Is Marco Rubio a savior of the Republican Party??
Not according to Paul Krugman who says economic zombie ideas have eaten Rubio's brain!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/opini … n&_r=0Howdy do, Ralph,
Most interesting article, I took this excerpt from one of those making a comment. In my opinion, it lays GOP hypocrisy bare.
'I nearly choked as much as Mr Rubio when he railed about big government in the same breath that he stated how he used a government program to educate himself. No wonder he needed that water so badly.'No, Paul Krugman is a highly learned, intelligent economist with decades of experience who has "has written 20 books and has published over 200 scholarly articles in professional journals and edited volumes.[14] He has also written more than 750 columns on economic and political issues for The New York Times." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Krugman
The New York Times is the established and long-standing paper of record in the United States of America.
Rubio is a hack, a liar and a traitor, just like the rest of the GOP. The whole lot of them them need to be brought up on charges of treason and shuffled off to Guantanamo. There is no reason why We the People should be paying disrespectful brats like Rubio and John Boehner and that moronic Mitch McConnell massive amounts of tax payer dollars plus benefits to fight with our duly elected president, obstruct progress on all issues and steadily work to see that our tax dollars get poured into the pockets of their corporate cronies.Don't care what Wikipedia says about him....Krugman is the hack.
And The New York Times may as well save time and just slant their print on the pages to the left so no one has to wonder.
They have a suction hose leading all the way from the White House.Yeah, well, thanks for your totally unsubstantiated personal opinion.
You hvae to understand it has nothing to do with Marco Rubio and everything with trying to charachterize Paul Krugman as anything but a partisan hack.
You're right, Krugman is an outstanding economist. If his advice had been followed the economy would have recovered much more quickly. He is also an effective partisan Democratic op-ed writer.
Thanks again for your totally unsubstantiated (and incidentally incorrect) personal opinion, Barefoot...
No you can be highly intelligent and still be a hack.....which he is.
Again for your totally unsubstantiated personal opinion, Barefoot...
I believe bearfootfae is correct, BTW.
Clearly. I believe you are both incorrect and simply parroting Faux News nonsense. Anyone with any sense at all can see that Paul Krugman is knowledgeable and capable and a person to be respected and listened to and that Rubio is a bumbling buffoon. Only people who would believe the foolish claptrap spouted by the hooting idiots that pass as news commentators at Faux would believe otherwise.
Or anybody who has a working knowledge of economics. I shall repeat my post from below because HubPages seems allergic to rational analysis:
Krugman argues that conservatives "...dismissed warnings about a housing bubble as liberal whining.". Wasn't it Krugman who recommended the Fed create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble, and call economists like Peter Schiff crazy?
And I mention the Fed, because the Fed is the furthest thing from a free-market tool you could possibly expect. The financial crisis should have been a confirmation of free-market principles and a smack in the face of statist central-planners. No, the government didn't force the banks to lend the money, but it sure as hell made it profitable for them to do so with the insistence on low-interest rates. In other words, what did you think was going to happen?
" interest rates, far from soaring, are at historic lows " Only if you believe the government's inflation numbers (why would anybody? The government has a vested interest in getting people to believe inflation is not a problem) - for everyone else, food prices are skyrocketing (food, as an absolute necessity, is one of the few assets that can be fudged).
How Krugman can be venerated so is literally astounding.Dear Innersmiff,
How do you know so much? You seem quite young, (judging from your photo here,) yet, you think for yourself... and, you live in Britain.
???hehe, the key is in your question: "you think for yourself"
I went through kind of an awakening 2 and a half years ago and I haven't been able to look at the world the same way since.really!.. I am interested in your awakening! Could you write a Hub on it?
I'm not writing hubs anymore - I'm moving to my own website soon though. Interesting subject to explore maybe.
And, justmeuzanne, how exactly is Senator Rubio a bumbling buffoon? aside from grabbing some water, cuz his throat got dry... Can you speak as eloquently and passionately, and truthfully and under hot lights with so many great things to say that you forget even yourself? Once when I was speaking to students in a high school class room, a small fly flew right into my throat!!! One of the students offered me her bottle of water. Not one of them laughed at me. They sympathized with me. What is the matter with people I wonder?
...and as was pointed out earlier, a serious and capable politician making an appearance on national television should have enough competent people taking care of his image that a glass of water would be carefully positioned within his easy reach for him to sip so that he doesn't have to lean out of frame and apparently scramble around in his backpack looking for a bottle of water and then return to gulp it down frantically on camera. These kinds of details are important. The fact that he doesn't have this in place indicates a disregard for the people whom he is addressing along with a lack of foresight and planning.
Well the Democrat handlers never seem to be able to keep Joe Biden from making a complete ass out of himself so I would say we are even.
Wouldn't you?Who knew a fly would fly into my throat? Who knew his would become parched?
It really is a lack of compassion you show. And the left accuse the right of being cold hearted.Pouring the water on the floor and standing on it never sinking or getting wet would still be insufficient for some - frothing, rabid hatred of Republicans has stripped reason from far too many.
No, barefoot, I wouldn't say we are even because republicans by and large make complete fools of themselves on a regular ongoing basis everyday in the name of handing our government over to their corporate cronies. They are nothing but a bunch of slavering lap dogs, so no, we are not "even".
Kathryn, you completely miss the point. This man is in a position of being in the public eye and being paid a high salary to be a public servant every moment of his life. He owes it to us to present himself well and know WTH he is doing, and it is incumbent upon him to have people on staff who take care of these details. The fact that he doesn't shows arrogance, stupidity or both. ALL public speakers know that they might need a sip of water while talking. That's why it is COMMON to have a glass of water placed close at hand. Your "who knew" argument is just plain silly.
Retief: The actions of the GOP for the past 12 years have EARNED them my hatred, and I make no bones about it. The entire party has been co-opted by corporate interests. They are not working as public servants. The entire GOP is bought and paid for by corporate entities; therefore, they are traitors to We the People. They are stealing money from our pockets by accepting the generous salaries and lifelong health care benefits we provide them. They need to be brought up on charges of treason and forced to face the consequences of their ongoing crimes against our nation. The GOP is Public Enemy #1.I can understand your request for trial and legal consequences for the greedy corporations who are pretty much breaking laws and getting away with murder.... I agree that we need to get to the root of the problem and create legal boundaries... but Mark had good things to say, believes in the philosophy behind conservative thought and is not evil at all!
Man, you seem so angry.
Why?
Great answer, Barefootfae! but I love Neil Young... I never listened to his words until recently, however! LOL
Do you not like his music?
(I used to be barefoot... all through the early 70's)Because that's what a liberal is. Angry.
The fun part is their party is in control and STILL they are angry.
Comes from listening to Neil Young all the time. That will make anyone angry.
Hmm, but the government basically did what he recommended after the Nasdaq bubble: use the fed to create a housing bubble. Why believe his policies would help the economy now?
Rubio - duly elected member of the Senate
John Boehner - duly elected member of the House of Representatives
Mitch McConnell - duly elected member of the Senate
"our duly elected president" is not a king or a dictator, the responsibility of the Legislative Branch is not to rubber stamp the dictates of the President but to author and pass laws for him to enforce, not ignore. Sometimes those laws are passed over the Presidents objection. When George W. Bush was the "DULY ELECTED" did you object to the resistance of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, because it was ample.Incidentally, GW Bush was never duly elected. He was appointed the first time and he lied, cheated and stole his way in the second time. His agenda (and more specifically Cheney's agenda) was to empty the coffers of the US treasury into corporate pockets (especially Haliburton). Anyone who resisted this nefarious agenda was right to do so.
Thanks for the rational and respectful fact based response. It is what I have come to expect. Having watched the 200 election process carefully, I am certain that you know that dozens of independent newspaper recounts found that Florida did go to Bush , while Al Gore's home state - the people knew him best having elected him to the Senate - also went for Bush. It must give comfort to the emotional to believe that Presidential elections are easily stolen. Duly elected must have many meanings. Apparently it is no longer appropriate to resist transferring over a trillion dollars to China, since that is the continued practice of the current DULY ELECTED.
Yes, I'm sure you studied them closely by watching Faux Nooze and believing the rantings of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck et. al. I have NO respect for Bush or Cheney or any other member of the GOP or anyone who admires them.
As to the "dozens of independent newspaper recounts" here is an excellent treatment of that faulty theory:
http://gadfly.igc.org/politics/florida.htm
...along with an apt quote:
"Make no mistake, Al Gore won in Florida. Under any consistent legal standard of counting the ballots, Gore won. The fact that the media consortium is lying about the results is ... an indication of just how debased our democracy has become." ~ Paul LukasiakAs to how Bush/Cheney lied, cheated and stole in 2004, here is an excellent collection of information, quotes and statistics that sums it up:
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICL … _ohio.html
Your tax dollars are getting spent wisely! Aren't you glad your president raised them?
They were raised on people making more than $200,000 a year to the level the rest of us pay anyway. Yes, indeed! Romney should be made to pay taxes on his billions at the same rate I pay on my below poverty level income.
No, they were raised on everyone, and it doesn't surprise me that you don't know that.
No, they were not raised on everyone. Actually, though, I do want to correct. It is people earning over $250,000, and they still get tax breaks up to that amount. It is the money over that amount that would be taxed at the same rate the rest of us pay. That's only fair. Taxes on the wealthy were at the lowest point in history during the Bush Regime. It's about time the wealthy stopped robbing everyone else and began paying their fair share.
but the government will use the money, Susanne! Not much will be given to the needy and not much will go to the debt. Why is it okay for the government to steal the money from the rich? And how do the rich steal the money from the poor? If there is any stealing going on it should be stopped by the law! Your hatred of the right is blinding you!
www.wnd.com/2013/02/whats-obamas-real-objective
Don't you see how the left is getting fooled by this administration?? You are so falling for it.Republicans want to shut down every program that benefits the average person. The GOP wants to corporatize everything from disaster assistance to education to prisons to infrastructure and more. Yes the government will use tax dollars for these programs as it has been since the New Deal. I don't mind paying for programs that benefit our nation and neither should any other person who has been able to build a business and live a good life. Instead, corporate entities, members of the GOP and American billionaires exploit our resources then hide their money overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
The GOP is working for corporate America while accepting pay from We the People. They are stealing our land, our water, the ability of the average person to get an education, find and keep a decent job, have a retirement program and health benefits and more. They are destroying the environment in the name of gas, coal and oil.
Monsters like the Koch Brothers and others like them put trillions of dollars into figuring out ways to convince the average person that "up is down" for the purpose of gaining control over our government and our nation. They have made a concerted and fairly successful effort to convince the average American that people with an education, scientists and genuine experts are not to be trusted.
The GOP, at the behest of corporate America, is in the business of destroying democracy and privatizing our nation. You are the one with blinders if you cannot see this. You are the one being fooled into believing all their God and Country and Mom and Apple Pie nonsense. I am in no way fooled by anyone. I have seen the writing on the wall since 2000 and it is writ large.
You may not believe this, but when Bush first became our selected official, I was willing to give him a chance. He very quickly made it evident that he was incapable of and uninterested in leading.
President Clinton left our nation in excellent financial condition. Bush drained our coffers into his corporate cronies pockets before the end of his first term and led us into an illegal and unjust war against a country that had absolutely nothing to do with the events of 9/11.
He and Cheney began destroying our government from the inside out right from the start. I know because I had worked at FEMA (then the crown jewel of the federal government - an agency that did what it was supposed to and did it well) for 6 years at that time. The Bush Regime set to work right away destroying FEMA.
The Bush Regime's cuts and meddling and incompetence caused all of the problems with the handling of 9/11 and of Katrina. They handed down decisions that destroyed our ability to do our work and allowed GOP corporate cronies (especially those in Jeb Bush's Florida) to grab huge grants with absolutely no accountability. Additionally, they changed the laws so that out of state contractors (carpetbaggers and scalawags) could come into the disaster area with workers from out of state or even out of the country, thus stealing the disaster relief aid that was intended to rebuild the disaster area, provide jobs for local people and stimulate the local economy. More often than not these grants were simply stolen and the money taken elsewhere and no work was done.
These things never happened before Bush, and they couldn't have happened until the Bush Regime tore up the rule book on disaster assistance. There are many more horror stories about the way the Bush Regime destroyed FEMA, mistreated seasoned workers and stole money from the American people.
I could write a book, but I won't. What I will say is, I have seen the way the GOP works from the inside out. FEMA was practice ground for them. Now they are destroying the rest of the nation from the inside out and trying to convince everyone that it is patriotic. It is far from it.
Yes, the stealing should be stopped by law. The GOP should be brought up on charges of treason en masse and incarcerated so that those of us who have actually read and understood the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and truly wish to support them and preserve our nation as a Democracy can get back to the business of doing so.
As I have said, the GOP has earned my hatred and my anger. They destroyed my job, and they are destroying my nation. They want to steal the money I have paid into Social Security and Medicare all my life. They legislate against the average American on a daily basis in the guise of "right" to work, religion and patriotism.
I am rightfully angry about their lies, theft and destruction, and my anger has nothing to do with anything said by President Obama or his administration. I have watched the actions and heard the empty and deceitful words of the GOP for more than a decade, and my opinion of them is based on my own observations.Thank you for explaining. Bush was disappointing to all of us. I don't know what happened. Maybe the same forces were behind him as behind Obama.
Thats why I think we have a common enemy... we just have to pinpoint it. The greed of GrandOldParty (Republican) is unjust and must be legally stopped...
(Which is why I consider myself to be a conservative.)The enemy is corporate power. The GOP works for corporate power, not for We the People. There is nothing conservative about today's GOP. They are just a bunch of criminals.
Dear Suzanne,
We conservatives know that and do not like to affiliate as republicans. Did you know that? Maybe this is not understood! Well, it is true! The conservatives believe in allowing the economy to percolate. It is what both parties want, (survival, basically!) I believe we need to get on the same page or at least in the same chapter!
Do you think this is possible somehow? I do not hate the left. I actually think the left and the right benefit each other! Where would we be, if throughout our American history, we did not have each other to identify and challenge philosophical inadequacies?
Also, it would be such a relief for us to know that in congress, the parties are not hating each other! Even the founding fathers had differences of opinion but they knew to show respect and to get along for the common benefit of all,(like families try to do!)
For the sake of moral support I hope we can all get along. That is why it is so devastating to hear your bitter criticisms of Marco Rubio, when all he did was take a sip of water. What do you not agree with in his speech?I used to respect the Republican party and I grew up with the notion that the two parties were to work together for the good of the country. One of the main influences in my own political beliefs was compassionate conservative, Tip Hall Jr., a Baptist minister, dairy farmer, principal of my high school, my political science teacher in high school and later a Texas state representative.
As I have repeatedly said, the GOP has EARNED my hatred with their actions since 2000. They are bought and paid for by corporate America. They are no longer in service of We the People. Their stated goal is to defeat our duly elected sitting president. They are traitors and criminals, and I will not waste any more time trying to see "their side". Again, the GOP is public enemy #1. They need to be brought up on charges of treason and incarcerated.You are halfway there. The democrats have sold us out to Wall Street and the labor force to the Far East. The Yin and Yang of the American ineffective political system is complete. We have the ultimate impasse and neither will budge. Who's move is it now?
@ Rhamson - nice try, but it is the Far Right that is doing those things. The move is to stop the GOP before they destroy our nation.
How does a party who is out of power and can't advance legislation destroy the nation?
Who told you these things?The move should be to stop them all. We have been sold a short bill of goods from both sides and until we know it, understand it and live it, it will never change. The two party stranglehold we now have in this country is run by the plutocracy of the elite. They don't care who wins elections as nothing will change and they have ensured that by supporting both sides of the isle for decades. They learned years ago as long as the constituency is informed by a corrupt media which they own and run by crooked politicians which they own they are in the catbird seat and no one will be the wiser. These left and right arguments serve no purpose other than distract us all from the truths they hold dearly. I am not trying to get away with slighting either side to the other. They both stink and are a distraction to fool us all. The longer you continue to point your finger at someone elses so called platform they win. You just have to clarify who "THEY" are to begin to understand my post.
Again, every person who works in this country had there taxes raised. Why do you dispute this fact?
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/01/02/e … p-in-2013/Well, for the very reason that's stated in the article:
"Rob Lutz, president of Cabot Money Management, says it’s really not an increase, but a 'replacement of a tax that did exist a few years ago.'
"The money from that temporary two-year reduction (which occurred under President Obama's watch BTW) was used to stimulate the economy to get through the recession.
“'And it did just that, it did help,' Lutz told WBZ’s Anthony Silva.
“'So now that we’ve recovered a little bit and we’re a little bit stronger, they’re replacing that tax and putting it back into the six-percent level.'”
That was a temporary reduction, just as the Bush tax cuts were intended to be temporary, but the GOP hollered and carried on and obstructed as usual about allowing those tax cuts to sundown as intended. Now, instead of acknowledging the fact that those cuts have been allowed to sundown, they want to rant about taxes being "raised".
Here's some interesting information about that:
RACHEL MADDOW EXPLAINS REPUBLICAN MATH - January 5, 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjhmNdd8itg
Published on Jan 5, 2013
I hate to tell you, that when the government raised capital gains, by a little over 4 percent, at the same time, they raised payroll tax by over 6 percent. So the little guy got stuck in the back again.
Personally, I dislike Democrats as well as Republicans, me well, I'm just an American. I don't even agree with my husband all the time, how could you put your trust in someone you don't even know? How many politicians have to be exposed for lack of character, before people realize it's the PR team that presents them as people, and polls that form the opinion. They are not real.
Krugman is a straight shill for the Socialist Left. If you think for one second either of the Party's in this country give two sh*ts about you you are crazy...
I was unaware that Mr. Krugman was such a bigot trying to keep Hispanics down.
It is the duty of all of our duly elected officials to work together for the good of the nation. The GOP's stated goal is to defeat our duly elected sitting president. They are traitors and should be brought up on charges of treason.
Good thing it is Zombies eating Rubio's brain, cause they don't need good nutrition.
I really can't figure out how or why Waterboy would somehow be a savior. Does the GOP really think it will make a difference, as a group of mostly old white dudes, to push to the front the guy who is the youngest and has slightly (maybe about 5%) darker skin.
It really doesn't matter how you look if you sound the same. If you spray paint your face so you look like an Oompa Loompa like Romney tried to and then offer policies that are detrimental to the majority of people out there, than you are not going to be very successful. That seems like a relatively simply concept the GOP seems completely unable to comprehend.
So what exactly about Rubio matters? His alleged working class background? His ethnic roots? His youth? Whoop-dee-doo! He got up on the national stage and regurgitated the same destructive GOP crap that they've been trying to bury us under for decades.
The GOP is like a bunch of buffoons thrown out of an airplane and in their deluded worldverse think that perhaps the different looking guy can somehow fly. I keep thinking that there is no way they can be so darn stupid and they keep proving me wrong.I am with justmesuzanne, Thank you junkseller
He is another problem in the system bought by Wall Street and the Koch Brothers. He will do well.
When the party of Fredrick Douglas stops trying to act as the doormats, to the party that pretends to care, and does it en mass there will be salvation. The whole one person savior has been done.
Rubio is not God.Krugman argues that conservatives "...dismissed warnings about a housing bubble as liberal whining.". Wasn't it Krugman who recommended the Fed create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble, and call economists like Peter Schiff crazy?
And I mention the Fed, because the Fed is the furthest thing from a free-market tool you could possibly expect. The financial crisis should have been a confirmation of free-market principles and a smack in the face of statist central-planners. No, the government didn't force the banks to lend the money, but it sure as hell made it profitable for them to do so with the insistence on low-interest rates. In other words, what did you think was going to happen?
" interest rates, far from soaring, are at historic lows " Only if you believe the government's inflation numbers (why would anybody? The government has a vested interest in getting people to believe inflation is not a problem) - for everyone else, food prices are skyrocketing (food, as an absolute necessity, is one of the few assets that can be fudged).
How Krugman can be venerated so is literally astounding.P.S. I don't trust Rubio either. It's incredibly frustrating watching two equally incorrect parties debating with each other.
http://www.libertyclassroom.com/dap/a/?a=2008
Onusonus, you hit the nail on the head.
Republicans get the brunt of attacks every time!
Rubio made a very good speech, and he multi-tasked quite well! (He took a few steps aside, took a much-needed drink of water, and did so without missing a beat in his speech!)
Even Obama can't follow a teleprompter that well! (And there's nothing wrong with using a teleprompter or whatever a speaker needs to use sometimes).
Rubio rocks!
And apparently Bob MENENDEZ stinks!!
Maybe we should make threads about all the Democrat or liberal officials who mess up horribly.
Republicans shouldn't be scapegoats for everything.
The only thing I don't like is for anybody, even if it's a Republican, to be labeled as a "savior", period. That's just not right. It was blasphemous when Obama willingly went along with that propoganda, and it's not right for anyone to try to label Rubio with it.
So----to Ralph, I wish you hadn't used that term. Again, just not right.I recall last year seeing the DNC reject god in their platform three times, and later liberals are cheering when Jamie Fox calls Obama our lord and savior. Those are some jacked up priorities.
What makes you think it was water in the bottle?
Why does the bottle matter at all?
If the man made a good speech the man made a good speech.
If the only thing you can pick apart is he picked up a bottle of water in the middle and took a drink I would say Conservatives will fare very well during the mid-tems.
here is Rubio's speech...can't believe media has made such a big deal out of being thirsty...a typical response though when a logical one can't be made...
personal attacks on Rubio don't make sense...to understand how he could make such a remark about government aid for college, one has to understand the policies and politics behind the issues and Rubio's personal opinions and how he thinks changes could be made to make educational aid better...
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/02/13/rubi … -precious/"can't believe media has made such a big deal out of being thirsty.."
Me either. I'm unable to figure out why the media made such a big deal out of this.I'm guessing a big deal was made of it because it is yet another example of GOP ineptitude. I mean, how hard is it to properly place a glass of water for a TV appearance? It's laughable that they can't even get that right. Jindal, Bachmann, and now Rubio. Every one was a disaster. Remember Bachmann weirdly looking off to the side? The party has driven away the intelligent, thoughtful Republicans and all that's left is incompetence.
So how you drink your water and where the bottle is placed has to do with intelligent and thought ful leadership?
Yes! Handlers are hired to prep the candidate and his surroundings for an important, nationally televised event, one that would set the tone for Republicans who oppose the President's agenda. Those handlers, who should be experts in creating the right visual atmosphere, blew it big time. It is a reflection of leadership that the people they hired can't get the visuals right on a national TV appearance where looks are so important.
I'm not saying that the look of an event should carry such importance, but it is a fact that it does and politicians, of all people, should know that.So you don't care if he personally has any substance or leadership skills as long as his handlers have things right?
How about that incident with the Queeen of England and our President? The toast?It was nothing compared with Rubio scrambling around and leaning off camera desperately looking for a drink of water that he apparently couldn't live without on the verge of his impending lie-fest.
Awkward moment in Obama's toast to the Queen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG7VSt0_VcU
Marco Rubio Fail: Senator Lunges for Poland Spring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w2A0qsgurUStop putting words in my mouth. I didn't say I don't care about substance. It was a ridiculously stupid mistake. All politicians or their staff make stupid mistakes at one time or another and none of them get a free ride for it from the opposition, including Obama for his toast. Fact of life.
Oh my gosh he ain't a robot... he wasn't exactly the perfect specimen or gorgeous illusion on National TV! G a s p !!!!. I thought it was so freaking cool that he reached for a glass of water! So cool.
Of course! They are trying to get us on board with the PPACA BS and he was talking it down! Of course they want us to see him in the light of bumbling buffoon!
It is a case of the Emperor wearing no clothes, but no one wants to say so! except the few...the powerless few... ugh!
Rubio is a prize compared to Ted Cruz. At least Rubio is house broken.
Is this because Mr. Cruz is off the liberal Anglo leash?
Is Marco Rubio "a" savior of the Republican Party?
Yes. I think he is. As has been stated above, he's infinitely more intelligent and intelligible than any of the recent spokespeople for the party. Compared to Michele Bachmann's SOTU response, Rubio's a vast improvement. Even if he's talking out of both sides of his mouth. That's what they need him to do. Repackage the image as hipper, younger and minority friendly. Even though the rhetoric is still classic GOP?
Is Rubio "the" savior of the Republican Party?
Careful of those expectations.
Look what happened to Paul Ryan...
And how about that Rand Paul?
Is he a/the savior of theTea Party?
Are we officially a three-party country now?Ted Cruz another potential GOP savior? Not a chance!
"He’s an ornery, swaggering piece of work. Just six weeks since his arrival on Capitol Hill, he’s already known for his naysaying, his nit-picking and his itch to upbraid lawmakers who are vastly senior to him, who have sacrificed more than he has and who deserve a measure of respect, or at least an iota of courtesy. Courtesy isn’t Cruz’s métier. Grandstanding and browbeating are. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/opini … ef=opinionThe Republicans today aren't the same party as they were in Lincoln's day (of course, neither is the DMC). The GOP seems to be all over the place and their biggests threat is themselves. For example, hey have Bachmann as head of their intellegence committee and Bible thumper Brown sitting on the Space and Science committee. LA governor Jindal said that the Republicans needs to stop being the "stupid party", but he passed a bill in his state that allows creation to be taught in their public schools. That's the tip of the iceberg and they need to stop partying like it's 1959 and get with the times - basically start over from scratch and stop the stupid crap.
Obviously Marco Rubio is going to be the latest victim of the left handed smear campaign.
That's obvious if we are going to pick on the water bottle thing.
I hope all the people who were up in arms about the drones will start paying attention to the tactics.David Plouffe on Marco Rubio:
"... But, I asked Plouffe, wasn’t the G.O.P. just one postmodern presidential candidate — say, a Senator Marco Rubio — away from getting back into the game?
"Pouncing, he replied: 'Let me tell you something. The Hispanic voters in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico don’t give a damn about Marco Rubio, the Tea Party Cuban-American from Florida. You know what? We won the Cuban vote! And it’s because younger Cubans are behaving differently than their parents. It’s probably my favorite stat of the whole campaign. So this notion that Marco Rubio is going to heal their problems — it’s not even sophomoric; it’s juvenile! And by the way: the bigger problem they’ve got with Latinos isn’t immigration. It’s their economic policies and health care. The group that supported the president’s health care bill the most? Latinos.'”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magaz … f=magazine"Another hack" who more than anyone else was responsible for Obama's successful election campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Did you read the linked article? You might learn something from it.
I can promise you he was no where near the only person reponsible for that. If that is his only claim to fame he ramins...as I said...a hack.
Just checked my calendar, surprisingly it is 2013 and Barack Obama has been President for over 4 years. I wonder what the Justice Department has discovered about all this criminal activity? Unless Obama has decided that this conspiracy theory is baseless. He has never shied away from the Race issue why would a credible accusation that there is active and provable race based voter suppression, unless he is in on it. Are you saying the DULY ELECTED is part of the Bush/Cheney/Rove/Satan cabal?
As for cool webpages, search the Bigfoot and UFO stuff - they have cool articles, government documents, dark conspiracies and everything a paranoid Democrat needs to blame Bush.In my experience, the majority of those who believe in Bigfoot, UFO's and dark conspiracies are paranoid Republicans.
Love what? Bigfoot or Paranoid Republicans?
BTW Andrew Jackson said, "It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to suit their purposes." July 10. 1832. This is where the problem lies and always has and always will. Conservatives are not to be mistaken for republicans.
OK?
What about his speech? What about it - as far as what he actually said- was unacceptable?
It really is not what he said at all that is unacceptable. He didn't actually say anything from the GOP that we haven't heard before. He repeated all of the GOP positions that Republicans were running on in 2012, and that a noticeable majority of 5 million Americans have already rejected.
I can't say that Obama did a great job in this regard, either. But he proposed policies that have pretty solid support by a majority of Americans.
Rubio did not do the Republican Party any good with his response, because he offered no proposals or plans to counteract the Presidents proposals and plans. No new ideas from the Republicans this year. They just keep trying to present the same proposals, in hopes that Americans will simply wake up and say, "Gee, gosh darn it, the GOP has some good ideas!"
Sorry, but Americans haven't done that, and won't, until Republicans give them something to compare to Obama's proposals that they haven't already seen from Republicans.About the only good thing that occurs to me about Rubio is that he's far preferable to Ted Cruz.
It is interesting watching politics in America today. In some ways there really are now two great divides. The left/right divide and the populist/pro-corporate divide. To me I see the Green Party as the populist left, the Democrats as the pro-corporate left, the Republicans as the pro-corporate right and libertarians and some of the Tea Party as the populist right (perhaps what you call conservatives could also be considered populist right). Of course these are spectrums, not hard-lines between black and white. The Progressives for instance I see as being on the left and mid-way along the populist spectrum.
This makes things very tricky, because we often debate from either side of the left/right divide when in fact it might make more sense to debate from the populist/pro-corporate divide. I'm generalizing, but you seem to fall into the populist right. I would put myself in the populist left, while justmesuzanne seems to perhaps be in the Democrat camp. And so I could agree with justmesuzanne on objecting to the GOP but might disagree on our support for the Democrats and I could also probably agree with you on populist anti-corporate principles but might disagree on the left/right divide (i.e. the size and role of government). You might also hold out some hope for a guy like Rubio because he is at least over on the right, yet for someone like me I see him as diametrically opposed both on the left/right spectrum and the populist spectrum.
I really don't mean this to pigeonhole anyone. I apologize if anyone feels I have wrongly placed them in a specific camp. I'm just trying to illustrate that our political landscape is much more complicated than right/left (and more complicated than even I have laid out) and I'm not sure people in general necessarily understand really where they, or others, happen to fall. And perhaps understanding that bigger map helps us to find common ground or at least better understand others.
I suspect that that is the point that rhamson is making. They are making a populist argument (i.e. anti corporate argument). As such they are calling out the pro-corporate position of both parties and how we are stuck because we are focused on the yin/yang of left/right rather than seeing the importance of the people vs the corporations.
I could also be completely wrong about everything so I hope no one takes me as if I were preaching some absolute truth. Just though maybe it'd be helpful.I agree with you. The problem is many people are not open for discussion but need to justify their position. Like a child, no one enjoys being told they are wrong...it hurts their ego. Some might like to read an Essay by Mark Twain, entitled Corn Pone Pinion. It is an eye opener for those who are open to re-evaluating what they believe, and why.
"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider a boon." Haha! Mark Twain was the best.
I agree with a lot of what you say. The two party system is tearing the country in two parte with no middle to bring it together. Perhaps the evacuation by many to the Independent status is the result. They always seem to moderate the vote.
I see a trend that is disturbing in that when you debate an issue in current day situations there always seems to be someone ready to discount your argument because of the people you gather with. The bias is exposed (maybe, maybe not) and anything that comes out of that individuals mouth is invalidated by the opposition.
Another hypocrisy that has overtaken this country is in the way we appoint justices to the Supreme Court. They are appointed with one political slant and must defend themselves and that slant to be come a Justice. I have to ask why anybody would want any "Biased" judge on a court to interpret let alone change the constitutionality of any case that comes before them. I would always vote for a court that has patiality as its driving doctrine. Is that what we have become?The two-party system is a problem. They too often seem to fight for party rather than what their party stands for or what is right for their constituents. Your example of judges is a perfect case. I thought that both Jill Stein (Green Party) and Gary Johnson (Libertarian) were very good candidates in the last election and I know a lot of people who were actually exposed to those candidates thought so as well, and yet they ended up with only 1-2 percent of the vote. I was really discouraged at how small of a dent they made. I don't know what it will take to change it, but one relatively simple way would be to actually allow them into the presidential debates. I can understand not letting everyone running be in the debate but Stein and Johnson were on the vast majority of State ballots. That alone takes a significant amount of work and, to me, is good enough to qualify for the debate. Personally, I think Stein and Johnson would have made Obama and Romney look like doofuses.
And don't even get me started on guilt by association. Talk about frustrating and most of the time people are just assuming the association in the first place even if it was a valid response which I don't think it is. "How to have a civil conversation on the internet" should be a required class in High School I think. The level of discourse on the internet is abysmal
Marco Rubio, the electable conservative? By Nate Silver
"...Being reliably conservative, however, is hardly a liability for someone who might hope to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Indeed, one reason to watch Mr. Rubio carefully is that, among the candidates who will be deemed reliably conservative by Republican voters and insiders, he may stand the best chance of maintaining a reasonably good image with general election voters...."
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.co … n_20130219Marco Rubio is not the GOP savior for two reasons: 1. He's too conservative and 2. He's Cuban-American which doesn't help him much with Mexican-Americans who are by far the majority of Hispanics in this country. Ted Cruz also is Cuban-American and his beligerant manner grates on most people, even Republican Senators.
But what did he SAY, specifically, that is so terrible!?
When they are speaking, they are lying (including Democrats). It's a con game and most Americans are not aware of it, or simply don't care anymore. What voice do we have when the politicians are bought up, by big business. It is big business that is running this country. If the current crisis is allowed to go through, which Republicans want, the only people who would be hurt are the veterans, children, soldiers, and so on. Big business will continue to be subsidized, receive big tax breaks and so on. Believe me, the government, big business, and the lot, truly believe we are stupid people. In a big way, they are right. If they can keep us going from crisis to crisis, we will be glad for anything that is done, to keep us from continually falling.
Jewel01, we are the people, we are the government. If we put greedy people in office to represent us and they don't, we need to vote them out of office.
I agree, we are the people, but we do not run the government. Voting for a lesser evil is not a choice, each person does not intend to vote in the "wrong person." Maybe it's time we do background checks on those running for office. Full disclosure to the public. We do background checks on the average person, who wishes to work for the government, and they have no control over policy.
I certainly, do not rely on the all mighty party to do what is best for me, or any other country. A person cannot rely on the government to give them the information, straight forward, it is always given in a spin. When we gave million, maybe billions to Howard Hughes, it was called securities. They chose this term with great care, so that the public would not be up in arms. Regan instituted the process of privatizing the airports. The security at the time of 9/11 was being paid 6 dollars an hour, with little training.
The question we should ask ourselves, when they sign a bill, is who does this benefit. We cannot rely on them to give us the skinny, but should look deeper into the matter. Many times these bills are fronts for interest groups to receive a return on their investment, i.e. contributions to their campaign. Don't you ever ask yourself, "why do they give so much?"I am all for background checks on the running politicians jewel01
"But what did he SAY, specifically, that is so terrible!?"
Again, nothing. THAT is what was so terrible about it all. We've heard Rubio's message before, and that message is the one that was sold to us by Mitt Romney, and the Republicans during the last election.
It was terrible because it shows that Republicans do not actually have any ideas, or any plans, or even any seriousness about tackling the issues before us. They simply try to repeat the same policies and plans that a majority of Americans have already rejected.Nathan,
[Here is some of what Marco said. My words are in brackets]
"Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity."
But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems. That the economic downturn happened because our government didn’t tax enough, spend enough and control enough. And, therefore, as you heard tonight, his solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.
[Mr. Rubio presumes to knows what President Obama is thinking]
For example, Obamacare was supposed to help middle class Americans afford health insurance. But now, some people are losing the health insurance they were happy with. And because Obamacare created expensive requirements for companies with more than 50 employees, now many of these businesses aren’t hiring. Not only that; they’re being forced to lay people off and switch from full-time employees to part-time workers.
[I am sure that Mr. Rubio knows that ObamaCare was signed into law in 2010, but will not become effective until October 2013.]Nathan, [More of Mr. Rubio's garbage]
The tax increases and the deficit spending you propose will hurt middle class families. It will cost them their raises. It will cost them their benefits. It may even cost some of them their jobs.
And it will hurt seniors because it does nothing to save Medicare and Social Security.
[Mr.Rubio does not want more tax on THE RICH and it is his party that wants to eviscerate Social Security.]Nathan, [More of Mr. Rubio's garbage]
The tax increases and the deficit spending you propose will hurt middle class families. It will cost them their raises. It will cost them their benefits. It may even cost some of them their jobs.
And it will hurt seniors because it does nothing to save Medicare and Social Security.
[Mr.Rubio does not want more tax on THE RICH and it is his party that wants to eviscerate Social Security.]
Rubio basically repeated Romney's 48% ideas.
You will find that it matters not whom the GOP fronts up there everything Romney said will be tagged on him like pin the tail on the donkey.
Hendrik Hertzberg on Marco Rubio in "The New Yorker" Feb. 25, 2013:
"...What Rubio offered last Tuesday evening was a dry—very dry—compendium of orthodox “conservative” banalities spanning the good (free enterprise, the Second Amendment, coal), the bad (government, taxes, Obamacare), and the ugly (a coded suggestion that wishing to do something about climate change is equivalent to believing that “government” can “control the weather”). His sole heresies were an avowal that “both Republicans and Democrats love America” and a daring penultimate line: 'May God bless our President.' Rand Paul eschewed any such grace notes. Instead, he delivered amped-up versions of Rubio’s anti-government bromides, added some libertarian extras (such as abolishing progressive taxation and turning public education into a voucher system), and threw in a denunciation of 'both parties' for 'backroom deals.'...
"This is the third year that the Republicans’ Tea Party faction has elbowed its way into the post-SOTU spotlight. Its previous spokespersons, Representative Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain, the pizza mini-mogul, were marginal cranks. Rand Paul, though a crank, is not so marginal: like Rubio, he is a member of the United States Senate, nominally subject to the disciplines of that august body’s Republican caucus. In the wake of November’s Democratic sweep of the popular vote—White House, Senate, House of Representatives—the G.O.P. is turning on itself. Karl Rove’s Super PAC, American Crossroads, has started a pest-control subsidiary called the Conservative Victory Project, tasked with delousing the Party of hard-to-elect Senate hopefuls like Representative Steve King, the gay-baiting Iowa birther, and Representative Paul Broun, of Georgia, who regards evolution, embryology, and the Big Bang theory as “lies from the pit of Hell.” Fox News appears to be on board, but much of the “base” is not. “This is war,” Michelle Malkin, the popular blogger, wrote. “The civil war has begun,” David Bossie, the president of Citizens United (the group behind the case), announced...."
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2 … z2LZUoiYQR
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2 … _hertzberg
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