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Over the course of President Obama's administration, the gap between what our government spends and what it's bringing in has been significantly reduced - that's a fact, not a perspective. For me, it's a good thing. However, during Obama's administration, the amount of debt and spending significantly increased - that's also a fact, not a perspective. For me, that's a bad thing.
What constitutes a 'healthy' level of national debt, whether the debt or the deficit is a more important economic indicator, whether one should evaluate a nation's financial health by comparing debt to GDP or debt to only tax revenue...are questions that often elicit different answers from top macro economists.
I have very little personal debt and no business debt because I don't like to borrow and owe. Adjusting and living/operating within my current means is preferable, to me. But, I know people like Donald Trump consider a lot of borrowing and owing to be essential in order to accomplish their personal and business goals. Different styles and ideologies.
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I think debt is the devil and to me it's like a noose. I have about 3-4 grand in debt and most of that is my car.
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Trump has Obama all flustered. 
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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(06-04-2016, 08:09 AM)Maggot Wrote: Trump has Obama all flustered.
I'll never get why people think he's a great speaker. Let him go without a teleprompter and he sound like a rambling idiot.
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Other people write his speeches and books, he doesn't know what was written for him and what he will actually say until he steps up to the lectern. He is way to far above anyone else to be bothered with actually reading it beforehand.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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(05-31-2016, 01:04 PM)Duchess Wrote:
I think debt is the devil and to me it's like a noose. I have about 3-4 grand in debt and most of that is my car.
Nothing feels quite as good as that last payment owed. There's a reason mortgage burning parties were popular back in the day.
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(06-04-2016, 01:30 PM)Maggot Wrote: Other people write his speeches and books, he doesn't know what was written for him and what he will actually say until he steps up to the lectern. He is way to far above anyone else to be bothered with actually reading it beforehand.
All Presidential speech writers write what the President wants to say...I have always been impressed with Obama's speeches...He is down to earth, speaks from the heart, is a great Father to his girls, has diplomatic skills, is not a warmonger, he deliberates before he acts (good trait for someone who can push the red button),,,,,he sings, dances and I enjoy watching him.....This is in addition to his being a great leader. Go to any website to see his accomplishments...I don't have the ability to repeat everything, but some of you have really criticized his Presidency without providing resources, facts, etc...many of the things on the internet are actually not true if you would bother to fact check.....Take the economy, for example....
On the last day of Bush's Presidency (19 Jan 09), the Dow closed at 8,218.22
Yesterday, 3 Jun 16, the Dow closed at 17,807......impressive!
He signed bills offering tax credits for first time home buyers; 95%cuts in taxes
to working families, tax breaks for small businesses.....this are just a sampling of what he did in the economic sector.......his health care has improved the lives of previously uninsured people and is a good thing. The insurance companies need to be reigned in as they are attempting to sabotage Universal Health care......
Thank God, he is not pugnacious and wanting to go to war for every friggin' thing.
He has been maligned on here, but I understand this is Mock.....but then I don't trust those of you who hate Obama to know what makes a good leader. and I don't think you are too bright if you vote for the blight that is Donald Trump. My opinion only.....and sorry, I don't think I am the crazy one here.....This is not directed to you personally, Maggs.
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That's OK I still accept you as a fellow human. Differences within the political spectrum is sometimes only really in our heads when you get right down to it. I'm really more concerned with my toenail fungus than I am about any political clown talking out the side of their face anyways. Nobody really knows anything about them but as with anyone I don't trust strangers and they are all as greedy as the next person. If anyone believes in nobility today they may be sadly mistaken.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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I thought Obama was a good president and I think Trump will be one too. I'd say Hilary would make a good president too, but she's not going to win suckers. George Bush now, I can't say he was good a president. He was pretty freaking awful.
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I'll be surprised if the majority of voters elect Donald Trump to lead the country.
But, if he is elected, I hope he manages to assemble a very well-qualified cabinet, actually listens to them, and delegates a hell of a lot.
I'm still not fully convinced that Trump really wants the incredible responsibility, though I think he's probably driven to win the competition.
Some of the comments he's making about the federal judge in the fraud case against him are so off-base and whiny that even a few of his ardent spokespeople, who have contorted themselves like crazy to defend and legitimize his flip flops and nutty statements, are refusing to support him on this one.
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Well it's certainly possible the judge could be biased, it's not like it has never happened before. People including judges do it all the time. But I don't know much about his fraud case to decide whether it was unfair or not.
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This is another reason I don't vote, I just don't feel that I can make an informed decision because I don't care enough to follow it all. I'd have to sit in my recliner all day like my 86 year old uncle Bill watching the news and reading every word in the newspaper while only getting up to piss and grab another Budweiser. So instead I look at personality and I actually like the guy. Call me dumb or whatever, you probably know by now that I don't give a fuck what you think.
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I'm not suggesting that no judges ever harbor bias, sally.
The judge in this case actually handed Trump a gift by pushing the trial back until after the election, but Trump wants the case dropped and didn't want the court docs made available as the press requested. So, once again, Trump insists he's being treated 'unfairly', though the judge is following the law and not speaking publicly about the case.
And, the Trump University fraud case began in 2010, so it's not like Trump can claim this is the establishment's fault, or Clinton's doing, or the media is behind it, or any of those fall backs. So....who's left? The judge, though Trump and his attorneys never tried to make a case for recusal. Now, he's made it a public issue and insists that he's being treated "very poorly", "very unfairly" by this Mexican judge who is a "hater" who's out to get him and is part of a group paying Mexican protesters to attend his rallies.
The judge was appointed to the bench by a Republican California governor, and appointed as a U.S. attorney under Obama's administration and approved with no objections. He is not Mexican. He was born in Indiana, USA. His parents came to this country many decades ago, like Trump's mother. The group of lawyers that the judge belongs to does not get involved in politics; Trump either lied about that or got one organization confused with another with a similar name. And, this particular judge was under federal protection because of his aggressive work in putting Mexican cartels and drug dealers away.
None of those truths matter to Trump. He's ramped up his rhetoric, tells his animated crowds that the judge is Mexican, tells them the name of the judge... I think that's some bullshit, but it's very "Trump".
Donald Trump isn't above the law. If he thinks the judge is biased, he could make that case in the courts. Trump knows that, he's the king of litigation.
ETA -- some sources and background:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/us/pol....html?_r=0
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arch...el/485636/
http://www.newsweek.com/federal-judge-or...nts-464692
http://www.npr.org/2016/05/31/480183253/...rsity-case
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(06-04-2016, 11:33 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: I'm still not fully convinced that Trump really wants the incredible responsibility, though I think he's probably driven to win the competition.
I no longer think he really wants the job, not after all his bullshit this week. He's becoming more outrageous as the days pass and this stuff about the judge takes the cake. That judge is as American as he is and the bs with him pointing at a black guy and calling him my African American. WTF! Sometimes I think he's doing everything he can to turn people off but then there's a segment of the population who are turned on by this kinda thing.
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(06-05-2016, 12:30 AM)sally Wrote: This is another reason I don't vote, I just don't feel that I can make an informed decision because I don't care enough to follow it all. I'd have to sit in my recliner all day like my 86 year old uncle Bill watching the news and reading every word in the newspaper while only getting up to piss and grab another Budweiser. So instead I look at personality and I actually like the guy. Call me dumb or whatever, you probably know by now that I don't give a fuck what you think.
I've known you long enough to know you're smart. Anyway, I don't assume that everyone who likes Donald Trump is dumb, and I wouldn't expect you or anyone else to give a fuck if I did.
The fact that much of what Trump says is hollow, false, or only partially true is quickly and easily ascertained without spending hours and hours watching the same repetitive news feeds. I am very interested in politics right now and like to read/research/consider what the candidates claim when I can though.
Aside from Trump's perpetual whining and bullshitting about himself (which I too sometimes find entertaining, but don't wish to see on global display from the President of the United States), I fundamentally disagree with his views and tactics the majority of the time and think he'd take the country backwards.
So, I wouldn't consider voting for Donald Trump even though I think Clinton is full of shit sometimes too and I don't 'like' her much. She's a better and more qualified person to lead the country without taking us backwards, in my view. I thought everyone in the running except for Carson, Chaffee, Huckabee (and perhaps Cruz) was a better option than Trump. But, I don't claim that everyone who sees it differently and considers Trump a better option than Clinton, for their own reasons, is dumb.
And, I don't think it's anything new, or even unique to the U.S., that a lot of people simply get behind who they like the best (or dislike least) on a personal level.
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Choosing to vote or not to vote is like making every attempt to get out jury duty.
Sure you can, yet you then lose your right to complain about the OJ verdict.
Not voting, even if it considered meaningless in you mind, grants you zero access to later whine or rant about the party in control.
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(06-05-2016, 12:56 PM)OnBendedKnee Wrote: Choosing to vote or not to vote is like making every attempt to get out jury duty.
Sure you can, yet you then lose your right to complain about the OJ verdict.
Not voting, even if it considered meaningless in you mind, grants you zero access to later whine or rant about the party in control. This is true only for the primaries. Gen elec all bets are off and I never waste my time with it.
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(06-05-2016, 12:56 PM)OnBendedKnee Wrote: Not voting, even if it considered meaningless in you mind, grants you zero access to later whine or rant about the party in control.
You'll very rarely hear me complain anyway, but who made up that crazy rule and how exactly could it even be enforced? What if you don't like either party, now because you chose not to pick you can't complain about what they do or say? I can complain about whatever the hell I want. What am I going to get in trouble and sent to my room or something?
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If you don't vote yet complain about the winning candidate, of course you're entitled to complain and rant about it.
Please don't expect anyone to take you seriously though.
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(06-05-2016, 06:35 PM)OnBendedKnee Wrote: If you don't vote yet complain about the winning candidate, of course you're entitled to complain and rant about it.
Please don't expect anyone to take you seriously though.
Yeah, but how will you know if I voted or not? I might just change my mind and vote for Hilary which is who I would vote for if I decided to vote. And who exactly should I worry about taking me seriously, people on the internet?
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