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Truthiness About Obama, or get your TAO here! along with a few liberal viewpoints, and a troll or two, too.
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zipper
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Posted:
Sep 16, 2009 - 4:51pm |
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Beaker wrote:Ha! I was looking for a suitable thread with liberal in the title. Besides, the writer is Frank J! oh! Perfect. lmao indeed.
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zipper
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Posted:
Sep 16, 2009 - 4:47pm |
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Beaker wrote:Despite having all the power, the left is still throwing tantrums.
September 15, 2009 - by Frank J. The liberals were crazy angry while George W. Bush was president. Part of it was that for a time after 9/11, they were made completely irrelevant — when people are dying, who is going to listen to a liberal? But another part of it is that it’s much easier to hate a person than to hate a concept — like conservatism. So they were able to channel all their hate into President Bush. And they were jumping-around-pooh-flinging-biting-each-other angry. I think a number of conservatives were secretly looking forward to the Obama presidency in hopes that liberals might just calm down a little. Maybe they’d even consider supporting the troops in their war efforts for a change. At least, maybe they would be a bit less angry. Big miscalculation. Now conservatives have more reason to be angry these days, with liberals in charge and all the spending and government takeovers. But with Democrats having complete control of the government, you’d think liberals could be dismissive of conservatives and be calm themselves. But no, they’re still crazy angry. Maybe even angrier than before. Biting-fingers-off angry. They’re screeching about how all the people opposed to Obama are racists and neo-Nazis and stupid, and they’re using sexual slurs against protesters and boycotting everyone who disagrees with them. They’re still nuts, but why? See things from their point of view. The most fundamental principle liberals have is that they are all very, very smart, and everyone should listen to them. Nothing angers them more than something that challenges them to reexamine that core tenet. And that’s why they were so delighted by the election of President Obama and further wins in the House and Senate. For a moment they thought the American people had recognized liberals as their superiors and said to them: “Please! Smart people! Lead us and tell us what to do!” Of course, it is quite obvious right now that that’s not at all what the election was about. The Republicans had been screw-ups for a while, and with the failing economy (people tend to vote for the president based on the economy, which is only a tad smarter than voting based on the weather, but whatcha gonna do?), most people just felt they couldn’t reward the Republicans with leadership again. Also, many people were tired of the hostility between conservatives and liberals (though I’m not sure why Republicans got the blame, since we could have had bipartisanship if at any time liberals had decided to stop being a bunch of screeching ninnies who mindlessly opposed whatever Bush was for). Then came along Barack Obama, who promised non-specific hope and change, and everyone was like, “Non-specific hope and change sounds like a great idea!” But now we can see the problem. After Barack Obama was elected, he started doing specific things. Liberal things. No one voted for that, so Obama’s approval ratings have dropped faster than those of any president before him. And you can see why liberals are so frustrated. They had a charismatic liberal overwhelmingly elected with Democratic majorities, and even he is utterly failing to sell liberalism to the American people. This was the best chance they could ever possibly imagine, and it’s already pretty much over. Liberal ideas are still in the ghetto. While conservatives can still openly call themselves conservatives and argue directly for things they like (such as gun rights and free markets), liberals still have to run from their label and never dare say out loud the things they want, such as socialism and single-payer health care. How could liberals not see this coming? Are they not as smart as they think? Having to even contemplate such a horrible possibility is enough to drive a liberal mad. So they lash out. Since they are obviously so smart (obviously!), the only reason anyone could oppose them is that the person is stupid and evil. Thus everyone protesting must be a stupid racist. It’s the only conclusion possible without having to reexamine the central tenet that liberals are super smart and should totally run everything. And if you were under the delusion that you were surrounded by stupid racists who won’t listen to your obviously smart ideas, wouldn’t you be pretty angry all the time? So what to do? Conservatives are stuck with the increasingly impotent Obama until at least 2012, so even as the public is like, “Oh yeah; we hate liberals. Why did we vote for one?” it’s not like there are going to be any opportunities to pass conservative legislation any time soon. Or can there be? Since it seems there is nothing to stop the left from being crazy angry, let’s just see how insane we can make them. Then we can get them to direct that anger at Obama. The far-left (like the Kos Kids) didn’t even like Obama in the beginning of the Democratic primary; they liked Edwards (because of how smart they are). Now Obama has shown that he’s not the most adept politician, but he will eventually figure out that he’s going to have to do a few centrist-to-right-leaning things if he doesn’t want everyone (who matters) to hate him. That will just start stirring up the left with: “He’s a betrayer! We had our best opportunity to enact liberalism, and he squandered it!” Then they’ll start screeching and shaking their cages and throwing poo and probably even using racial epithets until Obama just can’t stand the left anymore (see former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman). Now, it’s a complex thing to get someone to change his political philosophy, but I have found that the most reliable motivator is spite. And we’ve all seen the angry left-wing loons. If you had crazed hatred directed at you by that many useless people, wouldn’t you want to respond with spite? Americans don’t like liberalism. Obama was only elected because Americans like people who say happy things, but it was in no way meant as an endorsement of liberalism. As liberals start to realize this, they’re only going to get screechier and angrier. So we might as well figure out a way to use that. Who knows, maybe one day we can even figure out how to direct it against America’s enemies. I'd forgotten about this thread! This is more of an O Bam All Ye Faithful, but ok. ;)
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NoEnzLefttoSplit
Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 17, 2008 - 1:41am |
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steeler wrote:I actually take exception not to the specifics but more to the perceived sentiment behind it — i.e., that government employees basically are getting paid more than they should while not really doing much work (stereotypes of lazy government workers, etc). I believe the context was an exchange about "socialism.'
To be fair it was not Zip insinuating that. It was me. So I guess I'd better come up front about this:
I do not think govt. workers are inherently lazy or get paid more than they should. I was merely whining about what I see as a certain imbalance in perception more than anything, if not the compensation itself:
For example, my wife is a teacher of special needs and has civil servant status. She has a very stressful job and is great at what she does. She also had 6 years of university education to get where she is. Nevertheless she has:
a secure job full pension and social security entitlements (the state pays half her medical bills and she is privately insured for the other half - cheaper than the usual state insurance) a full job entails 28 "hours" (45 min units) teaching plus preparation, PTA meetings and all the rest of it, so it works out at about 36 real hours a week full school holidays - 12 weeks a year (cough) admittedly a lot of emotional stress from teaching special needs kids and having to live with me
By contrast I work between 50 and 70 real hours a week, (only do-able by sleeping on average between 4 and 6 hours a night), have no paid holiday and no state subsidies for health as well as the insecurity of being fully exposed to any downturn in the market or loss of income due to sickness etc. My job is also a niche job that not many here can do and needs a university education. Yet my net income compared to hers (if she worked full time) would only be about 25%-30% higher than hers which quite frankly doesn't really offset the opportunity cost of getting up at 4 in the morning most days and feeling God awful. Ok, so I just wanted to bitch. (if we were paid solely on our service to society, my wife would be way above me)
I still believe in "socialism" and getting high paid teachers in to teach disadvantaged kids as a social duty. I don't have a problem with taxing the rich (which I guess I qualify as) to give opportunity to the poor. Where I do get my knickers in a twist is obvious inefficiencies and inertia in the state system and obvious cronyism. Here NZ could teach Germany a thing or two. I truly believe the state can do some things much better than the private sector and I'm happy to help fund that.
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phineas
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:04pm |
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Bumped for zip: zipper wrote: I understand your frustration. Government employees here are paid very well, including the teachers, despite what you may have heard. Plus, the federal employees (maybe the state as well, not certain because I can't pull up a W-2 for one of them in my head at this hour) pay no social security, yet they're paid a pension. Our tax dollars at work!
g-night.
I was interested in this so went to the google to see what was out there. This is from The US Office of Personnel Management.Could you clarify what you mean when you say that they "pay no social security"? ============================================================ Retirement Program If your appointment confers eligibility for the Federal Employees Retirement System your agency will automatically enroll you in this program. Almost all new employees are automatically covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan. The three tiers are: - Social Security Benefits
- Basic Benefit Plan
- Thrift Savings Plan
You pay full Social Security taxes and a small contribution to the Basic Benefit Plan.
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 6:45pm |
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woozurbuddy wrote: I'm not buying that for a second, sorry. But please set me straight with actual evidence and I'll gladly apologize for my mistake.
On another topic brought out here....I was a US Federal Government employee for about 10 years (in the FAA) and was grossly underpaid not only on a US scale but on a global scale. This was not my opinion - it came straight from a Federal Government report. I didn't pay Social Security taxes - and therefore was not eligable for SSN benefits either. I did pay into a federal employee retirement program at a rate equal to or higher than SS tax (depending on the year). So I was not offered some federal retirement program for free - I was forced to pay into a retirement program and prohibited from contributing to or benefiting from the Social Security program. When my employment ended I lost every dime I'd paid into that program - which doesn't happen with SS.
This is one of the crimes of the system... It forces people who otherwise would have moved on to other more congenial work to stay in harness and this breeds some of the maladjustment which is one of the causes for the myth of the lazy federal bureaucrat.
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Lazy8
Location: The Gallatin Valley of Montana Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 3:29pm |
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samiyam wrote:I don't know about others, but most of the gov't workers I know work long hard hours for less pay than they could make in the private sector and the only reason that they do this is for the good pensions which they earn by paying into them from each paycheck.
For example, the CALPIRG pension system which most California employees pay into has been investing the small pension stipends from thousands of employees for years and has created a huge coffer of money which they pay the pensions out of... it is reliable and has been around for a long while. Once you are vested into the system (after 20 years) you are guaranteed a pension you can live upon. (not one to make you wealthy). I can guarantee that to get that pension, you not only pay for it from your own paycheck, but you work hard for it.
I think you mean CalPERS—California Public Employees Retirement System. CALPIRG is the California Public Interest Research Group, a leftish political organization. CalPERS is invested in a wide portfolio of stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, and various cash instruments (tho there is some political meddling by the state lege intended to avoid non-PC investments and require local investment). Much like TIAA-CREF, it has been running in the black for an awfully long time—not a bad model for a pension system (unlike Social Security) (but I digress). Ironic isn't it—the government that controls our pensions basically lends that money to itself to spend, but government employees get theirs invested in a capitalist approach. But I digress again.
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:57pm |
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jadewahoo wrote: I have found it always best to take a person at their word... that what they say is what they mean... unless otherwise informed.
Then that bodes poorly for my considerations of the Zip. I was kinda hoping that I could just say that she and I don't have the identical political views and leave it at that. Maybe I've been wrong.
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jadewahoo
Location: Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:47pm |
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MsJudi wrote: Ok, Sam, maybe you can tell me because I've been genuinely confused about this. IS this really performance art? Has Zipper herself admitted to being a satirist? Because if that's the sum total of it, then I know that whatever is said is basically a piece of fiction rather than some true, deeply-held beliefs by this one individual.
I have found it always best to take a person at their word... that what they say is what they mean... unless otherwise informed.
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:22pm |
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MsJudi wrote: Ok, Sam, maybe you can tell me because I've been genuinely confused about this. IS this really performance art? Has Zipper herself admitted to being a satirist? Because if that's the sum total of it, then I know that whatever is said is basically a piece of fiction rather than some true, deeply-held beliefs by this one individual.
I have to believe that it's parody... Otherwise I'm going to have to look for the blood-type tattoo on her arm.
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MsJudi
Location: Houston, TX Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:11pm |
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samiyam wrote: It's part of the performance art... She's doing a parody of the left-wing pontificators who seem to proliferate around these threads.
Ok, Sam, maybe you can tell me because I've been genuinely confused about this. IS this really performance art? Has Zipper herself admitted to being a satirist? Because if that's the sum total of it, then I know that whatever is said is basically a piece of fiction rather than some true, deeply-held beliefs by this one individual.
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:10pm |
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steeler wrote:I actually take exception not to the specifics but to the perceived sentiment behind it — i.e., that government employees basically are getting paid more than they should while not really doing much work (stereotypes of lazy government workers, etc). I believe the context was an exchange about "socialism.'
I don't know about others, but most of the gov't workers I know work long hard hours for less pay than they could make in the private sector and the only reason that they do this is for the good pensions which they earn by paying into them from each paycheck. For example, the CALPIRG pension system which most California employees pay into has been investing the small pension stipends from thousands of employees for years and has created a huge coffer of money which they pay the pensions out of... it is reliable and has been around for a long while. Once you are vested into the system (after 20 years) you are guaranteed a pension you can live upon. (not one to make you wealthy). I can guarantee that to get that pension, you not only pay for it from your own paycheck, but you work hard for it.
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:05pm |
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MsJudi wrote:(I know you weren't responding to me, but I'm piping up a lil, here...) Is there something preventing her from "explaining herself" in her original posts? Seriously and with all rancor aside, I'd be happy to let her explain. I've asked her again and again to explain her beliefs. I've begged her to explain them. The only response I EVER got was, "Look it up." It's part of the performance art... She's doing a parody of the left-wing pontificators who seem to proliferate around these threads. The problem is that she's not funny. It's become a parody of itself, not the others. But we hope that the surgeons can re-attach her sense of humor soon.
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steeler
Location: Perched on the precipice of the cauldron of truth
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 12:04pm |
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I actually take exception not to the specifics but more to the perceived sentiment behind it — i.e., that government employees basically are getting paid more than they should while not really doing much work (stereotypes of lazy government workers, etc). I believe the context was an exchange about "socialism.'
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MsJudi
Location: Houston, TX Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:51am |
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Lazy8 wrote: samiyam wrote:She's on a roll... don't confuse her with the facts. Dude, she does this for a living. Let her explain what she means. (I know you weren't responding to me, but I'm piping up a lil, here...) Is there something preventing her from "explaining herself" in her original posts? Seriously and with all rancor aside, I'd be happy to let her explain. I've asked her again and again to explain her beliefs. I've begged her to explain them. The only response I EVER got was, "Look it up."
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:50am |
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Lazy8 wrote: samiyam wrote:She's on a roll... don't confuse her with the facts. Dude, she does this for a living. Let her explain what she means. Go teach yer granma how to su... Uh... I'm very aware of the joys of performance art. But I'm better at it...
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phineas
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:49am |
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Lazy8 wrote: samiyam wrote:She's on a roll... don't confuse her with the facts. Dude, she does this for a living. Let her explain what she means. That's what I'm thinking — just interested in the comment, and what I was able to find through a search didn't look to support the point, so it will be good to read her professional opinion.
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Lazy8
Location: The Gallatin Valley of Montana Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:47am |
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samiyam wrote:She's on a roll... don't confuse her with the facts. Dude, she does this for a living. Let her explain what she means.
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MsJudi
Location: Houston, TX Gender:
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:46am |
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phineas wrote:You pay full Social Security taxes and a small contribution to the Basic Benefit Plan.
You rock my socks.
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samiyam
Location: Moving North
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:43am |
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phineas wrote: zipper wrote: I understand your frustration. Government employees here are paid very well, including the teachers, despite what you may have heard. Plus, the federal employees (maybe the state as well, not certain because I can't pull up a W-2 for one of them in my head at this hour) pay no social security, yet they're paid a pension. Our tax dollars at work!
g-night.
I was interested in this so went to the google to see what was out there. This is from The US Office of Personnel Management.Could you clarify what you mean when you say that they "pay no social security"? ============================================================ Retirement Program If your appointment confers eligibility for the Federal Employees Retirement System your agency will automatically enroll you in this program. Almost all new employees are automatically covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan. The three tiers are: - Social Security Benefits
- Basic Benefit Plan
- Thrift Savings Plan
You pay full Social Security taxes and a small contribution to the Basic Benefit Plan. She's on a roll... don't confuse her with the facts.
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phineas
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Posted:
Oct 16, 2008 - 11:33am |
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zipper wrote: I understand your frustration. Government employees here are paid very well, including the teachers, despite what you may have heard. Plus, the federal employees (maybe the state as well, not certain because I can't pull up a W-2 for one of them in my head at this hour) pay no social security, yet they're paid a pension. Our tax dollars at work!
g-night.
I was interested in this so went to the google to see what was out there. This is from The US Office of Personnel Management.Could you clarify what you mean when you say that they "pay no social security"? ============================================================ Retirement Program If your appointment confers eligibility for the Federal Employees Retirement System your agency will automatically enroll you in this program. Almost all new employees are automatically covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan. The three tiers are: - Social Security Benefits
- Basic Benefit Plan
- Thrift Savings Plan
You pay full Social Security taxes and a small contribution to the Basic Benefit Plan.
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