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Oct 25, 2009 7:28 pm

I love talking about politics, but hate when the discussion turns to unsubstantiated claims, regurgitated from some sensationalist cable news program…The three biggest issues I would like to see addressed are:

Oil - Since we can never make domestic production support our demand, why don’t we take major steps to reduce our demand through efficiency? Both Clinton & Bush should have taken the steps that Obama has pledged.

Taxes - I have read (and please feel free to dispute this) that the average American pays almost 55% of their wages in taxes (Federal, State, Local, Municipal, Cigarette, Airplane, Gas, Phone, Alcohol, Gambling, etc.) I want to see this rate reduced to 25%.

Lobbying (Influence Peddling) - Although it is important to have associations, etc. to present opinions to politicians, many of these groups just game the political process to your disadvantage (eg. convince politicians to pass a law that is good for their company/industry and bad for you). I would like to see more steps taken to curtail this effect.

If anyone has any thoughts on these, I’d love to hear them…

Oct 25, 2009 8:44 pm

[quote=Still@jones]I love talking about politics, but hate when the discussion turns to unsubstantiated claims, regurgitated from some sensationalist cable news program…The three biggest issues I would like to see addressed are:

Oil - Since we can never make domestic production support our demand, why don’t we take major steps to reduce our demand through efficiency? Both Clinton & Bush should have taken the steps that Obama has pledged.

  Why can't we increase our domestic production?  Even if we couldn't meet our demand (I have heard various opinions) we certainly could substantially reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  As far as Obama's pledges, he is learning the difference between a campaign promise and enacting policy.

Taxes - I have read (and please feel free to dispute this) that the average American pays almost 55% of their wages in taxes (Federal, State, Local, Municipal, Cigarette, Airplane, Gas, Phone, Alcohol, Gambling, etc.) I want to see this rate reduced to 25%.   The current administration wants to do the exact opposite.  People spend their own money far more efficiently than the government, yet this administration wants to control how those dollars are spent to fit their agenda.

Lobbying (Influence Peddling) - Although it is important to have associations, etc. to present opinions to politicians, many of these groups just game the political process to your disadvantage (eg. convince politicians to pass a law that is good for their company/industry and bad for you). I would like to see more steps taken to curtail this effect.   This was one of Obama's pledges also, and one of the first campaign promises he broke.  I would ask how far are you willing to go to curtail freedom of speech and for whom?

If anyone has any thoughts on these, I'd love to hear them...
[/quote]
Oct 25, 2009 10:15 pm

I’m trying to say these problems have grown over the past 30 years. I find it difficult to believe a president who has been in office for 9 months can be blamed for any of this.


Oct 25, 2009 11:39 pm

Would it make you happy if we just blame the republicans and the democrats since they’ve both been in power over the last 30 years.

Oct 25, 2009 11:43 pm

Actually, I blame the voters who subscribe to rhetoric with little or no understanding of issues. Because I can’t blame the politicians…they are just doing what gets themselves paid.

Oct 25, 2009 11:57 pm
Still@jones:

I’m trying to say these problems have grown over the past 30 years. I find it difficult to believe a president who has been in office for 9 months can be blamed for any of this.


    regurgitated from some sensationalist cable news program   So the first thing you do is regurgitate MSNBC?  I must have missed where I blamed Obama for anything besides breaking campaign promises.  My concern is the solutions currently being proposed will make the masses feel better, but will in fact make the problems worse.
Oct 26, 2009 12:20 am
Still@jones:

Actually, I blame the voters who subscribe to rhetoric with little or no understanding of issues. Because I can’t blame the politicians…they are just doing what gets themselves paid.

  It's tough to blame the voters.  First of all, the system is rigged to make it very hard to get rid of those in power and makes it almost impossible for someone to become a legitimate third party candidate.  Second of all, it doesn't seem to matter which party is in charge. 
Oct 26, 2009 12:27 am

Term limits in congress solves all.

Oct 26, 2009 12:42 am

Term limits won't happen because the system is rigged to keep those in power in power.   The only ones who will ever support term limits are the ones not in power. 

 
Oct 26, 2009 12:46 am

[quote=anonymous]

Term limits won’t happen because the system is rigged to keep those in power in power. The only ones who will ever support term limits are the ones not in power.



[/quote]



Sort of like a black man will never be elected president?
Oct 26, 2009 12:54 am

I think line-item veto would be more effective.  So much garbage gets passed because it is attached to good legislation.  Let the President veto it and force an override.  It would eliminate the excuse for the President signing legislation containing ridiculous pork and place on the record each individuals vote on every item in a bill.

Oct 26, 2009 12:58 am
WarRoom:

[quote=anonymous]Term limits won’t happen because the system is rigged to keep those in power in power.   The only ones who will ever support term limits are the ones not in power.



Sort of like a black man will never be elected president?[/quote]

  Term limits, especially in the house, would make perfect sense...no wonder this was never implemented.

Oct 26, 2009 1:20 am

The entire system is a cancer. You can’t cure cancer via term limits, line item vetos, etc. etc. It needs to be cut out. I can’t tell you when it will happen but there will be a point in time our system is thrown into a revolution. Bloody or peaceful, it will happen. It’s needed and our country will be better for it. We are Rome and our fate is similar due to the same exact reasons the empire fell.

Oct 26, 2009 1:45 am

[quote=voltmoie]The entire system is a cancer. You can’t cure cancer via term limits, line item vetos, etc. etc. It needs to be cut out. I can’t tell you when it will happen but there will be a point in time our system is thrown into a revolution. Bloody or peaceful, it will happen. It’s needed and our country will be better for it. We are Rome and our fate is similar due to the same exact reasons the empire fell.[/quote]

I believe this revolution has already begun…why do you think a little known, relatively inexperienced black man was elected president over an intelligent, experienced, effective leader who is probably the most qualified candidate either party has put forth in the past 22 years (Pre-Palin, of course ).



Oct 26, 2009 11:11 am

[quote=WarRoom] [quote=anonymous]

Term limits won't happen because the system is rigged to keep those in power in power.   The only ones who will ever support term limits are the ones not in power. 


 [/quote]

Sort of like a black man will never be elected president?[/quote]   It's not the same at all.   The system isn't designed to keep blacks out of office.  It's designed to keep those in power in power in power.  This power runs along party lines and not skin color or sex.  This means that in certain places it's very difficult to get rid of the ruling party and when the ruling party gets removed, it gets replaced with the other ruling party.    In large portions of the country the best that can be hoped for is to get rid of the Democrat and replace him with another Democrat who will ultimately vote the exact same way as the first democrat (or replace republican with republican).   Ultimately, it may not matter which party controls because both parties got us into this mess and have proven time and time again that they don't have the will to do what is best long term.  The long term health of the country can't be improved by making short term decisions.
Oct 26, 2009 11:21 am
Still@jones:

[quote=voltmoie]The entire system is a cancer. You can’t cure cancer via term limits, line item vetos, etc. etc. It needs to be cut out. I can’t tell you when it will happen but there will be a point in time our system is thrown into a revolution. Bloody or peaceful, it will happen. It’s needed and our country will be better for it. We are Rome and our fate is similar due to the same exact reasons the empire fell.[/quote]

I believe this revolution has already begun…why do you think a little known, relatively inexperienced black man was elected president over an intelligent, experienced, effective leader who is probably the most qualified candidate either party has put forth in the past 22 years (Pre-Palin, of course ).



Obama wasn't little known.  He became president because he was a democrat.  If Hillary won the primary, she would be our President.    It's very tough to win an election being against somebody.  The Republicans didn't vote for McCain.  They voted against Obama.  The Republicans didn't think that McCain was a strong candidate, thus his race garnered no excitement.  That's why he had to pick the unknown Palin as his VP.  He needed something to add some excitement.  He had a dead campaign before her, gained some excitement for a little bit, and then it went back to being anti-Obama.   This is the same reason Kerry couldn't beat Bush.  The Dems weren't excited about Kerry.  They were against Bush.  Obama won't be beaten no matter how unpopular he is unless the Republicans can come up with a candidate to get behind.   Regardless, it won't make much of a difference until our elected officials care more about what's best long term for the country instead of short-term re-election.
Oct 28, 2009 12:47 am

[quote=voltmoie]The entire system is a cancer. You can’t cure cancer via term limits, line item vetos, etc. etc. It needs to be cut out. I can’t tell you when it will happen but there will be a point in time our system is thrown into a revolution. Bloody or peaceful, it will happen. It’s needed and our country will be better for it. We are Rome and our fate is similar due to the same exact reasons the empire fell.[/quote]

Volt, I completely agree with you here.  These politicians are completely corrupt and do not care about a damn thing except for fattening their pockets and expanding their power.  I agree with anonymous as well about the system being built for the ones in power.  When you have companies and organizations lobbying all over Congress just to get what’s good for them through, that is a huge problem.  I lost count on how many Congressman went to work as lobbying for the same company that they helped legislate for; it’s completely unbelievable.  To set term limits, it would have to pass through Congress.  That would never happen just as it would never happen that Congress wouldn’t vote to raise their pay as they do every freaking year.  There needs to be a complete purge of our system and built from scratch.  It just disgusts me when I see any politicians: Dem or Republicans.