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Well, the working poor are still far better off than the jobless poor, as long as they don't become too sick to work. Once you can no longer have a home address, phone, bus fare, you're out. You can't get another job. We got very tough on the jobless poor, and many of the unemployable. The working poor have the same health care that our jobless poor have.
Still, there's an important issue that the media marketed to libs chose to ignore ever since the Clinton admin. Clinton/Gore targeted the poor, giving us 8 yrs of Bush. The poor voted third party or withheld their votes, and the middle class picked Bush. Twice. The poor, and those who get why unrelieved poverty is sinking the US, overwhelmingly voted for Obama in hopes that he could launch a legit discussion about our poverty crisis, which (of course) has only grown. He tried, Dems and libs aren't interested. In the real world, not everyone can work (health, etc.) and there aren't jobs for all who urgently need one. Dems and media libs have spent another 6 years waving the Middle Class Only banner. The 2014 election was the result. If that wasn't enough, they are also working hard to lose 2016 by sweeping VP Joe Biden under the rug, hoping to elect Hillary Clinton, with her long record of support for the right wing agenda. Bill Clinton was the first president to begin dismantling Social Security, targeting the disabled. Hillary Clinton would finish it off.
Reagan had no problem firing air controllers .... why should this be different?
I find it amusing how the RW hates Unions so, yet backs up NYPD Unions over this.
The night of the living Foxmerized voters seems to be a movie without end. They've been brainwashed into thinking the corpse/billionaires need their help via more tax cuts, deregulation, and anti-union privatization. It's one thing for rural Republicans to vote for more economic misery for themselves in order to further enrich the billionaires, that's fine with me, hey tough love, but leave the vast majority.....the citizens who vote for economic progress, out of the damn self injurious Fox madness. I vote to split up the states and fix the Senate problem, anything to restore representative majority rule government!
I believe that liberals would be far more successful if they pointed out that millions of poor working Americans haven’t been getting healthcare, because their corporately sponsored Republican Governors and legislators evidently figured that they could improve their chances of winning in the 2014 elections by DENYING the poor working American citizens in their state their right to vote through enacting state voting-rule changes and absurd “voter ID legislation” AND by refusing to implement Obamacare (including it’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility), so that many of those poor workers in their state would literally DIE before the 2014 elections because they couldn’t get the healthcare they needed in order to stay alive.
You caould have the Majority of votes and still be in the "Minority" as was the case in the 113th Congress. When will Democrats play hardball and really represent the will of the people according to your quoting of the statistics: "44 Democratic Senators and their 2 independent allies received 67.8 million votes over the course of the 2010, 2012, and 2014 elections."
Kend, the reason it takes an hour's pay to buy a coffee maker is because coffee makers are less expensive. Technology always becomes less expensive when technology improves and items are easily mass produced - like flip phones. Wages are not the cause - or it would still cost a weeks pay to buy a coffee maker in your great America where you can flip a switch - or go to another state - and lower everybody's wages.
Kend, socialism would work great if there's a choice. If Democrats hadn't taken out the public option out of the ACA to get insurance industry tool Joe Liebermannn's vote to avoid a Senate filibuster it would be more popular than ANY insurance plan of the private sector and would've run those blood suckers out of the health industry. The Post Office is also better than Fed Ex or UPS.
You make a lot of statements with no foundation in truth.
Kend, your "states rights" argument sounds like the worst feature of our union of states. If you can't own slaves in your state you can move to another stae where you can. Or, in your case, if you can't rent slaves - that is, if you can't effectively make slaves of your wage workers - then move to a state where you can. Business owners and executives aren't the only people who deserve any rights, Kend. You make a good argument for Federalism.
I always thought the Senate was because the states were initially independant sovreign states thus the nation was a joining together of equals and so each state, in some measure, got equal vote and representation. It's like the U.N., Israel has 3 million people or so and China has a billion but each has one vote.
Would you compare the treatment of police and soldiers. 2 men get killed and the world stops, thousands get killed and the system fails them;
Sorry Arrgy I think globalization changed America. You now have to compete with low wage countries that are stealing your jobs. If you want what you had thirty years ago be prepared to pay for it. It used to take a weeks pay to buy a coffe maker now it only takes an hours pay. Of course they are junk but that's why Americans live Walmart. If you want to fix America. Buy American.
When you're wearing a UNIFORM you forfeit individual rights to organizational security or the authority breaks down. and you get fired, IMPRISONED OR EXECUTED!
@ Kend
You're refering to the times after Reagan ruined our country with elitism, then bush with fascism. Understand that Our Constitution is a social, liberal contract. It says so. When that came back into adherence. After the 1st great depression, socialism worked really well. Because of that fact, no one complained. We had nothing to complain about! We were doing what no other country did. We prospered for 30 straight years. The American dream was a given.
With the coup by karl Rove, the Nazi party and Fox propaganda, people have been made to believe that it was all wrong without explaining what and why. A good old fashioned brain washing.
I don't think Democrats didn't vote as much as the elctronic voting machines are still not honest. When a Secretary of state can hide in his office and change the votes to what ever he types in, you can't skip that part.
In the last few decades, people have been taught to lie and cheat in the face of democracy. This is not America anymore. It's the 4th reich Amerika. Run by known Nazi families.
The whole thing is a bad situation, but I gotta say if the Protesters want to blow off some steam in the form of a peaceful protest - let 'em. In the process protesting hopefully everybody will feel better and it will diffuse the situation.
And if the cops don't approve, well, I can see why it makes them uncomfortable, and they should be allowed to express their dissatisfaction in a peaceful way too.
The bad to blame is the class warfare coming out of Washington$$$.
As a Canadian one thing I always admired about America was how much power each state had over the Fed. It is very clear this doesn't work for the left. Socialism only works if there is no choice. Look at how the car industry left the big union states and has migrated to non-union business freindly states. If all states had the same tax codes and rules that would not have happened. That's why I think health care should be state by state like Canada so you can follow the states that find the right formula instead of been stuck with what your forced with.
Why shouldn't these officers be afforded at least the same rights as the protesters to express their thoughts.
Wow, some caller got a conspiracy out of a flag with 5 green and white stripes rather than 13 red and white stripes? Like some cabal thought it could possibly sneak that by, and it's not just intended as a different flag?
Malaysia's flag is very similar to the U.S. flag.
Climate change is a very big concern for all over the world. Now-a-days we see so much drastic changes in the climate so we can imagine that if we don't stop now how it will drastically effect in future. We have to limit our use of fossil fuels. We have to now move forward and initiate to save our climate.
Alice, well of course the partial blockage of Mr. Garner’s airway played a role in his demise, it was part of the physical struggle and stress that caused his cardiac arrest. But the facts are the officer did not physically choke Mr. Garner to death and the officer had no intent to do so.
I must say that when I first started police work we had no idea what positional asphyxiation was but now days it is regularly taught to police officers. I’m certain that the officer that had Mr. Garner in the headlock knew about positional asphyxiation from his police training. I have personally used the same type of head lock move numerous times, when taking resisting suspects into custody, with no adverse effects. It’s a very effective move as long as you are careful to get your arm on, or just under the suspects chin and not on his throat. From what I saw on the video the officer that put Mr. Garner in the head lock move used the move properly and did not recklessly endanger Mr. Garners life by using the move.
Getting back to what I said about the video being deceiving let me better explain myself. On the video the struggle may appear to have been very minimal but all parties were expending a tremendous amount of physical energy. In fact everyone’s adrenaline is flowing at full capacity. All parties are using all their might, the police to subdue Mr. Garner, and Mr. Garner attempting to break away.
To give you an idea of what I mean, in the police academy, in order to simulate a physical confrontation, we were required to box with one and other. We were given head gear and boxing gloves and we proceeded to box with some one of similar size and weight. We were told to continuously punch the other person for an entire minute. I was 23 years old and in good physical shape and at the end of that one minute I was totally exhausted. Most confrontations with resisting suspects are more like wrestling matches then a boxing match but in both you expend a tremendous amount of physical energy.
I can tell you from personal experience having been in hundreds of physical altercations with resisting suspects, that even a short physical struggle expends a tremendous amount of physical energy. I have no doubt that the exertion and stress from the physical struggle coupled with his poor physical condition caused Mr. Garner’s heart attack and unfortunate demise.
You say you think drastic measures were taken to apprehend Mr. Garner, I say what other way could he have been taken into custody? Mace or taser? I’m not sure if they were available but they could have caused similar distress to Mr. Garner’s heart as well and they don‘t always work.
In this particular case, with the limited knowledge available from the media and internet, I would have to say the grand jury made the right decision not to indict in the Garner case.
On the Michael Brown case I do lean toward some type of indictment. Again the only facts we have are from the media and the internet. I do not have all of the facts as they were presented to the grand jury or if they are out there, I have not had the time to find and read them. I personally lean toward an indictment in this case because there appears to be to many gray areas, it’s not as “black and white” as the Garner case.
One of the first things you are taught as an investigator, is that there are three sides to every story, the two stories presented by the two parties involved and some where in between both those stories is the truth. And to be honest with you peoples memories of events can become easily tainted. It’s why witnesses are immediately separated from one and other. They can actually change each others minds as to what occurred. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten completely different accounts of the same event from people who all witnessed the same thing. In almost all cases involving several witnesses there will be a pretty big discrepancies between the witnesses accounts of what occurred. This also gives you an idea of how really hard it is to conduct criminal investigations. Because humans are humans and their memories are far from perfect many times the physical evidence is the most important evidence of any case. As you conduct an investigation and put all the pieces together the case some times becomes more “black and white” hence my earlier statement. Other times there remains a lot of “grey”. Now I’m just rambling, sorry about that.
Getting back on point I can tell you exactly what’s wrong with our current system it is the Grand Jury system. Thom is right we do need a better system then a grand juries. I do have some idea of how a grand jury works but I don‘t know the full process. From the little that I know it’s a very flawed system. I would have to do more research on grand juries to correctly explain what I mean by a flawed system.
That’s all the time I have right now. I fully agree with your comments on us being a quarrelsome species of primate. I’m very into history and our history is rife with conflict. I’ve enjoyed our debate, if I can find the time I hope to continue the conversation.
Continued from posts #39-#41: Still listening, Tarheels!
Matt, I said, "It's times like this when I think you're a shill for big business - or their dupe [emphasis added]." See? "or their dupe." I covered all my bases.
Anyway, there are some universal standards that have to be maintained. Water boils at 0 degrees Centigrade, for example, and you would be doing your children a disservice teaching them otherwise. Similarly with history, there are some facts and truths and you would be doing your children - and society - a great disservice teaching them falsehood in either science or history.
Matt, if you want us to change our minds you have to change them. You gotta convince us, we're not gonna change just to be polite to you.
Mr. Hartmann,
Please book a telephone interview with the Pope to talk about climate collapse and concentrated wealth.
The Real Facts Behind Rapid Climate Change
If anyone had ever said
You’ll find the Gates of Hell one day,
I’d look at them and certainly say
You must be crazy in the head!
But now I live at the Gates of Hell;
Three years now and I know it well.
It’s the Valley of Death! It hurts my eyes
To look around and see everything dies!
I cannot seem to get away;
It is entrapment every day.
Poisonous snow and toxic rain
And living every day in pain!
Seldom sunshine do we see,
And skies aren’t blue like they used to be.
It seems the animals have fled;
And trees are falling, broken and dead!
We never smell nor breathe fresh air
And oxygen levels are so low where
The heavy metals hang everywhere
Going into our lungs and staying there!
At night the stars are seldom seen
Because the air is so unclean;
So many particles in the air
To go outside you shouldn’t dare!
It once was lovely here, folks say
And people came to visit and play;
But now there’s something very grim,
That vibrant beauty’s grown so dim!
Just like a lovely piece of art
Was hanging on a wall one day,
‘Til a villain came with brush in hand
And smeared the canvas with shades of gray!
Yes, the Gates of Hell are here;
The trees are sick, the mountains too.
It seems as if they are screaming at you,
“Help me, help me, can’t you see?
Something is destroying me!”
“Climate change” you’ll hear it said
Is why the animals have fled
And why we see the trees are dead.
Powers coming through The Gates of Hell
Have brainwashed the people very well!
And people won’t look up to see
The obvious re-al-i-ty !
Planes dropping poisons on their head;
They’d rather believe the LIE instead!
Satan’s clever, yes, very smart;
He has it down to a work of art!
He rules the skies and kills people too;
Yet they don’t even have a clue!
They’re getting sicker
And don’t know why
“Cause they don’t even see
What falls from the sky!
Off to the doctor
For a new vaccine!
The saddest scenario I’ve ever seen!
Vaccines to poison just like the air
Yet people don’t know --- or
Don’t they care?
The deception is incredible;
I simply am amazed.
Instead of waking up at all,
Folks seem like they are dazed!
When all the maple trees are gone
And gardens don’t exist,
Will people then see something’s wrong
Or will apathy persist !!!!
Yes, Hell has come to Earth, my friend!
The gates are open wide!
It’s a wake-up call here in Vermont;
There’ll be no place to hide!
If you tend to find this humorous,
Excuse me while I fail to laugh
For if folks don’t wake up very soon
They should now write their epitaph!
The "Gates of Hell" by Anonymous from Vermont