Re: Election Poll

[QUOTE=res0nat0r;1068312]You like typing long responses to basically tell us we are full of shit. I just cut to the chase. :RockOn:[/QUOTE]

How [I]dare[/I] I type long responses.

Too much for a redneck. Cutting to the chase must be a fight-or-flight response.

I made a prediction, posited a likely outcome. I asked Toasty for a response.

There is no conceivable way to paint that as 'saying something is bullshit.'

All you've done here is act like a child in desperate need of attention at this point.

Let's hope you don't act this way in front of other adults.

Re: Election Poll

This is fun!

Re: Election Poll

[QUOTE=88Mariner;1068276] I know you read the Federalist Papers in law school: what is your take on the absence of gridlock when one party controls the branches of government (as well as the civil service bureaucracy) ....[I]forever[/I]?

Toasty, does this sit well with you? Perhaps it does. It is a very sugary thought. The blood rush of controlling everything! But when you control everything, you control nothing: just ask any chinese person living in china how much they are involved in their government.

I'm curious: Does this sit well with you? I'm honestly interested in knowing how you think this will pan out long term. I've laid out the framework that will happen, how would you color it? [/QUOTE]

Briefly, although I would consider myself a democrat at this point in time and I'm happy with the outcome of the elections, I am not in favor of any one party having complete control over all 3 branches of government. I don't believe that "gridlock" is a necessary ingredient for success, but I do believe that checks and balances are extremely important and necessary, and I think that the best laws are created under circumstances where neither party has the ability to run something through without the other's blessing. The system is set up to require compromise, and I think we have the best outcomes when the parties work within that framework with that in mind.

Re: Election Poll

[QUOTE=toasty;1068445]Briefly, although I would consider myself a democrat at this point in time and I'm happy with the outcome of the elections, I am not in favor of any one party having complete control over all 3 branches of government. I don't believe that "gridlock" is a necessary ingredient for success, but I do believe that checks and balances are extremely important and necessary, and I think that the best laws are created under circumstances where neither party has the ability to run something through without the other's blessing. The system is set up to require compromise, and I think we have the best outcomes when the parties work within that framework with that in mind.[/QUOTE]

Is it your position, then, that Republicans are a necessary component to a stable Republic?

Speaking of checks and balances: when one group controls all three balances, the concept of 'checks and balances' becomes ceremonial, rather than functional, in effect. I believe you would agree with this.

If that's the case, what is the check against the one group that ultimately will control the three branches?

You mentioned that you are a "democrat at this point in time" - are you implying that you would switch ships to ensure no one party gains total control....for the sake of the Republic?

Color me fascinated with your comments.

Re: Election Poll

[QUOTE=88Mariner;1068469]Is it your position, then, that Republicans are a necessary component to a stable Republic?

Speaking of checks and balances: when one group controls all three balances, the concept of 'checks and balances' becomes ceremonial, rather than functional, in effect. I believe you would agree with this.

If that's the case, what is the check against the one group that ultimately will control the three branches?

You mentioned that you are a "democrat at this point in time" - are you implying that you would switch ships to ensure no one party gains total control....for the sake of the Republic?

Color me fascinated with your comments.[/QUOTE]

I say that I consider myself a democrat at this point in time because I was once a card carrying member of the college republicans, and that changed when the GOP lost its damn mind. My mindset is more in sync with the dems than any other party right now, but who knows, that could change. That's really all I was trying to say.

Do I think that Republicans in particular are a necessary component to a stable republic? Of course not, but I do think that some opposition is a good thing, and that legislators just voting in lock step without opposition results in bad legislation. It does not follow from that, however, that I should be expected to vote against my own interests or wishes to preserve some artificial balance of power. That will ultimately happen naturally, as it did in 2006 and 2010, when people saw the results of the same party controlling both the executive branch and both houses of congress.

Re: Election Poll

Republican House should vote present on all legislation (akin to what a certain former Illinois Senator did) from here on out to finally (maybe?) shut up the media's narrative about their "obstructionist" ways. People want misery, give 'em what they're asking for.

This is the quality of idiots running the country into the ground (free sex changes for San Fran residents): [url="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/09/gender-bender-spenders-san-francisco-to-foot-bill-for-sex-changes/"]Gender spenders: San Francisco to foot bill for sex changes | Fox News[/url] (no complaints about the source please).

Republicans hardly have an exclusive license when it comes to having lost their minds.

Re: Election Poll

[QUOTE=vinnie97;1068742]

This is the quality of idiots running the country into the ground [/QUOTE]

Naaa, it's the system, the people are fine.