If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
I'm living in Canada now, but I keep tabs on American news, and of course I have many American Facebook friends that post political stuff. So, of course I'm aware that Ted Cruz is running for president. I'm not a fan, but even if I was, we are 20 months away from the goddamn election, I'm not ready for another election season.
In Canada and the UK there are rules about when campaigns can start. Would you be in favor of similar rules in the US? While this might seem like an infringement upon Freedomâ„¢, can we agree that our government hasn't accomplished enough for us to devote limited political and media resources to stupid crap like stuff Ted Cruz's father did and his eligibility? Can we agree that it is depressing how much money is spent on getting us to pull one lever instead of the other on election day?
I'm also in favor of campaign finance laws, but maybe limiting campaigns to 90 days or something like that would help reign this in.
Suggest candidates must agree to debates. Large party candidates (Reps/Dems) often refuse to debate with smaller party candidates. To limit voter knowledge, so most of the votes continue to go to the large parties. It's a practical way to reduce our choices.
How about NO CHEERLEADING from the press? Lets get facts out there and look deep into the candidates background.
I think it is silly to just keep waiting for a perfect candidate in a corrupt system and climate. The problem isn't the pieces on the board, it's the game itself.
Suggest candidates must agree to debates. Large party candidates (Reps/Dems) often refuse to debate with smaller party candidates. To limit voter knowledge, so most of the votes continue to go to the large parties. It's a practical way to reduce our choices.
Even if this were changed, and I think it should be, I don't think it will be enough to combat the millions of dollars funneled into running campaigns 20 months in advance of the election.
How about NO CHEERLEADING from the press? Lets get facts out there and look deep into the candidates background.
Sounds good to me.
Originally Posted by reader50
Suggest candidates must agree to debates. Large party candidates (Reps/Dems) often refuse to debate with smaller party candidates. To limit voter knowledge, so most of the votes continue to go to the large parties. It's a practical way to reduce our choices.
Damned right.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
How is Cruz even qualified to be Pres? What aboot the fact that he was born in Canadia land....
His Mom was/is American, which makes him an American by birth.
If you ask me, this whole birth place thing is silly. A citizen at birth or for x years should be enough to make that person eligible. Being physically born in the US doesn't guarantee or mean much of anything. A person could still live many years outside of the country and be eligible, while somebody that was born outside the country and moved back before they were even old to remember being away could be ineligible. What are we trying to accomplish here?
Many Americans seem incredibly legalistic, whether this is extreme reverence to the constitution or issues like this. Is this just an American thing? We need laws, but when something doesn't make sense the law should be changed, not respected for eternity just because it is a law. Evolution.
Also, I expect that this legalistic attitude is often inconsistent, and only important when that person wants to get their way about something.
I think you're pretty much spot on.
Originally Posted by besson3c
Here I am defending Ted Cruz, what is this world coming to? I just hate pedantic bullshit.
While we are all guilty of using technicalities and loopholes to support our own position from time to time, the reason I have come to be so dismissive of the American right is that you rarely see this kind of reasonableness, objectivity or self-awareness from them.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
Some kind of pamphlet sent to every voter with scans of every candidates' birth certificate for a start?
Criminal records, Aliases, Disbarrings, school grades, interviews with those who know the candidates and will tell you whether they are wack jobs, liars, or ass clowns.
While we are all guilty of using technicalities and loopholes to support our own position from time to time, the reason I have come to be so dismissive of the American right is that you rarely see this kind of reasonableness, objectivity or self-awareness from them.
That's because the Left is generally so dismissive and will simply ignore those who disagree with their positions (no, I'm not talking about anyone around here specifically). While the Right does tend to rant, at least they're still talking, a common trend of late with the Left is to simply block/silence the people they are at odds with. It's tough to reach a point of objectivity when the argument is stymied before it can fully develop.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
While we are all guilty of using technicalities and loopholes to support our own position from time to time, the reason I have come to be so dismissive of the American right is that you rarely see this kind of reasonableness, objectivity or self-awareness from them.
So, basically you see things through your 'liberal filter' where you are assuming you know the facts better than others?
That's because the Left is generally so dismissive and will simply ignore those who disagree with their positions (no, I'm not talking about anyone around here specifically). While the Right does tend to rant, at least they're still talking, a common trend of late with the Left is to simply block/silence the people they are at odds with. It's tough to reach a point of objectivity when the argument is stymied before it can fully develop.
You might be right technically but while they are still talking, they mostly just parrot the same old tired arguments and soundbites that have been spoon-fed to them by their news-entertainment source of choice.
Its not like the left have many options open to them. The bottom line is that the left compromises all the time, the right just throws tantrums and sticks its head in the sand until it gets its way. What else can you do with something that cannot be reasoned with but dismiss, ignore and work around it?
I guarantee you that the left would hold their own representatives to much higher standards if they didn't always have much more worthwhile targets to go after from the right.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
I know too much about how media works (TV, Radio, and the net) and actually LISTEN to the opinions stated as facts, lies and such. Advertising is just propaganda as far as mechanics.
The bottom line is that the left compromises all the time,
Not that I've noticed, at least not here in the States. As much as I blast the UN for being ineffectual in their actions, at least they try their best to keep lines of communication open, which is laudable.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
I know too much about how media works (TV, Radio, and the net) and actually LISTEN to the opinions stated as facts, lies and such. Advertising is just propaganda as far as mechanics.
Yep. Modern news media is nothing more than a 2 channel propaganda generator.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
... we are 20 months away from the goddamn election, I'm not ready for another election season.
The nominating primaries start in January. That a little over 8 months away.
In Canada and the UK there are rules about when campaigns can start.
How about when they stop? Obama has been in campaign mode since 2007. The campaign for 2020 will start November 9th 2016.
Cruz cosponsored a Fair Tax bill in 2013. (There is a 2015 HB 25, no Senate Bill as of yet for 2015) That should endear him the Paul wing of the party.
I know too much about how media works (TV, Radio, and the net) and actually LISTEN to the opinions stated as facts, lies and such. Advertising is just propaganda as far as mechanics.
I think you are barking up the wrong tree.
Tell me, is global warming and man contributing to it a fact or myth? This isn't an issue that gets too much media attention, but many would say that there is a consensus in the scientific community as to what the facts are.
Why would your archetype Republican that has spent type researching this info say that is a myth, and your archetype Democrat the opposite?
We seem pretty heavy into election talk now, no? Why did Cruz announce? The media has been speculating about Hilary running for months.
Cruz is the lone candidate and he's getting all the air time. Most likely he wants to get out there and define himself before the press can. Since he's Cuban, does criticizing him make you anti Latino and racist?
Hilary is the media's choice at this time. We'll see if the Epstein case gains any traction. This the same idiot that HRH Prince Andrew is getting flak for hanging with. Epstein has donated money to the Clinton Foundation.
Exactly how tight is the friendship between former President and potential future first gentleman Bill Clinton and Mr. Epstein, who owns a private island in Florida and is now accused of having sex with girls as young as 12 and procuring young girls for sex with other friends of his? What was Bill Clinton doing on the island with Mr. Epstein on multiple occasions and why did he fly overseas on Mr. Epstein’s plane at least 10 times?
Exactly how tight is the friendship between former President and potential future first gentleman Bill Clinton and Mr. Epstein, who owns a private island in Florida and is now accused of having sex with girls as young as 12 and procuring young girls for sex with other friends of his? What was Bill Clinton doing on the island with Mr. Epstein on multiple occasions and why did he fly overseas on Mr. Epstein’s plane at least 10 times?
Anyone else remember the episode of South Park where Cartman starts his own Fox-style school news network and keeps asking unfounded questions?
Why is the Left-Wing Media Machine pretending that anyone who asks questions about the Epstein-Clinton connection is a paid stooge of the Right-Wing Media Machine?
As a rule anything that uses the term "Left-Wing Media Machine" IS a paid stooge of the Right-Wing Media Machine. Or a consumer of it.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
Cruz is the lone candidate and he's getting all the air time. Most likely he wants to get out there and define himself before the press can. Since he's Cuban, does criticizing him make you anti Latino and racist?
Hilary is the media's choice at this time. We'll see if the Epstein case gains any traction. This the same idiot that HRH Prince Andrew is getting flak for hanging with. Epstein has donated money to the Clinton Foundation.
This could be why Billary will be unwilling to turn over that email server. There could be emails from "Orgy Island"
I guess until we stop lapping up this infotainment up, it is going to be sold to us. At this rate we'll eventually be in a constant election. I mean various candidates campaigning professionally, non-stop.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
April 12, 2015 7:09 p.m. ET
Millions of people have gained health coverage through Medicaid since states began expanding the program under the Affordable Care Act. That also means more Americans may find themselves caught in a little-known law that lets states go after their assets after they die.
In 1993, Congress mandated that states recover costs for certain Medicaid services after the recipient dies. For recipients 55 or older, that includes long-term services such as nursing-home care. But the federal law also gives states the option to recover costs for almost all other Medicaid services provided.
Just a reminder, in 1993 Billary was Co-POTUS and the Dems controlled both houses.
Rand Paul hit on a riff on Hillary's "3am phone call" ad. Benghazi was her 3am call and she didn't answer.
Since RFRA laws are in the news, we need to find out if Hillary will campaign to repeal the law they signed in 1993.
Why do I seem to be among a small minority who aren't stoked about more politics superbowl matches? It just seems like a complete and utter waste of time, yet it seems apparent that a good part of America still laps this up, thinking that if they just elect more Rs or Ds things will get better.
Assumptions. You left out the word "Qualified". I'm sick of the D's putting a label out there, like WOMAN, BLACK, etc instead of someone with proven workable ideas and solutions to our problems and the mental awareness to work on serious issues, not pop culture BS that attracts the low IQ voters.
I agree, the country is ready for a female president, has been for a while, but that doesn't mean it must be Hillary. They made such a huge deal about Obama, how we needed a black president, and it didn't matter if as an individual he was qualified or not. Look where that landed us.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
Assumptions. You left out the word "Qualified". I'm sick of the D's putting a label out there, like WOMAN, BLACK, etc instead of someone with proven workable ideas and solutions to our problems and the mental awareness to work on serious issues, not pop culture BS that attracts the low IQ voters.
We're ready for a Latino POTUS and anyone who says otherwise is racist.
Hey, If Elizabeth Warren can claim she's native, why can't Jeb call himself Latino? His wife and kids are and he speaks fluent Spanish Can Warren speak the langauge of the tribe she claims she is from?
All of Hillary's trip was staged. Her handlers are careful that she doesn't actually GET QUESTIONS. She did badly on her hideous book tour, where the more she blathered, the more the people disliked her. Of course the press is treating her like royalty, while she and her staff treat the press badly like confiscating cell phones and cameras. So she is afraid of being seen without a "Hillary Filter" which photoshops her wrinkles, and an audio Hillary filter that keeps you from actually hearing her words. Compare that to how the rest of the candidates are being covered.