american politics

[thesightless]

so.. im asking for a response from those who can articulate intelligence.

where are we?
obama?
congress?
where are we going?
are you happy?
the bullshit about "change" and the lack of any of it other than spreading money instead of ethic.

go on. (not runningman, yet)
toasty, jenks ?

honestly, i would prefer to keep it to americans here for a bit, as its our govt.

[Garrick]

Re: american politics

this is quite a loaded question!

[superdave]

Re: american politics

We have complex problems like the economy, health care and terrorism. There's no easy solution to these problems and we shouldn't expect any political party or person to save us with all the answers. Even worse, special interests, greed and partisan politics complicate things further by creating gridlock to solutions or causing more problems with bad legislation.

If you could start over, I would say throw out any party affiliations and the current Congress. No Democrats or Republicans and no lobbyists. We're trapped in this 2 party system that seems more self-interested than the country it represents. We can vote the incumbents out, but the old computer saying it's garbage in and garbage out. There needs to be a radical, grass roots movement to change things. The politicians and government should be scared of the public not the other way around.

[Garrick]

Re: american politics

good answer dave... i was going to type something long and winded yesterday, but when it came down to it i really thought there was one big factor in all of this and i just didn't post the long reply. it only takes one word that i quoted below. and it isn't just american politics...

greed

[floridaorange]

Re: american politics

nearly a perfect summation by dave.

[Miguel]

Re: american politics

we are fucked up

[toasty]

Re: american politics

where are we?

Still fucked, but no more fucked than we would have been under Bush or if McCain had won, and probably somewhat less fucked.

obama?

I'm still very much a fan of Obama, as I really do believe that his heart is in the right place, but I've been a bit disappointed in some of the positions he's taken and his inability to take advantage of the supermajorities in Congress, which brings me to...

congress?

Really, really disappointed with Congress as a whole, and certain members of Congress in particular. Ben Nelson ought to be ashamed of himself, and I'm happy to see that the people that would have benefited from his little stunt are as pissed at him as the rest of the country. Harry Reid needs to get his house in order. Finally, the Democrats as a group need to grow a pair and get over this ridiculous idea that nothing can get done in the Senate without 60 votes. Bush did a lot of damage with a simple majority, and it shouldn't take a supermajority to unfuck it.

where are we going?

I do think we're on the right path, but it's not going to be a fast journey. The GOP is opposing everything, en masse, including measures that objectively look pretty republican in concept, and it ain't helping.

are you happy?

Not really. I do think that Bayh is 100% right, Washington is broken, and politics has become so much of a bloodsport, the actual responsibility of passing meaningful legislation seems to have been lost by the wayside. As long as that continues to be the case, nothing is going to change.

[thesightless]

Re: american politics

If you could start over, I would say throw out any party affiliations and the current Congress. No Democrats or Republicans and no lobbyists. We're trapped in this 2 party system that seems more self-interested than the country it represents. We can vote the incumbents out, but the old computer saying it's garbage in and garbage out. There needs to be a radical, grass roots movement to change things. The politicians and government should be scared of the public not the other way around.

great answer, notably since more than half the country is ready to throw out all of them , from barak to lowest republican on the house side. we openly are telling them NO NO NO and yet they say too bad. the promises of open governemt were tossed out the window during the health care debate which is turning into one of the most pivotal peices of legislation in our history. the unions got the exemptions that will end up putting the burden on the small to middle size business owner.

I see people reacting like that idiot in austin, the tea parties are going on, and multiple violent "religious based" incidents that a year ago i thought wouldnt happen again now that bush is gone.

the markets are reacting negativly, and according to trade reports, the mutual funds have already begun shipping the wealth outside our country to avoid this nonsense about the wall street regulation, and frankly, the gov't cannot stop that.



to toasty, i disagree with your opinion on obama & being less fucked. every aspect of out society has gotten worse other than having a mumbling idiot at the podium. only now, we have someone who can articulate a written speech. when challenged, he defends like you are insulting his family. nearly every factor is downhill, ex: employment, tax, market, still in wars, going on two religion based attacks, a few from within.... et al..

I COMPLETELY agree with your statment on congress. he has a majority that bush/cheney never had and they did whatever the fuck they wanted to do. this guy cant even keep his own house in order. feel free to search my comments from a year and a half ago, calling for the third party option, to clear out senate/house. these scum ( i cant even call them people after the last year) openly defy the people who put them there, ignore their duty to make our life better, and just go on thier opinion, not ours.

the GOP opposition is coming rightfully so, they were not involved in the health bill, ever. the entirety of the process was quite literally done behind locked doors with no cameras. upon being offered input (only occuring last week) they are told they can chime in on what they think about the existing bill, but then get get deemed "obstructors" when they dont vote Pro on something they dont want.

Its a sad day, we are witnessing the largest vocal uprising (plz do not consider the plane) of the american peoples since vietnam.

frankly, i hope a plane crashes with our entire gov't on board. maybe then the constituents will get a voice back when we are forced to re-elect a new representation of our opinions and needs.

i think ted kennedy's death is the best thing that has happened to our gov't since cheney was removed from decision power. particularly since a republican took the seat of the lion. it was the first sign that they would recognize. as they clearly didnt see anything else we have done in recent time.

[Highsteppa]

Re: american politics

There was a comedian once that said something that I quite liked when he was speaking about the lobbyist problem in Washington - his solution was have the politicians have their lobbyist sponsors and corporate contributors emblazoned all over themselves like Nascar does.