tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post4753300263368092923..comments2024-01-02T18:05:23.666-06:00Comments on Streak's Blog: I really hate stupidityStreakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-46852098584402913992011-02-17T10:08:51.764-06:002011-02-17T10:08:51.764-06:00i hate stupid people too..
share what you hate at...i hate stupid people too..<br /><br />share what you hate at http://ireallyhate.com/i really hatehttp://ireallyhate.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-63099294650267886912011-02-15T18:19:01.681-06:002011-02-15T18:19:01.681-06:00I agree with you Steve, which is why teh tea party...I agree with you Steve, which is why teh tea party stuff annoys me and why the Republican rhetoric on taxes is destructive. <br /><br />And not to be a pain, but rhetoric matters. The rhetoric of no taxes cost Bush I his reelection, and no Republican at teh national level has forgotten that.Streakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-89838063421763527602011-02-15T17:18:02.791-06:002011-02-15T17:18:02.791-06:00I believe he did say something to that effect, but...I believe he did say something to that effect, but in practice he was different. Again, I think most non-tea party people don't have a problem with some government and some spending. Most of this stuff seems to be rhetoric at this point.steveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862590608695420004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-63742936230565441892011-02-15T14:39:25.250-06:002011-02-15T14:39:25.250-06:00Steve, I understand both points. But that has bee...Steve, I understand both points. But that has been made worse by Republicans who say that any tax is bad, and that government is the problem. And that was Reagan's phrase, right?Streakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-45683832280909560172011-02-15T11:11:09.249-06:002011-02-15T11:11:09.249-06:00Raising taxes is a hard sell at best. I think peop...Raising taxes is a hard sell at best. I think people would be more amenable to a raise if there wasn't this perception that the gov't "wasted" money. I know that this isn't always the case, but it does happen. There is also a fear that any tax raise will be permanent and that government will just adjust their spending upwards. Again, this is just perception. <br /><br />I don't think all republicans are anti government. I think that there are some like you say, that just don't really have a good understanding as to how things really work. Health care is a great example.steveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862590608695420004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-39162659663228121612011-02-15T10:35:03.337-06:002011-02-15T10:35:03.337-06:00Sure, Pedro. Replacing people who at least believ...Sure, Pedro. Replacing people who at least believe that government can do things with people who think it is evil has to be better, right? Tea Partiers who think that ear marks are "unconstitutional" because they have never actually read the constitution? Or those who selectively decide to nullify laws they don't like, and then assume that they are the only ones who are truly patriotic? <br /><br />Let me be clear. People who bitch about the current deficit, but refuse to raise taxes on the rich or on people like me--are not serious people. If you are a tea partier, Pedro, then I am sorry, but you are following people who are not only not serious, but not intelligent enough to actually research their own past.Streakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-72823081784231644562011-02-15T08:54:24.135-06:002011-02-15T08:54:24.135-06:00"non-Tea Party Republicans are closer to Demo..."non-Tea Party Republicans are closer to Democrats than to the Tea Party." <br /><br />That is why business as usual will continue in Washington in this congress. If you like what the government has been doing the last two years, you can relax because not much is going to change.Pedronoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-17208633721005512452011-02-15T07:57:29.149-06:002011-02-15T07:57:29.149-06:00But on taxes...
I agree, and no, you're not w...<i>But on taxes...</i><br /><br />I agree, and no, you're not wrong at all on that point. That's where political rhetoric and actual policy have converged, on the issue of <i>raising</i> taxes.<br /><br />Where did I see that article about the Tea Party NO TAXES EVAH slogan was at odds with most Republicans in Congress...if I find it, I'll link it...<br /><br />The Tea Party is is love child of political rhetoric and the privileged.Noahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345059376742159966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-45748326673827532072011-02-14T16:03:12.008-06:002011-02-14T16:03:12.008-06:00Smitty, I take your point. To be very honest, I a...Smitty, I take your point. To be very honest, I am so frustrated with this situation that I am spreading blame and motivation pretty widely. I can concede that. <br /><br />But on taxes, for example, I see no Republicans at the national level even being willing to consider raising taxes. Well, that is on the rich. As <a href="http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&askthisid=00492" rel="nofollow">this suggests</a> both parties have participated in raising taxes on the poor. <br /><br />Am I wrong about that? Is this just about rhetoric? I see Obama throw out a budget that cuts programs that actually help people, all to appeal to the GOP and to represent his conservative fiscal self, I think, and the GOP slams him because he wants to raise some taxes. <br /><br />And, as you note, there are some, like Palin who are truly stupid, and that was my point about the Tea Party people. As that Bartlett article showed, someof the new people didn't know what an appropriations was, and even asked Scalia if earmarks were "constitutional." These are not the brightest bulbs, and like Palin, many of them don't seem to care that their view of the world isn't correct. <br /><br />Does that make sense?Streakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-59270968362412004312011-02-14T13:02:09.718-06:002011-02-14T13:02:09.718-06:00But I no longer believe that the party itself, nor...<i>But I no longer believe that the party itself, nor the people running it, are serious people who want government to work. They simply want the rich to get richer, and the rest can suck it.</i><br /><br />The latter part of your statement, rich getting richer, I believe to a degree. That's their base of support (not their "base," who are people at odds with - but strangely supportive of - the Big Business and wildly rich; by base of support I mean the $$).<br /><br />The former part...I see your point, and know that we sometimes tend towards hyperbole to make the point we're making. Dealing with politicians day in and day out, I think that they really do want government to work. The votes they take on issues here in Lansing are almost...<i>almost</i>...never as extreme as the <i>platform</i> that brought them there. NO TAXES is a rhetorical device; "sane taxes" become the reality when the bills reach the Governor's desk.<br /><br />The problem is, as you clearly stated, the rhetoric. The rhetoric brings the stupid. I do believe that there are a few politicians and a number of regular individuals who believe that NO TAXES is a real, viable strategy, and that the smallest government possible, with so few services as to be nearly nonexistent, is an ideal. <br /><br />There are times when I really think that I want that thought experiment to win. I want that, if for just a few years so that the lazier-but-bright among us see what a bucket of fail that idea becomes, and how quickly it will fail. The realist in me knows that that's not possible; we can't let that experiment win the day, for reasons obvious to you and I...and honestly for reasons that "they" know quite well too. "The votes aren't there" for the truly radical stuff, and never will be, far as I can see.<br /><br />Now President Palin on the other hand? Well.....Noahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345059376742159966noreply@blogger.com