mr_genius

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 16, 2012 -> 10:54 PM) did you know that being a staunch conservative is ACTUALLY NOT centrist? of course i knew that

QUOTE (farmteam @ Feb 14, 2012 -> 11:04 AM) I'm not sure what bothers me the most among all the things that could from this -- *The misrepresentation of "Obama will pay for..." (which isn't what she said). However, I understand it's easy to infer (maybe even correctly) that that's what she meant, instead of a general "He gives me hope" thing. In that case, something that bothers me is... *People who hear what they want to hear. I didn't listen to the speech in question (or maybe I did, but it appears to be from 2008 so if I did I don't remember it), but I'm guessing it was a typical "Sounds awesome, unless you read even slightly between the lines and nothing is being promised at all" type of speech. Maybe it's the cynic in me, but that's the lens through which I view every speech a politician makes; a lens which presumes we're being promised much, much less than what it seems, unless proven otherwise (proven in terms of what the speech actually said, not what happens later). However, do I put the blame on people who hear what they want to hear, or... *The politicians who tell people what they want to hear, and in a way that can save their ass later. Again, me being a cynic makes me place the blame on the people hearing the speech; the politician is just playing a role that's to his advantage; it's the people who blindly listen who give them that power. No sheep to speak to, no double-talk, or at least much less. While politicians do have the ability to just not do this (and make me happy!), it's a device too easy to use, and too often used, for me to get mad at a particular politician over it. "Just the way the game is played" is a phrase that comes to mind. *I'm not even going to touch on the "taking her daughter out of school" part in fear it could open a can of worms I want no part of. The only thing I will say is that I don't categorically oppose parents taking their children out of school for something that's beneficial (which I leave intentionally broad -- it could be a baseball game with a parent they don't see often, it could be a speech like this, whatever; depends on each parent/child); whether or not this was is the can of worms I don't want to open. The above was not directed at any party or poster (including you Jenks, though yours was the post I quoted). It just sort of touched off that occasional feeling of incredulous I get at misinformed people. Reminds me of one my first weeks of law school last year, when someone made a comment along the lines of "Well, we're all going to get really jobs out of school anyway." I felt bad for her more than anything, for committing that much money under such a dangerous misconception. actually, Farmteam, she works at Goldman Sachs and Obama basically has paid all her bills. Go figure.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 07:58 AM) I am sort of the resident centrist ^^^ delusional

Obama should just promise to pay off everyone's mortgage if he should happen to win re-election.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 10, 2012 -> 08:40 AM) When there are 10 states all voting on a single day, spread out across the country, with a couple big ones (Ohio, Virginia), and only a week after the previous set of races, yes it actually matters yep

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 9, 2012 -> 06:52 PM) Wait...what? Obama also slipped in a few billion for additional Wall Street bailout bonuses.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 07:49 AM) was that the one where he spent 3 minutes trying to offer the person a job? Balta, those 3 minutes were to ridicule the unemployed. it was all cruel sarcasm.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 07:48 AM) But in a Republican primary, Santorum seems a lot harder to attack.... What else is there to go after him on? Good question. We will probably find out pretty soon.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 2, 2012 -> 01:01 PM) I'm wondering if you can expand on why its a false equivalency to require an unnecessary, invasive examination for a male-only procedure? i'm not even sure what this post is supposed to mean.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 04:09 PM) This is pretty offensive. Fake pidgin english? Seriously? www.debbiespenditnow.com haha PS. the person behind that website is also the guy that did the "Demon Sheep" ad for Fiorina and the "I'm not a witch" ad for Christene O'Donnell. HE KEEPS GETTING HIRED.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 11:58 AM) Anyone who complains about media bias needs to take a hike. Certain networks have certain positions. Get the f*** over it. So f***ing what if CNN uses a different term between segments talking about what people post on Twitter. That network is mindless drivel 99% of the time. One thing we can all agree on is that CNN is totally in the tank for Obama

Did you guys see Obama during the Google+ question/answer session? some lady mentioned her husband was unemployed. Obama sarcastically quipped "Oh wow, that really surprises me (rolls eyes)". He is totally out of touch and siding the wall street bankers.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 09:33 PM) There are now several weeks before Arizona, which means Mitts money gets to hit Santorum over the next couple weeks. Newt-style. ^^^

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 5, 2012 -> 04:59 PM) Checking the drugstore.com price, 360 doses would be a little bit over $6000 for people with no insurance. dang, that kid must take a lot to get up to $1,000,000 per year

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 5, 2012 -> 11:53 AM) I agree. This is a serious problem and should be dealt with. Low corporate tax rates are clearly having very little positive impact on economic growth. But they paid bribes to the Democrats. Fair share paid. Now Southside2k5, he needs a tax increase.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 5, 2012 -> 11:09 AM) That wouldn't be a misallocation of resources. My money isn't a governmental resource. PAY YOUR FAIR SHARE!! Like Obama's buddies at GE do. Oh wait...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 4, 2012 -> 01:16 PM) And that's why education stinks in this country. nope

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 4, 2012 -> 01:11 PM) So the total financial benefits were cut. boo hoo

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 4, 2012 -> 10:36 AM) The money that gets spent on education doesn't make it to the teacher level. The US pays the second most of all countries on education. Money is not the problem.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 4, 2012 -> 09:53 AM) Oh, I see, so now you are acknowledging market forces do impact things. So if I then come back to the original claim that dramatically curtailing benefits and increasing workloads for teachers will wind up with worse quality teachers, where we have to play games like teaching standardized tests in order to deal with the fact that the well-qualified people don't go into that profession because it pays below market rates, everyone will agree with me. i don't know, the US pays more for education than anyone and still 'bad results'. plus, what other job will these teachers get? teaching pays big time, compared to most professions, in the Obama economy.

I love this thread already

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 2, 2012 -> 08:42 PM) I've been iffy on them for a while since thy started suing any other charity using the phrase "for the cure", but I didn't explicitly avoid products that partnered with them because of it. But hey, they want to play rough, I can skip the pink yoplait lid. i never thought of them as a legit charity.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 12:05 PM) But this was a fantastic jobs number it really isn't, when you think about it correctly

QUOTE (SuperSteve @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 06:10 PM) The real question is how many people fell off from being counted. very true. also, the weak job gains do not even cover new entries to the job market. but, according to Obama, the 13 million unemployed are mere 'speed bumps' on his way to victory.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 06:54 AM) We have been under an invasion for decades now... ^^^