“As I read about the possibility of legislators getting a pay raise, I wonder what type of benefits they receive — medical, retirement, etc.”
“Do the politically Liberal ‘MAD’-men” of ‘MAD’-ison Avenue think that by creating TV commercials with mostly black actors/actresses that they can influence the upcoming 2012 presidential election? It sure looks that way. You never see a Hispanic or (Asian) actor/actress in a commercial and even whites are becoming the minority. Don’t believe me, then just turn on your TV.”
“Arizona needs to pass some voter fraud laws. My mother is 91 years old and never votes the the way I want her to. She told me on the phone she may not be able to vote this year because funds for dial-a-ride are drying up. After she hung up I did my happy dance, I could take her to vote but I’m not going to make it easy for someone who won’t vote the way I want them to.”
“Sure will be a treat to see another city pick up ‘free-agent’ Steve Nash so we don’t have to be exposed to the ridiculous, repetitious APS-TV commercials, eh.”
“As I listen to rant radio, I take it all with a grain of salt, but I also consider the claims. One claim is that the world economy is going to tank in a (a few months to a year). I asked myself why a politician would sit on the sidelines, not striving to curtail the downfall of our social systems? The only answer I have is that they want to be in a position to pick up the pieces afterward. I would suppose that they would do an ‘FDR’, by campaigning that you shouldn’t ‘change horses in the middle of the stream’. Forewarned is forearmed. Don’t be fooled by slogans!”
“We moved from a bad neighborhood, (crime, noise, etc.) to a 55-plus community, now what we get here is constant loud vehicles 24/7 — mostly motorcycles. I don’t see how any of these pass inspection or avoid being ticketed. My point is we’re here to relax in our latter years and enjoy some peace and quiet, California passed a law on loud pipes, we should too.”
“According to Suzanne Jones — in Sunday’s Vent, gushing about Obama giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Delores Huerta — I bet she (Jones) would have have been deleriously elated if the honor had gone to Josef Stalin!”
“To the mathematically-challenged venter who believes oil companies are ripping us off when gasoline costs $3.90/gal with $110 crude oil and thus should cost $3.17 with $88 crude. Do you put raw crude in your tank? Even if crude cost nothing you would still spend over a dollar per gallon for taxes, refining costs and distribution. Perhaps a remedial math course is in order.”
mrconservative posted at 9:11 pm on Sat, Jun 9, 2012.
Obama's added $5 trillion to our debt in just over three years, which is more, by the way, than what Bush added in eight years. Bush's worst year was his last, about $480 billion, which was mostly due to the Democrat-controlled House and Senate. While it is undeniable that Bush spent too much (what president hasn't, besides, maybe Washington?) Obama has spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than Bush did. 'Nuff said.
mrconservative posted at 8:45 am on Sat, Jun 9, 2012.
Where are the Vents for June 8th?
sdjtaz posted at 8:13 am on Sat, Jun 9, 2012.
Chatmandu,
You have the right to your own opinion, but you don't have a right to the facts. I supplied the facts, as well as the source. If you don't believe these numbers, please give me a reference to the "actual" budget increases under Obama. Since the OMB publishes the annual budget, if these estimates are off, then I would love to see the actual numbers and the source for these numbers. I suspect that your figure will end up being very close to mine.
chatmandu002 posted at 1:22 am on Sat, Jun 9, 2012.
sdjtaz,
Got this from WAPO check facter.
The Pinocchio Test
The Obama campaign web page is cleverly worded to make it appear as if “independent fact checkers” support the claim that spending has grown slower under Obama than any president since Eisenhower. Fact checkers have certainly found fault with the claims made by the Romney campaign about Obama’s spending, but we have also all disputed the analysis touted by the Obama campaign.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. And while campaigns love to cite fact-checking organizations, that does not give them license to anoint a supportive columnist as a “fact checker.”
To have any credibility, the White House should be citing a real analysis by the Congressional Budget Office or career officials at the Office of Management and Budget — not an opinion article that had been found deficient by fact checkers and other analysts.
Three Pinocchios
sdjtaz posted at 3:46 pm on Fri, Jun 8, 2012.
Chatmandu,
Cut and paste the link below for more reasons to get over our oil dependence. This illustrates what I spoke of in my last post.
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12106895-oil-boom-brings-wealth-and-waste-to-north-dakota?lite
truth posted at 3:11 pm on Fri, Jun 8, 2012.
In 2011 the U.S. exported 3 billion barrels a day of gas and other fules, can't you retain anything?
sdjtaz posted at 12:41 pm on Fri, Jun 8, 2012.
Chatmandu,
I would suggest that you get your facts straight before posting. The first report for this came from MarketWatch, which is far from liberal. They put the annual spending increase at 1.4 percent. The Washington Post added certain conditions and came up with a 2.4 percent annual budget increase. Compare this to the first term for our last four presidents: George W. Bush, annual budget increase / 7.3 %, Bill Clinton 3.2%, George H.W. Bush 5.4%, and the conservative favorite, Ronald Reagan 8.7%.
Regarding the "drill, baby, drill". First, most conservatives don't say it in jest, they actually believe that it will solve our long term energy problems. Additionally, I have no problem with increasing US oil production, but we have to be realistic. First, it will mean increasing our refinery capacity (which will increase the level of pollution in places like Houston, which already is one of the worst cities in the US for air pollution). Second, it won't affect prices at the pump. Third, the cost of adding the infrastructure will actually increase prices.
My point is that drilling more is a short term answer for a long term problem. The country that develops the next great energy solution will be the country that dominates the future. I would like that to be the United States.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:32 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
sdjtaz,
Drill baby drill was in jest. But why shouldn't we drill and recovery our own oil and other resources? It's there and our people should get the jobs and money instead of sending it overseas.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:27 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
sdjtaz,
I will blame all the politicians for our economic problems, it just happens that Obama is the president now and he is pushing economic policies that I disagree with.
In reply to your statements that Obama isn't spending like a drunken sailor and has the lowest increase of the budget since Eisenhower administration. This story, by a liberal columnist, has been debunked by all fact checkers for using wrong figures. As for another big stimulus, as favored by Paul Krugman. Why would that work again, it didn't work the first time. There is no "big kickstart" for our economy.
It's time to get our spending under control, reform our tax code, reform entitlements and get the big government's foot off of the throat of our free market system.
sdjtaz posted at 2:34 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
Sorry,
"US production of oil had effect on the price of oil", should had read as "US production of oil had NO effect on the price of oil"
sdjtaz posted at 2:32 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
Chatmandu:
Regarding vent #5, you seem to have bought into the Republican myth that Obama is to blame for everything. It's funny to hear Republicans talk like this, since they are the one's constantly harping about personal responsibility. Yet, when you point out the failures of the Bush economic policy and how it killed the US economy, you want to avoid the subject and blame it all on Obama.
Right now, the major failure for Obama isn't too much spending, it's not enough spending. For all of the right-wing claims about Obama spending like a drunken sailor, the Federal budget have seen the lowest increases in spending under Obama since the Eisenhower administration. The simple fact is that our current economy will not truly improve until it gets a big kickstart.
Regarding vent #8, "drill, baby, drill" is highly overrated. Oil is a world-wide commodity, of which US production plays only a very small part. In fact, the Associated Press studied 36 years of oil prices and found that the US production of oil had effect on the price of oil. In fact, right now we don't have the refinery capability to produce much more domestic oil. Your belief in this fantasy is what happens when you rely on Sarah Palin for your information.
Oil prices in the US are much more greatly affected by measures that limit our use of gasoline (the less we use, the lower the prices get). Additionally, increased US production is a short-term answer to our long-term energy issues. I would rather see the US spend the money on oil conservation and development of alternatives that will create the long-term answers.
chatmandu002 posted at 12:11 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
Vent #1: Should we treat our legislators like anyone public employee? Yes!! But they control the purse strings.
Vent #2: Are they all black???? I must be colored blind. LOL
Vent #3: Just ask any liberal/progressive/socialist and they will tell you there is no such thing as voter fraud. According to them any voter fraud laws are just voter suppression laws. And I'm not being sarcastic.
Vent #4: Those commercials are a little dumb..... bye Steve, it was great while it lasted.
Vent #5: All the politicos seem to do is kick the can down the road. Maybe we should all follow president Obama "FORWARD" over the cliff.
Vent #6: My 55+ community is nice and quite. You must live near "truth" will his loud Harley.... LOL
Vent #7: Is the Medal of Freedom anything close to the Nobel Peace Prize that Obama got when he took office? Now that he is the Drone Master of Death, I wonder if they want their Peace Prize back?
Vent #8: Drill baby drill. :o)
fae4now posted at 10:42 pm on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
I do believe venter #3 was being sarcastic. Lol
truth posted at 4:26 pm on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
Us old guys love our Harley Davidson love that sound. Politicians, and the news media are controlled by Corporations, Corporations want cheap labor in the U..S. Look what our politicians did to Social Security.
somepeople posted at 1:48 pm on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
O.K., what happened to everyone getting to vote for whichever candidate
the chose? If someone tried to tell me who to vote for, I would disown
them and start a case for "voter fraud" against them. You can't tell a
person how to vote just because you give them a ride to the polls....
or because they are your mother. Sheesh, get a clue!
sdjtaz posted at 11:31 am on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
Venter #1: Yes, they receive retirement and health-care benefits much like public employees. The difference is that as a public employee, you have to reach 80 points (combination of age and years of service) to receive the retirement benefits. Legislators can qualify after just one term in office.
Venter #2: You may wish to see political conspiracies everywhere, but Madison Avenue is interested in just one thing, selling a product to their target audience. BTW, I do see Asians and Hispanics in ads also, so I suspect that you are seeing only what you want to see.
Venter #3: So, was your mom voting illegally or just not voting the way you want her to. If she was legally registered, then your claim that we need voter fraud is a bogus example.
Venter #4: We will still see the annoying ads, they will just have someone else in them.
Venter #5: I just read where Warren Buffett thinks it's unlikely for the US to go into another recession. The problem with the rant radio is that they often have a conflict of interest. They will tell you how bad the economy will become and then turn around and try to sell you gold as a hedge.
Venter #7: Typical right-wing response. You don't like someone, so you try to paint them as a communist. Huerta was an inspiration to women, to farmworkers, and to the poor in general. I suspect the only extremist here is you.
Venter #8: I agree with you about the missing some basic math facts. However, math only plays a partial role in determining costs. The main factor is what the market will bear. In this case, the oil companies know that they charge what they are and still make a sizable profit. We are the ones who choose to pay the price. Ultimately, I am simply thankful that the predictions of $4 and $5 gasoline probably won't come true soon.