American Politics

[QUOTE=Canada;3068448]I agree Trump economy is good for the majority of the people but it obviously is not good for the democrats or illegals. The lazy democrats who don't have conventional jobs with employers offering 401 K benefits but are getting paid to protest are not happy with a good economy. The people paying the protesters do not offer benefits. All the lazy democrats who refuse to work that are receiving welfare and government handouts aren't happy with Trump economy. But millions of retired Americans living on a fixed income are very happy seeing their fixed income going up 10-20%. Don't worry about USA being a democracy. Trump has saved us from Biden fiasco. I don't agree with about 25% of what Trump does but USA is 100% better than the Biden years.[/QUOTE]Trump didn't show much how he respect democracy, when he ordered to destroy Capitol, after being defeated by Biden. I know life is very expensive in USA and in big cities like New York, but I wonder which percentage of people working make 400 000 USD per year? I'm not American, but I have huge doubt much more than 5%, so, Trump politics is probably for a small minority of Americans or dumb, when big majority may become poorer under inflation, gas, lost jobs. But a rich and a poor have same right to vote, if real democracy.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068450]I don't need fake news links on my posts. If the person reading the posts isn't smart enough to research it on his own I don't care. Nobody even looks at your fake links. They know if you posted it that it was irrelevant. So please stop providing those links. If you have an opinion say it. It may be right or wrong but at least the smart people can do their own study on it. USA has recovered from the Biden destruction of America nicely. America still has a ways to go but it finally is on the right track.[/QUOTE]Yeah, I read maybe 10% of their links. They demand references for everything. Of course they only believe articles that support their points of view though. They link to the Guardian a lot.

It's interesting to see their newfound acceptance of AI. Before they'the automatically reject anything I posted from Gemini or ChatGPT. I guess they discovered that if their query were something like, "Please help me make a case that Republicans, bothsiders and neithersiders are heartless, scum-sucking, wife beating, hypocritical, mass-murdering, dictatorial crooks and liars," AI could help make that case. Generating partisan propaganda is all in a day's work for Gemini, and certain to generate less liability than some of the other intelligence it provides, like providing instructions and encouragement for suicide.

[QUOTE=EihTooms;3068300]

I'm sure you can't think of a single program or legislation proposed by, fought for and passed by Repubs when they occupied the White House and held the Majority in the House and the Senate that actually helped and improved the lives of most Americans equal to, say, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, The Affordable Care Act, The American Rescue Plan Act, The Inflation Reduction Act, etc etc etc that Dems accomplished when they controlled all of it either, right?

Don't feel bad about that. Native-born USA Citizens who lived in the USA all their lives can't come up with a single one either no matter how much time they've had to research it.[/QUOTE]Guess how many years Republicans controlled the presidency, the Senate and the House from the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the election of George W. Bush? That's from January of 1933 to December of 2000, or 68 years.

The answer is two. So, to meet your criteria, that a Republican had to occupy the presidency and Republicans had to hold a majority in the House and Senate, Republicans had a grand total of two years between 1933 and 2000 to accomplish grand legislation beloved by so many Americans.

Why did Republicans only control all 3 branches of government for 2 years? Well, partly it was because Democrats in statehouses and the courts rigged the system to favor Democrats in the House. See the last column in this table from the Democrat's Favorite Think Tank, the Brookings Institute:

[URL]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/vitalstats_ch2_tbl2.pdf[/URL]

On average, from 1946 to 2020, Democrats got 5% more seats in the House than they deserved based on the popular vote for the House.

When Eisenhower pushed for Civil Rights reform, he was stymied at every point by intransigent Southern Democrats in Congress. He did manage to get the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 passed, with unanimous votes in favor by Republican Senators and votes against by substantial minorities of Democrats. James Eastland (Democrat-Mississippi), the segregationist chairman of the Judiciary Committee the bills had to pass through, watered down the legislation, as did southern Democrat Senators with floor votes. Ironically, LBJ, who was given credit for the better known and more comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, was complicit in this. As Senate Majority Leader, he decided to route the legislation through segregationist Eastland's committee, well aware that Eastland would maintain the status quo in the south.

And, please note that the 1964 and 1965 civil rights legislation was passed with more support, in percentage terms, from Republicans than Democrats.

In your 20 or 30 posts here lauding Democrats for all the great legislation they passed, the only two bills we agree on are the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And the measures prescribed by this legislation, including the end of segregation, would have occurred years earlier if not for Democrats.

Your other great Democratic Party legislation falls into several categories. One is corporate pork, like the Inflation Reduction Act. Another is legislation that backfired, being the American Rescue Plan which contributed to inflation, reduction in purchasing power for American workers, and big Democratic Party losses in the 2024 elections. A third is poorly designed, underfunded programs, like Social Security. The actuarial deficit for Social Security is $25.1 trillion over the next 75 years. FDR set this up like a defined benefit pension, when a defined contribution plan would have worked much better. Australia's superannuation scheme is the gold standard. People have their own retirement accounts, and realize much larger returns on their retirement contributions than Americans on social security do. The final and fourth category are programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare that have contributed to a truly fucked up system for medical care. We're spending 18% of GDP on healthcare, much more than any other developed country. And until recent years outcomes were on the same level as Cuba's. We're still behind Albania, Panama and Costa Rica in terms of lifespan. We dont have universal healthcare. When my father was on Medicare, the health care companies that milk the system were always trying to throw free stuff at us that we didn't really need, thanks to the generosity of the federal government. Want a free hospital bed? How about an electric wheelchair? And that went on and on.

As to the third and fourth categories of beloved Democrat legislation, they're going to bankrupt the country. Over 75 years, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have $85 trillion in liabilities that are either unfunded or will have to come out of general-fund transfers from the taxpayers' pockets. The third and fourth categories also favor baby boomers, while fucking over future generations, which is perhaps the reason why these huge Ponzi schemes are indeed so beloved by some retirees. Gemini or ChatGPT told me that you'the have to make $250,000 to $400,000 per year for your and your employer's payroll contributions, adjusted for inflation, to actually pay for what the average person drags out of Medicare.

As to significant, positive legislation passed during those few years when Republicans controlled all three branches of government, I'd point out Bush's No Child Left Behind and Trump's First Step Act. Now these aren't going to fit your criteria for great legislation, because they didn't cost huge amounts of money. And instead of helping baby boomers, they gave a leg up predominantly to poor children and young black men. I would think that by your criteria though Bush's Medicare Part D and Trump's upcoming bipartisan housing bill would fit right in, with the costly, poorly designed legislation that you love.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;3068492]Yeah, I read maybe 10% of their links. They demand references for everything. Of course they only believe articles that support their points of view though. They link to the Guardian a lot.

It's interesting to see their newfound acceptance of AI. Before they'the automatically reject anything I posted from Gemini or ChatGPT. I guess they discovered that if their query were something like, "Please help me make a case that Republicans, bothsiders and neithersiders are heartless, scum-sucking, wife beating, hypocritical, mass-murdering, dictatorial crooks and liars," AI could help make that case. Generating partisan propaganda is all in a day's work for Gemini, and certain to generate less liability than some of the other intelligence it provides, like providing instructions and encouragement for suicide.[/QUOTE]The democrats today have no common sense. They look for the worse possible outcome in anything the Trump administration does. If there is a real success by the administration they won't comment or talk about it. They hope USA fails because they can't accept the facts that Biden almost destroyed America. Other countries opened up immigration like Biden did and they are facing the consequences of it today. UK and Germany and unfortunately Canada have hurt their people, economy and lifestyle by their immigration failures over the past 5 years. Amazing that Obama immigration policy was similar to Trump policy and Obama deported 3,000,000 illegals and there were zero protests and no anti ice propaganda. USA is winning. Not great yet but getting better and better everyday and 100% better than Biden disaster.

[QUOTE=Sirioja;3068381]So, you are quite rich and supporting Trump, but I'm really not sure majority of Americans experience same like you about inflation, gas, job. Majority have to talk for mid terms, if USA under Trump are still a democracy?[/QUOTE]You aren't American and don't live in USA. The majority of Americans lives are getting better slowly with massive new factories being built and thousands more high paying jobs. Wages are up much more than the short term inflation. If you lived in USA you would be able to understand this.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068450]I don't need fake news links on my posts. [B]If the person reading the posts isn't smart enough to research it on his own I don't care.[/b] Nobody even looks at your fake links. They know if you posted it that it was irrelevant. So please stop providing those links. If you have an opinion say it. It may be right or wrong but at least the smart people can do their own study on it. USA has recovered from the Biden destruction of America nicely. America still has a ways to go but it finally is on the right track.[/QUOTE]We do research what you claim on our own and invariably discover everything you claim is a lie. And then we post actual Real News links to prove it.

Oh, BTW, I have tried and apparently failed to inform Tiny12 that the only reason we post links to sources like The Guardian is because at times many of the other sources that report and verify the same points we make, such as The New York Times, the LOS Angeles Times, Reuters, AP, etc, are locked behind a pay wall and cannot be accessed easily on a message board like this. The Guardian, Vox and a couple of other sources do a fine job of re-posting the exact same Real News reports but not behind a pay wall.

Please apply your powerful sway over him to explain that to him, which I obviously can not.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;3068498]Guess how many years Republicans controlled the presidency, the Senate and the House from the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the election of George W. Bush? That's from January of 1933 to December of 2000, or 68 years.

The answer is two. So, to meet your criteria, that a Republican had to occupy the presidency and Republicans had to hold a majority in the House and Senate, Republicans had a grand total of two years between 1933 and 2000 to accomplish grand legislation beloved by so many Americans.

Why did Republicans only control all 3 branches of government for 2 years? Well, partly it was because Democrats in statehouses and the courts rigged the system to favor Democrats in the House. See the last column in this table from the Democrat's Favorite Think Tank, the Brookings Institute:

[URL]https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/vitalstats_ch2_tbl2.pdf[/URL]

On average, from 1946 to 2020, Democrats got 5% more seats in the House than they deserved based on the popular vote for the House.

When Eisenhower pushed for Civil Rights reform, he was stymied at every point by intransigent Southern Democrats in Congress. He did manage to get the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 passed, with unanimous votes in favor by Republican Senators and votes against by substantial minorities of Democrats. James Eastland (Democrat-Mississippi), the segregationist chairman of the Judiciary Committee the bills had to pass through, watered down the legislation, as did southern Democrat Senators with floor votes. Ironically, LBJ, who was given credit for the better known and more comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, was complicit in this. As Senate Majority Leader, he decided to route the legislation through segregationist Eastland's committee, well aware that Eastland would maintain the status quo in the south.

And, please note that the 1964 and 1965 civil rights legislation was passed with more support, in percentage terms, from Republicans than Democrats.

In your 20 or 30 posts here lauding Democrats for all the great legislation they passed, the only two bills we agree on are the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And the measures prescribed by this legislation, including the end of segregation, would have occurred years earlier if not for Democrats.

Your other great Democratic Party legislation falls into several categories. One is corporate pork, like the Inflation Reduction Act. Another is legislation that backfired, being the American Rescue Plan which contributed to inflation, reduction in purchasing power for American workers, and big Democratic Party losses in the 2024 elections. A third is poorly designed, underfunded programs, like Social Security. The actuarial deficit for Social Security is $25.1 trillion over the next 75 years. FDR set this up like a defined benefit pension, when a defined contribution plan would have worked much better. Australia's superannuation scheme is the gold standard. People have their own retirement accounts, and realize much larger returns on their retirement contributions than Americans on social security do. The final and fourth category are programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare that have contributed to a truly fucked up system for medical care. We're spending 18% of GDP on healthcare, much more than any other developed country. And until recent years outcomes were on the same level as Cuba's. We're still behind Albania, Panama and Costa Rica in terms of lifespan. We dont have universal healthcare. When my father was on Medicare, the health care companies that milk the system were always trying to throw free stuff at us that we didn't really need, thanks to the generosity of the federal government. Want a free hospital bed? How about an electric wheelchair? And that went on and on.

As to the third and fourth categories of beloved Democrat legislation, they're going to bankrupt the country. Over 75 years, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have $85 trillion in liabilities that are either unfunded or will have to come out of general-fund transfers from the taxpayers' pockets. The third and fourth categories also favor baby boomers, while fucking over future generations, which is perhaps the reason why these huge Ponzi schemes are indeed so beloved by some retirees. Gemini or ChatGPT told me that you'the have to make $250,000 to $400,000 per year for your and your employer's payroll contributions, adjusted for inflation, to actually pay for what the average person drags out of Medicare.[/QUOTE]The reason Repubs were not allowed to control everything by a much smarter electorate except for 2 years from the election of FDR until GW Bush was because when the electorate foolishly allowed Repubs to control everything for 8 years prior to FDR their still favorite policies plunged America and the rest of the World into The Great Repub Depression and Massive Repub Jobs Destruction. I hear that effected black people, kids, the poor and poorly educated rather negatively.

And then when they foolishly gave it to GW Bush, we got two Recessions, one being another Great Repub Recession, The Great Repub Financial Crisis, a Global Repub Economic Collapse and more Massive Repub Jobs Destruction. Again, as I recall that effected black people, kids, the poor and poorly educated rather negatively.

The American electorate foolishly doing it again for Trump gave us another Deep Repub Recession, a deadly Pandemic that killed at least a million Americans and millions more around the World, worldwide Repub Economic and Supply-Chain Collapse, Millions of jobs wiped out and the inevitable and unavoidable global inflation that hit and lingered on double and triple digit rates for half of the economies on the planet. And, yeah, again I understand it effected black people, kids, the poor and poorly educated rather negatively. Have you heard that as well?

So you can't name anything other than those results when Repubs controlled everything over the past 100 years that an ordinary person would notice. Yeah, the interesting No Child Left Behind that I don't recall requiring anyone needing to fight against Dems to get passed but I do recall Repubs fighting hard to cut it vs Dems defending it later. The same with the First Step Act. Totally bi-partisan from the start. And of course it flies in the face of everything Trump / MAGAs have done and tried with expansion of incarceration facilities and lack of due process ever since.

Still nothing as positive as what Clinton got done in 2 years, Obama got done in 2 years and Biden got done in 2 years. See, since the Dems committed the unforgivable crime in Wingers' minds by proposing, fighting for and passing the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and Medicaid in the 1960's, which I hear was pretty good for black people, kids, the poor and poorly educated, no Dem has been gifted with more than 2 years in the White House and the Majority in the House and Senate since Carter either.

But I'm sure you don't want to compare economic results and jobs creation under the 3 Dem presidents since Carter as a result of just 2 years controling everything for each vs economic results and jobs creation after 2 years of Repub control under GW Bush, Trump1 and so far under Trump2, do you?

Hmm. Still zip, nada, nothing for Nude Grinbitch and his 5 year Repub control of the House under Clinton except Clinton going ahead with his planned and promised Welfare Reform despite Grinbitch sutting down the government in order to stifle the already booming Clinton / Dem economy when he got there and those scratch and sniff photos of Clinton's dick and balls from their constant investigations of where they had been, I see.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068501]The democrats today have no common sense. They look for the worse possible outcome in anything the Trump administration does. If there is a real success by the administration they won't comment or talk about it. They hope USA fails because they can't accept the facts that Biden almost destroyed America. Other countries opened up immigration like Biden did and they are facing the consequences of it today. UK and Germany and unfortunately Canada have hurt their people, economy and lifestyle by their immigration failures over the past 5 years. Amazing that Obama immigration policy was similar to Trump policy and Obama deported 3,000,000 illegals and there were zero protests and no anti ice propaganda. USA is winning. Not great yet but getting better and better everyday and 100% better than Biden disaster.[/QUOTE]If you just look what Trump did and not what he said, he did ok up until November, 2020. Cutting the corporate income tax, deregulation, and Operation Warp Speed were all positive. The willy nilly tariffs were negative. He put the USA on a path to exit Afghanistan, although he didn't quite finish that before his time was up.

After the 2020 election, things fell apart. He should have gracefully accepted the result. I'm not happy with his performance in his 2nd term. The tariff thing got even worse. Putting Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem in charge of deportations was a big mistake. Then there were the smaller issues like lawfare against political opponents (although Comey and James were guilty of waging lawfare themselves) and Trump's relatives taking advantage of his position to make out like bandits. Trump doesn't have an adult in the room anymore, like Gary Cohn or Steven Mnuchin, to save him from his worst instincts. He was really too old to be running for president the second time around. The Republican primary voters should have learned that from watching Biden.

That said, what's your choice? I voted for the Libertarian, not Trump, in all three elections. But given a choice between living in a country ruled by progressive Democrats who would make the USA like France and Trump, I'the pick Trump. The Democratic Party has become increasingly progressive. It's marginalizing the moderates. We were damn lucky that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema held the balance of power in 2021 and 2022. I don't think we'll be so lucky next time. And I fear that Trump is chasing voters into the Democrats' arms. He's still extremely popular here in God's country. But he's managed to piss off a lot of Hispanics and women. Also, the same thing's happening now that caused the Democrats to lose big in 2024. Prices are going up faster than wages, and you can pin part of the blame on tariffs and operation Epic Fury. While I would maintain the jury is still out on Trump's Iranian strategy, it's not going to help come election time in November.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068502]The majority of Americans lives are getting better slowly with massive new factories being built and thousands more high paying jobs. Wages are up much more than the short term inflation. If you lived in USA you would be able to understand this.[/QUOTE]This is not what my friends report to me. My friends are counting down to retirement and have a half a dozen other countries they plan to spend their time in when they do.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068502]You aren't American and don't live in USA. The majority of Americans lives are getting better slowly with massive new factories being built and thousands more high paying jobs. Wages are up much more than the short term inflation. If you lived in USA you would be able to understand this.[/QUOTE]But I experience how Trump impact my activity = job and inflation I pay, and I think same for billions. Except for Netanyahou, Putin and You, the worst ever president of USA for billions people on our planet. I look forward his end, when doctor wrote he has too much weight, not good for health and really dreaming for mid terms. Our planet will be better without him.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068502]You aren't American and don't live in USA. The majority of Americans lives are getting better slowly with massive new factories being built and thousands more high paying jobs. Wages are up much more than the short term inflation. If you lived in USA you would be able to understand this.[/QUOTE]Perhaps you should stop lying about USA Manufacturing! It is you that is clueless as to how well or badly in this case, [I]U.S. Manufacturing[/I] is doing, ever since the MAGA Fuhrer, took office.

Yet again more baseless MAGA claims, from one, who know even less about his own country. [B]FACT Check: Manufacturing Construction Spending Declines Under Trump,[/B] Feb 6th, 2025. [URL]https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/manufacturing-construction-spending-declines-under-trump/[/URL].

Perhaps instead of taking everything on gullible faith, that your MAGA Fuhrer belches out of of his Epstein pedo sympathizer's mouth [I][b]as he lied and claimed "factory construction is up by 41%,",[/b][/I] you should do your damn homework for real. You'd see just how much you're being sucked into believing his lies.

Along with the farmers, small businesses and trucking industry, even more companies are suffering bankruptcies and failure under the MAGA President, and this time, it's the USA Solar industry.

So it's not just the Chinese solar industry, losing billions, but now the [I]U.S. solar industry,[/I] with over 200 contractors and companies, have collapsed, representing tens of billions of dollars in erased market value, canceled large-scale investments, and bankrupt corporate liabilities. [URL]https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/sunpower-a-solar-icon-once-valued-in-the-billions-files-for-bankruptcy[/URL]

So while one solar industry suffers from a brutal self-inflicted price war and continues to provide solar to the world, but operates at a loss, the other solar market, struggles and suffers from more bankruptcies, dumbass industry lies and more brutal self-inflicted heavy-handed weight of bad bills and uncertain policy making.

[QUOTE=Sirioja;3068650]But I experience how Trump impact my activity = job and inflation I pay, and I think same for billions. Except for Netanyahou, Putin and You, the worst ever president of USA for billions people on our planet. I look forward his end, when doctor wrote he has too much weight, not good for health and really dreaming for mid terms. Our planet will be better without him.[/QUOTE]That is your opinion. A presidents policies will never satisfy everyone. Most of my friends are retired and living on a fixed income. They worked hard and funded their 401 k or retirement. They have seen there investments increase over the last 16 months by $45000 to $100,000. That is huge for retired people. Millions of Americans have seen their retirement funds dramatically increase making their life better. You obviously support Iran and terrorism but eliminating terrorism in the world is a good thing for billions of people. Even the majority of Iranians like Trump because he is their only chance for freedom for their children and grandchildren. Not everything Trump does is ideal but it is just so much better than what we would have had with Harris or Biden. I am sorry it isn't great for you.

[QUOTE=SubCmdr;3068634]This is not what my friends report to me. My friends are counting down to retirement and have a half a dozen other countries they plan to spend their time in when they do.[/QUOTE]Most of my friends have retired and living on a fixed income also. They survived the Biden disaster of highest inflation in history and welcome the changes Trump did. They have seen their retirement accounts and 401 k increase dramatically over the last 16 months. Most in the $45000 to $100,000 range but some significantly more. Trump also eliminated taxes on social security for retired people. There are many countries I visit every year but I have not seen any as good as USA yet.

Obviously your friends did not put enough money in retirement to live comfortably. Many people didn't work hard and put away for retirement and yes they are struggling but no income tax helps a little.

No my friends are smart like me and want to follow the example of a better life. The post below illustrates the flaw in the thinking of my fellow citizen.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068667]Most of my friends have retired and living on a fixed income also. They survived the Biden disaster of highest inflation in history and welcome the changes Trump did. They have seen their retirement accounts and 401 k increase dramatically over the last 16 months. Most in the $45000 to $100,000 range but some significantly more. Trump also eliminated taxes on social security for retired people. [/QUOTE]1. The flaw, money is everything.

2. The Flaw is thinking the POTUS has anything to do with stock market values.

3. The Flaw is confusing the political with economics.

[B]Politics mean nothing in this world today![/B]

[QUOTE=Canada;3068667]There are many countries I visit every year but I have not seen any as good as USA yet.[/QUOTE]Then you haven't really been to many places. Plenty of places in the world better than the Dis United States of America. Take of your red / white / blue glasses and put down your pom pom and take a look at the real world as it actually exists. I've live in three different countries where my lifestyle was much better than my lifestyle in the Dis United States of America.

[QUOTE=Canada;3068667][b]Obviously your friends did not put enough money in retirement to live comfortably. [/b]Many people didn't work hard and put away for retirement and yes they are struggling but no income tax helps a little.[/QUOTE]This a statement that could only be made by a uninformed individual.

4. The Flaw is thinking everyone who moves overseas doesn't have any money. (Tell that to the retired 4 star general I met while eating the same 169 THB breakfast that I was).

So you think money answers all problems. Sorry Canada, all lifestyle issues do not revolve around money. Perhaps when you are more mature and experienced you will understand this.

[QUOTE][b]Yes, the number of Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship has increased dramatically[/b][/QUOTE]