President Barack Obama is infuriating progressives and liberals and Democrats with his move to suggest cuts in Social Security benefits and Medicare, which will harm senior citizens and veterans and widows and the disabled.
Many forget that Social Security is fully funded for at lest 25 more years, and all that needs to be done is to tax all income, not just $112,000, the same as with Medicare which taxes all income. Raising the Social Security tax to all income will insure Social Security for the rest of the century! Cutting Cost of Living Allowances is immoral and reprehensible, when we allow corporations to gain government funding, which should never have happened at any time!
Medicare needs to insure that all will know that cost cutting should be on waste, overpricing, and fraud, but not on benefits to the elderly and the disabled.
A country that does not take care of its elderly, its disabled, its veterans, its poor, is a nation that has become morally and ethically corrupt!
But the Republican Party will save the day, because part of the deal that Obama is attempting will require increase in taxes on the wealthy and the corporations, and since they will never agree to any deal, it will take Obama and the nation off the hook!
Here’s a petition people can sign: http://signon.org/sign/mr-president-please-do-1
Hello Professor,
There is a very good topic, “Lied to, Robbed and Misled,” and it is the title of an article in Business Insider that reviews the book, “The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America†by David Stockman. As many will remember that David Stockman was the former director of the OMB under President Reagan. (He was the man who coined the phrase, “Voodoo Economics†under Reagan’s fantasy snow job budget of the day.)
This is where the Working Middle Class started to see their stratification degradation which has continued in the vortex spiraling to the lowest standard of living since the properly coined identification “Republican Caused Great Depression†of the 1930’s.
I guess it does not come as any surprise to those of us who understand and know “History†to see it once again happen to the current demographics of the Working Middle Classes who are just two generations removed from this time period.
In summation, Stockman rightfully contends that “The Few†were enriched at the expense of the Working Middle Class hence forth known as, “The Many.â€
Gosh, where in history has this already been documented? Oh Yes!! The events that led up the last, “Republican Caused Great Depression!â€
David Stockman goes on to correctly point out that the historic low Fed rates have allowed the engorgement of Wall Street Banks on the backs of the middle class, fixed-income group.
I will close with a quote that I have heard repeated by many of the pre-programmed, mindless, non-thinking, but still Working Middle Class, Tea Party / Conservative Republicans:
“We must close Union Offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce worker’s salaries and take away their right to strike!
Who is this person that made this, and who many today think is a “Clear Thinking†attitude of the Anti-Union movement? These almost exact same words propagated by the likes of the college flunk outs and / or dropped outs, “Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity.â€
I find it odd that those self-proclaimed Tea Party / Conservative Republicans who constantly vote every election towards their own economic demise might like to know…..
Answer:
It was Adolf Hitler May 2, 1933. Then again I guess there are many Tea Party / Conservative Republicans who think they are in good company. Here in lies the truth and the problem with this current Tea Party / Conservative Republicans.
Only someone who seriously short circuited his synapse can compare the Reagan conservative/classic liberal tea party movement to the German National Socialist Party of Hitler.
THANK YOU, Engineer of Knowledge, for once again bringing sanity and intelligence to the discussion on here, which lately has been dominated by Juan and Dave, particularly Juan, who spews forth what he calls “Classical Liberalism”, which he claims he is, which demonstrates no concern for anyone but the privileged in society. He is trying to portray Obama as being similar to a Communist, a Fascist, or a Latin American dictator, totally preposterous to anyone who has any knowledge of history!
I will need your support and intervention, as trying to deal with the insanity and craziness expressed by both of these trolls, who represent the ignorance of what is going on to undermine the great progress brought about by FDR, LBJ, and Obama, is an exhausting exercise which requires support similar to anyone fighting for intelligence and for decency and compassion in American society, rather than just sustaining the elite and the powerful!
Ron: I used to be a leftist like you, thus I know exactly what you are doing. When partisans of the left go into battle, they set out to destroy their opponents by stigmatizing them as “racists,†“sexists,†“homophobes†and “Islamophobes.†Radicals perceive opponents of their causes as enemies on a battlefield, and they set out to destroy them by demonizing and discrediting them personally. The politics of personal destruction is an inevitable weapon of choice for radicals – “They want dirty air and dirty water for our children.”- If your goal is a just world, then the moral code you live by requires you to wage war without quarter. For radicals the noble end – creating a new world – justifies any means. Remember, the issue is never the issue; the issue is always the revolution. For the radicals, that enemy is the “Haves,†who “oppress†and rule the “Have-Nots.†The Haves sit on the top of “hierarchies†of class, race and gender. From the radicals’ viewpoint, although America is called a democracy, it is really a “Have society.†The setting for the drama of change has never varied. Mankind has been and is divided into the Haves, the Have-Nots, and Have-a-Little, Want Mores. Lenin once said that the purpose of a political argument is not to refute your opponent “but to wipe him from the face of the earth.†The most basic principle followed by radicals is to lie to their opponents and disarm them by pretending to be moderates and liberals. Deception is the radical’s most important weapon, and it has been a prominent one since the end of the sixties. Racial arsonists such as Al Sharpton and Jeremiah Wright pose as civil rights activists; anti-American radicals such as Bill Ayers pose as patriotic progressives; socialists pose as liberals. The mark of their success is reflected in the fact that conservatives/classic liberals collude in the deception and call them liberals progressives as well.
No problem Professor.
In being a true Republican with a family history of over 150 years, knowing what the values were once for the Party, it is my job to purge this extreme aspect cancer from the Party of my family. Just as Karl Rove is putting together a large war chest to purge this once embraced mistake aspect from the Party to put it back on course for this 2014 primaries. Karl knows that this extremism has lost the Republican Party too many elections and rendered us to a laughable status.
As many of us know, the funding for the Tea Party is the Koch Brothers. Their father funded the John Burch movement in the early 1960’s which was nothing more than the Klan’s sub-membership denouncing the Civil Rights Movement at that time. Nothing more than one in the same.
You heard coined phrases such as “Southern Traditionalist Values†which really meant, “To keep those people knowing their place and don’t let them get “Uppity!†There was also the “I can’t believe I would be living in a Socialist Country†or the sky is falling fear mongering lunacy too. Just like we are hearing today.
The John Burch had many followers then which we can employ the statement, “More things change, the more they stayed the same.†Same type of people with the same shallow viewpoint mindsets. Back then the members were referred to as “Minute Men†ready to defend against the Progressive viewpoints. Of course the rehashed repressive attitudes of the current Tea Party members are referring to themselves as the laughable “Patriots†once again ready to defend against the Progressive viewpoints. Basically…Dullards.
I also give you the example when the embarrassing Tea Party / Republican Ultra-Conservative members of the Republican Party in the Primary placed (I am not a Witch) Christine O’Donnell to represent them for the Senate Seat of Delaware. There was a big American Nazi Party / White Supremacist†rally in Bethany, Delaware during this time announcing they represented Tea Party Values. Yes Neo-Nazis….and they were correct; just as I have pointed out in the above comment. As time showed us, Christine O’Donnell was nothing more than another BIMBO.
There has been too many of these embarrassment candidates here of late…..Dan Quale..BIMBO, G.W. Bush..BIMBO, Sarah Palin..BIMBO, Michele Bachmann..MAJOR BIMBO. Again, too many to list but all identified themselves as Ultra-Conservative Republicans.
So in conclusion, Juan has no idea from whence he came, but he knows all of the canned recycled verbiage….this speaks for itself and speaks volumes. This being said, I do think he is a good guy….but just as Davic Stockman stated, “Lied to, Robbed and Misled.â€
I just don’t put that much value in it nor give any validity….and it is getting less and less throughout the rest of the country. Basically…Just Not A Factor. All that is truly left are their own delusions.
Who the hell died and made Karl Rove queen for the day? I just love the way these crony capitalist Republicans — these big government Republicans, these establishment Republicans — who keep losing election after election, who in reality brought us Barack Obama, because lets be honest, we didn’t make any progress for reestablishing a strong limited Constitutional government under George W. Bush, none, try to tell us conservatives/classic liberals how things should be done. These crony corporatist who have never once won a single landslide election try teach us Reagan conservatives. Where the hell were they in the 76 and 80 campaigns? I don’t remember Karl Rove. As a matter of fact I do remember all those establishment moderate country club Republicans, they were going to Ford, a loser,then for Bush, and constantly conspiring against Reagan, because they detested him, just as they detest conservatives/classic liberals today.
“Who the hell died and made Karl Rove queen for the day?†LOL….I liked that one and I won’t say I disagree but “It Is What It Is.â€
Well Karl Rove has been the Head Republican Strategist for well over a decade. This being said, Karl knows that the once welcomed “Extreme or Ultra†aspect now within the Party is more of a detriment and hindrance than any benefit of the “Guaranteed Vote†segment.
I guess I could give the example of the man who got a Pit Bull puppy but trained him to be the mean attack dog. All was well until this dog bit the owner so he was put down and tossed aside on the garbage heap. This has always been the fate of the Tea Party / Ultra Conservative aspect.
“Extremismâ€, no matter what end of the spectrum, has no longevity. This has always been the fate of the Tea Party / Ultra Conservative in due time. Just as the McCarthy era, John Burch Society, and all that came before or after, dies a respectively short life.
I have to laugh when anyone sees the following ideas and principles as extreme. As a matter of fact only for an extremist would these ideas seem dangerous.
1.) All people are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
2.) Permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society. The Permanence of a society is formed by those enduring interests and convictions that gives us stability and continuity; without that Permanence, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, society slipping into anarchy. The Progression in a society is that spirit and that body of talents which urge us on to prudent reform and improvement; without that Progression, a people stagnate. Change is essential to the body social just as it is essential to the human body. A body that has ceased to renew itself has begun to die. But if that body is to be vigorous, the change must occur in a regular manner, harmonizing with the form and nature of that body; otherwise change produces a monstrous growth, a cancer, which devours its host. Reasoned and temperate progress is preferable to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.
3.) Limited government is a necessary evil required to maintain a civil society. Excessive government is an unnecessary evil that undermines the liberty intrinsic to human dignity.
4.) Equal justice under equal laws must exist for a society to remain unified. Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason. The law does not exist to serve only the aggrieved and making it do so divides the people under it. The only true forms of equality are equality at the Last Judgment and equality before a just court of law; all other attempts at levelling must lead, at best, to social stagnation.
5.) Solutions are best when they are established voluntarily and locally. The federal government is the antithesis of that, as it is coercive and distant.
6.) Life is a series of tradeoffs. Doing one thing will come at the expense of doing something else.
7.) An individual is more likely than bureaucrats to know what is in his own self-interest.
8.) Policies are as useful as the incentives they create, not the good intentions with which they were created.
9.) As observed by Milton Friedman, there are four ways of spending money. From most efficient to least efficient:
a. Spend your own money on yourself.
b. Spend your own money on someone else.
c. Spend someone else’s money on yourself.
d. Spend someone else’s money on someone else (which happens to be how government spends money).
10.) Man being imperfect, no perfect social order ever can be created.
11.) Freedom and property are closely linked. Separate property from private possession, and Leviathan becomes master of all. Upon the foundation of private property, great civilizations are built.
12.) Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity.
13.) Voluntary community is much better than involuntary collectivism.
14.) There exists an enduring moral order. That order, understood as harmony, is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent. There are two aspects or types of order: the inner order of the soul, and the outer order of society. A society in which men and women are governed by belief in an enduring moral order, by a strong sense of right and wrong, by personal convictions about justice and honor, will be a good society—whatever political machinery it may utilize; while a society in which men and women are morally adrift, ignorant of norms, and intent chiefly upon gratification of appetites, will be a bad society—no matter how many people vote and no matter how liberal, in a classical sense, its formal constitution may be.
I forgot the last one! “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” – Barry Goldwater.
I know the quote of Barry Goldwater very well. By the way, I turn 60 today. I heard that speech the first time around from the originator.
I would also say, and give as the lesson learned, from that moment Goldwater was labeled as a buffoon for that comment and mindset thus lost the election by a large margin. So my assertion of “Extreme Conservative†stands very well. The same results are being achieved today for such attitudes. Hence the reason Karl is proactively purging this segment from the Party. Thank you for giving me such a good example. I appreciate it.
I am not going to have too much time today. (I flew home from Columbus where I am doing consulting engineering and I will be enjoying my family here in Maryland for a long weekend.)
In your posting at 8:48 PM, you have made and mistaken assumption that “Reagan Conservatives†are reflective of what is the Ultra-Conservatives today. It was very Freidan Reveling.
Reagan took this country from the most “Creditor Nation†to the most “Debtor Nation†in his early years of tenure. He cut taxes early but then raised taxes three times following because the country did not have the funds to run the daily business. He raised taxes to pay the debt but the damage was already done. Bottom line Reagan could not be the Primary Winner for the Party with the current mindset. He would be labeled a tax and spend liberal who also buried this country in debt to other nations.
I will give you another example. When he was Governor of California, the law was you could carry a loaded gun in the streets provided it was visually displayed. But when the Black Panthers took up arms in Oakland to protect their own neighborhoods because the police could not be trusted, then Governor Reagan pushed through the most restrictive gun laws than any state in the Union. Today the gun activist Ted Nugent would have his head on a pole making speeches to have him suck on the end of his machine gun…..(But Teddy did a lot of Acid in the 60’s and 70’s and can’t be held responsible for the things that come out of his mouth today.)
So in summation, when you refer to yourself as a “Reagan Conservativeâ€, you are looking through very romantic, nostalgic glasses, and not reality. Thank you for your comments. They are very reviling and are speaking volumes of your short comings.
I know the Professor appreciates the revelations to those of your “Lied to, Robbed, & Misinformed†demographics. That is until he tires of the repeated, inaccurate information; many have based their viewpoints on.
I have heard often when the Party has a platform they want to push through, the comment that is most often heard, “It is time to whip up the Nut Jobs.†A sad statement of what the opinion is of the segment you identify. One that I do not agree with as I think it is very cruel that people are taken advantage of as such.
Bottom line the choice is yours…. you can stay the Marinette or become the Puppeteer. The difference and Segway for the change is employing Critical Thinking. I will be glad to help you with that.
Take Care
Thanks again, Engineer of Knowledge, for your strong, rational and correct statements! And the fact that you come to it with a heritage of what the Republican Party was at its best is further proof of what has happened to the GOP, due to extremist conservatism, even worse than Barry Goldwater represented 50 years ago!
Leftist progressive liberals and so called “moderate” Republicans make the usual mistake of believing a President is responsible for government spending and raising or lowering taxes. As far as I know we are not in a dictatorship. Spending and taxes are a prerogative of Congress. The President cannot spend or tax one single dollar without Congress authorization. But some people forget this. Some people who were in there 30’s during the Reagan administration seem to forget every battle he had with Congress, Tip O’Neill, the Democrats and moderate establishment Republicans, to reduce spending. But Congress didn’t budge. Each budget Reagan sent to the House, Tip O’Neill received it with a “DOA” Dead on Arrival welcoming. Finally they promised Reagan $3 of cuts for every $1 of revenue.But not only did they not keep their promise but raised spending even more! Sound familiar? So even though revenues rose, GDP rose , spending also rose! It is also interesting to note that even though spending rose, as a % of GDP it dropped and as a average remained stable. In President Carter’s last fiscal year, spending was 22.2 percent of GDP. By 1989, Reagan cut that to 21.2 percent — a drop of 4.5 percent, in spite of having a tax and spend Congress.Thus averaging an annual spending of 22.28 percent of GDP. In the meantime the economy grew by almost one-third, the equivalent of adding the entire economy of West Germany, the third-largest in the world at the time, to the U.S. economy. In 1984 alone real economic growth boomed by 6.8%, the highest in 50 years. Nearly 20 million new jobs were created during the recovery, increasing U.S. civilian employment by almost 20%. Unemployment fell to 5.3% by 1989.
Since fiscal 1930, the earliest year for which the government has made official calculation, only two presidents have spent 24 percent or more of GDP for three or more straight fiscal years that started while they were president. They are Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama.
The difference is this: FDR spent more than 24 percent of GDP in fiscal 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945 — because the United States was fighting World War II.
Before World War II — during the Great Depression — FDR never spent more than 12 percent of GDP. That is less than half of what Obama has spent on average annually, 24.17 percent of GDP!
Finally, in spite of Tip O’Neill, the Democrats and establishment Republicans ,Reagan’s deficits were much smaller. Deficits during his first term averaged 4.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 9.1 percent of GDP during Obama’s first term. Obama’s deficits, which have been twice as large as Reagan’s were.
@Ron: Then you agree with the Engineer that my post at 10:03 am represents an extreme racist hateful ideology, correct? You, as well as the Engineer, believe that what I have posted is just a hair length away from Nazi/Fascism ideology, that it is racist, bigoted , anti-women, anti-poor and elitist., true?
I am saying as Engineer of Knowledge is, that you are promoting an extremist right wing ideology dangerous to the future of the GOP and America. I will leave it to you to characterize as you have, if you wish to do so. It is your choice of words, not mine.
Let me see, I only repeat what you have said about conservatives. But in any event, if I am not mistaken, in your opinion what I have posted at10:03, which is pretty much a summary of conservative/classic liberal principles, is extremist right wing and dangerous for our country, right? In other words, are the promotion of those principles, every single one of them, dangerous and extremist?
The way you discuss them is designed to hold back progress for the vast majority of Americans, as it promotes the elite wealthy interests. STOP the idea of labeling, as you are being confrontational, which I am NOT trying to be. This is really getting OLD, Juan, and if it continues, I will have to block you from commenting, as an antagonist out to do no good, instead of trying to promote rational discussion!
Oh Professor….I can lead them to the water but I can’t make them think.
HAHA, thanks, Engineer of Knowledge, for your constant, unwavering support! 🙂
OPEN LETTER TO JUAN:
Juan, I t do not believe you have arrived at your opposition to President Obama and the history of Liberals through anything resembling reason. The 60s and 70s are over Juan. Your assertions on how Liberals including President Obama think, our motives, values and ideology are incorrect but typical of the right wing conservatives and quite monotonous.
Your long winded ranting posts are nothing more than your deep craving for attention. Your one and only goal here on this blog is to insult Professor Feinman to make yourself appear more worldly, educated and expert in politics. You are none of those and you know absolutely nothing about Professor Feinman.
You do not really understand what liberalism stands for and why the future of this country depends upon our party preventing the corrosive viciousness of the Republicans!
Every time you call any of us a name or attempt to insult us by calling us Liberals, Progressive or Democrat in a sarcastic diatribe, you reveal yourself as an imbecile. Not one of us is ashamed to be called Liberal, Progressive or Democrat! Deal with it!
Your posts are increasingly full of name calling, personal insults, and attempts to degrade the character of Professor Feinman and anyone who speaks in support of Progressive views. Do you think we don’t see what you are attempting to do?
You seem to possess a whole truck load of Fox talking points, right wing rubbish, lies and copied lines from other internet pages. You constantly ridicule all of and especially Professor Feinman.
Do you really think your posts are even semi believable? Most the time they are rambling and utter rubbish taking up space!
You purposefully try to cause annoyance to other users especially Professor Feinman, but you slyly try to vary your approach by becoming the victim when called on one of your ridiculous assertions, or blame-game strategies.
I don’t care one iota what you think of Progressive and Liberal views. You can demean us and insult the party all you want. The truth is your party LOST and it’s on it’s way to oblivion because the American people have caught on!
What I find contemptible is your disrespect for the Professor who has devoted his life to the study and documentation of the Progressive movement and political history. He is a brilliantly knowledgeable, tenured senior professor with 40 years experience. He is a decent, honorable human being and you treat him with disdain, and disrespect, name calling, and accusations when you don’t like the view point he expresses ON HIS OWN BLOG! It’s great to be invisible and identifiable though isn’t Juan? You can say anything, treat others like crap and get away with it.
But even as you berate him, Dr. Feinman consistently remains professional and respectful toward you and you don’t deserve it!
What perverted joy you are getting out of this? What is your game Juan? I think you’re jealous and you sir are an pompous ass!
Quoting facts and elucidating the truth, which Professor always does, will do nothing to educate you or change your opinion and I encourage the Professor to stop responding to you….period! You always will try to force an argument which you relish and since you cannot win factually or intellectually , you keep scratching like a dog with a flea, trying to draw out the debate through mis-quotes (of other’s posts), lies, and pejorative comments. Facts and truth are a waste of time on someone like you.
You might wonder why I am unloading on you Juan. I will explain.
I don’t like you….rather I don’t like your motives here on this blog. You are transparent and so predicable it’s almost funny if it were not so disgusting.
I have been a fan of this blog for three years and before you, it was always respectful, civil and no one person tried to dominate every single subject with their views while insulting the rest of us even when we might disagree. I know I speak for several who frequent this blog in that we are mightily tired of your constant mudslinging at our host, Dr. Feinman. You haven’t a clue who he is or what he has accomplished in his life and career or the personal events that have shaped him through his life. He is a brilliant and passionate educator on political science and history, a good, decent, and kind man. His students love and respect him and he is well esteemed among his colleagues.
My question is who the hell are you to question the intent of his writing, his views and depth of knowledge? You copy most of your stuff from the Heritage Foundation pages! You are not near as smart as you think your are.
I find it interesting and rather suspicious that you have a lot of extra time to sit, wait and watch for Professor Feinman to post an entry. It’s really quite creepy and nefarious.
I have observed how little time it takes for you to jump in after he posts his daily entry and it’s obvious what your motive is. You are not just some random troll…..are you Juan….which is NOT your name. Shall I go on? LOL! For a man who is supposedly a lawyer, married and has a child, you spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet watching this blog so you can ALWAYS be the first to jump in to attack!
You are one obsessed guy! You’re obsessed with Professor Feinman and trying to prove him wrong and to attempt to embarrass him for some weird reason. That’s where the joke is on you! LOL! He’s been around long enough and has come up against blowhards like you who think they need to prove something. Anyone who has taught post secondary education for 40+ years knows all about idiots like you. You’re easy to recognize, even behind the disguise of the internet.
And FYI….Professor Feinman doesn’t lie or make things up, and he does not make statements not supported by facts…his writing, statistics, his elucidation of historical political facts as well as his comparative analysis is impeccable and you are despicable and really stupid for implying otherwise!
You’re sarcastic, insulting, creepy, and need to get another hobby Dude!
I hope other fans of this blog will join in me and start calling you out for what you are, a troll and completely ignore your obnoxious, obtuse rants.
Trolls who throw insults across the net are confrontationalists and relish seeing any response that indicates the person they are attacking is wound up, or aggravated by your trolling. Trolls are the blog equivalent of the school bully!
Ultimately, there is only one way to deal with people like you…….totally ignore you! Do not respond ever to your rants. I encourage Professor Feinman and other readers not be seduced into engaging with you over any subject whatsoever. You will just try to draw us into a futile debate by a variety of means, but usually by saying something controversial or by insulting us hoping to get a rise out of us and start a heated debate..
To other readers: trolls like Juan here are confrontational, liars, bore’s and consistently using “logical fallacies” – in other words, they lie, change their minds, or otherwise simply claim any perspective other than the consensus. It’s like wrestling with a greased pig!
Watch and observe Juan…Juan utilizes logical fallacies to his advantage,,,as he tries to use this strategy always suggesting that fallacies arise in other’s discussions , where, in truth, those fallacies do not exist! Watch him as he utilizes other nasty strategies like, character assassination, brown bagging, cross-complaining…responding to any complaint with a complain of his own trying to cause turn the debate around, blame…he’s blames every one on the planet…but Never the Republicans! He pulls rank indicating he and the conservatives are better, smarter, more moral and righteous, and more patriotic. He always loves to list injustices or wrong doing by Liberals from the beginning of time….when actually he is listing exactly the things the conservatives have done! Oh and Juan loves to label people…make a true statement, explain your views and he will have you labeled is some derogatory manner. And did you notice he likes to mind read? Watch him as he tells us what we really think. Juan is sarcasm as a shield just like most right wingers. It’s their way of avoiding any responsibility for anything ever! And I particularly enjoy when he plays the martyr when some one…especially when Dr. Feinman calls him out on his lies and chicanery. It’s really quite amusing. Yes, Juan knows all the tricks….gee maybe he is a lawyer after all!
Many of us are really sick of your constant bashing of Progressives. How about a little reality check here Juan? The failures of your right wing ideology are building up to a giant tsunami all over the world. Your economic policies have pushed not only the US and Britain but other countries in Europe into underemployment, recession, and an ever increasing gap between the very well off and everyone else.
Republican obstruction in this country has led to an absolutely worthless republican led congress during this time when increased job creation is desperately needed for individuals and for the economy as a whole! The ONLY topic you imbeciles are interested in legislating is abortion, antigay rights, cutting every safety net for people in need, repealing Obama care , voter suppression, and tax cuts for the rich! In 5 years the current Republican do nothing congress has done as little as possible about creating jobs and in fact has blocked every jobs bill submitted! …Juan, as long as your position and power is protected, you don’t give a damn about the rest of America!
Republicans have torpedoed and undermined banking regulations that would prevent a repeat of the bubble/crash of the last decade and from which we will suffer for decades ahead.
You right wing nuts have done the same thing about the environment. To hell with the effects of the crap you blow into the air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat! As long as the bottom line is protected for your precious corporate interests …you’re happy… Republicans have caused the inaction on carbon emissions and the resulting climate change we all clearly recognize AND that science has proven to bring on more numerous and more severe weather disasters. Yet you continue lie and deny!
Now your party is hell bent on cutting funding for every form of research including medical research ! Why? To protect your corporate interests of course and to keep your constituents ignorant and voting against their own self interests. I have always said the Republicans encourage and celebrate ignorance in their base!
For years right wingers, controlled by the NRA have fought against and stalled gun control and are again, leaving a bloody trail of untold numbers of tragic deaths and injuries by gun! Despite gun massacres by mentally disturbed individuals, your party insists that anyone should be free buy assault weapons and larger magazines used on the battle field. You crazy people really believe that if everyone was armed when a nut starts spraying bullets in a room of people, then you gun lovers will be able to shoot back and stop the bloodshed. Please Juan, tell us how many mass killings have you good guys with the guns prevented?
Your Republican BS president and sociopath vice president lied the US into wars that killed hundreds of thousands, maimed hundreds of thousands more, of US service people, Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani civilians, destroyed the infrastructure of at least two countries and contributed to at least half of this country’s debt! Don’t even try to deny it Juan!! The Republican geniuses spent like addicts at the Federal level as the bribery specialists they are, to produce giveaways to their rich voting constituencies and to secure “a permanent conservative majority” — a permanent rot!
Your immoral healthcare policy led to spending in that sector that increased at multiples of the general inflation rate until the ACA, lining the pockets of insurance companies, big pharma, and medical device company , this at the expense of accessible care for the millions who truly needed it and have been bankrupted with medical spending! And now you buzzards want to cut every possible safety net that might help a the sick, the poor , the elderly, poor children, disabled Americans including Vets, and continue to bankrupt all of them!
You Republicans spread bigotry like a disease against immigrants, against the poor, the disable, against good people of Muslim faith, against people of any non-white color, against people whose biology lead them to be homosexual, against anyone in any particular need of anything that we as the richest nation in the world, and supposedly caring people can and should help provide for our citizens.
Republicans worship wealth, repeat passages of the bible but do not live it, excoriate anyone who isn’t in those particular club, and give themselves a pass on accountability for anything as they blame every problem in this country on Democrats.
Has anyone ever heard a Republican take responsibility for the economic conditions, the two wars we did not need to fight, for the damage to the middle class?
We have all observed how Republicans have built and maintain a virulent class exclusivity that creates and exacerbates divisions between people. They also encourage and celebrate ignorance in their constituents as evidenced by the determination to cut funding for education and insistence that their own personal opinions are more correct than evidenced based research.
It was the Republican party that drove exorbitant defense spending throughout the Cold War and continue to do so today, using exaggerated threat estimates and threatening politicians with right wing rage. Republicans in government, and in right wing media and the internet have caused the deaths of thousands in this country at the hands of enraged people with damaged souls who have shot, bombed, torched, hung, strangled and dragged to death innocents in the name of the wild, perverse conspiracies spread by your leaders and conservative pundit.! Just look at the evil souls your party worships! Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, Hannilty, Savage, O‘Rielly…just to name a few!
Conservatism is a disease! A virus with no treatment!
Any Republican is going to bring more conservative disease to this country, until the conservative tparty movement is extinguished and you Republicans are kept out of office for a decade or two!
The worst part of all is that all the sacrifice to the conservative ideology should have had some large gain, some enormous victory that attended the conservative ascendancy.
But there has been none! I know the good professor can supply more than enough support for this statement. I doubt Juan you can name one expansion in our economy, any major victory for the American way, This right wing, tparty ascendancy, unlike other movements in our history, has produced not one thing of value to the general society or to our legacy as a nation! NOT ONE THING!!!
The legacy of the Republican disease from the 80’s to the 2010’s is enriching the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class, in betrayal of the American heritage, betrayal of the world! The base of the Republican Party appear now to be complete fruit loops!
The right-wing are like rabid dogs. The Tea Party movement that infects the Republican Party, which is secretly funded by billionaires, comprises a combination of religious fundamentalists, racists and bigots. Many Republicans, despite evidence to the contrary, still seriously believe that Obama is a Kenyan Nazi Muslim and was not born in the US and should therefore be ineligible to be president and that he will soon be sending the black boot brigade into American homes to confiscate their guns and put Americans in prison camps. The thing is, those who believe this nonsense aren’t just fringe. They’ve taken over your party! They have systematically excised any moderates in the party.
You all know damn good and well that the largest part of your party can’t stand a scary black man sitting in the White House!
Republican economic policy narrows down to cutting taxes for the rich, cutting education and healthcare for the poor, increasing subsidies for big oil, and increasing the military budget so they can keep invading other countries. Anyone who has even half a brain knows this policy will bankrupt the country and endanger the world. The right wing media promote the preachers of this dogma as serious thinkers. At the convention, former presidential candidate John McCain named six more countries the US could invade, to applause no less!
The Republican party has been taken over by narrow-minded, uncompromising, control and power freaks! It’s their way or the highway. Sensible moderate people have been driven away and out of the party. Any one with an iota of sense knows that sometimes one has to compromise to solve issues. The current Republican party refuses to engage is this important process…they want to “rule” not “govern!
Our political system is crumbling as we are faced with a Republican Party implacably refusing to allow anything that might help the Democrats or President Obama politically, no matter what the cost to our nation and the American people. Real patriots!
Your sick, greedy, virulent conservative politics blunt all but the most daring progressive politics. You cannot point to any activist progressivism among senior Democratic politicians that has occurred and been as destructive as your conservative virus.
It has been a gentle, protesting, negotiating Progressivism rather than one on a rollercoaster of righteous revolt against the conservative disease and destruction..
Our progressive leadership fears the excesses of the conservatives who have shown yourselves to be willing and capable of violence against persons and principle. The robbers …as in the Bush administration… have been treated very gently thus far, with few prosecutions, few investigations, little backlash in the press and few protests in the streets. If I have any disagreement with President Obama it’s that he didn’t pursue legal action against them!
. Rational people fear what damage hateful, fearful conservatives can unleash, for the conservatives, especially gun lovers have demonstrated there are no self-imposed limits to the damage they are willing to rain on the country for their cause, Their ugly rhetoric, the fear-mongering, threats and the crazy talk, and armed gun lovers at peaceful demonstrations with mothers and children…. and the rise of the conspiracy fear mongering supports this.. . You believe you are just, you believe your cause is right, and you all believe God is on your side!. People like this are truly dangerous. Republicans have proven it in their rolling ascendancy in psychotic resentfulness from McCarthy and Nixon, through the western Goldwater cave dwellers, through Wallace and the sick southern strategy, through Nixon and Agnew, through Reagan, through Bush and into today’s set of fractious adolescent, mental incompetents like Boehner, Ryan, McConnell, Sessions, and Graham…… angry white men driven themselves by the fear-arsonists of the right wing media…. especially Rush Limbaugh!
You all resent being in the political minority and losing the presidency twice to the scary black man, and you all have gone insane! You think you are under attack, you think yourselves to be protectors of what once was America, back before the progressivism that you so resent began to drive preference away from your selfish ideology, and you believe deep down inside it is your duty to hold onto to your outmoded policies and ideology at whatever the cost to our country. Republicans will always strive to preserve preference for themselves AND their rich benefactors over other Americans at any cost. Conservatism has developed into politics of resentment and fear and it rots whatever it touches. All Republicans leaders kowtow to the extremists. The whole Republican election machine was a clown parade!
The fact that Obama is a decent, caring, committed Christian, has held a firm foreign policy, has taken out Bin Laden, rebuilt America’s reputation with the rest of the West (and much of the world), successfully bailed out the American auto-industry, established a desperately needed nationwide health plan (strikingly similar to Romney’s), has focused on keeping taxes low for 98% of Americans – that is everybody who earns under US $250,000 a year – and is secure enough in himself to have survived under your constant obstruction and, attack, character assassination, birther conspiracies, all of which suggests he is anything but the Kenyan communist / socialist, Nazi dictator the Republican Party has painted him…. and it’s driving all of you insane!!
Conservatism and the Republican party comes from unholy origins, wrapped itself in religious robes, and has brought us an unholy mess. You support a complete social hierarchy in our country, and support supremacy of certain individuals and populations deemed to be innately superior and who are to be more valued than those believed to be innately inferior.
Correct me if I am wrong Professor Feinman, conservatism since the 1950’s has been the source of a massive, massive betrayal on a scale probably never seen previously in American history.
As for you Juan….what would it take to make you go away? You hate us Liberals and are disgusted by us Progressives. You don’t like anything anyone says on this blog and we certainly don’t like you. Do you honestly believe your rants are going to do anything to change our minds? Think again…
Thanks, Maggie, for your strong defense of what progressivism and liberalism is all about. I feel fortunate to have you, Engineer of Knowledge, Princess Leia, Paul Doyle, and others who are there to affirm that what I believe really has validity and value!
Well said Maggie! 🙂
Thank you Maggie for once again demonstrating how tolerant and calm you are. I sense certain nervousness. What happen didn’t your healthcare coverage drop $2,500 like Obama promised? Maybe you should consider Valium as an alternative. Now, I believe the meltdown with Ron began a couple of days ago when I posted to honor his comment on Dr. King a quote from Archibald J. Carey, Jr. at the 1952 Republican Convention where he also finished with the phrase LET FREEDOM RING! But apparently Ron felt insulted or annoyed, (don’t know why?!!) and afterwards posted “And Archibald Carey Jr was an “Uncle Tom’, caving in to whites…” I pointed out that was a hateful and racist thing to say, and all hell broke loose. Such a shame. I never doubted Ron’s credentials or his honesty. I am sure he is an excellent person and great father and husband. Believe it or not I really do respect him. And because I believe that he has a good heart I find it disappointing when he posts hateful misrepresentations about conservatives and Republican or spews a racist attack like the other day on Carey. It reminded me so much of Toure Neblett’s foolish racist hateful attack on Dr. Ben Carson on MSLSD the other day that it really astonished me because I don’t think Ron is a foolish hateful radical, in the sense I described radicals. I honestly believe his motives, as well as those of the majority of everyday American progressive modern day liberals are good, full of well meaning intentions. But I simply sustain they are seriously misguided, which does not mean they are stupid. Unfortunately you, as well as Ron, and progressives in general do not believe that we conservatives/classic liberals have well meaning and good intentions as our motives. You believe we have either evil motives and intentions or are plain stupid. As you, once again, clearly and hysterically pointed out.
BRILLIANT POSTS ENGINEER OF KNOWLEDGE!
I always enjoy when you participate.
LOL! Notice how Juan is now playing the victim card. LOL!
Good grief you’re so predictable Juan!
You don’t like being on rhe receiving end do you Dude?
BTW… I stand by everything I said. I apologize for nothing because every word and statement is the truth.
Maggie: I am not playing the victim at all and I don’t need or even seek an apology from you. Contrary to you, I frankly don’t give a damn what you think nor does it bother me. I could go on attack mode and destroy every single one of your fallacious talking points and hateful rant. But it would be a waste of time. It would be like trying to argue with a infant. The Professor, even though he sometimes on occasions repeats mindless talking points as if he had tourettes (which really troubles me because he is far more intelligent than that), is a person of reason. You on the other hand, may be an excellent professional in your field, but when it comes to law and politics your lack of knowledge, reason and tolerance is telling. Thus it would be like me or any other adult being offended by a fit of a childish brat and taking the child seriously.
@Professor and @Engineer of Knowledge – also well said 🙂
Hiyoooooooo! I hit a nerve didn’t I Juan? Having a meldown? I’m laughing so hard I have to pause here……
Yes I am intolerant. I’m intolerant of fools and pompus asses. I also never claimed to be an expert in politics nor in law. I don’t have to be…no one does in order to recognize what a silly loser you are and how you and the rest of you party are still in shock and cannot accept that YOU LOST THE ELECTION!
Juan do you pray to be a moron, or have you accepted that this is the Lord’s plan for you?
You are a shining example of why your party lost the election. You could have won…but the whole lot of you botched it! LOL!
One problem is you and the rest of your idiotic party were NOT slapped down enough when you started decrying socialism and depicting Obama with a Hitler mustache and telling us rape is good, women are bad.
You have to be in some kind of Ayn Rand fantasy bubble to not get that your arguments and talking points are total BS and the American people made that very clear in November. …and I am making it very clear to YOU right now! You come on this blog and denigrate all Liberals and you think you are somehow making us all weep into our pillows for our mistaken thinking? Get real Mr. Lawyer!
Just like you do Juan, the whole party spent 16 months suicidally insulting huge groups of the electorate. You paraded out a bunch of loony clowns, has-beens, racists, religious fanatics hell bent on making laws governing a woman’s body, liars, pompous Asses and totally stupid, head exploding imbeciles!
You won’t debunk my points BECAUSE YOU CAN’T!
You also can’t stand that a woman has the gall to slap you down and hand your crap right back to you. Admit it ! You’re seething!! ….and Boy…..I am laughing!!!!
Like all Republicans you blew it especially here on this blog…just like in the election. You come on here with a pitchfork, with all your doom and gloom over the Obama Administration and us terrible Liberals!
Just like in the election we would have liked to read some adult commentary but what we got in you is an adolescent in a game of very bizarre one-upmanship contest with all of us…especially Dr. Feinman.
Juan you are an insane, end-times praying, reality-challenged, McCarthyite, who is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot!
I’ve got bad news for you Juanito, you fact-loathing crackpot! Ignorance can be cured, but STUPID is forever!
Dear heavens I would hate to hire you to litigate a case.. The judge and jury would laugh you out of the courtroom!
Now go ahead and compose another response to me. But…you will be wasting your valuable big money lawyer hourly rate because I won’t be reading it! I will move on to the next topic. So go ahead, knock yourself out! LOL!
Maggie: Keep it up. Any reasonable person who reads your comments can see you are a nervous wreck. I kindly suggest, once again, Valium..
Geeez Juan, I just can’t resist. if you ‘re this bad at reading people you must be lousy in court.
You don’t scare me or make me nervous LOL! You Wish!! 🙂
What do you think the little woman is going to run away when you bark? Boy you DO NOT know me at all.. LOL!
You’re using the same stupid strategy the rest of you right wingers use. If a woman disagrees with you SHE must have a mental problem. Isn’t that what you clowns think?
Juan you wouldn’t know what to do with a strong, intelligent, confident woman especially one who recognizes you for exactly who and what you are!
Nervous you say? Nope..I feel wonderful that I have rattled your brain box! Hehehe! OMG this is fun and you are so damn easy!
LOL Maggie: I never said you were not an intelligent strong confident woman, or that I scare you or make you nervous. Neither did I imply that you had to run away from wherever you thought I wanted you to run away from. All I am saying is that your response and ranting are way out there! You seem as if you are in an uncontrollable fit, filled with overwhelming rage and madness. I really don’t mind, or care for that matter, if you or anyone disagrees with me. To believe otherwise would be foolish. But there are ways and forms of disagreeing which maintain certain decorum. But as they say in Argentina ” Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona queda.” Just a little diversity and multiculturalism which I am sure your liberal mindset will appreciate.
I think it’s a mistake for anyone to excuse President Barack Obama on this as merely being “compromise.” It leads me to believe he “wants” to make cuts to social security. This is an example why self-identified Democrats need to become smarter in having an awareness for their party’s politicians and for who really does do the best job in representing the platform of the Democratic party. Barack Obama isn’t it. And talk about the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the love for Hillary Clinton, should really be one for a different woman who is a better representative of the historical platform of the Democratic party and for social security, Medicare, the safety net, for “fair share,” for unions, for a middle class (whatever of it still exists; and wanting it rebuilt). That woman is Massachusetts’s senior U.S. senator: Elizabeth Warren.
D, you make a great point, as Hillary Clinton, while impressive in many ways and highly respected, DOES represent the past in many ways, as she would be likely to be similar to her husband, Bill Clinton, in NOT truly promoting the progressive agenda, while Elizabeth Warren certainly would represent the FDR-LBJ tradition much more effectively!
Obama has been too willing to compromise, but as I stated, the GOP will ‘save” him, as they will not agree to any substantial deal with Obama, simply because they continue to represent the top two percent, unbeknownst to many of their middle class and poorer supporters, who are appealed to on “cultural’ issues while they are being exploited without their knowledge!