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Editorial
See other Editorial Articles

Title: So that's what they mean by the “War on Poverty”
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... hats_what_they_mean_by_the.php
Published: Mar 18, 2011
Author: PZ Myers
Post Date: 2011-03-22 17:25:22 by CadetD
Keywords: cashless, society
Views: 965
Comments: 91

Minnesota is leading the way. Our Rethuglicans have figured out how to end poverty: by making it illegal to have money if you're poor? Wait, that makes no sense.

Minnesota Republicans are pushing legislation that would make it a crime for people on public assistance to have more $20 in cash in their pockets any given month.

Lest you think our most contemptible lawmakers have no heart at all, consider that this is the generous version of their earlier plan.

This represents a change from their initial proposal, which banned them from having any money at all.

I'm not sure what they're thinking. If they're so poor, the only way they could have any money is if they stole it from a rich guy? Or something? Maybe they're just setting up a perfect Catch 22: now the police can roust someone who looks poor, and if they've got no money, send them to jail for vagrancy; if they've got more than $20, arrest them for possession of illegal currency.

Some people don't believe me. Here's the link to the proposed legislation. They want to give all benefits via a debit card so they can restrict and monitor purchases. And if this is their sole source of income, that means they're only allowed a cash allowance of $20/month. Control, control, control.

Section 1. [256.9870] ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER DEBIT CARD. Subdivision 1. Electronic benefit transfer or EBT debit card. (a) Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) debit cardholders in the general assistance program and the Minnesota supplemental aid program under chapter 256D and programs under chapter 256J are prohibited from withdrawing cash from an automatic teller machine or receiving cash from vendors with the EBT debit card. The EBT debit card may only be used as a debit card. (b) Beginning July 1, 2011, cash benefits for programs listed under paragraph (a) must be issued on a separate EBT card with the head of household's name printed on the card. The card must also state that "It is unlawful to use this card to purchase tobacco products or alcoholic beverages." This card must be issued within 30 calendar days of an eligibility determination. During the initial 30 calendar days of eligibility, a recipient may have cash benefits issued on an EBT card without the recipient's name printed on the card. This card may be the same card on which food support is issued and does not need to meet the requirements of this section. (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), EBT cardholders may opt to have up to $20 per month accessible via automatic teller machine or receive up to $20 cash back from a vendor.

Click for Full Text!


Poster Comment:

http://wonkette.com/440932/minnesota-republicans-to-outlaw-poor-people-having-money; Link to legislation: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0171.1.html&session=ls87

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#1. To: CadetD (#0)

You cannot make up this shit.

Beyond Onionesque!

Somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing its idiot.

Lod  posted on  2011-03-22   17:31:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: CadetD (#0)

I get behind welfare recipients at the grocery store, their basket is filled with cuts of meat that I can't afford. They have candy, soft drinks, ice cream to the top of the basket. They pull out their "Lone Star" card and bingo!, it's on me. Then they set their cigarettes, beer and wine up and pull out cash to pay for that. All the time they are chatting on an IPhone that costs at least $300.00. I guess I don't really have a problem with what's being proposed. Welfare recipients should ONLY have access to healthy food, nothing else, and if they can afford beer, wine, cigarettes, etc, they can afford their own food.

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. - George Carlin

Luke The Spook  posted on  2011-03-22   18:04:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Luke The Spook (#2)

There should be a special line for Lone Star Card mooches.

(but that will never, ever, happen)

Somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing its idiot.

Lod  posted on  2011-03-22   18:38:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Luke The Spook (#2)

They pull out their "Lone Star" card and bingo!, it's on me.

From each, according to his ability....God bless you, and Rick Perry thanks you for doing your part to lift up the downtrodden from the depths of poverty to a life of semi-respectability.

;-)

__________________________________________________________
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2011-03-22   18:55:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: CadetD (#0)

The free ride is about to be over and it's about time. Stealing from one group of people, to give to another, is an abomination we have played into for far to long.

Freedomsnotfree  posted on  2011-03-22   19:11:41 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: Freedomsnotfree (#5)

The free ride is about to be over and it's about time. Stealing from one group of people, to give to another, is an abomination we have played into for far to long.

I agree with all of your responses....couldn't resist posting this for the sheer entertainment aspect; not that I feel sorry for the schmucks.

CadetD  posted on  2011-03-22   19:50:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Luke The Spook (#2)

Welfare recipients should ONLY have access to healthy food, nothing else, and if they can afford beer, wine, cigarettes, etc, they can afford their own food.

Then they should ALSO prohibit ALL food and drink which contains Aspartame, MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, genetically modified corn and soy, artificial colors, artifical flavors, and preservatives.

If you want them to eat healthy, then at least eliminate the REAL poisons which are present on grocery store shelves.

Oh and BTW, MANY working families collect foodstamps, so don't think they're all "welfare recipients".

BTW, do you feel as strongly about this for oil companies who get billions of dollars in subsidies (ie. corporate welfare) and tax breaks each and every year? Should we restrict them to only making a $20 profit over cost each month?


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   20:00:30 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: CadetD (#0) (Edited)

Perhaps politicians should only be paid $20 a month, and simply volunteer their time for the greater good.


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   20:05:22 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: CadetD (#6)

couldn't resist posting this for the sheer entertainment aspect; not that I feel sorry for the schmucks.

Maybe one of these days you and your family will be part of that group, and people can laugh at you and make it illegal for you to have money.


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   20:14:13 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: FormerLurker (#9)

Maybe one of these days you and your family will be part of that group, and people can laugh at you and make it illegal for you to have money.

I meant how insane this legislation is, which would mean that I'd think the policy cruel. However, you do see how others here are offended by the idiocy of welfare recipients buying junk food, etc. Geez!

CadetD  posted on  2011-03-22   20:28:49 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: FormerLurker (#7)

Oh and BTW, MANY working families collect foodstamps, so don't think they're all "welfare recipients".

Welfare, state sponsored welfare, should be eliminated. Period. That's the job of the churches, not the government. The churches are close to the population. They know who needs assistance, and who's looking for a free ride.

I do missionary work in Central America. Those people don't have welfare! They feed their families by working, whatever, where ever, whenever, however. Real work, HARD work. By comparison "Merikan welfare recipients are rich beyond belief!

Corporate welfare? There is no "To big to fail". Let the business compete. They don't make a profit, they go bankrupt.

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. - George Carlin

Luke The Spook  posted on  2011-03-22   20:46:09 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: FormerLurker (#8)

Perhaps politicians should only be paid $20 a month, and simply volunteer their time for the greater good.

Public service should be that "Service". Not a road to riches. The Congress makes more than 95% of the population! Let them make a "living wage", whatever the average income is for the average tax payer. No Perks. No free haircuts. No more than Joe Bananaballs on the street makes. If the average wage goes up. so does theirs. They get into Social Security, no exception. No free insurance. Oh yes, and they can retire at 65 with just exactly what Ol' Joe gets, not after two terms with a free ride for the rest of their lives.

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. - George Carlin

Luke The Spook  posted on  2011-03-22   20:52:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: CadetD (#10)

I think one poster in one breath said he was a bit jealous that the people with the EBT card in front of him at the store were buying cuts of meat that he was too cheap to buy for himself (ie. they were going to cook it to feed a large family perhaps), and in the other he said "welfare recipients should ONLY have access to healthy food".

Are Encore frozen dinners made with artificial "meat" what he had in mind perhaps?

Myself, I think the bankers and corporate shysters are ripping off EVERYONE, and if anything, we need to focus on stopping THEM first. THEN we can go pick on the kids who get free milk and stuff at school, if so inclined. But they should NOT be the FIRST group of people seen as the "problem", they are where they are DUE to those who steal TRILLIONS of dollars.

As far as those who don't belong here in the first place, they should be denied ANY assistance whatsover except for whatever charity they can get from their church of choice, but for Americans who are simply down on their luck, now is not the time to strip of them of what little they have.


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   20:54:15 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: Luke The Spook (#11)

Welfare, state sponsored welfare, should be eliminated. Period.

If ALL assisstance were cut off, what do people do, rob banks and mug people in order to feed their families? I'm not talking about the career welfare cases, I'm talking about those who have been laid off and can't find meaningful work that can provide enough income to support themselves and their families.

If it were eliminated altogether and the economic situation doesn't improve immediately, forcing people to starve and live in the street, there'd be widespread chaos, turmoil, and anarchy.


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   21:00:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: Freedomsnotfree, FormerLurker (#5)

The free ride is about to be over and it's about time. Stealing from one group of people, to give to another, is an abomination we have played into for far to long.

That's right! Let them eat cake.

After all it's not like we have more important thieves to worry about like the banksters and the matter of 17 Trillion plus. After all those guys at Goldmine Sacks earned those multimillion dollar bonuses and NYC is just sooooooooo expensive.

To hell with the food stamp recipients - who cares if they can't find anything with the unemployment rate, the real rate, hovering around 22% (and higher in my area). After all there are a lot of good garbage cans to raid.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-22   21:07:25 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: FormerLurker (#13)

I think one poster in one breath said he was a bit jealous that the people with the EBT card in front of him at the store were buying cuts of meat that he was too cheap to buy for himself (ie. they were going to cook it to feed a large family perhaps), and in the other he said "welfare recipients should ONLY have access to healthy food".

That'd be me. Picking up top drawer steaks, for a large family! YGBSM! There are many cuts of meat that will feed a large family at a lower cost, and a higher volume, than steaks. Also, Sorry, I miss spoke, I can afford pretty much whatever I want, because I planned for a crash.

Bankers. Simple. Dump the Non-Federal/No Reserve if a paper currency is used it is backed by gold and silver. AND not the SDR or another Amero type thing.

Illegal aliens. Only Lawyers and Politicians don't understand the work "illegal". They should get a one way trip back to the border. The border should be secured.

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. - George Carlin

Luke The Spook  posted on  2011-03-22   21:10:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: FormerLurker, Luke The Spook (#14)

If it were eliminated altogether and the economic situation doesn't improve immediately, forcing people to starve and live in the street, there'd be widespread chaos, turmoil, and anarchy.

Exactly. And the really sick thing is employers are intentionally avoiding the long term unemployed for whatever strange reasoning.

Based on the numbers that are not fudged the overall unemployment rate is somewhere around 22%. In Oregon, where I live, it is closer to 25%. There are not even many minimum wage jobs, and places that would previously willing to hire someone with respiration, like Blockbuster, now are demanding experience for a minimum wage counter job.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-22   21:12:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: Original_Intent (#17)

Something for you to consider. This nation wasn't built on "having a job", it was built on creating a job, doing a job, not working for some multinational corporation. I have faith in the people in this country who want to work, not the parasites.

Blockbuster "demands"! Phucque'em!

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. - George Carlin

Luke The Spook  posted on  2011-03-22   21:46:25 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: Luke The Spook, FormerLurker (#18)

Something for you to consider. This nation wasn't built on "having a job", it was built on creating a job, doing a job, not working for some multinational corporation. I have faith in the people in this country who want to work, not the parasites.

I do not disagree. However, how many of the small business licenses, taxes, restrictions, and zoning laws existed while this country was building?

No, it is not impossible for someone to start a business, but it takes a lot of knowledge of the bureaucracy and stupid laws to keep one alive.

I don't like welfare, I don't like forced hand-outs. I also don't like seeing people grubbing in garbage cans and children starving on the side of the road.

The laws we have now have been set up to FORCE people to work for someone else. To work for those multinationals. Except that now, like a sick game of musical chairs, the jobs have all been shipped out of the country - intentionally to set up this situation. A knee jerk reaction is not a solution.

I don't have an easy solution, politically, that is going to solve it. Ideally taxes would be cut to a tenth of what they now are and most of the stupid counterproductive rules and regulations done away with.

Realistically, do you honestly see a way to do that quickly so that we don't wind up with hundreds of thousands of children starving to death?

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-22   22:00:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: Original_Intent (#17)

Exactly. And the really sick thing is employers are intentionally avoiding the long term unemployed for whatever strange reasoning.

It's fairly clear to me what they are doing. They are inciting civil unrest, hoping to usher in martial law.


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   22:12:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#21. To: Luke The Spook, Original_Intent (#18)

This nation wasn't built on "having a job", it was built on creating a job, doing a job, not working for some multinational corporation.

Thing is, back when this country was "built", there was land for the taking. With that land, one could grow food, build a house and a barn, and raise livestock.

For the more industrious, more food could be grown than needed, and sold to the people who didn't grow their own. If coal were found, whoever found it could dig it up and sell it.

There was practically no limit as to what one could do back when this country was first founded, a person could take whatever land they wanted, as long as they were willing and able to defend it.

Well there WAS the little problem with the fact the people who were here first, the Native Americans, had ALREADY claimed that land, but that didn't stop the early settlers from taking it anyways.

And oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that the British crown wanted their share of whatever was worth having.


"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen

FormerLurker  posted on  2011-03-22   22:21:13 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#22. To: Original_Intent (#19)

Realistically, do you honestly see a way to do that quickly so that we don't wind up with hundreds of thousands of children starving to death?

What we have now doesn't work. It can't be sustained, economically or morally, and the planet can't sustain it. So. we suck it up and take the pain. It won't be easy, however, the longer it goes on, the worse it ultimately will be. Those who have the will to survive, will survive. They will find a way. Creative, imaginative humans will survive and prosper.

I really enjoyed Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". Maybe it was prophetic. Perhaps that's the answer.

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. - George Carlin

Luke The Spook  posted on  2011-03-22   22:24:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#23. To: FormerLurker (#7)

I always like your input on these type topics. adds a dimension often missing on 4um. Myself, theoretically i'm all for stopping gov handouts...the MOMENT that the .gov stops stealing our $ thru compulsory "income taxes". Before that point, F 'em.

"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2011-03-22   22:29:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: CadetD (#0)

The GOPee Pees have no problem with millions of their cheap labor illegals getting welfare.

When is the Civil War gonna finally come?

Jack  posted on  2011-03-22   22:31:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#25. To: Original_Intent (#15)

There are few people here that have not benefited from some government give away program.

Cynicom  posted on  2011-03-22   22:31:50 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#26. To: Luke The Spook (#2)

I get behind welfare recipients at the grocery store, their basket is filled with cuts of meat that I can't afford. They have candy, soft drinks, ice cream to the top of the basket. They pull out their "Lone Star" card and bingo!, it's on me. Then they set their cigarettes, beer and wine up and pull out cash to pay for that. All the time they are chatting on an IPhone that costs at least $300.00. I guess I don't really have a problem with what's being proposed. Welfare recipients should ONLY have access to healthy food, nothing else, and if they can afford beer, wine, cigarettes, etc, they can afford their own food.

Luke the spook is well named.

Yes I see it all the time the wellfare folks buying booze and cigs and rib eyes.

And chatting on their I phones!!!

You betchea.

Wink.

What a load of crap.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:40:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#27. To: Freedomsnotfree (#5)

The free ride is about to be over and it's about time. Stealing from one group of people, to give to another, is an abomination we have played into for far to long.

Yes indeed.

The Koch brothers are trembling.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:41:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#28. To: FormerLurker (#7)

BTW, do you feel as strongly about this for oil companies who get billions of dollars in subsidies (ie. corporate welfare) and tax breaks each and every year? Should we restrict them to only making a $20 profit over cost each month?

That´s the ¨free market¨.

HaHa.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:42:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#29. To: Luke The Spook (#11)

I do missionary work in Central America. Those people don't have welfare!

O spare me you made up Bull shit.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:43:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#30. To: Luke The Spook (#22)

I really enjoyed Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". Maybe it was prophetic. Perhaps that's the answer.

I enjoyed Atlas Shrugged too! At the time it was written Ayn Rand identified the capitalists as "Atlas" and had them shrug off the worthless socialistic society that was feeding off them, by packing up their operations and disappearing.

Today, it is the other way around isn't it? We are slaves to the corporations. Granted there are those losers who feed off the workers, but we are all slaves and the Federal Reserve is cracking the whip. To-day, the workers are "Atlas," and we need to shrug off the corporations with their unending culture of greed and corruption.

If we all went on strike and disappeared into the wordwork, the whole dirty system would collapse.

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-22   22:44:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#31. To: Original_Intent (#15)

That's right! Let them eat cake.

After all it's not like we have more important thieves to worry about like the banksters and the matter of 17 Trillion plus. After all those guys at Goldmine Sacks earned those multimillion dollar bonuses and NYC is just sooooooooo expensive.

Hank Paulson, one year after he was Sec of Treasury made FIVE BILLION DOLLARS .

No problem with Luke the Shill with that.

Hes pissed that maybe some smuck got a quart of beer that he was not legal.

What a fucnnnk ass.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:46:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#32. To: Cynicom (#25)

the legislation proposed in the original article above would never be upheld because it's illegal & no cop could enforce it anyway. they cant walk around demanding to see what's in people's wallets. that is absurd.

"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2011-03-22   22:47:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#33. To: Luke The Spook (#16)

. Also, Sorry, I miss spoke, I can afford pretty much whatever I want, because I planned for a crash.

Bankers. Simple. Dump the Non-Federal/No Reserve if a paper currency is used it is backed by gold and silver. AND not the SDR or another Amero type thing.

Illegal aliens. Only Lawyers and Politicians don't understand the work "illegal". They should get a one way trip back to the border. The border should be secured.

Boot to the head.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:48:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#34. To: Luke The Spook (#18)

b, doing a job, not working for some multinational corporation.

Asshollllle spooks work for the Mom and Pops.

HaHa.

wxposed assssholllle.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:49:43 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#35. To: Original_Intent (#19)

outs. I also don't like seeing people grubbing in garbage cans and children starving on the side of the road.

I agree.

seems Luke likes the idea of America becoming a third world nation, with him wearing the spurs.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:51:09 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#36. To: Luke The Spook (#22)

I really enjoyed Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". Maybe it was prophetic.

Get some depth, read more than shallow romantic comic books. And experience some real life.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-22   22:54:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#37. To: tom007 (#31)

Hank Paulson, one year after he was Sec of Treasury made FIVE BILLION DOLLARS .

And of course he "earned" all of that and it was not a payback for official favors. And Ted Bundy was a poor misunderstood kid.

Hes pissed that maybe some smuck got a quart of beer that he was not legal.

I would be just as happy to see it go back to the way it was before food stamps. The USDA Food Program supplied US Grown Products that were surplus in sufficient quantities that kept people from hunger. It wasn't fancy but it was edible and nutritious - no Doritos and No Beer. However, it was decided that the Food Stamp Program cost less and required fewer government workers to administer it. So, the USDA Food Program was replaced with food stamps.

I do have quibbles. I don't think it should be possible to buy junk food on food stamps, but otherwise I don't favor starving people to death either.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-22   23:04:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#38. To: Luke The Spook, Original_Intent (#22)

I really enjoyed Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged".

A great book that goes over the heads of the leftist peebrains

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-22   23:15:32 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#39. To: Flintlock (#38)

Damn Straight! Ayn Rand - "All for Me and Me for Me". Unidimensional, limited vision, and a great saleswoman. While Capitalism has its virtues, and is much superior to socialism, it is not without flaw. And the type of tunnel vision of Ayn Rand appeals to a certain class of shallow thinker who does not look beyond their own personal advantage.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-22   23:26:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#40. To: Original_Intent (#39)

Ayn Rand appeals to a certain class of shallow thinker who does not look beyond their own personal advantage.

Rand would call that a looters point of view,(and not to be patronizing) but I know you're smarter than that.

I'm pretty sure you've read the book, right? That's all you got out of it?

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-22   23:33:32 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#41. To: Luke The Spook (#11)

The churches are close to the population. They know who needs assistance, and who's looking for a free ride

The churches pay no taxes. They were first in line when it came to getting a free ride.

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-22   23:33:43 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#42. To: Original_Intent (#39)

Ayn Rand - "All for Me and Me for Me".

Not at all! Ayn Rand admired competence above all else. The competent individual is usually able to take care of themselves and their dependents. They are not a burden on society, and she believed that such individuals should not be burdened by those who are incompetent and can't or won't take care of themselves. She particularly despised people who got into responsible positions because they knew someone in the bureaucracy and then screwed everything up because they didn't have a clue.

She believed there would be no need for welfare if people were taking care of their own problems and their own burdens. She called this The Virtue of Selfishness.

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-22   23:54:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#43. To: angK (#42)

Eloquently spoken...bump it all.

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-23   0:00:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#44. To: Flintlock (#40)

My problem with Ayn Rand, to ease off on the sarcasm, is that her viewpoint is sound from the point of view of the individual in isolation from the rest of humanity. The problem is that "no man, or woman, is an island". While I don't like welfare programs I am a pragmatist and I would like to think not without humanitarian impulses. My preference would be for a system of private charity such as we had at one time.

However, the governmental structure, and economic oppression which has been installed and systematized by the Banksters and Psychiatrists has made that impossible - in the short term. The Randian viewpoint in practical strict application would result in the kind of society that Britain had through the 1800's. Hobbesian, privilege and plenty for the well connected and well heeled and a Hobbesian existence for everyone else - nasty, brutish, and short.

I don't like socialism because it is rightly categorized as parasitic - where one segment of society subsists on the work of others. The problem we face currently is that we have a system which has been rigged so that it is becoming increasingly difficult for an individual to start a small business of their own. And the IRS was caught targeting small business for their audit shakedowns. In Oregon you even now need a license from the state to cut lawns and do yard work. With an unemployment rate approaching 1 in 4 it is an unfortunate reality that under the current contrived situation if there was not some form of food program there would be people dying of starvation amidst wealth.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-23   0:01:31 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#45. To: angK (#42)

She called this The Virtue of Selfishness.

The problem is that there is no virtue in selfishness. I admire competence as well, but the reality is that not all people are of equal ability. In a sane society the more able end up in the higher positions and the less able are still accorded a survivable situation. That is in an ideal world. We do not have an ideal world and people do not live in isolation from one another. In looking at the current scene I deal in realities not theoretical constructs. In reality we have a rotten and corrupt political system, and a population which is largely apathetic. That is the reality. We have an economic system that is increasingly controlled by a very few for their own selfish benefit. So, much for the virtue of selfishness.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-23   0:09:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#46. To: Original_Intent (#44)

The Randian viewpoint in practical strict application would result in the kind of society that Britain had through the 1800's. Hobbesian, privilege and plenty for the well connected and well heeled and a Hobbesian existence for everyone else - nasty, brutish, and short.

I disagree. That's exactly the type of system Rand despised. In Atlas Shrugged the heroes were not "well connected", just the opposite until the dropped out and make their own society.

The problem we face currently is that we have a system which has been rigged so that it is becoming increasingly difficult for an individual to start a small business of their own. And the IRS was caught targeting small business for their audit shakedowns. In Oregon you even now need a license from the state to cut lawns and do yard work.

Again, what Rand warned about. All those unionized gov workers making the life of producers difficult while they watch the clock and count their juicy pensions.

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-23   0:12:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#47. To: Original_Intent (#45)

In reality we have a rotten and corrupt political system, and a population which is largely apathetic. That is the reality. We have an economic system that is increasingly controlled by a very few for their own selfish benefit.

Again, the exact society Rand warned about in Shrugged.

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-23   0:14:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#48. To: Original_Intent (#44)

I don't like socialism because it is rightly categorized as parasitic - where one segment of society subsists on the work of others. The problem we face currently is that we have a system which has been rigged so that it is becoming increasingly difficult for an individual to start a small business of their own

Ayn Rand wrote for her time and we live in our time so I agree with you to a certain extent. In these days the lesson we can take from Atlas Shrugged, is that TPTB cannot survive without our co-operation. WE ARE THE MODERN DAY ATLAS IF WE TAKE OUR POWER BACK.

It will not be without pain, suffering and loss. We would need to help one another. Let's bug out!

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-23   0:21:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#49. To: angK, Lod (#41)

The churches pay no taxes. They were first in line when it came to getting a free ride.

Only if they're a 501(c)(3) business. Then, they're also prohibited from interjecting themselves into politics. You can thank LBJ for that little shenanigan he worked out with the IRS.

Lod, please comment, you've got some insight on LBJ.

__________________________________________________________
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2011-03-23   0:23:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#50. To: Flintlock (#47)

In reality we have a rotten and corrupt political system, and a population which is largely apathetic. That is the reality. We have an economic system that is increasingly controlled by a very few for their own selfish benefit.

Again, the exact society Rand warned about in Shrugged.

I'm sure she saw what was coming. It was becoming apparent to the very perceptive even then.

I guess my main point is not that I disagree with getting people off of the public teat but that in the current sick morass it is increasingly being made difficult, intentionally, for anyone to survive independent of Der State. My concern is a purely humanitarian one and is predicated only on the current scene i.e., I don't want to see mass starvation because there is no way for people to make a living.

Being an entrepreneur is great, and starting a business is fine. I believe people should make their own way, but in the current mess cutting the net for the bottom while not tackling first the 800 pound gorilla is taking an easy and defenseless target - kind of like throwing puppies off a cliff.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-23   0:25:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#51. To: angK (#48)

I don't like socialism because it is rightly categorized as parasitic - where one segment of society subsists on the work of others. The problem we face currently is that we have a system which has been rigged so that it is becoming increasingly difficult for an individual to start a small business of their own

Ayn Rand wrote for her time and we live in our time so I agree with you to a certain extent. In these days the lesson we can take from Atlas Shrugged, is that TPTB cannot survive without our co-operation. WE ARE THE MODERN DAY ATLAS IF WE TAKE OUR POWER BACK.

It will not be without pain, suffering and loss. We would need to help one another. Let's bug out!

Thank you. You do understand my nuance. It is not that I favor, or even like, social welfare programs it is that in the current manufactured scene war is being conducted upon the individual. At this time we need the basic subsistance programs to keep the society from shattering. The lunatics are running the asylum - literally.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-23   0:30:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#52. To: Original_Intent (#45)

In a sane society the more able end up in the higher positions and the less able are still accorded a survivable situation. That is in an ideal world. We do not have an ideal world and people do not live in isolation from one another.

That is not a sane society O.I., nor an ideal world. That is the kind of society that should be avoided at all costs. You are still advocating a society where the CAN! DO! and those who CAN'T! LIVE OFF THE DOERS! Are you suggesting that the less able should be afforded jobs such as maids, landscapers, hewers of wood?

A sane society is one where the able take care of the less able members of their own families. That way, no-one else has to take care of them. That is not living in isolation from one another, that is THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS and that is the true definition of competence and sanity.

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-23   0:40:50 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#53. To: angK (#52)

That is not a sane society O.I., nor an ideal world. That is the kind of society that should be avoided at all costs. You are still advocating a society where the CAN! DO! and those who CAN'T! LIVE OFF THE DOERS! Are you suggesting that the less able should be afforded jobs such as maids, landscapers, hewers of wood?

Everyone is capable of doing something. I am not suggesting that the less able should freeload. Just that in accord to merit and ability the more able, in a sane society, rise to the more responsible positions and the less able work at those tasks which they are able to competently do. There is dignity in work and in making one's own way - being productive. It is like the comment of Oliver Wendell Holmes - "all pursuits are great when greatly pursued". Living off of your family is no real difference from drawing a welfare check. Because some are more able does not require that those less able do nothing. Each of us is responsible for our own condition. It is just an acknowledgment of reality - all may be equal before the law but not all are equal in ability.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-23   0:52:28 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#54. To: Original_Intent (#53)

Living off of your family is no real difference from drawing a welfare check. Because some are more able does not require that those less able do nothing. Each of us is responsible for our own condition.

I am thinking more of the disabled than the less able. The point is that they should not be a burden on society.

"Each of us is responsible for our own condition." Tsk, tsk, tsk. That is getting dangerously close to the VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS.

By the way. It has occurred to me that there are whole families of incompetents, that may not be able to take care of their own. Ayn Rand appreciated a good hamburger and included anyone in any line of work, in her philosophy, as long as they were competent.

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-23   1:41:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#55. To: Original_Intent (#15)

To hell with the food stamp recipients - who cares if they can't find anything with the unemployment rate, the real rate, hovering around 22% (and higher in my area). After all there are a lot of good garbage cans to raid.

That's a red herring and a TOTALLY separate issue. The monetary system in the country is nothing but a ponzi scam. The fact is that STEALING from one family to give to another is STEALING...and it's WRONG. Isn't that the very definition of COMMUNISM?? If you came over to my house at STOLE 50% of my earnings you'd go to prison...how can you delegate authority you don't have to a government to do something illegal for you to do??? People are teetering on the edge, and a lot are barely making it because the government, and apparently people like you, think it's OK to confiscate money that's THEIRS!

Freedomsnotfree  posted on  2011-03-23   9:03:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#56. To: Freedomsnotfree (#55) (Edited)

deleted

The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin

Eric Stratton  posted on  2011-03-23   9:12:30 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#57. To: Original_Intent (#37)

And of course he "earned" all of that and it was not a payback for official favors.

By the sweat of his brow digging ditches for the sewage lines for the village.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-23   19:10:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#58. To: Original_Intent (#44)

The Randian viewpoint in practical strict application would result in the kind of society that Britain had through the 1800's.

In Henery VIII´s day about a hundred families owned over 70% of England, and they aimed to keep it that way by use of "legitimate violence".

This is where the AR´s superfical romanticisim will get you.

It is a comic book, just slightly more sophisticated than Jughead and Archie.

Sorry guys.

I like it too - when I was seventeen.

BTY - I am considered wealthy by most national standards, and I can identify with being saddened by the decisions of the poor, etc, but unless you want a society of Hank Paulsons and friends raping YOU AND YOUR FAMLIES, consider the lessons of economic.

Edward Gibbons might be a fair start.

I can assure he would easily recognize AR writing for the self centered, juvanile clap trap that it is.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-23   19:19:41 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#59. To: tom007 (#58)

A couple of the flaws is that it is first an egocentric worldview that presumes divine isolation from the needs and wants of others is possible.

It also presumes that everyone who accumulates wealth is "good" by virtue of accumulating wealth. The means by which wealth is accumulated is given slipshod treatment at best.

I lean toward the libertarian end of the spectrum, but I am a realist. The reality of human behavior has to be taken into account. Not everyone who accumulates wealth and position has a high regard for their fellow man. Witness the Boosch Fambly and good ol' Barry Sewertoro.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-23   22:23:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#60. To: Original_Intent (#59)

Witness the Boosch Fambly

Jr got rich off emminate domain (sp) of having his political cronys grab land for pinnies on the dollar for Texas Rangers ball team stadium, and these KOOKS on the right think he is some kind of self made hero, ala Ayn Rand.

Put a double dose of cynide in my Kool Aid, please, and charge it to my BAC credit card at 29% interest. No wonder the pols and Wall Street has a grand ole time trucking the citizens - its so easy. I am sick of the smucks dragging us all down to serfdom.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-23   23:02:12 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#61. To: Cynicom (#25)

There are few people here that have not benefited from some government give away program.

Not by accident.

Hook us all in the mouth.

Like the real estate interest deduction, or earned tax credit???

Thia tax structure edifice was built up over many years and no one could have seen how its tennacles would have reached around all of our necks.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-23   23:05:25 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#62. To: angK (#42)

Not at all! Ayn Rand admired competence above all else.

And what systen or person admires incomeptance?

None.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-23   23:14:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#63. To: angK (#42) (Edited)

Not at all! Ayn Rand admired competence above all else.

And what system or person admires incomeptence?

None.

Your statement is close to being meaningless.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-23   23:14:35 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#64. To: tom007, Original_Intent (#58)

This is where the AR´s superfical romanticisim will get you.

It is a comic book, just slightly more sophisticated than Jughead and Archie

"If a man says: “But I realize that my natural endowments are mediocre—shall I then suffer, be ashamed, have an inferiority complex?” The answer is: “In the basic, crucial sphere, the sphere of morality and action, it is not your endowments that matter, but what you do with them.” It is here that all men are free and equal, regardless of natural gifts. You can be, in your own modest sphere, as good morally as the genius is in his—if you live by the same rules. Find your goal within yourself, in whatever work you are honestly capable of performing. Never make others your prime goal. Demand nothing from others as an unearned gift and grant them nothing unearned. Live by your own rational judgments. Be independent in whatever judgments you hold or actions you undertake, and do not venture beyond your own capacity, into spheres where you’ll have to become a parasite and a second-hander. You’ll be surprised how decent and wonderful a human being you’ll become, and how much honest, legitimate human affection and appreciation you’ll get from others." — Ayn Rand (The Journals of Ayn Rand)

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-23   23:22:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#65. To: tom007 (#61)

Long ago in one night time debate I nailed RimJob.

Everyone was blathering on about they NEVER TOOK A DIME FROM GOVERNMENT, ETC ETC.

RimJob finally confessed that he had, that ended the debate but no one retracted the names I was called.

Cynicom  posted on  2011-03-23   23:35:53 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#66. To: tom007 (#63)

And what system or person admires incomeptence?

That's easy. The Gov'ts of the Western World. All of them!

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-23   23:36:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#67. To: Cynicom (#65)

but no one retracted the names I was called

Of course not.


The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF) These boys will be dropped off in Afghanistan and have been given only the following facts about terrorists: 1. The season opened today. 2. There is no limit. 3. They taste just like chicken. 4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus .... 5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt. The Pentagon expects the problem in Afghanistan to be over by Friday.

farmfriend  posted on  2011-03-23   23:56:28 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#68. To: angK, Original_Intent (#66)

With the exception of one misguided soul, the other Rand bashers on this thread are Obama voting/supporting leftists...why bother?

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-24   0:01:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#69. To: Flintlock (#68)

With the exception of one misguided soul, the other Rand bashers on this thread are Obama voting/supporting leftists...why bother?

Because I'm not taking any survivors!

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-24   0:11:53 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#70. To: angK (#69)

Because I'm not taking any survivors!

I'll help you but I refuse to speak to 3 of them, 2 are gov stooges and one is a useless, useful idiot.

Regardless, the 3 aren't worth pissing on if they were on fire.

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-24   0:18:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#71. To: Flintlock (#70) (Edited)

I'll help you but I refuse to speak to 3 of them, 2 are gov stooges and one is a useless, useful idiot.

Thanks Flint, I'm curious, but I won't ask you to name names.

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-24   0:28:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#72. To: Luke The Spook (#2)

don't forget about the mexican connection at the stop and robs where they can use that same lone star card to purchase lottery tickets.


the most factual thing ever posted by buckeroo
I have no freaking' clue. buckeroo posted on 2010-07-24 21:33:00 ET

IRTorqued  posted on  2011-03-24   0:46:10 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#73. To: angK (#71)

Looking good!

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-24   0:47:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#74. To: FormerLurker (#8)

Perhaps politicians should only be paid $20 a month, and simply volunteer their time for the greater good.

how about doing away with politicians and not print the bogus twenties the fed calls money as they'd be done away with also.


the most factual thing ever posted by buckeroo
I have no freaking' clue. buckeroo posted on 2010-07-24 21:33:00 ET

IRTorqued  posted on  2011-03-24   0:51:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#75. To: tom007 (#35)

seems Luke likes the idea of America becoming a third world nation,

i don't know how you got that impression, tom. the fact of the matter is, Luke is correct, this cannot be sustained. this country is well on its way, by design, imo, to being a 3rd world nation. i do believe that corporate welfare is a bigger evil than social welfare BUT both should end tomorrow.

christine  posted on  2011-03-24   1:09:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#76. To: Flintlock, angK, Tom007 (#68)

With the exception of one misguided soul, the other Rand bashers on this thread are Obama voting/supporting leftists...why bother?

I don't think of myself as a "Rand Basher" I just am not so enamored of her philosophy that I disregard the weak points. She was a brilliant woman, but like too many in our culture, IMHO, too steeped in materialism. Societies are composed of individuals, but societies, and cultures, are groups of people, and all of those groups combined comprise humanity in all of its kaleidoscopic wonder.

My criticism of the Randian view is simply predicated on the fact that we individuals do not exist in isolation from each other. There is nothing wrong with pursuing one's own interests and survival. There is nothing wrong with expecting people to be responsible for their own welfare. What I object to is the fetishism of extreme individualism to the exclusion of consideration for others. If we had a sane government, and economic system that was not foully corrupted then I would likely gravitate closer to that viewpoint, but I also have this odd quirk of looking at the way things are not the way I think they ought to be.

There is nothing wrong, and much right, in working toward an ideal scene. However, it is an ideal scene not the existing scene. First priorities are to clean out the corruption and establish a sane government not starving millions to death because we want to pretend that the ideal scene will magically appear if we do.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-24   1:14:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#77. To: CadetD (#0)

I can see they fluoridate the water in Minnesota.

This is starting to make the movie "Idiocracy" look like it is a real possibility for the future.

God is always good!

RickyJ  posted on  2011-03-24   1:23:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#78. To: christine, Tom007 (#75)

seems Luke likes the idea of America becoming a third world nation,

i don't know how you got that impression, tom. the fact of the matter is, Luke is correct, this cannot be sustained. this country is well on its way, by design, imo, to being a 3rd world nation. i do believe that corporate welfare is a bigger evil than social welfare BUT both should end tomorrow.

Whereas I favor a more gradual approach. Yes Corporate Welfare should be done away with yesterday, but that also requires lowering taxes so that businesses are not buried under a burden which collapses them.

The same holds true with social welfare. Over all it has been a complete disaster and has fostered a sense of dependency and indolence. It does need to be done away with. However, we have the created problem of large numbers of people who have no skills, and there are no jobs for them to go to without turning to another WPA type scenario. As it stands right now people who want jobs can't find them. Or they must, merely to survive, take low paying dead end jobs. By striking a complete and sudden death blow to the welfare system without winding it down more gradually what we would have is chaos, riots, and a lot of crime. Of course we would also see thousands to hundreds of thousands of children looking like the malnourished kids in the old UNICEF ads. We have a created situation and to resolve it the priority has to be to cut the root not wholesale amputation of a few limbs.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-24   1:26:13 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#79. To: angK (#64)

"If a man says: “But I realize that my natural endowments are mediocre—shall I then suffer, be ashamed, have an inferiority complex?” The answer is: “In the basic, crucial sphere, the sphere of morality and action, it is not your endowments that matter, but what you do with them.” It is here that all men are free and equal, regardless of natural gifts. You can be, in your own modest sphere, as good morally as the genius is in his—if you live by the same rules. Find your goal within yourself, in whatever work you are honestly capable of performing. Never make others your prime goal. Demand nothing from others as an unearned gift and grant them nothing unearned. Live by your own rational judgments. Be independent in whatever judgments you hold or actions you undertake, and do not venture beyond your own capacity, into spheres where you’ll have to become a parasite and a second-hander. You’ll be surprised how decent and wonderful a human being you’ll become, and how much honest, legitimate human affection and appreciation you’ll get from others." — Ayn Rand (The Journals of Ayn Rand)

perspicacious!

christine  posted on  2011-03-24   1:26:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#80. To: christine (#79)

perspicacious!

Yes! She was a brilliant woman!

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-24   1:44:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#81. To: Original_Intent (#76)

I don't think of myself as a "Rand Basher"

You're a Nietzsche basher.

"Build your cities under Vesuvius
Send your ships to........"

Just kidding

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-24   1:56:13 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#82. To: Original_Intent (#76)

She was a brilliant woman, but like too many in our culture, IMHO, too steeped in materialism.

She would not apologize for that, nor have any GUILT about it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"First priorities are to clean out the corruption and establish a sane government not starving millions to death because we want to pretend that the ideal scene will magically appear if we do."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who said that if we starve millions to death , the ideal scene will magically appear? Not I. Not Ayn Rand. "Evil requires the sanction of the victim. " — Ayn Rand

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-24   2:30:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#83. To: Original_Intent (#45)

I deal in realities not theoretical constructs

However, it's this sort of 'realism' that persuades voters to embrace mccain, schwarzenegger & romney because 'the lesser evil' is 'reality' we must accept; plus, the ideologue is 'good in theory' but 'you know they can't win'. Ugh.

"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2011-03-24   4:52:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#84. To: Original_Intent (#51)

The lunatics are running the asylum - literally

"Whatcha gonna do, when everybody's insaaaane..." (heart :-)

"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2011-03-24   4:58:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#85. To: Original_Intent (#76)

great post.Although your reference to 'starving millions to death' sounds like an absurd exageration,i remembered reading that some 30 or 40 million murikans are on 'food stamps' now; a shocking number which begs the ?,who'd buy their groceries otherwise

"if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." 1 Cor 12:31—13:13
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2011-03-24   5:23:32 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#86. To: Artisan, Original_Intent (#84)

Crazy Gnarls Barkley

I remember when
I remember I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you're out there
Without care
Yeah, I was out of touch

But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Mmm!
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly [radio version]

probably [album version]

And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice

Mmmm
Come on now, who do you
Who do you, who do you, who do you think you are?
Ha ha ha, bless your soul

You really think you're in control?

Well,
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me

My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I wanna be like them


Mhmmmm
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done

But maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably


Ooh ooh


No Planes. Think about it. ................. Guaranteed Penetration (no it's not porn)

wudidiz  posted on  2011-03-24   5:35:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#87. To: angK (#82)

nor have any GUILT about it.

GUILT?

What's that?

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-24   9:18:12 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#88. To: angK (#82)

"Evil requires the sanction of the victim. " — Ayn Rand

That's tagline material...

If you don't want it, I'll take it.

"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor" - Ronald Reagan

Flintlock  posted on  2011-03-24   9:22:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#89. To: Artisan, angK, christine, Flintlock (#85)

great post.Although your reference to 'starving millions to death' sounds like an absurd exageration,i remembered reading that some 30 or 40 million murikans are on 'food stamps' now; a shocking number which begs the ?,who'd buy their groceries otherwise

Thanks. No, I did mean millions. One Russian historian, whose name eludes me at the moment, who did a study on the numbers who actually starved to death during the Great Depression puts the number who starved to death at around 7 million. At that time a majority of the citizenry still lived in small towns and on farms and grew a lot more of their own food.

So, just extrapolating from current conditions, and assuming a cut off of all social service programs, with the real unemployment rate running at 22 to 25 percent and an estimated 43 million Americans currently receiving food assistance the scene would be one of utter chaos. With no means to earn a living, living in an urban setting with no means to obtain food or shelter, you would have tens of millions of people nationwide thrown out with no means of survival other than theft and robbery, and that is what you would get. The strong and brutal would survive and the weakest (children, the elderly, and the infirm) would die. The death toll could very rapidly reach into the millions. It is not a pleasant scenario to contemplate but is the most likely outcome.

The system of Government provided social welfare has been an unmitigated disaster for the free people of this country. It has not only fostered a system of permanent dependency it has robbed people of the dignity or earning their own way. However, in our current corrupt system the solution is not punishing the weak but first taking care of the people who have created this situation and then, and only then, transitioning away from the system of created dependency - which has been purely intentional. It has taken generations to get here and it will take at least 2 generations to eliminate it without major social disruption and unnecessary suffering.

Just as the first "Great Depression" was engineered by the Banksters so has been the current one. The last depression allowed the first entry of major government social programs and the current one has been used to enter more. All the while the fatted psychotic pigs of the Bankster system have continued to bloat under the blood, death, and havoc they have created. I am not understating my case when I call them, and name them, psychotic. To really flesh out and illustrate all of the distortions in the social fabric, and economic, would take me hours I don't have right now.

However, the entire corporate system, and preference in law for it, is one of those distortions. As well has been the war against small independent business - and it is a war. Small independent farmers and business people do not fit into the "Collective" of the proletariat.

You can see what the Bolshevik solution was in the Ukraine. Depending upon whose numbers you use at the low end 8 million died and the high end is around 11 million. It is unlikely that we will ever know for sure. In the U.S. a different, slower, approach has been used by slowly tightening the noose of ever increasing taxes and regulatory burdens making it difficult at best to operate a business. In the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California outright force was used under the pretext of endangered species to cut off the water the small farms needed to grow their crops and survive. Many were driven off the farm and into penury.

When people talk about ending the system which we do not like they usually think of it in ideal terms and not reality. Personally, I prefer reality.

Remember The White Rose
"“Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.” ~ Gautama Siddhartha — The Buddha

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-03-24   12:58:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#90. To: Original_Intent (#89)

Depending upon whose numbers you use at the low end 8 million died and the high end is around 11 million. It is unlikely that we will ever know for sure.

Yep, not enough shovels, and I guess that bones will decay to tilth in wet soil in a couple of decades.

"Satan / Cheney in "08" Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

tom007  posted on  2011-03-24   18:48:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#91. To: Flintlock (#88)

That's tagline material...

If you don't want it, I'll take it

NO! You can't have it! LOL

I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant

angK  posted on  2011-03-28   16:49:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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