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Carender is at a microphone, holding up a $20 bill, challenging Democratic Congressman Norm Dicks of Washington to come get it.
“You come and take this $20 from me,” Carender said, “and take it as a down payment for the health care plan!”
Months later, that clip still makes Carender smile.
“I tried to boil down in essence what makes me so angry about it,” Carender says. “And it was this idea that he and other people decide what the needs are in society. They get to decide. But in order to fund those things, they have to take from some people in order to give to the other people.”
On Carender’s blog, among the books she recommends (along with Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism) is the US Constitution. But it’s pretty clear that Carender’s never actually read the Constitution herself, because Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 clearly states,
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.
Translated in Teabagger that means, “other people get to decide what the needs are in society and take your money to fund it.”
Why do Teabaggers hate the Constitution?
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Not Libertarian enough.
Because at heart they are hugely autocratic, but only if they are in charge.
Why do Teabaggers hate the Constitution?
Because the only thing they have is being racist, hating, homophobic thugs. They do NOT believe everyone was created equal and they are too stupid to understand they routinely and consistently vote against their own interests and that of their children and the country as a whole.
Ooh. A quiz!
Because it applies to everyone and not just the ones they think it should apply to?
Oddly enough, I think we may both be right. A Libertarian Autocracy seems to be the goal…and we’re dealing with people too dogmatic to recognize that their dogma is obviously stupid and self-contradictory.
So far, two out of five votes for “They’re stupid.”
Thanks, BT. Happened to hear the piece on the way to work this morning and….well…cringe indeed.
It’s a given that they’re stupid. The question is, what kind of stupid are they?
Because corporate interests are paying lots of money to create the ideological infrastructure where this course of thought is legitimated?
Teabaggers hate on the Constitution because…they are the polar opposite of democracy. Remember the original American Constitution haters were the Redcoats, Tories, England Royalists. The Republican Party and Conservative Teabagging Libertarian scallywags belong to the Party of anti-democrats. It’ that simple.
the Constitution is nothing more than a bunch of paper. Other nations in the world, have similar, but don’t feel the need to clutch it daily. Is it paranoia, fear, or helplessness? One thing I’ve noticed in my lifetime. The US is the only nation on the globe that continually uses the constitution as an argument, almost daily. Nobody else does. Why is that? Seriously, why is that? And to edit, most use the “forefathers of the constitution” arguments as well. Why? They were rich, white males that wanted to totally disregard their own nation’s laws (England) which if done like this now, would be called treason and they would be put to death.
They don’t hate the Constitution. They revere it
fetishize it. It’s not what it says that’s important, it’s that saying “The Constitution” trumps all legal and political arguments.I’d argue that that’s a good thing. You can actually read the Constitution and have arguments about what’s in it; you can’t make up stuff and say that it’s in there if it’s not (unless, of course, you’re a teabagger).
I read an op-ed by an Australian who was heading back after five years in the States, and he said that that was one of the good things about the U.S.: That you have everyday citizens arguing “But the Constitution says this!” “Yeah, but it also says this!”
But as for the question at hand:
Because it’s un-American and wants to lose to the Terraists, of course!
Kos has the result of a poll of self-identified Rethugs and it is very interesting
Thank you FDL for this important info. I actually live in this Congressman’s district, and had originally planned to attend the TH meeting. I didn’t because I attended another TH and came away pretty satisfied that things were moving in the right direction.
Now I’m really sorry I didn’t go. I would have happily engaged “Liberty Belle” and put paid to her ridiculous arguments by asking her if she has ever gotten a student loan, ever driven on an interstate highway, or plans to use her Social Security money when she retires. All are the product of “takings.”
If you read the ravings on her blog from the commenters, it’s pretty clear that these people are terrifed of single payer health care. Which is an utter mystery to me. Seriously. I gotta go back and read “What’s the Matter with Kansas”.
Sheesh.
Why is that?..
Because we have one…and over a million people have died to defend it against Republican type fascist tyranny.
Why the need though? Really, why? I mean other nations, you KNOW you have rights. You don’t need to go through a book to find it on a daily basis. There are certain basic rights, everyone has. Doesn’t matter where you live really. Are Americans that insecure, they have to look up if they have the right to free speech for example? Why?
Who doesn’t? Canada has one. Nobody recites Article 5 paragraph, umpteen to prove anything. It’s just known.
Some wrap themselves in the constitution in the same way that Fundie Xtians tend to use the Bible. It can be a nice filter for reality if you are so inclined especially if wrapped around the head. And if you have never read the constitution then all the better.
The Kos poll crosstabs are HERE
like voting for democrats is not against your own interests obama/bush are the same: patriot act, rendition, bank bail-out,escalating wars, more military spending, no habeas,no financial regulatory reform, loaded with lobbyists and add being forced by law to buy a product from a corporation that they gave an anti-trust exemption to–also threaten iran, and no re-importation of drugs(how do you trust dems after that–the republican and democratic parties are the problem- to expect change is not supported by facts–JOIN THE REVOLUTION RON PAUL
Who doesn’t what?
Have a Constitution.
Stupid is a condition.
Ignorance is a choice.
These folks choose to believe as they do. In my book that’s worse than being unable to understand the choices.
Why do Teabaggers hate the Constitution?
Because they learned all about it under the “no child left behind” educational program?
No. They’d just get more bonus money nowadays.
Seriously, I don’t think your comparison is really analogous. Sure, Americans do clutch the Constitution as though nobody else converted to constitutional democracy since (or hasn’t evolved past us). I agree with you that the founders of the US are unduly deified. It’s a mythology that’s sickening, considering that they did commit a forgotten holocaust. But they did represent their era of intellectual renaissance and humanism, which has slowly died off since then. Not saying they or their contemporaries in other countries were saints, but comparing the founding fathers to rich white men (read: Lord Blankfein or Lord Murdoch) nowadays is a stretch.
How much would you be willing to bet, that a similar poll of KOS posters, would show similar Democratic Party answers? KOS is no more progressive, than RedState. It’s just a cheerleading site for Dems.
Fucking stupid.
Thanks for this, BT.
I have written a column on small business management for many years in a national trade magazine. Last year I voiced my unmitigated support for EFCA and the teabaggers came out of the woodwork. I confirmed in an e-mail exchange with one of them my progressive predilection and support for single-payer. He said, “The enumerated powers of the Constitution won’t allow that!!” I replied, “Read the Constitution. The enumerated powers you claim to love and know so well include a little thing called the commerce clause…’” (You can read in detail about our exchange here.)
His next e-mail: “We could keep going back and forth [uh, clearly he couldn't!], but I have more important things to do.”
Yeah – like cling to his guns and his religion.
And Glenn Beck just might be in a category all by himself.
To boldly go where no wingnut has gone before…in the small bus.
You have to read Kos’ detailing of why he had the poll conducted. It’s on his front page.
The most interesting thing about the poll, for me, is that a large majority believe abortion is murder, and a similar majority believe the death penalty is necessary.
Let’s see: Murder of fetuses bad, Murder of criminals good.
Practicing Christianiness.
I don’t think Beck believes much of what he says. He’s making a fortune off these people. The more outrageous he is the more money they throw at him.
Don’t know or care. The poll is on Republican beliefs. Personally I am not a fan of some of posters at DKos but there are some folks on the main page who are doing some interesting writing.
Don’t forget the drones cruising around the middle east. Someday, they’ll be cruising in US air space. It’s only a matter of time.
On the other hand, choco rations are up. Double-plus good.
They don’t let the contradictions hit them in their asses on the way out the door do they.
It’s the Fox model. Beck is the loss-leader. If only the advertisers would bail on the whole shebang. Problem is that the network is leading in the cable ratings…which is scary on a number of levels.
I wish I could count the number of times I’ve had that discussion with forced birther/pro-death penalty folks. The kicker is they almost always hold the Bible up as their guide. But it’s only the words of the prophets of the Old Testament they hold up, never the words of Jesus.
“. . . But in order to fund those things, they have to take from some people in order to give to the other people.”
This is her issue. Which translates in the real world to: “I got mine and I should keep all of it. Yes, I want good roads, parks, but others can pay for those things, not me.”
Of Teabaggers, Abe Lincoln would have said;
“You can fool some of the people, ALL of the time”… ;^)
— cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth
Back to work.
Namaste
Jesus was a DFH and the prophets of the Old Testament are more like Cheney.
Thank you for your input, but I do not find right-wing Libertarianism to be the answer to all my problems. Good afternoon.
Careful,
doesn’t take into account innocent vs. guilty.
Hehe.
I agree with some of what you’ve stated. There is probably an ice-cubes chance in hell that I would ever vote for Ron Paul. I have lived long enough to never say never but it’s highly doubtful.
Eurasia. The us has always been at war with Eurasia.
Pauliacs spreading out & proselytizing, I see.
Exactly! Thanks for pointing that out.
“other people get to decide what the needs are in society and take your money to fund it.”
Actually, this is a valid problem with the Dems. Obama wouldn’t have gotten elected if he said he supported expanding the war in Iraq & Afghanistan, or the bastardized health care mess they came up with, or bailing out the banks, or keep Gitmo open, or continuing to torture, or continuing to expand the military budget, or … etc etc etc
We vote to put them in office and then they do a 180 on their campaign promises to do exactly the opposite.
Actually I believe if you check, Obama did campaign on intensifying things in Afghanistan. It’s just that a lot of folks either didn’t pay attention to it, didn’t believe he meant it, or just assumed when he said Iraq he meant both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Too bad the NPR interviewer didn’t have the wherewithall to ask the dumb-bunny Teabagger the following question:
“Why are you traveling down to Pierce County to challenge Norm Dicks, at a Town Hall in a district where you don’t even live? Dicks isn’t your Congressional representative. You live in Seattle, in King County, the 7th District. Are you afraid to challenge your representative, Jim McDermott, in his — and your — own legislative district?”
Too often, NPR reporters fall down on the job of asking the obvious follow-up question.
Progressives ignore the constitution. It limits the size and powers of the federal govt. It limits the welfare and the taxes. The did not put an income tax in there for a reason.
Dangerously stupid?
I noticed. Obama was no pacifist during the campaign. He only said he’d like to end the Iraq conflict so that we could do the “real” work of “finishing the job.” Pretty convenient for the defense industry/budget.
Pailinesque stupid.
Great question and I bet they don’t know why either!!
Dumb Fucks!!Each and everyone of them… its their way or the highway… let them all go to one state, secede from the Union and then we build an impenetrable wall around them with no contact with the rest of us…
To better understand what we are facing please take a look at the scientific poll Kos commissioned to measure Republican opinions.
It is a real eye-opener!
http://www.dailykos.com/statepoll/2010/1/31/US/437
Seems like you ignored the 16th Amendment.
the two main obstacles to a bright future for our country are the military industrial complex and corporatism– fully supported by both parties-to tax at the local level rather than giving it to the black hole federal government makes great sense and it wil stop the wars and corporate give aways– ron paul is the only vocal peace canidate out there- worked with ralph nader on third party hurdles and was dennis kuciniches 1st choice for vp-your better served by your tax dollars staying local. there is some accountability—thank for your response
Here. “They” put the amendment procedure in for a reason.
You can laud the progressive income tax. It has bankrupted the states. It was also sold by Wilson on a lie.
As I was ripping that $20 from her hand, I’d have said:
Thank you for helping to support someone who hasn’t had your good luck in getting the medical attention they deserve.
No it hasn’t. No it wasn’t.
Even with respect to the Old Testament, they often pick a sentence or two if they can misconstrue the meaning. If the larger story is about why vengeance will fail, they will pick the smaller part where someone attempts to get even and ignore the deeper meaning. Plenty of people have learned a lot about ethical responsibility from the Torah that some Christians choose not to find in the Old Testament.
As for attempting to actualize something like the Sermon on the Mount, I’ve been given the impression that that particular passage doesn’t come up very often in some churches.
It doesn’t limit anything, it defines the size and powers of the federal government. It also contains the power to tax. READ IT.
Seriously, you’re like one of those people that Bible-thumps but doesn’t even study the text you say you support. You just read the words and then parrot them back.
In short, you don’t understand what the Constitution is.
READ IT and you’ll gain some insight, hopefully.
please search ron paul hope- peace is a powerful message and seeing someone take on the republican warmongers with common sense is priceless it will start to convert you — i too did not believe i could vote for libertarian ideas– but i became convinced it was the only route after the bail-outs and all since then i have been more convinced that only the constitution will keep the government and their favored corporations from destroying us economically–the facts support my conclusion
Blah, infowars trolls.
“You can laud the progressive income tax.”
Okay.
People hate what they do not understand.
the paliacs are spreading in a grass roots coalition of independent and reforming republican and democrats- a prophet on the economy and peace– the more informed you are the more you like ron paul
I hate platitudes. However, I do understand them.
You know, I admire Ron Paul personally for a lot of reasons, but the libertarian ideology is impossible to put into practice and frankly incompatible with a democratic republic. Libertarianism is based on the idea that regulation is unnecessary because the public will simply decide how to affect entities with its actions. As in, say, if Fox was a bad thing, the public would simply shun it en masse and Fox would have no customer base, therefore Fox would simply go away.
The problem is that things don’t work this way. The entire world is not some stark marketplace where every consumer is savvy, understands the consequences of all of their choices, and can make informed decisions in every instance. If people DID work this way all the time, then libertarianism might be feasible.
The problem is that people are not always at their best, and in most cases, are not. It’s kind of silly to think that everyone can make those kinds of decisions without education or experience or problems to learn from.
Okay, he’s not a prophet, dude. He’s just somebody that stands up for his ideas.
God is not working through a special box in his head. He doesn’t have divine powers or divine authority. He does not make predictions or interpret dreams.
Now, as I’ve said, I respect the man for some of his positions, but I entirely disagree with his policy.
I’ve noticed that teabaggers tend to be Bible thumpers, who in turn tend to be fascist in their thinking. So this may explain why teabaggers don’t think too much of our Constitution, especially our civil liberties. But because teabaggers tend to be gun-totters, about the only thing they do like about our Constitution is the second amendment.
Which leads me to say that Rahm Emanuel is someone who wouldn’t mind seeing our country turn into a fascist state. But Cass Sunstein, I’m afraid, as Glenn “Glennzilla” Greenwald points out, is someone who is willing to use his power in the Obama White House to turn our country into a fascist state:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/01/15/sunstein/index.html
So Cass Sunstein is someone that the Right and the Left can agree upon.
Gun-totting teabaggers are afraid that if Sunstein gets his way, he’ll take away our right to bear arms. But if you think about it, they should have little to fear that he’ll do this because Obama has a strong track record for 1) supporting gun rights and 2) caving to teabaggers’ demands. So for these reasons, Obama isn’t likely to appoint Sunstein to the Supreme Court, where he could do lots of damage to the second amendment.
Leftist civil libertarians, OTOH, are afraid that if Sunstein gets his way, he’ll take away our freedom of speech. They really do have reason to be fearful of him doing this not only because Obama has a strong track record of undercutting liberals, but also because he has done next to nothing to scale back, much less give up, any of the ill-gotten, anti-American, unconstitutional presidential powers that Bush so ruthlessly accumulated during his years in power. So for these reasons, Obama may indeed extend his presidential powers to Sunstein so that he can silence those of us who speak out against our government.
I find it ironic that loud-mouthed media pundits, like Beck and Limbaugh, are making a lot of noise about Sunstein being a threat to our second amendment rights, when he’s really not much of a threat to this, while media pundits, right and left alike, remain silent about him being a threat to our first amendment rights, when he is very much a threat to this. So I find this to be doubly ironic that media pundits depend on our first amendment rights in order stay employed, but they’d rather use these rights to defend our right to bear arms than our right to free speech.
Wilson progressive tax was to fund ww1. Progressive Wilson jailed thousands of people who spoke out about the war. Wilson said the 1% income tax would last till the end of the war. This and other federal mandates to the states have led to states being virtually bankrupt. See California.
Because most of them are quite certain that God wants them specifically to be wealthy and the Constitution has no such provisions and exceptions. It may be possible to say the for some people the idea that if they are taxed to “promote the general Welfare” then the Constitution must be in error.
The Atlantic had an interesting article on a comparable subject called “Did Christianity Cause the Crash?” referring to the preponderance of people in some churches that helped convinced partitioners that God wanted them to be rich. The natural outcome being that they expected divine intervention if they got in trouble. One can assume that if the government taxed them then the government must be acting against the almighty.
Apparently not.
Now there was a truly good idea. Thanks for reminding me to look him up. He also tried to protect children from being used as laborers but the SCOTUS of the time would have nothing of it. And his people came up with the eight hour work day. Still, as you say the progressive income tax was a truly good idea.
The 16th amendment was ratified on February 3, 1913.
The US entered WWI on April 6, 1917.
Had to finance the build up and the give aways to Europe. Wilson planned on going in. Read the history of Wilson. He tried to sell the American public and could not.
Thanks; good points all of them.
Shorter answer (which you probably “get” anyway): the 2d Amend issue can be made in simplistic talking points that are red meat that GlennBilloRushSean can toss out freely to the Tea Baggers to rile them up into a hating frenzy, plus it’s done wonders for the guns ‘n ammo industries (seriously) in a down economy. Follow the money.
The 1st amend issue is more complex & nuanced; harder to simplify into red meat talking points, and anyway, it all sounds like pointy-headed liberalism, which, as we all know here is definitely not fashionable. Taking away the rights of free speech, anyway, would sound like a GREAT & FANTASTIC idea to many teabaggers, who would probably vote for it, and then when something bad happens, SeanRushGlennBillo would tell them to blame us DFH’s, and they would happily do that.
I agree that Sunstein is a worry and should be highlighted more. Calling RM and KO….
i would only ask that you look to where “federal” government intervention has made things better- you actually make ron pauls point-which is the regulation should be left to the states not that there would be no regulation- we dont dictate to the states(his position),on bank regulation he understands and clearly states the existing fraud laws need to be exercised and those responsible for this mass theft should be prosecuted– not surprisingly no democrats or rebs will even whisper that- look at the history of re-importation of drugs– thanks for the response
California is bankrupt because of Prop 13, dude. That and the ballot initiatives process which allows a majority of voters to give themselves LEGALLY MANDATED PROJECTS with no mechanism of paying for them.
Has nothing to do with income taxes. Really, I know you didn’t come here to listen to anything, but you need to stop and THINK. Otherwise you’re just going to continue to be somebody else’s mouthpiece spouting talking points.
Wilson also sterilized 60,000 people before stopping. Progressive movement also gave us the federal reserve. Bankers overseeing bankers. Progressives are in the vast minority, and this election will show this.
We are talking about the same Ron Paul that endorsed Chuck Baldwin for President I assume.
Personally I like my church and state kept separate. Very separate.
i don’t know about ms. carender, but i bet if congress was doing a better job regarding its responsibility to provide for the general welfare, people would be a little less pissed off.
and frankly i’m a little more concerned about the resentment congress and our president show for the constitution than i am about someone who has no power to undermine it and, to my knowledge, took no oath to defend it.
please chk dr paul’s warnings about the housing bubble starting in 1989 and escalating to 2003 where on the banking committee he warned they were turning it into a global crisis –prophecy fulfilled on peace look at his pre iraq/afganistan wars about specifically ” without a declaration of war THE WARS LAST FOR EVER– he is by far the best peace advocate out there -he rips republican war mongers-thanks for the comment
Once a person has settled on a complex set of myths constructed over years, little thing like facts aren’t going to get in the way.
Longing for that “Permanent Republic Majority”, are you? Those were sunny days indeed and nothing ever went wrong.
The Harper’s article is worth reading. As I’ve stated before on FDL and elsewhere I am the sole, lonely liberal in a family of super-duper-extra-stength fundie teabaggers whose churches are either off-shoots of the C Street “Family” or their ministers follow the C Street “Family” playbook.
I grew up as a born-again Christian and watched many churches become perverted by rightwing “theology,” which, if one actually believes in Satan, then I would argue that these types of churches have been infiltrated by Satan. At any rate, my family certainly spends loads more time discussing Satan these days than Jesus.
Pat Robertson & his band of brainwashing, manipulative “Family” brothers have done the heavy lifting in this effort. My family loves ‘em some 700 Club, and a more insidious group is hard to find. and yes, they all preach that IF you follow THEIR teachings then YOU DESERVE (I hear the phrase “I deserve” a whole LOT from my blood relatives) to be RICH beyond all imaginings, and if you happen to notice someone who is poor or whatever (esp if they have brown skin), then it is CLEARLY their own FAULT that they are poor because, most likely (esp if they have brown skin), they worship SATAN!!!!!!!!111!!!
And so on. I won’t go on. So this dolt in WA – I’ve heard about her – subscribes to this philosophy, along with that other Republican standby: I got mine, so eff you.
With other Republican friends that I have – who aren’t totally brainwashed by weird churches – I feel like saying: well, hope ya have a good fire hose in case your house catches on fire cuz clearly you don’t want to pay any taxes to fund the fire dept (or, really: the fire dept should just take care of THEM only).
These people are mostly narcissistic, self-absorbed, smug little racists who don’t give a stuff about anyone but themselves. And they talk big about being libertarian, but like every other subject that they rant about (communism, socialism, capitolism, facism), they don’t really know or understand what it means. They just spout out the latest talking points from the rightwing media, and it’s fashionable right now to act like you’re all concerned about the constitution (which they also don’t read or understand).
And finally: I can say from first hand, in-depth experience that most of those fundie C Street “Family” type churces definitely focus almost solely on the Old Testament; bare lip service is paid to Jesus. And yes, they definitely do cherry-pick Bible verses that fit into whatever junk they are selling… and they do NOT put the verses in context of the larger story. These christianists are all very, very adept at this cherry-picking stuff… it suits the message they want to push out.
do twe facts support a conclusion that the democrats or the repubs and corporations will ever be resonpsive to the people-if not why not bring that power back to the states fund things there you can see where the money went
dr paul would agree with you- the federal government should stay completely out of religion – the founding fathers in large part despised organized religion- to way your distrust of paul for his endorsement of a candidate compared to the havoc reaped on this country by both parties as they, together have taken us from the dominant(in every aspect)country to the biggest debtor nation in just fifty years is a herculean task-but not worthy of your vote
Again, I’ve already told you that I respect many of his positions, but his underlying ideology is the problem I have.
Granted, the Fed should be audited. The bailout should be investigated, and the government should use its powers to put corporate America under its thumb, not use it to keep corporate America in its pocket.
Federal government intervention making things better? Federal minimum wage laws, federal anti-discrimination laws, federal income taxes, federal funding programs (which are then apportioned to states), federal health, safety, and labor regulations (most of which are the baseline as states have the right to set better standards), federal agencies like Social Security and Medicare, federal grant and loan programs to states, etc…
Are you HONESTLY telling me that every single one of these things has had no effect or has strictly been a bad thing?
I’m not saying that Democrats or Republicans are the right choice. But I’m just as certain worshipping Ron Paul as some sort of political messiah or god isn’t the right choice, either.
Again, Ron Paul has some good positions, and those good positions I support. But he isn’t perfect and he some BAD positions that I don’t support.
The world is not black and white and you need to realize that while it’s fine to support him, you need to still realize he’s simply an elected official and that this is a democracy. The voice of the people is more important than any one politician.
no that is not my point it much much less effect to fund things thruogh the federal government-certainly i agree with regulation(prefferably at the state level) but ,for example the department of education is a joke–having that money never taken from the states and spent on education where the state is resposible to the partents-will yeild much better results– do you think what the dems and repubs have done is worthy of continueing– i say no, they have bruoght us to brink of banruptcy while managing to loer the standard of living for generation of workers- cannot support it
your right i support ideas, but it is not reasonable to support dems and repubs and expect change, that is clear– do a pro con on ron paul he is more progressive than the dems- on major important issues you may find such common ground that he becomes the only logical choice to the status q-thanks for the response
The problem I see with relying on the individual states for regulations is that few of the states have either the power or willingness to stand up to the largest multi-national companies that come in and pollute, dump waste, rip off the taxpayers, whatever. That’s why it HAS to be done with the Federal Government, knowing that even there, the influence of the corporations is outsized.
You REALLY need to stop detracting from my criticisms by moving the conversation back to being about the Dems and Republicans. Yes, they both do bad things. You’re talking about Ron Paul, and I’m talking about Ron Paul.
Again, the Department of Education is NOT a joke. Saying that each state can decide its own education standards allows states to plummet to the bottom if they so choose. It’s NOT acceptable for students in Texas to have education standards that they only learn science from a Christian standpoint because enough of the parents are Christians. It’s NOT acceptable that programs can be co-opted and standards derailed just because school districts need to coddle parents that want only their own agenda presented.
if you look closer you will see that federal government protects the polluter by pre-empting the states and super lax regulation that offers legal safe harbor– two quik examples cali,s effort to regulate green house gases and car exhaust and consumer protections on banks by states,corporations always have a size advantage–but it is clear it is less difficult to attack problems at the state level- the feds are totally unresponsive–bail-outs, public-option , re import prescription drug, no more war ect ect- thanks for the comment
But at the same time, you have the Coal companies dominant in states like Kentucky and West Virginia and Virginia. You have Tysons polluting in Arkansas at the same time they dominate in Little Rock. And there are many more examples of these in all the other states.
As bad as the Feds can be (and they have problems I know) and as weak assed as they are in some areas, think of how many parts of the country would be that much worse off if they weren’t around, weak-assed or not. We ARE one nation, no matter how many times folks miss it.
Think of it this way. Prior to the Civil War, it was usually “these United States Are…” Post Civil War, it became “the United States Is. We went from plural to singular. Are their problems in that? Yes. But fewer than if all states are running independently of each other.
well we are 38th, in most categories rated on a world wide basis- why would i want those who control my chids education answeering to washington no me and the other partents- if the answer is they are wiser or spend the money better( no chid left behind) it sounds like you may have adapted the postition of the lesser of two evils, but the real choice is the status other political machine- i understand you arguement- i just believe that the bad the federal government does with wars,bailouts ect out ways the good- ron paul is another option-name a third
wind and solar would be competitive with fossils if not for the federal governments subsidies for hydro-carbons–in germany almost 20% of energy is solar no fed funding they simply said those who put solar panels up will receive x per kilowatt for the next 15 years. at that rate banks lent to homeowners and along the merry trail of energy independence the homeowner went– dems and repubs would never do that or allow a utility to do that ron paul would-vote for ideas not parties
How about Ralph Nader?
He’s done more for common Americans than Ron Paul most likely ever will.
big ralph nader fan . he and ron paul worked together to breakdown the monopolist election structure erected by dems and repubs. i am sure if you asked ralph who he supported for last cycle it is ron paul.dennis kuciniches 1st choice for vp ron paul-you can support both like i do– nader is an american hero and would tell you that what ron paul fights against military indusrial,corporatism,war and corruption are the most important issues of our times
How did she feel about bush deciding to go to war, risking 1000s of American lives n spending HER money on that war? Does she only object if it could better our lives?
I always love that argument. So childish. Yes, everyone gets a line-item veto on their taxes.
Idiot.
US constitution, whatever any of its commandments may mean, has served US warlords and feudal lords quite well.
It served all generals in their onslaught against indigenes. It also welcomed US; oops, truman’s, nuking japan and incinerating some 250k japs. At one time even slavery was ok.
But even the greatest evil of man against man had been ok: division of americans into more- and less-valued.
From this one iniquity stem all iniquities on interpersonal, intrapersonal, and int’l levels.
And US is just begining. Expect not the same but much more iniquities from more-valued people. Probably at least 30 more wars of aggression. Most likely use of wmd against pashtuns if they keep irking better-valued people.
If the teabaggers knew this, they’d not complain. For devil sake s’mbody tell’em that. And they wld be as happy as a lark!
They do know [or not?] that the sacred constitution had not prevented the civil war. Does have right to criticise it?!?!
you should read the constitution. although it nor any document can prevent countries from doing evil things. ie the declaration of war required by constitution is a constraining mechanism that precludes wars that last forever.it is a document designed to limit the federal government from doing all the things you sight. but the sheeple complain and vote d&r and avoid the constitution and those who understand its great import
Did you just call me an idiot because I pointed out the hypocrisy in applying one set of rules for a Democratic initiatives while supporting pretty much every abuse from the previous administration?
WOW!
I am too well bred to reply in kind.
I think Blue Texan was actually agreeing with the spirit of your criticism of the Tea Party woman in the article and calling HER an idiot.
I could be wrong, but that’s how it seems to me…
I dunno but I think BT was agreeing with you and stating that the woman he wrote about was the idiot.
No, see #111 and #112.
You misrepresent Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 ~it refers to contributions from the (united) states, not taxation of individuals.