You could get rid of first-past the post, and the banks would still have enough money and power to buy off all the parties - it's what's happened in Europe. When even the "Socialists" are backing austerity, you know the system has been rigged.
The problem with this chestnut is that it's actually the Executive branch that writes the budget and sends it to Congress. And that's following laws set up by Congress after Nixon refused to spend allocated funds.
So it's still the House's fault, and the GOP the hissy fitters, no?
And that means you're being willfully obtuse. In a representative democracy, explain why the party that gets the minority of the votes in a state ends up with the majority of the seats.
These districts weren't etched on tablets from Mt. Sinai, they're drawn by partisan ideologues, aided by software designed to screw over the opposing party as much as possible.
That is actually just trivia since neither side is trying to achieve the popular vote....Losing sides like to bring up irrelevant statistics to console the fans.
Translation....nothing to see here with this gerrymandering, move along citizen. GOP-run legislature in Texas draws the maps so the party that got 56% of the vote gets 75% of the seats in Congress? Pay no attention to the gerrymandering behind the curtain!
And, how quickly he moved the city through bankruptcy.
Had to try and sell off all that public art before someone could try and stop it.
Detroit had been run into the ground through massive corruption and democratic policies.
NAFTA, for short. Not the fault of the people or politicians of Detroit that their economy was gutted by sellout officals in D.C.
And now you're going to complain that someone cleaned up the mess?
Snyder has found some magic way to deal with the cities massive contraction in population? A way to deal with all the abandoned buildings while maintaining services to the people still living there? No? Then what are you talking about?
No, mostly because people like you work hard to keep cheap good from being importated.
On some planet where every product in Wal-Mart and every piece of electronics isn't already made in China?
Why, yes, we're getting there
Why, how many of those immigrants are being paid $200k a year to replace corporate executives pulling in 8 figures a year? What does Larry Ellison do for $100 - $200 million every 12 months that a team of Ph.d's from Bangladesh wouldn't do for a million, total?
Public sector workers have protections that workers in private industry don't, such as the many protections in civil service.
What does that have to do with them needing unions? Are you arguing from a position of crab mentality?
Public sector unions have long had a powerful influence in politics, influencing both the taxes that pay their wages and policy.
Which is relatively insignificant next to the combined power of banks, corporations, and tax cut jihadists.
Now public sector unions have inflated wages and benefits for the public sector so that they increasingly have greater stability, better benefits, and equal or higher wages than similar jobs in the private sector.
An honest days pay for an honest days work, with health and retirement plans that aren't a complete scam for Wellpoint and Wells Fargo? Yup, Crab Mentality.
Irrelevant. Public sector workers are subject to abuse, just as private sector workers are. They both need and deserve union representation and collective bargaining.
No, because he knew it would turn into exactly what it turned into: a mutual feedback loop between politicians and unions, with very little restraining growth in numbers or benefits, unlike private sector unions.
On some other planet where politicians from both parties aren't fans of union busting? Where even "liberal" states don't their budgets in favor of tax cuts for the rich? Where bus drivers make as much as defense contractors, and their pay and benefits haven't been slashed in the name of "shared sacrifice"?
Like most worker-hating talking points, this one is based on nothing more than wishful dumbfuckery.
While the incidents themselves, if looked at without broader context, are nearly identical... you can't actually look at them without the broader context.
You mean, keep pointing bloody fingers at the Russians, and complain about their disregard for civilians within your nice American Exceptionalist glass house.
It's not a "fair" system when the person responsible for the creation of a product gets.00000001% of the profit raked in by the producer of the product. Corporations are free to hold onto "intellectual property" for what is, for all practical purposes, eternity. The least they can do is give the working stiffs a percentage of the profits in the process.
That's not sponsoring a junta that's working with a new quasi-European country over a quarter century.
That's some impressive contortionism. I'm suuuure you'd be saying the same thing if, say, the Chinese government had spent billions undermining the Tories in Canada, with a top official bragging about it in front of banners for Russian oil companies, and then supported a coup when they couldn't beat Harper at the box office.
That's not sponsorship that's friendship.
Now you're being comical.
They saw it as the population and the legislative branch replacing an executive.
And I'm suuuure you would have said the same thing if the Democrats had a majority vote to impeach Reagan just before the 1984 elections, when they figured they out they weren't going to win. It's okay, it would have been legit, they had a whole 55 votes in the Senate to remove him! That you need a 2/3 vote would have been meaningless trivia.
What are you talking about? There was a disagreement about policy in Ukraine. There were mass protests.
What are you talking about? Not only was there a coup, the same State Department official was caught picking post-coup leaders to support with the US ambassador.
The president began slaughtering his own population.
And the state police defending the government at the same time? Not even the junta is repeating that propaganda any more.
How is the USA sponsoring the new Ukrainian government? Friendly sure. Sponsoring?
The assistant Secretary of State is on video bragging about the U.S. spending $5 billion to 'bring Ukraine the future it deserves' before the coup. After the coup, the U.S. immediately blessed the junta with legitimacy, and has given it hundreds of millions in "aid".
What would US do if Russia started 'democratic movements' in Mexico, or Texas with the goal to moving them away from US influence and towards 'independence'.
Mexico is independent.
So was Ukraine, before the west decided that resource exploitation and crushing IMF austerity loans were too important to wait six months for the next set of elections, even with that $5 billion in pre-coup "aid".
Irony: Americans inundated by government propaganda from even "liberal" sources like National Pentagon Radio, complaining how RT repeats talking points from the state.
Libertarian fuckwittery. Because having single payer health care (which provides far better care for a far lesser cost) is the same thing as the NSA spying on every person on the planet.
Since Congress has zilch to do with Treaties till it comes ratification time (negotiating Treaties is an Executive Branch thing), it matters not at all that Congress is being kept in the dark about them.
As facile as stating a president has nothing to do with legislation until it arrives on his desk for a signature.
Unfortunately I see far less fear mongering and fraudulent reporting on Fox than I do on MSNBC or CBS.
Then you don't watch Fox. Name something from either of those networks that comes close to the Fox penchant for labeling Republicans in scandal as Democrats, or using footage from an old Glenn Beck rally to make it look like large crowds turned out for a newer one.
Slashdot Mirror
You could get rid of first-past the post, and the banks would still have enough money and power to buy off all the parties - it's what's happened in Europe. When even the "Socialists" are backing austerity, you know the system has been rigged.
The problem with this chestnut is that it's actually the Executive branch that writes the budget and sends it to Congress. And that's following laws set up by Congress after Nixon refused to spend allocated funds.
So it's still the House's fault, and the GOP the hissy fitters, no?
And that means you're being willfully obtuse. In a representative democracy, explain why the party that gets the minority of the votes in a state ends up with the majority of the seats.
These districts weren't etched on tablets from Mt. Sinai, they're drawn by partisan ideologues, aided by software designed to screw over the opposing party as much as possible.
"Mob rule": where the poor people actually have a say in their governance, as opposed to a tiny number of elitists calling all the shots.
You act as if the "Billy did it first" defense is anything other than a cop out. Hint: it's not.
Translation....nothing to see here with this gerrymandering, move along citizen. GOP-run legislature in Texas draws the maps so the party that got 56% of the vote gets 75% of the seats in Congress? Pay no attention to the gerrymandering behind the curtain!
Had to try and sell off all that public art before someone could try and stop it.
NAFTA, for short. Not the fault of the people or politicians of Detroit that their economy was gutted by sellout officals in D.C.
Snyder has found some magic way to deal with the cities massive contraction in population? A way to deal with all the abandoned buildings while maintaining services to the people still living there? No? Then what are you talking about?
On some planet where every product in Wal-Mart and every piece of electronics isn't already made in China?
Why, how many of those immigrants are being paid $200k a year to replace corporate executives pulling in 8 figures a year? What does Larry Ellison do for $100 - $200 million every 12 months that a team of Ph.d's from Bangladesh wouldn't do for a million, total?
What does that have to do with them needing unions? Are you arguing from a position of crab mentality?
Which is relatively insignificant next to the combined power of banks, corporations, and tax cut jihadists.
An honest days pay for an honest days work, with health and retirement plans that aren't a complete scam for Wellpoint and Wells Fargo? Yup, Crab Mentality.
Irrelevant. Public sector workers are subject to abuse, just as private sector workers are. They both need and deserve union representation and collective bargaining.
On some other planet where politicians from both parties aren't fans of union busting? Where even "liberal" states don't their budgets in favor of tax cuts for the rich? Where bus drivers make as much as defense contractors, and their pay and benefits haven't been slashed in the name of "shared sacrifice"?
Like most worker-hating talking points, this one is based on nothing more than wishful dumbfuckery.
You mean, keep pointing bloody fingers at the Russians, and complain about their disregard for civilians within your nice American Exceptionalist glass house.
Facts don't care about your bullshit. Every industrialized country with single payer has better outcomes while spending less money. Deal.
Which is why he should be in the docket next to Bush. Any more questions?
It's about royalties, not guarantees.
It's not a "fair" system when the person responsible for the creation of a product gets .00000001% of the profit raked in by the producer of the product. Corporations are free to hold onto "intellectual property" for what is, for all practical purposes, eternity. The least they can do is give the working stiffs a percentage of the profits in the process.
Yes. I also saw your links; I'm also familiar with the term "non sequitur".
That's some impressive contortionism. I'm suuuure you'd be saying the same thing if, say, the Chinese government had spent billions undermining the Tories in Canada, with a top official bragging about it in front of banners for Russian oil companies, and then supported a coup when they couldn't beat Harper at the box office.
Now you're being comical.
And I'm suuuure you would have said the same thing if the Democrats had a majority vote to impeach Reagan just before the 1984 elections, when they figured they out they weren't going to win. It's okay, it would have been legit, they had a whole 55 votes in the Senate to remove him! That you need a 2/3 vote would have been meaningless trivia.
What are you talking about? Not only was there a coup, the same State Department official was caught picking post-coup leaders to support with the US ambassador.
And the state police defending the government at the same time? Not even the junta is repeating that propaganda any more.
The assistant Secretary of State is on video bragging about the U.S. spending $5 billion to 'bring Ukraine the future it deserves' before the coup. After the coup, the U.S. immediately blessed the junta with legitimacy, and has given it hundreds of millions in "aid".
So was Ukraine, before the west decided that resource exploitation and crushing IMF austerity loans were too important to wait six months for the next set of elections, even with that $5 billion in pre-coup "aid".
The UID "Tautology Man" wasn't available when you signed up?
Irony: Americans inundated by government propaganda from even "liberal" sources like National Pentagon Radio, complaining how RT repeats talking points from the state.
As much as I have shares in the Brooklyn Bridge to sell you, BullshitCone.
Libertarian fuckwittery. Because having single payer health care (which provides far better care for a far lesser cost) is the same thing as the NSA spying on every person on the planet.
As facile as stating a president has nothing to do with legislation until it arrives on his desk for a signature.
Not really, see "unbalanced employment negotiation"
Apples and oranges, logically.
Only if the burger flipper in question was also the person who invented Big Macs or Chicken McNuggets.
Then you don't watch Fox. Name something from either of those networks that comes close to the Fox penchant for labeling Republicans in scandal as Democrats, or using footage from an old Glenn Beck rally to make it look like large crowds turned out for a newer one.