Mad_Machine76
Mad_Machine76's JournalSix (More) Years?
Look, the way I see things, Bush/GOP had six years SIX YEARS where they controlled the WH and Congress to do things their way almost entirely free from Democratic or "liberal" obstruction at either the Executive and/or Legislative level (and even somewhat at the Judicial level too). The fact that it not only didn't radically improve the lives or livelihoods of 99% of the American population, as well as the fact that the Bush (P)residency ended in a catastrophic economic DISASTER should IMHO flatly put to rest any "only if we had been able to do things our way, things would be better" arguments that the Republicans are making as they seek to unseat President Obama this year. They had their chance from 2001-2007 and they failed.......miserably. They'll somehow say that the Democrats and Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi wrecked things in the final 2 years of the Bush (mis-)administration and THEY are to blame for all of the bad loans and bad behavior in the financial sector but whatever.........They are so totally delusional and utterly divorced from reality and we know it.
They have really nothing else to *offer* us now other than hate, fear, and division.......basically NOTHING positive whatsoever (and they call President Obama's re-election "negative"?). The Republicans have NO positive vision or goals for 99% of Americans. They see things as basically not getting any better and they'll be damned before they even TRY to make things better for 99% of Americans. They just want the rest of us to start just getting used to working harder for the "job creators" and expecting less and less while they demand more and more and take more and more for the 1%. They feign concern about the debt and deficit and pontificate that we can no longer afford Medicare in its present form so we must now privatize it while at the same time cutting taxes more on the wealthy, and send more money to the pentagon for............? Of course, in order to accomplish this, they'll still need to raise the debt ceiling several more times over the course of the next few years but they won't play "hostage-taker" with the debt ceiling with Romney in the WH, of course. 
Our revered "job creators" may eventually decide to give us more "jobs" but they'll primarily be "McJobs" with low wages, almost no benefits, no job security, and few (if any) protections (except the ones that they will give us out of the kindness of their own hearts). Meanwhile, they'll keep us divided with endless (and pointless) debates over illegal immigration, abortion, birth control, and gay marriage, which will keep a sizable portion of public upset and voting Republican over these "evils" while ignoring or missing the REAL evils that are continuing to be perpetrated by the GOP in service to their 1% masters.
Mitt Romney says he wants us to go back to Bush economics........except that he wants it on steroids. Some would say that we haven't actually left Bush economics far enough behind. After all, his tax cuts are still in place as a result of last minute GOP-led "hostage crisis" in 2010 over unemployment benefits. Republicans demanded the inclusion of more tax cuts in President Obama's stimulus plan in 2009 and then all but three GOP Senators voted against it and used it to foment the rise of the Tea Party, the worst virus the right has inflicted upon this country in modern times. 
All too predictably, the Republicans are demanding another extension of Bush's *sacred* tax cuts despite the fact that they've been in effect for 9-11 years (depending on which tax cuts you're referring to) and have done virtually NOTHING for the economy other then ensure that millionaires and billionaires can hoard even more cash for more yachts and car elevators. The CBO is even telling us that we're headed for a "fiscal cliff" if we don't extend them (among other things). How can their expiration hurt the economy so much though the tax cuts themselves help it so little?
All I can really say at the end of the day is this: Anybody whom votes Republican (or just stays home while all of this is heading our way) this year, whom votes for another 2-4-6-8 years of Bush economics (on steroids)/Paul Ryan "austerity-for-thee-not-for-me" budget is.................just........
Seriously
We all need to get a grip (re: Wisconsin). It was not a typical election and it was going to be difficult to win no matter what. We should not be playing into the right's hands by getting depressed and demoralized by the outcome. We need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves up, and start all over again. For the people of Wisconsin, that means fighting for a Democratic legislature in November. For everybody else it means fighting the Tea Party and other groups and individuals whom have now apparently decided to make eliminating public sector unions their cause célèbre. Needless to say, we need to make Congress more blue and ensure that President Obama gets another term and ensure that Willard Romney never steps foot in the Oval office........outside of an invitation from President Obama.
We need to fight
and then fight some more. We need to fight whether we win or lose but especially when we lose. If we aren't fighting the Republicans as hard as they are fighting us, then we're basically giving them advantages they don't deserve IMHO.
If all you ever did
was watch Fox News and listen to hate radio, one would probably believe that President Obama is the Antichrist, or at least a reincarnation of Hitler/Stalin and that America has been transformed into either Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union (or soon will be)- ignoring the total lack of evidence of President Obama's opponents- hate radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Republicans and right-wingers- being persecuted and/or thrown into concentration camps/gulags. If President Obama is a dictator, he's a VERY lousy one- letting all these people run around free to attack and denounce him. Most dictators don't tolerate dissent very well. Of course, for some reason (i.e. Fox News), some people just keep on believing that we're living under some kind of fascist/socialist dictatorship completely ignoring the mountains of evidence that American democracy has not underwent any kind of dramatic shifts in terms of people's daily lives and experiences. Of course, though, where is the fun in acknowledging the obvious reality for most people when you can manufacture paranoid fantasies and delusions to live under? 
Right
because talking about going "backwards" just sounds so................what.......backwards? Who the hell really wants to go backwards or hear our leaders talking about wanting to take the country backwards (I mean, other than the Republicans and their allies)?
I'm just surprised that nobody is just flat out calling him a "communist"
since it would seem more likely that most people would know what THAT means though I guess most people just hear the Republican Tea Partiers use the "socialist" buzzword and probably just assume that it means that he's something "bad".
Any ideas on ways to earn money on the side?
Like just about everybody not in the 1% nowadays, we've become somewhat underwater with our bills and miscellaneous expenses and my wife and I have been trying to figure out some ways to earn some extra money on the side without having to actually work a second job which, for the most part, is pretty impractical given that we have 3 kids and I work for CPS which is almost somewhat of a double job IMHO. I have some talents that I think that I could parlay into a side job but am somewhat unsure how to get started. For one, I enjoy writing. I'm working a book though it has been somewhat of a slow process but I also enjoy blogging about things political (here and elsewhere) and people seem to enjoy my writing. I would like to find some way to get paid for it, though. I had a perch on Examiner.com for awhile but I earned virtually nothing and, frankly, felt that the content rules were too restrictive. I have found that most newspapers hiring for columnists for real writing gigs seem to prefer people with journalism degrees.
I'm also pretty well acquainted with computers but mostly the basic stuff. I can troubleshoot a lot of software problems and can crack open a computer do some minor installation work.
Anybody have any ideas about side work? Is there anybody out there doing stuff "on the side" that is working out for them and if so, how did you get started? Any ideas and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Walker losing would not IMHO be the end of the world for Democrats
It would be a disappointment to be sure but part of the problem, of course, is that the momentum against Walker was highest back in 2011 and, with the recall of a few state legislators earlier on and the progression of time, the urgency to get rid of Walker has dissipated. Plus, there are likely to be some people whom, although they don't quite like Walker, don't agree with the notion of a recall election even if it is covered by state law. Also, another thing to consider is that Walker surviving the recall might generate more Democratic turnout in the fall to vote out the Republican state legislators to tie Walker's hands so that he can't push through his agenda quite so easily (and most will be there to cast their votes for President Obama and, hopefully, Democratic House candidates as well).
How, pray tell?
Unfortunately, he probably won't ever be asked to explain how he would have done things different but there are clearly some things that could have been done (i.e. more stimulus, public investment)- had there not been so much obstructionism from the Republicans- that could have improved the outlook. And I can't remember for the life of me what THEIR ideas were about how to fix things other than give the wealthy (more) tax cuts, cut spending, cut entitlements, bust unions, fire public employees, nearly cause a default on our debt, and, of course, massively increase military spending (for what I have no idea)- all negative actions with no potential for stimulative effect on the economy.
I think that their basic idea is to let corporations get EVERYTHING they want in terms of regulations, wages, benefits, tax breaks, subsidies, etc. and *maybe* they *might* increase their hiring or do.................something. Republicans are basically acting like corporations basically have our whole economy over a barrel.
I think that the debates will help President Obama
The right-wing is good at promoting false images of people, esp. President Obama (i.e. Bill Maher's "Barack X"
but when most people see President Obama in action, they tend to support him. The contrast between President Obama and Mitt Romney, when you think about it, is pretty extreme IMHO. I think that the debates will help President Obama draw that contrast between the two of them, especially when they start talking about economic fairness. It's hard to imagine that most average people actually identify with Romney, who, quite dramatically, represents (and would be expected to fight for) the 1%. He has not done ANYTHING so far to discourage such a notion IMHO.
Profile Information
Name: Mara Alis ButlerGender: Female
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Home country: USA
Current location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Member since: Sat Feb 28, 2004, 01:13 AM
Number of posts: 24,438
