Thread: Looks like Drumpf and the Mirror of Erised are winning Super Tuesday

Originally Posted by salty99

There's plenty of valid reasons to vote for Bernie. Just because his vision for America includes free college and other massive things that likely will never happen doesn't mean he can't still do a lot of good fixing our crumbling infrastructure, corrupt campaign finance system, providing better care for our vets, and limiting wall street corruption to a lesser degree. Those alone are bi-partisan issues than any candidate, rep or dem should be committed to - and Bernie is the only one talking about it.

People act like democratic socialism is this new thing that has no place in USA - like we don't already have social programs that we all already pay taxes for everyone to get access to. Social security, Medicare, public education, and everything else the government provides or funds are social programs paid for with tax payer money. Nothing new, Bernie just recognizes that everything the government offers sucks ass at providing it and needs to be improved.

As a former marine, your benefits you were/are entitled to didn't just magically appear because because the government said so. Those are programs paid into by tax dollars and Bernie's desire to see vets treated and cared for properly is something I thought more vets would be on board with, regardless of political leanings.

Don't get me wrong, I get why strong conservatives don't like him and there's a decent amount of his views I take issue with too - there are leeches on the system who abuse it that should be working and paying back into the system - I am a working, tax-paying, white, american, registered republican too and am right-leaning on a lot of issues. But let's not for a second pretend like the almost 50,000 homeless vets in the US according to the 2014 census aren't a symptom of the same issues that also produce the other Lifetime welfare recipients who could be working also. The government puts their money where their mouth is when push comes to shove and it's time to get hard when we go to war, but we're failing to recognize how difficult it is to keep things good back home when our boys and girls get back. Bernie says we need to take better care of vets and I agree. Bernie says super-PACs are undermining the electoral process and I agree. Bernie says our citizens deserve access to quality health care regardless of income and I agree. These aren't new ideas and they are crucial ones at that.

If a dem wins I'd much rather have Sanders in office than Hillary. Plenty of reasons to vote Bernie

Nope not a single valid reason. Hes a piece of shit and always has been. He doesn't have an answer much less the answers we need. Im not sayingg trump is the fucking man by any stretch but bernie is a joke and not a good one.

I have very little pity for homeless vets. There are plenty of options out there for them to get help for what ails them. Its just not the va which at this point i wouldn't let them lick the sweat off my balls. I will however cash the check i get from my lawsuit against them. The homeless are homeless by choice at this point. I know one here that i use for work every once in a while. He likes living in the woods, he likes having no taxes, he likes having no bills, and he likes that everyone leaves him alone. So do me a favor and dont wave the flag so hard. The truth is not everyone will want help, not everyone can be fixed, and some people are just mentally weaker then others.

Citizens deserve access to quality healthcare regardless of income? They already have it. They go to the same hospitals and get treatment as those that pay their bills. The only difference is low income default on their bill because hospitals can not refuse to treat someone. Thats against federal law for them to do.

Bernie is smoke and mirrors. Bernie is just to stupid to know he's stupid. He is the model for Dunning -Kruger effect. To finish off yes my wife reminds me every once in a while im a dick.

I'll be sure to read up on "DeathGod's Alminac of Valid Arguments" before posting again. If "being a piece of shit" is all that's necessary to invalidate a candidate's platform than I'd say there's no valid reason to vote for any candidate - as being a piece of shit seems almost an exclusive trait in candidates these days.

I agree that not everyone can be fixed and that some people do it because they want it; but that's a pretty huge umbrella you're casting over a large population of varying circumstances. I've had friends who became homeless because that was what life dealt them and they had to claw their way out of it; and I've had other friends who were homeless because they are idiots who made dumb choices. Not all homeless are cut from the same material.

One of my buddies who has Lupus AND M.S. (talk about getting dealt a band hand) qualifies for just enough federal medical care that she can get her meds covered, but only on the grounds that she works only part time. Part time isn't enough to live on, and getting a second job or a full-time job means she would no longer qualify for her current coverage meaning she'd lose her meds. Being forced to choose between meds and a roof is a decision I wouldn't wish upon anyone. And just like your buddy doesn't represent all of the homeless, am not saying mine does either - but healthcare reform is definitely a growing heap of trash on top of an already cruddy system. It works for most people and people get by - but with our GDP and the infrastructure we have, there's no reason our national standard of living should be getting outclassed by all these other countries.

I'm not flag waving and I'm certainly not pining for a free lunch and a get out of jail free card like many of Bernie's supporters; I'm not getting my boy-scout badge for helping the homeless either - but there's a lot of people at the bottom that life dealt a shitty hand that time after time get the ass-end of the deal. Health-care reform and increased funding to public education are 2 things that would drastically raise our national standard of living - but we need a government that makes that a priority. My University's latest reports claim that they return $16 to the state economy for every $1 invested from the state; in spite of this Doug Ducey continues to slash hundreds of millions in state funding of public education, all the while charading around like he's helping our state economy. The new 3.5billion dollar deal being voted on could change things, but I have my doubts.

Science foundation Ireland is a prime example of the wonders that increased federal education funding can do to a nation's economy and standard of living in a decade. Granted their economy and size varies drastically from that of the US but the take-away is the same. Increased funding to public education and incorporating vocational skills as a mandatory part of k-12 with an increased focus on STEM curriculum. I'm constantly embarrassed among my peers that are continually outclassed by my Saudi and Indian classmates who are better at math and science than most of the American students.

If the GOP could stop shitting the bed and put forth a charismatic republican who believes in education and isn't insane, I'd be sold in a heart-beat. For now it looks like Rubio's the closest we'll get from an establishment candidate; I'd qualify Kasich but he's not charismatic enough.

Originally Posted by deathgodusmc

To finish off yes my wife reminds me every once in a while im a dick.

You wouldn't be the same DG we all know and love if you weren't

For the record, I don't think colleges should be tuition free, but federal funding for education funds research and better professors which gets people better jobs, increases the quality of the domestic workforce, further developing our military and civic assets with higher quality tech spurs all kinds of economic progress. College isn't for everyone, nor should it be - but keeping it a priority, promoting vocational skills in k-12, and slowing the rate that education budget cuts happen is a topic candidates never talk about.

Apply for Canadian visas here; Visa Application Forms | Canada Immigration Visa & Travel , cause like it or not I think Trump has a pretty solid chance as the next POTUS. Myself and many thousands of other Americans are fed up with the same ole bullshit and if Trump as Pres can shake any of that up it's a positive in my book and if not noting lost, I'll return to my rock and shoot the first person that lifts it.

Here's an endorsement the Cruz fans can get BEHIND literally.

Regardless of the outcome, Canada will be glad to have you guys for a sleepover. Just make sure Cruz doesn't sneak back in with you, he's creepy as fuck and we are glad he left.

Nothing is free.

In fact, when Uncle Sam gets involved it will only become MUCH more expensive. Instead of paying off their own college debt in a few years (or even decades), we will ALL be paying off everyone elses college debt for the rest of our lives. At some point....Bernie will run out of everyone elses money.

Why not just extend High School by 4 years? Bascically, that is what we would be doing. If you think a 4 year General degree is useless now....wait until everyone has one.Today's "college debt" will just be tomorrows "graduate school debt".

As for voting for Bernie......The ONLY reason to vote for him is if he were the only one running. I can't see myself voting for him or Shrillery under any circumstances. Neither the crook or the commie will get my vote.

As for Canada.....just keep pumping the oil South, and nobody gets hurt. As soon as you Canuks run out of oil, you can expect Celine and the Biebs back....it will be our revenge. But...as always....we have room for Rush (The Trinity) down here.

Originally Posted by salty99

I'll be sure to read up on "DeathGod's Alminac of Valid Arguments" before posting again. If "being a piece of shit" is all that's necessary to invalidate a candidate's platform than I'd say there's no valid reason to vote for any candidate - as being a piece of shit seems almost an exclusive trait in candidates these days.

I agree that not everyone can be fixed and that some people do it because they want it; but that's a pretty huge umbrella you're casting over a large population of varying circumstances. I've had friends who became homeless because that was what life dealt them and they had to claw their way out of it; and I've had other friends who were homeless because they are idiots who made dumb choices. Not all homeless are cut from the same material.

One of my buddies who has Lupus AND M.S. (talk about getting dealt a band hand) qualifies for just enough federal medical care that she can get her meds covered, but only on the grounds that she works only part time. Part time isn't enough to live on, and getting a second job or a full-time job means she would no longer qualify for her current coverage meaning she'd lose her meds. Being forced to choose between meds and a roof is a decision I wouldn't wish upon anyone. And just like your buddy doesn't represent all of the homeless, am not saying mine does either - but healthcare reform is definitely a growing heap of trash on top of an already cruddy system. It works for most people and people get by - but with our GDP and the infrastructure we have, there's no reason our national standard of living should be getting outclassed by all these other countries.

I'm not flag waving and I'm certainly not pining for a free lunch and a get out of jail free card like many of Bernie's supporters; I'm not getting my boy-scout badge for helping the homeless either - but there's a lot of people at the bottom that life dealt a shitty hand that time after time get the ass-end of the deal. Health-care reform and increased funding to public education are 2 things that would drastically raise our national standard of living - but we need a government that makes that a priority. My University's latest reports claim that they return $16 to the state economy for every $1 invested from the state; in spite of this Doug Ducey continues to slash hundreds of millions in state funding of public education, all the while charading around like he's helping our state economy. The new 3.5billion dollar deal being voted on could change things, but I have my doubts.

Science foundation Ireland is a prime example of the wonders that increased federal education funding can do to a nation's economy and standard of living in a decade. Granted their economy and size varies drastically from that of the US but the take-away is the same. Increased funding to public education and incorporating vocational skills as a mandatory part of k-12 with an increased focus on STEM curriculum. I'm constantly embarrassed among my peers that are continually outclassed by my Saudi and Indian classmates who are better at math and science than most of the American students.

If the GOP could stop shitting the bed and put forth a charismatic republican who believes in education and isn't insane, I'd be sold in a heart-beat. For now it looks like Rubio's the closest we'll get from an establishment candidate; I'd qualify Kasich but he's not charismatic enough.

They estimate there are 610 thousand homeless in the US. In a land of 319 million people that means we have less then .2% homeless. That umbrella doesn't have to be very big to cover that percentage. If we want to make it just about homeless vets its .0156%. Im not saying we should strive for more homeless. Just that we spend millions and millions every year on just homeless. If they wanted help its already there.

To make it my stance even worse is i was dollars from being homeless. I didn't ask for help, i didn't look for a hand out, i dug deep and fixed the problem. I buried my ego and took that shit job as a step up until i could take the next step. So i will never have sympathy for someone that is homeless. Also i will never do land scapeing work again and a shovel can kiss my ass.

Last thing i will ever do is feel bad for someone thats barely making it on disability. My leg is FUCKED up. Not 1 disability check have i claimed. I went into a job where i could work all day instead of looking for someone to take it easy on me. I cant walk all day, so i fucking took a job where i can crawl around. A situation or a disability has not and never will be the determining factor in whether or not someone will succeed in life. The only thing that can do that is the mind of the person. If you want to fail or want people to pity you your damn right you will fail. Thats not societies fault, its your own for being to pussy to grab life by the balls and take whats yours.

My knowledge base on rules for working with government disability is limited. That being said once you are collecting disability if i am not mistaken the hours you work have to be reported but the check is based off what you earned minus like 100 bucks that they dont count. Then they divide whats left and you get like half. So instead of making 1250 on disability you can make 1500 working and still pull like 400 from disability. Thats 1900 instead of 1250. Like i said though my knowledge on this part could be sketchy.

People can sit around and bitch about the hand they were dealt but life is far more like poker. You work and discard the shitty cards for a better hand. We can't litigate everyone to a better life. In order to appreciate what you have you have to work for it. Same reason spoiled rich kids have problems. They didn't earn shit so they dont respect shit.

I dont think anyone would disagree that healthcare has needed work for a long time. Obamacare wasn't even close to a fix. In fact it made it worse. We all know what the problem is, everything costs to damn much. Its not rocket science.

Really what would increased funding do for ggrade schools? Give them more computers to work with? Maybe newer books? A few more teachers? None of those were the problem when we were all in school and they aren't the real problem now. Most kids fuck around in grade school. They always have because there is no real cost associated with it and there is no real reward associated with it. Instead they hear all that comes with college and now people want to make that free. I personally find that amusing as shit.

All the free college in the world wont fix this countries real work issue. We dont produce anymore. We assemble when we bother to do that part. We have next to no tradesmen anymore. Last thing we need is everyone having degrees in business so they can make sure to take the fries out of the grease on time.

As for your last statement on politics i wrote this yesterday.

I was just thinking about how we could fix our political issues when i discovered its impossible at this time. I liked star wars and deadpool as much as the next guy but there's an issue in our thought process. While we do need to be entertained every once in a while we pay actors millions to do a movie. We'll pay athletes millions to play a sport. In the mean time the average scientist makes 76k, the average doctor makes 189k base pay, the average teacher makes 53k, police 52k, military 29k. So seeing the disparity between jobs that actually matter and those that really do nothing for a society I have to ask myself few questions. What did we really expect to see happen? Its a low 6 figure job that magically pays millions every year. And why would we expect anything different then being entertained by those that went for a job making that kind of money? No one that would take the job seriously would ever get elected, they didn't have the showmanship to get it. So we cant blame politicians for what they do, we have to blame ourselves for needing to be entertained by the process.

Epic “Ranger Level” wall of text in 3… 2… 1…

This year is an especially poor election year. Virtually every candidate has demonstrably glaring weaknesses, and only a few redeeming qualities worth voting for. Trump is perhaps the biggest elephant in the room. His popularity is essentially due to a large portion of the Republican base voting with their middle finger. Anger at the establishment. Anger at Democrats. Just simple anger. The only thing that lets me sleep at night is knowing that 8 months ago, Trump was a tried and true Liberal. He isn’t a Republican who flew off the handle. He’s a Liberal who has duped millions of Conservatives into thinking he’s one of them. In classic salesman fashion, he’s selling them a brand of Kool-Aid, and they are saddling up to the bar and drinking it by the gallon. Which doesn’t speak very highly of a large portion of Conservatives who vote for him.

Image what Obama could have done in office if he’d changed his party affiliation a year before the election, and with a wink and a wry grin, told Liberals, “Watch this”. He’d have passed the ACA with resounding approval from Conservatives, and a muffled snicker from Liberals. That’s what Drumpf is doing. I don’t think Drumpf has the support of Dems. Far from it. But I’m sure there are more than few who are glad Conservatives have to deal with him, rather than they do.

Thing is, Bernie isn’t any better. With a wink and grin, he’s telling the Democrats he’s not Socialist. So as this seems to come up often, a reminder about Socialism. It sounds great. It always sounds great. Take from the rich, give to the poor. The classic “Robin Hood” story, right? Problem is, Robin Hood was a story about robbing the government to give back to the over-taxed. Bernie isn’t seeking to change laws, he’s seeking to fundamentally change how America functions as a government. It would be one thing if he has a radical idea that’s never been done before. But he doesn’t. He’s peddling the same, tired “Let the government have the power to give back to the people” crap that has been proven not to work in Greece, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Ireland, Spain… *gets up to get a drink of water*… Tunisia, Ukraine, Lebanon, El Salvador, Sri Lanka… stop me if you’re seeing a pattern here. Each of these countries embraced Socialism in all it’s various forms; National Socialism, Democratic Socialism, Market Socialism, Utopian Socialismm etc… and is paying for it (or not paying for it). Literally.

So what makes Bernie different? Well… nothing. He’s using the idea of Democracy to push a Socialist agenda. He wants the power to regulate what private industry products are sold, distributed and consumed, to whom, and by whom. That’s Socialism. In a recent interview, his personal feelings are that the rich should pay up to, and including, 90% of their total wealth. He blames the wealthy for virtually every social and economic crisis in America. Even if he were right on half of them, he’s still tapping into the anger and frustration many have over the perception that the rich use old money, to soak up most of the new money. Name one Socialist whose platform didn’t start off with, “The rich are the ones to blame… “

But yet, with the same breath, he’s suggesting that a benevolent government is somehow above the same level of corruption every CEO in America apparently suffers from. So let’s say Bernie wins, and miraculously, every Senator and Congressman, from both sides of the isle, accidentally votes for his plans. He’d have his perfect storm of events and he can correct all the nation’s problems with a stroke of his pen. He influences all the private industry goods and services so all people may benefit from them. Sounds good right? Now what happens when he leaves office? What happens when Drumpf makes another run and wins the Presidency though an equally moronic series of events? Do you trust Drumpf with the same level of control you want Sanders to have now? Democratic Socialism requires authoritarianism to impose it’s system upon the economy. So do you trust every President after Bernie to wield the same power responsibly? I don’t trust Drumpf with the keys to an 85 Ford POS, much less with his finger on the big red “Blow It Up and Start Over” button.

The Presidency should be a talking head, NOT a legislator. It should not even matter which monkey gets the job. We give them more and more power, and with that power they alienate, divide, and destroy our society. Why? It’s not because they are inherently evil. It’s because they are inherently flawed humans, making human mistakes. The Presidency should be immune to the personal ideals of a particular person. It would be like handing the keys of the bus to the one sober guy, while the rest of us party in the back for 4-8 years. Just keep us on the road, and don’t adjust the air conditioning. That’s it.

Now don’t get me wrong, Bernie’s heart is in the right place. But his head isn’t. I fully support many of the ideas about campaign finance reform. I fully support closing tax loopholes. If I had my way, we’d nuke the DNC and RNC and move to one party system, where candidates could be judged as Liberal or Conservative based on issue to issue. That would, however, require a smart voter. And anyone that’s watched Kimmel of Fallon knows what the “man on the street” thinks.

Every issue from healthcare, and education, to immigration and infrastructure can be solved with much less complicated (though still complex) government intrusion. Start with Tax Reform, Tort Reform, Term Limits, and work your way out from there. Our system works better when we allow our private sector the ability to creates thousands of little fiefdom’s, each with it’s own monarch or dictator, rather than creating a single dictator sitting on the Presidential throne influencing everything through fiat. If you don’t want the WORST person you can think of (in my mind that’s Drumpf), then we can’t afford to let the BEST guy have that power either.