Page 394 of 2085 FirstFirst ... 2943443843923933943953964044444948941394 ... LastLast
Results 3,931 to 3,940 of 20841

Thread: Politics Thread

  1. #3931
    All-Conference Juice's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    8,837
    Quote Originally Posted by boozehound View Post
    Come on. You guys are (presumably) intelligent individuals. Those are all examples of dictatorships that happen to be 'socialist' but are, first and foremost, dictatorships. If you guys really don't see the difference between Maduro, Lenin, Mao, et al. and Canada (for example) I don't know how you get through your daily lives without sticking a fork in an electrical socket or eating a rock.

    There are many examples in Western Europe, and elsewhere, of the type of Socialism that is generally being advocated for and it is far less stark of a picture than a socialist dictatorship.

    And yes, I know that some of the jackoff candidates on the left are advocating for some pretty crazy shit, but they are probably just going to end up with Biden because Elizabeth Warren and Bernie are nutso and there aren't enough people that actualyl want a socialist government anyways.

    People who are concerned about Venezuela should be more worried about Trump attempting to break down many of the checks and balances that have traditionally protected us from authoritarianism - that is the real threat. There are plenty of right wing dictatorships throughout history that generally don't look much different than the left wing ones.
    Like a non-independent FBI investigating an elected president because they don't like his politics? Or presidential candidates who have brought up the idea of adding Supreme Court justices because they don't like the current makeup of the court?

  2. #3932
    Supporting Member noteggs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    3,573
    Interesting article about is Sweden a Socialist country. Good stats surprising on much personal income taxes vs corporate.

    Disclaimer: article is from a right leaning group that also has libertarian beliefs on social issues.

    https://fee.org/articles/is-sweden-socialist-no-but/

  3. #3933
    Supporting Member bobbiemcgee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    11,440
    Robert Mueller ( a Republican) said William Barr (a Republican) did not accurately describe the context, nature or substance of the Russian probe.
    Looks like trump keeps hiring the liars like him.
    2023 Sweet 16

  4. #3934
    All-Conference Juice's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    8,837
    Quote Originally Posted by bobbiemcgee View Post
    Robert Mueller ( a Republican) said William Barr (a Republican) did not accurately describe the context, nature or substance of the Russian probe.
    Looks like trump keeps hiring the liars like him.
    Fake news.

    Key sentence in the report: "When Barr pressed [Mueller] whether [Mueller] thought Barr’s letter was inaccurate, Mueller said he did not, but felt that the media coverage of the letter was misinterpreting the investigation, officials said."
    Mueller had issues with the media coverage, not Barr.

  5. #3935
    Supporting Member noteggs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    3,573
    Quote Originally Posted by boozehound View Post
    People who are concerned about Venezuela should be more worried about Trump attempting to break down many of the checks and balances that have traditionally protected us from authoritarianism - that is the real threat. There are plenty of right wing dictatorships throughout history that generally don't look much different than the left wing ones.
    Where I agree Booze is the authoritarian behaviors from both presidential parties (past and current ) in the US and checks/balance stuff (not sure that was your point but that’s what I read into it). Think checks and balances was one of most important and genius part of our constitution.

    Unfortunately, socialism programs have added a huge debt to all countries. What is the biggest part of the 22 million debt in the US? Well over half our spending is on socialist programs. IMO, the government doesn’t have wherewithal to handle more social programs let alone control the ones we have.

  6. #3936
    Supporting Member paulxu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    20,260
    "Socialism," this election cycle's "Muslims" or "Mexicans."

    Need to keep stoking the fear of the other.
    ...he went up late, and I was already up there.

  7. #3937
    Senior Strange Brew's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Denver, Co
    Posts
    6,255
    Quote Originally Posted by paulxu View Post
    "Socialism," this election cycle's "Muslims" or "Mexicans."

    Need to keep stoking the fear of the other.
    The Russians are coming!!!! Haha.

  8. #3938
    Supporting Member bobbiemcgee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    11,440
    Quote Originally Posted by Juice View Post
    Fake news.



    Mueller had issues with the media coverage, not Barr.
    Your quoting a phone call Barr says he had with Mueller. No transcript. Nobody knows what he said exactly, Fox Fake and Friends oddly said they exact same thing you did this morning.
    2023 Sweet 16

  9. #3939
    All-Conference Juice's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    8,837
    Quote Originally Posted by bobbiemcgee View Post
    Your quoting a phone call Barr says he had with Mueller. No transcript. Nobody knows what he said exactly, Fox Fake and Friends oddly said they exact same thing you did this morning.
    Don't watch cable news so maybe they were reading similar shit. Well then Mueller can testify and explain what the hell he meant. This is all based on alleged conversations anyways so I don't know why that suddenly doesn't work for you.

  10. #3940
    Supporting Member boozehound's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    6,554
    Quote Originally Posted by noteggs View Post
    Where I agree Booze is the authoritarian behaviors from both presidential parties (past and current ) in the US and checks/balance stuff (not sure that was your point but that’s what I read into it). Think checks and balances was one of most important and genius part of our constitution.

    Unfortunately, socialism programs have added a huge debt to all countries. What is the biggest part of the 22 million debt in the US? Well over half our spending is on socialist programs. IMO, the government doesn’t have wherewithal to handle more social programs let alone control the ones we have.
    I think this is sort of true, but to fairly consider government spending against Medicare, SSI, and Medicaid (the programs you are referencing that account for just over 50% of the federal budget) I do think you need to consider the taxes the government collects that are directly related to those programs.

    For example: Of the $3.8T that the federal government spends I believe a little over $1T comes from Social Security and Medicare taxes. We spend about $2.3T per year on the aforementioned programs, so the real 'unfunded' annual burden is $1.3T.

    I'm personally against socialism as a governmental system and the 'free stuff' mentality, but I'm also against gross income inequality and I do believe that the purpose of the government is to provide a basic safety net in some instances, as well as to promote behavior that is good for the nation as a whole.

    To the end, I'm in favor of steps to significantly reduce tuition costs, but I'm not for 'free college'. College need to be affordable so that we have an educated populous, but people should have 'skin in the game'. We should also offer significant incentives for people to be trained in fields that are likely to benefit the US economy over the long term. This would allow for wages for Americans.

    I also think that the lottery we force many people to play with Healthcare costs is a problem that should be addressed. I'll give you an example: My son had a seizure a few months ago and went to the hospital in an ambulance (he has been fine since, but it was terrifying at the time). He was treated and released same day and received very little care outside of the ambulance ride, and I have good insurance. I had to pay $1500 out of pocket for the whole thing. Fortunately that amount of money is non consequential for me, but for the average American wage earner that would be a big deal.
    Eat Donuts!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •