Senate The US Politics discussion

I'm still not seeing a truly valid argument as to why we shouldn't be a sovereign nation, or how to assimilate millions of foreigners into the existing fabric of the country.

 

Hope so. Another government shutdown would be damn frustrating.

 

I don't think (at least I hope), we won't get impeachment proceedings, if only because deathraygun has helpfully pointed out, the GOP does NOT want Biden as President maybe even less than they want Obama as President. I would not rule out another Government Shutdown though.

 

I'm not sure where you guys are getting the misinformation that the Tea Party is dead, dying, or even handicapped. While we lost some primary races to establishment Republicans, we did get Joni Erst, And Ben Sasse elected in the general. And you might have noticed in the primaries and General, the narrative was "who's more conservative?", not how mainstream or willing to compromise.
I think you're underestimating the Tea Party, but go forth with that logic.

 

Honestly, I'd impeach Obama for doing the TP in "under" mode -- "over" is where it's at.

 

What a freaking barbarian. I guess we can't expect better from someone born in a country without TP.

 

I use the three shells. WTF are you guys talking about?

 

Wow, you're completely off. Ted Cruz is very popular in our state. I mean Greg Abbott just walloped Wendy Davis. And Bill Cassidy (86% Tea Party rating) is crushing Landreiu (56 to 41), so your moderate theory is being rejected. The party is being pulled further to right. How about Scott Walker and Rick Scott getting re-elected? Chris Christie, whom most would point to as "moderate" is not favored at all by the base. I voted McCain and sucked it up for Romney, but I'm not sure I'll stomach a third attempt at a moderate.

 

Well, I would hate for you to go against your principles. I'd just encourage you to stay home and not vote.

 

That's ok, compare wealth inequality, middle class earnings, any meaningful measure.

 

Here's the skinny on the Tea Party's influence, from Al Jazeera no less, I think it's safe to assume the TP is staying around for awhile. And while the TP lost some primaries, we also won some. Mitch McConnell was at a meeting with TP Senators this past summer, trying to gin up support. Landreiu has been a sitting Senator for what, 16 years? But now she's terrible because she will lose? If left wing ideology is so prevalent, then why did she move to the right? It's true, the TP didn't fare as well as it did in 2010, but there are still TP aligned Senators in office. 2012 was more about voter turnout than a referendum on the Tea Party's ideas, since historically Republicans come out more for mid-terms, and many voters only turned out because of the particular race, or at least half the race, of a certain candidate.

Link.. http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/...log/2013/11/5/the-tea-party-bythenumbers.html

 

Haha. Yeah, right back atcha. No worries, I'll still vote in the primaries and general, although when it comes to the top of the ballot...

 

The great myth is that there is such a thing as a "moderate" Republican anymore and that these "moderates" are all that different from the astroturf Tea Party. Boehner and McConnell are ostensibly not teabaggers, and they pretty much agree with the freshmen psychotics on everything except the U.S. defaulting on its debt.

 

If that's the case though, then there really isn't a difference between republicans and democrats. Or, everyone is "moderate" in the sense of being center-right and up on the spectrum. I suppose Kucinich was the last unapologetic leftist that meant anything when he retired in 2013. Maybe Franken currently might be, but he's rather big business orientated as well, so he's probably a wash. Otherwise, you're currently left with variations of blue dogs and tea partiers, but they're all just different terms for the same thing designed to fit in their own party. That could probably be viewed as the greatest shadow victory the American right pulled off. No one talks about being moderate in terms of left leaning, it only matters on how many degrees of right leaning a politician from either party is.

Maybe all of this is a good reason why labels don't really matter?

 

That's not a likely scenario so I don't know why you bring it up. They're not going to win the White House in their current party-of-the-straight-white-evangelical-Christian-male state. Extremely low voter turnout is their friend, and that doesn't happen during a presidential election. Maybe if they had someone viable and/or Hilary weren't waiting in the wings, but they don't and she is.

And they won't be the opposition party in the legislative branch in January. They'll control it.

EDIT: And yes, Democrats are overwhelmingly center-right and Republicans are on the fringe of center-right.

 

In grand tradition of the bonkers US approach, remind me why your "left" party is blue?

Besides idiocy.

 

Then prepare for at least another four years of Democratic rule come 2016.

The frustration with President Obama does not equal a wholesale embrace of Republican principles, and the practically non-turnout of those who weren't anything other than anti-Obama will not translate into a GOP victory in the next Presidential election.

Of course, the 2014 results have only emboldened those who think the path to Pennsylvania Avenue is best achieved by going further to the right. Perhaps they will wake up to the lessons of recent history before then, but I'm not holding my breath

Peace,

V-03

 

It's only been the universal standard since 2000, surprisingly enough.