I would be willing to seriously reduce all future welfare payments and significantly phase out current payments in exchange for increasing taxes on the wealthy and create a totally voluntary, competitive government health insurance company. There are people out there who are willing to run this potential institution the right way, reducing costs to the consumer as much as possible.

2/13/2012 9:19:20 PM

Quote :

"There are people out there who are willing to run this potential institution the right way, reducing costs to the consumer as much as possible."

yeah. but those guys won't be the mother fuckers running it. if only we could get the RIGHT people in gov't, it'd be awesome!

2/13/2012 10:36:45 PM

Again, I think that's easier to do than starting the whole system over from scratch.

2/13/2012 11:01:31 PM

lets see obama's popularity take another nosedive with $5 / gallon gas.

2/14/2012 10:20:43 AM

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3677#_ftn2

Contrary to "Entitlement Society" Rhetoric, Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled, or Working Households



CBPP calculated 9 percent of federal social program benefits go to people who are neither elderly nor disabled and do not live in a working household. But wait. Seven of those 9 percentage points go to Social Security survivor benefits for children and spouses of deceased workers, Social Security benefits to people who retired aged 62 to 64, medical care and unemployment benefits. In the latter case, beneficiaries have to have had a substantial work record to qualify.

Two percent of the total spending goes to the non-working poor who don't fall into one of those four categories

For reference, 0.8% of the total budget (Including SS, Medicare, Medicaid) goes to Foreign Aid. 5% goes to interest on past debts, and about 25% goes to to the military.

[Edited on February 14, 2012 at 10:29 AM. Reason : .]

2/14/2012 10:26:25 AM

^breaking news: social security goes to people aged 65 and higher. phhh

i need to get my hands on an EBT card. b/c why not get some free food and money?

[Edited on February 14, 2012 at 10:49 AM. Reason : ,]

2/14/2012 10:33:53 AM

Quote :

"i need to get my hands on an EBT card. b/c why not get some free food and money?"

I wasn't aware you qualify, best wishes, I hope your life picks up soon.

2/14/2012 12:05:13 PM

It sure is funny how a Constitutional Law Professor doesn't know a damned thing about the Constitution. First Amendment, what's that?

2/14/2012 4:28:52 PM

Quote :

" I hope your life picks up soon."

why give a shit since i can suck the system dry forever and not give a damn?

i'll make sure to have a lot of illegitimate kids while i'm at it and not care and force those women to get EBT for their kids and themselves and then blame it on somebody.

have fun footing my bill

2/14/2012 4:35:27 PM

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NUCLEAR_WEAPONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

wtf, thats a lot.

2/14/2012 9:44:57 PM

How many do we actually need to destroy everyone on land though?

2/14/2012 9:51:38 PM

I'd be truly shocked if we ever used another nuclear weapon ever again. It's mostly symbolic at this point.

2/14/2012 11:11:13 PM

It'll probably happen one more time, but not after that.

2/14/2012 11:14:11 PM

Quote :

"why give a shit since i can suck the system dry forever and not give a damn? i'll make sure to have a lot of illegitimate kids while i'm at it and not care and force those women to get EBT for their kids and themselves and then blame it on somebody."

Deliberately stalling your career to wallow at the poverty threshold for your entire life just to spite liberals? Forcing women to do the same? Purposely spawning as many children as possible to roll around in that squalor with you too?

I'd gladly pitch in to get you some psychotherapy too. You clearly need it.



In other news: Gas Prices up 87% Since Obama Took Office




Shameful.


[Edited on February 14, 2012 at 11:55 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2012 11:51:51 PM

i agree with pack_bryan

2/15/2012 1:04:28 AM

Quote :

"Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney said even considering such deep strategic cuts is irrational. “No sane military leader would condone 300 to 400 warheads for an effective nuclear deterrent strategy,” McInerney told the Washington Free Beacon. “Going down to 1000 to 1,100 is risky enough and frankly in today’s world, very risky. The purpose of our nuclear force structure is to deter any adversary from even thinking that they could minimize our attack options. Such thinking is very dangerous and will only encourage our adversaries to make bold decisions.”"

they are symbolic and probably wont ever be used again as weapons of war, but they serve a very real purpose (which is this^).

2/15/2012 8:43:28 AM

Quote :

" Deliberately stalling your career to wallow at the poverty threshold for your entire life just to spite liberals? Forcing women to do the same? Purposely spawning as many children as possible to roll around in that squalor with you too? I'd gladly pitch in to get you some psychotherapy too. You clearly need it. "

despite you constantly viewing the world through your white privileged eyes, 10-15% of the US is using EBT... why do you care about another drop in the ocean




[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 9:11 AM. Reason : ,]

2/15/2012 9:07:26 AM

I say we get rid of all of the land-based and air-based nuclear devices and stick to the SLBMs.

2/15/2012 9:07:52 AM

Quote :

" despite you constantly viewing the world through your white privileged eyes, 10-15% of the US is using EBT... why do you care about another drop in the ocean "

I don't, but 10-15% of the US isn't apparently a sadomasochist like you. 3/4 of EBT recipient have jobs but are underemployed, a large proportion of the remainder would probably like to be employed. Anyone who would willfully consign themselves to a lifetime of meagerness on the brink of poverty, rather than endure the relatively minor stress of working a few hours a day to better themselves, are likely insane and make up a very small proportion of EBT recipients.

So, all I'm caring about here about is that you are clearly mentally ill, given what you've stated about your priorities and intents, and hope that you can also get psychiatric care.

Also, not sure what this perspective has to do with my white privilege, could you explain?


[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 10:15 AM. Reason : .]

2/15/2012 10:12:10 AM

In fact I'm pretty sure there's nothing more demonstrative of an uninterrupted perspective of white privilege than a belief that living life on welfare is remotely comfortable, stable, or enjoyable.

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 10:17 AM. Reason : .]

2/15/2012 10:17:26 AM

lol so what you're saying is people hate being dependent on the govt yet you insist on virtually shutting down the ability to grow the private sector (which is the only place that pays worth a shit if you work hard and use your brain)


lol. it's all come full circle for you now. phhh

2/15/2012 10:46:06 AM

^^,^^^ although i agree with everything you just said, why do you ignore the fact that there are people in this world who simply abhor work?

i mean i know people who would gladly/happily sit on their ass all day every day in a blissful stupor and get upset even if they have to empty a dishwasher in their own home.

im sure they would love for you to call them mentally ill. is laziness a mental illness then?

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 10:48 AM. Reason : -]

2/15/2012 10:48:08 AM

Quote :

"^^,^^^ although i agree with everything you just said, why do you ignore the fact that there are people in this world who simply abhor work?"

Most people abhor work, otherwise you wouldn't have to pay them to do it. 75% of people on EBT are already working but aren't getting enough hours or pay to surpass the poverty line. This image of the welfare queen, reclining on a used couch in a greek toga eating food-stamp-bought lobsters and laughing at the "working saps" is an utter fabrication and at best an edge case.

Quote :

"i mean i know people who would gladly/happily sit on their ass all day every day in a blissful stupor and get upset even if they have to empty a dishwasher in their own home."

There's nothing blissful about being unemployed and on welfare. I know a few people in this position and they struggle harder than any of the minimum wage full-timers I know. It's not fun, it's not luxurious, it's not comfortable. It doesn't pay for everything, for utilities and rent usually only a portion. Making up the rest is up to that person, and it's awful hard to do without a job.

Quote :

"im sure they would love for you to call them mentally ill. is laziness a mental illness then?"

Mentally ill is "I'm going to purposely live in squalor to spite liberals. Also I'll force the women I'm with to do the same while I sire children into this poverty with me." that's a bit of a step past laziness.

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 3:50 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2012 3:32:53 PM

Quote :

"lol so what you're saying is people hate being dependent on the govt yet you insist on virtually shutting down the ability to grow the private sector (which is the only place that pays worth a shit if you work hard and use your brain)"

Woo yeah look at that private sector go



I insist on the government actually investing in workers and the middle class. Those are the people who actually grow the economy and for which the private sector acts as a meat grinder.

2/15/2012 3:35:32 PM

Quote :

"I insist on the government actually investing in workers and the middle class"

Hmm, and where does that money come from to "invest"?

2/15/2012 3:48:08 PM

Out of the biggest welfare program in history: the military.

2/15/2012 3:50:29 PM

Quote :

"Hmm, and where does that money come from to "invest"?"

From the tax revenue that's generated by an educated, healthy, productive labor force and a stable middle class.

2/15/2012 3:53:02 PM

^the private sector. Thanks

2/15/2012 3:55:11 PM

I agree, the private sector is way more productive when the laborers who make it up are educated and healthy, unfortunately the private sector completely fails to accomplish those goals on its own except for a small class of already-fortunate individuals. This isn't about doing away with free markets, but using public programs to ensure the pre-conditions to an ideal market forming are met. For example: public roads make shipping, distribution, and commute times all more efficient, making the entire market closer to frictionless in a way that companies can't exploit from overseas. Likewise, public education saves money for every business that would, say, otherwise have to train its cashiers in basic math. A universal healthcare program removes that expense from businesses altogether and comes closer to assuring every worker is healthy and thus more productive. These kinds of programs grease the wheels of the private sector and fight the otherwise anti-meritocratic lottery of birth.

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 4:02 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2012 3:59:47 PM

and your assumption is that zero of that would occur if the gov't, specifically the federal gov't, funded or promoted it. something we know to be absurdly false

2/15/2012 4:04:36 PM

Quote :

"and your assumption is that zero of that would occur if the gov't, specifically the federal gov't, funded or promoted it. something we know to be absurdly false "

yep

Love how a universal healthcare system is free for businesses. I must have missed that bit of propaganda. lol

2/15/2012 4:14:27 PM

didn't you know? universal healthcare is delivered, free of charge, by the hope and change unicorns (lol, almost said unicrons)

2/15/2012 4:17:12 PM

careful, youll hurt his self esteem. He has it all figured out.

Quote :

"anti-meritocratic lottery of birth"

Sounds like someone isnt happy with the results of some life decisions.

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 4:25 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2012 4:24:33 PM

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/omb-director-undercuts-legal-case-obamacare/376561

ahahaha

2/15/2012 5:02:14 PM

Quote :

"Love how a universal healthcare system is free for businesses. I must have missed that bit of propaganda. lol"

Yes, it will be free for them in the same way K-12 educated students are free to them and fucking roads are free to them. They derive a hell of a lot more profit from these ubiquitous services existing than they would be paying if they had to handle them personally.

edit: Actually, to be fair, they derive way more profit from the current employer-provided healthcare system since it makes individuals way more desperate for full-time positions and willing to accept shitty offers simply because of their health needs.

Quote :

"Sounds like someone isnt happy with the results of some life decisions."

I'm not happy with the fact that some people have to work 10x as hard as me to get where I am, just because they were born to a poor or single-parent family. I don't think it's right that someone, especially a child, should have to work harder simply because they weren't lucky at birth. It's unjust and contrary to the supposedly meritocratic ideals this country is supposed to hold.



[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 11:30 AM. Reason : .]

2/16/2012 11:26:23 AM

Aww, it's not fair. Do something about it then. Stop demanding that everyone else pick up the slack for your lazy, privileged ass.

2/16/2012 11:36:34 AM

What am I supposed to do about systematic discrimination that puts white punks like you in better positions than you deserve, at the cost of less lucky individuals born into the wrong family?

Wait, why am I even bothering. You're the type who would rather have rampant racism economically disenfranchising millions of people than have government tell a white bigot he can't bar blacks from his business. Why the fuck would I expect you to acknowledge let alone understand how the affects of the birth-lottery undermine everything you value about your idealized vision of Capitalism? Oh dear you might have to actually square off your ideology with reality for once. Never happenin.

[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 11:46 AM. Reason : .]

2/16/2012 11:46:00 AM

Pathetic.

2/16/2012 12:02:21 PM

^^ lol you finally admit you have utter hatred for white people for no reason other than blind 'luck'
good to know! i hope you get curb stomped one day



Str8Foolish = Pathetic


[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 12:30 PM. Reason : ,]

2/16/2012 12:21:20 PM

Quote :

"Pathetic."

Very

It actually sounds like he supports a caste system, while thinking he is ending one.

btw, I was raised in a poor,for a time, single parent home. Actually got our lights cut off once. In fact Im doing a lot better than people who had two parents and more money. I suppose I just give individuals more credit instead of lumping them in a group and assuming where their ceiling is.

[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 12:32 PM. Reason : .]

2/16/2012 12:27:19 PM

^stop. when you are born in the projects and not born with white skin you aren't allowed to succeed in life.

only white people are allowed to succeed and we they do they should be hammered and bashed to death by those who are born in situations where it is impossible to succeed

2/16/2012 12:35:09 PM

[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 1:03 PM. Reason : .]

2/16/2012 12:37:23 PM

foolish is one step away from the race card. we know where his argument is at this point, hahahahahahahaha!

2/16/2012 1:03:08 PM

The plural of anecdote is not evidence.

2/16/2012 1:05:52 PM

Quote :

"when you are born in the projects and not born with white skin you aren't allowed to succeed in life. only white people are allowed to succeed and we they do they should be hammered and bashed to death by those who are born in situations where it is impossible to succeed"

I never said any of that. All I've said is that minorities and the poor on average have to work harder as children than their white counterparts to get the same grades, jobs, and pay. An egalitarian school system where your parents wealth doesn't determine the amount of effort the state puts into your education would be a good start. White children do nothing to deserve the tutors, expensive facilities, and up-to-date textbooks and materials that, statistically speaking, they tend to have greater access to. Black children are just as worthy of them of a quality education, allowing the social status of parentage to influence the quality of education is simply soft aristocracy.

Quote :

"btw, I was raised in a poor,for a time, single parent home. Actually got our lights cut off once. In fact Im doing a lot better than people who had two parents and more money. I suppose I just give individuals more credit instead of lumping them in a group and assuming where their ceiling is."

Are you a black, latino, or asian jobseeker? Yes? Then there's a 1 in 3 chance you've been subjected to blatant job discrimination. http://www.eeo1.com/1999_NR/Title.pdf

Do you have a black-sounding name? Yes? Then you're 50% less likely to get a resume callback than somebody with the exact same resume but a name like "Lakisha" http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873
Additionally, you're 60% less likely to get a callback from a renter to whom you submitted an application http://www.dailyestimate.com/article.asp?id=3708.
And you're more likely to be pegged ahead of time with low expectations by your schoolteachers http://www.nber.org/papers/w11195

Are you a black with no criminal record? Yes? Then you're less likely to get a job than a white person with criminal record and otherwise equal qualifications. http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/race_at_work.pdf

Are you a black person with a college degree? Yes? Then you're almost twice as likely to be out of work than your white peers with identical degrees http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/us/01race.html?_r=2

Are you Chinese-American? Yes? Then you're probably receiving up to 60% of the pay of your white coworkers even if you have more education than them http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081112101339.htm

Are you black and have ever been at a traffic stop? Yes? Then you're more likely to have had your person and your vehicle searched by the police http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpp02.pdf

Are you black and have ever sold drugs? Yes? Then you're between 3 and 5x as likely to be arrested for it than a white person selling drugs, despite whites and blacks selling drugs at roughly the same percentage of their respective populations. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/03/02/decades-disparity

Did you ever misbehave as a black child at school? Yes? Then you're more likely to have been expelled than a white student committing the same offense. http://www.springerlink.com/content/m1u4806148441l8x/

Are you a black person who's ever seen a doctor? Yes? Then there's a good chance you've been hastily prescribed different and often more dangerous procedures than your doctor would prescribe to a white person with the same symptoms. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/23/doctors.attitude.race.weight/index.html?iref=mpstoryview



Do I need to go on?

For every one of those questions you answered "No" to, your resume or application go to the top of the pile that much quicker, and you were harassed by the police one time less than you would if there were no white privilege occurring in America.

Quote :

"The plural of anecdote is not evidence."

Whatever you have to tell yourself to avoid admitting that racism is very real and detrimental in this country.

Quote :

"foolish is one step away from the race card. we know where his argument is at this point, hahahahahahahaha!"

aaronburro is a racist piece of shit who uses "race card" like a 5 year old uses "cheater!" when he loses legitimately.

Sorry, but I have mounds and mounds of statistics and evidence behind my position, if that somehow counts as "losing" to shitheads like you whose "argument" consists of repeating "Nuh uh, nuh uh!" then I'm not really too concerned about "winning".


[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 1:17 PM. Reason : .]

2/16/2012 1:09:51 PM

Quote :

"minorities and the poor on average have to work harder as children than their white counterparts to get the same grades, jobs, and pay"

-Str8racist


white children and their jobs working less than black children and their jobs. it just keeps getting better and better



[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 1:18 PM. Reason : ,]

2/16/2012 1:14:34 PM

Quote :

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to avoid admitting that racism is very real and detrimental in this country. "

Cool your jets, ghost rider. I was referring to the anecdotes of "I was poor and black and I somehow made it."

2/16/2012 1:18:29 PM

Quote :

"usa is the only place that gives a damn on earth about this phoney notion known as 'skin-shades of brown biased equality'"

Except we don't give a damn about it, primarily evidenced by the many studies I linked and directly evidenced by shitheads like you who deny any of this is happening because it would damage your fragile white ego to realize you might have been pushed to the top of a resume pile because the ones with black-sounding names got shredded.

2/16/2012 1:19:06 PM

Quote :

"aaronburro is a racist piece of shit who uses "race card" like a 5 year old uses "cheater!" when he loses legitimately."

there you go. I knew you could do it. please, explain why I am racist: because I don't agree with you? got it.

Quote :

"Are you a black, latino, or asian jobseeker? Yes? Then there's a 1 in 3 chance you've been subjected to blatant job discrimination."

Affirmative Action is also discrimination. So, if you are a white male, there's probably an even better chance that you've been subject to blatant job discrimination.

Quote :

"Sorry, but I have mounds and mounds of statistics and evidence behind my position, if that somehow counts as "losing" to shitheads like you whose "argument" consists of repeating "Nuh uh, nuh uh!" then I'm not really too concerned about "winning"."

Then how about you fucking USE IT AND STOP CALLING PEOPLE RACISTS. GROW THE FUCK UP AND STOP SLINGING RACE ACCUSATIONS LIKE YOU'RE JESSE MOTHER FUCKING JACKSON. You completely undermine ANYTHING you might have to say when your first response is to call someone racist for not agreeing with you. AND THAT'S WHAT YOUR FUCKING DO. Grow up

[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 1:20 PM. Reason : ]

2/16/2012 1:19:14 PM

Quote :

"fragile white ego"

-Str8racist


lol

2/16/2012 1:19:59 PM