American Politics during the Obama Presidency

[Jackson]

Jackson:

Tell Us what your opinions are:

You say you are "not a conservative. I am a member of the Libertarian Party, registered as an Independent", but again I say what are your views that make you not a Right Winger?

So tell us what are your views that you do not agree with the Republican Party Views?...

WT, I've posted this a dozen times, but here it is again just for you.

==============================================

For the record, I am NOT a Republican, and I am NOT a conservative.

- I am against the death penalty.
- I am against any government support of religious organizations.
- I am for the legalization of recreational drugs.
- I am for the legalization of commercial sex.
- I am for a woman's right to choose.
- I am for comprehensive sex education.
- I am for a foreign guest worker program.
- I am for a universal flat tax on EVERYONE'S income.
- I am for health INSURANCE reform.
- I am for health JUSTICE reform.

I am a member of the Libertarian Party, registered as an Independent.

====================================

[Tiny12]

We all know that the Republican party are racists.

All the Right Wingers are doing is making the United States of America is look Weak. They are the Anti-Americans. AKA Racists. Greed in Great. Traitors to the USA.

The rest of you are Independents, aka Liberalizations, and other anti-democratic parties what do you think that the Replication Party is doing wrong?. Shouldn't all parties get together and make this country Strong?

What planet are you on? The USA is not a democracy. Instead it's ruled over by Barack Obama and Harry Reid. Obama pretty much runs the country the way he wants, ignoring legislation that's been signed into law. Reid has his back, and won't let anything pass Congress that conflicts with Obama's aims. Last year Senate Democrats proposed 676 amendments but were only allowed votes on seven. Republicans proposed 812 and got votes on 11. If Reid doesn't like a bill it never makes it to the floor. Yeah, the judicial branch has been swatting them down occasionally. But that could change now that Reid has decided he doesn't need 60 votes any longer to appoint judges. And Obama has decided he doesn't need a vote at all, he'll just figure out a way to get people appointed without Senate approval using wild legal theories.

You don't agree with the Democrat Party on civil liberties (e.g. prostitution, drug laws), foreign policy, or special interests and taxes. You should wise up and change parties. From your posts here you agree with about 80% of the Libertarian platform. But I guess you've lived in your California bubble too long. They've brainwashed you to believe Republicans are evil racists. And parties that actually believe in liberty and democracy are "anti-democratic. " And the Republicans are the only ones that refuse to get together and make this country strong. You've got it all backwards. It's like something out of Orwell's novel, 1984.

[Esten]

If the trend described in the attached link continues, it does not look good for Obamacare, aka Affordable Care Act, or the politicians who supported it.

http://www.bloombergview.com/article...mer?cmpid=yhoo

Remember when the Affordable Care Act was going to kill jobs and seriously damage the country? Seems like a distant memory, as Republicans have all but stopped their regular bashing of the law. We now know that Republicans lied about the ACA and failed.

Now, their efforts to keep the fear alive can only resort to recycled speculation about how a shift to more unhealthy insureds will cause premiums to rise. Rather tame stuff that we've seen before, known about for a long time, and doesn't factor in a shift back to more healthy insureds as penalties rise.

This article was written by Lanhee Chen, who apparently is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution (conservative), was the policy director of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign (conservative), and references an article in WSJ (conservative). Notice the colorful language "Obamacare's Prognosis Grows Dimmer" , "A nightmare for Affordable Care Act supporters", and "fraught with peril in the months and years ahead. " If this is the best the right-wing spin machine can come up with now, you know the ACA is doing all right.

[WorldTravel69]

Jackson:

Tell Us what your opinions are:

You say you are "not a conservative. I am a member of the Libertarian Party, registered as an Independent", but again I say what are your views that make you not a Right Winger?

So tell us what are your views that you do not agree with the Republican Party Views?

We all know that the Republican party are racists.

All the Right Wingers are doing is making the United States of America is look Weak. They are the Anti-Americans. AKA Racists. Greed in Great. Traitors to the USA.

The rest of you are Independents, aka Liberalizations, and other anti-democratic parties what do you think that the Replication Party is doing wrong?.

Shouldn't all parties get together and make this country Strong?

Not look bad in the World?

[WorldTravel69]

http://www.oann.com/

That's not wise. You should watch it and pay attention. Bad things happened to the members of the bourgeoisie who did not take the pronouncements of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Chavez and their like seriously. These types have their own mouthpiece in the USA to pursue their pro-totalitarian, anti-free-speech agenda, and it's called MSNBC.

[Tiny12]

I listened to Fox News MSNBC for ten minutes earlier this week. I thought the world was ending in love with Obama.

Fortunately, I changed the station and came back to reality.

That's not wise. You should watch it and pay attention. Bad things happened to the members of the bourgeoisie who did not take the pronouncements of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Chavez and their like seriously. These types have their own mouthpiece in the USA to pursue their pro-totalitarian, anti-free-speech agenda, and it's called MSNBC.

[Tres3]

If the trend described in the attached link continues, it does not look good for Obamacare, aka Affordable Care Act, or the politicians who supported it.

http://www.bloombergview.com/article...mer?cmpid=yhoo

Tres3.

[Rc Collins]

Fox News is the most trusted TV News Source.

I know Neil Cavuto is a conservative, I didn't know he was a Republican. But perhaps that type of reporting is why a recent poll which sought the views of "all Americans" showed Fox News as the most trusted TV News Source.
(MSNBC was the least trusted).

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/randy-h...s-most-trusted

This type of reporting by Cavuto is not the norm so this would not be a good example to make your point as most of his show time is spend bashing the left. Both MSNBC and Fox are clearly the worst places for news reporting as they both are partisan networks with an agenda.

However, the bigger picture in the story was not about news networks but about Cavuto's point of how both political parties continue to screw the tax payers by always blaming the other side and not doing their jobs.

[SteveC]

"Integrity"...No such critter in captivity in Washington D.C, and those in the wild are on the endangered species list.

If I had to pick I would call Bush the lesser of two evils, but I would add the caveat that the lesser of two evils is still evil. Take for example the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which both Presidents supported and Obama even expanded NDAA. Those Acts in my opinion paved a path that led directly to the aggrandizement of unchecked power and the overreach that we see today in the Executive Branch, which is becoming an elected dictatorship.

I'm not going to get into comparisons between Bush and Obama because in the words Hillary Clinton "what difference at this point does it make?" And surely you wouldn't try to justify the lack of integrity in one President by highlighting the lack of integrity of another. Or would you?

Thanks, as I've said before, I'm no fan of Obama. I just get a bit tired of the hypocrisy of many on the right who criticise Obama of things when previous Republican presidents did the same things but on a larger scale. E. g. Reagan 318 executive orders, Obama 168.

[Punter 127]

Fox News is the most trusted TV News Source.

There's no doubt that Neil Cavuto is a conservative who consistently bashes the left but he is the only one on Fox and one of the few conservative talkers who is not afraid to take on his own party. Here he is excoriating Michelle Bachman for stupidity from the right while pointing out why nothing gets done in Washington. It's always the other guy's fault when it comes to republicans and democrats and as Cavuto points Rome's burning. That anyone can be loyal to these parties while they continue to point the finger at each other and screw the tax payers is baffling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eswz4Fjrw20

I know Neil Cavuto is a conservative, I didn't know he was a Republican. But perhaps that type of reporting is why a recent poll which sought the views of "all Americans" showed Fox News as the most trusted TV News Source.
(MSNBC was the least trusted).

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/randy-h...s-most-trusted

[Punter 127]

"Integrity"...No such critter in captivity in Washington D.C, and those in the wild are on the endangered species list.

Just to put this into context, what did you think of the lack of integrity (or otherwise) of the previous incumbent and his vp?

If I had to pick I would call Bush the lesser of two evils, but I would add the caveat that the lesser of two evils is still evil. Take for example the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which both Presidents supported and Obama even expanded NDAA. Those Acts in my opinion paved a path that led directly to the aggrandizement of unchecked power and the overreach that we see today in the Executive Branch, which is becoming an elected dictatorship.

I'm not going to get into comparisons between Bush and Obama because in the words Hillary Clinton "what difference at this point does it make?" And surely you wouldn't try to justify the lack of integrity in one President by highlighting the lack of integrity of another. Or would you?

[Rc Collins]

There's no doubt that Neil Cavuto is a conservative who consistently bashes the left but he is the only one on Fox and one of the few conservative talkers who is not afraid to take on his own party. Here he is excoriating Michelle Bachman for stupidity from the right while pointing out why nothing gets done in Washington. It's always the other guy's fault when it comes to republicans and democrats and as Cavuto points Rome's burning. That anyone can be loyal to these parties while they continue to point the finger at each other and screw the tax payers is baffling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eswz4Fjrw20

[SteveC]

I hardly think you're the guy to be speaking about "ethical and moral behavior ". And the lack of "integrity in America" starts with the current resident at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue, and extends from there to as far away as Bangkok, and now even Palawan.

Have a nice trip.

Just to put this into context, what did you think of the lack of integrity (or otherwise) of the previous incumbent and his vp?

[Punter 127]

It will take the USA more than a lifetime to right itself, not economically, but its ethical and moral behavior. There is no integrity in America for now.

I hardly think you're the guy to be speaking about "ethical and moral behavior ". And the lack of "integrity in America" starts with the current resident at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue, and extends from there to as far away as Bangkok, and now even Palawan.

Have a nice trip.

[Tiny12]

Don't fabricate absolute statements and attribute them to me, please.

To your question, many financial investments don't create jobs.

Like when a billionaire parks his money in an established company's stock like Exxon, Walmart or Procter & Gamble, and collects basically "free money" on which he pays as little as 20% tax. Only a sucker thinks that allowing such a tax break for a billionaire is smart economic policy.

Well, I guess you're making progress. Earlier you appeared to believe the top marginal tax rate on long term capital gains and qualified dividends was 15%. Now you're at 20%. The actual federal rate including the Obamacare tax on income is 23.8%. The federal + state rate is as high as 34.4%.

My bad about "financial investments. " I thought you were referring to certificates of deposit, debt instruments, financial derivatives, and shares of financial companies like Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. In your past posts, you've complained about trillions of dollars of cash held by companies and maintained that consumption is good and savings are evil. In addition to your problem with tax rates, I figured you were again failing to appreciate the role that savings play in the economy.

A billionaire that owns shares in Exxon indirectly pays corporate income taxes at a 42% rate. Plus additional property, production and sales taxes that may exceed the income tax. When he goes to sell his shares he pays a 43.4% or 23.8% federal rate, depending on how long he held them. And 23.8% federal tax on the dividends. When he dies the federal government gets 40% of what he owns.

But that's beside the point. Look at what billionaires primarily own. It's not portfolio investments like Exxon. Yes there are some like Warren Buffett who are asset shufflers. The majority of the fortunes though came from building businesses like Microsoft, Oracle, Walmart, Google, Amazon, Nike, Dell, etc. You want to take capital from them and others that use capital efficiently and do God knows what with it. Presumably spend it on consumption, that will indeed boost the economy in the short term, but at what cost to the future.

The strongest argument IMO is that stealing from people (which is equivalent to extortionate taxation, certainly at the level people like like Piketty support) is immoral. But that probably doesn't make sense to persons who believe the highest calling of mankind is to grow government. I guess I'm a sucker, because I don't equate theft with "smart economic policy."