What a crock of shit this fucking thing has turned into here.

 

First off, you have a fringe group within the Republican party playing these stupid games. Thinking that they are able to dictate what the hell happens in Washington because well, they feel like it. Big thanks to the American Taliban, aka the Tea Party.

 

My general thoughts:

 

1. The Republicans are morons because they let this insurgent group within their party dictate what they do.

2. The Democrats are morons because they caved to the insurgent group many times that nobody thought they would actually hold to their principles this time.

3. The American People are morons because even though Congress hasnt sniffed at 20% approval ratings in 5 years, the leadership continues to win re-election. "But its never my rep!!!"

 

This nation used to work nicely. Sure there were spirited debates up in Washington. That didnt prevent Congress from actually doing their jobs. Its radicalism at its worst. I dont know who blinks first and actually goes back to the tenents of their political party AND decide that my own radical principles doesnt actually produce results for the United States of America.

 

 

This Government Shutdown is stupid. But because some members of Congress basically played fuck you with the budget, it happened.

 

The debt ceiling is going to not end well. These horses asses in Washington will continue to play their moronic games and in the end the people left holding the bag full of shit is the American Public.

 

 

Furthermore, I for one find it beyond funny that the Republican Party as a whole are and have been playing this deficit game whereby they are crying about the nation spending too much money. The deficit has gone DOWN recently.

 

The deficit is so high due to:

 

a. funding two wars.

b. creating a bigger government (which is ironic as Republicans were in charge)

 

In the process lowering taxes.

 

Its kinda like trying to solve the problem after the hens have escaped from the henhouse.

 

 

Thoughts.

 

Comments.

 

Reaction.

Yes, our government is full of morons.

 

They are just spending the time to reassure you of that thought.

Are you just a troll, or do you actually believe all of the BS you spouted? You certainly don't seem to have even a passing acquaintance with facts or reality.

 

Republicans won the House in 2010 in a massive landslide because many voters were revolted by what was crammed down their throats under the guise of "health care reform."

 

This nation has not "worked nicely" for about 100 years -- the problems started when "progressives" like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson began their mischief. By 1965, thanks to FDR and LBJ most of the junk which has led to about 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities was in place. They had help over time from a bunch of mushy Republicans like Eisenhower, Nixon and both Bushes.

 

The only reason the deficit has gone down recently is the restraint imposed by the Republican House for the last 3 years. For instance, Jug Ears never thought they would allow sequestration to go into effect. He, as usual, was wrong.

 

Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started in '01 and '03 respectively. Bush's last deficit pre-"financial crisis" was 161 billion in FY '07 -- about 1% of GDP. Every dime of the $5 trillion explosion in debt since has been due to idiotic "stimulus" spending which stimulated nothing but government. And Republicans haven't been "in charge" since 2006.

 

I rather like the "shutdown" of a whopping 17% of government, perhaps we should try more of it. Shouldn't really be too hard to whack 20 or 30% out of bloated, wasteful federal spending. Interesting that the government admits that it has so many "non-essential" employees, isn't it?

 

Fire 'em all. And never pay any employee who was furloughed as "non-essential" for time they didn't work. Perhaps then they'll understand that that's a risk of working for the feds.

 

I also would prefer that the debt ceiling never be raised again. There's no danger of default, net interest is about 250 billion/year, total federal revenue is about 3.1 trillion. We can pay every dime of interest owed in our sleep.

 

Social Security is about 800 billion, Medicare and Medicaid are about 800 billion, defense is about 600 billion, the VA is about 100 billion. So, all that essentially mandatory stuff totals about 2.55 billion. Still plenty of money left over to fund a bunch of the rest of the stupid crap the federal government does.

 

Instant balanced budget. No more borrowing.

 

I also want the Republicans to back off trying to defund or delay any aspect of the Unaffordable Care Act. Let this train-wreck of a fustercluck roll on. 60% of the country already hates it, and by the time another year or two has gone by, 80% of the country will hate it after they find out that they have lost their coverage that they liked, or the doctor they liked isn't part of the network covered by their new coverage, or the cost of their coverage has gone up by 50 or 100 or 200% while providing lesser benefits, or they had their hours reduced, or they have lost their job entirely.

 

The fact that the idiot feds paid over 600 million for a website that doesn't work and will probably never work will be an afterthought when people detail why they hate the bill of goods they were sold with outright lies. (You can keep your coverage if you like it, you can keep your doctor if you like him, your premiums will go down 2,500/year, etc., etc., etc.)

 

That's when you repeal the pile of crap and enact market-based reforms.

Oh, and BTW, unless entitlements are reformed, they will eat up every dime the feds have to spend within the next 20-30 or so years. Social Security and particularly Medicare and Medicaid are out of control. Left as they are, there will be ZERO money available for any of the hundreds of other discretionary programs for the "children" or the "poor" or anyone else.

 

That's the $100 trillion unfunded liability elephant in the room that most Democrats don't want to talk about.

 

Relatively minor changes -- raise the retirement age gradually, change the COL formula, convert Medicare to something similar to Medicare Advantage (which the ACA is killing off, since it actually involves the private sector selling competing plans) and block-grant Medicaid to the states so that they can develop their own solutions -- would solve most of the problem.

 

I'd prefer that all 3 of them be completely privatized. When there is no free-market competition, you get nothing but higher prices, lower benefits, more waste and more bureaucracy. Enough of this centrally-planned crap.

What a crock of s*** this f***ing thing has turned into here.

 

First off, you have a fringe group within the Republican party playing these stupid games. Thinking that they are able to dictate what the hell happens in Washington because well, they feel like it. Big thanks to the American Taliban, aka the Tea Party.

 

My general thoughts:

 

1. The Republicans are morons because they let this insurgent group within their party dictate what they do.

2. The Democrats are morons because they caved to the insurgent group many times that nobody thought they would actually hold to their principles this time.

3. The American People are morons because even though Congress hasnt sniffed at 20% approval ratings in 5 years, the leadership continues to win re-election. "But its never my rep!!!"

 

This nation used to work nicely. Sure there were spirited debates up in Washington. That didnt prevent Congress from actually doing their jobs. Its radicalism at its worst. I dont know who blinks first and actually goes back to the tenents of their political party AND decide that my own radical principles doesnt actually produce results for the United States of America.

 

 

This Government Shutdown is stupid. But because some members of Congress basically played f*** you with the budget, it happened.

 

The debt ceiling is going to not end well. These horses asses in Washington will continue to play their moronic games and in the end the people left holding the bag full of s*** is the American Public.

 

 

Furthermore, I for one find it beyond funny that the Republican Party as a whole are and have been playing this deficit game whereby they are crying about the nation spending too much money. The deficit has gone DOWN recently.

 

The deficit is so high due to:

 

a. funding two wars.

b. creating a bigger government (which is ironic as Republicans were in charge)

 

In the process lowering taxes.

 

Its kinda like trying to solve the problem after the hens have escaped from the henhouse.

 

 

Thoughts.

 

Comments.

 

Reaction.

 

I think you're a moron for buying into that taliban/terrorist comparison that democrats have thrown around

I am amused that Representatives acting in the manner that they constituents demand is characterized as making a mockery of democracy.

I am amused that Representatives acting in the manner that they constituents demand is characterized as making a mockery of democracy.

 

 

Exactly. Those people were elected to obstruct the President. The irony in it all is that not obstructing the President because 'he's the President and he got elected!' would be a mockery to democracy. I lost count of how many idiots have said something along the lines of 'he's the President, so deal with it!' as if they actually believed that when Bush was President.

 

I think the current state of our country's general population is more disturbing than the current state of our elected officials, to be honest.

Exactly. Those people were elected to obstruct the President. The irony in it all is that not obstructing the President because 'he's the President and he got elected!' would be a mockery to democracy. I lost count of how many idiots have said something along the lines of 'he's the President, so deal with it!' as if they actually believed that when Bush was President.

 

It would moreover be a total mockery of our constitutional government.

 

And the foremost idiot is who? Who said to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor "I won. So I think on that one, I trump you."

 

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/01/i-won-president/

 

The comment was also quoted as "Elections have consequences,� the president reportedly told Cantor, “and, Eric, I won."

 

http://nymag.com/news/politics/eric-cantor-2011-10/

 

That comment, "I won," in whatever formulation was from a guy who was a constitutional law "lecturer" (he's never been a professor of anything, anywhere) and the editor of the Harvard Law Review who never wrote an article published by the HLR or any other law publication.

 

Absolutely unbelievable, unless it's the comment of a narcissist who not only thinks he knows better than you, me and everyone else, but thinks he can do no wrong under any circumstances.

 

Of course his sycophants take their cues from him and repeat them ad nauseam.

 

Funny how it only matters when he wins. He now totally ignores the fact that Republicans won the House in 2010 in a massive landslide (biggest switch in seats -- 63 -- since 1938) and won it again in 2012.

 

The House has always had the power of the purse, the Senate was meant to represent the interests of the states in our federalist system, not to be another, smaller version of the House, the real representatives of the people.

 

The 17th Amendment (popular election of the Senate) was adopted in 1913 and it was a bad idea. The last 100 years have been rough on the Constitution.

 

And now, having serially lied another "entitlement" into existence, President Stompy Foot doesn't like the fact that his agenda for his last 4 years has been stopped dead, or that anyone wants to roll it back. Unfortunately for him, petulance isn't a trait that goes over very well with the public.

 

I think the current state of our country's general population is more disturbing than the current state of our elected officials, to be honest.

 

That's a fact. And it's not just highly disturbing, it's downright depressing.

 

At 61, I'm less concerned about this crap than I was 30 years ago.

 

But, the majority of the people here are young, say 15 to 35, and they're the ones who are going to have to fight to make their way in the world and pay the high price for past and present liberal idiocy in government -- for the next 50 to 70 years. That price is going to be very high.

 

The general public doesn't seem to understand what's been and is being done to them. As has been said, "You get the government you deserve." Or, maybe a little H.L. Mencken: "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."

 

Or, better yet, a little Ray Bradbury: "Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as "bad luck.""

 

Gosh, who said "at a certain point you've made enough money" and "if you own a business, you didn't build that"? Who rails about "fat cats" and "millionaires and billionaires"? Who wanted to raise taxes (and did so) on the "rich" so that they pay their "fair share," even though the top 10% already paid 70% of all federal income taxes?

 

Bradbury had this guy pegged in 1973, when this throwback to the FDR 1930s was 12 years old.

 

The state of knowledge of the general public is abysmally bad, but I still have hope that the country will wake up before it's too late.