Politics Who's Gonna Win?

Or the national forests... We already have a big problem that you can't 'get away' from private property as it is. It is nice to know that you can camp and hang out in the national forests without paying a dime.

I might have to look into Roseanne. The Green Party needs someone like her.

But it looks like Jill Stein will be a more typical Green party candidate.

 

Santorum winning primaries in two states today makes me seriously question the future of this country.

 

Could be a clean sweep for Santorum.

Not to nitpick or minimize it, but these are two caucuses, not primaries, where only the most activist voters participate, and a non-binding beauty contest. You cant win the nomination if you only win caucuses.

The democrats couldnt script this any better. Santorum has new life and Ginrich will continue to act like a petulant loser but not go away.

 

I worked for a company and we had a building under construction. On one Sunday we cam in and ran some cables. We broke the law because we were no licensed electricians - had nothing to do with the actual work.

Some regulations are a net good for society, some are not. I am against those that are not. Aren't you?

Solindra comes to mind.

That would be my preference.

For young people there is no doubt they would be better off using private accounts. I have run the numbers many different ways. A mix of AAA rated bonds, Treasuries, and index funds can be pretty secure and agjusted over time based on age.

Yes. A free market will eventually reflect real costs. When costs are hidden, decisions are hindered, and less than optimal choices are made.

Here we get to our core difference. I don't expect you to pick up any "slack" for me and you should not expect me to pick up "slack" for you. It should be a choice, government need not be involved.
--- merged: Feb 8, 2012 11:03 PM ---

We know there is inner turmoil in the Republican Party, kinda like a fight for the soul of the party. I think the process is healthy. I expect a brokered convention and I still expect another candidate to rise up and be the nominee to go against Obama. So, I would not get too happy if I were a Democrat just yet.

 

Ace, the fight for the soul is not only taking the party farther and farther right, it is also moving farther and farther away from the growing number of moderate Independents who will ultimately decide the election.

Bombastic rhetoric over who would attack Iran first and vilify Planned Parenthood the most or scream Obama class warfare the loudest or can be more homophobic and Islamophobic play to the base, but certainly not Independents.

As Romney/Gingrich/Santorum try to "out conservative" each other with blast after blast of negative ads, it only helps the Democrats.

 

Mark this as a regulation that is "good for society".

Non-licensed electricians are more likely to create a dangerous situation.

 

But the guys in the company across town might attempt to do the actual work themselves and fry themselves in the process. We have plenty of laws, rules and regulations which serve to control the negative effects which might be caused by the few - to the utter frustration of the many. I have to stop behind a school bus (making me late for work) when its red lights are blinking because of some negligent assholes who actually killed children because they were speeding or not paying attention to the fact that children would be exiting the bus when it stopped. I'm not allowed to choose for myself if slowing down or stopping is required or if no children are about to cross the road (because they're all getting picked up or dropped off on the other side). Should we do away with that law because we would never be so stupid or negligent as to run over a child?

I don't know, you haven't named any yet.

Oh puleease. I'm not talking about a stupid one-off error in judgment here, Ace. What federal programs or government agencies are guilty of ongoing wastefulness?

Should they be mandated to invest a certain portion of their income to private investment in lieu of contributing to the government plan? If not, and if they choose not to, who supports them in their old age? Do we have an entire segment of society with no means of support in 40 - 50 years?

Let me get this straight. Are you saying that private lenders will somehow end up effecting the cost of higher education by their lending decisions? In other words, if they refuse to lend say, the full 20K/year tuition amount because they feel it's too high, colleges and universities will be forced to lower their costs? Wow. I'd love to see that happen but my understanding of private loan companies is that they are in the business of making loans and profiting from the interest. I have deep suspicions over how diligently they'd pursue a goal that may ultimately earn them less profits. Easier to flat out deny loans to certain students and go for lending the max where they can, which will not affect the colleges and universities a whit but will certainly shut out plenty of deserving students.

So you are okay living amongst a segment of society which has been unable to pick up it's own slack? Do you have any idea the problems which will ensue if those who are unable to support themselves are left unsupported? Put aside the fact that compassion and empathy alone should cause you to WANT to lend your support. Consider the chaos. Unless you're living in some fortified compound with an armed security detail manning your perimeters, you and the rest of us will be at the mercy of very desperate people. Very desperate people do very desperate things. You can chip in some of your precious earnings to ensure your own safety to support those who would be very desperate or to support a much larger police force in your community and a few more prisons in your state. You pay either way.

Your thinking is short-sighted and naive.

 

this reminds me of all the emails and coordination that has been happening in the past 4 years from ron paul people about becoming a delegate. i wonder if anyone else on here is a delegate or knows anyone that is? 4 years ago i knew of no one, now i know of at least a few ron paul people that are trying to become delegates in my state and the process. the media charade isn't a good indicator of what's really happening.

gop strategist predicting ron paul on the republican ticket:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=StQr-dlxaBM#!

 

Your optimism is boundless but no one can win by only collecting the majority of his delegates from the handful of states with caucuses, rather than primaries.

Personally, I dont put much faith in the caucuses where the turnout is about one percent of the voters (in MN, about5 50,000 votes in a state with a voting population of over 4 million) and is controlled by the parties and not the state/county election board.

The Paulist might marginally manipulate the final delegation selection process in caucus states, but not a chance in hell that they can influence the delegation selection process in primary states.

And I just dont see of the others putting a grumpy 78 yr old peacenick on the ticket and alienate the chicken hawk wing of the party but the Republicans defy logic...selection of Sarah Palin as a case in point.

Paul might get some language in the platform which is meaningless and maybe a not-ready-for-prime-time speaking spot, but I would be shocked if the party regulars gave him more than that.

I could see Romney picking Santorum for VP -- a male version of Palin, a telegenic social conservative extremist with a happy face.

 

It might not have been the best move, but those US employees got paid, they paid income taxes, they bought stuff and paid sales taxes, the suppliers all paid taxes... And China didn't help their business too much. Not every idea works, but just because it is a clean energy technology company and we lost a few million (which isn't good), we should look into how to do better the next time. If the government would have been a huge customer and ordered $500 million worth, they would be in a better spot. And we would be creating energy at least.

Until Ron Paul comes in and has a real strong dollar policy. What would happen if you moved the decimal point over so that $10 current dollars equal $1 new dollar? Do you think people that are used to getting paid $60,000/year would accept getting $6,000 new dollars? Even though all the prices in the stores would get divided by 10...

There is too much risk involved in the market and uncertainty of loans getting paid back too if a true economic meltdown happened. I still work with people who turned 64 in 2008 and were supposed to retire with their 'goal' amount at 65. Until they lost 30% and their home price fell. And I don't know what will happen once the baby boomers take a lot of money out of the stock market and such to live on.

The best answer is to have both systems in place, and really be able to diversify. Another idea is to allow young people to pay more into SS, but be able to retire earlier.

The problem is when your or my slacking causes problems in other people's lives. If I get a contagious disease that is curable by taking $100 worth of medicine with a $100 doctor bill, and let's say I don't have health insurance and $200 = 2 months worth of food... I am going to get really sick before I end up needing to go to the ER (paid by other tax payers), spreading the disease to other people who have to buy drugs and see the doctor, and harming productivity.

There is a minimum level of healthcare that is good for society. And that is just one example.

 

The trouble with rigid, short-sighted, idealist arguments such as Ace's?

There are so many nuanced ways to poke holes in them.

 

If the Party ends up further "right" depends on who controls the party. McCain was a moderate. Romney is a moderate. McCain was the 2008 nominee and Romney is the leading 2012 nominee. How do you define "farther and farther right?'

The Tea Party only has a small number of elected member in Congress and you argue their influence is getting weaker . How do you reconcile this?
--- merged: Feb 10, 2012 6:29 PM ---

My response is that building inspections should have meaning. Either, the work is done correctly and it passes inspection or it is done incorrectly and does not pass. Who cares who did the work! Second, an insurance company has an incentive to make sure the buildings they insure meet a standard that allows for the insurance company to stay in business and make a profit. Third, a building owner has an interest in not letting his building burn to the ground. Fourth, if there is neglect, fraud, incompetence the judicial system is available for those who may have been damaged. Why no faith in these mechanisms and a false believe that because someone has a framed piece of paper with a number on it from government that it means something in the context of an actual job?
--- merged: Feb 10, 2012 6:42 PM ---

I need a better understanding of your view first.

I say the following: I believe some regulations are good, some are bad, and we need to remove or fix the bad ones.

Using the same sentence structure what do you say? Or, do we fundamentally agree but may disagree on a case by case basis on specific regulations.

There are a number of ways it could be done to insure every person has a nest egg. I particularly like the idea of having a nest egg that can be passed on to my children or the people/causes of my choice, as opposed to Social Security.

Let me get this straight. Are you saying that private lenders will somehow end up effecting the cost of higher education by their lending decisions?[/quote]

When something is subsidized, meaning the costs are not reflected in price, the demand shifts or is greater than it would be ordinarily. If there is a limited supply, i.e. classroom seats, the price goes up. People getting the subsidy may not be aware or feel the price increase, but it happens. Someone pays.
--- merged: Feb 10, 2012 6:46 PM ---

Try an experiment. Randomly pick a group of people get to know them, have lunch with them. Observe their behavior. Then invite them to an all-you-can eat buffet for lunch at your cost. Observe their behavior. Report back on any differences you finds and we will continue.

 

Your focus is on process, mine is on result.

BP had license to drill in the Gulf! 'nuff said.

 

Then why does it matter who did the work if it was done correctly? I don't assume a license means the work on a specific job gets done correctly - if inspections are in place I want the inspection to mean something. Perhaps, I am missing something.

If that was your take, I guess I needed to add more. I have no objection to a licensing process if it is a meaningful process. Occasionally a license is simply a means to restrict competition. Occupationally a license does nothing of importance to the end user/consumer or society. For example, let's say the government starts to regulate internet forums like TFP, and one requirement is that TFP have licensed moderators, will that improve TFP? Will that increase the costs for TFP? If moderators are required to have licenses, will those with the licenses command compensation based on how easy or difficult it is to get the license rather than factors important to the community? Etc. Etc. Etc.

I thought the point would be understood, I guess I was wrong. Not the first time, won't be the last.

 

This is not true. I can not think of any circumstance where this would be true. Any combination of the factors you list could be true or false with or withou a license. The only thing a license tells us it that the individual/entity went through the process successfully to get a license. In some cases the process of obtaining a license has nothing to do with responsibility or capability. Perhaps this is why you don't know what I am getting at - your view and my view are totally different. If I need work done that requires a license, the actual license is about the last thing I consider - I am more interested in their track record and ability.

You don't think there is a risk of government regulating internet forums?

{added} I am sorry, I used the word"risk" like it is a bad thing. Perhaps, regulating internet forums would be a good thing. I just think self-regulation is working pretty well.