening tests before making the move to MP3s as it is my primary method of listening now. I have a 500GB hard drive and I am going to have to upgrade to a 1TB soon. I have about 26,000 songs and 90 days worth of music. So, until they come out with the 1TB iPod, I will be managing my iPod syncs manually.

Was this posted yet? http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1008/563913.html Joe McCain Allegedly Calls 911 to Complain About Traffic Alexandria (web|news) - A 911 tape, reportedly of Sen. John McCain (web|news|bio) 's brother Joe, could prove controversial for the McCain camp since the call was not for an emergency, but rather to complain about being stuck in traffic. The call came into Alexandria's 911 system on October 21. Operator: 911 state your emergency Caller: It's not an emergency, but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95 traffic is stopped for 15 minute

Despicable! Obviously no comparison to a direct physical attack, but a friend of my brother's had all four of her car tires slashed for having a personalized license plate that says "OBAMA" in Texas. What is wrong with people. I mean this dude was obviously already robbing her, so he wasn't a good guy to begin with, but still to take the extra time because of the candidate she supports... sickening! I've said it before, but politics in this country has come to resemble the worst of Red Sox/Yankees fans.