US POLITICS SPRING 2011: Let's just call off this country.

the question was 'doesn't he know this will ruin people's lives?' i don't think the answer is that hard to come up with!

people who aren't rich already aren't people

There's always a lot of rightwing anger displayed in comment sections of websites at those poor people who don't pay taxes. The nerve of them not making enough money to pay taxes. They must be living it up somehow.

the rich people who don't pay taxes, otoh

moody's: quit fucking around

WASHINGTON — Moody’s Investors Service warned on Thursday that it might downgrade the nation’s sterling credit rating if Congress does not increase the nation’s debt limit “in coming weeks,” putting a spur to sputtering talks between party leaders and the White House to reach agreement on a long-term deficit-reduction plan.

republicans - "yeah, quit fucking around!"
democrats - "yeah, quit fucking around!"
obama - "yeah, quit fucking around!"
public - "yeah, quit fucking around!"

keyboard cat - "yeah, quit fucking around!"

has congress ever really fought over the debt ceiling? i remember symbolic teeth-gnashing, but nothing like this

It seems like whenever republicans get a really good midterm election (1994, 2010) they immediately piss away all of the public goodwill they had gathered. I was honestly very surprised they didn't go through with another government shutdown a few months ago (has it even been that long?)

Now they're just threatening the stability of the entire global economy. Good show, GOP!

Oh yeah and making "kill medicare" the new presidential campaign litmus test... thats gonna really GOTV with seniors.

It seems like whenever republicans Democrats get a really good midterm election (2006, 2008) they immediately piss away all of the public goodwill they had gathered

texas GOPs next offering: destroy austin

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/plan-splits-travis-among-5-u-s-house-1510688.html

literally!!!!

x-post

Soto, just curious which things the Dems pissed away their recent goodwill on? Do you think Dems should not have done health care or stimulus or financial regulation package or consumer agency or repeal of DADT or bailout of car companies or that they should have done them better and sold them better and gotten more midterm turnout ? Or do you think folks other than people here and ACLU and nonprofit group members care about Obama failures on civil liberties and climate change? Or are you talking about something else?

The Dems pissed away their good will by acting like Republicans. They weren't elected to resounding majorities in 2006 and 2008 to mimic the party that the public had grown tired of, but when so-called independents read, to take two examples, about troop deployments and backing away from closing Guatanamo, they rightly wonder, "What's the difference?"

to be fair, lots of the indies who voted for said majorities and Obama were disgruntled Republicans who have since returned home.

As I've said repeatedly, Republicans act like conservatives, to which I say amen and why not. Democrats run scared of the word "liberal" and hence look like they stand for nothing.

when so-called independents read about ... backing away from closing Guatanamo, they rightly wonder, "What's the difference?"

I don't think so. the percentage of the population that actually wants to see Gitmo closed, civilian trials, etc. is REALLY pathetically small.

texas GOPs next offering: destroy austin

love how the the statesman says it's 100 degrees fahrenheit down there in lonestar . . . on june 2. but there is no scientific evidence for global warming

last time I checked it was less than 20%, and that number has been shrinking ever since Obama's first day

xp

Because you guys act like we haven't had this discussion hundreds of time, here's other areas in which the Dems have recoiled from embracing their liberal roots: keeping Bush-era tax cuts, making abortion rights negotiable, and failing to attack Wall Street in any meaningful way.

love how the the statesman says it's 100 degrees fahrenheit down there in lonestar . . . on june 2. but there is no scientific evidence for global warming

uh I hate to break it to you but this isn't really how global warming should be judged/evaluated

xp

keeping Bush-era tax cuts, making abortion rights negotiable, and failing to attack Wall Street in any meaningful way.

agree 1 and 3 are no-brainers supported by solid majorities, not so sure about the 2nd one

I have a lot of respect for the suicidal tendencies of the modern GOP. Even when they're voted out of office, they still succeed in framing the issues their way and destroying social programs anyway.

how should global warming be evaluated shakey mo collier?

not so sure about the 2nd one

aerosmith to thread plz

wth that article doesn't talk about the weather

just noting how hot it is down there, as displayed on the paper's banner

how should global warming be evaluated shakey mo collier?

weather isn't climate. it should be evaluated across a significant area ("global" warming) and across a significant period of time.

Democrats acting weak once in office is not the same thing as threatening to shut down the government or refuse to raise the debt ceiling or pass a budget once in office. Apples and oranges IMO.

that's why on super hot days, it's not a good idea to point to it as evidence of climate change. because if you do, then on an exceptionally cold day, you would have to accept the arguments of those who point to it as evidence that global warming doesn't exist.

The difference between manner and consequences.

xpost

I'm sure it'll be back to 90º soon. Texas weather is diverse that way.

oh i've got javascript off, i don't see that stuff

anyway, that's not really the point. june 2 in texas is going to be hot regardless.

xps

weather isn't climate.

my offhand comment was alluding to how each summer in the us of a is hotter than the summer before it, and sooner. it was 90 degrees in brooklyn, too, yesterday, and that is not in texas, last time i checked

While doing research a couple of days ago, I saw a clip from one of the network news shows recorded during the '84 election cycle. An Ohio resident, unemployed since 1982, said he was going to vote for Reagan. When asked why, he said, quite reasonably, "I don't have a job yet but listening to Reagan I feel like things are gonna get better." Obama hasn't yet articulated why things will get better or how his ameliorative measures differ from the GOP's.

look i don't want to argue the point too much, but if you want something to hang a global warming argument on, a day in june in texas is not going to work.

now, can we talk about gerrymandering?

Even my mother has accepted that 'global warming' does not mean the weather where you are will get hotter all the time, thanks to the concept of 'climate change' being a perfectly serviceable summation of what's going on. Intellectually she knows that 'global warming' means the overall temp does go up, but using the term still makes her go LOLalgore in 2011.

interesting

id really rather not talk about gerrymandering but i am enjoying this conversation about weather

gonna be a long hot summer

it's quite a pile on

weather is srsly beautiful right now

not so sure about the 2nd one

aerosmith to thread plz

I was just alluding to the fact that at least half the country is a-okay with outlawing abortion outright.

x-post

When asked why, he said, quite reasonably, "I don't have a job yet but listening to Reagan I feel like things are gonna get better

I hated reading then and still dislike one-off anecedotes revolving around people wanting corny pep talks from their president. Obviously it worked to get Reagan elected, but substantively it was nonsense.

Obama hasn't yet articulated why things will get better or how his ameliorative measures differ from the GOP's.

Obama's watered down stimulus bill, support of DADT, financial regulation package, and lip-service to pro-choice policies, may not be liberal enough but they do differ from Republican anti-abortion measures, anti-regulation policies, the Ryan Medicare plan, etc.

support of repealing DADT

I hated reading then and still dislike one-off anecedotes revolving around people wanting corny pep talks from their president.

Well, that's part of the description since FDR, ain't it?

I don't have to like it though. And maybe President malaise Carter was right about the things he was negative about (environmental issues etc)

xpost -- Fireside Tweets.

The stimulus and repeal of DADT are substantive achievements. Hiring Timothy Geithner and playing kissy with Wall Street is not.

I don't have to like it though. And maybe President malaise Carter was right about the things he was negative about (environmental issues etc)

I don't like it either, but enough reading and contact with people who don't read enough history as you and I do has convinced me that we're in the minority, and perhaps deservedly.