Al Coholic
03-11-2009, 11:20 PM
Do almost all Republican talking points sound stupid? I realize this is the era of punditry and it's not about being right or wrong, but arguing and advertising correctly. But is there anyone else out there that feels as though they haven't had anything at all to say in recent memory?
Let's go over a few:
1) The new labor bill will outlaw the secret ballot.
*Actually, as I understand it, it does not. It clearly gives that option if people so choose.
2)Earmarks/Pork
*Firstly, not all earmarks are pork and not all pork is earmarked. I'm actually cool with the government funding a lot of this stuff. A lot of it makes jobs, buys stuff, provides necessary services, and partly pays for itself by making things more efficient. If the free market isn't capable of doing it, makes sense that the government should. And don't you just get a little pissed off that we blew 1 trillion over this war, but a few billion in earmarks and these guys pretend to get pissed? Or how about how the 45% of Republican congressmen are responsible for 40% of these earmarks? Its the fucking buzzword to make you look like a fiscal conservative, and it's really hypocritical.
3)Obama and the "redistribution of wealth" aka the "socialism" argument.
*Actually, over the past five decades the taxes on the uppermost quintile has steadily declined by what, 20%? We're talking about letting tax cuts to the poor/middle and letting tax breaks on the wealthy expire, effectively upping them from 36 to 39%. If 39% is socialism, I guess we we're during the 90's? And furthermore, Eisenhower was the biggest socialist ever. Isn't basically every tax program a redistribution of wealth? Social Security, Medicare, Medicaide, Food Stamps, even national parks are paid for disproportionately by the wealthy. So what? Cutting these programs and hiking up the national debt is a CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH. Why the Dems don't spit all over the repubs as elitists for this really bothers me.
4)Letting the banks die
*Now perhaps you can make a semi-sound economic argument for this, but all I've heard are talking points. The current and past administration are both responsible for the Troubled Asset Recovery Program, in which we bough shit from bad banks to make them look better on paper, in the hopes that when they get better they'll pay us back. Which sounds horrible, but "let em die" seems even worse, and makes the 800 billion TARP look like a waste in many ways. Especially after we've already invested that money
5) Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, etc.
*Now I don't know about you, but I've hung out with some odd characters in my short time. I'm sure many of them went on to be criminals and say/do horrible things. I never cared that a firebrand preacher said some inflamatory stuff. I thought that's what the definition of firebrand was, and the way I figure it, if you look at years of video clips of any preacher that's interesting to listen to, you're bound to find material that'll offend a lot of people. So what?
6) __________ is solved by lower taxes
*Now it sounds like you're a man of the people when you make this argument. But in reality they mean lower corporate, capital gains, and investor class taxes. And as explained earlier, they're usually offset with welfare cuts. Or they increase the deficit burden. Republicans will say that spending is out of control and we need to commit more to Iraq, and that the deficit is too high and we need to cut taxes. All in the same speech. Now I fully get that increased profit leads to increased revenue, but it doesn't ever seem to work out that way. At what point will they be satisfied with taxes? Not untill they're flat it would seem.
7) We need to cut spending
*Yes, but where? If not the Iraq war, then on what? Undercut the middle/lower class, knock out welfar? How bout we cut more of medicare/medicaide, and let the market determine who gets healthcare? Or perhaps we should cut on education. At some point people have to realize that you need to invest in your own people for the sake of your own prosperity. The day to day happenings of the DJIA aren't that important.
8) Labels.
Reformer. Compassionate Conservative. Maverick. Fiscal Conservative. Though dems shy away from the word liberal or its synonyms, I know they're all guilty of this. But jesus H Christ, I never thought a label was an answer. What do you plan to do about the lack of regulation in the economy? Well, I'm a maverick and a reformer, so I'll go in and reform the way a maverick would...
Now I know the other sides are just as guilty of talking points that don't make sense. As I said, the media's turned into this recycled monster of punchlines, labels, opinion, and sensationalism. And some of my stats may be off but they're close enough.
So is this the shortcomings of their party? Is it what their voters want to hear - mindless, proofless, patronizing banter? Or are the republicans seriously underestimating the US public. Your thoughts, or rants about other talking points are appreciated.
Your anal corrections of facts I fucked up at 2:30 AM aren't really, but its cool too.
Let's go over a few:
1) The new labor bill will outlaw the secret ballot.
*Actually, as I understand it, it does not. It clearly gives that option if people so choose.
2)Earmarks/Pork
*Firstly, not all earmarks are pork and not all pork is earmarked. I'm actually cool with the government funding a lot of this stuff. A lot of it makes jobs, buys stuff, provides necessary services, and partly pays for itself by making things more efficient. If the free market isn't capable of doing it, makes sense that the government should. And don't you just get a little pissed off that we blew 1 trillion over this war, but a few billion in earmarks and these guys pretend to get pissed? Or how about how the 45% of Republican congressmen are responsible for 40% of these earmarks? Its the fucking buzzword to make you look like a fiscal conservative, and it's really hypocritical.
3)Obama and the "redistribution of wealth" aka the "socialism" argument.
*Actually, over the past five decades the taxes on the uppermost quintile has steadily declined by what, 20%? We're talking about letting tax cuts to the poor/middle and letting tax breaks on the wealthy expire, effectively upping them from 36 to 39%. If 39% is socialism, I guess we we're during the 90's? And furthermore, Eisenhower was the biggest socialist ever. Isn't basically every tax program a redistribution of wealth? Social Security, Medicare, Medicaide, Food Stamps, even national parks are paid for disproportionately by the wealthy. So what? Cutting these programs and hiking up the national debt is a CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH. Why the Dems don't spit all over the repubs as elitists for this really bothers me.
4)Letting the banks die
*Now perhaps you can make a semi-sound economic argument for this, but all I've heard are talking points. The current and past administration are both responsible for the Troubled Asset Recovery Program, in which we bough shit from bad banks to make them look better on paper, in the hopes that when they get better they'll pay us back. Which sounds horrible, but "let em die" seems even worse, and makes the 800 billion TARP look like a waste in many ways. Especially after we've already invested that money
5) Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, etc.
*Now I don't know about you, but I've hung out with some odd characters in my short time. I'm sure many of them went on to be criminals and say/do horrible things. I never cared that a firebrand preacher said some inflamatory stuff. I thought that's what the definition of firebrand was, and the way I figure it, if you look at years of video clips of any preacher that's interesting to listen to, you're bound to find material that'll offend a lot of people. So what?
6) __________ is solved by lower taxes
*Now it sounds like you're a man of the people when you make this argument. But in reality they mean lower corporate, capital gains, and investor class taxes. And as explained earlier, they're usually offset with welfare cuts. Or they increase the deficit burden. Republicans will say that spending is out of control and we need to commit more to Iraq, and that the deficit is too high and we need to cut taxes. All in the same speech. Now I fully get that increased profit leads to increased revenue, but it doesn't ever seem to work out that way. At what point will they be satisfied with taxes? Not untill they're flat it would seem.
7) We need to cut spending
*Yes, but where? If not the Iraq war, then on what? Undercut the middle/lower class, knock out welfar? How bout we cut more of medicare/medicaide, and let the market determine who gets healthcare? Or perhaps we should cut on education. At some point people have to realize that you need to invest in your own people for the sake of your own prosperity. The day to day happenings of the DJIA aren't that important.
8) Labels.
Reformer. Compassionate Conservative. Maverick. Fiscal Conservative. Though dems shy away from the word liberal or its synonyms, I know they're all guilty of this. But jesus H Christ, I never thought a label was an answer. What do you plan to do about the lack of regulation in the economy? Well, I'm a maverick and a reformer, so I'll go in and reform the way a maverick would...
Now I know the other sides are just as guilty of talking points that don't make sense. As I said, the media's turned into this recycled monster of punchlines, labels, opinion, and sensationalism. And some of my stats may be off but they're close enough.
So is this the shortcomings of their party? Is it what their voters want to hear - mindless, proofless, patronizing banter? Or are the republicans seriously underestimating the US public. Your thoughts, or rants about other talking points are appreciated.
Your anal corrections of facts I fucked up at 2:30 AM aren't really, but its cool too.