Random Politics & Religion #00

Is it just me, or does everything Carson says about himself seem suspect?

Still, trump is obviously feeling the pressure.

Your "I've been an executive and no one else has", was exactly that, and wrong to boot.

I wasn't attempting to throw weight around or show up anyone. I was trying to show that, out of the number of posters here, I'm the only one who has had actual experience in regards of running a business and have shown it.

Although, my experience was limited, it's still there.

If it was portrayed as showmanship, then I'm sorry, that was not my intent. It was to justify my opinions on the matter, nothing more, nothing less. And I still stand by my assertion that nobody here has any executive experience* other than me.

But now, I stopped caring. People are going to make an uneducated opinion about businesses regardless of showing any evidence or experience.

*Note: Executive experience meaning experience regarding analytical and leadership experience regarding more than 5 people in total. There may be some people who are sole-proprietors here. Jassik claims to be one a while back before he changed his "business experience" to something completely different, but I highly doubt anyone else has actually been in charge of anything higher than lower management position.

I'll accept the blowback, to a point except personal attacks.

Which is why only Floppyryan got nuked, as he crossed the line.

Anyway, let's get back to watching Trump vs. Carson, as that's far more amusing

You reiterate your baseless assumptions about a lot of people.

Can we just drop both and go for somebody better?

Both are idiots who can't lead themselves out of a wet paper bag. Still better than what the democrats have though.

I had high hopes for Carson. The more he opens his mouth, though, the more I start to get the deer-in-the-headlights look. That happens far too often with presidential candidates, unfortunately.

Dis?

In whatever case you believe I changed my story, you are flat out wrong. I've been very clear about what I've done within the scope of internet anonymity. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask instead of libeling me.

Yup. Glowy eyes and all.

Whenever you feel discouraged at your current candidates, just remember that in 2020 Lordgrim and Kanye are going to be the ones running.

Think about it.

The problem is that the Republicans have hitched their cart to the socially conservative in addition to the fiscally conservative. It's a major reason for the huge divide in this country right now.

And Carson/Trump are leading not on their leadership qualities, but on their socially conservative rhetoric. Oddly, even Trump -- who you would expect to have some idea about fiscal and policy matters -- fills his actual economic discussion with a bunch of Nationalistic fearmongering and patriotic froth-whipping.

I'm waiting for the switch when big money realizes they're better off entirely embracing the socially liberal mindset. This country's going to get super interesting.

Which is rightly the overall criticism of the GoP in recent years. I've no doubt they are aware of the way the religious right and other social conservatives have dragged their name through the mud, but with an ever shrinking voter base, it seems to be their most effective strategy short term. Anymore, though, a large subsection of the country doesn't seem to be able to separate social and economic politics, or maybe they just don't care?

There is some crossover between certain social issues and economic views. Welfare, immigration, etc. all have economic impacts. Still, a socially liberal but fiscally conservative platform would be... intriguing to say the least.

First of all, you are completely full of ***. Call the nurse and have him/her empty your colostomy bag or dump the bed pan...

Second, You have no demonstrable business experience whatsoever You've never demonstrated any leadership qualities or abilities or insight or special wisdom to anyone on this forum.

Plus, Your delusional conceit has kept you from even bothering to consider anyone else's opinion or viewpoint on any matter.

And all you have done for as long as I have "known" you is try to find clever ways to prop yourself up and put other people down without getting banned.

Ten more qualities you dont have

Dude I wouldn't put you in charge to lead five people to Denny's for pancakes!

Many social programs are actually cheaper overall than their free market counterparts. There are plenty of social programs that people take for granted and that government does far better than private industry. But that only matters if people can look past their binary views of government and focus on the numbers. Socially liberal, fiscally conservative is basically the march of millenials, it's just going to look a little different than the archetypes that have been constructed by the parties.

Holy crap, just drop it. Sheesh.

Hmmm, I don't seriously believe that the government is the worst at doing everything, but I'd like to hear you elaborate here with some specifics.

NEVER!!!

I was going to attempt to change the topic but uh, I think I will stay out of nik's way for the time being o.O

The people who get healthcare that is truly managed by the government seem reticent to give it up (diplomats/elected officials). I consider the VA more of an asset management arm than healthcare, but it represents some of the best and worst aspects of true government controlled healthcare.

The typical social services that nobody questions weren't always public and there was similar pushback tot their deprivatization. Most of the energy infrastructure, roadworks, even police and other emergency services. Before Katrina, FEMA was viewed in a much more favorable light. As well, the other disaster relief programs. The forest service and other protected federal lands programs have been instrumental in stemming the spread of destructive resource harvesting. Federal prescription drug testing and enforcement is one of the biggies, although it's become corrupted by corporate influence as well.

The list goes on and on. Everytime a so-called private industry undergoes any form of oversight or control by the government, the same crowd screams about tyranny, and in the vast majority of cases, the things the government has completely taken over are just as successful fiscally and much moreso for consumers, with obvious exceptions.

The fact is, there are many things the government just does better than private industry because they are concerned with function instead of profit. And, to add one more thought. The current level of taxation could more than pay for a lot of services that individuals acquire privately now if private influence were eliminated and budgetary matters were discussed by less biased officials. If you get private money out of politics, a lot of things will get better automatically.

Anything else you would like to add? I for one welcome differentiating opinions, especially about me.

Although I would have preferred your opinion without all of the vitriol.

You are correct, it is impossible for anyone to display leadership qualities on an online forum. I was a little hasty in stating such. As for that, I'm wrong.

But showing business knowledge, that's a different issue. Although, having one accept such knowledge over their perceived viewpoints of such businesses (aka the usual excuse: "that's not how it works" or "your optimistic" or "you have no clue what you are saying") is another issue in itself.

But that's enough about me.

CONCENTRATION CAMPS!!!!
The government is tagging people's homes and when Obama declares martial law they'll be rounding up all the ones with the red dot!!

And, as a result, they often end up being fiscally irresponsible in the process and you end up with wasted taxpayer money.


The VA deals with military veterans, FEMA deals with disaster relief across the nation, the forest service deals with federal lands. It only makes sense that those are dealt with directly by the government. I want to hear more examples from private industry where a government takeover has shown to actually be better.

Police forces were private for a long time in the US as were fire departments. Public retirement has been of the most successful government programs in the history of the world. It's only the bulge in demographics and constant borrowing that put it in any level of jeopardy, which is actually extremely over-stated. SSI, even including the pile of IOU's for repeated borrowing, has an unbelievable amount of money and would easily weather the baby-boomers without change.

All of those things "make sense" now, but had lots of opposition and nationalistic rhetoric thrown at them when deprivatization was proposed, and plenty of countries can be shown as examples of the same success in other industries like healthcare.

And before you counter public healthcare with claims of population disparities or countries that have done it poorly... Yes, in any situation where government can do things better, they can obviously do things worse. And, although tax money is often wasted, government has been shown throughout history to be the overwhelming best return on investment for it's citizens.

I would love to hear that too.

Since there hasn't technically been any takeovers of any industries here in the US, I think (speaking for Ravael) that we will accept any examples you may show from any other country who has taken industry from private hands and made them public. USSR is a great example, along with China, for you to use.

Wait, are you saying that Social Security (the only public form of retirement plan in the US) is a great example of government-led efficiency?

Have you even listened to any of the news about Social Security?


And you base your opinion on what again?

The alarmist bullhockey? Yeah, I've heard it. Read the actual CBO assessments. It's got a negative cashflow, which is to be expected, but SSI has a running balance of almost 3 trillion dollars and the interest alone outweighs that negative cashflow. The only reason SSI is portrayed as being in trouble is because it's routinely borrowed from and because there is strong political support for cutting entitlements among social conservatives.

SSI is not in trouble, it's just a political hot-topic.


Reality... Dollars in against services provided. If you can't talk intelligently about the topic, don't quote or respond to me.