American Politics

[Spidy]

I'm confused. I'm a classical liberal. I think you may be confusing neoliberalism with classical liberalism. If so, please don't. It's insulting. ...

Sorry, after reading JustTK's post, I don't really understand what this is all about ...

Hmmmm.....It's interesting to note that, the fact that you mistook neoliberialism for some form of imagined classical liberalism, does make me wonder about your US socio-eco-political understanding of things.

Not to be insulting, but it's always good to look before you leap, especially when trying to come to the aid of JustTK.

Anywho, you did apologize, so benefit of the doubt and all that...carry on!

[Spidy]

I admire your patience and I read your comments with interest. But you're really wasting your time on these two. They are like Born Again Christians. ...

Now who sounds like a broken record, lost, trapped, in your never ending, repeating the same chorus line, feeding off the same QAnon/Repub propaganda, that masks itself as "bothsidesism".

You just repeat that same ole QAnon/Repub dogma to support your so called "bothsidesism". Sad indeed!

To their credit many of your QAnon/Repub cohorts at the very least provide some form of evidence / data (minus the "cut-and-paste" artists), to support their claims/opinions.

Since you "admire" them so much, you would do well to follow their example and support your claims/opinions when you post, much like when you ask it of other BMs.

Again noted here:

I asked you a question. You can refuse to answer it if you like, but this is sposed to be an opinion board. You shared your opinion, and I asked you a question on it.

Why share your opinion if you are not going to support it? ...

But like most QAnon/Rebup/Bothsidesists, it's rare (if at all), that you hold yourselves accountable for much these days.

[Spidy]

I have no idea what bothsideriem says about anything. Your binary brain taking over again I spose. I appreciate it must be difficult for you, and I won't hold you to blame since I don't beleive in free will anyway. ...

You ask me to provide support to my opinion that we are in the End Times of Capitalism. Well, you can find many excellent books full of evidence on the subject. It is well documented and not something I can sum up in a post on a forum here. ...

Sorry but I don't see your opinion on the subject matter anywhere in that diatribe you provided. Which is not surprising, given your "bothersidesism".

The question was, "Do you think we are witnessing the collapse of neoliberalism?" not what "Joe Author" thinks.

The "Joe Author" reference material is much appreciated, but you still have not told me what you think w/r to the question, followed by the reference material affirming your claims/opinions.

I understand, thinking for yourself, might actually mean standing up for something, but really, it not that hard if your have the courage of your convictions?

I'm beginning to think you don't actually think for yourself much.

[EihTooms]

OK, you're right. Hillary Clinton won by a lot more than a c**t hair. I'm not going to argue with Nate Silver.

Bernie Sanders would have beat Trump like a drum in 2016 if you believe the polls. I have to give Democrats credit for picking the sane candidate, Hillary, even though she carried a lot of baggage. I have at least two friends whose political views are spot on with yours, who voted for Trump in 2016 because they hated Hillary.

As you requested, here's a link to something along the lines of reports, charts, data, etc that substantiate my claim.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_sanders-5565.html

Thanks for the link. Yes, Bernie's poll numbers vs Trump circa April, May and June 2016 when they stopped polling for him were very good.

But so were Hillary's.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ep...nton-5491.html#polls.

There were plenty of Hillary advantages in the double digits at that time. Then, as usual, the polls tighten as each side pitches their pros and cons of the other.

Surely you don't think that consensus of polls' 10 point advantage for Bernie would have held or expanded all while Trump, Miller and Bannon were tapping into their warehouse of anti Semitic, anti Socialist, Ageist attack tools over the next several months, do you?

That warehouse is likely better stocked than their anti Woman, anti Clinton warehouse.

[EihTooms]

If you have a Bloomberg terminal, you can check my numbers in about 5 minutes. If not, you should be able to in under 45 minutes, with Google and web pages you can link to. Be sure you're looking at year on year numbers and not month on month numbers. Have at it.

Btw Tooms, since you posted a similar statement in reply to my post about oil and gas, and since I actually know a good bit about that, I think you should start posting links to justify all your observations about Bangkok working girls in the relevant threads.

No, I'm not going to do your work for you. "Look it up" is not even substantiation for your conclusions about the data you cite. There might be tons more data on, say, Bloomberg, that tweaks and clarifies a reasonable conclusion that turns out to refute yours. There are usually articles and reports written by staffers and contributors for sources like Bloomberg based on all the data compiled without requiring every subscriber to dig in deep and come to limited conclusions about it.

And they are never shy about slamming Dems or Biden where the data justifies it. Then you will see the info in those articles repeated elsewhere, in sources that rarely require a subscription.

[EihTooms]

Bubba kicked ass in his second term. But only because he worked with Newt Gingrich and likeminded Republicans. Together they balanced the budget, promoted free trade, reformed the welfare system, and cut the capital gains tax. And he stayed out of wars.

Few POTUSes and Congresses fought and were at opposite ends of agenda than Clinton and Newt Gingrich's fiasco House / Congress.

You do remember Gingrich's repeatedly failed Repub agenda was thwarted so often by Clinton and his far superior Dem agenda that he shut down the government, right? Twice. Clinton won and his agenda prevailed every time. Thank god.

The historically successful Clinton / Dem economy was already on its upward trajectory by mid 1994, long before Repubs took control of Congress. Thank god again.

After that, the only thing Repubs did was sniff around Clinton's balls and dick to find out where they'd been until Gingrich was kick out of office in humiliation.

LOL. The revisionist history about these things by Repubs and Repub Bothsiders is astonishing.

[JustTK]

Okay, so I have questions now, after contemplating in my "neolib corner".

Well since we live in a neoliberal world (as the argument is often made), do you think we are witnessing the collapse of neoliberalism? Provide support your opinion/argument.

And what does "bothsidesism" have to say about neoliberalism, in America or Worldwide? Provide support your opinion/argument.

I have no idea what bothsideriem says about anything. Your binary brain taking over again I spose. I appreciate it must be difficult for you, and I won't hold you to blame since I don't beleive in free will anyway.

But I can speak for myself. You ask me to provide support for my opinion that we are in the End Times of Capitalism. Well, you can find many excellent books full of evidence on the subject. It is well documented and not something I can sum up in a forum post here. If you want the contents of long books summarized in to a few words, then you will most of the points (which it looks like you already did).

You ask me to provide support to my opinion that we are in the End Times of Capitalism. Well, you can find many excellent books full of evidence on the subject. It is well documented and not something I can sum up in a post on a forum here. If you want the contents of long books summarized in to a few words, then you will most of the points.

I have read several books by economist Harry Shutt. And I learnt that the main economic theories taught at university are a complete sham; what we take to be 'fact' are in truth a narrow dead-end view of what current economics is. He wrote: The Trouble with Capitalism, An Enquiry into the Causes of Global Economic Failure. This book's subject matter is self-explanatory. You can read a superb intro here: https://www.bloomsburycollections.co...e/introduction.

He then wrote Beyond the Profits System. Possibilities for a Post-Capitalist Era, another excellent read and superb insight into possible solutions. "Since 2008, we have found ourselves confronted by an historic financial holocaust that world leaders have struggled to come to terms with. All have willfully ignored its long-term, systemic causes and are thus unable to chart a way to survival. Their continued denial stems from a vested interest in maintaining a capitalist profits system which is not only as destructive as it was in the 1930's but as outmoded as feudalism was in 1789. Thus it can now only be sustained by an increasing reliance to official misinformation, massive criminal fraud and the ever greater dependence of private corporations on state subsidy. ".

The book explains why attempts of Western governments to use 'extraordinary measures' to try and avert economic collapse are bound to fail, and why our only hope of reversing the tide is to abandon the traditional economic logic of endlessly expanding production in favour of responding to the aspirations of ordinary people. Such a transformation would make possible the allocation of resources to more socially desirable ends, including the assurance of basic economic security for all as a human right.

https://www.bloomsburycollections.co...on?from=search

Shutt is one of the few to expose capitalism's lies and imperfections, faults that critically threaten our democratic survival. ' - Publishers Weekly.

'Offers no easy answers, but suggests the West is going to have to face the fact that profit-maximising capitalism has run its course. ' - Tribune.

'Based on wide knowledge, well documented source material and sharp analysis, everyone who reads it will learn from it. ' - Liberation.

'This has been the most interesting discussion with an economist I have ever had in my life' George Galloway, Press TV.

If you want more: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=the+collapse+of+capitalism.

[Tiny 12]

Well firstly he wasnt legitimately elected.

But nonetheless hes in the oval office (for now).

But I digress, worst POTUS of our lifetimes? Nope I'm guessing that title will goto BUBBA until the end of time.

I could give Joe a tie with BUBBA but hes actually in 2nd place, nobody could outdo the damage BUBBA did.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...il-corruption/

Bubba kicked ass in his second term. But only because he worked with Newt Gingrich and likeminded Republicans. Together they balanced the budget, promoted free trade, reformed the welfare system, and cut the capital gains tax. And he stayed out of wars.

[Tiny 12]

Okay, so I have questions now, after contemplating in my "neolib corner".

Well since we live in a neoliberal world (as the argument is often made), do you think we are witnessing the collapse of neoliberalism? Provide support your opinion/argument.

And what does "bothsidesism" have to say about neoliberalism, in America or Worldwide? Provide support your opinion/argument.

Now your turn, to go back to your "bothsidesism" neoliberal corner and think on my questions and report back.

I'm confused. I'm a classical liberal. I think you may be confusing neoliberalism with classical liberalism. If so, please don't. It's insulting. The developed countries with the lowest government revenues and expenditures as a % of GDP are the USA, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore. And when you kick out the petrostates and small countries, the places with the highest GDP per capita are the USA, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore. That should tell you something.

Edit: Sorry, after reading JustTK's post, I don't really understand what this is all about. But I never want to lose a chance to point out the superiority of small government, so am not deleting the post.

[MarquisdeSade1]

OK, you're right. Hillary Clinton won by a lot more than a c**t hair. I'm not going to argue with Nate Silver.

Bernie Sanders would have beat Trump like a drum in 2016 if you believe the polls. I have to give Democrats credit for picking the sane candidate, Hillary, even though she carried a lot of baggage. I have at least two friends whose political views are spot on with yours, who voted for Trump in 2016 because they hated Hillary.

As you requested, here's a link to something along the lines of reports, charts, data, etc that substantiate my claim.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_sanders-5565.html

Well firstly he wasnt legitimately elected.

But nonetheless hes in the oval office (for now).

But I digress, worst POTUS of our lifetimes? Nope I'm guessing that title will goto BUBBA until the end of time.

I could give Joe a tie with BUBBA but hes actually in 2nd place, nobody could outdo the damage BUBBA did.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...il-corruption/

[Cali Guy]

Canada, manufacture of EV's leaves a larger carbon footprint than internal combustion vehicles. Volvo did a study on one of their vehicles and concluded you had to drive it 68,000 miles before you reach the crossover point, that is, before the EV would cumulatively be responsible for less carbon emissions than the ICV. And that's assuming you don't have to replace the batteries, in which case it will take longer. I think there's a lot of feelgoodism associated with the EV's. Some people are buying them to feel like they're doing something good for the environment. Maybe they are and maybe they're not. Mining lithium and cobalt and nickel devastates the environment more than extracting oil and gas, which you can do do with a small surface imprint.

Source for Tooms and Xpartan:

https://www.volvocars.com/images/v/-/media/Market-Assets/INTL/Applications/DotCom/PDF/C40/Volvo-C40-Recharge-LCA-report.pdf

Hint, You'll need to convert kilometers to miles.

Now if you generate a lot more electricity from wind and the like you'll lower the cross over point. But will that happen if the windmills obscure the views from the billionaire Democrats' houses, and kill birds that the Billionaire Democrats want to save?

Windmills are banned offshore Martha's Vineyard and in areas of Delaware where Biden resides. Windmills will never be in neighborhoods of the democrat / socialist / communist elite.

[Cali Guy]

Yes I have a clue but obviously you don't. If you want to claim asylum you must go to a legal border crossings not illegally cross the border. All these people came illegally not legally trying to get asylum. It does not matter where these illegals end up because 97% of them will never attempt to go to their hearing. None of the people coming into USA are ever told by border agents that they will be getting jobs because it is illegal for them to work if they are not legal residents. In most states it is illegal to hire these people and companies can be fined.

I can assure you the way the asylum courts are backed up that if you illegally cross into USA on the weekend that your court date will not be the next Monday. Why do you post these lies.

It is not a publicity stunt because Texas, Florida and Arizona are overwhelmed by millions of illegals. These liberals are crying about 50. Wait until several thousand are dropped off in Martha's Vineyard and VP Harris back yard. There will be a border crises declared by democrats once thousands are in Martha's Vineyard.

Martha's Vineyard is to democrat to accept illegals. Within 48 hours of the illegals arriving the military was called to bus and ferry the illegals of the island. Illegals are welcome by democrats but just not in their neighborhoods. Hypocrisy and racist at its finest. Hopefully Texas will send thousands more to Martha's Vineyard so they can keep showing the world the hypocrisy of the left.

[PVMonger]

Yes total hypocrisy. I love it. Wait until thousands are dropped off in Martha's Vineyard. And thousands more on Harris front yard.

It takes a complete fool to realize that what Travv posted was satire. I guess he should have posted a winkie-winkie icon in order to forewarn the numbskulls.

[PVMonger]

Yes I have a clue but obviously you don't. If you want to claim asylum you must go to a legal border crossings not illegally cross the border. All these people came illegally not legally trying to get asylum. It does not matter where these illegals end up because 97% of them will never attempt to go to their hearing. None of the people coming into USA are ever told by border agents that they will be getting jobs because it is illegal for them to work if they are not legal residents. In most states it is illegal to hire these people and companies can be fined.

I can assure you the way the asylum courts are backed up that if you illegally cross into USA on the weekend that your court date will not be the next Monday. Why do you post these lies.

It is not a publicity stunt because Texas, Florida and Arizona are overwhelmed by millions of illegals. These liberals are crying about 50. Wait until several thousand are dropped off in Martha's Vineyard and VP Harris back yard. There will be a border crises declared by democrats once thousands are in Martha's Vineyard.

You weren't there so you have absolutely no idea where or not they went to a legal border crossing and applied for asylum. Instead, you just parrot rightwingnut media BS. Nobody ever said they were told anything by border agents anyway. But don't let that stop your spin. Keep on going and you may make whipped cream and you can spread that on Donnie's schwantze.

Of course you don't believe any of the sources I posted. The only sources you believe are Fucker Carlson and other racist trolls like him and the rest of rightwingnut media.

Nobody is "crying" about anything. They are complaining that Costello and DeSatan shipped folks there any didn't bother to tell anybody. Even Ted "Who went to Mexico to keep warm" Cruz said that what they did was illegal if a private citizen had done it. But sure, keep on drinking the KoolAid. It must taste good.

And by the way, if it is illegal to hire these folks, why do you believe that they are coming to steal jobs?

You really need to start coming up with some new material. The rest of your comedy routine is getting a little old.

[Tiny 12]

I assume you were referring to the 2016 Democratic Primary election and not some secret or imaginary Presidential election involving Bernie Sanders, right?
Was The Democratic Primary A Close Call Or A Landslide?
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...r-a-landslide/.

Really, it's fun to make a point and claim for which you can actually provide links to reports, charts, data, etc that substantiate your claim. Then it doesn't look like you're just making up stuff on the fly.

I encourage you to try it sometime.

OK, you're right. Hillary Clinton won by a lot more than a c**t hair. I'm not going to argue with Nate Silver.

Bernie Sanders would have beat Trump like a drum in 2016 if you believe the polls. I have to give Democrats credit for picking the sane candidate, Hillary, even though she carried a lot of baggage. I have at least two friends whose political views are spot on with yours, who voted for Trump in 2016 because they hated Hillary.

As you requested, here's a link to something along the lines of reports, charts, data, etc that substantiate my claim.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_sanders-5565.html