Politics

Saul said:

How my fellow citizens on the left can be so taken with this heinous brand of politics truly confounds me. Until I am presented with a reasonable choice of candidate from the left, as well as an uncompromising and absolute rebuke of this far left agenda, I will vote for Trump.

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While I am staunchly conservative in just about every measurable way (fiscally, socially, etc).. I have historically actually valued the opinions and positions of the "left"... I think its perfectly ok to have differing opinions.. and that the only way you can really know in your heart where you stand on major issues.. whether we're talking defense, civil rights, abortion, national debt, prison reform, or anything else.. is to hear all sides of an issue, think through all of the FACTS, and then derive your position..

As much as I disagree with most of the "old school" democrats like Bill Clinton, Tip O'Neill, etc.. or even some of the newer guys like Kerry, Reid, etc.. I could at least understand them.. and see where they were coming from..

My problem with the newest class of democrats (all of "the squad", Booker, Harris, etc).. is no matter how hard I try.. I truly cant figure out where the hell they are coming from, or why even they would believe half the drivel that falls out of their mouths.. much less how such a large segment of the American people can buy into it.. Then factor in the old guard that seem to have gone off the deep end like Sanders, Warren, Pelosi, etc.. and I get even more confused..

I dont think Trump is the epitome of all things we ever wanted or needed in a President (although I do agree with the majority of what he has tried to accomplish)..

But when given the alternatives.. I truly cant understand how he doesnt win with a 95% popular vote majority and take 100% of the electoral college in November (although we all know thats not going to happen)..

I mean.. is Sanders v Trump really a choice?

Warren?

Biden?

Buttigieg?

Bloomberg?

I am blown away that in a country with more than 325M people.. where more than 50% are generally left of center politically.. that this is the best the democratic party can come up with..

Going to be interesting to see who lasts much longer. None of them are viable. There's an old washed up commie, a foolish woman who doesn't know what race or ethnicity she belongs to, a senile has been politico, something out of NY trying to buy his way in, and a flaming queer. If that doesn't sound like a circus freak show, I don't know what would. Methinks Mr. Trump is going to win by a much larger margin than last time. My two coppers.

tigris115 said:

I think a more likely scenario is a big old schism between tankies (those who tout socialistic policies) and lizards (those who speak for nothing besides focus groups and lobbyists). My tankie friends on discord have, imo, a higher level of self awareness and openness so the schism would be a good thing. Also for taxes, I think the problem is less them in of themselves, more the fact that the money needs to be used more efficiently for actually impactful stuff like proper infrastructure.

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You have friends that are tankies? I don't even know any. Get out of NY!

I think the democrat party will have to hit bottom before it will change- so, the best thing for it would be to meet in Milwaukee, have a brokered convention. Have the Bernie Bros intimidate everyone into selecting Sanders as the nominee. He can choose Mischelle Obama as running mate. then after a thoroughly amateur campaign lose by about 30%. Additionally a real possibility of losing dozens of seats in the House and a dozen in the Senate. The money will fire everyone that had anything to do with the landslide defeat. Then maybe they can gain some perspective and rejoin the country.

Failing to do that and running some less radical candidate, but still losing; the Bernie Bros will say "if" and things will just continue until it's worse in 2024.

Opposite Pole said:

Sorry, can’t use wood, you need to cut the trees down for it.

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Yeah I seem to recall Fred Flintstones had stone wheels.... That should be ok......

tigris115 said:

Something that's been annoying me for the past few weeks is the constant ignoring of nuclear energy while people lionize either fossil fuels & fracking (pollution and other nasty crap) or wind & solar (too inefficient and lots of mining). My only good hypothesis for why we fear nuclear energy is the Cold War paranoia (A topic I can't comment on as I was still just an egg at the time) but with new advances, I think we can leave that behind. Here are 2 fairly basic videos that should explain my shtick a little better.

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You do realize that kids and almost everyone (probably you) has or is being brainwashed about "renewables" and fossil fuels and fracking? Can anyone name anything as efficient as the combustion engine? I can put a gallon of liquid in a car and drive 30+ miles. It will never be equaled. My diesel truck uses 1 gallon for 20 miles but can pull a trailer full of 20,000 pounds of horses and gear up a 10,000 foot mountain and it starts after sitting for a week. Sorry but electric cars cannot do what I need to do for work. My diesel doesn't even smoke anymore either.

Windmills only work 30% of the time as the other 70% is either too windy or not windy enough. They take 25 years to pay for themselves (with subsidies) and that is their life expectancy. Wind is the most expensive of all electric power sources out there on the grid and is a last resort for municipal power buyers. Windfarms are black, not green. A road is built to each tower and the deer, pronghorn and birds leave. I have seen this time and again on the ranches I lease for hunting

My son is a Petroleum Engineer for Exxon Mobil. He is an Operations Engineer. He takes over the management of wells from the Drilling Engineers after they are drilled. Before the wells are even allowed to produce, they are fracked first. He designs the fracks. In the last year, he has designed and supervised 120 fracking jobs in the Bakken in North Dakota with ZERO incidents. Fracking is very low risk and does not pollute the ground water and well water, as some try to claim. The oil/gas well is cased with THREE layers of pipe and cement and they are 10,000 feet deep - way below and sealed away from ANY drinking water. Drinking water and even water wells for crop irrigation are in the first 500 feet from the earth's surface. ALL oil/gas wells are fracked now before production is allowed because it opens up the pores in the oil/gas formations so that the oil/gas can flow faster and easier to the well head. If fracking is banned, the well productivity will go way down, as will jobs while prices will go way up.

As with most issues, education is the key but right now, our schools and universities are run by the likes of Bernie Sanders. He and the other Demoncrats want to end fracking and all fossil fuels and we don't have anything even close that can replace it. They are also against nuclear energy (which is very efficient but is only for electricity generation, not cars/trucks). I am totally in favor of nuclear energy for electricity. To hell with ugly, black windfarms.

None of the decisions regarding energy source/use will matter until one question is answered. the question is: Who will get the energy?

On that question will ride the fate of the human race.

If fossil fuels are unavailable and the only production is wind/solar & at some point nuclear the demand for energy will greatly exceed supply. Given the habit presently displayed by the ruling class, they will want their needs met. Little will be left for anyone else. This will mean no energy for farmers to plant/harvest crops; none for transportation of food to cities; none for heating homes, none for manufacture of products.

the result will be significant civil unrest - which is why the ruling class wants to disarm as many of the deplorables as possible.

Brent in Az said:

We had to endure 8 years of Obama. Trudeau, is the same package, in a different color.

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Now to be fair Trudeau does go out of his way to paint himself the same colour for parties and such. I believe that shows dedication.

Mike B said:

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I literally laughed out loud

sgt_zim said:

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I didn't see the statement. Was that 52% for Federal Income tax? If so, that would leave FICA, MedAid, WorkmensComp and State Income Tax in place. In addition, to spend whatever was left would be subject to sales tax. Looks to me as if it wouldn't matter if someone worked or not:

No earned income = $0 - taxes = $0.00 net income
Earned income = $$ - taxes = $0.00 net income

Back in my work days, we worked a lot of overtime, twenty to forty hours a week and our paychecks were half plus five percent of the gross. Uncle Sam and the governor took the first bite. I used to tell my buds, when it comes to your money, you're the last guy in line at the paymaster's window.

Scott CWO said:

You have friends that are tankies? I don't even know any. Get out of NY!

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Online compadres mostly. This specific circle is the kind that wants Scandinavian policies (at the very least, they agree that guns are a right for the citizenry). They just ironically use commie imagery as a joke and we call each other tankies for kicks. I find it important to have friends from all parts of the spectrum so I can have a constantly evolving perspective. If I just have people who agree with me and me only, I'll never be challenged and become mentally stale.