Why aren't more discussions about blatant greed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're right. We're all focused on the horror this would potentially wreak on our lives that no one has the energy to see that the GOP is a bunch of lizard slugs.

I hope the Mercers and Kochs rot in stinking hell.

Hell would be too good for them.

They are just expressing their First Amendment rights like you are on this forum.

Buying elections is not "free speech."

MONEY IS NOT SPEECH.

When I, as a regular Joe, am trying to get my voice heard, but then some billionaire with a 10,000 watt PA system rolls up and completely drowns me out then my own free speech has effectively been denied. The rich should not be entitled to more voice and more say than anyone else.

We seriously need to fix campaign finance and lobbying, and get money out of politics.

Not the PP. Freedom of speech, as enshrined in the First Amendment, has nothing to do with the competition between you and the billionaire. Freedom of speech, as a Constitutional construct, means the government is not allowed to silence you unless it can demonstrate that it has a really, really good reason.

The rich are not "entitled" to more voice and more say than anyone else, but because they have more money than you than can choose to spend it on that speech. Just like they're not entitled to more property than you are, but they can buy more than you can. The only place where you are guaranteed the same electoral influence that they have is the ballot box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Dumb conspiracy theories?"

Um, puh-f*ckin-leeze.

Again, compare:

1.) Barack Obama, black guy, with a foreign sounding name, born in the US, with evidence that he was born in the US, and zero credible evidence he wasn't. Per polling done a few years ago, fully 45% of Republicans believed he wasn't born in the US and thought his citizenship was a huge issue.

2.) Ted Cruz, white guy, with a foreign name (Cruz), NOT born in the US (born in Canada), authentic Canadian birth certificate produced, and yet virtually 0% of those exact same Republicans thought his citizenship was an issue.

Wanna explain that one to us?

Obama and Cruz are both bi-racial. And Cruz did face questions about his eligibility to run for President. It came up during one of the GOP debates. Cruz also had to sue to get onto the ballot in PA because a voter raised a question about whether he was a natural born citizen.

I have no idea why some conspiracy theories take off and others do not get very far in the public imagination.

As I understand it, the conspiracy theory about Obama was that his mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant with him and later forged his birth certificate to indicate he was born in the United States. What does that have to do with race?

The ancestors of most black Americans were involuntarily brought to the United States centuries ago. No one has questioned their citizenship since the 1860s. Jesse Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Herman Cain, and Dr. Ben Carson all ran for President without any issue about their eligibility to run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Dumb conspiracy theories?"

Um, puh-f*ckin-leeze.

Again, compare:

1.) Barack Obama, black guy, with a foreign sounding name, born in the US, with evidence that he was born in the US, and zero credible evidence he wasn't. Per polling done a few years ago, fully 45% of Republicans believed he wasn't born in the US and thought his citizenship was a huge issue.

2.) Ted Cruz, white guy, with a foreign name (Cruz), NOT born in the US (born in Canada), authentic Canadian birth certificate produced, and yet virtually 0% of those exact same Republicans thought his citizenship was an issue.

Wanna explain that one to us?

Obama and Cruz are both bi-racial. And Cruz did face questions about his eligibility to run for President. It came up during one of the GOP debates. Cruz also had to sue to get onto the ballot in PA because a voter raised a question about whether he was a natural born citizen.

I have no idea why some conspiracy theories take off and others do not get very far in the public imagination.

As I understand it, the conspiracy theory about Obama was that his mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant with him and later forged his birth certificate to indicate he was born in the United States. What does that have to do with race?

The ancestors of most black Americans were involuntarily brought to the United States centuries ago. No one has questioned their citizenship since the 1860s. Jesse Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Herman Cain, and Dr. Ben Carson all ran for President without any issue about their eligibility to run.

Hey, if this argument is what it takes for you to feel like your support for the birther movement didn't make you a racist, go on and be happy.

Pretty much everyone else who didn't support the birther movement believes it was racist, and there's actually a legitimate research study associating birther movement with racist attitudes. Feel free to cite your scientific study that counters it.

[Anonymous]

Greed: like $60 million dollars for 2 books?

How does that make sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Dumb conspiracy theories?"

Um, puh-f*ckin-leeze.

Again, compare:

1.) Barack Obama, black guy, with a foreign sounding name, born in the US, with evidence that he was born in the US, and zero credible evidence he wasn't. Per polling done a few years ago, fully 45% of Republicans believed he wasn't born in the US and thought his citizenship was a huge issue.

2.) Ted Cruz, white guy, with a foreign name (Cruz), NOT born in the US (born in Canada), authentic Canadian birth certificate produced, and yet virtually 0% of those exact same Republicans thought his citizenship was an issue.

Wanna explain that one to us?

Obama and Cruz are both bi-racial. And Cruz did face questions about his eligibility to run for President. It came up during one of the GOP debates. Cruz also had to sue to get onto the ballot in PA because a voter raised a question about whether he was a natural born citizen.

I have no idea why some conspiracy theories take off and others do not get very far in the public imagination.

As I understand it, the conspiracy theory about Obama was that his mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant with him and later forged his birth certificate to indicate he was born in the United States. What does that have to do with race?

The ancestors of most black Americans were involuntarily brought to the United States centuries ago. No one has questioned their citizenship since the 1860s. Jesse Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Herman Cain, and Dr. Ben Carson all ran for President without any issue about their eligibility to run.

Cruz saw NOTHING like what Obama had to deal with for his entire Presidency. Not to mention, that Cruz is the only one of the two who *actually was* born in a foreign country. Major double standard. Question the living crap out of the black guy but give the white guy a pass. Typical double standard. Typical profiling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're right. We're all focused on the horror this would potentially wreak on our lives that no one has the energy to see that the GOP is a bunch of lizard slugs.

I hope the Mercers and Kochs rot in stinking hell.

Hell would be too good for them.

They are just expressing their First Amendment rights like you are on this forum.

Buying elections is not "free speech."

MONEY IS NOT SPEECH.

When I, as a regular Joe, am trying to get my voice heard, but then some billionaire with a 10,000 watt PA system rolls up and completely drowns me out then my own free speech has effectively been denied. The rich should not be entitled to more voice and more say than anyone else.

We seriously need to fix campaign finance and lobbying, and get money out of politics.

Not the PP. Freedom of speech, as enshrined in the First Amendment, has nothing to do with the competition between you and the billionaire. Freedom of speech, as a Constitutional construct, means the government is not allowed to silence you unless it can demonstrate that it has a really, really good reason.

The rich are not "entitled" to more voice and more say than anyone else, but because they have more money than you than can choose to spend it on that speech. Just like they're not entitled to more property than you are, but they can buy more than you can. The only place where you are guaranteed the same electoral influence that they have is the ballot box.

I strongly disagree.

In effect, my government DOES silence me, because most members of the House and Senate wouldn't listen to me unless I brought a check with a five digit number written on it.

And that is a fact. A very sad one.

We need to get money OUT of politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you can't call the man who spent 8 years insisting that the first black President wasn't born in the US a racist without people dismissing you as a far-left liberal loon...exactly how far do you think a discussion calling Republicans greedy is going to go?

What does insisting that a person wasn't born in the U.S. have to do with racism?

I liked Obama, and voted for him, and I don't care where he was born, but I've honestly wondered the same thing. I keep seeing people just reflexively call birtherism "racist." It just seems symptomatic of the increasingly broad overuse of the term to label basically any stupid comment that a white male says. Birtherism may have been wrong and pointless, but it wasn't racist.

I agree but I think some folks thought Trump was questioning Obama's legitimacy. That is not racist by itself but a lot of folks felt like they had to defend Obama. Now Trump's legitimacy is being questioned due to unproven conspiracy theories about Russian collusion. So, Obama boosters are getting payback.

It was a cheap tactic used anytime Obama was criticized. One common retort was something along the line of 'you can't stand that a black man is in the WH'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Dumb conspiracy theories?"

Um, puh-f*ckin-leeze.

Again, compare:

1.) Barack Obama, black guy, with a foreign sounding name, born in the US, with evidence that he was born in the US, and zero credible evidence he wasn't. Per polling done a few years ago, fully 45% of Republicans believed he wasn't born in the US and thought his citizenship was a huge issue.

2.) Ted Cruz, white guy, with a foreign name (Cruz), NOT born in the US (born in Canada), authentic Canadian birth certificate produced, and yet virtually 0% of those exact same Republicans thought his citizenship was an issue.

Wanna explain that one to us?

Obama and Cruz are both bi-racial. And Cruz did face questions about his eligibility to run for President. It came up during one of the GOP debates. Cruz also had to sue to get onto the ballot in PA because a voter raised a question about whether he was a natural born citizen.

I have no idea why some conspiracy theories take off and others do not get very far in the public imagination.

As I understand it, the conspiracy theory about Obama was that his mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant with him and later forged his birth certificate to indicate he was born in the United States. What does that have to do with race?

The ancestors of most black Americans were involuntarily brought to the United States centuries ago. No one has questioned their citizenship since the 1860s. Jesse Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Herman Cain, and Dr. Ben Carson all ran for President without any issue about their eligibility to run.

Good point.

As for the first three on your list, horrible options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Do you really honestly believe that a coal miner should pay the same taxes as a corporate CEO? really???

I believe everyone should pay the same percentage.

Thataway, when it comes to government waste and spending, everyone realizes, "Hey! this is not going to be free. Maybe I should think if the country really needs this."

Yeah, so much for the Barackster's "skin in the game". Never did materialize, did it.

[Anonymous]

We have way too many people getting a free ride today, and way too many people gaming the system. Flat tax goes a long way towards fixing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're right. We're all focused on the horror this would potentially wreak on our lives that no one has the energy to see that the GOP is a bunch of lizard slugs.

I hope the Mercers and Kochs rot in stinking hell.

Hell would be too good for them.

They are just expressing their First Amendment rights like you are on this forum.

Buying elections is not "free speech."

MONEY IS NOT SPEECH.

When I, as a regular Joe, am trying to get my voice heard, but then some billionaire with a 10,000 watt PA system rolls up and completely drowns me out then my own free speech has effectively been denied. The rich should not be entitled to more voice and more say than anyone else.

We seriously need to fix campaign finance and lobbying, and get money out of politics.

THIS!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Evil rich vs. poor. Divide and conquer. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything in the current GOP's platform designed around anything other than more dollars in the pocket of big business and billionaires?

I feel like all the conversation about policy minutiae (is climate change real? how do we fund high-risk pools?) are completely pointless, because the decisions are driven by cost-cutting for business and the possiblity of lower taxes for very rich people.

Let's just get it out in the open.

because it seems like the entire educated elite class has abandoned ethics for greed, the fight is not democrat or republican.

The few managers at my current company, that I know well, are polished liars, devoid of normal human emotion. In fact the key to success is the ability to keep a poker face while lying to employees.

http://www.newsweek.com/2017/04/14/harvard-business-school-financial-crisis-economics-578378.html

Greed has nothing to do with political party, race, sex, or any other category. It is very easy to be generous with other people's income. That's the model of the Democratic party. The Republicans push back on that to make the income redistribution a little less severe. But rich people pay plenty in taxes and way more than they get from the Government in services and entitlements.

If you are saying the Republicans are unduly influenced by [rich] donors, that's a fair point. You could make the same point about Democrats.

We ought to strongly consider moving to a consumption tax. The rich would still pay more because they buy more goods.

As long as we have a rigid 2 party system, nothing is going to change.

This is naive. A full accounting would note that public resources dis-proportionally go to the rich: that's WHY they're rich. If you're struggling to see this, understand that the one group reliably has the ear of the politicians: the rich. And don't think for one minute the rich have altruism on their minds when they court politicians.

+1. Sure they don't get entitlemets, but they benefit greatly from the (more or less) educated workforce that years of public education provides, from all the international diplomacy that the State Dept and our trade negotiators do, from the tourism that our safe cities and national parks generate, and so on.

The idea that rich don't benefit from the (paltry) taxes they pay is unbelievably smug and short-sighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Dumb conspiracy theories?"

Um, puh-f*ckin-leeze.

Again, compare:

1.) Barack Obama, black guy, with a foreign sounding name, born in the US, with evidence that he was born in the US, and zero credible evidence he wasn't. Per polling done a few years ago, fully 45% of Republicans believed he wasn't born in the US and thought his citizenship was a huge issue.

2.) Ted Cruz, white guy, with a foreign name (Cruz), NOT born in the US (born in Canada), authentic Canadian birth certificate produced, and yet virtually 0% of those exact same Republicans thought his citizenship was an issue.

Wanna explain that one to us?

Obama and Cruz are both bi-racial. And Cruz did face questions about his eligibility to run for President. It came up during one of the GOP debates. Cruz also had to sue to get onto the ballot in PA because a voter raised a question about whether he was a natural born citizen.

I have no idea why some conspiracy theories take off and others do not get very far in the public imagination.

As I understand it, the conspiracy theory about Obama was that his mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant with him and later forged his birth certificate to indicate he was born in the United States. What does that have to do with race?

The ancestors of most black Americans were involuntarily brought to the United States centuries ago. No one has questioned their citizenship since the 1860s. Jesse Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Herman Cain, and Dr. Ben Carson all ran for President without any issue about their eligibility to run.

Hey, if this argument is what it takes for you to feel like your support for the birther movement didn't make you a racist, go on and be happy.

Pretty much everyone else who didn't support the birther movement believes it was racist, and there's actually a legitimate research study associating birther movement with racist attitudes. Feel free to cite your scientific study that counters it.

I did not support the birther movement nor do I think it was racist. Perhaps there was some xenophobia or otherism involved as other posters have pointed out. When people cry wolf about racism, it takes away the impact of using the term when it really applies.

The earlier poster was citing an article about a study in which someone set out to prove that racism was a factor in birtherism. That study has the same flaw as your post. If someone believes that Obama's mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant and later forged his birth certificate, that has nothing to do with Obama being black.

There also was a scientific study that concluded that vaccines caused autism. Lots of people believed that. Don't believe something just because it was in a study, or in a newspaper article about a study. There was a good article in slate.com about this recently. Lots of studies are garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Dumb conspiracy theories?"

Um, puh-f*ckin-leeze.

Again, compare:

1.) Barack Obama, black guy, with a foreign sounding name, born in the US, with evidence that he was born in the US, and zero credible evidence he wasn't. Per polling done a few years ago, fully 45% of Republicans believed he wasn't born in the US and thought his citizenship was a huge issue.

2.) Ted Cruz, white guy, with a foreign name (Cruz), NOT born in the US (born in Canada), authentic Canadian birth certificate produced, and yet virtually 0% of those exact same Republicans thought his citizenship was an issue.

Wanna explain that one to us?

Obama and Cruz are both bi-racial. And Cruz did face questions about his eligibility to run for President. It came up during one of the GOP debates. Cruz also had to sue to get onto the ballot in PA because a voter raised a question about whether he was a natural born citizen.

I have no idea why some conspiracy theories take off and others do not get very far in the public imagination.

As I understand it, the conspiracy theory about Obama was that his mother traveled outside the United States when she was pregnant with him and later forged his birth certificate to indicate he was born in the United States. What does that have to do with race?

The ancestors of most black Americans were involuntarily brought to the United States centuries ago. No one has questioned their citizenship since the 1860s. Jesse Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Herman Cain, and Dr. Ben Carson all ran for President without any issue about their eligibility to run.

Cruz saw NOTHING like what Obama had to deal with for his entire Presidency. Not to mention, that Cruz is the only one of the two who *actually was* born in a foreign country. Major double standard. Question the living crap out of the black guy but give the white guy a pass. Typical double standard. Typical profiling.

Obama did not seem threatened by birtherism at all. He told jokes about it. You do not need to protect him, even now. Obama made a lot of tough decisions as President, and is a strong man. It is condescending that mostly white liberals seem to feel like they have to look out for their guy and shield him from criticism or attacks. Obama can handle himself quite well.