Congratulations to the people of the state of Illinois

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Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
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I haven't read through it, .....

Then you'll fit in with the vast majority of legislators...probably on both sides of the aisle.

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Gotta light?





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quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:

quote:

Originally posted by MTH:
The folks that want to repeal the healthcare bill keep talking about how bad it is, but I HAVE YET TO HEAR ANY OF THEM TELL ME WHAT THEY PROPOSE TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.

Okay, I'll admit it...I'm more of a complainer than a problem solver! However, I am well aware of the difficulties small business owners have in this country and am having a real hard time understanding how this bill will make your life any better.

I'm not sure it will either. But I'm sick and tired of the Naysayers who love to criticize, but offer no real alternatives. All THOSE people really want to do is maintain the status quo, which ain't working.

As I mentioned earlier, at least the Obama bill prevents companies from automatically refusing me because I had back surgery 6 years ago. Under the old system I would have NO option but to stick with my current insurance company because no one else would insure me. In essence, they have a monopoly on my business. They can pretty much charge me anything they want, and I have little choice but to pay it.

At least now I have other options.

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And what we need are better options.

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I have a feeling the naysayers will be quiet for awhile.. Now that the house has turned red, you can bet that no significant legislation will pass in the next two years. Therefore, there will be nothing to attempt to repeal. And THAT is the status quo.

It also needs to be mentioned, especially in light of the fact that a lot of us here have college age children playing baseball, that I am grateful that my children can stay under my health insurance plan until age 25. I can't imagine having to buy individual policies for each of them.

And with all due respect papi.. You won't find an "I don't care" quote anywhere in my post. Please don't put words in my mouth. I have someone at home who does that for me...

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"you can bet that no significant legislation will pass in the next two years."

Yes...we can only hope that's true!




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quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
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"you can bet that no significant legislation will pass in the next two years."

Yes...we can only hope that's true!




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If your life is going so well that you are desiring the status quo, you should be eternally thankful. For some Americans whose lives were turned upside down by what happened during the Bush Administration, we need more done than extending tax cuts for the top 2% while watching our jobs move to a foreign land.

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If you have two pennies you have twice as many as I have.

I'm not clamoring for the status quo. Who is? I'm just wanting our leaders to quit throwing money around like there is no tomorrow. I'm not buying a lick of it...I'm keeping my penny.

The current administration has not convinced me in the least that they have any real clue as to what they're doing. None. Sorry.



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quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
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If you have two pennies you have twice as many as I have.

I'm not clamoring for the status quo. Who is? I'm just wanting our leaders to quit throwing money around like there is no tomorrow. I'm not buying a lick of it...I'm keeping my penny.

The current administration has not convinced me in the least that they have any real clue as to what they're doing. None. Sorry.



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And the previous one did?

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Tit for tat. Where does it stop? I think alot of people who voted for Obama expected way more than what he is delivering. We need someone who can get the job done and return our country to being prosperous.


As I stated at the very beginning of this thread in November, 2008, I had, for the sake of our country, wished Obama well. In my opinion, he has not done a good job.

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And there are quite a few who believe that he is doing the best he can with the mess he inherited.

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And they have every right to believe that. We simply agree to disagree about this.

We live in a great country that is under severe strain right now, but I'm confident that we will go forward and overcome our difficulty.

More and more of our fellow citizens are paying increased attention to what is going on around them. That includes you and I and all of the others commenting here on the HSBBW. This, in my mind, is a very healthy development even though it may be uncomfortable at times.

We are stronger as a result of this. We've been here before and we'll be here again. Let's learn from this so that we're even stronger as the dark clouds dissapate.

To all of my fellow HSBBW members who disagree with my point of view, please know that I respect your opinion and appreciate that you take the time to become informed and then get involved. That shows all of us that you care and without that concern our great country would not remain great.

If we were to all sit down and share some time together I am positive that when all is said and done we would discover that we have much, much more in common than we may have realized previously. Again, a healthy revelation.

We have very tough decisions ahead of us, but I'm confident we'll make them. This dialogue here is a part of that process. I'm glad we're alert and engaged. We are the solution.




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This article provides a lot to chew on. I am one of those severely underemployed persons who is referred to in the piece. It hits home!

The reporter doesn't chronicle much finger pointing, but rather he has gathered the opinions of several noted economists who urge our lawmakers to become informed. With that I could not agree more.

I don't know where the truth is on this subject, but we must seek it, understand it, and then utilize it.

Note: I've also posted this in the Between Barack and a hard place thread in the Unusually Unusual forum.

Some info about the National Journal.




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Now my head is spinning!!!

But here's new news out of New Hampshire. Romney has won a straw poll of Republican votors for the next Presidential election.

I'm voting for him for sure.

Why?

His first name is MITT!!!!!!!

Papi, 4:15 am? I get up at 3:15, but that's when the water is soft and there's fishies to be caught...but 4:15 am in the winter?

You crazy, man.

I am not an Obama fan. But not the reason you ight think. He has been called Socialist and other things. He is not liberal enough, and won't fight for progressive ideas.

You talk about healthcare and he caved on the public option. You talk about deficits and he caved on not continuing the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%. The House passed over 200 bills that were stopped by filabuster in the Senate.

Gotwood says the administration haqs not shown it knows what it is doing? When Obama took over we were losing 700,000 jobs a month. The private sector has had 9 nonths of adding jobs. Teh market was at 6,500 and 401K's were down. We are at 11,500 now. We have most of our troops out of Iraq. We should get the rest out of Afghanistan and save lives and money. The actual recession ended in 2009 (although a jobless recovery doesn't do us any good.

Obama has disapppointed me by continuing to try to compromise with people who openly state their number 1 goal is not to help the Country, but to defeat Obama in 2012. To help the middle class we must stop hiring advisors for Goldman Sachs who tanked the Country and fight corporation who have their biggest profits in history but won'r spend the money on jobs because of "uncertainty".

Someone needs to step up for people and get corporate money out of elections and stop teh redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the super rich which has gone on unabated for years.
We have the biggest disparity between rich and poor in the industrialized world (where is the trickle down?).

We need to repeal NAFTA and protect American jobs and stop tax breaks (corporate welfare) for corporations that outsource jobs (another campaigne promise not delivered on).

the problem with Obama is not that he's a Socialist, is that he is not enough of a populist. He works with the same coprorate guts that tanked the economy (Summers, Gietner etc.) Your future Mayor did no good either.

I respect all your opinions. We all want the same thing, a better future for our kids.

The Heartland Hawks will be very good this year with Grundy, Razo and McKinley leading the pitching staff. Go Hawks!

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"I respect all your opinions. We all want the same thing, a better future for our kids."

BINGO!



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Bravo Baseball Dad, Bravo! I was just as upset that the Republicans held hostage unemployment benefits in order to pad their own pockets (I am sure they all fall into the top 2% bracket and therefore couldn't see their way to doing what is best for the country). I am sure that the President had nightmares over this topic and finally conceded he had no choice. He wasn't going to compound the misery that the unemployed are experiencing by cutting off their benefits completely.

And while the public option sounded great to most, I don't think he had enough support to get it done.

Next up: The State of the Union address and his economic targets. Hopefully he will get enough support to make the next couple (six) years a time of recovery for all..

Go Bears!

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Hostage? I seem to remember fiscal responsibility being the reason the funds were held up. Not hostage taking.



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quote:

And there are quite a few who believe that he is doing the best he can with the mess he inherited.

And here is one of the major flaws of Obama's administration and his followers. They stick to the past too much.

I was a fan of President Bush. I agreed with most of the things he did in response to 9/11 including going into both Afghanistan and Iraq. As things progressed, that support eventually whithered.

I have never been a fan of Obama. For two reasons. 1) He's from Chicago. He is a Chicago politician and in this part of the state that does not lead to much love. 2) He hadn't shown us anything. All he's ever done is campaign for election. And frankly, he's at it again already. If he spent as much time leading this country as he does campaigning for election, he'd be a much better leader.


As far as healthcare goes, I know there are changes that need to be made. But passing a healthcare bill that the legislators chose not to read "because it's so long" is not helping the cause. To start with, we need to eliminate a lot of red tape. Physicians have a monopoly on care because they have deep pockets. Physical therapists have a monopoly on rehabilitation because they have deep pockets. If they are the best for the job, that's one thing. But because they have deep pockets? There are other professions out there who can provide care but are unable to do so at the same level because of politics. Those politics are also costing us more money.

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"He's from Chicago. He is a Chicago politician and in this part of the state that does not lead to much love."

Much? You're admitting there may be just a little shred of love?



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quote:

Much? You're admitting there may be just a little shred of love?

Just out of St. Clair county maybe.. they're all the same

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Illinois politics: "So goes Chicago, so goes Illinois."

Frustrating isn't it?




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Fiscal responsibility? Try passing on that description to some of the frustrated unemployed as you are taking away their grocery money.

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
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Hostage? I seem to remember fiscal responsibility being the reason the funds were held up. Not hostage taking.



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Do you sincerely believe this? As JKennedy said, they were posturing to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%. How is that being fiscally responsible?

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:
Papi, 4:15 am? I get up at 3:15, but that's when the water is soft and there's fishies to be caught...but 4:15 am in the winter?

You crazy, man.

I'm sure you'll be responsible with this phrase (adapted a bit):

I post more before sunrise than most people post all day!

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The Republicans wanted the funds for further unemployment compensation to be taken from the existing budget rather than adding it to the budget and the deficit.

If I remember correctly they wanted to have the funds come from the stimulus money which was available. The Democrats refused and wanted it to be additional spending. They must stop spending! Responsibility versus irresponsibility. Simple.

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Even if it means people losing their houses?! In our township the normal percentage of home sales that are foreclosures is 1%. In 2010, it was 26%! And, I'm sure there are other townships that are significantly higher. Stop playing politics on people in their time of need.

Never in our history since unemployment has been paid out, has unemployment benefits been cut off for people when the unemployment rate has been higher than 7.5% until now.

quote:

Stop playing politics on people in their time of need.

When politicians quit the politics, we'll be good to go. How can they pass a bill without ever reading it? How can they honestly believe everybody else should take a pay cut while they get a raise? With the healthcare bill in mind, how can they believe it's fair and not "politics" when some representatives wouldn't vote yes until it was written that their state would be exempt from some of it?

You want to talk about cutting politics-- let's talk.

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Perhaps the current administration should spend less time taking care of their public and private union buddies and more time working on and fostering a climate that will help in creating meaningful private sector jobs.

He didn't do much in his first two years to alleviate unemployment. Now that he has lost control of the House he is singing a different tune. We'll see. Actions reveal more than words.

It is my opinion that he has not done a good job so far, but for the sake of the country, and especially those who are really hurting, I hope he can do better and lead us out of this mess.

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By the way, the democrats did have a plan to pay for the unemployment benefits. They wanted to not extend the Bush tax cut to the wealthiest 2%. Of course, the republicans wanted none of that. It is far more important to them to take care of the extremely wealthy first than to assist other Americans in their time of need.

Trickle down economics does not work any more. Senior leadership at corporations are rewarded with incentives to whittle down the middle class positions in the company by either eliminating them or migrating them to another country. This is only going to increase. If you have not been affected by this, you will be in some way soon. As more and more unemployed lose their benefits, a second recession will be coming our way.

And the prior Republican administrations did? How many balanced budgets did W (Worst president ever) PROPOSE, not pass, PROPOSE? Heck, who was the last Republican to come CLOSE to balancing a budget? W came in on the tail in of unprecedented economic expansion, and how did he leave the country? He came in during good times, cut taxes, and still left the country worse off than he found it. Go figure.

Of course I will be fair (something you will not do) and say that even though Clinton presided over unprecedented expansion, and was the only president in recent history to come CLOSE to balancing the budget, he also deserves some of the blame for the the Bush-Clinton recesession. Why? Because in some ways he out Republicaned the Republicans when it came to easy credit and lax regulation.

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
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The current administration has not convinced me in the least that they have any real clue as to what they're doing. None. Sorry.



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Wait a minute. You're voting for Romney, whose Romney care has been compared to Obamacare in many respects? Make up your mind man, are you for it or against it? Romney has no chance. The lunatic fringe of the Republican party (aka Tea Partiers) will paint him as a flaming liberal, just as they have tried to do with Obama.

quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:
Now my head is spinning!!!

But here's new news out of New Hampshire. Romney has won a straw poll of Republican votors for the next Presidential election.

I'm voting for him for sure.

Why?

His first name is MITT!!!!!!!

quote:

Of course I will be fair (something you will not do) and say that even though Clinton presided over unprecedented expansion, and was the only president in recent history to come CLOSE to balancing the budget, he also deserves some of the blame for the the Bush-Clinton recesession. Why? Because in some ways he out Republicaned the Republicans when it came to easy credit and lax regulation.

He also wrecked the defense of this nation. Let's think: World Trade Bombings of 1993, Somalia, Kosovo, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, 1998 bombings of US Embassies, USS Cole, and I would also include 9/11 as all incidents that occurred as results of his "economic expansion."

That led to President Bush needing to spend significant money during his administration to re-ignite one of the greatest military forces in the world!


But that is the past and it's time to look forward. The President and the Congress need to figure out ways to reduce the deficit and reduce the massive debt. Giving money away to low-lifes who won't get a job is not going to solve it. But President Obama won't worry about that-- it's time for him to start running for re-election. Heaven forbid he do his job that he's elected to do.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog 19:
[QUOTE] Giving money away to low-lifes who won't get a job is not going to solve it. B

You really need a clue. People are losing their houses intentionally in your view. Do you really believe that these people do not want a a job?

quote:

Do you really believe that these people do not want a a job?

I'm not saying all of them. But there is enough abuse of the system. But when it's more financially beneficial for these people to not work, why would you expect them to actually get a job?

BTW-- thanks for attempting to put words in my mouth..

You called them low lifes! How am I taking that out of context? The people that lost their jobs as a result of the Bush Administration and cannot find work are generally dedicated employees who have worked all of their lives, typically in their 50's, and desperately want to work. For you to call them low lifes indicates total ignorance and callousness on your part!

Educate yourself and watch this report from 60 minutes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6987699n

Where did I group everyone into one category? Like I said, there are plenty of them who use that government money to buy alcohol and other drugs. They are low-lifes. But we'll keep feeding them money because they'll keep voting for the politicians. And that's the whole job of the politician-- keep getting elected and keep wasting taxpayers' dollars.

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And I repeat...

The current administration has not convinced me in the least that they have any real clue as to what they're doing. None. Sorry.

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"And that's the whole job of the politician-- keep getting elected and keep wasting taxpayers' dollars."

So very true. Hopefully we will vote those type out and replace them with politicians who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work solving our nation's problems. These poilticians will come from both sides of the aisle. We deserve no less. Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Green and others...we all have one vote. And with that vote we are the solution.



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