Quote: (11-08-2012 12:02 AM)tenderman100 Wrote:
Quote: (11-07-2012 04:48 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:
GOP suffered a dramatic defeat, and is now at the point when it would either change or extincts completely. Considering that this happened despite, let's say, not a very impressive leadership by Obama, the extinction is a real possibility for them unless they kick out the idiots. But then who'd vote for them?
A retarded "tea party" seem to be the thing in the past, and I'd speculate nobody would even remember them in ten years.
Vast majority of ballot measures are voted in a quite impressive way. Marijuana and same sex marriages legalized, lame attempts to prevent AHA defeated.
It is a very important social development in terms of those things being legalized by the majority of the voters. The DOMA defeat and the reversal of same sex marriage bans in state constitutions is much closer now. Same for marijuana legalization, and rewriting of the Control Substances Act at least.
There's still some dark zone - Alabama, Arkansas and Montana, of course, were an exception. But it would be quite a stretch to call their population smart. Basically they're being forcefully dragged into the reality of the 21st century, kicking and screaming, while they dream about waking up in 1950. But they are not important anyway.
Looks like a lot of people finally woke up and don't buy Fox News shit anymore. Therefore there's still hope.
No, you are absolutely dead wrong.
Hope is slipping away.
This nation is headed down the road to fiscal catastrophe. Believe me, it's scary...and hope won't do a damn thing to stop it.
Now math may be hard for you, but I will keep it simple.
Medicare alone has a $37 TRILLION unfunded liability. I know left wingers like you have a hard time with financial concepts, but an unfunded liability is effectively a promise that can't be kept.
Got that?
Now we're almost to the scary part. The annual Gross Domestic product of the United States is about $15 trillion. Ok, I know, I know, it's another tough financial concept for you, but c'mon, you have at least SOME brain cells, right?
So, now divide $15 into $37. Can you do that? I'll wait a moment while you go sharpen the pencil you just dropped.
Figure it out yet? OK, 2.5 is close enough.
Now we're at the really really REALLY scary part. Sitting up? Paying attention? I know you really really want to spend your time dissing Fox News and all, but this is really really important.
Medicare's unfunded liability is 2.5 time our annual GDP. So that mean...
TO ADEQUATELY FUND MEDICARE WE HAVE TO DEVOTE 2.5 YEARS!! worth of ECONOMIC ACTIVITY to pay for it!
That would mean that nobody gets food, gasoline, heat, water, iPhones, new computers, or the shit cleaned up (the real shit, not the metaphoric Fox News shit that you seem to have a fetish for) for 2.5 fucking years!!
Are we clear now? And, oh, this is just ONE Fiscal catastrophe we are facing. There are others. Huge debt already on the books and growing at more than $1 trillion a year. Social Security. The Federal Reserve flooding the economy with dollars that are inevitably going to lose their purchase power.
Oh, and that taxing the rich stuff? You know eliminating the "Bush tax cuts" that Dems are so orgasmic about? You know how much that raises over 10 years? $900 billion. $90 billion a year. When we have a deficit annually over $1 trillion!!! (Ooops sorry, you were supposed to do that division, but I have to move a lot faster that you, alas).
Now, I know you are looking at that rock again, and thinking, "Gee, all this math, can I go back under my rock now?"
OK, you can go now. It's the best place for you, because, you know, math is hard. Especially for Democrats.
Thing is, I actually agree with Tenderman on the above. But Republicans offer what? Tax cuts? That's going to shrink the deficit?