Presidential race 2016

[Maggot]

I have a question and I do not care about the color of a mans skin, It's integrity so..........

What is the difference between blindly voting for a person because of the color of their skin and blindly voting against a person because of the color of their skin?

[Duchess]

I don't think there is a difference.

[blueberryhill]

I don't think Ben Carson would ever win anything with his backward platform...The new Republican party wants to take us back to the 50's......where it was very much a man's world with unequal rights for women. I grew up surrounded by conservative Republicans. Won't go into details but then I was growing up, there was a whole lot of prejudice against the "colored" as they were called then. I evolved into someone that was clearly not O.K. with that. Some of you will call me a Liberal, or whatever. However, i just believe that everyone should have equal rights. Why would you be arrogant enough to believe that you are better than someone else? It is pure chance that you are born a certain color, to a certain "social" class, messed up chromosomes, and so on. Some of the most self-righteous people are the most hypocritical, close minded, judgmental people, but elect to call themselves Christians....and then we have those who want the Government to butt out of their lives, but they are there in line to collect unemployment, receive funds in a disaster, etc....oh wait they want Govt out of their lives, but they still want Gov't to tell women what to do with their bodies. Terminating a pregnancy is between the woman and her doctor. People like Ben Carson would have us return to the day of back alley abortions where women actually died. Don't you dare judge until you have walked in their shoes....If you believe you should live your life according to the Bible, then you believe in hate, rape, killing, homosexuals are an abomination, slavery is o.k.,etc. The best we can do is to treat each other with mutual respect and love....well maybe like would be more appropriate. Your spirit counts more than quoting verses from the Bible. You carry God (or higher power of your choice) in your heart and you will be judged by how you treat others...The new Republican party is full of people like Ben Carson sadly and are bringing back prejudices, interfering with health decisions, and the oppression in general, of women....Welcome to the 1950's. I don't want to go back there. In 1972, I went into Dept store to buy a gallon of paint to paint interior of my home. Clerk asked me for my ID which I provided. Then he asked for my place of employment. I had just resigned from job with Gov't to go back to college full time. I took out student loans, and cashed all the money I had in bonds, to finance this. When I told him I wasn't employed but was a student (I was 39 at the time),he had such a shocked look on his face so he asked about my husband's job. Told him I was not married so he wasn't going to cash my check for $23.00. I then asked him to call my bank to verify that I had that money in bank (other customers were now in line observing all of this), He proceeded to call bank and verified that I had the money. I then turned around and walked out of store without the paint and I never again in my life went back to that chain.....I lived with that feeling of oppression as a young woman and knew instinctively (at age 18 in college-first time) that women were not treated fairly and were, indeed, considered the "Second Sex." Ironically, even way back in 1953, one of my books for class was a book by that name. I should have looked up author, but I agreed at that tender age with the author. Date rapes were prevalent in the college environment, but you wouldn't think of reporting it as you would get chastised for allowing it to happen and for drinking too much....it was always, blame the victim, type of environment, no exceptions.
Finally, why does it bother so many "straight" people that two people of the same sex can love each other? It is not a choice. You don't have to agree, just don't judge what you don't understand....Gayness has been around since beginning of time....and today, in some countries, you can be killed for being gay.
Why do we all feel that we can decide what is right for other people? Well, I didn't mean to write an essay, but I am just so weary of reading about yet another politician like Mr. Ben Carson.

[Duchess]

I went into Dept store to buy a gallon of paint to paint interior of my home. Clerk asked me for my ID which I provided. Then he asked for my place of employment. I had just resigned from job with Gov't to go back to college full time. I took out student loans, and cashed all the money I had in bonds, to finance this. When I told him I wasn't employed but was a student (I was 39 at the time),he had such a shocked look on his face so he asked about my husband's job. Told him I was not married so he wasn't going to cash my check for $23.00. I then asked him to call my bank to verify that I had that money in bank (other customers were now in line observing all of this), He proceeded to call bank and verified that I had the money.

My boss has told me a lot about that period of time. She's got a shit ton of stories about what it was like for her being a very young woman and trying to start a business. It was back then that she started going by her initials. She couldn't even get a foot in the door after her given name was seen, bankers & other associated people wouldn't give her the time of day when they saw she was a female. I work in a mainly male dominated field and there is still some of that around but it is nothing like what it used to be, not even close.

[ZEROSPHERES]

BlueBerryHill, I applaud your essay and find it very pertinent.

[username]

I don't know that much about her but: Olympia Snowe. I recall her impressing me several times for breaking with her party over certain issues.

Maggot, I DO think the Republican Party is eating itself. They disagree on so many issues amongst themselves, they're too busy fighting each other over everything to even appear to get behind one candidate or even basic philosophical beliefs. If they put up even a slightly moderate Republican candidate, he/she will be torn apart by the tea party folks, the religious extremists, the anti immigration die-hards...some part of the herd is constantly tearing apart the other.
Jerry Brown has been...interesting this go around. On the one hand, fucker raised taxes A LOT and on the other hand, now his party is pissed with him for NOT reversing some spending cuts that helped the poor etc. He's getting pushed to spend all that money as opposed to maintaining a rainy day fund. Also, some of those tax increases are set to expire in 2018 (I believe). IIRC, he wants to let them expire (good) while the far left, of course, is already saying they should be extended.

They're ALL fucked up but the most fucked up part of it all is campaign spending, PACS and Super PACs. It's a completely corrupt system.

[blueberryhill]

BlueBerryHill, I applaud your essay and find it very pertinent.

Well, thank you Zero, I appreciate your comment.

[blueberryhill]

I went into Dept store to buy a gallon of paint to paint interior of my home. Clerk asked me for my ID which I provided. Then he asked for my place of employment. I had just resigned from job with Gov't to go back to college full time. I took out student loans, and cashed all the money I had in bonds, to finance this. When I told him I wasn't employed but was a student (I was 39 at the time),he had such a shocked look on his face so he asked about my husband's job. Told him I was not married so he wasn't going to cash my check for $23.00. I then asked him to call my bank to verify that I had that money in bank (other customers were now in line observing all of this), He proceeded to call bank and verified that I had the money.

My boss has told me a lot about that period of time. She's got a shit ton of stories about what it was like for her being a very young woman and trying to start a business. It was back then that she started going by her initials. She couldn't even get a foot in the door after her given name was seen, bankers & other associated people wouldn't give her the time of day when they saw she was a female. I work in a mainly male dominated field and there is still some of that around but it is nothing like what it used to be, not even close.

I totally understand. To this day, I don't know why had these feelings of oppression that sprouted when I was only 17. I remember, my mother would have dinner on table at exactly 6:00 P.M. and God forbid, if she was late getting home from her bridge club....I observed the holidays where all the women slaved and cooked while the guys chilled watching sports. In addition to TV, my dad would have 2 or 3 radios going to listen/watch to more than one game....It wasn't some earth shattering experience, I just didn't like the role of the women in that era... ..well, my parents rarely talked to each other, but I thought that was normal..hehe I do have some other experiences of working in a male dominated work environment, but will save that for another day. You have to admire someone like your Boss who made it in spite of her circumstances. I can remember when people, especially women, didn't trust a woman doctor...In my day, when a woman graduated from school, she became either a Nurse or a Teacher. Baby, we have come a long way, but we still need to raise income of Nurses and Teachers. They are still underpaid, because in the beginning, these positions were typically held by women so pay scale didn't rise along with "equal pay" concept...

[Maggot]

Yes the payscale for women is horrendous and should be fixed from the top down take the Obama administration for example.......



Equity: The president touts equal pay for equal work but hasn't practiced what he preaches with the women he has employed — including a well-known staffer who complained of a hostile work environment.

It remains a mystery as to why equal pay for women was one of the questions elected by unofficial Team Obama debate coach Candy Crowley of CNN during the second presidential debate.

But it let President Obama launch into breathtaking hypocrisy regarding the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Lilly Ledbetter, which in Crowley's view ranked right up there with BenghaziGate as a pivotal issue, woke up one morning complaining that her male counterparts were getting paid more money for the same work and decided to sue for redress of this perceived grievance.

After she was told she had missed the statutory deadline, her case made it to the Supreme Court, which said too bad, but you missed the deadline


linc

You are more than welcome to find another news source.

[sally]

My favorite is the one with the most electoral votes. My prediction is that regardless of who wins, the outcome or direct effect on me in my daily life will be utterly the same.

Same here, that's why I don't waste my time voting. I'm not going to waste my time deciding who's less of a dick head when in the long run it doesn't make a difference anyway. Not to me anyway. As far as my life is concerned Obama is no better or worse than Bush.

I think I would go vote for Hilary, however. I wouldn't go out and vote for any kooky bitch just because she's a woman, but I actually like her. The fact she's a woman is just added bonus.

[sally]

I'm still wondering why everyone is freaking out about ObamaCare. My insurance is the same as always and my husband had an extra 90 bucks on his annual taxes for not having it. Big deal. At least he can rest assured that he can still get ins. if he ever gets cancer or something.

The only people it affects is employers with 50 or more employees. If you have 50 employees then congrats you rich fuck.

[HairOfTheDog]

Republican Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, appears to be positioning himself as a potential 2016 Presidential candidate.

Organized labor is not a fan of most Republicans, but especially not Walker.

Walker wants to be able to drug test welfare/food stamp applicants and unemployment applicants and deny benefits to those applicants who fail. The US Department of Labor currently blocks such testing.

[crash]

Walker wants to be able to drug test welfare/food stamp applicants and unemployment applicants and deny benefits to those applicants who fail. The US Department of Labor currently blocks such testing.

This idea was tossed around over here just before the last federal election. Along with the idea that welfare recipients would have to use mandatory birth control. If you wanted to have a kid, you got off your ass and worked to pay for it rather than put another dependant on the government tit.

I don't know, in some ways I feel it's a great idea to try and curb welfare dependence and the rorting of the welfare system. In other ways, I feel it would be a logistical nightmare testing and monitoring and may end up costing more than just paying the fuckers. As well as a whole Pandora's box of civil rights issues.

I think there has to be a breaking point somewhere down the line though. In this country, we can't keep selling off government assets and leaning down the health and education sectors to prop up government handouts.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know, in some ways I feel it's a great idea to try and curb welfare dependence and the rorting of the welfare system. In other ways, I feel it would be a logistical nightmare testing and monitoring and may end up costing more than just paying the fuckers. As well as a whole Pandora's box of civil rights issues.

I don't support governmental drug testing in this context for the same reasons you listed.

It's a tricky social issue. It seems Australia, the US, the European Union...all face similar challenges finding the right balance between providing governmental assistance for those who really need it and creating/carrying a subculture that considers governmental assistance/dole a lifestyle.

I don't have the answer, but don't think it's governmental drug screening. Plus, with prescription drug abuse being so prevalent in developed countries, I could see an attempt to disqualify citizens from entitlements and hand-outs based on drug test results being a logistical and political shitstorm.

It'll be interesting to see what strategies 2016 presidential candidates throw out to curb the problem here. Half of US households receive some form of governmental assistance, though the unemployment rate is only 5.5% now. But, half of those households are retired seniors. I, personally, have a hard time supporting cuts to seniors in the short term.

[HairOfTheDog]

They're ALL fucked up but the most fucked up part of it all is campaign spending, PACS and Super PACs. It's a completely corrupt system.

I think you're right. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, on the other hand, thinks our position is unconstitutional. Today he went public calling for unlimited campaign contributions at a rally in New Hampshire.

Cruz is basically arguing that since money talks, money is free speech when it comes to campaign finance. (HOTD translation: the right to buy your way into office and keep out non-wealthy political hopefuls in America is an inalienable one, according to Cruz.)



Cruz -- Republican, a tea-party favorite, is expected to throw his hat into the ring in coming weeks.

In the meantime, sexy Mr. Cruz has been courting party activists and donors to help him counter deep-pocketed rivals such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

[Duchess]

Stupid fucker.

Not to compare politics to the NFL but there is a reason there is a salary cap and if anything needs one it is politics for sure.

[Maggot]

There's a reason for budget caps also. But..........

[Duchess]

If we want to run a successful home we better damn sure manage our finances in a way that ensures that. Why is that too much to ask of Washington?

[username]

They're ALL fucked up but the most fucked up part of it all is campaign spending, PACS and Super PACs. It's a completely corrupt system.

I think you're right. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, on the other hand, thinks our position is unconstitutional. Today he went public calling for unlimited campaign contributions at a rally in New Hampshire.

Cruz is basically arguing that since money talks, money is free speech when it comes to campaign finance. (HOTD translation: the right to buy your way into office and keep out non-wealthy political hopefuls in America is an inalienable one, according to Cruz.)

Republican, a tea-party favorite, is expected to throw his hat into the ring in coming weeks.

In the meantime, sexy Mr. Cruz has been courting party activists and donors to help him counter deep-pocketed rivals such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

That fries my chops. That's how campaigns are largely won these days (at least often). Imagine how leveled the playing field would be if there were a cap on financing and spending in a campaign. Mr. Joe Shmoo running out of bum fuck nowhere wouldn't have to watch another candidate spend gazillions of special interest dollars on commercials and such and completely overrun him by virtue of commercial airtime.

And, we'd take the special interest groups out of the equation. It wouldn't be necessary to cater to unions or the religious right or big oil...they'd all be capped!!

It sickens me the amount of money that goes in to campaigns. I guess in some ways, it floods certain sectors of the economy with some money but I think the corruption far outweighs any economic benefits. Far outweighs.

[HairOfTheDog]

Stupid fucker.

God's gonna get you for that!

I laughed when I saw that Cruz was announcing his presidential candidacy at............Liberty University, founded by Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell.

I think Cruz wants unlimited campaign donations and was the first to officially throw his hat into the ring because he's expecting to rake in bucket loads of financial backing and lock some supporters in.

Cruz is off his effin' rocker. He hasn't a chance in hell of planting his self-righteous ass in the Oval Office, in my opinion.