You have to figure that House Republicans took all that post-election talk about bipartisanship with a large grain of salt.
If not, they’re going to be disappointed during the next few days. House Democrats are kicking off the new year by kicking the now-minority Republicans to the curb.
Eyeing the political capital that could accrue from quick victories on the minimum wage, stem cell research and cutting interest on student loans, Democrats plan to use House rules to prevent the opposition from any significant say on those issues.
If there’s a political downside, it might be that Democrats will be seen as reneging on a specific pledge to run Congress differently than the Republicans did.
At least that’s what the Republicans hope. GOP lawmakers promptly submitted a “minority bill of rights” — demanding, without irony, the “fairness” they routinely denied Democrats over the last few years.
Posted by Dave Knadler
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Daniel on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/22
- American_Way on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- American_Way on Health care reform would save state money
- American_Way on Health care reform would save state money
- American_Way on Open thread 11/22
- Phantom on So they said
264 Comments
Democrats should be bipartisan with the Republicans – invite them to sign on to the legislation that the Democrats propose. That IS bipartisan – as defined by Dennis Hastert.
The Republicans are begging the Democrats not to treat them as they treated the Democrats when they took control of Congress. Newt laughed at the thought of compromise and bipartisanship. A couple years ago the Republicans thought about ending the use of the filibuster and whined to no end when the Democrats used it. Republicans blocked numerous judicial appointments of Clintons while Democrats blocked hardly any of Bush’s (of course Brownback blocked a bunch more of Bush’s).
The vast majority of Americans polled support the Democrats 100 hour plan. So it’s expected that a lot of Republicans will agree to support the interests of 70% of the population for a change. Although some may be upset that none of the issues involve stopping married gays from burning flags while reading Korans.
From the article …
In the House, Suddenly Righteous RepublicansBy Dana MilbankThursday, January 4, 2007; A02Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 feet 3 inches tall in thick soles. But he packed a whole lot of chutzpah when he walked into the House TV gallery yesterday to demand that the new Democratic majority give the new Republican minority all the rights that Republicans had denied Democrats for Omitted from McHenry’s plea for fairness was the fact that the GOP had ignored Pelosi’s 2004 request — while routinely engaging in the procedural maneuvers that her plan would have corrected. Was the gentleman from North Carolina asking Democrats to do as he says, not as he did?”Look, I’m a junior member,” young McHenry protested. “I’m not beholden to what former congresses did.”Anne Kornblut of the New York Times asked McHenry if his complaint might come across as whining.”I’m not whining,” he whined.The day began when House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (Fla.) led fellow House GOP leaders to a news conference in a Capitol basement hall. At 32, he is a year older than McHenry, and several inches taller, but no less outraged by Democrats’ refusal to bestow on Republicans the rights that Republicans refused to bestow on Democrats.”We are disappointed,” protested Putnam, whose fair skin was covered with a layer of makeup.”
SORE LOSERS!!!!!!!
Use that gavel Nancy!
The most powerful woman on the planet is on MY side.
We gotta lot of gettin’ even to do to get America even again.
You made history. KEEP making it. Restore America again to it’s historical greatness.
All our hopes go with you.
i’m torn. on one hand, i wanna stick it to em, after all, they should reap what they have sown. but on the other, i want more fairness.
i would say no deal unless they pass a law so that if repugs get power again, they cant turn around and pull this again.
I think the Dems will have to compromise – not with Bush but with moderate Republicans in Congress. That way they can override Bush’s vetoes if need be.
BUT – that comes AFTER the first 100 hour blitz.
Fair enough PolMom. I heard – hear say – that the dems will pass it. Would make extremely good political sense and pave the way for ‘08.
My thought is screw the Republicans, they put it to the Democrats over the past twelve years, refused debate, refused admendments, marginalized every Democratic initiative and now they want “fair play?”
Screw them – you’ll get what you gave us.
Let’s start with impeaching YOUR president.
Bastards.
Why would you say “restore” America. There is nothing to restore, unless you are in the Hate America camp. What, as soon as we have a Dem Prez, then we are restored? America is great, right here, right now.
Which “now” are referring to, Fleet, today, yesterday, eight years ago?
It’s hard to tell with you right-wingers.
woohoo. Our resident drug addict is hittin’ it hard again today.
Go Clarkie Go!
prediction: There will be ZERO veto overrides in the next two years.
Stalking again, Nutz? Don’t you have a business empire to run?
BTW – Just like Fleet, you haven’t answered the question – Why Clinton and why not Reagan and Bush the Smarter?
No answers – just lurk, troll and stalk?
ATTA’ BOY DAVE !!
If the Republicons wanted bi partisanship then at least a few of them should have voted for Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker. It was clear she would win anyway.
Not ONE did.
No quarter.
No mercy.
DA,I generally make it a point not to engage in conversation with drug abusers.
For you, I make an occasional exception (like now). Usually, I just point and laugh (with derogatory comments). =)
Have a nice green-teeth day.
I guess that means that you have no damn idea how to answer the question, Nutz.
Nice try, but you just lost a debate to a “drug addict.”
Loser.
Fleetwood – why do you insist on labeling people as America Haters just because they question George Bush and his policies? Why do you insist on making everything black and white? Governing takes compromise. Or do you believe that the winner takes all?
If you believe that, then the Democrats are the winners and they have the right to do whatever they want to the Republicans (just as the Republicans did to the Democrats). You can’t have it both ways.
Golfnutz – if you don’t engage with drug addicts – then why do you listen to Rush?
The most intelligent people around have or do smoke dope.Put that in your pipe and smoke it Balls. HA.
wasn’t that juvenile….but fun?
The stew-pud-est people I know are always popping pills.
Limpballs uses the downers to mask his guilt when he goes on a prostitute run.Then when he gets there he need more pills to get it up.Whattaguy!Hypocrit.
This is a difficult time for Nutz, so take it easy on him. He has just lost a debate point to a “drug addict” and now he is looking for an answer to the question.
I guess he’ll have to go back to stalking P Mom, now.
Poor boy.
Pelosi has already proven herself to be a joke and a lier, and it’s going to be fun over the next 2 years to highlight it as she proves it over and over again.
HeeeeHeeeeHe.
Any bets on when the first gun-control measure hits the floor?
Nancy Pelosi, the new Democratic Speaker of the House, is a deadhead, that is, she is a fan of the Grateful Dead, a 60s rock band.So, the rock ‘n roll generation has been replaced running the country by the summer of love generation. I’m not sure I want to be around when the Metallica/Kiss generation takes over.
“Restore America again to it’s historical greatness.
All our hopes go with you.”
Posted by: J R | January 04, 2007 at 01:32 PM
I was only commenting on the above post. Thinking that America needs to be “restored” is not exactly a thought that would come from an America Lover now is it?
Hey Lucee, JR,WSC and others. Where is your Rush? Oh yeah, they went bankrupt even though they had millions of dollars pumped into them trying to keep them afloat. Oh well, at least you still got NPR. Come to think of it, that is the only way that progressive/liberal talk can make it is to make all American taxpayers pay for it.
Restore it to it’s full-blown Marxist potential as seen by JR and Hillary Rod-Ham Clinton.
Just because someone thinks George W. Bush has taken the country down the wrong road does not mean that same person hates America. I just don’t get your reasoning here.
Maybe the person loves America so much that he/she is sickened by the way George W. Bush and his policies have strayed away from how great our country was at one time. You know, when we had allies that were actually with us? When our president could pick up a telephone and actually be welcomed by other global leaders?
“Behold, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.”–Axex Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman
Chrisfrommactown – maybe liberals do not need daily feeding of talking points from their Rush like you ditto heads need.
Or, perhaps, the liberals are too busy working and leading productive lives and don’t have time to waste listening to someone else trying to tell the masses how to think and what to say?
Ever think about that?
Lucy,Rush isn’t a drug addict.
cs-When Clinton was president, I didn’t think the country needed to be restored to greatness. It was a great country, even then. One president can’t make it not great. I did think we needed to restore another president, but then, I’m not an America Hater.lucee-Libs too busy working? HA! Maybe too busy in a welfare line.
He’s a self confessed drug addict David, or did you just block that from your mind?
If Rush isn’t a drug addict, why did he go into drug rehab?
Was he addicted to Viagra?
You know welfare works both ways – there is corporate welfare also – you know!
Of course when Bill Clinton was president, he did not invade another country and start a war so maybe the country wasn’t as bad off as it is now?
Fleetwood, can’t you come to the rescue of your fellow ditto-head Golf Nutz?
He’s losing real badly here!
Answer the questions for him – save his ass!
Pee, who is stalking whom?
Lucy,He admitted to being addicted to prescription pain medication. Yes.
He is no longer addicted to said meds. Had you called him a former drug addict, I would have agreed.
First thing – wasn’t Rush found to have a suitcase of some sort full of Oxycontin (that was reported, was it not)
Second, Rush went into rehab because of some trouble with painkillers? FYI: Oxycontin is a painkiller.
Third – Didn’t Rush have to appear in court for something? Wasn’t it related to some drug charges?
It it walks like duck, quacks like a duck, smells like a duck – then safe bet it’s a dang duck.
GolfNut doesn’t need my help. He’s exactly right. Calling Rush a drug addict is stupid and avoids the real question of why he has so many listeners (along with some other right thinking radio hosts). The mind numbed robot crap is stupid, too.
But see, David, that’s where you’re wrong. Once a drug addict, always a drug addict. The chemistry in the brain will always make you addicted to that drug.There is NO such thing as a former drug addict, former alcoholic. Recovering, yes.
And I didn’t stalk you, just using information already provided.
so golfer, even a ‘former’ addict is more addicted than a person who has never been shown to be addicted at all.
What’s a mac-town and why do we care?
You know what they say – once an addict, always an addict. You may be a recovering addict but you are still an addict.
Let’s make this perfectly clear. Frankly, I feel compassion for anyone dealing with a drug addiction problem but Rush has made millions off of making fun of others when they have problems so it is just fair to apply the same standards to Rush as Rush has applied to others.
As a percentage, the Dems have more drug addicts on their team than do the Repubs. Can’t you people be kind to your own?
LOL not if you count all the hillbilly rednecks and catholics.
Alcohol is also a drug.
Once a drug addict….always a drug addict.As soon as he starts getting cocky and saying that’s all behind him,he’ll be f**ked up ASAP.
Balls, you don’t know nuttin’ ’bout recovery from dope and booze, do ya?
Alcohol is the drug that kills most people.Weed,well….I guess the munchies could lead to obesity and heart attack,but I’d hardly call that a drug related death.
Pee,Lemme get this straight, as long as you’re responding to something I said (typed), it’s not stalking?
(Betting LARGE that you won’t answer this yes or no.)
If the dems got more druggies then the pugs got more pervies!
Na-na, na-na, poo-poo.
It’ll be stalking if I follow you around from board to board and respond JUST to pick at you.
Leave me alone with the personal crap, and I’ll leave you alone.
“As a percentage, the Dems have more drug addicts on their team than do the Repubs.”
Jeez, Fleet, where do you get your “facts” besides ditto-monkey.com?
“former”"recovering”
toe-MAY-toetoe-MAH-toe
Lucy,I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that you don’t listen to Rush.
ws-Just look at who makes up your constituancy.That was easy.
Pee,I couldn’t care less about you. If you think I was whining about you “stalking” me, then you are wrong (again).
Who’s David?
Anyway,Glenn Beck has become much better and more popular than old bloated bloviating limpballs.
Glen Beck sucks.
PS, Pee.I won the bet. Again.
Glenn Beck is very good, but who listens to the radio at night?
The topic of this blog is bipartisanship and as evidenced by all the talk about Rush and his drug problems, today’s politics is sharply divided by right and left.
I noticed this was happening when the Conservative Republicans won power in the Congress with their Contract on America.
That’s also the time that Rush came in with full guns and started his tirades and rather than have real debates about the issues – he chose to make fun of everyone that disagreed with his beloved Republicans. Somehow this gutter level of entertainment made the Conservative Republicans feel superior to everyone else.
How sad is it that grown people have to resort to making fun of people they disagree with just to make themselves feel good about themselves.
Our country is need of some strong moral leadership and I don’t mean just Christian morals – I mean morals for everyone. I want a president who is willing to do what is right and not just to make his side look good.
“Just look at who makes up your constituancy. That was easy.”
Damn, Fleet, that is one nasty “fact” you’ve got there – stinky, sticky, gooey – did you pull that one straight out of Nutz’ ass?
And your bet was with one testicle to the other David?
Lars Larson…equally good.
former and recovering are entirely different in meaning.come on Balls,….THINK.
I know what ya’ meant, but folks “in recovery” take this shit VERY serious.After all, it will kill you ya’ know.The pills and booze that is.Happy weed just gives you a hack and the munchies.
ws-That’s just gross.
Glenn Beck is good if you’re not extreme to the right or left.
“As a percentage, the Dems have more drug addicts on their team than do the Repubs.”
Proof? And remember, alcohol is an addictive drug.
dang..the verification macro kicked in. bummer.
I have a 3:00 meeting anyway. ciao.
cs, I don’t think they’ll nominate anybody that fits your description.
Uh, no he’s not. He’s conservative just as much as the next guy. I love how he asked if he could trust a muslim congressman not to blow him up.
And considering that Beck has a handicapped child, you would THINK the man would understand how hard it is for handicapped people and vote democrat, but no, because he’s priviledged he could care less about the others going through the same thing.
See ya’ Balls.You’ll still be wrong about alot when ya’ get back.But not Beck.even though he leans right,I still like him.
Neocons don’t like it when the show is on the other foot!
No, Fleet, your right-wing apologist approach is gross.
You apologize for Bush.
You apologize for Rush.
You apologize for Cheney.
You apologize for Golf Nutz.
You apologize for Reagan.
And you think my comment was gross?
I’d be embarrassed to be a Democrat with Pelosi and Reid in charge. Have fun.
I didn’t say I agreed with him like a stewpud dittohead.
And that was an extremely numbnuts thing to ask, say, even mention.Bad Beck, bad.Bad–bad.
Heck, you want denny asshurt and pervie foley back in power?Shit, at least Clinton liked full grown girls, not hairless preppie little boys. HA!
man this is funsnark, snark
Since when is Heckler a Democrat?
Hey, Fleet, come on over to our side. It’s much more friendly, far less judgmental and open to all, man, woman, gay, straight, black or white, Christian or not.
Take a deep breath and move on over to the side of right, decency and the true American way.
And yes, you ARE welcome.
When Satan’s ice skatin’, I’ll come over. I’m not a big fan of Socialism, America bashing, Military bashing, Saddam hugging, etc..
Conservatives and Liberals both love America… they just love it differently.
Conservatives love America like a child loves its mother. She can do no wrong and ANYONE who says different is a horrible person.
Liberals love America like a trusted friend or a caring spouse. Both know the other isn’t perfect and we work together to make the relationship, and each other, stronger than they could have been on their own. They see their weaknesses and strive to make them better.
So Libs say, I hate you cause I love you.
“big fan of Socialism, America bashing, Military bashing, Saddam hugging, etc..”
What a crock, Fleet. Really.
No one has suggested socialism, no one has bashed America, no one has bashed our men and women in uniform and no one is hugging Saddam.
And don’t even try that “that is what Democrats think but they won’t say it out loud” bull crap.
You and Nutz have lost all of the arguments today, yet you still throw hate and distortion around like it was confetti at a parade.
Try facts to back up your debate points, Fleet, not mindless Rush Limbaugh talking points.
“You and Nutz have lost all of the arguments today, yet you still throw hate and distortion around like it was confetti at a parade.”
That is the best analogy I have ever heard!
Also, like Monkeys throwing feces, hoping it’ll stick.
Socialism: Forcing an employer to pay an employee more than they are worth. Health care for all.
America bashing: Restore to greatness
Military bashing: I loathe the military (Clinton)
Saddam hugging: He was yelled at when hung, boo hoo.
Wasn’t it hot licky dicky enema who went into hiding after the election was lost? I think the guy is taking it really hard, but he can’t figure out that it’s the same things he’s saying that lost him the election in the first place.
First, for those who state that the Canadian national health system is a bad idea and that the “market” will keep the costs of medical coverage low and that the American medical community doesn’t want it even discussed, call their bluff with this little quote from the premier medical journal of the AMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association
Stating early in the article that the”experiment with market medicine” is ‘a failure’, it then goes on to proclaim that “The drive for profit is compromising the quality of care, the number of uninsured persons is increasing, those with insurance are increasingly dissatisfied, bureaucracy is proliferating, and costs are again rapidly escalating. We believe national health insurance deserves a second look.”
Remember, the Right could never uncover an intelligent reason to completely destroy Clinton’s plan for a national health care system nor could they devise a system to offer in its place themselves(but all the Republicans have ever been good at is overturn whatever social net exists for the poor). Instead, they played on the average American’s inability to differentiate between reality and actors mouthing scripts and scared the public with those reprehensible “Harry and Louise” ads where the two rather poor actors warned about having “Big Government in our medicine cabinets”.
Your argument is, thus, a simple one. When even the AMA states that we must revisit the question of a medical health system that covers every American, not just those who can afford it, and the best that the Rabid Right can offer in rebuttal is a poor imitation of a commercial, then it is, indeed, time for the Right to get out of the way of a fair and evenhanded healthcare system.
When you hear the arguments about the over regulation of the pharmaceutical companies, remind them of the horror stories that are still being reported about the diabetes drug Rezulin.
Because of the budget cuts forced on the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) by the Rabid Right at the behest of their corporate OWNERS, the agency is forced to curtail the length and extent of its testing, putting the drug on its Congressionally mandated “6 month fast track” and, as in this case, even allow a physician on the payroll of the drug manufacturer to control and direct the testing. This massive and, without a doubt, illegal conflict of interest has resulted in the deaths of, so far, nearly a hundred Americans and has caused massive liver failure in one out of eight of the patients to whom it has been prescribed. Even when the evidence was produced that the drug’s safety was simply too questionable to keep it on the market, the FDA folded to industry pressure and it is still being given to patients with diabetes with little or follow-up nor even a warning to physicians that they must constantly monitor these patients for the early signs of the decline in liver functions which inevitably lead to massive liver failure and a very painful and unnecessary death.
Compare this sorry example of the Rabid Right’s notion of corporate Nirvana with the episode in Sixties when an FDA physician, Dr. Francis O. Kelsey, first delayed, and ultimately withheld, approval of a proposed sedative meant primarily for pregnant women. Two years later, her logical actions, given her many doubts regarding the drug, were proven correct when thousands of disfigured newborns were born worldwide. Members of Congress as well as President Kennedy honored her insight and resolve in protecting the American public from the drug, thalidomide.
Would she still have the power or available research to act in that fashion these days?Of course not.Would she even have been in a position to conduct the research which alerted her to the possible issues that would need to be investigated before placing the drug for sale to Americans?Of course not.Should we allow the Rabid Right to continue its on going destruction of the FDA?Of course not.It is our only protection from the greed and insanity of the Right and their OWNERS in Corporate America.
Finally, whenever these self-righteous moral midgets use the term the”scandal plagued Clinton Administration”,remind them that in the long and truly despicable investigation by that little hemorrhoid, Starr, and all of his lackeys produced only one, JUST ONE, actual indictment and that was of the President lying about an incident that had absolutely nothing to do with his responsibilities to the office and even that mean spirited indictment, although used as the Rabid Right’s justification for impeachment proceedings, resulted is a “not guilty” verdict. The only scandal during those eighth years has been the absolute stupidity and smallness exhibited by the Rabid Right and their followers in the conservative media.
Finally, remind them that during the horrors of the Reagan Administration, nearly four hundred of his appointees were investigated and ultimately indicted, with more than a hundred being found guilty and serving sentences or paying fines.
“Socialism: Forcing an employer to pay an employee more than they are worth. Health care for all.”
OMG fleet, you’re saying that a human being isn’t worth being paid enough to live on? And that healthcare for all is socialism?
But by god you better give birth to that baby, but once it is here, if it gets sick and dies from some poverty related disease, well hell, that’s ok!
How very pro-life of you.
You know, Fleet, it would be much more enjoyable debating a topic with you if you were remotely rational.
No one has suggested forcing employers to pay an employee more than they are worth – we have suggested raising the minimum wage to 1979 level – in real dollars.
Bashing America? Wanting America to reflect the greatness of our people rather than the fantasy of the president is bashing America?
I loathe the military – did you pull that quote out of the Rush Limbaugh playbook?
Health care for all – what a horrible thought that the richest country on Earth should take care of the least of our citizens.
Saddam hugging – no, unlike Repubs, liberals thought that the execution of Saddam proved that sectarian divides in Iraq cannot be solved by Americans.
Like I said, Fleet, come on over to the rational side of the argument.
How in the WORLD is it “America bashing” to want your country to be a better place for ALL of its citizens?
How exactly is it socialistic to expect that everyone have a shot at the American dream?
fleet? Are you independently wealthy? Forgive an observation, but you come across as not terribly bright. SO I cannot imagine you are a professional of any sort.
Just how big a portion of the American dream do you have and why are you against it being available for all?
I wanna know how all these stupid people end up rich. Of course, I already know the answer to that.
The American Dream is available to all. I’m not sure what you mean by that. How is it not?I’d like car insurance for all.How ’bout free living quarters for all?Clinton said it, I didn’t. He’s your guy, not mine.What are doing having babies if you can’t afford it? Why should I pay for your anything.
BILL CLINTON!!BILL CLINTON!!
here we go again woody,slick willies indescretions have no bearing on the issues at hand.
You are funny man, Fleet!
Do you drive on the roads that I paid for?
Are you protected by the military I paid for?
Are you subject to the court system I paid for?
Do you enjoy the infrastructure that I paid for?
Do you visit the library – I paid for that.
Did that cop protect you? I paid for that.
Do you enjoy lower energy costs? I paid for the tax break to the oil companies.
Is the medicine you (hopefully) take safe? I paid for the FDA that tested your meds.
Fleet, shut up, you’re losing this one badly.
“Health care for all” already exists.
PeeMom would like free smokes for all.
Heck, I’d go for free golf….nah, nevermind. I don’t want the proletariat littering my golf courses.
The goverment has a few functions that they are obliged to do. Roads and military are two of them. Paying for health care for all in not one of them.
What woody is saying that quality and quantity of healthcare should be dictated by your ability to pay.
You’re poor, go to the nearest free clinic.
Governed by your ability to pay. What a concept!The free clinic is health care. You bitching about that?
“Paying for health care for all in not one of them.”
Who decided that, Fleet? You?
You are okay, of course, giving max tax breaks to oil companies even though they are enjoying record profits?
Typical right-winger….
Balls you elitist golf addict.
I’ll bet your all american elitist ass slams a few brewskies before ya’ drive home,but don’t smoke no pot or you’re a hippy commie pinko fag, right?That about sums it up, huh balls?
I wish all I could remember all of my friends and family killed by these drug hating alcoholics in their alcoholic haze!
I’m not sure about this, but aren’t the tax breaks for oil companies from exploration type costs (many holes are dry)?But, what it comes down to is, if we stop the tax breaks, who will end up paying? Us.
tracy-Just how many of you friends and family have been killed by drunk drivers? My count is zero.
No I’m not bitchen’.I’m just gettin’ to the bottom line.Somebody has to wade through the bullshit to get to the ice cream!
fleetwood – still waiting …
“As a percentage, the Dems have more drug addicts on their team than do the Repubs.”
Proof? And remember, alcohol is an addictive drug.
PeeMom,The rich people I know certainly aren’t stupid. I know a few that inherited some money, but not really “wealth” – just enough money to pay for school or to get a business started…something.
One of my best friends inherited a business in Wichita that was losing money. He tried to sell it when he first got it, but no one offered. So he decided to turn it around – Now it earns him about $500k annually and is worth about $5 million.
I know many others that started with NOTHING and now have similar earnings. You have the same opportunities they have, Pee.
The key word here is EARN. You expect someone (namely, uncle sam) to give it to you.
“I’m not sure about this, but aren’t the tax breaks for oil companies from exploration type costs (many holes are dry)?”
No. They also get “depletion allowance”
“I wish all I could remember all of my friends and family killed by these drug hating alcoholics in their alcoholic haze!”
Focus woody, focus.Too many to count without some time.
So, Fleet, why don’t we just let all business go without paying taxes?
Hey, why don’t we let EVERYONE get away without paying taxes!
Why should ANYONE pay taxes?
Oh, yeah, we have a NINE TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT to pay.
Sorry, my bad.
Fleetie?
Unless you ARE independently wealthy, your problem with a minimum wage is puzzling.
Here, let me take you to that world…..
poof
All the unions are gone.
There is no more minimum wage.
Now here goes fleetie for a job.
Employer A offers him 1 cent an hour.
Determined to do better fleet heads next door.
Employer B asks what A offered. B then offers you 2 cents an hour.
You are surrounded remember by millions of others looking for these jobs.
Finally, after much dickering and interviews, employer B offers you say…..14 cents an hour.
Next day? Another guy shows up. He lives with 27 other people in a one room apartment. You’ve only got 25 roomates. He’ll do the job for 12 cents an hour.You are fired. And then it starts all over again.
Is that REALLY what you are advocating?
So I suppose you wanna defend your right to drive drunk and narc on pot smokers?
Tracy,Elitist? No way. I just prefer to mingle with people like me.
And, if I have a beer after a round – a round after a round [heh] – I don’t drive (the car) home. Generally speaking, I can walk home or take my golf cart.
And I’ve never had a DUI – nor has anyone in my family. Plus, the issue with smoking pot is that it’s illegal. If you’re willing to turn a blind eye to the law on this, then where do you stop?
At Casa de Tracy, we only have to obey the “important” laws. Right?
ws, jr and tracy just showed how to argue from the sublime to the ridiculous.For a minute there, I had gone from a penny an hour to 14 cents. then I got fired. Damn it, man!
tracy-Focus. Take some time and start making up numbers.
a penny to 14 cents? in one day?
holy cow, that’s some IRR.
“I just prefer to mingle with people like me.”
According to you, Nutz, that is a very small club, since you are SOOOO superior to the rest of the human race.
In fact, Nutz, I am surprised that you recognize a God, since you apparently feel that you are so God-like.
And Fleet, shut up, you have yet to provide a rational response to any debate point.
The nanny state has just passed a law banning “shut up”. It makes people feel bad.
Actually Fleet, I do hope that you feel bad.
Real bad.
I do feel bad that Saddam got yelled at. That was just mean.
so, golfer ” I have a beer after a round – a round after a round”
So, you are an alkie but look down on druggies. What’s the difference?
Grandma: “People who use ’shut up’ do so because they have nothing else of value to say.”
an alkie?
one beer after a round of golf = alkie?
dude…
heh heh
One after another, Republicons are coming to the well of the house crying “Unfair!” “Let us have a voice!”
Sighhhhhh
It does my heart good!
It makes me sad that I must now leave to lead my basketball team to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.In a Lib world, our games would end in a tie, or at least one of us win every other time. It’s not fair that some bastard grew up tall, or with talent, or with some talent, but worked hard to develop what talent he has. Or maybe, we could have the goverment issue talent, or, maybe, make the talented stay out of the game to make it more fair. Oh, to live in a Lib World. Wouldn’t it be de-loverly?
Actually, fleet and golf, you are just making yourselves look bad. I have to agree – it’s socialist to feel that our workes should be paid a living wage? How about you spend a year making minimum wage where it is now and see how well you do? (and for the record, I have had a job since I was 16, I have a college degree, I work full time, and come tax time by the time all my deductions are done, (which isn’t a lot) I am earning BELOW poverty level… it isn’t all about working hard, a lot of it is about opportunities that other people give you…) it’s socialist to feel that EVERYONE in this country should be eligible for healthcare?? What about the people that make too much money for the free clinic, but not enough money to afford the ridiculous premiums the insurance companies charge? it’s hating america because we feel that the man currently in charge has driven this country into a hole? I would say that is more about us loving this country and wanting to see things made BETTER for this country that we love. It’s hating our troops because we feel that they are being needlessly sent to their deaths by a man who wants to make more money for his buddies? I don’t think so. If you read carefully, nobody has said anything about the troops directly other than concern. What they have expressed disdain for is this pointless, life-wasting, money-wasting war… We all recognize that these men and women are doing their jobs and giving their lives for this country – we just feel that they should never have been put in that position by a man fighting his daddy’s war. Saddam hugging? I don’t recall anyone saying he wasn’t guilty – I think the arguements were more along the lines of he should have faced trial at a world court, and then concern over the way the situation was handled which will in all likelihood lead to further and more deadly retaliation against the american soldiers who are in Iraq – and if that makes me a Saddam hugger, well, I guess that’s what I am…. All the two of you have done is a bunch of name calling and insulting without ANYTHING to back it up. And when someone calls you on that, you simply ignore it and move to another name-calling and insult-slinging post… doesn’t really make your case very well for you…
I believe we are about to acquaint you with that lib world fleetie!
I cannot WAIT until bush gets the chance to put his veto pen on a bill guaranteeing all Americans health care!
He vetoes that? The GOP is dead…..PERMANENTLY.
JR: It’s like you believe in Santa Claus! And now all your dreams are going to come true.
How’s a bill like that going to get through the Senate? It couldn’t with a Democrat majority in Clinton’s first term.
“an alkie?
one beer after a round of golf = alkie?
dude…”
Just like one doobie after a hard day’s work = drug addict
fleettwood – still waiting for proof of your bogus claim
Ya know f you David, you have no idea about earning shit. You had everything handed to you by mommy and daddy, so don’t even give me that.
And me, I DID freaking earn it and I know I worked harder than you ever did in your entire life for it. Mommy and daddy didn’t pay my way through college. Mommy and daddy didn’t pay my bills.
The same opportunities are not equal to all, but it makes you feel so much better to believe that. If you think picking up a book and taking a test and then going to a frat party is earning it, well, buddy, I don’t think so.
And Fleets enema would be just so happy if our economy was like Mexico or China, because that’s exactly what his ideas come from. And I hate to break it to him but if we did have that sort of system, him and Testicles would be just as dirt poor as the rest of us.
JR, how do people who don’t belong to unions, or people who don’t work in the types of jobs that unions benefit — how do they manage to get along?
Just curious!
– Steph
Drumroll, please!!!!!!
Announcing the First Annual Fleetwood Award to the Conservative that best exemplifies the standards of the right-wing throughout the United States.
Named in honor (or horror) of the one and only Fleetwood…..
This award is only given to those posters that best show the standards of ignoring facts, leaping to conclusions, making false statements, character assassination, offering irrational debate points, unhealthy worship of dead conservatives, blind loyalty to living wannabe monarchs and general stupidity when faced with facts and reasonable debate….
Envelope, please……
The 2006 Winner of the Fleetwood Award goes to…………….
David “KS Golf” Nutz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What? No applause?
clap, clap, clap.
I still think the Enema award sounds more appropriate.
Steph The minimum wage acts as a floor. Those courageous enough and able to form a union elevate that wage. Stwph? Without unions and a minimum wage? Do you imagine for one second we would have the standard of living we… well I was gonna say we do. But I guess I’ll say we did.?
After watching Pelosi having the (sob..sob..sob…sorry, I getting fakleped..and I’m not Jewish:) children of American on the podium with her as she brought the gavel down, she is certifiably PUKEY PELOSI. Hold on to your checkbook and the U.S. Constitution, because it is at risk of being raped by the PUKEY PELOSI regime!
“Hey, why don’t we let EVERYONE get away without paying taxes!”
Funny WSCLark, you argue on many threads how illegals have the right to be here and work and to collect the entitlements that they do. NOW you are on the other side of the arguments.
Take ALL those that support the illegal aliens on this board, and look at their responses. Their arguments on this thread are EXACTLY those used by illegal immigration opponents. EXACTLY!!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TRACEY wants to have the health care plan for every American, again are you going to include all the increase in population that illegal aliens are going to produce in this country. Over 75 million in the next 10 years, probably 100 million.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From Political_mom:
“And Fleets enema would be just so happy if our economy was like Mexico or China, because that’s exactly what his ideas come from.”
It is going that way because we are letting the illegal aliens control the border instead of the United States. Our economy IS partically based (10%-15%) on cheap third world labor importation. We are already going that way and illegal alien supporters are the problems here.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ANd then WENDY”
“I have to agree – it’s socialist to feel that our workes should be paid a living wage? ”
Well that “living wage” or increasing the minimum wage has NO EFFECT AT ALL because you are supporting the illegal alines that erode wages. SO you want wages to rise? STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION and SEND THE ASSHOLES HOME!!!! The market will correct.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“One after another, Republicons are coming to the well of the house crying “Unfair!” “Let us have a voice!”"
Remember how the Democrats decided that a fillibuster was guarnteed and protected? BOTH parties will try to control their power when they had it. Don’t you think the Republicans are going to use it now???
The Republicans diviorced themselves from the principals of the party to keep power and it cost them control. ALready the Dems are turning their back on Cindy and the peacenick screechers. ANd Cindy is pissed, and rightfully so. If that is what is the principal of the Democratic party is they ned to follow it and if not, their base will turn on them.
ID – Do you have an English translation for your post?
“Steph The minimum wage acts as a floor. Those courageous enough and able to form a union elevate that wage. Stwph? Without unions and a minimum wage? Do you imagine for one second we would have the standard of living we… well I was gonna say we do. But I guess I’ll say we did.?”
WRONG JR!!! It is illegal aliens and their employment that has caused wages to sag and erode. Additionally it is the trade agreements proposed and voted on BY BOTH PARTIES, that has sent our jobs outside the United States.
The politicians are in it for themselves, and not for the contry.
“Funny WSCLark, you argue on many threads how illegals have the right to be here and work and to collect the entitlements that they do”
We have argued many times, Asbestos, we should be on a first name basis.
You can call me William – I’ll call you Ass.
Well, Ass, show me just ONE post where I have argued that illegals have a right to be here and to collect entitlements.
Just ONE, Ass.
That should be easy for a bright little boy like you.
Go for it, Ass.
ID, would that be any different than Bush and the snowflake babies? Come on.
I see ID and ASBESTOS caught Rush today.
ID if I wanted to debate Rush I’d call his show and they wouldn’t let me on.
Illegal aliens? I say deport ‘em all.
Reagan gave ‘em amnesty. YOUR side had power the last 12 years. Illegal immigration is your baby.
And without a minimum wage? Americans would have no more right to one than illegals. Worth that to keep a few illegals away? Hardly.
I agree with you all on the enema award. fleet makes Joe Williams look like a Rhodes scholar.
Watching a little TV – is anyone else struck by the fact that Angela Merkel looks a lot more masculine than George W Bush?
And that isn’t a slam on Ms. Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany.
‘Mon, Ass!!! Where is your copy and paste where I posted that illegal aliens had a “right” to be here?
That should be easy for a competent conservative like you.
Copy and paste, Ass…. let’s see it.
Man, some people have really gotten into the stupid pills today.
Once more, just for the record. The difference between Conservatives and Liberals.
Conservatives believe in eqaulity of oppurtunity with a saftey net for those unable to provide for themselves.
Liberals want an equality of outcomes (socialism).
Chris????? Are you and Ass one and the same?
That just shows right there that Chris was never a liberal…either that or he lies out his ass.
Equal opportunity is EXACTLY what liberals are about.Neocons want nothing of the sort.
Equal opportunity already exists.
Libs! Your job is done!!!
Conservatives believe in a safety net?
When?
When they gutted health and human services?
Chris you really have been around those petrol fumes too long!
Pee,My parents paid for my first two years of school. That’s it. I paid for the rest – including grad school.
PS Pee,(I know you’ll love this)
I also paid for the initiation fee into my country club – $15,000.
Do you know how much I could do with two years of paid college?
It is a whole lot easier to work your way while earning associate’s degree wages to bachelor’s degree.
Golf,
15,000? Is your golf course some stable with hay and ranchers serving Pina colada drinks?
My husband paid $50,000 for our membership at the Legacy in Nevada, but that was 10 years ago. You can’t touch a membership at a decent posh club anywhere these days, for anything less than 100K.
Glen Beck is a Mormon who used to have a drinking problem, (by his own admission) but changed his ways as soon as he repented. Good for him.
WSC said, Chris????? Are you and Ass one and the same?
Well WSC, you know what they say about asses. “Everybody has one, some people are one”.
110th congress.Well, looks like it is time to go buy some Walmart stock. Thanks to the Dems raising of the minimum wage, any money me or a whole lot of Americans had to buy at a local store, is about to Nancy out the window. Once the cost of paying workers more is tacked onto the price, A WHOLE LOT MORE FOLKS WILL BE AT WALMART. Good job Nance. WAY TO SUPPORT WALMART DEMS. LOL
Hey that’s a real nice try Gene!
( Gene shows up now and again and likes to pretend he’s a poster. We humor him.)
Geno? That little bit of rhetoric might have worked 20 years ago. Wal mart has long since eliminated any competition. SO an increased minimum wage is a little late to help them do it.
It was a nice try Gene. If it got you in from the ledge today I guess it was worth it.
Do come and try again sometime.
Platypus,The most expensive club in the Wichita area has a $30k initiation. And it wasn’t built when I joined my club…1989, my first year out of college.
Are you not from here?
Junior,Wal-mart doesn’t pay minimum wage. Any increase will likely not affect them at all.
Associates degree = no degree. There is no such thing as AD wages.
I just said a minimum wage hike would not help or much hurt Wal mart goofnuts. It’s Gene you wanna talk to.
By the way? I’m not at all sorry or surprised that you have to pay money to have a place where people are actually willing to share your company. Why you’d brag about it is hard to guess.
An appeal for pity?
You shoulda spent your money on a good charm or….obedience school.
See, there you go being an idiot yet again David.
RN’s have associates degrees, and up.
Paramedics, associates degree.
Junior,We all pay fees and dues to play golf and associate with like-minded, successful people. It’s also great networking.
That initial fee was peanuts compared to the business generated via the club.
AH I get it now.
A whole group of people who no one wants to be around….gets together and pays for the priviledge.
Ya know? I find, and it is generally true that folks who do lots of talking about how much money they have are insecure in some way or other. Now MOST people know that. SO goofnuts is either someone to be pitied…..or a tremendous boor.
Another lie from Chris:
“Liberals want an equality of outcomes (socialism).”
Wrong. What Liberals want is equal opportunity including access to education.
Anyone who claims to “have a college degree”..and it turns out to be an Associates degree…has the equivalent of no degree. If I advertise that one of the requirements for the job is a college degree – any resume that I get that lists an Associates…ends up in the trash.
Ben,Eureka! Your liberal job is DONE! We DO have equal access to education!!
Great job!
I usually see more specifics golfer – Bachelors degree, masters, whatever …
Ben,Agreed. But, some jobs just say “degree required”.
WRONG golfer! With all the disparity in public schools (a lot less serious in KS than other tates) we do not have equal access. Add to that the all-too-often prohibitive cost of post-secondary.
I was able to get both good K-12 and college education but I know that such opportunities are not universal.
In that case it is too vague. The CC’s that award them call them degrees.
Ben,I submit that anyone HS age or younger has full access to government education.
Secondly, any prospective college student has full and complete access to any Kansas state college. Cost is relative, though not prohibitive. Student loans and grants are readily available.
“Student loans and grants are readily available”
Which explains why goofnuts needed mommy and daddy’s money?
We’re getting off point here.
TO: All you moderates, and REASONABLE Republicans
I want and challenge you to observe the activities of the United States House of Representatives these next few weeks.
For 12 YEARS Democrats languished un heard from because of rules the majority Republicans made.
NOW WITNESS the urelenting torrent of pissing and moaning and whining AS?
The Democrats make the Republicans play by their own rules!
Watch that. Watch also how they twist and fight every Democrat attemt to make this nation better.
Watch and remember these things and you may well never be inclined to vote for Republicans again.
golfer – the situation in Kansas is better than in many other states. But, even here, the K-12 schools have wide disparities. Interesting that we are having the parallel conversaton about Associates degrees – those are the ones given by CCs which is what many have access to. In Sedgwich County i have long pushed for better Vo-Tech than we have in that that is often the best route.
Loans, even through Sallie Mae, are still quite expensive for too many students. That said, I agree that there is fairly good access in KS compared to many states.
JR you are dead wrong. The Dems will let the repubs in in a briliant move to secure the ‘08 elections. Lets see who is right…
I think you are partly right sol. Dems will allow reasonablr Republicans in. Guys like that bigot who said the new congressman (from MN I think) should not be allowed to oath on Thomas Jefferson’s Quran probably have nothing to add to an intelligent discussion.
sol
It is exactly people like you who make it necessary for the Dems NOT to let Repulicans be part of anything.
Oh you’ll be GLAD for them to work with you NOW. I can almost see you drooling at the prospect. And under your breath you are whispering “sucker!”.
But if your side ever gets back in? It’ll be right back to the same old thing.
The Republicans made the rules. They should now get to live with them same as the Dems had to.
TRUST NO REPBULICANS!
I think the ‘bill of rights’ will be inacted by the dems after the 100 hrs. It will be the most powerful move in congress in 40 years and aquire the ‘08 swing vote. Dem will get the oval office in ‘08
Golf, I have an Associate Degree but, as a nurse, I make more money than many who have a Master’s. It’s not so much about the kind of degree one has as much as having a career or a skill that is in demand…. and I wouldn’t pay $5 to join a country club and hang out with all those blowhards.
I can’t imagine the Republicans getting the White House in ‘08 after the way they’ve screwed up, but strange things happen in this world. Let’s just hope that the Dems can come up with someone who is electable.
Junior. Watch democracy take its course. The Dems will take a hit, sign the bill and take the oval office. Your petty bitching and whining might serve YOU, but I am betting your party will see the golden ring and snatch it with a vengeance. Bully for them. They have the golden ticket and I bet the get it punched for all it is worth.
“…. and I wouldn’t pay $5 to join a country club and hang out with all those blowhards.”
Dittos, Mary.
If they are foolish enough to do that I will never vote for them again. I’ll vote green.
This is not about revenge. This is about justice.
sorry I couldn’t resist
Associated PressDecember 19, 2006
BEIJING – Employees at the China headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have set up a Communist Party branch, part of a growing campaign to expand the ruling party’s presence in foreign companies.The move follows the success of China’s state-sanctioned labor body in setting up unions at Wal-Mart outlets this year. The company is one of China’s biggest and most prominent foreign employers, with a work force of 36,000 and 68 stores.
The party branch was set up Friday at Wal-Mart headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to the party newspaper People’s Daily and a Wal-Mart spokesman, Jonathan Dong.
“Quite a few of our associates are party members already, so they have a right to establish branch organizations,” he said. Dong didn’t know whether Wal-Mart would have any formal interaction with the branch or whether its establishment would affect operations. Employees who answered the phone at the party’s Shenzhen office and wouldn’t give their names said they had no information on what the branch at the Wal-Mart headquarters would do.
Several of Wal-Mart’s Chinese stores already have Communist Party branches. The first was set up Aug. 12 in the northeastern city of Shenyang.
The party branch there has said it would not interfere in store management. An official quoted by the state Xinhua News Agency said it would encourage members “to play an exemplary role in doing a good job” and to help the company grow.
Many foreign companies in China already have party branches, either officially or unofficially.
China’s 70 million-member Communist Party and its affiliated All-China Federation of Trade Unions, or ACFTU, are trying to expand their presence in foreign companies to keep pace with a fast-changing society amid capitalist-style economic reform.
State industry, their traditional base, has slashed millions of jobs while private companies are creating tens of millions more. In a bid to stay relevant, the party has begun offering membership to entrepreneurs and others in the new private economy.
Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., resisted the creation of unions at its Chinese stores for two years before agreeing in August to help the ACFTU organize its workers. The company has few unions elsewhere in its worldwide operations.
The party and labor expansion campaigns were ordered in March by President Hu Jintao, who also is the party’s general secretary, according to Chinese media.
“Do a better job of building (Communist) Party organizations and trade unions in foreign-invested enterprises,” the order said, according to the newspaper Beijing News.
Does anyone really care what goofnutz says he makes in terms of money? The guy is obviously a stupid turd. It matters not what lies he tells, IMHO.
I don’t really care what you say either, Davis.
Wendy–
Beautiful post. This is exactly what people need to hear.
I suspect that you are younger than a lot of post-ers on this blog. And that’s something that is very important: younger people are poorer than us boomers and they are getting less and less help from gov’t these days.
For instance, when I was an undergraduate at a major midwestern university (30K students) in the ’70’s, my entire 15-20 hour load cost 350 dollars a semester. Granted, it would be maybe 1100 dollars in 2006 money, but still that’s like 60 dollars a credit hour. Compare that to KU’s 180 dollars a credit hour.
Why the big increase? Simple.
Ronald Reagan. He cut federal support for colleges and forced the states to pick up more, which of course they could not easily do.
That’s only one way that younger and poorer people are getting shafted. In addition, wages have fallen drastically. I worked my way through college without incurring any debt because I worked 3 hours a day with UPS. I made 7 dollars an hour.
140 a week was plenty when tuition was so low.
To make that comparable 7 dollars an hour now, a student would have to earn 22 dollars an hour in today’s money. Even if a kid could get a 20 hour a week job making 20 dollars an hour–which they can’t–they would still have to work 18 weeks just to pay their tuition for the year.
I only had to work about ten weeks to pay my tuition for the year.
CONservatives like to talk about “equal opportunity,” but that’s just a convenient myth to justify crushing the poor.
When you do the numbers, it doesn’t add up. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer BY DESIGN.
What’s really sad is that the rich wannabes that ditto Rush couldn’t even fill Cheney’s motor yacht with gas on what they make a year.
But illusions are all they’ve got, apparently.
Some quotes from the greatest president of the greatest generation, Franklin D. Roosevelt:
“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.”
“In our seeking for economic and political progress, we all go up – or else we all go down.”
Here’s one that sums up GoofNut to a T:
“It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.”
“Selfishness is the only real atheism; aspiration, unselfishness, the only real religion.”
“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the goverment.”
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”
One of my favorite quotes from a Democratic Senator of yester year…
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Everyone is not entitled to their own facts.”Senator Daniel Patrick Monynihan
This has been a great day for America – the first woman Speaker of the House, Democrats regain control of both branches of Congress, Bush looking like a little boy that has been sent to the principal’s office for a spanking.
The Repubs are screaming that the House Democrats are not fair because they are going to follow the House rules that were developed by the….. Republicans.
Poor babies, they thought that they would ALWAYS be in control.
Hastert looked like a toad, sitting by himself on the back bench. At best, he looked like he was severely constipated.
Republican commentators whined like Barry Bonds after a hitless day. The right-wing cried foul, claiming their innocence like Pete Rose at a Los Vegas bettig window.
All in all, it’s been a pretty good day.
Now, if I could just get an answer from Nutz and Fleet as to why Clinton should have been impeached but Reagan and Bush I deserved a pass…….
I guess that isn’t going to happen – today or any other day.
The Democrats are going to do a lot for the American people to reverse the damaging trend of the Republicans in their first 100 Congressional hours. I hope they use Democrat Congressional hours because if they use Republican hours this could take all year.
Thank you, Capn, and I suspect you are right as well. I worked my way through college, I did manage to get a few scholarships – unfortunately, what most people DON’T realize, is that if you are full time student whose parents still claim you as a dependant on their taxes (as many middle class families must in order to not have to pay in due to the unfair taxing system in this country) then when you apply for student loans and grants, you have to use your PARENTS income, not your own. I did attend a major KS university, I did work my butt off, I did manage to graduate, $25,000 in debt, mind you, and now I make less than $30,000 a year because all of these CEO’s are more concerned with how much money they are taking home than whether or not they are paying their employees a fair wage. I am now supporting my son on my own, because my ex just didn’t feel like he wanted to be a parent anymore – and even though I have a court order for child support, I still haven’t seen a dime of it, because the courts run so slowly that by the time they manage to issue a garnishment order, he has moved to a new job and the cycle starts all over again… So I barely make ends meet… And I DON’T live outside my means – I drive a 1999 car, I own my own home, which I paid 70,000 for, I don’t have luxuries like cable or a cell phone or internet – and STILL I barely manage to make ends meet. I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like for someone who couldn’t afford to go to college, so they don’t have a degree, and are making minimum wage at $5.15 and supporting a child on their own… No wonder we have so many people need public assistance – They are better off being on welfare than trying to work – they make more money that way!!! Let’s get real here people – The kinds of arguments you are using might hold water with your country club set – because you all have the extra money to just toss around and don’t have to deal with these day to day hardships – but for those of us out in the REAL world – NO, they don’t hold water here – The time has come for a change – let’s hope that the Democrats can make a dent in the mess the Republicans have gotten us into….
“Bipartisanship” now that Democrats are in charge? Let’s see what the Rude Pundit has to say about THAT.
rudepundit.blogspot.com**********************************
“In Brief: Democrats Burn the Republicans’ Bed”
“Goddamn, it was so easy to predict: the first reaction of Republicans losing their power in Congress is to whine like the oldest, mangiest bitches in the pound, hoping that if they cry loud enough, they’ll avoid the long walk to the metal table in the other room. As Democrats take over today, they’ve said that the Republicans can go fuck themselves. Break out the needles.
The fact that Republicans even think the victim act will work is laughable, in a “Christ, that’s sad, let’s shoot Old Yeller way.” They don’t realize that people love it when the bully gets beaten up. When an abused wife shoots the shit-faced, pummeling husband in the back of the head. When the convicted serial rapist is turned into the gang-banger’s punk in prison. Sure, sure, we can bemoan the system that creates the circumstances where such violence can occur. But even in our most bleeding hearts, it’s hard to feel anything but satisfied. Because for every life directly damaged by the actions of thuggish wads of fuck, there’s reverberations to many, many people. Ask the family of any woman who’s been raped. The parents of any kid who gets slugged every day at school. So even if you’ve promised non-violence as a way of life, well, at the end of the day there’s a difference between pacifism and passivism.
So, really, and, c’mon, the proper response, as many have said, to the NRCC’s pussy wails of disenfranchisement is to stare at them like the pathetic peep show masturbators they are. They seriously think saying, “Democrats promised to share their toys” is going to have traction as a counter argument to the election results, even when the entire country knows that Republicans kept the playground locked to Democrats for all these years. This is a Karl Rove ploy, the weak wimper of a cancer-ridden corrupt old man, trying to turn the Democrats on themselves, hoist them on their promise of better bipartisanship.
You can smell his sausage-like finger grease all over George Bush’s sad editorial in the Wall Street Journal. “What Congress Can Do For America,” it was titled. And the simple answer, the one demanded by all Americans whose paychecks don’t rely on desperately trying to make Bush into a “leader,” is “Fucking stop you.”"
:::shedding a tear for PeeMom, errrrr, “Wendy” :::
How can anybody think yesterday was a great day for America? Pelosi will be nothing more than a footnote in American history. Already she is showing signs of having misread the meaning of the last election. Yes the American people did fire the Republicans for their scandals, big spending and failure to control the southern border. However they did not make a left turn and are not clamoring for the Dems. same old tired policies. Fortunatly, Pelosi, like the Democrat majorities will have a short time in power after the American people remember why they fired them back in 94.
I agree 100% with you Wendy and I commend you for being a responsible parent and doing what is right.
I am middle aged and have two grown children. My son is married, both he and his wife work and they just had their first baby. My daughter is single. Both kids make more than minimum but still not a living wage. My daughter is a pre-school teacher and is finishing her college degree. Between paying rent, buying food, paying utilities, keeping her car running and paying taxes, she has some left over but not enough to say she is ‘comfortable’.
My son and his wife both work and still it is not enough when they are planning to buy a house, paying utilities, eating, raise their baby and pay their taxes.
But the kicker here is – if my son did not marry his wife, then she could claim the baby on her tax return and wind up being paid thousands of dollars through the Earned Income Credit plus she would qualify for all kinds of assistance being a single parent.
Now, is that fair? It seems we are punishing people for getting married because we are not helping them but yet if they had chosen not to get married, my daughter-in-law would qualify for all kinds of assistance.
Both of my kids have told me that they don’t want assistance, but they want the system to be fair.
And to think the ‘country club set’ mentality is just one of drinking and high-fiving each other is the most work they probably do all day. And that initiation fee to join that country club was probably a write-off for your company?
Judging from Nutz last posting, he has much compassion as George W. Bush – that great Compassionate Conservative. Translation – I’ll get mine and screw you.
Those on top fall the furthest – remember that Nutz.
I guess I’m just old fashioned. Never depend on the Government to give you a “break” on anything. That includes tax breaks, wage increase, medical care and any other ’socialistically engineered’ program.
I believe there is a little MacGuyver, Betty Crocker and Bob Villa gene in all of us. Yeah, it may take a little longer for some to learn how to do something on your own, but just get to it.
You want that dream house? Discuss it, plan for it, save for it and ask others how to get it.
Need some extra cash? Work for it, save your pennies and watch your unnecessary spending like buying the latest CD or getting that extra cable Tv channel or the newest version of PlayStation.
The problem with a lot of Americans is that have the spending habits of teenagers with the mind set of 1960s fixed income retirees.
Just do it! :)
StillJM,Very good advice!
CFMT can’t deal with the fact that a pretty grandma in a purple dress is now the boss of him and every other delusional, incompetent, impotent Republicant.
Repukes like you are way, way out of the loop, CFMT. Rant away.
I agree StillJM – the government does not owe me anything but like I stated before – the system should be fair to everyone. Let’s not reward people for bad choices or bad behavior.
As for medical care, I don’t expect the government to provide me with health care, but I do expect the government to help my employer to be able to offer health insurance to me. Everyone should be able to have access to basic health care insurance.
I’m tired, as a taxpayer, being the one that works and sees people taking advantage of the system. I’m tired of seeing politicians lining their pockets by lobbyists while the problems of the country go on and on.
Chris, You’ll be wrong now just as you were when you wrote in the Topeka newspaper that the backlash would be of voters overwhelmingly electing Kline.
David testicles, I don’t know Wendy, but hey, she does think like me.
How does it feel ALWAYS be shown up by an uneducated Democrat against you with your MBA and Engineering degrees? LOL.
“ALWAYS be shown up by an uneducated Democrat” – In your world, Pee…
Problem is, you’re the one always complaining – always the victim – beaten down by “the man” – living outside your means – fighting some mysterious ailment – fighting with the school system – always something…
I’m happily cruising along – loving life.
(and I don’t have to create multiple nicknames to get my point across – just like you did on the kansas.com discussion board – and just like you do on the SJ board – and just like you do here)
=)
Whatever it takes to make yourself happy, Pee.
I know I’m very happy just being me.
PS – Happy New Year. :-)
Thanks, PMom – and No, Nutzo – we are not one in the same. Thanks for the sympathy though (and for those of you that just don’t get it, that was sarcasm)
StillJM – if you read my post, which you obviously don’t, guess what? I don’t have those luxuries – we don’t go out to eat, we don’t have cable, I don’t have a cell phone – I have the basics. I’m not saying I want someone to help me, I’m saying I want the system to be FAIR, and it’s not. I’m saying that I worked my ASS off for four years to get a college degree that I am STILL paying for, and will be paying for the next 20 years, and here I am still not able to make ends meet. I am saying I live in a modest house on the southeast side of town, I drive an older car, and STILL I am not able to make ends meet. Maybe that’s because 1/3 of my income every month goes to pay for daycare so that I CAN work to pay my own way. Maybe it’s because I lose another 1/5 of my income every month to pay for health insurance so that I CAN afford to take my child to the doctor – because guess what, I am on that great invisible line where they say “you want help? Too bad, you make $500 a YEAR too much for us to help you” – so even if I wanted to get help, I CAN’T! I get to see my son for two hours a day, and 30 minutes of that time he is eating, and 20 minutes of that time he is taking a bath – so I get to spend roughly 70 minutes a day with my child. And i have to listen to his father bitch about how he never gets to see him! But, he doesn’t pay his child support, and he doesn’t pay the half of the medical bills the court papers say he is responsible for, and he doesn’t carry insurance on my son like the court papers say he is supposed to – and I am the one that gets to take care of that. And I have worked for the last 11 years of my life to try to be in a better place than that. So yeah, I get disgruntled when people who have NEVER had to work like I do, who NEVER have had to face the financial difficulties that I do, because Mommy and Daddy paid for their college and gave them a job and bought them a car, try to tell me that I DON’T know what it is like to struggle and that it doesn’t make any sense that I want to see people who I know struggle even harder than I do get paid FAIRLY for the work that they do – it’s thankless work that I am sure you would not lower yourself to do, but yet you expect someone else to do and not complain about it – GET REAL!!!! We ALL work hard – and we ALL try hard, and we get NOTHING for it in return – whereas you get to sit on your ASS and play lord to all your little minions, who you pay pennies compared to what you make, and wonder why they complain??? THAT is the REAL world!
And By the Way – Nuts, if you really think political Mom and I are one and the same, then why don’t you try emailing me to see if we are? Because I can guarantee you I don’t know her – wouldn’t know her from you in a crowd to be honest. Just because we happen to agree on some things, doesn’t make us the same person. But if it makes you feel better to think that it’s only one person making a fool of you than several, then go right ahead, think that….
Whine, cry, complain.
Wendy if you’ve got a half way decent body there are ways for you to make all sorts of money. Are you cute?
You go girl….there are more people who agree with you Wendy than there are country club types. Believe me, I have country club friends that always find the money to pay their country club dues but can’t seem to pay the rest of their bills. Interesting, huh?
Just because you wear funny looking golf clothes and sit in the country club bar and drink, does not give one class.
Nutz just proved my point about class with his last comment.
Wendy,
I read your post(s).
Challenges are good. Debt is bad, but not impossible to get out of if you work at it. Being 60+ years I don’t actively work anymore, so have time to doodle around and play with grandchildren. :)
No, I didn’t get any inheritance and I started out like most Americans. That is, the money in my wallet was about it. I soon figured out that putting a little away goes a long way in future plans. It was very tempting at some moments in life to spend that extra cash/savings for a new widget or whatever.
Paying back college debts appears to be a problem these days. I went to a community college and cheaper state run colleges, but hey it works and had no debt from school.
Getting an education is not the end all/solve all solution for everyone nor should it be. It is a leg up on those who enter the job market though.
Mark out a plan to pay back college debt. Just do it, don’t delay, don’t whine about it, just do it. After a few years when it’s paid for, you’ll be patting yourself on the back for a good job.
Get used to not having $200.00/month to pay that loan back or whatever your plan is. Then when you pay for it and hopefully your income will increase, use that $200.00 and maybe an extra $200.00 and get invested. Mutual funds, stock market, bonds or even a plain ol’ savings account. And of course, keep your grubby paws off the savings account, even in so-called emergencies.
Take $1.00 out of your wallet everyday and put it into a jar, don’t touch it. Spend it next year at Christmas or whatever your celebration day of the year is.
Set precedents in your house. Don’t buy the $1000.00 birthday gift when a card and a small gift will say “you care.” Don’t feel guilty about giving small gifts at Christmas. It’s not your holiday after all, it’s a celebration of Christ’s birth. Don’t buy into the commercialism of Christmas.
Use the skills of your inner Chef when making meals. Don’t buy package microwave meals. Get those fresh spuds, fresh milk, fresh eggs, flour and all those ingredients. Learn to make that stuff on your own, if you don’t already. Make some in advance, freeze it, pack it up, it will save you tons of money.
Check the oil on your car, transmission fluid, air in your tires and keep your car clean a source of owner pride. A little TLC goes a long way. Oh and don’t fall into that trap that I need the newest model every other year. That will just put you back in the never-ending debt cycle.
I’m sure you know about this as you are an educated woman. However, knowing about something and doing something about it are two different things. :)
nah, that was a troll. I wouldn’t suggest that Pee sell her body.
StillJM – You seem to miss the point of my arguement – all those things that you list? I do them. I make all our meals (note the no fast food – in my book that includes microwave meals) Okay, we might eat a lot of mac-n-cheese, which I will grant you comes out of box, but at 67 cents a pop, it is much more cost effective. I know how to change my own oil. In fact, I can (and have) changed my oil, my tires, my alternator, my fuel pump and my water pump. But those things still cost money. I don’t buy the expensive gifts – i do a lot of shopping at Dollar Tree and Big Lots this time of year. The point you seem to miss is when you take home, lets say, $1500 a month, and you pay $400 for daycare, and $200 for student loans, and $550 for house payment, and $170 for car payment (on my 1999 Buick because my 1989 Escort threw a rod so I HAD to purchase a new car and I wanted something safe, and this was the lowest car payment I could get, because I looked for two months before I bought, thank you) and $85 for car insurance, and $60 on electric and $60 on gas (roughly on average there) and $30 for phone, and I have a two year old, so I buy a LOT of milk and cheese and fruits and veggies, so let’s say $75 on groceries (in a cheap month) – how much does that leave you to “save” or in case of an emergency? Oh wait, that’s right, it puts you $140 in the HOLE!!! So that’s why I have my student loans on deferment – Oh I thought it was just because I was lazy and didn’t want to pay them – my bad…. don’t go throwing stones, JM – maybe I don’t know everything about you, but you sure as hell know nothing about me, and you are so ready to assume that I am the problem that you don’t want to admit that maybe YOU are the problem…. I have had the same job since I graduated from college (with a Bachelors Degree, and let me tell you, I went to a state university too, but I bet it cost me a HELL of a lot more than it cost you) with the same company, and I have moved UP from where I started, and I still make under $30,000 a year. That whole myth about making 50g’s right out of college is just that, a myth. And if I can barely make it on what I make, I can’t IMAGINE the people who make HALF of what I make being successful at it, so what’s wrong with trying to give them a little leg up in wages so maybe they won’t have to milk the system for as much help?????
And I am done trying to convince nutz that i am not political mom because he is going to believe whatever he wants to… BUT, that said, you will notice STRINGENT differences between her posts and mine – Mainly that she is MARRIED and i am NOT….
Wendy,
You are still doing more complaining than doing and that is a problem. :)
Wendy–
You are very perceptive. This line is right on–”I’m not saying I want someone to help me, I’m saying I want the system to be FAIR, and it’s not.”
It’s too bad that more people in your (OUR) situation don’t recognize that society is structured so that the already well-off get wealthier while the not so well-off get less and less.
This is by design and it’s working marvelously for the people with their sweaty palms on the levers of power.
Unfortunately the justifiable RAGE that the underclass feels has been co-opted through religion (abortion, gays, war on Christmas) and right-wing spokespeople on the payroll of the rich (”it’s all your own fault–quit complaining,” “it’s those damn Mexicans,” “the terrorists are coming”).
Some good reading material on this subject can be found “Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America” by Robert Reich, “Nickel and Dimed: On NOT Getting by in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich, and “What’s the Matter with Kansas” by Thomas Frank, who explains why the poorest counties in the country overwhelmingly vote Republican.
Your situation is very difficult and anyone with an ounce of brains can see that. Just to get the health care you need probably costs more than your mortgage.
Anybody but a self-righteous POS could see that, which explains why KSGolfNut and JM not only have no clue but RIDICULE you for being in a situation like millions of others with very few options for improvement.
It’s easy to say “save and invest your money” when you’re not already barely bobbing above the poverty line. What money? Single working moms don’t have expendable incomes to “invest.”
But I’m glad YOU’RE so happy, GolfNut, you selfish prick.
And btw GolfNut that last comment of yours was truly despicable. That was the comment of a bully.
And BY ALLAH do I hate bullies . . .
Wendy/Pee,We hired a software designer this week – just graduated from WSU. $50k + full bennies.
(He didn’t get expelled from school, plus he picked a good major).
I would be curious what the degree was for wendy and capn.Also, wendy says she has been at the same company for a while. Tried looking elsewhere? Or you could spend your time reading capn’s Lib Books to feel better about your lot.Also, I’m not clear on how the system is NOT fair. Please explain.
I have more than one college degree, and I’m doing fine, thanks for your concern.
But I’m not a single parent either.
I worked overseas for many years where it was easy to make money and save it. Most people can’t do that . . .
I met a couple of WSU educated men intending that Computer Sciences would be their main career choice. I was impressed by their knowledge and evidently the quality of education they received from WSU.
The most striking thing about the conversation was how positive they were and ready to get to work.
That’s what I like to see.
What about the fairness part?
StillJM,This guy is the same way. He’s one of the first ones here in the morning, and he’ll stay as late as needed to finish whatever he’s doing. And he’s on day #4.
He’s got a very bright future.
How is the system not fair?
Did you even READ what Wendy wrote?
The justice system doesn’t really work when it comes to requiring non-custodial spouses (almost always a man) to pay child support.
Our government, unlike every industrialized country in the world, does not subsidize child care or health care, even for children.
As a result, poorer people are hit hardest by this expense.
Most people who go bankrupt in this country do so because of medical expenses, not because of “spending too much and saving too little.”
Mass transit too is a joke in our country, again requiring car ownership just to get employment–and that means gas, car insurance, car tags. Heaven help them if the POS car breaks down or if they get a moving violation.
We can subsidize occupying Iraq for 2 billion a week, but we can’t give health care to kids in this country. England can do it, Japan can do, hell even CANADA can do it, but the most powerful country on the planet, nope, too hard.
College education too is much easier for the comfortable middle class than the working poor, despite the fact that it’s subsidized by tax dollars. A lot of money is going from a lot of working class families whose own kids will find it too hard to work their way through.
Or end up taking massive debt (thanks to Reagan who cut federal spending on higher ed and offered student loans in exchange) at the worst possible time in their lives to take on debt–even before they start earning real money.
The billions and billions we put into roads, bridges and infrastructure all benefits the rich more than the poor. The rich are the ones that own trucking companies, they own steel mills that make the materials for bombs and bridges, they pump the oil that our incredibly wasteful system of transportation demands.
Gov’t spending benefits the rich far more than the poor, yet the poor are still required to pay for that spending.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. I got plenty more if you want it.
And you’re right there and ready to use and abuse the newbie huh Golfnutz?
What if this guy down the road gets married, has kids and wants to spend more time with the family. Will you be so gung ho on him then? What about giving employees their own life on their own time?
Or would we see Golfnutzie go and find himself another kid out of college?
Anybody wanna play bipartisan with those three schmucks JM fleetwood and goofnut?
You don’t make nice with conservatives. They are best addressed with a blackjack or a shiv or a shoehorn to pry open their greedy fingers.
“He’s one of the first ones here in the morning, and he’ll stay as late as needed to finish whatever he’s doing.”
Let me guess, not a single dad . . . right?
BTW, GolfNut, you owe Wendy an apology.
The key here is not to get a mind-set that one is part of the oppressed when indeed you do have choices.
When hiring employess I look to those who have credentials but also a positive attitude and the willingness to go the extra mile.
Sure single moms have it rough as do single dads. Sometimes marital events do not work out as planned.
But this is not an issue for correction by society. It is for the individual to get up on their hind legs and do something about their situation.
If you want to spin your wheels in life, blame anything and everything on someone else or everyone’s punching bag, the government.
That ladies and gentlemen will get you know where but a depressed lifestyle.
JM, you ignorant slut–
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
Look at the graph about half way down the page based on US census figures.
The poverty rate peaked under H.W. Bush in 1992 at about 15 percent, then dropped to slightly less than 11 percent under Clinton-Gore. When Bush came back into office, it has shot up again to 13 percent (and that’s only through 2004).
You’re going to tell me that the millions of people now in poverty since 2001 are a result of just not working hard enough and making poor choices?
If ignorance is bliss, no wonder you’re so happy.
Lucy,We expect him here by 8 am (although he knows that anytime before 8:15 is ok) – he’s here by 7:30. It’s his choice. How can he be used and abused? He LOVES what he’s doing. I’m guessing he’s GD happy to be here. I don’t know if he’s a single dad. I haven’t asked. If he needs time off for a sick kid or a school play or something, he’s already earning it.
KKKapn,I don’t owe Pee, errrr, Wendy anything. I didn’t write the 11:25am today post.
StillJM,Very well said. I wish I has your patience and understanding in my approach to this problem. I’m just tired of the fatalism spewed by liberals that always play the victim.
had*
Well now. :)
Of course certain individuals have had a memory lapse on my personal policy to respond to those who attack me personally with ad homonim remarks.
So person of no regard, carry on with your spew and hateful remarks.
I shall eat my supper now. :)
Hey Crap on America: I saw a quote yesterday (author unknown) that made me think of you. It goes something like this, “Some people use statistics the way a drunk uses a lamp post. More to lean on than for illumination”.Using links to other sites to bolster your point is like an “expert witness” in a legal case. Both sides have em, and they are usually 180 degrees off from one another.
Ahead of time, the Democrats played nice and said they would include Republicans in governing. The first day of session, they flat out proved that was a lie.
Also, the Democrats claimed they will reform government and not take money from lobbyists…then on Thursday night (as reported by nbc.com) they had a $1,000 a plate fund raiser…hosted by lobbyists.
Whew…I am sooo glad the Democrats are being soo honest…
Wendy–
You are very perceptive. This line is right on–”I’m not saying I want someone to help me, I’m saying I want the system to be FAIR, and it’s not.”
Now this post made me laugh out loud. You are absolutly right the system is not FAIR. I have to pay for Wendy, well maybe not Wendy, but I could spend 2 minutes at Walmart and pick out 8 women and 16 kids I am paying for. It is not fair that I have to pay for them having sex. It is not fair that I have to pay for the police that have to come out to their house and break up the domestic violence. It is not fair that I have to pay for the Dems telling them that anything they do is not their fault. It is obviously the fault of some rich white male that they are in the predicament they find themselves.I was the youngest of 12, we ate chicken 5 days a week. Other than the one day a year that the dentist came to the public school I did not see a dentist until I was 16. I did not go to college, I joined the military. I did not get anyone pregnant, I used a condom. I currently make 46,000 a year. I am a good, hard working, non dope smoking, RESPONSIBLE individual. My boss thinks I walk on water. I still don’t have a college degree, maybe I will someday for giggles. I don’t have kids, which was my own RESPONSIBLE decision. To live the lifestyle that my wife and I have decided we wanted, we cannot afford kids, besides I don’t want any and had myself fixed. But I HAVE to pay for all those who decided that they wanted kids, with no way of supporting them. Well I WANT a BMW 700 series, why aren’t the taxpayers buying me one?
I’ve worked and paid taxes all my life and unfortunatly Nancy and Bush are about to give away even more of my money.
I’ve never taken any type of public assistance. I’ve never called the police. I’ve never called an ambulance. I’ve never called the fire department. I don’t have kids in school. And yet I’ve paid how many thousands and thousands in taxes?
Yes Wendy, you are correct IT IS NOT FAIR.
When you pay people to be poor, they will remain poor.
And Gene, had your condom broke, I’m sure you’d have a much different perspective on it all. It should NOT be that if you want to have a decent life and a living wage, you have to choose not to have children.
Okay, moving this whole thing over to the “minimum wage thread.”
My my Gene how much you did share!
One of 12 kids hey? What did your Catholic family think of you marrying your Jewish wife?
What is not fair is that ANY American should go without anything while this country sends billions of dollars a year to a country (Israel) totally dedicated to a people who claim a right to a slice of land because GOD granted it to them. What is MORE unfair is that American blood is shed so that they can continue to have their made up country.
Now you self absorbed selfish creep. You put that in your pipe or yamaka and come on back and talk about what is and is not fair.
Wendy, I may be married now, but I struggled as a single parent for many years and worked my butt off to get by. I could be like testicles (that’s golfnut by the way), and say ‘well since I’m not a single mother anymore I can bag on those who are”…no, I remember what it was like to be in that position.
But after I got married, we were doing really good financially for awhile, that was until my son was born, I was ill, and he was diagnosed with autism, which forced me to quit working to care for him, then we were percentage wise, making less than I was when I was a single parent of one.
(At the time I left the workplace, was making 8.50 an hour divided by 2, me and my daughter. That’s 4.25 per person gross. Hubby making 12.50 per hour supporting 4 of us, leaving 3.125 per person, plus now with a disability).
So Political Mom,
What are you going to do about the situation?
Be a perpetual victim or ?
Oh and JM, that food you’re talking about making from scratch, some of that is more expensive than buying a frozen dinner. Fresh food is very expensive. I have a recipe for chicken enchiladas that my family loves. The problem is that it costs more to make it than to buy them.
10 dollars for the family size frozen meal in a box. Homemade: 2 dollars for shells, .50 cents rice, cheese, $4, sauce $.50 (using powdered milk), chicken (half bag) $3… and that doesn’t include seasonings.
Gene gave us plenty to have fun with.
“My boss thinks I walk on water.”
Let me translate.
“Boss likes when I lick his shoes!” It’s not fair that ass kissers get ahead.
You must have left your imagination, humor and compassion in the military Gene. That happens.
Say Geenie? You had no kids? Huh. I think it is not fair if you take any social security. Since you didn’t have any kids to pay into it.
well, JM at the time there wasn’t anything I could do about the situation.
But now that my son is older and doing better and now in school, I’m back to work, my husband has gotten promoted and is thinking about starting a business on the side, my daughter is old enough now to help care for the son, and we’re slowly making our way back up. Remember, I’m partially disabled too, I physically can’t do a lot of the things I used to do, and working two and three jobs now is out of the question or I would be doing it.
What multiple names did I create on the other boards? There was ONE alternative name I used briefly and rarely, ONLY because I was representing an organization when I posted under that name. And all the other regular posters knew it was me anyway, and they felt fine that I was using an alternate name for that purpose only. So unless you’re referring to another name, you’re mistaken, yet again. As always.
So the Republicans don’t didn’t like it when Democrats don’t include them, even after saying they would. You accuse the Democrats of lying on their first day?
Well how about all the lies the Republicans have told for the last 6 years, starting with George W. Bush? I don’t hear you carping about those lies. Why just the Democrats?
Do tell
I see that you judge people by what YOU think they mean. Typical Liberal. You want the borders and the laws of the United States enforced? Why you must be a RACIST.
Well let me give it a try. You whining about “boot lickers” tells me that there is someone who works where you do that works harder, puts in the extra hours when needed and so on. Since that person gets promoted ahead of you, then that must mean they are ass kissers. You probably dodge out whenever you get the chance don’t you.Kind of reminds me of a time in the military when we were flying aircraft across country. There were two lower enlisted on the aircraft, me and another. Well we stopped one night and the sergeant said to us two that one of us had to spend the night on the aircraft and the other would get to go into town and stay at a hotel with the rest of the crew. I kept my mouth shut (as I learned early on in the military and no not that you don’t volunteer for anything) mouth shut, ears open. Well the other enlisted jumped up and said that he wasn’t going to be the one staying on the aircraft. Well guess who stayed in the hotel that night, got a steak and beer and got laid to boot. Sorry Do Tell, your crap don’t work. I bust my ass, I work hard and DO what needs to be done. My boss knows he can depend on me and yep, that does keep me out of the crap jobs.
What I was really trying to point out is that I came from nothing, busted my ass, had nothing given to me and no college degree and I am VERY PROUD of what I accomplished. As far as my jewish wife is concerned. Her and her family make 3/4 of the liberals on this blog, look like lap dogs for Newt Gingrich. But god I do love her so.
If you are saying that we need to stop sending money overseas, I am in total agreement with you. If we stop for Israel, then we stop for everyone. Africa included. Amazing that Bush has raised the amount sent to Africa from 1 billion a year to 4 billion a year. Funny I haven’t heard BONO singing his praises for this. Oh well I guess that wouldn’t fit in with the Liberal “hate bush at all costs” mantra.
For you political mom: I wouldn’t wish to change any decision I’ve made in my life. Because whenever I make a decision to do something, I know the consequences of my actions and ACCEPT those consequences. Thats called being RESPONSIBLE. Can you say the same thing? Believe me I had a very rough childhood, I could have easily done what a lot of people choose. I could have said that I was a victim so supposedly EVERYONE else owed me something. Gotten into the whole drug and alcohol crap, but I didn’t. I told myself this is who I want to be, this is the type of life I want and went out to get it. Believe me I have paid enough, and not just money. And by the way I’m paying my OWN Social Security and it looks like a couple of million illegal aliens here in a couple of months. NOW is that fair???
Look, I have a degree in Criminology. The reason I haven’t left this job, is because, quite frankly, I have a two year old and I can’t afford to be without health insurance for the 90 probationary period that most companies require. I do work my ass off. I drop my son of at daycare at 730 in the morning (my daycare is less than five minutes from my job) and pick him up AFTER 530 at night. And sometimes i get to work on Saturdays too – don’t give me BS about how I am not working to better my situation. Yeah my situation sucks, but you ALL seem to miss the point of my posts, which was that, if my situation is bad, I can’t even begin to IMAGINE how hard it must be for someone making HALF of what I make – and you people want to begrudge them a measly $1.00 an hour raise, which, if you figure they work 40 hour weeks (and let’s face it, that’s highly unlikely because most minimum wage jobs are not full time) rounds out to $2000 more a year for that person – well, hell, that’s 1/6 of their current income now. That would be a HUGE boost up for them – and likely less money that they would be taking off of the system. We all bitch about people being on welfare not making the effort to get off – well, why the hell should they when they make more money ON welfare than they could ever hope to make OFF of it? Let’s get real – our unwillingness to pay people a LIVING wage stimulates this concept of welfare all on it’s own. You want people not to abuse the system? Then we have to provide avenues to them so that they CAN make more money – most of these people can’t afford the cost or the time to go to college, so we have to start at the basic level to give them a chance. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that there aren’t people out there abusing the systerm, because yeah there are. But you know what? I pay taxes too. I pay for those people too. I do all of that – and I can hardly pay my own bills. Yes, it pisses me off. And yes, I think that we need to establish something of a FAIR system so that our hard earned money isn’t going to support someone’s crack baby – and the best way to do that is to provide them with the opportunity to make enough money for them to take care of themselves and provide the assistance to the people who really need it – the people with disabilities who are unable to work. The people who got laid off and just need a little something to help them get by while they look for another job. The single parent who needs help paying for child care so that they CAN work, so that they don’t need to be on welfare…. You wonder why a lot of single parents are on welfare? Well, let’s see – when you make 5.15 an hour, you make before taxes roughly 206 a week working 40 hours. Let’s say you have a child you have to have in daycare during that time. let’s say that child is an infant – for example (and I know this for a fact because I called them when I was looking for daycare for my son) Rainbows United charges $200 a week for an infant. That’s not an exaggeration. And even if you find somewhere cheaper, you are likely not to find anything under $100 a week. if you do, let me know cause i would like to check it out…. so, there goes at least half, if not all, of that paycheck that you made working those 40 hours. Tell me, what is that going to pay for??? No wonder these people just stay at home and live off of welfare – they can make more money being at home with their child than they could working! And, nutzo, are you going to tell me that if I come work for your company, you are going to pay me $50,000 to start, and if I call you at 745 and tell you my son is running a fever so i can’t take him to daycare and i will have to stay home with hime because there is noone else to stay home with him, and i am gone for 3 days, because that is how long it takes to get rid of his fever, and this happens say 3 times over a 6 month period, that you are not going to have a problem with that? I seriously doubt it….
Gene, stop by the office today and get your Medal of ‘damned heroic americanism’.
Wendy,Stop by the office today and get a prescription for Zoloft.You’ll still be the working class poor,but you’ll be happy about it.
Gene,Beautiful post, dude. Gimme a call, and I’ll buy you lunch.
Tracy – LMAO
The woman speaks TRUTH!
This is what so many of those anti-choicers do not comprehend, having a baby sometimes is a life sentence into poverty for both the mother and the child. But according to them, financial reasons are just not good enough (as with any other reason).
They’re the same people who’d tell Wendy that she needs to look for a husband to support her. Which would likely make the whole situation worse…yeah marry some guy for money instead of love, that’s the way to do it! Marriage is not a business decision.
When I was a single parent, I used a illegal daycare, because I certainly could have never afforded to pay a licensed daycare. Luckily, I knew the woman for a long time, we live in a small town, so I wasn’t concerned about abuse or anything like that, I was more concerned about her getting caught. She was paid under the table of course, but it wasn’t like she was on welfare or anything and screwing the system, her husband had a really great job, she just did it for extra spending money.
Gene have you ever heard the phrase “methinks you doth protest too much.”?
You’re a knob shiner Gene. Hey if you are proud of being a toady who am I to judge.
Now everyone around you that’s something else agaim. I’m guessing Gene and wife don’t have too many friends. Nobody else measures up or down.
He and David testicles will get along famously, well, till David shows Gene how he’s so much better than him too because he doesn’t earn enough.
Pee,I get along famously with those that don’t perpetually play the victim.
See, this is what I mean. Too many people standing around saying “well, I told you so” or “well, here’s what you should do” who have never been in that situation… Do you think I went into this planning in being broke? hell no – when I got out of college, and it was just me, this was a great job. paid all the bills and left spending money afterwards. Put money into my 401K so when I retire, since social security will be all used up by then, did the responsible, thing, started looking for houses – I even moved to MO for a promotion. When my son was born, and I wound up alone (which wasn’t the plan when we had him) yeah, things got tight – I mean, diapers and formula are expensive, not to mention daycare and healthcare and food and well everything. But i do it. I might complain from time to time, because I get tired and I get stressed – we all do. But I do it on my own. Without any help. And i don’t ask for help, as all of you might be assuming. What I am trying to point out, is that if it is this much of a struggle for me, then imagine how difficult it must be for someone who makes half of what i make – or less! that’s what is wrong with the system today. i am not talking about handouts – I firmly believe everyone should have to work for their own life – I have had a job since the day i turned 16, and there hasn’t been a day I haven’t worked one, if not two jobs, to get by. But i think that if we don’t create opportunities for people to do it themselves by doing things like raising minimum wage, then we are never going to be out of the cycle
Careful there Gene, Testicles will call you a “victim” for complaining that you’re victimized for having to pay taxes.
So what you are saying Wendy is that you made the choice to have children with your husband. At least you admit that. I’ve posted on Opinion line before and you would not believe how many come out of the woodwork claiming they were raped. From what I saw, the city of wichita has about 150 rapes a day.
So when you and your husband decided to have children it was with the full knowledge that should anything happen to either of you or one of you decided to drop out then you were ready to step into the breech and do nothing else but put that child on the front burner for the next 18 years. Nothing else came before the child. Then that is taking responsibility. I took the responsibility of knowing I didn’t want children. I decided that I did not want to pay the cost of a child. You decided that you did, whether your husband was there or not.
Unfortunately I believe you are amongst the few. I see the problem today is that this society no longer holds anyone RESPONSIBLE. The Dems love to perpetuate this. Take a look in a phone book and see how many DUI lawyers there are. Someone decides to drink and drive. They get caught, they blow over the limit and whats the next thing they do. Go to court and say YES, I did this, I will take responsibility for my actions. NO, they see if they can get off on a technical. What are they teaching their kids? So why are people surprised when a kid gets into trouble and lies. That’s what they were taught by mommy and daddy. The current Miss America is an EXCELLENT example of this.
As far as raising minimum wage. What you think the company’s are just going to suck up that cost? LOL. Because once the minimum wage kicks in, those who were already making 7.25 an hour will no longer afford items, because the cost of them will go up. Those who then start getting paid 7.25 will be in the EXACT same spot, they were. Another way to look at it will be the layoffs. Say a small diner is doing pretty good. The owner decides that he can afford to buy the building next to the diner that has set empty for the past 3 years and has had no property taxes paid on it. He can then enlarge the diner and hire another 3 waitresses. More property taxes come in, 3 more persons working, 3 more sets of income tax coming in and maybe the owner will be able to enlarge again. But then along comes the increase to minimum wage. All of a sudden the owner has to start paying 2-3 dollars an hour more to his current employees. The owner will try at first to keep his prices down and hope to keep his customers but eventually it will catch up. Now he has to decide to up his prices and not be as competitive or he has to lay off workers,what to do. Forget about the idea of expanding, that is now out of the question.Minimum wage was NEVER suppose to be a living wage. It was what those who started out at the bottom were suppose to build up from or what the 16 and 17 year olds were suppose to get while working after school. Yes I did work at McDonalds making minimum when I was in high school and yes DO TELL, I excelled at that to and was asked to consider a management position when I graduated.
And hey DO TELL, I don’t know what to tell you pardner. You will always be bitter against those who surpass you. Nothing I can do for you. You will always blame others for your lot in life. The thought of getting ahead through hard work, determination and doing everything you can for your boss and company will never dawn on you and thats just sad.
Gene–
You are so full of sh*t, you must squish when you walk.
Wendy isn’t envious of the rich nor is she “blaming others.”
She is looking at the system of government and seeing, rightly, that what we have is welfare for the rich, not welfare for the poor.
The justice system can see its way clear to overturn a dozen or more counts against a fradulent CEO of Westar Corp. but it can’t ever seem to collect the money she’s owed by a deadbeat dad.
She doesn’t want your money–she just wants a chance to earn her own money. A just because Oprah could do it, doesn’t mean everybody can do it.
You, Gene Ralston, said that you go to WalMart and seethe at all the people “you pay for.”
How about all the people that pay for your military pension? You’ll say you “earned it.” And what, people working for companies “don’t earn it”? They don’t deserve a pension?
Because you benefit from the SOCIALISM of the federal government, your pension is protected.
Too bad about people like Wendy, right, Gene. Screw them as long as you got yours . . .
We’re all in this together, whether the reich-wing likes it or not–we all go up, or we all go down . . .
The idea is to think of yourself as a cocker spaniel and your boss is your master.Bite his hand and you will get smacked and put out. A lick now and again and you get your attaboy and a treat.
Christ, Gene, that is almost PERVERTED.
Nothing shuts up reich-wing former military faster than reminding them they draw a tax-payer supported PENSION, and practically nobody else in this welfare-for-the-rich country draws a pension of any kind anymore, tax-payer funded or not . . .
It’s pure socialism of the kind they constantly complain about and they directly benefit from it, so of course, it’s fine.
But don’t let any other group try to get what they’ve got.
That would be (sputtering outrage!) socialism!
The only people who whine about the victims are the victimizers.
And Gene, Wendy is not one of the ‘few’ she’s on of oh so many. All these lower wage workers in the US…think about it.
Complaining about women being raped? Are you serious? Statistically a woman is likely to be sexually abused at the rate of 1 in 6.
And Gene, if people were allowed to start moving up the ladder, minimum wage wouldn’t be a living wage. But you can’t hardly do that anymore. Promoting from within and apprenticeship is almost dead, they hire the ones with degrees.