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BigMikeH77

The looming sequester

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Nice nearly 20 straight posts of :

"some people"
"Dems"
"Reps"
"Obama"
"Party of NO"
"dems"
"reps"

ad nauseum

Looks like the party PR machines has everybody here right exactly where they want them - they don't have to fix the problem - or even try anymore, they just have to create the divide so that no matter what happens, the public will be able to rationalize blame to whichever half of the leadership they've been indoctrinized to hate.

you are all smart people - how can you be so easily brainwashed?


However, if we all voted in such a giant pile of petty little children, we get what we deserved - representation of the public.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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Nice nearly 20 straight posts of :

"some people"
"Dems"
"Reps"
"Obama"
"Party of NO"
"dems"
"reps"

ad nauseum

Looks like the party PR machines has everybody here right exactly where they want them - they don't have to fix the problem - or even try anymore, they just have to create the divide so that no matter what happens, the public will be able to rationalize blame to whichever half of the leadership they've been indoctrinized to hate.

you are all smart people - how can you be so easily brainwashed?


However, if we all voted in such a giant pile of petty little children, we get what we deserved - representation of the public.



Got to agree
As I posted before this is just another distraction

But even the largley left leaning Politifact indicates Obama owns the sequester

At any rate
It is a good time line of the whole thing

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/24/barack-obama/obama-says-congress-owns-sequestration-cuts/
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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Does that mean that if the sequester turns out not to be so bad after all, that it's still Obama's idea? Or do we find the wise Republican who advised him on it?

I read the Politifact article; it is vaguely the WH's idea, but it wasn't floated as a serious one. It takes a seriously disfunctional group of congresscritters to take a not-very-serious bogeyman proposal, turn it into law, and then wring their hands and point when it begins to get close.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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>Does that mean that if the sequester turns out not to be so bad after all, that it's still Obama's idea?

Of course not, Wendy. Then it was Boehner's idea.

Overall I think having the sequester happen is probably a good thing overall. The economic impact will be pretty harsh, not because the market will lose the money from the spending (although that will be part of it) but because markets react to perceptions, and with both sides saying how bad it will be, the markets will react poorly to its passage.

However, it will reduce spending, and when the economy recovers again (which it always does) baseline spending will be lower.

The downside is that it may end any influence the GOP has on the direction of government for a while. And a one party system isn't very good for the US.

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Military spending has become the teat that a very large segment of the US economy suckles from, either directly or indirectly. It is the primary mechanism of transferring wealth from some areas (largely blue states, as it happens) to others (largely red states).



Absolutely. I recall growing up in the Los Angeles area in the 70s and 80s and seeing the impact of the drawdown of defense spending. I think it can be fairly said that drawdowns in defense spending (and the mergers of defense contracting firms) has led to defense heavy places like LA area and Long Island and focused defense contracting on a few states and districts in the South and Southeast.

I think it’s had the effect of causing a slow change in thinking toward defense policy. Take a look at who voted for purchasing more B-2 bombers – even Loretta Sanchez (who unseated “B-1 Bob” Dornan). But as the funding gets more concentrated and fewer districts have it going to them, advocates for defense spending become a minority because it just goes to those 20 or 30 districts where most of it goes. And the rest of Congress wants to take that concentrated benefit and send it elsewhere.

Fundamentally, it’s been welfarism. Now it’s concentrated in a few districts. I remember LA getting clobbered when defense sending dropped. Other districts will be feeling it, too.

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Notice how much squealing and bleating accompanies any suggestion of closing redundant military bases.



There’s reason for that. Not just the local economies around the bases but also there’s the consideration of what to do with them. The El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was closed in 1999. As far as I know they haven’t done anything with it, much because of the substantial costs of remediation. It’s 4,500 acres of prime Orange County real estate and still being cleaned up with 5 runways with yellow x’s on them.


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I also wonder if the tradeoff you suggest would occur even if the opportunity arose.



This is the big issue for me. Every time a welfare program is stopped, they take that money and put it to another welfare program, thus ensuring no money saved.

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only in the US does a substantial chunk of the population seem to think that access to health care is a commodity no different than buying a yacht.



That’s overly simplified. In general, people who pay for their own health care are healthier.

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Does anybody really think people make such choices?



They used to. Not anymore. Now we have – many times – a guy hooking in a brand spanking new rig that he put 60 jumps on in the last two months who gets a fundraiser to pay for medical bills because he wasn’t insured. I do not help in those cases because I haven’t been able to afford to skydive for ten years and I’m not being asked to pay for his medical bills, I’m being asked to pay for all those jumps and gear he bought instead.

That is the embodiment of “moral hazard” and “tragedy of the commons.” Break myself? Someone else will fix me.


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Or do they just not give a fuck about anybody except themselves, and maybe their own kids



It may seem odd to you, but I actually DO care about my own kids more than I care about anybody else’s. That’s why I DO keep my kids insured and why I DO participate in healthcare for them and in activities for them and help with homework. Anybody who indicates that it’s wrong for me to love my kids and try to care for other kids as much as my own can go fuck himself.

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It's perverse that the only "national health care system" in the US is restricted to the retired, so money is taken from working people to pay for health care for the retired/elderly.



Agreed. Government created this perverse system and wants to expand it to make me pay more for my health care so that the unhealthy can pay less.


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even if the money were to be deflected from military spending I doubt it would be spent on health care access.



Sure it would. Take away military funding and you still have Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security on top of the federal spending. Two of the three are medical programs.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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Actually I think it is a good idea
We need 10 more of them

I thank Obama

He just needs to take credit for it
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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There’s reason for that. Not just the local economies around the bases but also there’s the consideration of what to do with them. The El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was closed in 1999. As far as I know they haven’t done anything with it, much because of the substantial costs of remediation. It’s 4,500 acres of prime Orange County real estate and still being cleaned up with 5 runways with yellow x’s on them.



I guess Illinois is just more efficient than CA at converting old bases: Glenview NAS closed 1995, now it's a thriving prosperous residential community. Fort Sheridan closed 1993, now it's a thriving residential community.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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Nobody said he is stupid

but he has gotten more help from the media than any president I know of

Including Clinton

BTW
Polls today are used to make news
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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You mean the US media 100% owned by capitalists, right? Yep, your claim makes sense:D
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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I guess Illinois is just more efficient than CA at converting old bases



I think any place would be more efficient. We don't have the political machines here. Nobody to say, "I've got this closed base and it’s fucking golden, and, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there"


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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The attached pic puts the sequestration into perspective. It pretty much changes nothing.



Yes

It just decreased the increase

The AUTOMATIC increase
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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> And a one party system isn't very good for the US

I think there are many here that would disagree.

If the Dem's controlled all (3) branches of the Government Vs the Rep's would we see a more prosperous, enlightened America. Who has the better ideas?

What would America look like if all the conservatives just packed up and went home and left our country in the hands of the well educated, enlightened, compassionate, concerned, inclusive, tolerant and liberated liberal minded men and women?

It would be interesting to hear that discussion.

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>What would America look like if all the conservatives just packed up and went home and left our country in the hands of the well educated, enlightened, compassionate, concerned, inclusive, tolerant and liberated liberal minded men and women?



Sweden?

;)

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>What would America look like if all the conservatives just packed up and went home and left our country in the hands of the well educated, enlightened, compassionate, concerned, inclusive, tolerant and liberated liberal minded men and women?



Sweden?

;)


Sweden? Never been to Sweden...is it a place of true enlightenment, bless, and free stuff?

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>If the Dem's controlled all (3) branches of the Government Vs the Rep's would we see
>a more prosperous, enlightened America. Who has the better ideas?

We'd see a government with even fewer checks on its power than we have now.

Individually, both democratic and republican politicians generally try to do the right thing. Together they tend to screw things up. Put nothing but republicans (or democrats) in power and they'd screw things up all the faster.

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>What would America look like if all the conservatives just packed up and went home and left our country in the hands of the well educated, enlightened, compassionate, concerned, inclusive, tolerant and liberated liberal minded men and women?



Sweden?

;)


You want to compare Sweden, a nation with a population of less than 10 million people to the USA with a population well into 320 million (possibly as high as 350 million thanks to all the illegals), half of whom pay no federal income tax? ROFLMAO ... thanks for the laugh. The culture of entitlements knows no limits.


Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

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What would America look like if all the conservatives just packed up and went home and left our country in the hands of the well educated, enlightened, compassionate, concerned, inclusive, tolerant and liberated liberal minded men and women?



It already is. That's the problem.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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>What would America look like if all the conservatives just packed up and went home and left our country in the hands of the well educated, enlightened, compassionate, concerned, inclusive, tolerant and liberated liberal minded men and women?



Sweden?

;)


You want to compare Sweden, a nation with a population of less than 10 million people to the USA with a population well into 320 million (possibly as high as 350 million thanks to all the illegals), half of whom pay no federal income tax? ROFLMAO ... thanks for the laugh. The culture of entitlements knows no limits.


I guess listening to the counsel of my peers to use ;) as an indication of tongue-in-cheek was a waste of my time after all.

It's time for me to move back to face-time, methinks. Thank you.

John

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