Would the USA be more "mom-friendly" if we got rid of Republicans?

[Anonymous]

Republicans and Democrats are the same. Stop being blind idiots and falling for this us. vs. them.

[Anonymous]

<i>You do realize that those countries also have sky high unemployment rates b/c they can't retain any multinational businesses and b/c imports are SOOO much cheaper than exports. So no manufacturing jobs, etc. </i>

This is nothing but assumed wisdom. Perhaps you could make an argument here. Are you saying that the fundamentals of the labor market in the US is significantly better for the average person than in Germany? Or France? Or even the UK?

It ain't. And western european productivity--which was the final refuge of the "Europe is broken" gang--has been slowly rising to meet the US level over the last couple of decades.

In other words, what you're asserting (i.e. that real vacation time, hour restrictions, and health care) isn't backed by evidence.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone is 9.5 in Q3 of 2010. In the US it was 9.6. The sky-high unemployment rate of some Western european countries has more to do with our being a world reserve currency and countries like Greece or Ireland not having that luxury than it does with social policy.

One thing that you can bet on, though, is that 9.5% unemployment in a country like France or Germany is a Hell of a lot less corrosive to families, children, and the general fabric of society than is 9.6% unemployment in the US, where we've bought the lie that economic misfortune is the result of a failure of personal virtue.

We've turned into a nation of Mr Potters. And we're damned proud of that fact. And the modern GOP has led us to this state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Republicans and Democrats are the same. Stop being blind idiots and falling for this us. vs. them.

This belies a profound ignorance of the world. The GOP and the Dems may be equally wrong, but only an idiot would argue that they're "both the same".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:<i>You do realize that those countries also have sky high unemployment rates b/c they can't retain any multinational businesses and b/c imports are SOOO much cheaper than exports. So no manufacturing jobs, etc. </i>

This is nothing but assumed wisdom. Perhaps you could make an argument here. Are you saying that the fundamentals of the labor market in the US is significantly better for the average person than in Germany? Or France? Or even the UK?

It ain't. And western european productivity--which was the final refuge of the "Europe is broken" gang--has been slowly rising to meet the US level over the last couple of decades.

In other words, what you're asserting (i.e. that real vacation time, hour restrictions, and health care) isn't backed by evidence.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone is 9.5 in Q3 of 2010. In the US it was 9.6. The sky-high unemployment rate of some Western european countries has more to do with our being a world reserve currency and countries like Greece or Ireland not having that luxury than it does with social policy.

One thing that you can bet on, though, is that 9.5% unemployment in a country like France or Germany is a Hell of a lot less corrosive to families, children, and the general fabric of society than is 9.6% unemployment in the US, where we've bought the lie that economic misfortune is the result of a failure of personal virtue.

We've turned into a nation of Mr Potters. And we're damned proud of that fact. And the modern GOP has led us to this state.

According to the EU data, your assertion that the EU is catching up in productivity is not correct. Our productivity went up during the financial crisis. Theirs went down.

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/eie/chap1-2-2-page-8_en.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about if we just let the South secede after all? I mean, they can take all the rabid Republicans and their policies that lead to those states having the highest levels of poverty, divorce, obesity, teen pregnancy etc...Add to that no environmental regulations, no health care and see how they all fare.

Yep. Thanks for a breath of sanity. There may be Republicans in the North, and Democrats in the South. But you're dreaming if you think we wouldn't be a much, much more decent and better country if we didn't have the racist Cotton Belt lunatics dragging us rightward in every electoral cycle. There are "conservatives" in Canada, too, but they somehow manage to have a much less depraved, debased, and Hobbesian culture. Like most Western countries other than the US. Get rid of the South; it's our nation's id.

As of today there are 22 right-to-work states and 28 union-shop states. Over the past decade (2000-09) the right-to-work states grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts: 54.6% versus 41.1% in gross state product, 53.3% versus 40.6% in personal income, 11.9% versus 6.1% in population, and 4.1% versus -0.6% in payrolls.

For years, unions argued that right-to-work laws were bad for workers and for the states that passed them. But with the NLRB complaint, they've essentially thrown in the towel. If forced unionism is better for the economy of a state, why would the NLRB need to intervene to keep Boeing from leaving Washington? Why aren't businesses and workers moving operations to heavily unionized places like Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and fleeing states like Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas?

In reality, the stampede of businesses from forced-union states like Washington has accelerated in recent years. A 2010 study in the Cato Journal by economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University found that between 2000 and 2008 4.8 million Americans moved from forced-union states to right-to-work states. That's one person every minute of every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about if we just let the South secede after all? I mean, they can take all the rabid Republicans and their policies that lead to those states having the highest levels of poverty, divorce, obesity, teen pregnancy etc...Add to that no environmental regulations, no health care and see how they all fare.

Yep. Thanks for a breath of sanity. There may be Republicans in the North, and Democrats in the South. But you're dreaming if you think we wouldn't be a much, much more decent and better country if we didn't have the racist Cotton Belt lunatics dragging us rightward in every electoral cycle. There are "conservatives" in Canada, too, but they somehow manage to have a much less depraved, debased, and Hobbesian culture. Like most Western countries other than the US. Get rid of the South; it's our nation's id.

As of today there are 22 right-to-work states and 28 union-shop states. Over the past decade (2000-09) the right-to-work states grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts: 54.6% versus 41.1% in gross state product, 53.3% versus 40.6% in personal income, 11.9% versus 6.1% in population, and 4.1% versus -0.6% in payrolls.

For years, unions argued that right-to-work laws were bad for workers and for the states that passed them. But with the NLRB complaint, they've essentially thrown in the towel. If forced unionism is better for the economy of a state, why would the NLRB need to intervene to keep Boeing from leaving Washington? Why aren't businesses and workers moving operations to heavily unionized places like Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and fleeing states like Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas?

In reality, the stampede of businesses from forced-union states like Washington has accelerated in recent years. A 2010 study in the Cato Journal by economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University found that between 2000 and 2008 4.8 million Americans moved from forced-union states to right-to-work states. That's one person every minute of every day.

They grew because they started from such a low point. Unfortunately it isn't a recipe for success, because industries that chase low wages ended up going overseas.

Selective statistics are deceptive, as are the migration statistics. Look at the same numbers while pulling out retirees.

[Anonymous]

look at any measure, southern states are killing the north economically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:look at any measure, southern states are killing the north economically.

You have got to be kidding. How about per capita GDP? Louisiana and Texas are the only ones to break into the top 25. I suppose you could count Virginia as a southern state. But even then it's 22 to 3.

Ruh roh.

[Anonymous]

If we did everything the democrats wanted to do, we would be out of money!!!! They have the give-a-way program...they give away too much money for nothing...we give unemployment for 2 years? We can't afford our healthcare today and now want to give it away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:<i>You do realize that those countries also have sky high unemployment rates b/c they can't retain any multinational businesses and b/c imports are SOOO much cheaper than exports. So no manufacturing jobs, etc. </i>

This is nothing but assumed wisdom. Perhaps you could make an argument here. Are you saying that the fundamentals of the labor market in the US is significantly better for the average person than in Germany? Or France? Or even the UK?

It ain't. And western european productivity--which was the final refuge of the "Europe is broken" gang--has been slowly rising to meet the US level over the last couple of decades.

In other words, what you're asserting (i.e. that real vacation time, hour restrictions, and health care) isn't backed by evidence.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone is 9.5 in Q3 of 2010. In the US it was 9.6. The sky-high unemployment rate of some Western european countries has more to do with our being a world reserve currency and countries like Greece or Ireland not having that luxury than it does with social policy.

One thing that you can bet on, though, is that 9.5% unemployment in a country like France or Germany is a Hell of a lot less corrosive to families, children, and the general fabric of society than is 9.6% unemployment in the US, where we've bought the lie that economic misfortune is the result of a failure of personal virtue.

We've turned into a nation of Mr Potters. And we're damned proud of that fact. And the modern GOP has led us to this state.

The one thing liberals have trouble accepting is victory. We live in a multi-trillion dollar a year welfare state. They way you talk one would believe the year was 1932. Defense makes up 22% of the Federal budget. Interest on the debt is 9%. The other 69% is the welfare state. That doesn't include the welfare componentts of states , cities and counties which of course spend nothing on national defense. If the country is so horrible to live in, one would have to conclude that the welfare state has been a failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...
The one thing liberals have trouble accepting is victory. We live in a multi-trillion dollar a year welfare state. They way you talk one would believe the year was 1932. Defense makes up 22% of the Federal budget. Interest on the debt is 9%. The other 69% is the welfare state. That doesn't include the welfare componentts of states , cities and counties which of course spend nothing on national defense. If the country is so horrible to live in, one would have to conclude that the welfare state has been a failure.

Liberals and conservatives both have trouble with the fact that facts are not facts, but perceptions, and usually exaggerated, at that. Such as calling the US a welfare state when there is no universal medical care or social insurance, but rather pale stabs at easing the travails of the poor. I suppose we liberals do our own exaggerating, at least in your eyes, but of course we don't see it that way. It might help if we did not talk about each other as though we are enemy tribes rather than fellow Americans who, in our own ways, want the best for the country.

[Anonymous]

We have an expensive government. We don't have anything as comprehensive, or even as efficient, as a welfare state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about if we just let the South secede after all? I mean, they can take all the rabid Republicans and their policies that lead to those states having the highest levels of poverty, divorce, obesity, teen pregnancy etc...Add to that no environmental regulations, no health care and see how they all fare.

Yep. Thanks for a breath of sanity. There may be Republicans in the North, and Democrats in the South. But you're dreaming if you think we wouldn't be a much, much more decent and better country if we didn't have the racist Cotton Belt lunatics dragging us rightward in every electoral cycle. There are "conservatives" in Canada, too, but they somehow manage to have a much less depraved, debased, and Hobbesian culture. Like most Western countries other than the US. Get rid of the South; it's our nation's id.

As of today there are 22 right-to-work states and 28 union-shop states. Over the past decade (2000-09) the right-to-work states grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts: 54.6% versus 41.1% in gross state product, 53.3% versus 40.6% in personal income, 11.9% versus 6.1% in population, and 4.1% versus -0.6% in payrolls.

For years, unions argued that right-to-work laws were bad for workers and for the states that passed them. But with the NLRB complaint, they've essentially thrown in the towel. If forced unionism is better for the economy of a state, why would the NLRB need to intervene to keep Boeing from leaving Washington? Why aren't businesses and workers moving operations to heavily unionized places like Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and fleeing states like Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas?

In reality, the stampede of businesses from forced-union states like Washington has accelerated in recent years. A 2010 study in the Cato Journal by economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University found that between 2000 and 2008 4.8 million Americans moved from forced-union states to right-to-work states. That's one person every minute of every day.

They grew because they started from such a low point. Unfortunately it isn't a recipe for success, because industries that chase low wages ended up going overseas.

Selective statistics are deceptive, as are the migration statistics. Look at the same numbers while pulling out retirees.

Do you view Porsche's recent news about Georgia as a deceptive, selective statistic? Porsche Cars North America is planning to consolidate several of its U.S. operations at a new $100 million complex in the Atlanta area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I couldn't live in a country where everyone is on vacations for 2 months a year and where working long hours is illegal.

Hell, I could. A happy--and healthy--workforce is a productive workforce.

But hey! As long as billionaire oil barons get their subsidies, America can remain strong--right? With its angry, depressed, sick and poorly educated workers. Right? RIGHT? And just to make sure a whole lot more can join the ranks, let's defund Planned Parenthood in every state!

USA! USA! USA!

GREECE. This is there world, and they are going to hell in a hand basket. Why should anyone pay for you to be a mom. If you need support, do not have children. I stay at home and gave up a 100K job to do it. Did not expect Uncle Sam to step up so I could keep my lifestyle going. Our country does the best it can to protect our children. Have you every lived any where else? Maybe other than letting you sit on your ass and get paid for it, we are way better at protecting our children. Go to a playground in another country, or just look at the car seats in Europe. they are not even 5 points, if someone decide to use it, up to them. I have seen children younger than two hanging out of windows in many countries because it is okay over there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I couldn't live in a country where everyone is on vacations for 2 months a year and where working long hours is illegal.

Hell, I could. A happy--and healthy--workforce is a productive workforce.

But hey! As long as billionaire oil barons get their subsidies, America can remain strong--right? With its angry, depressed, sick and poorly educated workers. Right? RIGHT? And just to make sure a whole lot more can join the ranks, let's defund Planned Parenthood in every state!

USA! USA! USA!

GREECE. This is their world, and they are going to hell in a hand basket. Why should anyone pay for you to be a mom. If you need support, do not have children. I stay at home and gave up a 100K job to do it. Did not expect Uncle Sam to step up so I could keep my lifestyle going. Our country does the best it can to protect our children. Have you every lived any where else? Maybe other than letting you sit on your ass and get paid for it, we are way better at protecting our children. Go to a playground in another country, or just look at the car seats in Europe. they are not even 5 points, if someone decide to use it, up to them. I have seen children younger than two hanging out of windows in many countries because it is okay over there!