Problems With Liberal Democracy

[lovinthehd]

OK, so what good is raising interest rate going to do about inflation, which Biden denies, when the increases are on the supply side, not rampant consumer spending? If they're looking at the amount consumers are spending and taking it at face value, they're just ignoring the problem- consumers don't have a choice about spending more when the prices continue to increase.

I want all members of Congress and the Executive Branch to be required to do all of their own shopping for one week, with someone standing by to make sure they actually look at the price and every price tag should show the current price vs the price from 6 months ago. Once they're done, they need to explain why these increases are OK and why they think the economy is just fine. In June, Biden said that the US has the fastest growing economy in the world.

So you're an economist now and disagree with the "experts"....please do tell. It isn't all about consumer pricing....

 

[highfigh]

Oh I've mentioned Milwaukee before.

If you ever get the urge to hear what's happening in this area, download a phone app called Broadcastify and pick Milwaukee County Law Enforcement. The activity on some days is almost constant. I usually use it when I hear a lot of sirens or gunfire.

 

[highfigh]

So you're an economist now and disagree with the "experts"....please do tell. It isn't all about consumer pricing....

You're right- it's not all about consumer pricing but they're ignoring that part. Well, other than trying to take credit for lower gas prices, but he still said the price was lower during a speech than it was when he entered office.

Who's disagreeing with experts? I'm disagreeing with politicians.

 

[highfigh]

To vote with, no.

You missed the point. If someone wants an ID, they'll get one, for whatever purpose they choose. Back then, it was drinking, now, it could be in order to buy cigarettes, booze, a gun, whatever- the list of ID requirements is longer than ever.

 

[lovinthehd]

If you ever get the urge to hear what's happening in this area, download a phone app called Broadcastify and pick Milwaukee County Law Enforcement. The activity on some days is almost constant. I usually use it when I hear a lot of sirens or gunfire.

That sounds as exciting as listening to speaker wire.

 

[lovinthehd]

You missed the point. If someone wants an ID, they'll get one, for whatever purpose they choose. Back then, it was drinking, now, it could be in order to buy cigarettes, booze, a gun, whatever- the list of ID requirements is longer than ever.

The point being? Just eliminate ID because they have flaws?

 

[lovinthehd]

You're right- it's not all about consumer pricing but they're ignoring that part. Well, other than trying to take credit for lower gas prices, but he still said the price was lower during a speech than it was when he entered office.

Who's disagreeing with experts? I'm disagreeing with politicians.

The gas price thing was just a political football, and largely out of their control....altho might be time to end subsidies to the oil industry....

 

[highfigh]

Primary and secondary as opposed to post-secondary. How can that possibly be confusing? And you're missing the point, which is that if all kids went to public schools, all parents would be invested in pressuring government to ensure public education was properly funded. And, please stop with the indoctrination nonsense; it's getting old and tiresome.

And, I never said only Republicans are wealthy. The silver spoon crowd are the wealthy ones, regardless of political stripes. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to misconstrue practically every sentence in my post.

YOU mentioned all kids going to public schools, which implies that you don't think schools should be private, whether for primary, secondary or as you mentioned (for some inexplicit reason), post-secondary schooling. You also need to look at where the school funding is lacking, where it's being wasted and why. I can't say how it is in other places, but in Milwaukee, where the public school system only has about 78K students, the budget is over $1.3 Billion but their results are terrible. High dropout & truancy rates, really bad test scores and in some cases, the high school brags about their high graduation rate, yet the Math & Reading proficiency scores are in low double digits, if even that high.

Define 'properly funded'. Money for schools comes from property tax and in some cities, the tax base is shrinking because the home values are dropping. People from the inner city send their kids to private/parochial/suburban schools if they can and the voucher system allows this when the family doesn't have the money.

I can connect you to people who have serious problems with the 'education' their kids were or would have been subjected to, if you want- many enrolled their kids in private schools and they're not all Republicans- most are wealthy Democrats.

If you don't know what is being 'taught', don't tell me that I'm wrong.

 

[GO-NAD!]

So. An admission.
'Putin's chef' Yevgeny Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections | CBC News

This is one of the problems with liberal democracy. Its very openness makes it vulnerable to such shenanigans.

 

[highfigh]

The point being? Just eliminate ID because they have flaws?

Missed it again.

I think the Real ID might decrease the incidence of fake IDs, but it's not cheap- they should make it possible for people without enough money- in WI, a state-issued birth certificate is required and that costs $20 plus fees. If someone doesn't drive, it's gonna be a time-consuming process. It's also mandatory, having been made Law in 2005.

REAL ID | Homeland Security

www.tsa.gov

 

[highfigh]

So. An admission.
'Putin's chef' Yevgeny Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections | CBC News

This is one of the problems with liberal democracy. Its very openness makes it vulnerable to such shenanigans.

I wonder how long it will take for him to deny it.

 

[highfigh]

That sounds as exciting as listening to speaker wire.

Well, when it involves a police chase that ends with a PIT maneuver directly in front of my house with 12 cops aiming at the car, it was kind of hard to sleep immediately afterward.

 

[highfigh]

...then the second thing very dear friends of ours goes with if we don't allow immigrants in like that who's gonna clean your house?

Turns out one of the other party goers was first generation American, parents from Mexico and it absolutely blew up I got the popcorn and just enjoyed the show.

So, no filter, eh? And was this friend deaf and blind? Was there any clue that the first generation person fits that description? Even a small amount of courtesy would have prevented most people saying something like that.

 

[GO-NAD!]

YOU mentioned all kids going to public schools, which implies that you don't think schools should be private, whether for primary, secondary or as you mentioned (for some inexplicit reason), post-secondary schooling. You also need to look at where the school funding is lacking, where it's being wasted and why. I can't say how it is in other places, but in Milwaukee, where the public school system only has about 78K students, the budget is over $1.3 Billion but their results are terrible. High dropout & truancy rates, really bad test scores and in some cases, the high school brags about their high graduation rate, yet the Math & Reading proficiency scores are in low double digits, if even that high.

Define 'properly funded'. Money for schools comes from property tax and in some cities, the tax base is shrinking because the home values are dropping. People from the inner city send their kids to private/parochial/suburban schools if they can and the voucher system allows this when the family doesn't have the money.

I can connect you to people who have serious problems with the 'education' their kids were or would have been subjected to, if you want- many enrolled their kids in private schools and they're not all Republicans- most are wealthy Democrats.

If you don't know what is being 'taught', don't tell me that I'm wrong.

If all kids went to public schools, do you think the more wealthy and powerful parents would put up with the state that you describe? No, they wouldn't. They would have a vested interest in - and the political muscle to ensure - a well-run education system.

You can cherry-pick Milwaukee as a bad example. Many of the problems you describe in your public schools are byproducts of poverty. I'll cherry-pick the public schools in my area. I am not a wealthy person. As much as I would love to have top of the line A/V equipment, it's never going to happen. We live in a 3-room bungalow in a working-class area. There was no way I was going to dish out tuition for private schooling for my daughter and university. So, she went to public schools and received a fine education. She is in her third year of university and just made the dean's list.

Private Schools Are Indefensible - The Atlantic
This passage sums it up in a nutshell:

In a just society, there wouldn’t be a need for these expensive schools, or for private wealth to subsidize something as fundamental as an education. We wouldn’t give rich kids and a tiny number of lottery winners an outstanding education while so many poor kids attend failing schools. In a just society, an education wouldn’t be a luxury item.

We have become a country with vanishingly few paths out of poverty, or even out of the working class. We’ve allowed the majority of our public schools to founder, while expensive private schools play an outsize role in determining who gets to claim a coveted spot in the winners’ circle. Many schools for the richest American kids have gates and security guards; the message is you are precious to us. Many schools for the poorest kids have metal detectors and police officers; the message is you are a threat to us.

Public-school education—the specific force that has helped generations of Americans transcend the circumstances of their birth—is profoundly, perhaps irreparably, broken. In my own state of California, only half of public-school students are at grade level in reading, and even fewer are in math. When a crisis goes on long enough, it no longer seems like a crisis. It is merely a fact.

Shouldn’t the schools that serve poor children be the very best schools we have?

 

[GO-NAD!]

I wonder how long it will take for him to deny it.

>>>
In comments posted by the press service of his Concord catering firm on Russia's Facebook equivalent VKontakte, Prigozhin said: "We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do."

The remark was posted on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections in response to a request for comment from a Russian news site.

"During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once," Prigozhin said. He did not elaborate on the cryptic comment.

Prigozhin, who is often referred to as "Putin's chef" because his catering company operates Kremlin contracts, has been formally accused of sponsoring Russia-based "troll farms" that seek to influence U.S. politics.<<<

It's gonna be difficult to un-say that.

 

[Teetertotter?]

About our public school System: When the Federal Govt mandated, "No Child Left Behind," was the beginning of the failure in the system. Why reward a student that is failing by passing them to the next grade level???
What incentive is there then , for the student to learn? End of story......... No responsibility for the student????

No wonder we have a bunch of idiots in our current society and will continue to grow. Where do we stand in the world education? Were the past gov't liberals the blame for the, "No Child Left Behind?" The problem is, Give every kid a trophy!

 

[Trell]

About our public school System: When the Federal Govt mandated, "No Child Left Behind," was the beginning of the failure in the system. Why reward a student that is failing by passing them to the next grade level???
What incentive is there then , for the student to learn? End of story......... No responsibility for the student????

No wonder we have a bunch of idiots in our current society and will continue to grow. Where do we stand in the world education? Were the past gov't liberals the blame for the, "No Child Left Behind?" The problem is, Give every kid a trophy!

That was a Republican law that even was talked about over here in Europe, as I recall.

No Child Left Behind Act - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[panteragstk]

On voting ID I agree 100% with you @jinjuku it's not hard to get an ID. I live here in Texas supposedly the most backward republican heavy state there is and it's pretty stupid easy to get one. I just dont see how you can have legitimate elections without them.

It is and it isn't. Depending on where you live you might have to take a day off to get an ID. Not everyone can do that.

When I lived in Collin County, renewing my DL took me two days. I waited in line for around 5-6 hours just to be told I had to have a copy of my birth certificate to renew my DL. I had to go to the county clerk and wait for another hour for them to print me a copy.

Didn't have time to back to the DPS center so I had to wait until the next day. Wait another 6 hours and then finally got my paper copy.

Where I live now took me maybe 15 min because they allow for online appointments. Usually I renew online and that's even easier.

So while it may be simple to get an ID, it might not be easy and can take so much time that people can't afford to take off from work.

I'd wager that it 100% depends on where you live as to how much effort it takes.

 

[jinjuku]

It is and it isn't. Depending on where you live you might have to take a day off to get an ID. Not everyone can do that.

When I lived in Collin County, renewing my DL took me two days. I waited in line for around 5-6 hours just to be told I had to have a copy of my birth certificate to renew my DL. I had to go to the county clerk and wait for another hour for them to print me a copy.

Didn't have time to back to the DPS center so I had to wait until the next day. Wait another 6 hours and then finally got my paper copy.

Where I live now took me maybe 15 min because they allow for online appointments. Usually I renew online and that's even easier.

So while it may be simple to get an ID, it might not be easy and can take so much time that people can't afford to take off from work.

I'd wager that it 100% depends on where you live as to how much effort it takes.

but was it made hard because of the color of your skin?

 

[Mikado463]

It is and it isn't. Depending on where you live you might have to take a day off to get an ID. Not everyone can do that.

who has a legitimate job without ID to begin with ?