Surely you jest. The RepubliKKKans deal with those unwieldy crosses that they like to set on fire while they pray to something. This fact, combined with the fact that they constitute a very small, almost negligible faction of the mainstream Republican Party, which doesn’t hold the White House, makes it very unlikely that there is even one of them in this group.

@ArturoS Believing to be safe from your enemy is the Original Sin. You must assume they are everywhere... in this Site theist are welcome, we already proved that worshipers of 2nd amendment walk among us, will not surprise me if one of those obscure groups here with 6 members is them talking in code.

And can you show me a socialist country that’s prospering at the moment? ?

@KenG Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Netherlands Yada, yada, yada.. try google. Don't conflate socialism with fascism. Fascism still sucks even if it's socialist fascism. They aren't the same thing.

@KenG I can show you all the Capitalist countries that Are Not Prospering Right About Now. Including the ones broke in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, Middle East.

As far as I am concerned, conservatives only want to conserve bigotry, homophobia, and money.

@GipsyOfNewSpain

@KenG Is it any wonder why so many people fall for this gibberish; work hard make the man richer, buy more on credit the man makes more money, don't join a union that's socialism, pay over $1000 per month for healthcare or go bankrupt the man still makes money reposing your house.

@KenG China

School vouchers to private schools goes against the separation of church and state . The rep are always portraying themselves as protectors of the Constitution but chose to ignore it on religion. I do not see any republicans protecting the enviroment rather hey are doing everything to destroy it. Letting mining waste into the rivers and chemical waste to be dumped in land pits is not protecting the invironment. Russia is a threat to our government and to think otherwise is crime.Social security is a godsend to the middle and pooer classes to which they have contributed. It is not an entilement.

You want explain the lazy, lack of ambition due to SS.

@rdh2112 I think that ignoramuses will be the end of all of us.

1. CO2 is at the highest level ever recorded. CO2 is a proven greenhouse gas, along with methane. The Ice at the poles are melting. Freshwater is overlaying thermohaline circulation aka, the Gulf Stream and it is at near it's weakest ever recorded because the oceans are warming. Warming oceans and permafrost on land are already releasing methyl hydrates which is basically methane a worse green house gas than CO2. The attention on CO2 is warranted. 2. Social security is a solvent program and is not part of the discretionary budget. Only Republicans have robbed social security to cover their embezzlements. 3. Wait until the "Free Market" screw you now. The ACA slowed the rise in health care premiums. 4. The wealthy pay a far lower percentage of income in taxes, that is why the top teir should be paying 90% rates again. The wealthy don't need income, they own almost all the wealth already and they are messing up politics with their money - only their voice is heard 5. Certainly the military budget needs to be reduced - but therein lies the myth of the private sector doing things more effectively. Who does the military and government get their services from?

Jeffy,

1. CO2 is now at about 400ppm. During the Cambrian period, CO2 was 17.5 times higher, at 7000ppm. CO2 was above 2000ppm for hundreds of millions of years. That's the time period where there was so much life on earth that we built up all the fossil fuels we are burning today.
2. Do you have any evidence to support your claims the the Republicans have embezzled money?
3. I was purchasing private healthcare insurance from 2010 through 2013. My premiums went from $420/month to $500/month. After Obamacare kicked in on 1/1/2014, my premiums went from $500/month to $1866/month.
4. You are completely deluded.
5. Looks like we agree on the fact that we can reduce the military budget. Whenever you have a situation where you have a motivated private individual or entity trying to maximize costs, and you have an unmotivated public entity trying to control costs, costs will explode. That's the problem with the military budget, and that's the biggest problem with healthcare spending. I can tell you enough of my own stories from my 12 years in the defense/research/government contracting industry to go on for days.

The EPA is not waging war on CO2 just how much we are pumping into the atmosphere. Some CO2 is normal at certain levels but in excess it traps more heat.

I understand that SS at Ponzi Scheme is a wonderful talking point. It misses the questions that should be asked instead, is it sustainable? Do we trust that millionaires in Congress will do a good job modifying it?
[pbs.org]

Since you give anecdotal evidence against Obamacare I will give anecdotal evidence for it. A close friend’s fiancé discovered she had a advanced form of cancer that spread throughout her body. He was taking out about $50,000 in loans a year to fund surgeries to ensure she would survive to their first anniversary. Obamacare swept in in time before she had to file for bankruptcy.

A “Fair Tax” could raise sales taxes up to 30% to replace income taxes.

The private sector doesn’t have to deal with the same number of customers as the public sector.
Ex: I open a movie theater and charge $100 per ticket. There would be no wait and more personal service.
The government opens a movie theater that is greatly discounted or free. I would have large crowds, wait lists, and limited personal interaction.

The private sector is not better it can be more selective in its customer base.

@BD66 During the Cambrian, there was no terrestrial life. The "Fair Tax" is anything but. Essentials - food, clothing, housing - take up a much larger portion of income for the lower income people. Your social security link doesn't work. The proof of the embezzlement are the IOUs left by Reagan and Bush I, who took over $2T out of the trust fund you say doesn't exist, rather the one the propaganda tells you doesn't exist. Again SS and Medicare are not part of the budget - the Republicans like to say that because it obscures the fact how much is being embezzled with the huge Military budget - which is well over half the discretionary budget and climbing. Fact - 10% of the people own 90% of the wealth in America. Concerning healthcare - apparently, you have your own business. You can thank Republicans for screwing the ACA up and jacking up your rates. Also, there is no way to compare coverage only by dollar amounts. What coverage did you have at the lower cost? HMO are famous for selling coverage that covers nothing.

@Bignate901 increasing sales tax is automatically imposing more burden on the poorest people.

Jeffy,
Have you ever seen Jurassic Park? Well when all those big dinosaurs were roaming the earth, the CO2 levels were above 2000ppm. That's 5 times higher than the levels today.

Jeffy,
This is really revealing. It's kind of like a large portion of the population belongs to a cult, and you don't know what their crazy beliefs are until you sit down and talk to them.

Reagan and Bush I took 2T out of Social Security?

When Reagan was President, they raised another 2.7T for Social Security, but that money was all spent. Who spent it? The Democrats controlled the House the entire time Reagan was in office. The House Ways and Means committe has final say on the budget.

Social Security is not part of the budget?

Well here it is on page 3 under Outlays:MandatoryProgramsocialSecurity

[whitehouse.gov]

I'm with you 100% on the Military budget.

The top 10% of the people own 90% of the wealth. Fair enough. They generated 47% of the income and paid 70.88% of the taxes. So they are paying a higher portion of their income in taxes than the bottom 90%. Here's the reference:

[taxfoundation.org]

Republicans screwed up the ACA?

How in the world could you conclude that. Not a single Republican voted for the ACA!
It was shoved down the throats of the American public by a very small Democratic majority in Congress. Here is the reference:

Senate vote by state.
Democratic yes (58)
Independent yes (2)
Republican no (39)
Republican not voting (1)

House vote by congressional district.
Democratic yes (219)
Democratic no (34)
Republican no (178)
No representative seated (4)

Here's the reference:

[en.wikipedia.org]

My old coverage with the $500 premiums was MUCH better than my new coverage with the $1866 premiums. When I switched from the marketplace plan to the group plan, I couldn't believe how much better the $1702 group plan was than the $1866 Marketplace plan

@jeffy Thank you

You're wrong about the Social Security Trust Fund. It was doing just fine until Reagan and the Republicans stole it to pay for his give-aways to the rich and corporations.

Yeah, that is wholly untrue. You can't even back that position
up with facts. I do, however, invite you to try.

The way I heard it is: Democrats/the left does things FOR people; Republicans/the right does things TO people. I agree.
What do you consider a ‘good’ outcome? Good for who?

@CarolinaGirl60 The Right tend to think more about consequences. The Left just want to feel good about themselves.

@CarolinaGirl60 Take the UK for example. Many lefties want to let as many immigrants into the country as want to come. This would make them feel good but would destroy the country

You don't know the left from your right do you?

What utter nonsense. What has the Republican party done in the past 40 years that had a good outcome?

1. Winning the Cold War. 1989
2. 1995 Reducing Government Spending through the Contract with America that led to the only budget surpluses in modern history.
3. 2011 Reducing Government spending in that gave the USA a few more years of solvency before a sovereign debt default.

@BD66 The republicans did NOT "win" the Cold War. It's still going on, and it's gotten worse. The old Soviet Union collapsed under it's own weight. The republicans had fuckall to do with it. In 1995, Clinton was President, not a republican. 2011, Obama was President, not a republican. Care to take another shot at that?

@KenG : immigration is a tough issue, for sure.
I do think the left are more compassionate towards children, the elderly/disabled and see things like food and medical care as rights rather than privileges. I’ve heard the ‘personal responsibility/freedoms’ reasoning from the right...in some, that attitude is: I’ve got mine so, who cares about you? Or, I’m ABLE to get mine, if you can’t, then you’re just lazy.
All those are generalizations and not true of all in each group. Personally, I find hard-core Righties I know IRL to be less empathetic/compassionate for, and more harshly judgmental of, others. Especially others not in their demographic.
Both sides have some valid points, imho.

That is not even close to true

@CarolinaGirl60, @jonds56

@jonds56, @CarolinaGirl60 Mostly the only immigrants who can make the journey are young men (about 90% from some countries apparently). Women and children get left behind

@KenG That’s overly simplistic, not to mention dismissive.
And part of his point was merely that opinions shift over time.
Does it FEEL good, to help others? Yes.
Does it DO good, to help others? Yes. I believe it does. Same with equality/civil rights, and many other issues.

@KKGator Nailed it , KKGator

“Guns in church! Pew pew pew! “ that”s pretty funny. I’m now imagining a cannon that shoots giant wooden benches...

Guns! All the guns! All the time! Want to be better looking? Guns. Want to drive faster? Guns! Food need more salt? Try Guns! ?????

lmao! the first time I saw "pew pew pew" was on a shirt with an octopus holding little laser guns. at first I didn't get it (in my defense, I had been up all night with a sick baby, and had worked till 9 that night and had to be back at work at 6 in the morning, lol) until they pulled out the old finger guns and said it in that high pitched voice.

@Byrd also, pews are the things you sit on in church. More pews!

@cvccosplay lol I know! that's exactly what I was thinking! I was trying to figure out what church benches had to do with an octopus with laser guns...sometimes I amaze myself!

It's reasonable to hold that position. There is very little evidence to believe the contrary.
Are you working within the party to effect change, or going along with what the hierarchy are promoting?

Do? Does.

@cvccosplay Or ‘do’

@cvccosplay more like doesn't do..

@Charlene doesn’t does

@Charlene touché.

@KenG lol. "Do" should be "does" if my interpretation of what you're attempting to convey is accurate as it's the direct action of the phrase "the Republican Party" which is the direct object of the prepositional phrase "with everything." Unless you meant "doesn't do," of course. ????

@NotConvinced lol. Education matters even moreso now. Call it "intellectual assertion." Or "points". ?

@NotConvinced "intellectual assertion" = "maturity"? Yeah, I can agree with that. I was thinking "points" as accumulated by the forum, but that works too!

@cvccosplay If I were talking about the people running Republican Party then the use of the word ‘do’ would be correct I believe. And this is the context in which I was referring to them as. ?

@KenG actually, [plural] people "do", but a [singular] party (as stated) "does". You can change the predicate object to "members", followed by another prepositional phrase "of the Republican party" to force a plural action "do"; the rule still holds. It's a bit tricky in the wording and context, but I can diagram it as well if you'd like. ?
I should have been a teacher.

@KKGator You presume I voted Republican? Oh, interesting.

@KenG No, I didn't. I asked a question.

@TheInterlooper That's one of the biggest reasons why I'm doing it.

Great. Now tell me how you would defend the country,build roads,infrastructures and run the government without money?Believe it or not but you use the government every day in some manner.Who picks up your rubbish, provides sewers,water ,electricity and police protection and firemen? None of these are free and you could not afford them on your own. It is by pooling some money from everyone that these are made possible. So do not be so quick to say it is your money as it also your safety and needs that are being taken care of.

@Marine I said that's what THEY believe. I never said it was practical. I thought you said you didn't want to fight but here you are assuming that it's what I believe and basically attacking me so maybe shut up and read what I said before you start attacking me. I'm a socialist God damn it.

@Marine I don't care for politics in general, and I agree and disagree with points on both sides. but I would like to say about this comment alone. I understand that with the way things are, it takes money to do pretty much anything nowadays. but I wonder sometimes, about a community I once visited with my grandpa when I was small. and how well their methods would work for the world at large. they pretty much traded for everything. I'm sure they still had a few bugs to work out, but they seemed to be doing pretty well. roads maintained, children educated, everyone fed and clothed and housed, repairs done by the most qualified in return for other goods or services, community programs available for all sorts of things. as I said, I assume it wasn't yet a perfect system. but it was very interesting to see how much more often these folks looked at others as equals compared to a lot of the more mainstream parts of society. pretty much everyone has something to offer at some point in their lives. I'm not sure how practical it would be though, for modern people. while I think its a great idea, I don't see everyone being all happy about it. sorry that really didn't have anything to do with your original post, but your comment got me thinking. I wish my grandpa was still alive so I could ask him where that was...

@LadyAlyxandrea First of all I see no they in your message rather just don't tell me how to spend my money which is a very common phrase among the republicans. Because of this comment I could assume you agreed with their beliefs. Next i did not attack you I just asked questions I have asked many republicans who want less government yet say they want the in frastructure to improve as well as other things. If your comment had been more precise this discussion would not have taken place.

@Marine it's in quotes and the first sentence is "I'm not a fucking republican but I know enough of them to know it comes down to"

Just because you have bad reading comprehension don't blame me for your explosive attacks. You WERE looking to fight, and you won't even accept responsibility for it. No one ELSE misinterpreted my comment.

You know what I'm done. You're no better to talk to than conservatives

@LadyAlyxandrea Sorry you feel that way but I am not able to bring up anything you have in quotes and I am not a mind reader. If anyone is looking for a fight it seems to be you. I was looking for discussion not a fight.So i would not be so quick to attack one's reading comprehension if you are unable to bring up the material. It would have been nioce if you had made it available so no misunderstanding would take place,. It seems we are on the same side sorry you took offense as that was not my intention.com/

Because he had to fix what the republicans did to the economy without regulations, rules and laws. These are the same protection issues that trumpie just disolved so another crisis can develop. Please look at our economic history and you will see the dems are always placed in a postion to bail out the economy which requires spending that the republicans should have done.Then they blame the dems for spending. However the the stock market generally rises under a dem and falls underf a republican just like it has in the past few weeks.

And the economic collapse of 2007-2008 can be directly traced to the failed policies of the Reagan administration. Stop with the blame game. What are you going to DO to help start making change? Or is it just easier to stick with blaming the other side?

@Marine [townhall.com]
5 Reasons Barack Obama Will Be Viewed As One Of The Worst Presidents of All Time

No, when Obama was inagurated, we were in the middle of an economic crisis created by subprime lending. Subprime lending was forced on US banks by Clinton and the Democrats Community Reinvestment Act. The 1995 HUD directive forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up the subprime mortgage thus transferring the profit to private entities and putting the risk on the US taxpayers. Google "Henry Cisneros 1995 HUD Directive" if you want the full story.

@Marine I listened to a lot of news during the times about which you are talking and it is clear to me that you have the wrong impression of what caused those problems. Among other foolish acts, Clinton de-funded the CIA which might have otherwise been able to prevent 911. There are so many things that the media has programmed into the minds of this poorly educated nation. Do some research with an open mind and I am sure that you will see that both major parties have played their part in creating our problems.

@BD66 Reagan deregulated the banks, among other institutions. Go back farther than Clinton.

@gater Your five reason are as phony as the republican party is for the people. .1 he saved the country from going into a depression just like FDR did.2 the wars in the middle east are all republican problems and if the special forces that won the early war had been removed instead of trying to nation build as in the other fiasco Iraq we would not have had to spend trillions of dollars on wars that we had no business being in.Immigration could have been resolved under his term if the republicans had not signed a letter to not pass anything under his terms. Talk about racial problems the republicans are racist and did not like a black president.;

@Marine Did you read the article? or are you just doing a comedy bit?

@gater Read the article and it had to be writen by a trumpie like minded individual who chooses to make their own facts.

Thanks