Best week ever...for conservatives! by Skywalken

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

I think its a mistake to say that "conservatives" are winning.

What both Liberals and Conservatives don't get is that this isnt about THEM. Or, to put it another way, it isn't about one over the other.

The Independents voted Brown into office. Not because he was a Republican, but because he has the best chance of striking down this Healthcare plan.

I doubt anyone here, or across the country, has forgotten what years of Bush being in charge did to us. We have no desire to go back to that. The Patriot Act is just a small part of the horrors visited against the people while they were in charge.

But, the Democrats made a huge mistake with the whole "Tea-Baggers" thing. Just showed how elitist and so far out of touch with the people they are.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are not doing any better. We have no desire to defeat governmental tyranny, only to have it replaced by a corporate one.

So, we choose the best people (who know they have a mandate to slow or stop government action) while we build and rally OUR troops to take our country back.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 5:52 AM

BYTEMITE

That's of course assuming Brown DOES shoot down the bill, which at this point I think does more harm than good.

Brown has a 98% record of voting in with the Republican party line, so maybe, but people have to remember he's from Massachusetts and actually voted for their more extensive health care. I think people are going to find out that Brown is very different from what they thought they were voting for.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 7:09 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

OK, so this is the best week ever.
Maybe this is the high water mark and starting next week everything will go into the dumper. This may be the best it's EVER GONNA GET...
Enjoy it while you can, before the reality sets in.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 8:45 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
The Independents voted Brown into office. Not because he was a Republican, but because he has the best chance of striking down this Healthcare plan.

I doubt anyone here, or across the country, has forgotten what years of Bush being in charge did to us. We have no desire to go back to that. The Patriot Act is just a small part of the horrors visited against the people while they were in charge.

But, the Democrats made a huge mistake with the whole "Tea-Baggers" thing. Just showed how elitist and so far out of touch with the people they are.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are not doing any better. We have no desire to defeat governmental tyranny, only to have it replaced by a corporate one.

So, we choose the best people (who know they have a mandate to slow or stop government action) while we build and rally OUR troops to take our country back.

Wow, Wulf, mostly well said! Articulate, even. Huzzah!

However, I disagree on several points. I think there was more than one reason Brown was voted in, not the least of which was Coakley fucking up. To say everyone (even every Independent, and there were Dems there, too, remember) voted for Brown for the same reason isn't accurate, in my opinion.

Even among those who voted because of the health care bill, it was at least partly because the current proposed bill is a step DOWN from their own health care reform. In my opinion, the Dems need to go back and start again with something simpler the people can understand. This behemoth is far more bad than good.

I think the Dems didn't make a mistake about the Tea Baggers, they just dismissed them as kooks. Which I think they are...many just misguided and ignorant, but among them many who just plain don't THINK. And more than a few racists, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, who want to do and believe ANYTHING which will invalidate Obama.

In the end, I believe the tea baggers will be bad for the Republican Party...they don't represent what "the people" want, they're just a group of people who want ultra-conservatism, and I think they'll cause nothing but harm to the party closest in ideology to them.

Interesting that you say "We have no desire" and "we choose the best people". You indicate by that, since you always refer to the rest of us as "The Dems" and "You liberals" and so forth, that you've just belied your statements that you're not conservative; you obviously identify with them.

As to slowing and stopping the government, you'll find out eventually just how deleterious that is to you, your ideology and all the American people, because the tea party folk do NOT have a mandate to do so, the Republicans have CHOSEN to do so, and "while we build and rally OUR troops to take our country back" is fallacious; they/you are a small minority and aren't rallying their troops, they're trying to purge the country of everyone but conservatives in the government. It won't work. Come back and tell us "it worked" in a couple of years, because it won't have.

Well written, however, and without any personal slander or group-wide obscenities. Congrats!

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 11:38 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

I use the term "We" as in, "We the People".

"We" are not a party, "we" are not the fringes, or the kooks, the ultra conservatives, or the foolish libs.

"We" are the American people. And "we" are tired of the b.s. from both parties.

We are the Independent majority.

Silent no more.

Again, there is no desire to return to Republican control, with its so-called morality bent, or its willingness to sell/take freedom for fake security.

Nor is there any desire to allow the Democrats to sell our futures, or tax us to death while deadbeats/they reap the rewards of our sweat.

Also, we refuse to defeat the tyranny of the government and have it replaced by one of corporate design.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 11:50 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Ah, I see. Well, if you think what happened represented the "we" of the American people, I disagree. I gave many of the reasons I think one or another person chose to vote for Brown. It wasn't people who don't represent either party who voted Brown in, it WAS "the fringes, or the kooks, the ultra conservatives, or the foolish libs" and Independents (don't know what perjorative you'd care to put before their names). You don't know what they think or why. But they weren't the "Independent Majority", there is no such thing.

Ditto "defeating" government "tyrany" or "taking the country back". Most of that reflects Tea Party thinking, and none of it can be shown to reflect the minds of those who voted Brown in. Some, I have no doubt, but you definitely do not speak for "the American People", trust me!

And, uh, are you in Mass? Did you vote, or are you using the "we" another way?

Oh, Wulf, come on down to earth and deal with reality. There are no Han Solos or Vs or all the other fictional heroes you so admire, there are only fallible PEOPLE. You'll never get it until you realize that.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 7:17 PM

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Y'know, were I in Massachusetts, I doubt *I* would have voted for Coakley. She fucked it up in nearly every way imaginable, snidely asking what she was supposed to do, stand around outside the stadium in the cold shaking hands?

Well... YEAH! It's a CAMPAIGN, you dimbulb! You go out, you meet people, you gladhand them, you do whatever it takes.

I wouldn't have been voting for Brown, though. I'd likely have stayed home, as it seems a great number of MassDems did.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 7:27 PM

Laff-a-while you can, neoconboy!!

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, January 23, 2010 7:29 PM

TRAVELER

Considering where the Democrats were about five years ago I don't think they are so bad off. It will make some changes, but it does not give the Republicans the power they once had. When they had power what did they do with it? Do you want another round like we had with Bush?

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, January 24, 2010 1:13 AM

FREMDFIRMA

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, January 24, 2010 3:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:

She fucked it up in nearly every way imaginable, snidely asking what she was supposed to do, stand around outside the stadium in the cold shaking hands?

Well... YEAH! It's a CAMPAIGN, you dimbulb! You go out, you meet people, you gladhand them, you do whatever it takes.

When you're running as a Democrat to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in 12% Republican Massachusetts you really don't need to think about those kinds of things.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, January 24, 2010 4:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:

She fucked it up in nearly every way imaginable, snidely asking what she was supposed to do, stand around outside the stadium in the cold shaking hands?

Well... YEAH! It's a CAMPAIGN, you dimbulb! You go out, you meet people, you gladhand them, you do whatever it takes.

When you're running as a Democrat to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in 12% Republican Massachusetts you really don't need to think about those kinds of things.

I'll bet you a Senate seat you DO need to think about those kinds of things. ;)

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 8:22 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

(I think it just possible JS was being sarcastic...)

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 8:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
(I think it just possible JS was being sarcastic...)

I think it just possible I was as well.

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 9:08 AM

yep and yep. I originally typed a long step by step explanation of everything I felt she did wrong, then I deleted it because it's all been said last week. Things just suck now for everyone, maybe for different reasons, but they still suck. I opened a new bank CD on Friday and got 2% interest. At that rate I can retire when I'm 172 years old.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 9:23 AM

A while back I detailed what was up in America. We all (or most of us anyway) gotta get used to a lower standard of living, thing-wise. And get used to a higher standard LIFE-wise. This will result in less obesity, longer life-spans, and less garbage dumped into our oceans.
Oh, and emptier shopping malls.
Bye bye elitist utopian left-wingers.
Bye bye capitalist upper middle-to-high class.
We're all in the same boat now.

Hahahahahaha!!!!

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 9:31 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Skywalken:
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of free speech,

Well, you just dropped yourself into the idiot category, so nothing else you have to say has any merit.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 9:33 AM

I keep thinking back to that day, that fateful day in August of 2008, when Treasury Sec. Paulson whispered softly into President Bush's ear that the economy was going to collapse the next day unless he acted now. Too bad he didn't whisper that planes had just flown into NYC, because then Bush would have done nothing for a little while. But unfortunately in this case he made some desperate calls, and that started everything going down the tubes. I never believed any of it, Fed Chair Bernanke was utterly clueless to it, except later when it came to printing money in the Fed basement. Lehman Bros failed, but that didn't seem to impact anything. So then they all caved like little wimps and created TARP 1&2. Trillion dollar tax-payer bailouts with little oversight. A complete corrupt boondoggle of un-precedented proportions. And the Dem-controlled Congress blithely apporoved and went along with Bush & Paulson. Why??? Then followed that with the big scam that Geithner later engineered for his ole' bank pals from the NY Fed.. Too big to fail? Horseshit...shoulda been too big not to fail, but too absurd to be believeable is more like it. Wall Streeters had a GREAT last couple of years...all with OUR tax money. And no heads have rolled, no one is guilty of anything.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 9:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Too big to fail? Horseshit...shoulda been too big not to fail.

She agrees.

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 10:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Too big to fail? Horseshit...shoulda been too big not to fail.

She agrees.

Oh, she's ok I guess.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 10:49 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Too bad he didn't whisper that planes had just flown into NYC, because then Bush would have done nothing for a little while.

I think he was waiting for his pants to dry.

Kind of puts it all in perspective though doesn't it? For all the smarts that swirl around RWED not much any of us can do, we're essentially in the audience watching it all happen, might as well start yelling at the screen.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 10:58 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Capt. Richard N. Jenson: They haven't spotted our positions yet.

Patton: They will get some education in about 10 seconds when they get a dose of our artillery fire.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 11:08 AM

TRAVELER

Chris:

I have been living on unemployment for a year with no prospects in sight. I apply for work, not only in my own state, but anywhere in the nation that has a position I am qualified for. I have had two job interviews in that entire time. Tell me about living a lower lifestyle. At this time unemployment is evaluating me for an extention. It looks like I will be living on the state foodshare program, $200 per month, and my savings. But don't worry, when I am off of state unemployment then I will be removed from the list of unemployed and the federal unemployment numbers will go down. Won't that make everyone happy.

Rant over. Return to your regulary scheduled program.

Traveler

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 11:13 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Had a friend... very educated... lots of letters after her name..

Lost her job.

Went applying for another one, at her current salary.

No dice.

I suggested that she take a job at Starbucks, or Subway, or McDonalds. WHILE she kept applying for jobs at her current position and salary.

Her answer? No.

She felt that it would be beneath her.

Shes now living in a 3 bedroom apartment with 6 other people... while she continues to look for a proper job and getting a government handout.

lol

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 11:13 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 12:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Capt. Richard N. Jenson: They haven't spotted our positions yet.

Patton: They will get some education in about 10 seconds when they get a dose of our artillery fire.

What in the sphincter of hell are you babbling about now, you fucking brain-dead dolt?

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 12:38 PM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Wulf is just spouting his usual "guns are the solution to all problems" stuff, no biggie, just ignore him.

Traveler:

Quote:
when I am off of state unemployment then I will be removed from the list of unemployed and the federal unemployment numbers will go down. Won't that make everyone happy.

Yeah, when I first found out about that one, it made me gag.

That should be made public knowledge and drilled into EVERYONE, so they understand that the unemployment numbers don't count people who are off the list and people who took part-time jobs just to survive!

JS, I agree with the entire rant; I think an awful lot of Americans do...we're not COMPLETELY stupid, as they think we are. However, I happen to agree with Pizmo:

Quote:
Kind of puts it all in perspective though doesn't it? For all the smarts that swirl around RWED not much any of us can do, we're essentially in the audience watching it all happen, might as well start yelling at the screen.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 1:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by traveler:
Chris:

I have been living on unemployment for a year with no prospects in sight. I apply for work, not only in my own state, but anywhere in the nation that has a position I am qualified for. I have had two job interviews in that entire time. Tell me about living a lower lifestyle.

I'm really sorry that the beginning of the "Dark Angel" era is affecting you so hard so early.

We picked an amazingly inexpensive condo townhouse (in 2001 pre-bubble-burst standards) that would be impossible to afford now if one of us was unemployed. A choice that at one time seemed needlessly restrained is now a survival asset. We would be financially lost otherwise. Luck + economic pessimism = *whew*

Luck in your employment search, Traveler.

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 1:16 PM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

"What in the sphincter of hell are you babbling about now, you fucking brain-dead dolt?"

Just an idea.

That your belief system is about to receive a wake- up call from the free people of America.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 1:35 PM

TRAVELER

Thanks Chriss:

I feel better now that I got my rant out. It is just these state agencies are difficult to deal with. There letters to me are computer generated and make no sense. So you try to call them and the lines are so busy you can't get through. Instead of calling state unemployment about their deciding on my eligibility, I called the Foodshare office, to let them know I did not get a check last week, and they knew more about my situation then I did. My Foodshare goes up considerably if I stop getting unemployment. Turns out Foodshare has direct contact with state unemployment. So I know that a check, albeit late, is on its way from unemployment and that Foodshare is my best bet at getting answers.

Traveler

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 1:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
"What in the sphincter of hell are you babbling about now, you fucking brain-dead dolt?"

Just an idea.

That your belief system is about to receive a wake- up call from the free people of America.

Care to put a little money on it? Your so-called "free people" can't even BEGIN to keep pace with the corporate spending your kind are hailing as a victory for "free speech". Take Exxon Mobil as just one example. Last year, they recorded profits of 45 BILLION DOLLARS. Under the new reality, according to the SCOTUS's latest ruling, they could have easily spent 2% of their profits in each of the 50 states, resulting in $90,000,000 PER STATE in campaign contributions.

How much were YOU able to spend to insure your "free speech" and your status as one of the "free people" of America? 'Cause I guarantee you, there are people lining up with pallets of cash, just waiting to drown your free speech in an ocean of green.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 1:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by traveler:

I feel better now that I got my rant out.

In my experience, excellence & professionalism don't exist in real life. A**holes rule, & rocket scientists work for NASA, not the Govt or the private sector.
Traveler, we live in a world of idiots & slackers.
Sadly.

Oh well, we can watch Prisoner eps to enlighten ourselves, eh?

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 2:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
there are people lining up with pallets of cash, just waiting to drown your free speech in an ocean of green.

Fight green with green!
We need a Bruce Wayne!!

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 2:28 PM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
That your belief system is about to receive a wake- up call from the free people of America.

Oh gawd, please, stop, it hurts to laugh this hard!!

Okay, little baby, go back to playing with your little tin soldiers and comic book heroes, I'm sure "Patton" will be on TV again soon, you can watch him defeat all the nasty bad guys while you eat your popcorn and shout "RIGHT ON!"...

"Come back, when you grow up, boy..."

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 2:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Quote:
That your belief system is about to receive a wake- up call from the free people of America.

Ummmm, exactly *WHICH* free peeps are you referring to?

The laughing Chrisisall

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 2:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Quote:
That your belief system is about to receive a wake- up call from the free people of America.

Ummmm, exactly *WHICH* free peeps are you referring to?

The laughing Chrisisall

You know - THOSE ones. The ones who hate our freedoms. Or fight for our freedom. Whichever. Hard to tell 'em apart most days...

I think I'm going to put up a sign in my front yard:

"Free Americans!"

And then much smaller, underneath,

"While Supplies Last."

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 2:45 PM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

GOOD one, Mike!

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 4:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
GOOD one, Mike!

If it brought you a smile, my day is complete.

Feel better, Niki. I'm pissed off more than usual lately, too. But we'll muddle through, and we'll come out smiling.

Shit, I'm still giggling over the idea that picking up ONE SEAT in the Senate qualified as the "best week ever" for conservatives. A swing of two percent, and they're crowing like it's the second coming.

And he's not even a "conservative" - he's what passes for one in Massachusetts, possibly the most liberal state in the nation. He's pro-choice, he's in favor of the state's health insurance mandate, and more. In other words, in every other state in the union, he's a democrat!

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 4:10 PM

FREMDFIRMA

*slaps Wulf*

Fuck you, ya little pissant, I doubt you have a clue what it's like trying to work THREE shitty little jobs like that which STILL WONT PAY THE BILLS - and leave you no time to look for anything better much less attend interviews, till you wind up in the goddamned death spiral, facing eviction or foreclosure cause you were a goddamn moron and didn't hold out for something that *would* actually pay the minimum fucking expenses you need in order to make ends meet!

Do you think that shitty little job is gonna cover the nut of your house payment, student loan, car insurance, phone bill, power bill, water bill, not to mention fuel and food ?

Look, dickhead, the MAX you're gonna get from some asshat place like Starbucks (and believe me, the IWW has a hard-on for em for a REASON) is 28 hours, cause anything more they might be legally obligated to you, depending on the state, that might go as high as 35 - but fulltime ? HA!
That whole pesky "benefits" thing, don't you know...

So, 28 hours at $7.25 *IF* your state doesn't consider it a "tipped" position (which it's generally not, but SB will do anything to shaft it's way out of payin a decent wage), which comes to the grand total of...

$203.00 a week.
And taxes will jack a quarter of that right off the fucking top, which brings you down to...
$152.25

For a monthly income of all of the grand total of..
$609.00

Let's be *extremely* optimistic and use my puny little offices heating and electric bill, whups, there goes $85.00, plus thirty for the water.

Car insurance, that's a hundred, right off the top, MINIMUM - you only get the nice rate for multiple cars and having other policies, don't we all know it.

Student loan, well shit, that's another seventy, and let's say your down to pretty much the ramen noodle shuffle on food, there's a hundred, and maybe your local gas station is extraordinarily merciful, cause most of these places will NOT hire someone who rides a bus, let's not kid ourselves, so eighty right there for fuel.

And I'd Looove to see you get away with less than fifty bucks for a phone, cell or land line, but lets go with the bare minimum fifty.

Leaving you $94.00 to make the house payment/rent.

Yeah, that's gonna happen, innit ?
And that's not including other nasty expenses that come at you from the side, or heaven help you if your shitty little car breaks down or you get sick...

Do you think I turned to crime back then cause I *wanted* to ?

I've PLAYED this stupid game, it's a losing proposition straight into the death spiral, and once things start to go to hell, there's no recovery without outside intervention, kinda hard to pick up work without a phone, car, address, and a decent outfit, not to mention a shower - don't go makin the assumption that some shelter is gonna be all that helpful neither, jammed up as they are and even if they DO let you in, you'd better be prepared to fight for your life against other equally or more desperate folk.

If you don't score enough work to cover the bills up front, you might as well just step in front of a fucking bus - and if you can't understand that, maybe you shouldn't go talkin about shit you know NOTHING about.

Oh yes, and if you ARE getting any aid at all, know what happens to it the very *INSTANT* you file that W-2/W-4 on Hire, BEFORE YOU EVEN GET PAID (which can take 2-3 WEEKS) ?

They cut you straight off, AND more often than not, come screaming for the last payment back with all sorts of threats, and that's one MORE bill you're gonna have to make good on.

So don't come spouting some fox-news bullshit line to someone who HAS clawed their way up from the bottom and still bears the scars to prove it, those nasty little angled scars at the corners of the mouth from severe malnutrition, the mark of the ghetto that never goes away...

-Frem

There always has to be a price.

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 6:41 PM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Hey Frem,

Not arguing that working at Starbucks or McDonalds would pay your bills.

It wont... hell, it can't.

I was arguing the pure D arrogance of refusing a job, simply cus the person discussed felt they were "too good" for it.

And instead of at least TRYING to work, would rather take a government handout (that we all pay for).

THAT is my argument. The unwillingness of some to at least TRY to pay their own bills.

They would rather take a handout.

Btw, this person did not own a car, had no children, rented their place, and "daddy" had already paid her college tuition.

Her bills, such as they were, amounted to food and rent.

So yeah, a little more backround was in order.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, January 25, 2010 7:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Hey Frem,

Not arguing that working at Starbucks or McDonalds would pay your bills.

It wont... hell, it can't.

I was arguing the pure D arrogance of refusing a job, simply cus the person discussed felt they were "too good" for it.

And instead of at least TRYING to work, would rather take a government handout (that we all pay for).

1) Don't know where YOU are, but in Texas, unemployment taxes are taken out of MY paycheck, every single pay period. So *IF* I collect unemployment, ever, it will be from money that *I* have paid into the system. So it's a government handout only in the sense that the government is handing out the money I already paid in, and they're handing it out, to me.

2) My wife is currently unemployed, for going on a year now. She's had exactly ONE interview in that time, and the very first thing they told her when she walked in was "We're in a hiring freeze right now." When she works, she earns $14 to $18 per hour. Unemployment gives her the equivalent of $6 an hour; she'd much rather be working, but hasn't found an offer that will even match that $6 an hour.

Quote:

THAT is my argument. The unwillingness of some to at least TRY to pay their own bills.

They would rather take a handout.

And I say you don't necessarily know what you're talking about. Some people get around $10/hour equivalent in unemployment ($400 per week gross). You'd berate them for not taking a $5.75/hour job in lieu of $10/hour to keep looking?

One problem is, if you take even the most menial of low-paying jobs, your unemployment stops that day. They don't make up the difference. You work for less - MUCH less - or you take the "handout" (which is really money you've already paid in). When you apply for unemployment benefits in Texas, you get a form stating what amount you've paid in during your working lifetime (similar to what Social Security sends you every year), and what amount you can collect if you become unemployed.

Frankly, if it was me, I'd rather work the $6/hour job than take the money, but that's because if I'm not working, I feel lost and useless. And I've done that, just because I'd rather work than not. But in doing so, I may have passed up opportunities to take subsidized classes and look for and interview for better jobs.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 7:22 AM

FREMDFIRMA

There's no shame in wanting an actual FUTURE, Wulf.

Daddy ain't gonna be there forever, nor is the handout, but getting some shitty little job which isn't gonna cut it is a fools bargain, a temporary solution that has a nasty habit of becoming all too permanent, especially with potential employers, a lot of whom get pissy about someone having another job since they practically think they OWN you - the higher paying corporate jobs are very much like this, if you cannot be shoved into workin 60-70 hours on that 40-hour salary (a dodge, and we ALL know it is) then they want nothin to do with you.

Not to mention what's gonna HAPPEN to any of that assistance the minute you're fool enough to stick your head in THAT baited trap, hell no.

It ain't like they'll actually help you, or give you a leg up, one step at a time, oh no, it's the handout or nothin, and that's bullshit man, you know it is.

The lady plans on doin it right the first time, but you're incapable of seeing that cause once again you've bought into a bullshit line of reasoning that has been sold to you by folks with some seriously nasty motives, not the least of which is rapacious greed.

Let's examine the shoveljob behind this, the idiotic myth of the welfare queen with nine kids and a cadillac - seriously, FIND me one, just ONE, which you might, you try hard enough, dubious though the prospect might be...

Now consider that is like 1/1000th of a percent of aid recipients - using that as an example is like saying all muslims are suicide bombers, which of course is patently ridiculous since if they all were, there wouldn't BE any, soon enough, but anyways... you claim to be against collective punishment, and is this any different than folks holding YOU, personally, responsible for some small percentage of white folk being racist ?

Is it any different than those who would strip you of the right to bear arms cause a few have misused it, or use it irresponsibly ?

Why penalize decent folk for the actions of folk who ain't ?
Hell, why penalize children for the actions of their parents ?

How can you be so blind, so gullible, is it that you WANT to believe this bullshit so badly ? - either way it offends the hell out of me.

Almost as bad is the folk who let their fucking pride blind them, like the lady down the street from me, who having lost her husband to health problems, and damn near unable to survive on his pathetic pension, wouldn't take help from nobody, wouldn't even admit she needed it, and there's me, an outright crook who had even less, sneaking her kids sandwiches and school supplies on the sly, cause I couldn't bear the goddamn thought of them suffering for her damned arrogance - hell, she wouldn't even apply to get them school lunch assistance, grrrr...

Speakin of which, if you cut out the bullshit of administrative costs, paperwork, enforcement and investigation to determine who is and isn't eligible, and just made it automatic, it wouldn't cost a damned penny more and would probably cost LESS given what the cost of all those tax-feeder drones and their benefits (far better than private sector, of course, and all paid for on OUR dime) adds to the whole ball of wax.

I say just nail it across the board, you go to public school, you get lunch with that - you don't like what they're offering, then bag it or buy it, but at least if you've got nothin else, you won't starve.

Speakin of...

Feeding people is cheap, DAMN cheap, in comparison to feedin the war machine, you have any IDEA how many people we can feed for the price of a tomahawk missle, and we don't get that back - with the people, many of em DO eventually climb out and put back into the system, which is how it works, and is supposed to work - yes it works badly, yes it ain't perfect, but fuck, man, it's SOMETHING, it's human, humane...

Shit, if we'd wanted to buy favors in Afghanistan we shoulda dropped food, not HE, and of course wiser people tried it, and we fucked it up by carpeting the area with bombs that looked just like the food, an action that to this day I suspect was entirely fucking deliberate - can't sell a war if no one wants to fight you, right ?

Dude, it's seriously pyschologically difficult enough to begin with, to get folk to kill each other for no particular reason, despite years of expertise on behalf of militaries and religious fanatics, it's STILL hard even if you practically program them from birth, it's against our very NATURE...
And it's ten times harder to nerve yourself up to fire on someone feeding or helping you, one reason the vietcong were so damn psychotic about going after "collaborators" and our MEDCAP deployments, cause most folk couldn't give a fuck about the why of a war, they just want the shooting to stop.

We tested this, my buddy Rev, in Kosovo, walked right into a gathering of some seriously hacked off Albanians, and pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies - within a month they were quietly giving him the locations of arms caches and minefields, cause they were as sick of the bloodshed as anyone else, but didn't want to be rounded up and tossed in some friggin prison camp neither, so they told HIM, the guy with the cookies, because they trusted him.
(and respected the balls it took to put THAT much faith in human decency)

Had we been smart we coulda yoinked the population right out from under those fanatic asshats, but that doesn't sell guns and bombs, nope, doesn't make the bottom line for General Dynamics, and Northrop and all the other MIC Corporate Welfare recipients we support with our money AND our blood - and here you're worried about the equivalent of kids stealing change, while pretending not to see the guys robbing the bank behind you ?

Pftthht!

And we COULD do it, we're Americans, and every goddamn family tree of our history is planted in the roots of agriculture, we GROW stuff, and we're damned, DAMNED good at it, good enough to give the fucking DEA fits about what we can grow in the basement of a suburban house, for crying out loud, we wanted to, we could feed the fucking PLANET from here.

And if you wanna get all immoral about it, first you feed it, then you RULE it, using the UN as your proxy, but we fucked that up too, meh.

So what's it gonna be, man - the guy with the uniform going on about honor, glory, and heroism (to borrow a quote from Stripes: "Those words mean sooo much, to a guy who scrubs garbage cans..") who in fact is offering you nothing but a six foot hole in the ground - or the slacker in the tiedye and bell bottoms going on about peace, love and friendship, who might not be the brightest bulb in stock, but who actually MEANS that shit ?

Peace.

-F

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 8:17 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

The lines Wulf is spouting are just that: Propaganda by Faux News and those of their ilk. It's never been true, the concept doesn't hold water, but some people just take what they hear hook, line and sinker because it sounds good and agrees with their own ideology.

You proved it wrong several times over, Frem, but do you HONESTLY think he took in a word of it? You itemized everything that goes into surviving, electric, water, phone (and yes, one needs one of those nasty little things to get call-backs on interviews to GET a job), and I'd add any credit-card payments, because 90% of us have some kind of credit card debt (not us, tho', tra la tra la tra la!), BUS FARE (since she doesn't own a car), health insurance (which she no doubt doesn't have, being young, but if illness/injury struck her down...) and whatever else it takes to survive. Did he hear a word of it? No: "Her bills, such as they were, amounted to food and rent."

You described very well and carefully the trap of taking a shit job--you left out that many people won't hire applicants who are incredibly over-qualified; I know, we wouldn't when we owned the pizza parlor, we knew they'd leave first chance they got.

The trap you described is happening everywhere; people who took those jobs to survive and are now trapped there with little chance of improving their lives. Did he hear any of that? No, he stuck to it being "arrogance" which keeps this person from looking for work (if that's even true; if he knows all the facts and she's not putting out resumes, making phone calls, etc.). Arrogance or laziness is, of course, the only conceivable reason in the minds of people like him why one wouldn't be out there serving burgers at Mickey D's.

So you needn't bother with your eloquent effort to explain realities...remember, he doesn't live in the real world? Maybe that's what all of us should do as our mantra when Wulf says something obviously ridiculous: "He doesn't live in the real world. He doesn't live in the real world". Think of the time it would save us in replying!

It sickens me, too, when I constantly hear that propaganda from people with comfortable jobs who look down on those accepting help as "lazy" or "arrogant" or whatever. I'm on disability, have been for years, will be for the rest of my life. Before I went on it, and after I suffered my first crash (which got me dx'd), I tried job after job, even part time, and suffered because I couldn't hold one. Gawd damn I tried!

Because my disability wasn't known until I was 48; I went into the corporate life, which is one of the WORST places for bipolars. I DID those 60-70 hours a week--partly because that's how we're built--I burned myself out like a flame after working my butt off from 16 to 52. I refused Disability for a couple of years; sunk all my savings into trying to start two home businesses to give me the flexibility to keep on earning. Essentially I tried everything before I gave up and accepted help. I paid into the help I got all my working life; like you said, I'm being "given" back the money I put in.

I hate it. I miss working badly, and it took years before I could get past the feelings of guilt--that's true for virtually everyone who ends up on permanent disability. The one thing I do recognize is that my quiet lifestyle of today has me much saner than all my previous life. Essentially I gave 32 years of my life burning myself out and worsening my disorder because I didn't know any better, when I had career choices which would have been much healthier for me and which would have allowed me to go on working the rest of my life (which I always figured I would).

Yet I'm considered a "slacker" by people like Wulf and the idiots who put the ideas he clings to forward. If there wasn't that safety net, what would have happened to me? I'd be on the street. I get a little over $1,000 a month from Disability; our bills are now few, since we paid off our credit-card debt which we had both gained thanx to a society built on Work to Earn "Things", but in Marin that about pays for food, gas (even for just my motorcycle), pets and little else. If my husband weren't working still, you know what would have happened to me. He'd like to "retire", but has only backed off to four days a week because we can't afford health insurance if we lost his, and he can't back off more, as you said, because less hours means no benefits.

All I can say is I wish all those who consider people who aren't part of this push-push working world "slackers" and "arrogant" would land in the same place as us and see how they feel about it then.

I "wasted" all this time typing this for the same reason as you; to put forward truths. I don't expect for one second that Wulf will understand what I've written, I'm addressing it to everyone else who reads it. His kind cling to their fantasies and always will. Remember the mantra: "He doesn't live in the real world, he doesn't live in the real world..."

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:20 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

"And I say you don't necessarily know what you're talking about. Some people get around $10/hour equivalent in unemployment ($400 per week gross). You'd berate them for not taking a $5.75/hour job in lieu of $10/hour to keep looking?"

Exactly.

You, me, everyone else who works is paying that $10 an hour for them to "keep looking".

3 years, 3 LOOONG years, I worked at 10 bucks an hour. Hell, slaved might have been the better word.

But there are people out there who we should pay that, so that they can keep on "looking"?

Shit, dude... If I could have made 10 an hour, sitting on my ass playing video games and occasionally sending out my resume... ID STILL BE DOING IT.

Why? Cus its easy, and lazy, and Id be getting paid to essentially jerk off all day. (Literally and figuratively.)

But... doing that would be taking from you, the guy down the street, that unlucky wage-monkey.

So, I didn't.

I worked that 50 hour a week job at 10 bucks. I worked it until I could find a BETTER job, that paid more.

And I did, whether by luck, will, skill or all three.

And guess what? My resume looks a hell of a lot better that way.

Instead of putting down that I was on welfare, or "help" for the last 3 years, it shows that I worked. Yeah, I wasn't paid what I was worth, and I couldnt really make ends meet... but damn, when I showed it to potential employers... they KNEW that I would work hard.

AND BECAUSE I was looking, while still having a job, I was able to bargain for a MUCH better salary.

They wanted to shank me on my pay? Screw you, I've got a job. Offer me better or Ill just look someplace else.

Now Im not saying that my little story will apply to everyone. There ARE people who need the help.
And for them, we SHOULD help.

But my question is always this: If you can work, why arn't you? Hell, don't or can't work a higher paying job? Start your own. Be a house sitter, a dog walker... something.

And, as always, cus I "don't live in the real world"...

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:30 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I never heard of someone but a CEO (or someone with a good, long work history) getting unemployment at $10 an hour. I sure didn't, when I was unemployed, and I'd been a pretty good wage earner!

"He doesn't live in the real world...he doesn't live in the real world..." Yup, works great.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:34 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

"Anyone ever hear of someone but a CEO getting unemployment at $10 an hour? I sure haven't!"

Im sure YOU havn't.

Btw, bipolar is not really a disorder that can keep you from working.

PTSD? Maybe.

Goes back to what Ive always thought. So called "disorders" are excuses. Excuses to over-medicate, to keep people lazy, to allow for failure to be accepted and made common.

(oooo boy, I know that this is going to annoy some people...)

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:40 AM