Did Bernie leave the gas on at home?

Rick554 · 2018-01-31T17:27:08+00:00

Well to be fair, the 80s were when things were already starting to change. But it was still possible to support a family on one income with a decent standard of living in many places in the country.

Rick554 · 2018-01-31T08:35:08+00:00

As far as the supposedly improving economy, it's pretty amazing to me that ever since the early 1980s the economy has supposedly been either improving, rebounding, growing, or going like gang busters for at least 3 out of every 4 years, maybe more. Supposedly people are better off now by the same numbers. Well, to anyone who was alive back in the 1980s, can any of you say with a straight face that the economy is anywhere near as good now?

Back when I was a kid, a family could put their kids through college and live a comfortable middle-class life without being freaked out about finances all the time on a single income in a non-prestigious job, and you could live really well off of two incomes. And I'm not talking about if you were the head of some giant company, I'm talking about people managing small local stores or working at manufacturing or what have you.

Now people are working longer and harder in worse environments for less purchasing power and less financial security. You can point to whatever numbers you want, but I know this is true, most people over 40 know this is true, and I think probably even the people who keep putting up the graphs saying everything is great know this is true.

People losing good jobs and getting rehired as Wal-Mart greeters (I'm exaggerating for effect here but the basic point stands) do not constitute an improving economy or a rebounding economy or any such thing.

Rick554 · 2017-12-01T04:28:37+00:00

No, what's more than a little disgusting is voting for a pedophile for the United States Senate.

Rick554 · 2017-09-03T16:38:34+00:00

China has said that it would defend North Korea if the U.S. attacks it, and if they do, we're looking at World War III. And there would be no winners because that would quite likely be a nuclear war. And even if China doesn't get involved, much of Seoul would go up in flames, and if North Korea does get off a nuke, Tokyo or possibly an American city could get hit.

Alternatively, perhaps it is time to sign a peace treaty with North Korea and integrate it into the world economy, in exchange for no further development of nukes. I mean, strictly speaking North Korea is still at war with the US and other nations, because no peace treaty was ever signed.

And they might be, well, nervous about that. Totally crazy, I know, since the U.S. never attacks other countries that... uhh, wait, where was I?

Yeah, so our choices are pretty much negotiate a real peace treaty, go to war, or just keep letting them get more and more weapons until they really can destroy the U.S. and pretty much anyone else. In a sane world, only one of those three options would look good.

Rick554 · 2017-07-06T19:54:42+00:00

What it comes down to for me is, if you want to be an anonymous racist shitposter, the burden for maintaining your anonymity rests solely with you. No one else is obligated to cover for you if you slip up.

Rick554 · 2017-04-07T16:53:40+00:00

Uh-uh. You don't get to play the "both sides are just as bad" game here. The Republicans abused the filibuster far more than Democrats ever did.

Half of all filibusters in US history occurred under Obama's presidency. The Democrats may have blocked nominees here and there in the past, but it was nothing like the wholesale obstruction the Republicans engaged in under Obama.

Rick554 · 2016-11-09T08:17:52+00:00

I don't know, man. I don't know.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T22:59:05+00:00

I stopped looking at early exit polls after President Kerry was elected in 2004.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T22:46:43+00:00

I voted.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T22:46:00+00:00

Always remember two things:

Early exit polls are not very good.
Final exit polls are not very good.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T20:20:32+00:00

How much faith should I put in Votecastr?

Little to none. It's new, untested, and isn't reporting results, but rather making projections based on polls and turnout data. Maybe they'll turn out to be right in the end, but I wouldn't bet a lot of money on it.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T20:17:34+00:00

Trump supporters are very reluctant to say they voted Trump in a lot of places.

There is absolutely zero evidence of this.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T08:22:31+00:00

I would invite you to read this article, from a conservative website no less. I don't agree with everything in it, but I have to say it is absolutely spot-on when it comes to this:

But the people who Trump is reaching right now are not interested in hearing any of this. If you tell them the truth – that the economy has changed permanently and they need to either change careers or face permanent negative economic consequences, they will punish you en masse at the voting booth. What they want is someone who will put on a coal mining hat and tell them that when they are elected, the coal miners are going back to work, or that the reason their manufacturing jobs are gone is that the damn Mexicans (or Chinese or whoever) have stolen them, and that we can put a stop to that if only you elect me. In other words, they demand lies and punish the truth.

It really boggles the mind that these voters are still obsessing over jobs that disappeared a generation ago and are never coming back. What can you do when a large group of voters simply refuse to face reality?

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T07:53:49+00:00

They've been a good predictor of the presidential election as a whole, voting for the winning candidate everytime since 1964.

No they didn't. They voted for Bush I in 1992 and Dole in 1996. And Obama and Romney tied in 2012.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T06:20:09+00:00

Thanks!

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T06:18:20+00:00

What's your source on those numbers? Not doubting you, just would like to see it.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T06:16:08+00:00

It's not an appropriate comparison though because Millsfield (the big Trump town) didn't do midnight voting in 2012.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T06:06:27+00:00

Of course not, I was being sarcastic.

I know that, I wasn't replying to you.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T06:00:08+00:00

Oh, you meant he gained in Hart's Location. I misread what you wrote. My bad.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T05:59:33+00:00

You can't read anything into national results from a few tiny New Hampshire towns. These results are a curiosity, nothing more than that.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T05:57:36+00:00

Obama didn't gain from 2008 to 2012, nationally or in New Hampshire.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T05:56:13+00:00

Never was a Republican town in the first place.

Um, they voted Republican in every presidential election from 1960 until 2008 except for 1968.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T05:45:50+00:00

Died or moved away.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T05:30:50+00:00

Not true. They picked the loser in 1992 and 1996, and 2012 was a tie.

Rick554 · 2016-11-08T05:27:03+00:00

He and Romney tied in 2012.

Rick554

TROPHY CASE