Happy to see that your self-awaress/self-improvement effort has kicked off but … when quoting such advice, you might best wish to follow it rather than contradict it… know what I mean? 
Happy to see that your self-awaress/self-improvement effort has kicked off but … when quoting such advice, you might best wish to follow it rather than contradict it… know what I mean? [/quote]
The only thing more pathetic than you losing debates with literally every single person you’ve engaged with on this forum is your insults. Every one of them is basically of the I know you are but what am I variety that didn’t even work in grade school. If you’re going to follow me around like a sick puppy and try to insult me, then INSULT me already! What’s with the elementary school bullshit? Man the fuck up, stop being such a little boy.
Sanders 2016 !
I know… It certainly is hard to keep one’s head held high after losing debates with literally even single person on this forum…
But I MEANT them as jokes…
Even when I call someone a buttmunch? not that I am doing that now!
Never graduated so I don’t know… grade school that is…
drunken cat… it is a drunken cat… or to be less formally archaic… drunk cat…
Well, a try in time is worth nine… oh no wait… how does it go again?
But I am only JOKING!
I don’t know…
Oh man! How did I become such a fuckup?
All right! Lesson learned! I will try harder!
Bernie Sanders - Pope Francis
vox.com/2015/9/28/9407493/be … pe-francis
It often takes more than just one breeze of fresh wind to clean the air…
All play and no work is really possible. Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest!
So what are Pope Bernie’s positions on issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples and women priests?
Up next: Pope vs. Pope on the issue of abortion.
Hillary is now pandering to the left wing of the Democratic Party 
First she was for and now she’s come out against the TPP. wsj.com/articles/hillary-cli … 1444249761
Her hawkish foreign policy may be acceptable to some people on the right, but this rejection of free trade (puzzling when her husband passed NAFTA back in the day) should be a game changer in terms of finding her acceptable. 
With Trump espousing protectionism and a return to 20th Century manufacturing and with Hillary veering leftward and rejecting Obama’s trade policy, I don’t like the direction US politics is headed.
Hoping that Bush starts rising in the polls
I’m not saying this as a fan of Hillary or anything (Bernie is still my guy) but I’m just wondering, what part of changing ones mind do you find so wrong? In the beginning she supported the idea of the trade agreement, and as it’s developed she has become less a fan. What part of this is wrong? Are you saying you’d rather people not be data dependant and not be willing to change their mind when new information arises? Smart people are certainly capable of changing their minds, especially in the face of new developments. It doesn’t always have to be some kind of political gotcha flip flop moment.
What is puzzling about that? Hillary is an individual and certainly not required to echo everything her husband may have said or done 25 years ago. Hillary is not Bill, just like Jeb isn’t W.
Anyone still have any doubts about how Bernie Sanders views his self-determined, self-admitted definition of “socialist?” If yes, then read on… If not, none of this will surprise you…
[quote]Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that Democratic presidential candidate
Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed a staggering $18 trillion in new federal spending — a 37 percent increase above what Washington is currently projected to spend over the next decade
— even as Washington continues to run half-trillion-dollar budget deficits. Sanders’s proposals might better be termed the Bankrupt America plan. It would balloon Washington spending to 30 percent of GDP from its current 20 percent, creating a massive federal government matched in size only during World War II.
[/quote]
And, by extension, I think that we fully understand/appreciate that those for whom Bernie “is their man” may suffer from financial and budgetary illiteracy.
[quote=“fred smith”]Anyone still have any doubts about how Bernie Sanders views his self-determined, self-admitted definition of “socialist?” If yes, then read on… If not, none of this will surprise you…
[quote]Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that Democratic presidential candidate
Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed a staggering $18 trillion in new federal spending — a 37 percent increase above what Washington is currently projected to spend over the next decade
— even as Washington continues to run half-trillion-dollar budget deficits. Sanders’s proposals might better be termed the Bankrupt America plan. It would balloon Washington spending to 30 percent of GDP from its current 20 percent, creating a massive federal government matched in size only during World War II.
[/quote]
And, by extension, I think that we fully understand/appreciate that those for whom Bernie “is their man” may suffer from financial and budgetary illiteracy.[/quote]
This story didn’t get much play because everyone who read it immediately realised how idiotic the number that the WSJ was using was… well, almost everybody, I guess.
Let me bring it to a level that anyone can understand:
Your spouse shoves the grocery bill in your face and demands to know what this NT$180 for Kirin Ichi-ban beer is.
You:“Well, honey, I usually drink Heineken, but the Kirin was on sale so I bought that instead.”
Spouse:“How can we balance our budget if you keep adding extra money for more beer every week?”
Y: “No, it wasn’t extra- it was instead- since the beer I usually buy costs $190, I actually saved money.”
S: “I looked at the bills for last week and I didn’t see any $180 for Kirin- that means you spent extra money.”
Y: “No, you see, there’s no listing for Heineken on this week’s receipt because I bought something different instead.”
S: “You just keep recklessly adding to our bills…” etc. etc.
The $18 trillion that Bernie was proposing involved switching to a single-payer health care system. That was about $15 trillion of the Journal’s figure. But when you switch to a single-payer system it doesn’t mean everybody goes to see a doctor twice as often or takes double the amount of medicine or has two appendectomies- you are substituting one system for the other. All the money currently being spent on medical care goes into the single-payer system instead; mostly from employers no longer having to pay their workers’ health insurance- it comes out of general taxation instead.
It’s like charter schools- proponents don’t believe in doubling the education budget and building twice as many schools and hiring twice as many teachers and making every kid go to school twice every day, once to a public school and once to a charter school- it’s a substitution.
Still, Sanders did propose spending an extra THREE TRILLION DOLLARS, which is a BIG NUMBER! It is 1.3% of GDP for the years covered, to go for increased infrastructure, education, SS, and poverty spending.
[quote] Should we worry about that? The increase in annual military spending from 2000 to the peaks of Iraq/Afghanistan wars was roughly 1.8 percent of GDP. This was also the size of military buildup that took place under President Reagan. Jeb Bush is proposing to cut taxes by roughly this amount if he gets elected.
In short, the additional spending that Senator Sanders has proposed is not trivial, but we have seen comparable increases in the past for other purposes. We can clearly afford the tab, the question is whether free college, rebuilding the infrastructure, early childhood education and the other items on the list are worth the price.[/quote]
[quote]Let me bring it to a level that anyone can understand:
Your spouse shoves the grocery bill in your face and demands to know what this NT$180 for Kirin Ichi-ban beer is.
You:“Well, honey, I usually drink Heineken, but the Kirin was on sale so I bought that instead.”
Spouse:“How can we balance our budget if you keep adding extra money for more beer every week?”
Y: “No, it wasn’t extra- it was instead- since the beer I usually buy costs $190, I actually saved money.”
S: “I looked at the bills for last week and I didn’t see any $180 for Kirin- that means you spent extra money.”
Y: “No, you see, there’s no listing for Heineken on this week’s receipt because I bought something different instead.”
S: “You just keep recklessly adding to our bills…” etc. etc.[/quote]
Yes, you have brought this to a level that “anyone” can understand. In fact, I very much like your analogy. But let’s ask the obvious question: Why should the government be buying your beer, whether Heineken or Kirin? And THAT is really the very crux of this matter and I applaud the serendipity that led you to this most apt comparison, albeit unintentionally. As to charter schools and the fact that so many people support them, isn’t the issue this (in the context of our failed public schools at least in “distressed” areas: We spent $1 million more to get better results. We failed. So, we decided to spend $2 million. We failed. Ultimately, we decided that we really needed to go after this problem by spending $20 million. As usual, we failed. Now, would you propose spending $200 million to finally “solve this problem once and for all?” or would you suggest that money may not be the answer to solving the problem? No, I know what you would propose: buying more beer so that the problem seemed less important and after the third can, who would care? Yes, let’s go with what’s behind Door (or rather Bag) No. 3!
[quote=“fred smith”][quote]Let me bring it to a level that anyone can understand:
Your spouse shoves the grocery bill in your face and demands to know what this NT$180 for Kirin Ichi-ban beer is.
You:“Well, honey, I usually drink Heineken, but the Kirin was on sale so I bought that instead.”
Spouse:“How can we balance our budget if you keep adding extra money for more beer every week?”
Y: “No, it wasn’t extra- it was instead- since the beer I usually buy costs $190, I actually saved money.”
S: “I looked at the bills for last week and I didn’t see any $180 for Kirin- that means you spent extra money.”
Y: “No, you see, there’s no listing for Heineken on this week’s receipt because I bought something different instead.”
S: “You just keep recklessly adding to our bills…” etc. etc.[/quote]
Yes, you have brought this to a level that “anyone” can understand. In fact, I very much like your analogy. But let’s ask the obvious question: Why should the government be buying your beer, whether Heineken or Kirin? And THAT is really the very crux of this matter and I applaud the serendipity that led you to this most apt comparison, albeit unintentionally. As to charter schools and the fact that so many people support them, isn’t the issue this (in the context of our failed public schools at least in “distressed” areas: We spent $1 million more to get better results. We failed. So, we decided to spend $2 million. We failed. Ultimately, we decided that we really needed to go after this problem by spending $20 million. As usual, we failed. Now, would you propose spending $200 million to finally “solve this problem once and for all?” or would you suggest that money may not be the answer to solving the problem? No, I know what you would propose: buying more beer so that the problem seemed less important and after the third can, who would care? Yes, let’s go with what’s behind Door (or rather Bag) No. 3![/quote]
It’s like listening to Donald Trump- one word triggers him and out comes a free association ramble.
You did notice that the fact is that everything in your original post was totally wrong? This is why you go off on an unconnected tangent?
I don’t know much what you guys are on about. But I would not be mad if I got Kirin beer instead of Heineken. And Free Beer? I am all for it!
Meanwhile. the Republican speakership is like the KMT presidential nomination- nobody remotely qualified wants anything to do with it. Will Paul Ryan pull an Eric Chu and take over the responsibility for this steaming pile?
From Trey Gowdy, Republican chairman of the House “Get Hillary” Committee:
[quote] “I don’t have a background in mental health, so I wouldn’t have the right qualifications to lead right now,” he told the Post.
He later commented that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has also decided against running for a leadership spot.
“If I had one draft choice and I was starting a new country, I would draft Paul to run it. Not because I agree with him on everything, but because he’s super, super smart. And when someone is super, super smart and is not interested, that tells you something. It tells me a lot,” he said.[/quote]
Actually, Ryan fits the description of “a dumb person’s idea of what a smart person looks like”, or more importantly “an- MSM-reporter-desperately-trying-to-find-equivalence-between-the-two-parties-so-they-don’t-have-to-acknowledge-the-Republicans have-gone-batshit-crazy’s idea of what a responsible Republican looks like.”
Well, some socialist has inspired this thread to degenerate into a discussion of “free” beer for budget-conscious problem drinkers. So let’s get back on track by talking about how predictable Bubbette is:
nypost.com/2015/10/10/hillary-cl … melt-down/
It’s not hard to predict from this how she’d do as commander in chief. But then, Benghazi shoud tell us all we need to know about that anyway. She’s not tough. She’s weak in the worst possible way.
I’ll take unpredictable over this any day.
(Is it true that she was the inspiration for Annette Bening’s character in American Beauty?)
Well, according to your one site, all that the Wall Street Journal says is wrong… Well, no “not all” only $15 trillion of the $18 trillion, but let’s take a closer look.
Yes, this part is true.
[quote]All the money currently being spent on medical care goes into the single-payer system instead; mostly from employers no longer having to pay their workers’ health insurance- it comes out of general taxation instead.
[/quote]
And there is the $15 trillion issue. It “comes out of general taxation instead.” Hmmmm… care to share a bit more on how that will happen and how you know that those costs will be roughly equal? Why don’t you explain this concept to us in your very own words… In the meantime, I am going to get another beer or five …
DP
[quote=“fred smith”]Well, according to your one site, all that the Wall Street Journal says is wrong… Well, no “not all” only $15 trillion of the $18 trillion, but let’s take a closer look.
Yes, this part is true.
[quote]All the money currently being spent on medical care goes into the single-payer system instead; mostly from employers no longer having to pay their workers’ health insurance- it comes out of general taxation instead.
[/quote]
And there is the $15 trillion issue. It “comes out of general taxation instead.” Hmmmm… care to share a bit more on how that will happen and how you know that those costs will be roughly equal? Why don’t you explain this concept to us in your very own words… In the meantime, I am going to get another beer or five …[/quote]
Okay. Like other systems around the world, employers and individuals will not buy health insurance from private companies which in turn make the payouts to hospitals and doctors. Instead, they will pay higher taxes (or user fees, as in Taiwan) to a government system which will make payouts to either private hospitals and doctors, or government hospitals.
If you don’t understand how single-payer systems work, wiki has a fairly easily-understandable explanation.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-payer_health_care
Costs will probably not be equal, since the US pays much more than other systems for comparable coverage, so there probably will be a large savings, which can either be left with the taxpayer or used to improve the system.
Ben Carson on the Middle East:
[quote] “[Putin] has longstanding relationships down there,” Carson said. “Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, were both classmates in the class of 1968 at Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow where they became acquainted with a young Vladimir Putin.”
The Christian Broadcasting Network’s report referred to this as a “little known historical fact.” The trouble is, it’s little known because it’s not a historical fact.
There’s literally no evidence to suggest Khamenei ever studied in the former Soviet Union. And since he and Abbas are several years older than Putin, the timeline doesn’t even make sense – Putin would have been a 16-year-old high school student at the time.
…
In a follow-up interview, Dr. Carson would not disclose his sources, but told CBN News he learned about the ties between the three leaders from advisors across the government, including the CIA.
He said the connection helps to explain what’s currently happening around the world.
“That’s what I call wisdom,” Carson said. “You get these pieces of information. You talk to various people. You begin to have an overall picture. You begin to understand why people do what they do.”
Carson went on to say, “There’s a lot more information that I’ve gotten that’s probably not appropriate for revelation.”
[/quote]
msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show … lp-himself
politifact.com/truth-o-meter … i-vladimi/
Carson is currently in second place in the Republican presidential polls. First place is held by Donald Trump.