“The power of a small elite, which possessed most of the wealth was greater than the power of the government elected by the people, presumably to run the country in the interests of all its citizens. This group was determined to preserve its privileged position and thus its money. ".-from the book “The collapse of the Third Republic”, by eminent historian William L. Shirer, writting about the political, economic and social problems in France prior to the Second World War.
I cannot fully agree, Rad-ish. Both parties are problematic, but the foundation of the problem are those of us who either fail to vote, or vote on only a couple of issues. A person who only cares about gun rights doesn’t look at side issues like the one raised by Mr. Anderson’s cartoon. Just as many people who demand equal treatment for the races and gays don’t think that hard about the banks being given more power to duplicate the mistakes made in the last decade. There is ample evidence to support the idea that had Americans gone to the polls in the same numbers they do for Presidential elections, the results would have been much different. But with gerrymandering, impediments to make voting easy and accessible, and a general feeling by youth in particular that their votes don’t matter, people were too apathetic or too lazy to go to the polls.I still wish we could make election day a holiday, replacing the Presidents’ day holiday with a holiday for the day on which we elect Presidents and other officials. Neither party wants to create an environment where a vast majority of Americans want, or perhaps are compelled, to vote. They benefit from their duels to activate the extreme bases of their parties while making moderates and independents feel hopeless.I rarely disagree with you, and on this specific point, I agree the Republicans are motivated by greed to help the banks, but I see where Democrats have moved to placate financial lobbyists so cannot call the GOP THE problem, just a result of the underlying problem in our society. Us.Respectfully,C.
Those “Republicans” all voted FOR the spending bill (HR83) containing those horrible provisions that Elizabeth Warren (a Democrat in more than name) helped expose.
Your betters at work. The IRS investigating itself…the DOJ investigating itself…Governor Cuomo and The Moreland Commission…Hillary Clinton’s supporters destroying documents in the basement of the State Department…Random House’s non-proofreading of Lena Dunham’s book…Mayor deBlasio’s defense of Rachael Noerdlinger’s lying…the Eric Garner grand jury…Jonathan Greber lying about Obamacare…Hillary Clinton and Obama lying about Johnathan Gruber…Obama lying about any number of things.
P.S. Regarding my assertion that the Corporatist Party has a supermajority: the final vote for the bill was 56-40. The vote for cloture, which requires 60 votes and could therefore have been used to block the bill, was … 77-19. Then when the final vote came up, all the Democrats who lost their elections this year voted for the bill, allowing some of the supporters (77-19, remember) to pretend that they opposed the bill by voting no – after its passage was guaranteed.
“Republicans are the problem.”That is foolish. Republicans may be advocating further deregulation of the banking industry, but the Democrats as a whole vote for the bills that deregulate banks. Bill Clinton was President when some of that deregulation took place. The Democrats may not have been the party to actively seek banking deregulation, but they are complicit and allow it to happen. They are also the problem.
“Government is the problem”, and every Republican leader since Reagan if elected has watched “Star Trek”, and their favorite activity and objective is to “Make it so”. Too bad their ship can’t find a competent navigator.
Robet Landers: that information has been kept secret. How does a rider get into a bill when “nobody did it”? Welcome to the convoluted processes in making sausage – er, I mean, laws.
In any case, politicians do NOT have to vote for the bill. They can simply remove those heinous parts, approve it, and send it back to the House. And the House members can drag their lazy carcasses back to Washington to vote on it. But that didn’t happen, because the members of the Corporatist Party (a majority of Ds and Rs) like those riders.
moosemin over 9 years ago
“The power of a small elite, which possessed most of the wealth was greater than the power of the government elected by the people, presumably to run the country in the interests of all its citizens. This group was determined to preserve its privileged position and thus its money. ".-from the book “The collapse of the Third Republic”, by eminent historian William L. Shirer, writting about the political, economic and social problems in France prior to the Second World War.
moosemin over 9 years ago
“Government IS the problem!”- Ronald Reagan, (and the Republican Mantra since 1981.)
chazandru over 9 years ago
I cannot fully agree, Rad-ish. Both parties are problematic, but the foundation of the problem are those of us who either fail to vote, or vote on only a couple of issues. A person who only cares about gun rights doesn’t look at side issues like the one raised by Mr. Anderson’s cartoon. Just as many people who demand equal treatment for the races and gays don’t think that hard about the banks being given more power to duplicate the mistakes made in the last decade. There is ample evidence to support the idea that had Americans gone to the polls in the same numbers they do for Presidential elections, the results would have been much different. But with gerrymandering, impediments to make voting easy and accessible, and a general feeling by youth in particular that their votes don’t matter, people were too apathetic or too lazy to go to the polls.I still wish we could make election day a holiday, replacing the Presidents’ day holiday with a holiday for the day on which we elect Presidents and other officials. Neither party wants to create an environment where a vast majority of Americans want, or perhaps are compelled, to vote. They benefit from their duels to activate the extreme bases of their parties while making moderates and independents feel hopeless.I rarely disagree with you, and on this specific point, I agree the Republicans are motivated by greed to help the banks, but I see where Democrats have moved to placate financial lobbyists so cannot call the GOP THE problem, just a result of the underlying problem in our society. Us.Respectfully,C.
Cerabooge over 9 years ago
Rad-ish: You mean Republicans like
Baldwin (D-WI)Begich (D-AK)Bennet (D-CO)Cardin (D-MD)Carper (D-DE)Casey (D-PA)Coons (D-DE)Donnelly (D-IN)Durbin (D-IL)Hagan (D-NC)Heinrich (D-NM)Heitkamp (D-ND)Johnson (D-SD)Kaine (D-VA)Landrieu (D-LA)Leahy (D-VT)Mikulski (D-MD)Murphy (D-CT)Murray (D-WA)Nelson (D-FL)Pryor (D-AR)Reid (D-NV)Rockefeller (D-WV)Schatz (D-HI)Schumer (D-NY)Shaheen (D-NH)Stabenow (D-MI)Udall (D-CO)Udall (D-NM)Walsh (D-MT)Warner (D-VA)
Those “Republicans” all voted FOR the spending bill (HR83) containing those horrible provisions that Elizabeth Warren (a Democrat in more than name) helped expose.
The Corporatist Party has a supermajority.
manteo16nc over 9 years ago
Your betters at work. The IRS investigating itself…the DOJ investigating itself…Governor Cuomo and The Moreland Commission…Hillary Clinton’s supporters destroying documents in the basement of the State Department…Random House’s non-proofreading of Lena Dunham’s book…Mayor deBlasio’s defense of Rachael Noerdlinger’s lying…the Eric Garner grand jury…Jonathan Greber lying about Obamacare…Hillary Clinton and Obama lying about Johnathan Gruber…Obama lying about any number of things.
Cerabooge over 9 years ago
P.S. Regarding my assertion that the Corporatist Party has a supermajority: the final vote for the bill was 56-40. The vote for cloture, which requires 60 votes and could therefore have been used to block the bill, was … 77-19. Then when the final vote came up, all the Democrats who lost their elections this year voted for the bill, allowing some of the supporters (77-19, remember) to pretend that they opposed the bill by voting no – after its passage was guaranteed.
Jason Allen over 9 years ago
“Republicans are the problem.”That is foolish. Republicans may be advocating further deregulation of the banking industry, but the Democrats as a whole vote for the bills that deregulate banks. Bill Clinton was President when some of that deregulation took place. The Democrats may not have been the party to actively seek banking deregulation, but they are complicit and allow it to happen. They are also the problem.
Dtroutma over 9 years ago
“Government is the problem”, and every Republican leader since Reagan if elected has watched “Star Trek”, and their favorite activity and objective is to “Make it so”. Too bad their ship can’t find a competent navigator.
moosemin over 9 years ago
I know, and agree. I put that comment in to complement Nick’s toon about “big, bad government!”
Cerabooge over 9 years ago
Robet Landers: that information has been kept secret. How does a rider get into a bill when “nobody did it”? Welcome to the convoluted processes in making sausage – er, I mean, laws.
In any case, politicians do NOT have to vote for the bill. They can simply remove those heinous parts, approve it, and send it back to the House. And the House members can drag their lazy carcasses back to Washington to vote on it. But that didn’t happen, because the members of the Corporatist Party (a majority of Ds and Rs) like those riders.
echoraven over 9 years ago
Is that why the recession has lasted 6 extra years? Oh, wait Democrats were in charge. So to you recession wasn’t a problem…