The Other Guy is the one the Democrats always scare into thinking the Republicans are going to take away their Social Security, their Medicare, and force old people into choosing between eating cat food or buying medicine.

It's a two-way street.

 

Neither party represents the interests of the average citizen. They each have their special interest group that they cater almost exclusively to. (the campaign donors......) It's the folks (and large corporations) with money that run the government. Your vote is simply a placebo to fool you into thinking you have some flavor of 'voice' in how the government runs. That hasn't been the case for a couple decades now. You get the choice between the lesser of two evils. Sometimes, the only difference between them is whether it's a D, or an R, after their name.

Unless/until we get some MAJOR campaign finance reform, (which will have to include reversal of Citizens United...) nothing is going to get better. Considering that the only folks that have the power to change things (short of a revolution) are the ones that benefit most from NOT changing things...... I don't expect much in the way of improvement. In fact, I expect to see our government going the same way as Greece/Ireland/Spain/Italy/Portugal in the not so distant future.

 

GOP always refers to Social Security and Medicare as "entitlements" and make "entitlements" a bad word. We are "entitled" to these things as most of us (about 45 years worth for me personally) have paid into these. So I certainly feel entitled. I believe it is basically a contract. When Wall Street got TARP money in 2008, they paid themselves huge bonuses with our tax maney, claiming it was a "contract." While working in the private sector as upper level management, I also sometimes received bonuses - but they were paid based on good performance. Wall Street paid bonuses even when they wrecked our economy. THAT does not make sense.

The GOP is trying to take Medicare away and give it to private insurance companies, thereby privatizing it. They aleady di it in part with the mis-named Medicare Part D - which is private insurance and not Medicare. Bush did this by conspiring with United Healthcare and others and eliminating previously covered medications to creat "Medicare Part D."

Mitch McConnell and John Boner continue to talk about the "Ryan Plan" which includes (in black and white print) the elimination of Social Security.

UU and HeyYou, I agree. And since the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people and money is speech, we now have legally "bough and paid for" politicians. So much for democracy. Sinclair Lewis wrote a satire in 1939 - It Can't Happen Here! - and described the day facism would come to America. He stated that it would be carrying a cross and wrapped in a flag..........

 

It's basically a Ponzai scheme as there are fewer workers paying into the pot than are withdrawing. Other flaws include:
1) The current tax reduction of workers only contributing 4% versus the previous 6%
2) There is no "money" in SS, just a pile of IOUs as the fund was opened to Congressional raiders in the 1980s
3) SS was meant to be an income supplemental, not a retirement income

Apples and oranges, but I agree. I was (and still am) against TARP, but it was typical Government "Hurry up and do something" rather than addressing disasters as they happened.

Study up on their proposal. People would shop for their own insurance on the private market, and unlike the current system, there would not be caps in place for those who require higher levels (costs) of treatment

Which would be great and wouldn't happen over night. Brazil did away with its version of Social Security in the 1980s and has one of the best retirement systems in the world. I (anyone) can do a much better job of investing money than handing that task over to bureaucrats. Again, see the above where the SS Trust fund was raided in the 1980s.

Politicians have been "bought and paid for" since the founding of the Republic.

 

I agree with everything except the last (quoted) statement.. there was a time when it was an honor to serve your fellow man, and there was no concept of career politicians.. people did what was right because it was the right thing to do for the entirety, and stayed the hell out of things that only suited the few, leaving it to LOCAL jurisdictions to decide.. D.C. didn't dictate to the entire country things outside of the constitutional (federal) realm, now it is common place..

 

 

 

Since you said that in response to something I wrote, I think it important to clarify: I am in no way sympathetic, aligned, or affiliated with any faction of the power structure that rules or seeks to rule any nation state on Earth. The fact that I recognize the GOP for what it is and their actions for what they are does not make me a Democrat. Only a fool is loyal to someone or something that cannot or will not reciprocate in full measure.

The power structure that exists today is hostile to my best interests and to yours, too. It is hostile to your interests unless you are a Director of a major multinational corporation or a TBTF investment banker. If you fail to recognize this, you're in allegiance with them and don't even know it.

 

The setup on the Ram probably cost more then that Ram did brand new, so I wouldn't go f it up either.

But you right, they could of have A LOT more fun with them rigs, I'm pretty sure as long as I don't bottom out I could go down the hill and through the mud puddle they were, going up could be a little harder with 2wd.

 

FWIW, I'm have Libertarian leanings and am disgusted at the Duopoly the Two-Party system has on this country. I am seriously considering expatriating.