h8m3, Putin loves the middle class and upper class russians - i.e. those who get to use computers and play quake and all that. But he loves the lower class even more. Those are the ones that are condemned to military services for like, forever. Also Siberia.
Doesn't matter where he come from... but a 2 party system is even more shit than this so called "democracy" in europe.. you just voting for a puppet controlled by the economy, who do some kind of theatre for the dumb masses.. arguing about minor changes while "the system plan" wanted by the economy will be pushed either you choose asshole a. or asshole b.
what about LBJ? passing the most social bills in history? Lincoln abolishing slavery? Roosevelt and the new deal? your the type of ignorant idiot they talked about in zeitgeist. The pessimist the powers that be love to fkn control like a slave.
go a head don't excercise your right to vote.... a right countless people have fought and died for.
keep thinking your vote don't count. Thinking you hold some hidden truth when young people like you are more of a problem and more dumb and ignorant then the masses you speak of.
your an asshole part c. the ones they count on not voting so change doesn't happen.
I like how they wouldn't let me reply to eatslugs haha.
@sk8erboi...I think me and you agree?...Citizens united are no diff then the ignorant teabaggers who think we don't need government and would rather hand power to corporations.
and its even easier for them to corrupt politicans now because of the supreme court decision...Even though "corporations can't dance" they are considered people and can use unlimited funds to lobby.
i'm for human rights. = education and healthcare/welfare. It should all be free with taxes. getting greedy with these things, imo, is corruption exposed and is uncivilized. in the future they will look at us like how we look at barbarians and the dark ages.
letting corporations regulate human rights instead of the government is IMMORAL!!!! Its fkn COMMON SENSE that thats EVIL.
Its like most of you rednecks think the government is only here to protect us from foreign enemies. I think our ancestors made this government more to protect us from ourselves!!!!!!
I think it boils down to racism. and just like id doesn't understand human nature....neither do most of these racist teabaggers.
Communist - right.
Because health care is something that absolutely should not be available to anyone. Long live the rich, death to the poor.
Like this my friend?
Also, who cares about his roots. You racist or somethin'?
Also #2, why would a party get elected that systematically tried to block any political progress (even the potential progress that would have made sense), but in fact had no real own political program? In fact, all they tried to win the elections with is "DON'T VOTE OBAMA, HE'S BAD" and their ancient own republican blah-blah, like "ABORTION IS EVIL". Instead, they probably should have focused on spending their thoughts on something more striking to the population. I'm impressed they got so close to Obama (in absolute % in the whole country).
In hindsight I understand that there's no way he could be allowed to win the nomination.
Still, nobody in 10 years' time will say "the philosophy of Obama/Romney changed the way I see politics", whereas I am sure Ron Paul will still be remembered and praised for his unwavering stance on many issues.
No, I mean being a smooth-talking muslim Marxist born in Kenya with a goal to make America equal with the rest of the world or a fat-cat robber barron Wall Street puppet created by aliens to become the POTUS and concentrate all wealth in the hands of the 1%.
I am good at name calling without providing substance or making sense too.
this also explains why he would let people die who can't afford health care. and smile at the roman slavemaster-like cheers he gets from the audience during that debate.
The media has tried to portray Ron Paul as a racist, but the fact is his policies go against those ideologies. The media slandering is only to silence him. First of all, he wants to legalize drugs and release the prisoners that were charged with drug oriented crimes. In the United States minorities are the overwhelming majority of prisoners that were charged with drug offenses. What this means is that Ron Paul would have been responsible for freeing millions of minorities from prison. Never heard of a racist wanting to do that. Secondly, there is very little tying him to the the author who expressed those sentiments. It's like blaming John Carmack for something Adam Pyle said. What you said about Ron Paul letting poor people die is ridiculous. He is a doctor and has delivered over 4,000 babies. To accuse him of not caring about the well being of people is stupid to me. Out of all the candidates his health care plans are the ones that make the most sense. Free market competition will pressure the providers to lower their rates to stay in business and being able to deduct all health care costs from your taxes. How is this inferior to socialized medicine? Anyway, Ron Paul is definitely the best candidate. Writing him off because you believe that he was once racist is a huge double standard. There are racist people in American History who are worshiped today. Malcolm Little (X) is a good example because not only was he involved in a racist movement, he was also affiliated with a racist religion and can be quoted saying things Hitler only dreamed of. But, you know, since he denounced it later on he is a hero.
Edited by Retribution at 02:01 CST, 8 November 2012
oh he wants to legalize drugs....oh lets all vote for him thats the most important issue in this country.
and he has claimed authorship of those letters for years.... he only now denied them during his recent campaign....did you even read that link i posted..... or are you pretending its all lies by the media...lmao.
and what i said is ridiculous?
he specifically said during the republican debate that we should let people who can't afford healthcare die!!! and the crowd applauded. you fkn support that? you fkn nazi.
and he said this because hes a fkn racist just like your redneck ass probably is.... he has been a racist his whole career. Its not something made up out of the blue.... even though white people get welfare more then blacks....you racists convince yourselves otherwise.
the fact young people like him cause he wants to legalize drugs.....is fkn immature! and shows how the priorities of young people, like yourself, are totally misdirected and selfish.
"Free market competition will pressure the providers to lower their rates to stay in business and being able to deduct all health care costs from your taxes."
Would you describe yourself as a Libertarian? Do you think there any domains where a pure free market might not be the best choice?
In every sphere, in which scarcity prevails, free-market prices are essential to discover the most urgent uses of resources.
I'm not going to try to convince you in one sentence, but if you're sincerely interested in those issues, I can only recommend "Economics in one lesson" by Henry Hazzlitt. If that's too easy, then "Man, Economy and State (with Power and Market)" by Murray Rothbard is as good as presenting the case in one volume can get.
Both of these books are on economics, so they are value-free (I can't be sure 100% if the first one is, cause I've read it a few years ago, but Rothbard in his book was very explicit and cautious not to violate the "is/ought to be" barrier), so I'm not feeding you any neoliberal/teabagger/aynrand ideology, or whatever the people who've never read a single book on Austrian Economics like to call anyone who advocates free markets.
The idea that healthcare costs and quality can be maximized through a free market system has been disproved both by economic theory and evidence. It is nothing more than a simplistic belief that isn't rooted in reality. It is notably entertained by adepts of the Austrian school of economics (such as gienek), who idolize free markets in the face of empirical evidence of the limits of the model.
Reasons for why the free market model does not "work best" for healthcare are almost as numerous as the assumptions underlying the model, since pretty much none of them apply.
Here's a great conversation between Nobel Prize laureates Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz precisely on that topic (they start talking about healthcare & the free market at 41:04). The rest of the video is extremely interesting as well.
Here you have some of the things Krugman and Stiglitz use to detect "market failure" from an Austrian perspective. Grant you, Walter Block doesn't have a Nobel in economics, but I'm sure you're familiar with a concept called "authority fallacy".
I'm also very familiar with the Austrian school, thank you. Which is why I know that, again, both theory and evidence directly contradict the argument of the speaker (and, for that matter, of the entire Mises institute) on public finance.
Not that you have an obligation to explain your positions to me, but so far, apart from a few "proof by assertion" attempts, you've only challenged my point of view by calling it "simplistic".
Then, you've said that the only option, in which free market arrangements are optimal for health care is with unrealistic assumptions like, presumably, full or at least symmetrical information. The thing is, Austrians, far from assuming it, underline how the information is too dispersed and overwhelming for any human being to be able to use all of it in their decisions, which is why there is a vital function of the pricing system to convey the necessary information about consumer (or patient, because the term "consumer" is too demeaning for health care according to Krugman) preferences.
Failing to recognize one of the basic differences between neoclassical economists and Austrians (the assumption of full information) and later stating that you're very familiar with the Austrian School is not something I can wrap my head around, so I'd be grateful if you could explain it.
There is also the question of suitability of evidence (by which I hope we both mean historical data) to prove or disprove the efficacy of free markets in health care (or public finance in general). Because you've stated you're very familiar with the Austrian School, I conclude you are either trying to show a contradiction of Block by resorting to historical data (despite his methodological views as regards to economics, which in this case would be irrational and counter-productive, since his economic propositions aren't derived from historical data) or you've implicitly assumed there is something fundamentally wrong with the approach of deductive apriorism to economics but still chose to remain silent about it.
My understanding of your posts will surely be a lot clearer, if you are kind enough to free me up from my doubts.
and to add its inferior to social medicine....Because when a company exists to always maximize profits.....there are no fkn morals! its why we need government.
fkn pothead teabaggers make me sick.
its common sense why he gets no fkn votes.... sort of like why noone wants to play this fkn game with team stacking slum lords.......COMMON SENSE.
Your bringing up Malcom x? wtf? You think being racist is ok? is that what your saying? is this some sort of exucse for Ron Paul?? hahahah... you def exposed yourself as a racist when you said muslims are a racist religion. i have muslims on my block. I think you would be a little angry too if your family was constanlty getting murdered by white supremacists haha. he only denounced his advocation of segregation and violence. Which is admirable coming from his background.
but your right hes def no Martin Luther King. and doesn't get near the praise or celebration you speak of. Even by blacks...... maybe cause your a racist in your paranoid mind you think hes considered a great american by most blacks. which is typical of racists....
Oh, I thought you're gonna quote America's bestest president!
From 4th Lincoln/Douglas Debate, 1858
I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.
hahaha so that makes it ok that Ron Paul is a racist? wtf? so you saying being a racist president would be ok? Since alot of famous americans were? what?
and actions speak louder then words. politics is politics. Lincoln was a brilliant politican.
heres a private letter from Lincoln to the attorney general....planning to give blacks the right to vote....
"You desire to know, in the event of our complete success in the field, the same being followed by a loyal and cheerful submission on the part of the South, if universal amnesty should not be accompanied with universal suffrage.
Now, since you know my private inclinations as to what terms should be granted to the South in the contingency mentioned, I will here add, that if our success should thus be realized, followed by such desired results, I cannot see, if universal amnesty is granted, how, under the circumstances, I can avoid exacting in return universal suffrage, or, at least, suffrage on the basis of intelligence and military service.
How to better the condition of the colored race has long been a study which has attracted my serious and careful attention; hence I think I am clear and decided as to what course I shall pursue in the premises, regarding it a religious duty, as the nation's guardian of these people, who have so heroically vindicated their manhood on the battle-field, where, in assisting to save the life of the Republic, they have demonstrated in blood THEIR RIGHT TO THE BALLOT, which is but the humane protection of the flag they have so fearlessly defended."
this man was the greatest president. and me calling an obvious racist a racist by his policies, IN THIS DAY AND AGE!@!!!!......is not the same as calling Lincoln...a man who gave his life for minorities, a racist. Some say this letter is why he was assassinated, among fighting the bankers....planning to give blacks the right to vote at that time put a bullet in his head.
I bet you rednecks are taught in school that the civil war was not about slavery......hahahahah.
There is no evidence to support Ron Paul being a racist. It's no different than seeing racist things said in QL and then assuming QL is racist. So, really, the root of your belief is ignorant. You are ignorant anyway to believe Lincoln is something other than a racist. He believed racial harmony between blacks and whites was not possible. He also wanted to deport them when they were freed. This "redneck" is your hero, cooloutac?
i bet you believe Obamas Birth certificate is fake too hahah.
The diff between Lincoln and Ron Paul...is that Lincoln whether he was racist or not.....would never have made racist laws.....
you remind me of the insane republicans who lied their ass off and just blatantly deny and ignore facts the past couple years. I don't think their party will exist for long if they keep that up.
The black vote turned to Democratic candidates based on the policies, positions and discourses of the two parties. The Democratic support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for example, led to a considerably increased support for Democratic presidential candidates and an increase in Democratic party affiliation among the Black community (Democrats had, however, already started making considerable gains since FDR and Truman). Meanwhile, the Republicans were turning to the southern strategy...
While it's true most black americans are democrat there are many videos, tweets and blog posts of them saying racist things during the election. Based on my personal experience I believe a high volume of them voted for Obama because he's black, even though he's actually biracial. It seems to me that there has been a lot of anti-white bias in the media. The persistence of calling him black because of one drop rule, despite not truly believing in any other old racial ideologies. Lots of hypocrisy. Check out this magazine cover: Newsweek
Hard to believe these people are supposed to practice tolerance and equality since they're bashing republicans for being mostly white. Worst part is if you mention it you're painted to be the racist one not them.
Edited by Retribution at 18:24 CST, 9 November 2012
Sorry, but your "personal experience" is absolutely worthless in analysing why a high percentage of the black population voted for Obama. The fact that the black community has historically overwhelmingly voted for Democratic candidates in recent times is, meanwhile, directly relevant. In addition, we have directly observable cases of black Republican candidates being opposed to white Democratic candidates who received a sizeable part of the black vote - see Allen West's recent failure to get reelected in Florida (well, he's going to the courts).
You do realize that the guy who wrote the words you're complaining about on the Newsweek cover, David Frum, is a republican, right?
I never claimed my personal experience is worth something to somebody else. I merely expressed my thoughts based on having actually lived here in the states, not Belgium. Whether the majority of black voters have racial bias or not is not my point. The fact is it's an unmeasured yet undeniable fraction. When I went to vote there were New Black Panther Party members standing at the entrance of the building. If race had nothing to do with the election why are these people even there? Why did Obama refuse to denounce Nation of Islam and attended a church where its members, namely Louis Farrakhan, gathered? Why did the headlines read "First Black President"? Why are there racist videos, tweets and blog posts all over the internet? It's because as much as people like you deny it's happening, it actually has something to do with race. Sad but true. You can't expect me to believe that ~90% of black americans from all classes agree with Obama instead of Romney, Paul or Johnson. Especially when you consider the radical changes Obama plans on making to the nation. I suspect a lot of it has to do with Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. It destroyed predominantly black areas and they were not satisfied with the relief effort and blamed it on racism. Celebrities like Kanye West were on national television calling President Bush a racist and accusing him of not caring about black people. If these people have this strong of a victim complex do you really doubt they are capable of racial thinking and motivations? Like I said before, you just don't live here (as far as I know), so I don't take much of what you say very seriously.
A lot of these beliefs are passed down by great/grandparents who lived in the times of limited rights and segregation. Denying it exists is denying reality.
Bush nor anybody from his cabinet not even CondoleezaRice, his black secretary of state, showed up to katrina till days later. and she got criticized for it too....especially by blacks. they were too busy with their vacations while people were dying in large numbers...i kid you not.
and so what if blacks voted for him cause hes black, even thought hey always vote democrat as naghokez said. how many rich black guys are there to look up to besides athletes, musicians and actors?
the reason the white republican Gov Christie(who i think also voted for obama hahaha), and white republican/independent Michael Bloomberg were endorsing obama. Is because unlike Bush, Obama actually showed up immediately to lend support and a helping hand. Fema, while not perfect is actually helping people this time.
and so if everyone voted for obama cause hes black, which included not only blacks, but most latinos, white women and white youths...
(not to mention once again he got more then 50% of the vote of the top investors of the country just like he did in 08, not surprising since banks had record profits)...
is it safe to say most the people who voted for romney voted for him just because hes white? which were basically only older white guys? lmao... who also have beliefs passed down from great grandparents who lived in times when blacks didn't even have the right to vote.
I think you would be surprised dude how many republicans voted for the black man under cover.
hes not only really NOT that much diff then bush in most of his policies. but his heathcare plan iin a reality is a former publican proposal and very populist. Him and Hillary are working on bringing peace to many areas the middle east. Even Dick Cheney is in love with that woman now and publicly expresses it hahah. (too bad she won't be around for a second term) He saved the auto industry when Romney said let them file for bankruptcy. He freakin stopped a great depression dude. what he did for college kids student loans..... his stance on immigration, the enviornment...etc....the list goes on and on.
most people voted for that dude not just blacks. if you think he won because he got most of the black vote, your mistaken as naghokez was trying to point out.
I can't think of a tangible reason for anyone to vote for Romney who isn't a rich old white guy haha. and I don't think anybody did...
Here's what you wrote: "Based on my personal experience I believe a high volume of them voted for Obama because he's black". You're entitled to your opinion, but if you're interested in learning why they actually voted for Obama instead of making wild guesses based on nothing of value, your personal experience is completely irrelevant - just like the fact that I live in Belgium. What you want to be looking at is data, notably from surveys.
For example, do you know the same percentage of black males voted for Obama this election as for Kerry in 2004 (86-87%)? What brought the black vote up was the support of black women for Obama, which did not change from 2008. And considering it barely changed for women globally (55% this year compared to 56% in 2008), that lack of change in support among women can hardly be attributed to Obama's skin color. Again, the support of the black community for Democratic presidential candidates has been overwhelming for several decades now. And remember the 2004 Democratic primary? Al Sharpton was candidate, but the majority of the black vote went to Kerry instead.
Also, how do you explain the rise in support among Latino voters for Obama? Is it because Obama is turning Latino? Or is it because Latinos have paid attention to the positions and discourses of Obama and the Republicans, and have turned away from the Republicans in greater number?
Now, to be sure, you'll always be able to find people who vote based on race (and even then, some of them may choose to vote based on race for reasons other than having a personal preference for the skin color of the candidate). That's true of people from any ethnicity. But to look at Obama's score among black voters and to say that it's indicative of racism or that "a high volume voted for him because he's black" is painfully ignorant.
By the way, your claim about "the radical changes Obama plans on making to the nation" is completely bogus as well.
First of all, I'm not denying the percentages exist. It's very stupid because you keep referencing "90%", but not the actual number of voters. There is proof that more black voters went to the polls in 2008 than 2004 with an increase of 13%! I'd be very surprised if something similar didn't happen this election as well. It seems to me that you're denying the possibility that they're voting democrat and also because he's black. Haha, there is nothing bogus about what I said. Healthcare reform, gay marriage and gun control alone are radical changes.
What does the number of voters have to do with anything? We were talking about Obama receiving a high percentage of the black vote, and the relation between this and supposed race-voting by blacks. If your point is that there are racists among African Americans, then no shit Sherlock. Newsflash: there are racists everywhere. Here's a collection of racist tweets by white Americans following Obama's re-election. In fact, here's a map of a few hundreds of those racist tweets. What's that supposed to prove? Does it tell us that a high percentage of white people did not vote for Obama because of his skin color? No, it tells us there are racist morons everywhere.
Define "radical". Considering his healthcare reform was originally a republican proposal, gay marriage is already legal in several states and he has not pushed to legalize it nationally, and he has not pushed for any gun control legislation, no, I don't consider those to be radical changes.
The number has everything to do with a percentage. If I drank 90% of my whiskey, but there was only 2 ounces in the bottle I didn't have very much did I? Nope. Going on about 90% without any explanation of what that 90% consists of is a waste of time. Maybe you can explain to me the increase of black turn out from the 2004 Kerry election to the 2008 Obama election. In the 2008 95% of black votes went to Obama. This is an increase of roughly 2,000,000 over Kerry in just four years. I'm sure there are quite a few of non-black people who didn't vote for Obama because he's dark, but surprisingly the amount of white voters stayed mostly the same and continued to be diverse as opposed to overwhelming support for one party. In fact, if less white people voted for Johnson or Obama, Romney may have won the popular vote easy. On a side note, I suspect if the white voters "historically" voted Republican close to 100% each election there would be suspicion of racism. This never had anything to do with what we were talking about, though. Radical is subjective so maybe you don't believe they are but I do.
The reason we're using percentages is that it allows us to track the evolution (or lack thereof) of the vote over different elections. If you tell me that two million black people more voted for Obama in 2008 than for Kerry in 2004, it doesn't tell me anything about whether there was a shift in the black vote or not - there could very well have been ~two hundred thousand other new black voters who went for the other guy, meaning that among the total group of new black voters Obama would be at ~91% of the vote - a smaller percentage than among the black population that was already voting. In addition, your number tells us nothing about why there are new black voters - it could be simply that the population of age to vote has grown (there were more total votes cast in 2008 than 2004, in 2004 than 2000, in 2000 than 1996), that Obama's well-known ground game led to more people registering to vote, etc. There's absolutely nothing useful in that absolute number of voters.
I'll repeat my point: "For example, do you know the same percentage of black males voted for Obama this election as for Kerry in 2004 (86-87%)? What brought the black vote up was the support of black women for Obama, which did not change from 2008. And considering it barely changed for women globally (55% this year compared to 56% in 2008), that lack of change in support among women can hardly be attributed to Obama's skin color. Again, the support of the black community for Democratic presidential candidates has been overwhelming for several decades now. "
dude it was 13% according to you.. and is that really a big deal? its the first black president after all. I actually think you are confused and that is the percentage of total blacks in the population, according to the 2010 census....hahah which is why, even if they are off by 100's of thousands which would be 5 percent the most.... its hilarious you think they can solely decide a general election. almost as hilarious as thinking teabaggers can...
the way obama loves to bomb the shit out of people and send special forces in... i doubt he'll do anything with gun control . .and as naghokez pointed out kerry got more black votes then Al Sharpton.
Also Obama is half white raised by his white grandma. everything is ok you can sleep good tonight the blacks aren't coming for you or planning a revolution ahha.
not only this dude, but come on it explains why he would let people die who can't afford healthcare. and would smile at the roman slavemaster cheers from the crowd when he states as much during that debate.
it's been legalized for recreational use, not medicinal only.
it will be interesting to see how things turn out though, Obama has initianally promised to leave it to the states and then turned around to increase the raids on legal medicinal cannabis dispensaries.
My parents live in Seattle so next time I go to visit them I will be finding this out :P I'll let you know! Like said below it is legalized for recreational use, but I'm still unclear as to how it's going to be distributed now.
it's not legal... it's just not entirely illegal.. I'm sure you can still get busted on selling or possession charges, but the act of smoking it is no longer an offense.
Elections are like pre-ordering topics. Everybody bitch and moan how awesome this new game will be before anyone has ever seen it and as soon as it released the topic is dead and nobody cares. Every 4 years just another console port.
Whats more important, Washington and Colorado legalized weed for recreational use and washington legalized same sex marriages.
Dems got the senate, and supreme justice will see Regan appointed justices leave ( 1 now and 2 soon ).
So perhaps, thinks might be be looking up afterall.
As long as we aren't following ideology from the 17th century, we are good.