General Political Thread

[KevinG]

I am interesting in what people think of the shutdown, now that it appears to be over.  

 

If memory serves I don't think anyone here right or left was necessarily in support of the Shutdown and the tactics that was used by the GOP.  But in hindsight was it worth it?  I think I read that the shutdown will cost in the 2 billion dollar range http://moneymorning.com/2013/10/14/how-much-does-the-government-shutdown-cost/.  Which is far greater than the amount of the cost of the 100 million or Hixlter is concerned about.  

 

Now granted the ACA website was ridiculous, but the cost that the shutdown caused is far greater.  For consistency sake I would hope people are more outraged at that.  

 

All in all I feel that the GOP has egg on its face, they are coming off really poorly in this whole ordeal.  Furthermore the far right wing of the party is looking really bad, though I fear this will further embolden the base.  

 

Whatever you think, the past 15 days sure has made 2014 a lot more interesting.  

[Guest Jules]

 I can't handle this anymore.  I never thought, nor can some people believe, how downright conservative Wilco fans can be. 

 

Ahh, the best non-bit bit there ever was.

[Sir Stewart]

When?

 

You can only change your screenname once every blue moon here.

[bleedorange]

I am interesting in what people think of the shutdown, now that it appears to be over.  

 

If memory serves I don't think anyone here right or left was necessarily in support of the Shutdown and the tactics that was used by the GOP.  But in hindsight was it worth it?  I think I read that the shutdown will cost in the 2 billion dollar range http://moneymorning.com/2013/10/14/how-much-does-the-government-shutdown-cost/.  Which is far greater than the amount of the cost of the 100 million or Hixlter is concerned about.  

 

Now granted the ACA website was ridiculous, but the cost that the shutdown caused is far greater.  For consistency sake I would hope people are more outraged at that.  

 

All in all I feel that the GOP has egg on its face, they are coming off really poorly in this whole ordeal.  Furthermore the far right wing of the party is looking really bad, though I fear this will further embolden the base.  

 

Whatever you think, the past 15 days sure has made 2014 a lot more interesting.  

 

I would characterize my dad and his wife as pretty far to the right on the political spectrum, and they have been extremely fed up with what has transpired over the last two weeks. That being said, I doubt there is anything that would drive them to vote for a Democrat, but it will be interesting to see if the more moderate wing of the GOP can gain some traction, because I think a lot of people would welcome that kind of shift.

[Guest Jules]

I just vote for whoever will stop fucking with me.

[bleedorange]

I just vote for whoever will stop fucking with me.

 

So you never vote?

[Guest Jules]

You can only change your screenname once every blue moon here.

 

ASSHOLE

So you never vote?

 

School board elections only.

[Hixter]

I think I read that the shutdown will cost in the 2 billion dollar range http://moneymorning.com/2013/10/14/how-much-does-the-government-shutdown-cost/.  Which is far greater than the amount of the cost of the 100 million or Hixlter is concerned about.  

 

Now granted the ACA website was ridiculous, but the cost that the shutdown caused is far greater.  For consistency sake I would hope people are more outraged at that.  

If you're in the mood for comparisons, then consider this: the national debt has increased by $3.5 billion each of the 1,730 days that President Obama has been in office. Two billion dollars is a drop in the bucket.

[bleedorange]

School board elections only.

 

Those are definitely the elections I take most seriously, too.

[NoJ]

You can only change your screenname once every blue moon here.

 

Ok then.

[Guest Don Draper]

I'll admit to voting for lesser offices (water commissioner or whatever) by picking the strangest name. I can extract some amusement, then, by seeing Jiminy Higgenbottom in the newspaper after a main break for the next few years.

[kidsmoke]

Our local sheriff is Sheriff Stanley Sniff. I'm pretty sure voters like Don put him into office.

[Guest Don Draper]

[KevinG]

If you're in the mood for comparisons, then consider this: the national debt has increased by $3.5 billion each of the 1,730 days that President Obama has been in office. Two billion dollars is a drop in the bucket.

 

And by that notion, 100 million is a pittance.  I fail to see the your point.

 

If I may extrapolate from your statement you are concerned with spending?  And the whole GOP thing was to stop this run away spending and ever increasing debt?  Correct me please if I am wrong.

 

By and by Government spending is down under Obama.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/24/think-obamas-a-huge-spender-then-you-need-to-see-these-two-charts/.  Furthermore if we would have continued down the road and potentially defaulted our credit rating would have gone down, thus increasing our costs to borrow money and thus spending more money on the interest to our debt.  

 

Simply asked was what the GOP worth it, and what did they get out of it?

[Guest Don Draper]

My company spent nearly $200 million "reorganizing" last year. My brain can't even wrap my head around that much money. And my department's name (one of three company-wide) changed, and we got new letterhead for the new name, but other than that I don't have a tangible, reasonable explanation for the cost.

[ih8music]

You know this shit really isn't necessary.

[Atticus]

the internet?

is that better?

[uncool2pillow]

\there's no reason to take teasing that seriously.

Once I figured that out, this place became a lot more enjoyable.

[Guest Don Draper]

I do fortune cookies sometimes.

[KevinG]

If you're in the mood for comparisons, then consider this: the national debt has increased by $3.5 billion each of the 1,730 days that President Obama has been in office. Two billion dollars is a drop in the bucket.

 

I was wrong when I said 2 billion.  Apparently Standard and Poor's puts the economic hit closer to 24 billion.  http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/16/news/economy/shutdown-economic-impact/

 

I wonder when the latest economic numbers come out and they are bad (or not as good) will blame the Administration.  

[KevinG]

So Hannity the other night brought out three couples to explain their Obamacare horror stories.  Except they are not true.

 

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/18/inside_the_fox_news_lie_machine_i_fact_checked_sean_hannity_on_obamacare/?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

 

Yes the rollout has been a mess, but if ACA is as bad as they say it is, can't they find some real stories?  

[uncool2pillow]

Yeah, Fox News is pretty much the equivalent of my retired family members who have nothing better to do than click "share" on unverified Facebook stories all day. 

[Hixter]

So Hannity the other night brought out three couples to explain their Obamacare horror stories.  Except they are not true.

 

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/18/inside_the_fox_news_lie_machine_i_fact_checked_sean_hannity_on_obamacare/?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

 

Yes the rollout has been a mess, but if ACA is as bad as they say it is, can't they find some real stories?  

It's not like the administration and its media devotees haven't been doing the same thing.

[KevinG]

It's not like the administration and its media devotees haven't been doing the same thing.

From reading the story it appears that yhe person in the story lied to get fame. The administration and media should have done more fact checking. The same goes for FoxNews. Both sides are so eager to make their case they aren't doing the necessary leg work.

 

But really two wrongs don't make a right.

[IRememberDBoon]

can someone explain to me why folks premiums would get higher by the private insurance market being more open and adding millions to its roles?? I just don't get the line of thought here.
Unless youre arguing that their work will drop them or something. Otherwise it doesn't seem to make any sense? Anyone?