[flash]

it's going to be very interesting to see how much of a pissing contest the next 2 years becomes.



while the republicans are likely to try to repeal the affordable care act, the reality is that they won't be able to unless obama allows it. repealing a law requires the same things as passing it, including the presidential signature.



the same will go for anything else. it will be equally interesting to see how much obama tries to push through immigration reform. strategically he probably should not have waited. now, if he tries, he is likely to fail.



stalemate for 2 years is my prediction. by that time, there will be a number of other factors which will change things. the economy continues to improve, housing prices continue to climb, gas prices continue to drop. these are all things that will affect how people think, and by then, people may think "maybe we jumped too soon". also, there is a lot of room now for another round of congressional turnover, which could put the house back in the hands of the dems. further, the republicans have a long way to go before even being able to think about the presidency.



interesting times.

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[kzem1]

The next two years will be interesting indeed. The R's will pass a millions bills in the House and Senate that the American people support to force Obama to actually sign or Veto bills that Harry Reid kept off his desk for the past 6 years. Obama will do everything possible to bait the R's into impeaching him so can spend the rest of his term screaming about how America is a racist country. Look at who he is putting up for Attorney General. A female version of Holder. Another race relations nightmare for America. Sad.

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[flash]

that's silly. he's not going to do anything like that. it would be party suicide. sure he'll veto bills. that's his right. probably best too. repealing health care would be a huge mistake. giving corporations more tax breaks would be too.



i don't know anything about the AG yet, but i don't see a problem. the country had better start getting ready for a LOT more minorities in positions of power. whites are not all that far from being outnumbered. it will only be a few more years. playing the race card doesn't have the impact it used to. the rednecks in the bible belt are in for a pretty big disappointment if they think that things will ever get back to what they used to be.



we do live in interesting times.

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[ds968]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1415630477' post='163565'] giving corporations more tax breaks would be too. .[/quote]



Except for repatriation of jobs ; if more tax breaks are not just a mere incentive , but are conditional upon companies which currently outsource jobs overseas bringing those jobs back in the U.S. , I'm all for it ! I would be willing to pay considerably more for the goods we buy if they are made by US workers and knowing those workers spend their earnings back into our economy.

Just make unions illegal, no one wants to pay $ 10 for a pencil because that union worker on the assembly line making it here in the good ole' USA earns $ 75,000 a year and has a pension plan guaranteeing retirement at 55 years old with 80% of his salary for the rest of his life.

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[flash]

i can buy off on that. i can buy off more easily though on penalizing companies who send the jobs overseas. their products should see a heavy import tax. if it's made here, it's american. if it's made outside the country, it's foreign. it doesn't matter where the office is.



i agree about unions. their time has passed. if we took the money out of them, it would quickly change. make it illegal for union officials to get paid. make that job volunteer work, like small town politics. see how fast people lose interest.

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[biosurfer1]

Repealing the affordable health care act would be a very expensive shame. I can't say if I approve or disapprove of it yet, but we've spent millions (billions?) on it so to just repeal it would typical financial stupidity.



Imagine a USA where bills are put on the ballot, the people are informed truthfully of both sides, we vote and then no matter if our pick wins or loses, the people support the legislation. Talk about prosperity.

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[lbpesq]

We could also get rid of those pesky child labor laws and bring back indentured servitude!

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[94SilverCab]

[quote name='biosurfer1' timestamp='1415633097' post='163569']

Repealing the affordable health care act would be a very expensive shame. I can't say if I approve or disapprove of it yet, but we've spent millions (billions?) on it so to just repeal it would typical financial stupidity.



[/quote]



For what it's cost, they should have just given each family $53,000 and let them buy their own insurance.



JMO,



Jay

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[flash]

bio - i agree completely. this is another situation where money has gotten in the way of doing the right thing. we have already spent, as a result of the fighting, enough money to have funded health care for the entire country for the next 5 years, and the 40 million that needed it for the next 40 years.



this should have been a no brainer. it boggles the mind why anyone would not want everyone to have basic health care. it further boggles the mind that those who object to it, are the ones that have already been paying for it via their insurance rates, which are inflated to pay for the uninsured that use the emergency room.



the answer was and is regulation of the medical industry, establishing rates for what they can charge, and then forcing the insurance companies to comply. we won't ever see insurance rates go down until we do that. we cannot allow these business to go unregulated. we have already seen the result. rates go up because they are not factoring in the reduced costs of the diminished ER visits. they are only responding to the increases in cost, and not the decreases.

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[Rap]

I suppose if we regulate one industry for the good of all it would make sense to regulate them all for the common good. Don't they call that price fixing?

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[flash]

price fixing is not necessarily a bad thing. the problem is that it is all but impossible to determine what an appropriate price for something is when it's in an obscure area (what do you charge for a wicker basket?)



there are a lot of industries that would benefit from regulation. services like energy and health care should be regulated. it's absolutely insane that i paid $50 for an aspirin. there is no way anybody is ever going to justify that to me.

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[kzem1]

SCOTUS may end Obamacare if they rule by the law that subsidies must go through states. That is the way the law was written so it will be interesting. I think it would be very interesting if stores started having sections for Made in America Only products. I think it would be a good start to bringing jobs back to America. I bet many people would pay a little, not alot more, for Americans goods to help the country. That could have a huge effect on our economy.

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[flash]

the supreme court already ruled.



it should be the other way around. foreign products should cost more than domestic ones.

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[kzem1]

SCOTUS will rule again. They have taken the case as of yesterday. In a free market products should cost what they cost. If products are cheaper to build overseas than so be it. If Americans want to pay a bit more for the same product made in America that is great too. If Americans can figure out how to compete in a world market with lower cost or better quality of that product great. I think price fixing, onerous taxes and tariffs to force overseas products costs up to match the cost of some items made in America is against the free market. It is that competition that produces lower cost and innovation. Things that we all benefit from.

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[flash]

it won't be any different result. the supreme court is loath to overturn their own decisions. there is a long time between now and march, let alone june when they expect any ruling. it's irregular for them to take a case like this. there is plenty of time for the standard influence of the public. the majority of the public wants this health care. 57% of the public wants to keep it. only 39% want to repeal it. that's not a slamdunk, but it sure points the direction.



a free market is a profiteer's wet dream. it doesn't work in the real world. i would argue that we are not benefitting from innovation or new products. they aren't better. they are just newer. technology has outpaced man's ability to cope with it, resulting in a degraded society. many of the newer products diminish our lives, not enrich them (cell phones and computers would be very high on that list). we have this crap jammed down our throats by the constant barrage of advertising. we can't help ourselves. we reward these pirates daily, and send ourselves further down the rabbit hole.



regardless, if we want to fix our economy, and bring jobs back here, we need to stop imports from being so free and easy to get, relative to domestic products. that's the way it works in the rest of the world. just ask anybody in europe. they have to pay a premium to import anything of ours. we should do the same.



the reality is that we don't need to compete in a world market. there is enough of a market here at home. we don't avail ourselves of it though, and instead we choose foreign products over our own. if the rest of the world got together and called in our markers, we would be screwed.

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[kzem1]

I not sure what pole you are looking at but every one I have seen, including exit poles from last Tuesday, say 60% want it gone. It is very unusual that SCOTUS would take this case and that is why I think they rule with the law. It will not repeal Obamacare but basically neuter it because Obama would not have the votes to fix it. Doesn't your state live off the blood of Silicon Valley money? I am surprised you seem to be not a fan of high tech? Additionally, don't those CA tech company massive profits come from building and assembling those same products overseas? I agree that if all those other countries called in our debt we would be done for sure. AS for trade, If we had a real businessman at the helm he would properly negotiate with other countries better trade agreements so neither of us were adding costs and tarriffs to each others products. Maybe if Obama had a pair of balls and stood up to countries like China, rather than bend over, those countries wouldn't steal our technology and cheat our businesses out of billions. At the end of the day, they need us purchasing their stuff more than we need their cheap stuff but no one in the WH seems to think that way. Same with the last administration. IMO.

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[flash]

i'm not looking at any poles. if i did, i'd probably miss the road.



i am looking at polls though. i just don't pay attention to the biased ones that fox news puts out. i have not see a single poll that indicates anything other than what i have said. the majority believes that the affordable health care act is better than what we had, and do not want to repeal it.



silicon valley companies only represent a very small percentage of the GDP here. money has nothing to do with what i like or dislike. money does not drive or influence what i think is a good thing or a bad thing. in fact, when money is involved, it usually is a bad thing. we focus entirely too much on what might make money, and not what actually is good for us or could make us happy.



we absolutely do not want a businessman as a president. that is the worst possible thing that could happen. the CEOs of this country are proof positive that left alone to their own devices they will always choose the short term over the long term. that would be disastrous. we need a diplomat. we need someone who can plan for the long term future, get us off of oil and coal, and finish fixing our health care system. we need a visionary, not just another pirate.



that being said, what we need to do is attack the areas we can, and implement higher import taxes. this would come from congress. i'm frankly rather stunned that the republicans haven't already done this. it's a sure fire way to bolster our companies, while raising taxes on somebody other than corporations.

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[94SilverCab]

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.



Mark Twain

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[flash]

great page!



"the lack of money is the root of all evil"



suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but i repeat myself"

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[ds968]

Hmmm flash's thread title may have been a prophecy :-). It already started ; both the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit are being taken away in the new legislation now being drafted . I guess this is the GOP thank you to those who voted them in, in large part the demographic which benefits ( err.. used to benefit ) the most from those two tax credits credits. Sigh..

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