Why the republican party doesnt appeal to people...

[Boobalaa]

Today's Planned Parenthood Hearing

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_facto...republicans_are_out_of_step_with_america.html

 

[b.c.]

BC

Here is who "they" were/are.

First of all I have lived on the MS gulf coast since 96, was here for Katrina and plenty of other hurricanes and worked at the local Lowes from Sept 05 until well into 09 So I saw and heard what "they" said and did up close and personal.

With a few exceptions all the houses that were "destroyed" were withing eyesight of the gulf, go inland no more than 3 or 4 blocks and the extant of the "damage" was flooding and just flooding, 3 or 4 in some rare instances maybe 6 feet of water that came and went in 5 or 6 hours.

Prior to Katrina I had worked in Gulfport in a single story building not much more than 2 blocks from the gulf, all it saw was flooding, the chinese restruant across the parking lot, the two apartment complexes and 6 or so building all within a few hundred yards all withing 4 blocks of the water saw nothing but flooding 7 or 8 feet at most no structural damage at all.

Even way over tot he West, Waveland or Bay St Louis this was the norm well within a mile of the water, maybe a few feet higher and stuck around a hour or 2 more.

Yes a few houses "floated away" but that was the exception.

So with the exception of the "lower 9th ward" in New Orleans where the water had to pumped out that because people were stupid enough to live BELOW SEA LEVEL a sea that was mere yards away the s the "vast majortiy" is as I described, that is who "they" are.

The typical house "they" owned was a 3 or 4 bedroom 1&1/2 or 2 bath 1800 to 200 sq, ft ranch that was 15 or 20 maybe 30 years old and prior you could have bought any day of the week for 150K and plenty of them for 120 something.

To "repair" these houses from a normal "insurance claim" standpoint, just get then back to what they had been you were talking nothing more than new flooring and in many cases ceramic tile or vinyl survived just fine, new exterior insulation, paint and drywall, new appliances, not much more and that would have cost including labor 30 or 40 grand, 50 grand tops.

But that is not what happened, once the "grant money" AKA "road home" in LA got going in 06 mostly run by contractors BTW who it is no way an exageration to say they were "overly generous" the norm was they maxed out, 126K as I recall pretty much every claim. not much more than, 1. you lived in one of the 6 counties, 2. you could show you owned a home and 3. you made a claim for grant money. you got a check for 126K, house is only worth 90K, had maybe 10K in actual repairs required, you had literally no insurance of any type on it none of that was a problem still the max.

Once "they" got that money then they were all the sudden more than happy to settle with the State Farms of the world for 40 or so cents on the dollar so there was another about 50K

So with 175K to spend and plenty of "volunteers" that were here for years and might still be here if it had not been for Sandy giving you all or most of your labor for free they turned those nondecripts ranchs into "McMansions" that typified everything you saw in all those "flip this house" type of shows of the time and the norm we saw in "housing bubble houses" adding new big "master suites" with big "glamour baths" new kitchens, with granite or marble counter top, stainless steel, often "restruant type" appliances. Home theater/media rooms big new "man caves" etc etc

The irony in more than few cases was that after those former 120 grand rannches got assesed for upwards of 400K "they" all the sudden found out they could not pay the new higher property taxes and more than a few were lost to the county in tax sale.

"cash for clunkers" these same people were first in line to cash in on that and were the very people who in 09 were "TEA Party members" bitching and complaining about how "those people" get what they call "free stuff"

I don't want to continue off topic here, but as I said, you need to get your facts straight, and your comments need addressing.

MANY people along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in Louisiana suffered devastating losses due to The Storm. Yes, there were SOME who suffered less damage, less flooding, and in some instances probably got greater compensation than they deserved. I even wrote (on at least one occasion past) of people in Mississippi who had not a lick of flood insurance, but sued their insurance companies for coverage ANYWAY, which kind of pissed off people like me, who paid both hazard and flood insurance for YEARS prior to the Storm. So yes, those who won their cases, probably got "free stuff." So did the state of Mississippi who got so much Road Home money from Congress, they were able to put it into whatever other projects they desired.

Yes SOME individual homeowners may have gotten more from Road Home than they deserved, however your ASSumption that everyone somehow got OVER is a COMPLETE falsehood, as stories about the struggles MANY faced in this area (and STILL are facing) are NUMEROUS. (I could point to documentation of the REALITIES rather that YOUR take, if I though it'd do any good.)

Regarding your other comments about people in the lower part of my ward "stupid enough to live below sea level" here are some facts for you. 80% of the city is below sea level, and my home along with that other 80% sat in flood waters for weeks, due to both the failure of a levee system later determined to have been flawed in design in the first place and a near defunct man made waterway that served only to channel even greater storm surge into the city.

More so, your notion of "people stupid enough" living where they do is that of an elitist, class based, and racially charged narrative that many (including yourself apparently) have bought into as a way of saying the people here got what they deserved. At best it is an ASININE narrative.

Funny how we never hear of how people are "stupid enough" to build homes on mountain sides, on coastlines or on beach fronts prone to storms, or along "tornado alley", or how they build hotels, homes, and condos on islands hit almost seasonally by storms, or build entire CITIES on earthquake fault lines.

If truth be known, I've often found myself wondering how many have uttered or thought how we are "stupid" for living here, only to subsequently find themselves in dire predicaments due to fire, flood, storm, tornado, or other natural disasters.

Point being (as Queenie would say), "You never know what's coming for ya."

 

[Boobalaa]

Opposition to legal abortion takes magical thinking and a lack of logic

 

[phonehome]

BC

My "facts" are straight enough.

Taken in totality of all claimants in AL. MS and LA, ALL of LA, yes SOME people suffered "devasting losses", MANY suffered losses much closer to what I described. It may be "many" and even a "vast majority" from your very New Orleans centric perspective but taken in total the "vast majority" were/are more like I described.

But the larger point I was making was that those very people only a few years later became the prototypical "TEA party types" bitching and complaining about "those people" getting "free stuff" that did not add up to 10% of what they had got.

 

[StormfrontFL]

BC

My "facts" are straight enough.

Taken in totality of all claimants in AL. MS and LA, ALL of LA, yes SOME people suffered "devasting losses", MANY suffered losses much closer to what I described. It may be "many" and even a "vast majority" from your very New Orleans centric perspective but taken in total the "vast majority" were/are more like I described.

But the larger point I was making was that those very people only a few years later became the prototypical "TEA party types" bitching and complaining about "those people" getting "free stuff" that did not add up to 10% of what they had got.

So in simpler words you are saying that a lot of the Tea Party members who complain about "free stuff" didn't complain when the "free stuff" was all directed at them?

 

[b.c.]

BC

My "facts" are straight enough.

Taken in totality of all claimants in AL. MS and LA, ALL of LA, yes SOME people suffered "devasting losses", MANY suffered losses much closer to what I described. It may be "many" and even a "vast majority" from your very New Orleans centric perspective but taken in total the "vast majority" were/are more like I described.

But the larger point I was making was that those very people only a few years later became the prototypical "TEA party types" bitching and complaining about "those people" getting "free stuff" that did not add up to 10% of what they had got.

So in simpler words you are saying that a lot of the Tea Party members who complain about "free stuff" didn't complain when the "free stuff" was all directed at them?

Storm, THOSE words (YOUR version which doesn't tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and make villains of us ALL) are words with which I'd AGREE.

FACT: A LOT of people who complain about others getting "free stuff" don't mind getting "free stuff".

(btw... said I wasn't going to post it, but here's a fairly succinct assessment of Road Home in Louisiana, free of the the usual fluff: Despite bumps in the Road Home, program served most well)

 

[b.c.]

As indicated below, Colin Powell reportedly said the Republican Party has shifted much further right than the rest of the country and that frontrunner Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of "illegal" immigrants doesn't reflect the rest of the party’s position, a statement which some would see as perhaps a tad TOO generous.

“I don’t agree that it’s the Republican position on immigration,” Powell said. “But … there are pockets of intolerance within the Republican Party, [and] the Republican Party had better figure out how to defeat that.”

Perhaps they might START by disavowing rather than kowtowing to such ideology.

Powell added, “Yes, I’m still a Republican. I want to continue to be a Republican because it annoys them.”


Colin Powell slams Donald Trump's immigration plan

speaking of which:

Every Republican 2016 Candidate Turns Down Invitation From Latino Conference except Donald Trump, who wasn't even invited.

 

[temptotalk]

Trump Teases Critic for Being Paralyzed

Not content with insulting a female reporter’s intelligence and professionalism, Donald Trump apparently mocked a conservative critic for being paralyzed. Trump in an interview with NBC News was asked about columnist Charles Krauthammer, who is paralyzed from the waist down and has called Trump a “rodeo clown.” In response to criticism from Krauthammer and National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg, Trump said the following: “I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand,” he said before discussing his plan to release financial statements. “Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?”

No scruples at all.

 

[Klingsor]

Trump said the following: “I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand” . . .

Surprising we don't see him visit LPSG more often.

 

[deleted15807]

The relentless assault on reason:

House Republican defends chart making 327,000 look bigger than 935,573

 

[StormfrontFL]

I saw a comment once again that "because Obama did such a horrible job this country will probably have a long wait before we have another black President". This comment was of course made by a "non racist" Republican. I ask why do some people feel they aren't being racist when they say things like this but would never think of saying "because George W. Bush did such a horrible job we will probably have a long wait before we have another straight, white, male, Christian President"? How is one worse than the other?

 

[Boobalaa]

..and the hits keep on comin folks..
Paul Ryan(ex-Rand) will make things right on his "Path to Prosperity". He's the quintessential "white man speak with forked tongue" politician. That is of course if he is chosen as the next Speaker of the House. "The Freedom Caucus" seems to favor Florida Republican Daniel Webster.
Could one of the reasons be "name recognition"?

 

[deleted15807]

Top 10 reasons to vote Republican

1. You are a bigot

It's true that not all Republicans are bigots. But if you ARE a bigot, the Republican party will be much more your group than the Democratic party. Remember that there are lots of ways to be a bigot: You could be a racist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, or lots of other things.

2. You like eating, drinking and breathing poison.

Many Republicans are calling for or voting for shrinking or eliminating agencies that protect us against poison. They seem to think that the corporations will do the right thing, without any pressure from the government. Uh huh. Read The Jungle. Look at the way Monsanto is hiding facts about Round Up. Look at food safety and outbreaks of E. Coli.

Corporations exist to make money. They will do so any way they can. The government needs to stop them from doing so in ways that hurt people.

3. You think the rich don't have enough money

The idea that giving more money to rich people (via tax breaks) will help poor people is nonsensical and has been shown wrong time and again in history. Huge tax breaks for the rich (a la George Bush) don't work.

4. You don't support our veterans

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran's Association (IAVA) rates every member of congress on how well they support our veterans. In the Senate, 9 people got A or A+: All were Democrats. 30 got D or F: 29 Republicans and one Democrat. More on this

5. You like big deficits

Since the end of WW II the ratio of debt to GDP for the nation has gone down in 9 administrations (3 Republican and 6 Democratic) and up in 7 administrations (6 Republican and 1 Democratic). The largest increases by this measure were GW Bush's 2nd term; GHW Bush, and Reagan's first term. The largest decreases were the three terms right after the end of WWII (Truman and Eisenhower). The last decrease under a Republican was in Eisenhower's 2nd term

source

6. You don't believe in free speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union is the premier defender of our civil liberties, including the right to free speech. That's free speech for EVERYONE; from Nazis to Marxists to Fred Phelps to anyone else. They rate politicians, including governors, senators and representatives. 12 people got a 100 rating: All were Democrats. 65 people got a score of less than 10: All were Republicans. Only 6 Democrats got a score under 50 (Joe Donnelly, Michael Ross, Collin Peterson, Joseph Shuler, Mark Critz and David Boren). Only 2 Republicans got scores over 50 (Olympia Snowe and Mark Kirk) Full list

7. You like big government

The Republicans like to claim they are against big government. It's a lie. They only object when government helps people. But they are supporters of the Patriot Act; they want the government to say who you can marry; they want the government to forbid abortion; they want the government to be able to spy on you without restraint. Unfortunately, many Democrats agree with them on some of these, but to find opposition to these big government ideas, you have to look to the Democrats.

8. You want government to hurt people, but not help them

This is really just a summation of some other points.

9. You are greedy, short sighted and rich

You really have to be all three for this to work.

If you're rich but not short-sighted, you know that, in the long run, when there is huge income inequality, it leads to things like stock market crashes and revolution, and everyone loses. In a revolution, it is often the rich who lose most.

If you're rich but not greedy, you recognize that helping others is a good thing, and that the government assuring that people have a safety net is a good thing as well.

10. You like torture

The Democrats don't exactly shine here, but the Republicans are much worse. It was, after all, Dick Cheney who bragged in his memoir about being a war criminal. It was Don Rumsfeld who opined that a problem in Abu Ghraib was that they weren't torturing prisoners enough. And it is mostly Democrats who have objected to torture.

Torture is wrong. It's also stupid. It doesn't work. People who are tortured will say ANYTHING (true or not) that they thing their torturers want to hear.

 

[Boobalaa]

The GOP’s in disarray.
The Freedom Caucus wants its say.
It’s time, they think, to take a stand
For principles from cuckoo land.

Calvin Trillin

 

[deleted15807]

The GOP is very upset the candidates were asked a lot of hard questions at the last debate. So they've made up a list of new more desireable questions:

These are the only acceptable questions:
1) In what ways are you like Ronald Reagan?
2) In what ways is Hillary Clinton like Hitler?
3) Would you execute Obama at once, or torture him first?
4) Would you consider a zero percent tax rate for the wealthiest 1 percent, and would it be possible to refund their previously paid taxes?​

 

[933295]

It's most obvious here in California that the Republicans have lost big time from the period when Reagan was Governor. The population of the state is now over 60% Hispanic so because of Repubs' anti-immigration policies, they've become extremely unpopular. I think this is also true of other areas of the country where there are growing Hispanic populations. The future for the Dems is obviously not white folks.

 

[Boobalaa]

It's most obvious here in California that the Republicans have lost big time from the period when Reagan was Governor. The population of the state is now over 60% Hispanic so because of Repubs' anti-immigration policies, they've become extremely unpopular. I think this is also true of other areas of the country where there are growing Hispanic populations. The future for the Dems is obviously not white folks.

True, however demographics paint the state blue, nearer the coast and reddish, the farther east one goes..There are pockets of "rednecks" all over the state even in the blue counties.. And visa versa, within a 10 minute drive of each other ..

 

[Fuzzy_]

The GOP is very upset the candidates were asked a lot of hard questions at the last debate. So they've made up a list of new more desireable questions:

These are the only acceptable questions:
1) In what ways are you like Ronald Reagan?
2) In what ways is Hillary Clinton like Hitler?
3) Would you execute Obama at once, or torture him first?
4) Would you consider a zero percent tax rate for the wealthiest 1 percent, and would it be possible to refund their previously paid taxes?​

Great list.

The GOP candidates will be handing their scripts to the next panel of hosts.

It's great seeing these "tough talkers" be so whiny.

 

[deleted15807]

When we examine presidential exit polls, we see that 74 percent of the Asian-American vote went to the Republican presidential candidate just two decades ago. The Democratic presidential vote share among Asian Americans has steadily increased from 36 percent in 1992, to 64 percent in the 2008 election to 73 percent in 2012.

This dramatic change in party preference is stunning. No other group has shifted so dramatically in its party identification within such a short time period. Some are calling it the “GOP’s Asian erosion.”

Why Asian Americans don’t vote Republican​

 

[Fuzzy_]

At the risk of stereotyping, Asians have a greater amount of faith in the government. They have a strong belief in the social contract, where the state will take care of you if you take care of the state (obeying laws and paying taxes). This system works well in Asian countries, especially East Asia (from Taiwan to Korea), which are happy and peaceful.

Republican leaders love to imply that America is broken and can be made great again. If America is indeed broken, maybe it's best to look for new solutions rather than going back to the old ways. Exploring economic and legal models of Asian countries may be a good place to start.