should be mentioned that obama has proposed defense cuts, not sure who the last candidate was to pull that out of their hat
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 19:58 (eleven years ago) link
though if the mekons kept claiming they were going to retire from the game and crawled back to the clubs every so many months i'd be pretty embarrassed for them
― da croupier, Saturday, September 8, 2012 7:55 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
<3
― Mr. Que, Saturday, 8 September 2012 19:59 (eleven years ago) link
give me hope that one can age without turning into a kneejerk crank
croup, next time, "walk on by."
stick with your optics, kids, and no crocodile tears later on.
Glad you're in love again, Que.
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:00 (eleven years ago) link
leave me the fuck alone dude
― Mr. Que, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:00 (eleven years ago) link
looooooooooooooooooooooooooool
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:02 (eleven years ago) link
lol me the fuck alone dude
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:04 (eleven years ago) link
Morbs, did you really bring up the Mekons
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:10 (eleven years ago) link
I think imagining a Romney presidency is basically, take whatever issue, and imagine how it would be approached from a purely "Make as much profit as possible" perspective.
pretty sure he won't approach tax revenue from this perspective
― iatee, Saturday, September 8, 2012 2:46 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
or defense spending
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, September 8, 2012 2:47 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Profit is not a concept in his or his party's vision of the government of America. Defense and taxes are the two main things Republicans have repeatedly stated are OFF THE TABLE in any approach towards debt reduction. Besides, there is a LOT of corporate profit to be made selling of the military to the highest bidder, and plenty of opportunity for very legal manipulation of the markets in order to help his friends. Obama has problems making friends, we are told. What kind of friends would he have if he were a corporate plunderer rather than a community organizer?
Every Republican has pledged to drown the government in a bathtub, and though Romney may be a flip-flopper, I don't see why he would jeopardize a position of global power to vote against this mindset.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:25 (eleven years ago) link
romney will sign whatever a republican congress sends to him, obama will not, just to mention one completely obvious distinction
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:28 (eleven years ago) link
not that necessarily there will be a republican congress
even if the only difference between them was whether or not to repeal obamacare thatd be enough
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:29 (eleven years ago) link
yup
― iatee, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:29 (eleven years ago) link
Obama may have hired the same financial idiots who ruined things in '08, but if Romney was in that position, would you really expect him to pick anyone less corrupt? Maybe having the same crooks in charge kept them under the gun, a bit more in the public spotlight.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:31 (eleven years ago) link
I'm going to stfu before i go further in apologist mode, but damn the Republicans are doing a great job campaigning for Obama.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:34 (eleven years ago) link
thats not a wholly accurate description of obama financial team fwiw
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:34 (eleven years ago) link
i mean im not sure how you blame academics for the financial collapse, im sure you could if you tried hard enough, but thats casting a p wide net
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:35 (eleven years ago) link
always confused w/ who adam bruneau is arguing w/
― iatee, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:35 (eleven years ago) link
While politicians may be an unsavory lot on the whole, and while it may be true that any electable person who makes it to the Oval Office is likely to do some odious nonsense, I'm in no way prepared to support the notion that they're all just interchangeable sacks of shit and that it doesn't matter one way or another who you vote for because whoever's in charge is just as bad as the other guy who coulda been in charge, maaaaaan. If Bush II's presidency isn't the clearest sign that one person in particular can do more catastrophic damage in that office than another, I dunno what it could possibly take to convince you.
― This Whole Fridge Is Full Of (Old Lunch), Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:52 (eleven years ago) link
ftr, i'm not saying it's likely romney will govern the same as obama. i'm just saying that i can imagine a variety of scenarios where it's not significantly different. mind u, this assumes that romney will not feel beholden to his party and will govern differently than he has claimed he will. but that's not impossible being as how romney is an enormous liar. (and didn't govern like a tea partier in MA.)
Ho-lee shit. Was Mordy visited by an angel?
for sure the strangest thing about our conversations on ilx morbz is that despite having argued about political issues like a million times on here you still seem to have no clue about what i believe beyond your conviction that i'm the strawman obama groupie you think everyone on ilx is.
― Mordy, Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:56 (eleven years ago) link
Mainly Geithner, Summers, and Bernanke.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:27 (eleven years ago) link
Continuity for the markets.
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:32 (eleven years ago) link
bernanke has been horrible but he wasnt much of a player as far as ruining things in 08, giether and summers for sure have blood on their hands, tho its not like either of them was out there creating collateralized debt obligations or managing aig or w/e
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:48 (eleven years ago) link
Summers's role in the deregulation of derivatives contractsOn May 7, 1998, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a Concept Release soliciting input from regulators, academics, and practitioners to determine "how best to maintain adequate regulatory safeguards without impairing the ability of the OTC (Over-the-counter) derivatives market to grow and the ability of U.S. entities to remain competitive in the global financial marketplace." On July 30, 1998, then-Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Summers testified before the U.S. Congress that "the parties to these kinds of contract are largely sophisticated financial institutions that would appear to be eminently capable of protecting themselves from fraud and counterparty insolvencies." Summers, like Greenspan and Rubin who also opposed the concept release, offered no proof that the contracts would not be misused by financial institutions. Instead, Summers stated that "to date there has been no clear evidence of a need for additional regulation of the institutional OTC derivatives market, and we would submit that proponents of such regulation must bear the burden of demonstrating that need." In 1999 Summers endorsed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which removed the separation between investment and commercial banks, saying "With this bill, the American financial system takes a major step forward towards the 21st Century."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers#Summers.27s_role_in_the_deregulation_of_derivatives_contracts
On May 7, 1998, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a Concept Release soliciting input from regulators, academics, and practitioners to determine "how best to maintain adequate regulatory safeguards without impairing the ability of the OTC (Over-the-counter) derivatives market to grow and the ability of U.S. entities to remain competitive in the global financial marketplace." On July 30, 1998, then-Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Summers testified before the U.S. Congress that "the parties to these kinds of contract are largely sophisticated financial institutions that would appear to be eminently capable of protecting themselves from fraud and counterparty insolvencies." Summers, like Greenspan and Rubin who also opposed the concept release, offered no proof that the contracts would not be misused by financial institutions. Instead, Summers stated that "to date there has been no clear evidence of a need for additional regulation of the institutional OTC derivatives market, and we would submit that proponents of such regulation must bear the burden of demonstrating that need." In 1999 Summers endorsed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which removed the separation between investment and commercial banks, saying "With this bill, the American financial system takes a major step forward towards the 21st Century."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers#Summers.27s_role_in_the_deregulation_of_derivatives_contracts
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:51 (eleven years ago) link
giether and summers for sure have blood on their hands
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:58 (eleven years ago) link
romney is dumb, weird part one million http://presspass.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/08/13750865-romney-clinton-helped-elevate-democratic-convention
― lag∞n, Saturday, 8 September 2012 22:07 (eleven years ago) link
I don't get this. What's the upside to the Clinton love-fest for the Republicans? Clinton's still ya know alive and currently campaigning for Obama...
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Sunday, 9 September 2012 00:55 (eleven years ago) link
they can't help themselves
― Mordy, Sunday, 9 September 2012 00:55 (eleven years ago) link
romney praising a speech in which the guy said he was going to do horrible things to special needs children
It's going to end Medicare as we know it. And a lot of that money is also spent to help people with disabilities, including a lot of middle-class families whose kids have Down's syndrome or autism or other severe conditions.
And, honestly, just think about it. If that happens, I don't know what those families are going to do. So I know what I'm going to do: I'm going to do everything I can to see that it doesn't happen. We can't let it happen. We can't.
― lag∞n, Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:01 (eleven years ago) link
lots of elected dems started praising reagan 10-15 years after he left officethink its diminish your opponent by talking about how the other side used to have heavy hitters back in the day, now they have this chump
― buzza, Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:06 (eleven years ago) link
They also can't really run on "all Dems are bad" when the last really good times the country had were presided over by Clinton. By accepting that he was good, they aren't drawing themselves as complete opposites to someone generally agreed to have been successful, at least for the economy and thus for the average punter.
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:12 (eleven years ago) link
but he srsly gave props to a speech which basically laid out the case for why he is a horrible person
― lag∞n, Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:14 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah that's pretty stupid.
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:14 (eleven years ago) link
He's basically not very good at executing the ideas.
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:15 (eleven years ago) link
you still seem to have no clue about what i believe beyond your conviction that i'm the strawman obama groupie you think everyone on ilx is― Mordy, Saturday, September 8, 2012 4:56 PM (4 hours ago)
Hear, hear. Having been caricatured on here as a gossipy political horserace junkie, even though I seem to pay attention to the same things most everyone else does (and conceding that there's some truth in that, as there is in most caricatures), I know what a drag that can be.
― clemenza, Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:16 (eleven years ago) link
Romney joined Republican Virginia Senate candidate George Allen in serving hotdogs to fans under a tent at the Richmond International Raceway, and hundreds passed through asking for autographs and offering Romney words of support.
Romney struggled to connect with blue-collar fans of NASCAR at the Daytona 500 event in February when he said he had "some friends who are NASCAR team owners."
The comment opened the former private equity executive to criticism that he was out of touch with ordinary voters.
On Saturday, a driving rain delayed the Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and sent most of the fans running for cover.
When asked who his favorite driver was, Romney responded: "There's a lot of drivers I like."
― if markers existed (buzza), Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:20 (eleven years ago) link
i think republicans think they're doing some sneaky 'divide and conquer' thing by talking about how much better Clinton clearly is than Obama as if, y'know, Clinton was capable of running again or as if him being on the outs with Obama again would effect anything
― manic pixie, mercy, yo chick she's so quirky (some dude), Sunday, 9 September 2012 01:30 (eleven years ago) link
Ryan's slash and burn views on Medicare & will scare enough senior citizens to secure a win for Obama in FLA & the possibility of R/R picking up enough other swing states to compensate for that is highly unlikely.
― Broney, Pt. 1 (Pillbox), Sunday, 9 September 2012 03:17 (eleven years ago) link
er Medicare & Social Security
― Broney, Pt. 1 (Pillbox), Sunday, 9 September 2012 03:18 (eleven years ago) link
Lol at NASCAR anecdote
― Raymond Cummings, Sunday, 9 September 2012 04:20 (eleven years ago) link
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/sept-8-conventions-may-put-obama-in-front-runners-position/
― Mordy, Sunday, 9 September 2012 04:38 (eleven years ago) link
Mittens has to be sweating at this point. Countdown til some ill-starred "shakeup" of his campaign team/strategy...
― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 9 September 2012 04:43 (eleven years ago) link
fwiw clemenza, i find your horserace junkiedom endearing and only settled on those particular adjectives to describe u bc iirc u used them to describe yourself first
― Mordy, Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
Fair enough. I do have a habit of trying to preempt potential criticsm by levelling it at myself first.
― clemenza, Sunday, 9 September 2012 18:58 (eleven years ago) link
you are canadian after all
― lag∞n, Sunday, 9 September 2012 20:57 (eleven years ago) link
and a teacher
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 9 September 2012 21:00 (eleven years ago) link
Obama up to 80.7% this morning on 538.
― Mordy, Monday, 10 September 2012 13:02 (eleven years ago) link
haha okay now that seems ridiculous to me
― DARING PRINCESS (DJP), Monday, 10 September 2012 13:21 (eleven years ago) link
That's his "chance of winning," not his polling, note.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 10 September 2012 13:39 (eleven years ago) link
His polling is at 237.8%
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 10 September 2012 13:44 (eleven years ago) link
I know it's his chance of winning, I just remain semi-skeptical that he's overcoming the kneejerk racist backlash by THAT wide a margin
like, mid-70s I could be more confident in
― DARING PRINCESS (DJP), Monday, 10 September 2012 13:51 (eleven years ago) link