jjamie12 Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) That doesn't so much of any good. A lot of lobbyists are former congressmen, or somehow attached. The rules need to be rewritten, and voting people in or out won't change that, when the pool of people running for office largely stays the same. It's a tough situation, because congress writes the rules on lobbying. I'm honestly not sure if there is an actual solution to the lobbying problem. It infects "both sides" of the aisle. Please think through this for just a minute. Why do lobbyists matter? What are the implications for lobbyists if no one gets re-elected? The mechanism to 'clean up' government is right there in front of all of us, but we're too busy treating political parties like our high schol sports teams. We deserve the government we get. Edited August 8, 2014 by jjamie12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Absolutely agree. Though, hard work and perseverance don't necessarily guarantee success. Nothing guarantees success. Nothing. But forgoing hard work and perseverance will absolutely guarantee failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Please think through this for just a minute. Why do lobbyists matter? What are the implications for lobbyists if no one gets re-elected? The mechanism to 'clean up' government is right there in front of all of us, but we're too busy treating political parties like our high schol sports teams. We deserve the government we get. Looks like the Tea Party is laying an egg all over American. Americans can see that their "solutions" tend to kill the patient http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/2014-elections-republican-tea-party-109834.html?hp=t2_3 Pretty good thanks. I had a nice vacation and now back working hard to expand my wealth inequality. How are you? I;m good, thanks. Just visited the battlefield at Antietam Maryland. Pretty awesome What type of skill does it take to work at Walmart and what is that skill worth per hour? If you're an adult and your skill is skanning merchandise don't cry to me because you can't fed your family. Why do you have a family to begin with? So the unskilled deserve to starve? Would you cut off their food stamps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 I;m good, thanks. Just visited the battlefield at Antietam Maryland. Pretty awesome Antietam's a good battlefield. Nicer than Gettysburg, where you have a monument to everyone and his dog. Eerie to stand in the Sunken Road and think of the carpet of bodies there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Just fer laffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) Absolutely agree. Though, hard work and perseverance don't necessarily guarantee success. That doesn't so much of any good. A lot of lobbyists are former congressmen, or somehow attached. The rules need to be rewritten, and voting people in or out won't change that, when the pool of people running for office largely stays the same. It's a tough situation, because congress writes the rules on lobbying. I'm honestly not sure if there is an actual solution to the lobbying problem. It infects "both sides" of the aisle. I think that's the big divide on the minimum wage issue... the article talks about a single woman who makes $15k/yr needing food stamps. Personally, I don't care how demeaning or simple the job is, the wage should be at the very least, a living wage. There's often talk about how assistance programs hurt this country, or whatever.. but wouldn't a higher minimum wage mean less people on assistance? Fanfreakingtastic. I live in the Bay Area. A living wage for me is about $100k minimum. So you're saying I can make that much seeping floors at Target? See now how the term living wage is asinine! Looks like the Tea Party is laying an egg all over American. Americans can see that their "solutions" tend to kill the patient http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/2014-elections-republican-tea-party-109834.html?hp=t2_3 I;m good, thanks. Just visited the battlefield at Antietam Maryland. Pretty awesome So the unskilled deserve to starve? Would you cut off their food stamps? Yup. There's they're motivation to become skilled. Edited August 8, 2014 by Chef Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Just fer laffs Gatorman's probably rolling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Antietam's a good battlefield. Nicer than Gettysburg, where you have a monument to everyone and his dog. Eerie to stand in the Sunken Road and think of the carpet of bodies there. Sure was! Such a lovely defensive position, unbelievable the Union troops captured it. I liked standing by Battery B on the Hagerstown Pike where Hooker's 1st Corp marched towards Stonewall's troops by the Dunker Church and imagining how that organized insanity went down. Burnside's Bridge got pretty beat up last winter and is under repair but the McKinley monument of him bringing coffee to the men is there. He survived Antietam and got popped in Buffalo! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Absolutely agree. Though, hard work and perseverance don't necessarily guarantee success. you're right. the key to success in anything is persistance. an important thing to remember is that most people that you or I would call 'successful' don't consider themselves to be, but see themselves as still working toward it. success is definied differently by everyone, and those who actually feel like they've been a complete success in life have usually set their own goals lower than they could have. we can help provide opportunity for people that need it, but they ultimately have to take control of their life and strive to achieve, no matter how long it takes or how hard they have to work. nobody has ever succeeded by having anything handed to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Please think through this for just a minute. Why do lobbyists matter? What are the implications for lobbyists if no one gets re-elected? The mechanism to 'clean up' government is right there in front of all of us, but we're too busy treating political parties like our high schol sports teams. We deserve the government we get. Lobbyists will just attach themselves to our new representatives, they don't really care who gets elected... most everyone can be bought for the right price. Even rich people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Fanfreakingtastic. I live in the Bay Area. A living wage for me is about $100k minimum. So you're saying I can make that much seeping floors at Target? See now how the term living wage is asinine! What does it matter if they are making that amount, unless an underclass is needed for others to advance. That $100k means nothing outside the context of the Bay Area market. They aren't sweeping floors for 100k and then hyperspacing it back to Peoria, Illinois @ quitting time every evening. Get over yourself, you may actually get more business for yourself... ie: More people saving or needing the assistance of a financial advisor. Well maybe, judging from the way Americans spend, I may be wrong. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Amount needed to be earned in order to be "happy." International. Germany is the lowest on the list @85K (2012): http://www.cnbc.com/id/50027184#. By United States. Mississippi is the lowest @ 65K: http://www.huffingto..._n_5592194.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepthefaith Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 See that's the thing about the Walmart problem. They are paying low and then steering their employees to gov't assistance. I mean really, as a business who wouldn't want the cheapest labor possible and have the gov't subsidize your business model on top of it to make sure your employees aren't dead when then walk in to clock in. Sure... Paying 15 bucks an hour, there will be some that lose their jobs because people won't be shopping as much or eating fast food. Isn't that a good thing? Heck, it is already getting to that point anyway with the cost of things vs. what you get. Of course there will be unintended consequences, but IMO we can live with them. I guess systems just hate change and shock to them. Yeah... Working hard posting on a Bills board @ 13:00... LoL... Who you fooling? ;-P ;-P If Walmart (and many other businesses) is forced to pay $15/hour, lots of people lose their Walmart jobs. They'll simply replace people with a better caliber of employee who can do the job of more than 1 current person or introduce more technology into their business which will reduce their needed headcount. Walmart will work hard to reduce their labor costs. The greater problem is the weak demand for labor and the lack of any recent policy change that might actually be pro-growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Yeah... Working hard posting on a Bills board @ 13:00... LoL... Who you fooling? ;-P ;-P Boom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 An examination of what's holding back the economy: Let’s take these five factors in failure one by one: • Housing is the biggest and least surprising, accounting for $239 billion, or 1.4 percent in missing economic output. We examined this sector’s continued underperformance earlier in the year, but the short version is this: Even years after the housing bust, the United States is building far fewer houses than would be expected given demographic trends. It may be that a broader shift is underway in the desire and ability of young adults to get homes of their own. Regardless, it is holding back construction and home sales activity. • State and local governments spent the years after the crisis cutting employees and trimming costs. The result: a $189 billion gap between what they were actually spending this spring versus what would be expected based on their historical share of the economy. • Durable goods consumption is $178 billion lower than it would be in our model of a fully healthy economy. This is most likely related to the same factors holding back housing. People aren’t buying cars, furniture and other big-ticket items as past patterns would suggest, perhaps related to the overhang of debt from the boom years. • Business equipment investment has been another weak spot, with corporate America spending $120 billion less than the healthy economy model would suggest, pointing to a continued lack of faith among executives about future demand. • Federal government spending is $118 billion below the level one would expect given longer-term trends. The spending cuts that were part of deals to trim expenditures emanating from the 2011 debt ceiling deal, combined with the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mean that federal spending was 6.8 percent of potential GDP, down from 7.4 percent of actual GDP from 1993 to 2013. Combined with the cutbacks in state and local governments, the government gap accounted for about 1.8 percent of GDP. http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/weakness-in-the-economy-can-be-traced-to-five-specific-sectors-20140810 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 An examination of what's holding back the economy: http://www.buffalone...ectors-20140810 I thought Obama's economic policies were succeeding, and growth wasn't being held back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I thought Obama's economic policies were succeeding, and growth wasn't being held back? Obama's policies are succeeding. It's the Bush policies that are holding growth back. You really need to study up on how to translate knob-gobbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 I thought Obama's economic policies were succeeding, and growth wasn't being held back? They are, but it could be faster still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 They are, but it could be faster still Faster, for example, if Obama hadn't "ended" the Iraq and Afghanistan wars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 Fanfreakingtastic. I live in the Bay Area. A living wage for me is about $100k minimum. So you're saying I can make that much seeping floors at Target? See now how the term living wage is asinine! Yup. There's they're motivation to become skilled. So you want to starve people, that's the economy you want. Most Americans are not cruel and stupid enough to want that type of society. And it wouldn't work anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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