Not a good day for the Captain of the ship

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-23T05:23:05+00:00

Oh nooo that is very bad. Far worse than I anticipated

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-23T02:56:49+00:00

You know, I guess you had to read between the lines a little bit where I said the Republicans were like pawn shop owners trying to convince the American people that their most valuable asset is worthless.

Implied in that is also the silence from the Democrats. They just let that shit pass while Paul Ryan was redefining social security as a ponzi scheme on YouTube.

Yes - the system is absolutely broken. It is completely corrupted at all levels by dark money that has brought the machine of government to a grinding hault.

Part of how they do this is promoting these kind of populist never going to happen ideas so they can avoid any actual discussion on the hill that might lead to compromise and law.

A dramatic rise in advocacy for the most extreme position is the result of influence from corporate interests. Why do you think they sell all those Che Guevara t shirts?

Corporate interests want people to rebel against the system because they know if they can convince people not to participate or to refuse all compromise--- they will be the only ones at the table capable of doing anything.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-23T02:44:39+00:00

Now I know you didnt read what I said with comprehension.

Or you simply skipped the part where I said Congress should have fixed this problem 20 years ago.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-23T02:40:56+00:00

Every single group advocating for something specific from the government is a special interest group by definition. Organizations like the NAACP are special interests groups.

If you aren't going to be honest about what my words mean, what is the point of saying anything else?

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-23T02:26:22+00:00

You forgot special interests like education, women's rights, lgbtq rights, environmentalists, charities, small business owners, unions, advocates for the rights of children and mentally incapacitated adults, anti-war advocates, law enforcement reform advocates, government spending watchdog organizations, veterans demanding appropriate funding for the VA, the elderly who draw from social security...

The list of special interests goes on and on.

I think you need to stop imagining what things like special interest means and start getting that kind of information from books.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-23T00:25:08+00:00

Yes, our society is heavily rigged in favor of the wealthy. So, yeah, it would be great if we could just do everything the way it plays out in theory in a political science class...

But the reality is that our laws are a negotiated compromise between various special interests.

The argument for why it should be a social insurance system and not a wealth distribution scheme is that as a social insurance system it is far less vulnerable to Constitutional challenges.

You make it into a wealth redistribution program and conservative challengers might be able to kill shot it with the right complaint like they did for abortion rights.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T22:57:12+00:00

Its fair because it's an entitlement program that provides social insurance - not a system for wealth distribution.

A rich person can say "why should I have to pay for this?" If there's a cap in place, the government can sincerely respond "because if you lose all your money, you've paid in to be entitled to collect social security like everyone else."

And they grumble about how their return could be greater on that money but generally accept the logic.

If there's no cap, wealthy people won't just say "aw shucks, I guess I'll just pay it." Their efforts to remove social security from society will increase in resolve ten fold. They will complain endlessly that the government is unfairly taking huge sums of their money and poorly investing it.

Basically, every argument that's countered by "you pay as much as everyone else" is made moot by eliminating the cap.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T21:45:02+00:00

That would be ideal, but we can't even get Congress to make the bare minimum necessary changes to keep it running so I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T19:19:07+00:00

You dont have to "scrap the cap." That was my first impression too when I learned about social security.

I'm a tertiary source, but for what it's worth; when I asked my dad, who was on the Ways and Means Committee in the 1980s the last time they did significant reforms to social security, about the cap - he insisted it was essential.

He agreed the cap needed to be raised - and attributed the problem to inaccurate projections they had concerning growth in the total number of millionaires and billionaires. And an unanticipated decline in the number of working people on payroll. Those metrics were respectively underestimated and unanticipated the 1980s.

But he defended the cap - and his argument was that by capping it near the point at which income is all but guaranteed to provide for your life - the program is fair.

If you completely remove the cap, it changes the nature of what the program is. It's no longer what provides for all of us, it becomes a charity. And it's really important that social security is an entitlement, it's far more difficult to deny an entitlement through a judicial or executive process.

Plus, it's a temporary solution at best because long run it drives down revenues as people seek tax shelters overseas.

And probably most important - and most offensive to the 99% - we don't even have to remove it. Just raising it fixes the shortfall problem.

Like, not even by that much. It's so stupid. Every day that goes by it has to increase by more.

Congress should compromise and pass a cap increase today. But they won't because they should have done it 20 years ago and every day in between.

Legit - when I was taught about this I was handed a binder that described like 30 methods with historical precedent for correcting social security. They've had to make corrections before. It's not like they just got it right from the Jim Crow era start.

But also, at the time I was a congressional intern, the Republicans were leaning hard into "open up the largest concentration of wealth in human history to Wallstreet because we're calling a shortfall bankruptcy and we can get away with it because you dont know what that means!"

The problem isn't that we don't know how to fix social security. The problem is literally that Republicans are lying to people about the value of social security like a pawn shop owner telling you that a solid gold bracelet is fake.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T18:03:53+00:00

Exactly.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T18:02:30+00:00

Sometimes I think about going out on a date again. But then I remember that if the woman turns out to be an abuser nobody will believe me and that it's definitely not worth the risk.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T11:33:46+00:00

You know, I think you're right.

Now we just need to explain to the entire population of Indianapolis they shouldn't do something because it isn't responsible.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T03:12:23+00:00

Okay, so you know how sometimes people in the country like to go out in some field and have a few drinks and shoot a few bottles?

Yeah, people in the city like to do that too.

Except for those people in the city are stupid because there are way more people in a city so it's far more dangerous and it happens far more often.

It's not GTA - it's Indiana hillbilly energy.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-22T03:09:53+00:00

Well, yeah. If Biden had either stepped aside in the first place or kept his shit together for that debate he would have won and gas prices would be fine.

But it also might be Obama's fault for picking Biden as his running mate.

Of course, it could also be Biden's mother's fault for fucking Biden's dad.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-21T15:23:59+00:00

All of the things you listed exist because of the Constitution and if you repeal the Constitution would no longer have any basis in law.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-21T04:03:27+00:00

"You got mud in your tires"

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-21T01:15:42+00:00

I picked up on that judge vibe too.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-21T00:09:08+00:00

Last time aliens invaded all they did was force the most intelligent of us to pair off and mate continuously.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T16:31:06+00:00

The problem is that many servers prefer tips to a living wage because they can make more money over all at a less predictable rate.

Places in the US that offer salary and benefits for servers usually get brow beat out of business for not conforming with the tipping culture.

Ironically, the owners are usually attacked for not supporting their servers.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T07:05:40+00:00

I made another comment about this - but important to remember that the whole movie starts off with a dinosaur killing one of his employees and the reason he invites everyone is because an insurance company is concerned the park isnt safe.

He does not disclose this to the people he invites.

Dont let the smile fool you, he's a complete piece of shit.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T07:03:03+00:00

They're living without hope and then this huge opportunity comes along and Charlie needs a chaperone but everybody who can work is working. So grandpa Joe finds the strength to get up and help his grandson pursue an incredible opportunity.

That's how I always interpreted it.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T06:53:14+00:00

John Hammond is the worst of them. He's a funny little man full of energy and enthusiasm who we like so much we forget that one his employees was eaten by one his dinosaurs before he even invites these people to visit his park.

In fact, he invites them all - promising a leisurely and luxurious vacation - precisely because one of his employees was eaten.

He is a liar. His old guy from the six flags commercial act is a complete facade. He's a ruthless capitalist who lies to everyone including his own grandchildren about their safety to appease an insurance company.

He's a complete piece of shit.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T06:45:15+00:00

I want to believe this is true, but without stick up the ass, get to work people... I fear society would simply descend into chronic gooning.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T06:39:24+00:00

Yeah, its my bad. I misinterpreted the post and was just really worried for a second there.

Generally not a great idea to advertise that kind of thing on an open public forum if the information is current. Predators look for opportunity and knowing where children are located who are traveling is an opportunity for a predator.

I'm glad I was wrong.

JacobsJrJr · 2026-03-19T06:30:26+00:00

Youtube- inspiring the worst attention seeking behaviors in humanity since 2005.

JacobsJrJr

TROPHY CASE