lots of great politics and zero posts on Haif

[musicman]

It has become so weak!!

[musicman]

How did victor Trevino get on the democratic ballot and how did pat lycos get devastated?

[bachanon]

nice to see you online again musicman! i think many of us are tired of political rhetoric. never thought i'd be complacent where politics are concerned........but..i'm bored with the whole process and the media surrounding politics.

[RedScare]

OK, here's a political post...

WHY I HAVE DECIDED TO VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY

In 2008, I voted for Barack Obama. I didn't necessarily vote for Hope And Change. I voted against Ignorance And Hyperbole. Right when the economy went from bad to over the cliff, John McCain admitted that he didn't know anything about economics. Further, in a desparate bid to invigorate his flagging campaign, he chose the most incompetent running mate he could find. Voting for Obama became fairly easy at that point.

Back then, I suggested that whoever won the presidency was likely doomed to be a one-termer. We were entering the worst recession since the 1930s. It would take a long time and a lot of effort to recover. Worse, after 8 years of running up the national debt by George W. Bush, any incoming president would have a hard time raising it even higher to spur the economy, the Keynesian approach to recession busting. This is exactly what has happened, except with a catch. The Tea Party gained traction in the 2010 midterm elections, putting dozens of deficit busting congressmen into office. Not only did they oppose increased government spending in order to spur the economy, this group demanded a shrinking budget. Every time a spending measure comes before Congress, the House votes to kill it, or they vote to slash spending somewhere else.

This would be considered good government during normal times. But, these aren't normal times. Despite the 4.3 million jobs created in the last few years, millions more remain unemployed or underemployed. Yet, the House demands less spending. The result? Government jobs have shrunk by over 600,000. Now, the libertarian-minded voters will applaud this number. But, for every government job lost, the private sector must create one.

So, why am I voting for Romney? Simple. I believe in putting your money where your mouth is. You see, the GOP is making conflicting claims and demands. They demand a smaller deficit, yet they refuse to raise taxes or close loopholes. They demand a better economy, yet they demand that government not help the economy by boosting spending. Worse, they demand that government make the situation harder to fix by laying off government employees. At every turn, they oppose anything Obama proposes to help, even if the proposal was previously supported by the GOP. So, what is my solution? Put their guy in charge.

A Romney presidency will do one of two things. Either, he will acquiesce the Tea Party and gut the budget, sending the economy into another tailspin, or he will quietly propose to increase spending, and his GOP friends will quietly vote it into the budget. Democrats won't complain, since their programs will get needed funding. Either way, I am satisfied. If the Tea Party austerity plan is voted into practice, we can all watch in horror as the economy recoils from the loss of government spending. The most draconian proposals call for balancing the budget immediately. With the deficit running at around $1.5 Trillion, imagine cutting an immediate 10% slice of the economy off. Remember that, at its lowest point, the 2008 GDP declined by 2.9%. Tripling that loss would be catastrophic.

I don't believe Romney will do it. He is, after all, a businessman. He knows that government spending benefits business. Even welfare checks are spent in grocery stores. Medicaid reimbursements go to doctors and drug companies. Social Security is spent on food, rent and electricity. Defense spending goes to Lockheed and Raytheon. Deficit spending may be bad for the national debt, but it is good for the economy. My belief is that Romney will vote for the economy. And, that will make it worth voting for him.

Now, it is entirely possible that Romney's Keynesian approach will cause a civil war within the GOP. This will be delightful to watch. Tea Partiers will cannibalize the moderates over deficit spending, while the moderates struggle to control the Tea Partiers. Romney will sound like Obama as he tries to persuade the Tea Partiers to go along. It is even possible that the Tea Partiers win the fight. Then we can all watch in horror as the stock market plunges again and the US credit rating is reduced to junk status. Maybe then the business side of the GOP will finally decide that the flat earth side of the GOP is not worth the trouble and split in two.

Now, that would be fun to watch. And that is why I am voting for Romney.

[brian0123]

nice to see you online again musicman! i think many of us are tired of political rhetoric. never thought i'd be complacent where politics are concerned........but..i'm bored with the whole process and the media surrounding politics.

Agreed. I've given up trying to have a rational conversation with anyone who still thinks Obama was born in Kenya and is secretly a communist Muslim trying to destroy America. I just can't stand feeling like Luke Wilson in Idiocracy.

[Fringe]

Agreed. I've given up trying to have a rational conversation with anyone who still thinks Obama was born in Kenya and is secretly a communist Muslim trying to destroy America.

You mean Rush lied to us?

[Talbot]

Red, I never thought of that. I might follow suit just so that we can all laugh when the GOP fails miserably when we go the way of Greece.

[editor]

Mine's a lot shorter...

WHY I HAVE DECIDED BEEN FORCED TO VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY

Least of the currently available evils.

[KinkaidAlum]

Eh, I lived in Massachusetts under Romney. He was a TOTALLY different man/politician back then. If he was the same Romney (a sane Republican), I'd consider voting for him, but since he's just another in a long line of ®s pandering to the idiotic, racist, anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-women, anti-evolution, climate change denying (did you see what the ®s just passed in North Carolina?) base, then I think I'll pass.

Main reason?

Supreme Court. I don't want another Thomas/Scalia sitting up there deciding that corporations deserve the same rights as people.

[Fringe]

Eh, I lived in Massachusetts under Romney. He was a TOTALLY different man/politician back then. If he was the same Romney (a sane Republican), I'd consider voting for him, but since he's just another in a long line of ®s pandering to the idiotic, racist, anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-women, anti-evolution, climate change denying (did you see what the ®s just passed in North Carolina?) base, then I think I'll pass.

Sounds a lot like our own governor.

[sifuwong]

I'm still undecided....

[sifuwong]

the 1 on 1 debates will determine the outcome of the election.

[Marksmu]

I'm still undecided....

I dont know how anyone could be undecided in this election - its shocking to me. What the two talking heads are saying are polar opposites.

You either believe that big government is good and should do everything for everyone - in which case you like taxes, regulations, redistribution, and single payer healthcare. OR

You believe that individualism is good, you want smaller government, less regulation, lower taxes, more personal responsibility, and you want a less drastic reform of healthcare.

Those are the two choices - they both suck

Personally, I think Obama is the worst president in my lifetime. I can think of nothing good that he has done while in office. Not even one thing. Anyone who responds with the ACA as a good thing loses all credibility.

Eh, I lived in Massachusetts under Romney. He was a TOTALLY different man/politician back then. If he was the same Romney (a sane Republican), I'd consider voting for him, but since he's just another in a long line of ®s pandering to the idiotic, racist, anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-women, anti-evolution, climate change denying (did you see what the ®s just passed in North Carolina?) base, then I think I'll pass.

This type of ridiculous rhetoric though is whats wrong with politics in this country today. Your either entirely mentally deficient, or your one of those anti-intellectuals if you actually believe that republicans are racist, anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-women.

Republicans may be anti-gay, and to some extent anti-evolution but those are both non-issues....Politics should stay out of an individuals personal life and beliefs...to address your other points:

-The race argument does not even merit a response - republicans are no more racist than democrats in any way. To say otherwise is to distort the truth.

-Anti-intellectual is almost as a big of a joke. I work with and around hundreds if not thousands of engineers, some of the smartest minds in this country and I can assure that few of them are democrats. Democrats have a stranglehold on universities and their professors so they continue to spout off this non-sense, which is all it is...nonsense. There are equally as many highly educated republicans as democrats - I would even venture to say there are more highly educated republicans....The majority of the democrat party is made up of non college educated individuals.

-Anti-science is another joke. Liberals use "science" to justify purely political or personal goals....

-Climate change is at the heart of the "science" problem that liberal democrats have....Climate change is not about science or saving the environment, its about redistributing wealth. The only common denominator in all climate change bills is that they TAX someone and they redistribute those tax dollars to their friends...see the multitude of examples like Solyndra.

Main reason?

Supreme Court. I don't want another Thomas/Scalia sitting up there deciding that corporations deserve the same rights as people.

Ya - lets get some more non-racists like Sotomayor, or some more intellectually honest people like Kagan on the court...that will surely solve our problems!

I could go on, but Obama has left a legacy of destruction...if Obama needs 8 years to clean up Bush's mess, the next administration will need 32 to clean up the problems that Obama has straddled this country with.