ecojaded, it's cool. i have to catch myself a lot of times to stop from offending others. it's hard. and you know what makes it all that much harder is the lying and propaganda put out there by the "news" media on a daily basis. it's so infuriating. we need facts and we're not getting them unless we pay attention.

i'm impressed and surprised, although i shouldn't be, that deadheads can talk politics without resorting to name calling and anger. it's really impressive actually in this day and age where everyone seems to just talk over everyone else. heads that i've met are always extremely cool peeps. just try having this conversation on the huffington post or breitbart or any number of other "news" internet blog sites. simply a disaster. nobody listens.

peace man.

More power to you for starting the thread, even if I disagree with you on every point!

First of all, the Romney/Ryan plan has even more "cuts" to Medicare that the Obama plan. However, Obama's cuts are specifically to address fraud, abuse and non-value added services like Medicare Advantage. However the Ryan plan then goes on to totally dismantle Medicare over the next 15 years, turning all control over to the for-profit insurance industry and wiping out any kind of a safety net for Seniors and the disabled. And he INCREASES the Federal deficit while doing it. Just look at Mitt's comment this week about "Everybody in the US has health care- they can all get in an ambulance and go to the emergency room". He doesn't have a clue or a plan!!

But above all, anyone who votes for Mitt needs to look directly into the eyes of any women in their life and say "I don't care if you get violently raped and become pregnant. You're carrying that pregnancy to term and reliving the horror of the assault every day for 9 months". If that's how you feel about women and their rights, then by all means go ahead and vote for Mitt. And don't even try to tell me that it's not an important issue, because it most certainly is!! There is no more profound invasion of civil rights than trying to dictate what someone can or can't do with their own bodies.

.

The bottom line on Medicare is that it's bankrupt. It cannot continue the way it is. The math doesn't work.

What Romney and Ryan are TRYING to do is have a conversation on how to FIX it for future generations. They aren't changing anything for older people. They want to come up with a plan THAT WILL WORK for younger folks though. But, so far, their plan has fallen on deaf ears. Obama won't have any of it lest he lose some voters like you, SunShine , -- yes, it's your vote and nobody's arguing with that at all . His first priority is getting re-elected and pushing all of us FORWARD. Forward to where he won't say.

Anyway, we need some adult conversation in Washington. Just burying our heads in the sand and moving forward is a recipe for disaster. Greece anyone ?

Good luck.

tdog,

hats off to you brother, it takes a lot of guts to make this kind of tread here. I have been pleasantly surprised when discussing politics here though, heads seem to be older, seen more things and even mostly liberal, you can have an open courteous discussion with them.

I am not a fan of Romney but even less of an Obama fan. The things that kill me are the rhetoric that the left spews against him. For anyone who thinks that secret video of Romney was bad, my question to them is "did you actually watch it?" He is right and it's not insulting at all. He was saying that 47% of people are going to vote for Obama no matter what, he can't worry about getting their vote. HE'S RIGHT! I understand he made the comment about them being dependent on the govt, well the actual number of people receiving govt assistance is around 40%, while the number was incorrect it was an off the cuff remark stating the general state of things. Of course this doesn't mean that that 40% is completely dependent, just that they are getting some form of money, after all, O has loosened up requirements for people so so much of our tax dollars are being wasted.

And the war on women, this is more propaganda, no one is going to overturn Roe v Wade, there are MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO, like get our economy out of the toilet and stop this ridiculous spending.

Romney is a flip flopper at its worst, that is frustrating for an ex Mass-hole and a very moderate conservative. He would have a bigger fan base if he didn't have to pander that the awful religious right.

And to everyone who said Bush got us into this mess and he is just the worst president ever ever ever. Do a little research into why we got into the recession. Hint: "Everyone should own a home!" The same person encouraged greedy corporations (make no mistake, they are greedy as fuck) to loan money to anyone who wants a home (because everyone should be treated fairly and coddled), and guess what, most of them couldn't pay them back! This person also lifted regulations that were put into place after the Great Depression because of Wall St, then guess what happened, the same thing again. Bush made things worse with his wars, no question, but he did not lay the seeds that caused all this...

SunshineSue wrote:


Sue,

you seem like a great person from your online personality, but this is an ignorant and disgusting statement. Of course no one will be upset by this because it's against Republicans (who are ALL just SOOOOO evil, right everyone lol).

Jed, your signature just made me wonder when we'll hear a Ship Of Fools on this tour ?

Boy, that song is surely apropos for this government we're living under right now Long live Robert Hunter !

"But I would slave to learn the way to sink your Ship Of Fools !"

No, one guy is not going to solve our problems but we have to, we MUST stop the current trajectory. We know what doesn't work and his name is Barack H. Obama (and GWBush and Jimmy Carter and ...).

I'm still waiting for a cogent thought as to why Obama deserves a second term.

NewHampshireJed wrote:


I doubt that Sue was throwing all Republicans into this statement...and before you go way off on me, I voted for Reagan. However, even Reagan couldn't get the nomination in today's Republican party. When you have scary people like Sharron Angle saying things like this: www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/sharro...ce-for_n_639294.html

or Todd Akin saying things like this:
www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/r...nt-and-reaction.html

or Bob McDonnell writing stuff like this:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...AR2009090103269.html

Well, I could go on and on and include Paul Ryan's views, Rob Portman's, Christine O'Donnell....all the way up to Mitt Romney (although who knows what position he is taking on anything now) views. But the bottom line is that these are VERY scary ideas and YES, they do want to control what a woman can do with her body. They preach "small government" in all things except social issues...then it is "BIG GOVERNMENT" in a big, in-you-face (or vagina) way.

One only needs to look at those states that elected Republican majorities in all three branches in 2010 to see what the real agenda is....and it is not about jobs, jobs, jobs, it IS about abortion, abortion,abortion. And, the SCOTUS will overturn Roe v. Wade within the next year...and I will be willing to bet on that.

So, I can see why Sue said what she said. Your mileage may vary...

I don't think Obama is a great president but I'm voting for him because he's the lesser of two evils. Romney may be a great guy personally but I don't think that anyone with a quarter of a billion dollars has any idea what the average American is dealing with day to day. That video that came out where he basically dismisses half the electorate confirms it. Not evil, just out of touch.

I also have some real issues with the current state of the Republican party. I'm not some wild-eyed liberal. I don't think you can hit age 50 and not be something of a fiscal conservative. But the GOP is so extreme these days that Ronald Reagan would probably be seen as too moderate to get the nomination.

Times like these need considered action, not just reaction.

I am still undecided. if anyone can tell me why I should vote for Romney without mentioning Obama or the Democrats I will listen. I have not heard one good reason why Mitt should be president, only that Obama is bad. if we are going to look at the parties then the Republicans should be banned from power forever after what Cheney and his crew did to this county. Truthfully I have to vote my conscience for me to think it really counts, so I doubt I could ever vote for either of these two leading candidates. We need reform in this county and have since Kennedy took those bullets in Dallas.

Romney is the true candidate of change, he has changed his position on a number of issues to the point that I don't know what he believes in.

NewHampshireJed wrote:

NHJed, I can understand how you'd be disgusted by this, I am too, but I'm not sure why you think it's ignorant. Back in the 90's, there was a group of legislators called Republicans for Choice. But that kind of moderation doesn't exist in the party any more, at least not publicly. The Republican Party platform calls for a ban on all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest and even limitations cases where the mother's health is at risk. The platform, and Romney/Ryan, also support "Personhood" amendments to the US and State constitutions which declares that life begins at conception. The latter would effectively ban abortion, allow for doctors performing abortions to be charged with murder and would criminalize most forms of birth control, including the Pill and the IUD. Since 2010, the US House and State Republican-led legislatures have not been concentrating on economic bills, but rather have been putting forth bill after bill to limit reproductive rights. This includes a requirement for vaginal ultrasounds in Virginia and forced viewing of ultrasounds pre-procedure in Texas. The US House spent days of their limited time with the Republicans trying to push through a measure banning Federal funds for abortions when those regulations have been in place for decades. I respect your right to disagree, but there is indeed an ongoing war on women's rights and Rowe v. Wade that has been waged by conservatives for decades. They've gotten super-conservative judges in critical positions and have backed very stringent anti-choice bills in almost every state. It is a well-funded, well-coordinated and well-documented effort.

I'm guessing you weren't around pre-1974 to see what it was like for women back then. I was, and I don't want to go back to those days. Coat hanger abortions, epsom salt douches, sleazy "doctors" who would do a back-alley procedure that was often ineffective at anything but causing many deaths from sepsis. Unless of course you were rich, then you could get access to care for the right price, as is always the story. A woman's right to control her own reproductive health is not something I take lightly and I will fight with every ounce of strength I have to make sure conservatives don't infringe on those rights any more than they already have.

This election, unfortunately, is going to be a vote to stop the bleeding in this economy.

We all have to decide which guy can do a better job.

Simple. Really.