2016 Election

Quote: AZDuffman

Starting to agree with me on where the USA is headed?

I'm not sure what I think. What I do know is I started looking ahead around the age of 19 or so. Even back then, I felt something wasn't right. Granted, I was a quite the weed smoker and off my rocker on psychedelics often, but it was more than just the lamentations of a pothead. Something just felt "off". I always felt that the way of life I was forced into accepting was sort of... I dunno. Blasphemous. It seemed every time I learned something about the way the world works, whether it was the medical arena, or politics, or diplomacy, or the path of the 99%, it all just seemed fake. Some of this, sure, were absolutely the lamentations of a pothead. But under it all has been an unbroken thread that I still carry today - this ain't right. It's not sustainable. The things we strive for aren't real. There is a better way.

I look today and all I see are ultra rich elites being puppeted by the hyper rich elites, all under the guise that they're "by the people, for the people". Even Uncle Bernie, while he may say some things that resonate, wtf could he and I possibly have in common? When's the last time we even had a commoner as president? F#$%ing Truman? Maybe?

I dunno. I don't understand so much it's hard for me to opine in a cogent manner. But to answer RonC for you, yes, we sit back and do nothing. Because, you see, the America that was is gone. There are no blacks or Chinese to abuse for personal gain as we did to build this country, and the spirit that settled the West died before most of us came to be. This is the age of the Boomer, and y'all were into free love and s#$%. The problems we face, quite simply, are too damn hard for the soft Americans our grandfather's prosperity have created. Yes, AZD, the change requires pain, and NO ONE is up for that yet. And just like that bump on your neck, you'll put it off because if you don't deal with the serious problem, you can fool yourself into believing it's not a serious problem. But just like that bump, the problem is coming. You can choose - a lot of pain now, or enough pain to kill you later. We are choosing the latter.

I might and frequently do disagree with you on what things are causing or accelerating our fall, but even back when I was a profound liberal, I still shared that sentiment. Things ain't right, and no one is up to making it so. I just hope when the SHTF, I'm still young enough to fight.

Quote: reno

And to make matters worse, just a handful of states are actually important during the primaries. Nine months later, just a handful of swing states are actually important on election night.

My vote literally doesn't matter for president.

I come from Maryland. The system sucks, my vote didn't mean jack. MD solid Dem and small. No candidates visited
Now live in Florida. System is great. Battleground state. North is conservative, South is Dem, the middle Tampa Orlando determines how FL swings. Everybody visits my area, even the wives. That's how important my vote is :-)

I am kind of bummed that Walker and Perry have dropped out simply due to polls and money.
These days polls are very unreliable. Yet we are letting them determine who runs and who does not.
I would have preferred they stayed in till at least NH.
Let the voters decide, not the polls.

Money. Our whole process is absurd. Its a political marathon.

Quote: EvenBob

She's on TV right now crying over a poem. Not very presidential.

It is not easy to lose one's child.

Quote: RonC

Really? The best we can do is...nothing?

I think there might be a solution.

Suppose instead of limiting spending you created a place (virtual and physical), where the public would know everyone from Trump to Soros to RonC all had to create their message, in this place, under the same conditions.

This wouldn't prevent all the big spending outside this place, because that limits free speech. But this would be a place where everyone there is forced to compete from the same level.

Soros couldn't wield any more influence there than RonC. If RonC made a 3 minute political video, Soros, or Trump would have to produce under exact same limitations.

Outside of this place money and speech is unlimited -- but the idea is the public NOW knows where to look if they want to see the inability to influence and drown everyone else out with the biggest loudspeaker.

It might be a silly idea, but can't think of anything better.

Quote: EvenBob

She's on TV right now crying over
a poem. Not very presidential.

I don't want to seem insensitive, but it was her stepdaughter that passed away. The girls was 12 when Carly married her husband, so I guess she helped raise her and all. Maybe thought of her as her own. But this person died in 2009 at age 35 having been and addict here whole adult life. Carly and her husband were pretty much estranged from this person at the time of her death, having had no contact for some time.

I mean it sad and no parent or stepparent should have their children go first. But it just has the feel that she is playing that up. It's not like a parent that loses a 10 year old that was hit by a car or drowned in the swimming pool.

And just so no one can accuse me of being partisan on this issue, I feel like Joe Biden is playing up the sympathy card as well. I mean your adult son died, way too young. That's tragic. He's grieved for 4-5 months or whatever. If that's not enough, then continue grieving. But stop mixing the political decision in with it. If you are running for President, then pull yourself together and run for President. If you are unable to because you are still grieving that's fine too. Just stop mixing the two together. It just feels like he is playing the sympathy card to me.

So no one can accuse me of being partisan on this sensitive issue. Politically incorrect, and insensitive, yes, but not partisan. :/

Quote: SanchoPanza

It is not easy to lose one's child.

Nope, and it wasn't even her child, her
husband had two kids when she married
him after divorcing her first husband.

Just saying this is the 3rd time I've seen
her cry, she's as bad as Boehner.

Quote: kewlj

I don't want to seem insensitive, but it was her stepdaughter that passes away. The girls was 12 when Carly married her husband, so I guess she helped raise her and all. Maybe thought of her as her own. But the this person died in 2009 at age 35 having been and addict here whole adult life. Carly and her husband were pretty much estranged from this person at the time of her death, having had no contact for some time.

I mean it sad and no parent or stepparent should have their children go first. But it just has the feel that she is playing that up. It's not like a parent that loses a 10 year old that was hit by a car or drowned in the swimming pool.

And just so no one can accuse me of being partisan on this issue, I feel like Joe Biden is playing up the sympathy card as well. I mean your adult son died, way too young. That's tragic. He's grieved for 4-5 months or whatever. If that's not enough, then continue grieving. But stop mixing the political decision in with it. If you are running for President, then pull yourself together and run for President. If you are unable to because you are still grieving that's fine too. Just stop mixing the two together. It just feels like he is playing the sympathy card to me.

So no one can accuse me of being partisan on this sensitive issue. Politically incorrect, and insensitive, yes, but not partisan. :/

My boss and his wife have a kid that is a drug addict. They have his kid now and are parenting the one year old born of two druggies they tried to help--including giving one of them a job, both of them a place to live, etc. The end of the story is not pretty and it is going to end in the worse possible way if statistics hold true. They will both be torn up if that happens. Both of them. On is a step parent. They don't know where he is at this moment.

I know people that have lost kids at many ages--it changes all of their lives in a profound way. My best friend died when he was 31; naturally, it still haunts me today but I am fine--but his parents have never ever been the same. I won't call either Biden or her out on this issue. No one who hasn't gone through it, including me, can even imagine. I do know, however, the thought of losing any of my children (biological or not) is a horrid one. I can't imagine. Parents of all ages of kids are still supposed to go first.

Quote: kewlj

But it just has the feel that she is playing that up

Oh, she's playing that card for sure. I hear
it every interview she does. She has no kids
of her own and this story makes her look
like a caring parent.

Quote: rxwine

I think there might be a solution.

Suppose instead of limiting spending you created a place (virtual and physical), where the public would know everyone from Trump to Soros to RonC all had to create their message, in this place, under the same conditions.

There is a problem with this and let me put it gently. The public is either too stupid or too uninterested to care.

Most of this board is part of the informed class. We disagree, but are informed. Most of us have what we care about but we find out what we need to know anyways. I can't tell you how many times I talk to someone who is not informed and in the end just get a headache from the experience. I'm talking can't pass 9th grade Civics.

Remember when Gore surged because he gave his wife a passionate kiss on stage? Women said, "Oh, he loves his wife so much!" Hillary teared up on camera, gets a surge. I visit my mother and at dinner will have discussions on history or how the government works. I tell her I am calling the Bishop to get her H.S. Diploma revoked! Her sister was the same way when she comes to visit. Then there are the people who know more about the Kardashians than any current event.

The more we try to make the system "fair" the more tilted it becomes.

Quote: rxwine

Maybe you should run for office.

Or calm down.

Quote: RonC

That's the spirit...we're screwed and we are going to stay screwed.

The politician on either side beholden to special interests is why nothing every seems to get better. Illegal Immigrant Aliens are just one of those groups that many "real" people really don't want around, but bought and paid for politicians do nothing about based on how they are useful to their party.

Really? The best we can do is...nothing?

I'm sorry. We didn't become great by saying there is nothing that we can do. I don't have the answers and this thread might not get to the answers (nor do we want it to) but I sure am willing to say that there is an answer and it can be found.

Okay...maybe an army of people can be raised by the unions. How about the unions being allowed to spend $0 in support of them if they have reached their spending limits? The people walking still have "free speech" but the union can't feed, bathe, and clothe them to assist the campaign.

Yeah, it's called election reform and creating strict limits of who can contribute what and when. If you can buy votes with money, then why not just allow people to vote for $100/vote. Then the complete corruption of American politics will be complete. No need to have ID, my Franklin works for that.

Quote: AZDuffman

Here is the problem, EVERYONE is a "special interest." I want more natural gas drilling, it is my livelyhood. Does that make me a "special interest?" I have a teacher in my family, is her wanting more education a "special interest?" The ownership here promotes online casinos. Are they a "special interest?" Are we all for wanting the online gambling to keep the site free? Who here wants online poker? How far can we go with this?

This still leaves holes in the bucket. Lets say the media is in the tank for the nominee of one side. What is the other side to do? A week of feature stories on Hillary and her life, all positive. Hey, it is not a contribution, it's "news."

I will break it to the board. Picking what happens is done by an exclusive club, and none of you are in it. The best you can do is to make your life such that politicians cannot own you.

Finally, the hopelessness and despair! If everything is predetermined and we're not in the club, then why bother even talking about it. Shouldn't we be discussing making life such that we can't be owned?

Here's why Scott walker is gone.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3CfD8TPac

Quote: EvenBob

Fiorina is not very likable.

True. Nevertheless, I could see her beating Hillary.

So, ok. RonC, it's gone entirely far enough for me, but I'm not in Congress, where they can change it. And there are people there working to do just that, maybe even yours. They are supposed to represent each of us. Faxes, phone calls, and emails work these days; don't send snail mail. I've written my guys about it, and I will continue to do so, because it's going to take all of us insisting they reform the money process.

kewlj, you're living in Nevada. Your state will be critical to both sides, so your vote's going to matter. The guy I know who was pretty high up in the Obama campaign's been running the Hillary Nevada state campaign for about 4 months now from there in LV, doing the groundwork. He wouldn't be there already if Nevada was not in play, but the math says she's going to need Nevada and it's going to be really tight.

Face, it is really not hopeless. There's a saying well-known in politics because it's true. Why, if you want to change something, do you gather a small group of committed people to do it? Because that's the only way it ever happens.

This can get fixed, at least for a time. Then the power-brokers will figure out another way of gaming the system, and we'll have to do it again. It almost got fixed a decade ago, but they lost their nerve. All that money. But times are different now. There's the Tea Party, the Occupy people, the anti-bank people, and a hell of a lot of other people who KNOW they're getting screwed out of their savings, their retirement, their upward mobility, and their children's futures. I expect useful things to grow out of the anger from all sides.

Quote: Gabes22

There are many ways to show proof of residence without having to pay for an ID. For instance, you could show an unopened piece of mail, which is something the DMV uses as proof of residence.

ANY ONE?

I'm almost certain it has to be something like a current utility bill or something. Perhaps one of them small back-wood counties where you sleeping with your sister is the norm may have less stringent requirements.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Face, it is really not hopeless. There's a saying well-known in politics because it's true. Why, if you want to change something, do you gather a small group of committed people to do it? Because that's the only way it ever happens.

This can get fixed, at least for a time. Then the power-brokers will figure out another way of gaming the system, and we'll have to do it again. It almost got fixed a decade ago, but they lost their nerve. All that money. But times are different now. There's the Tea Party, the Occupy people, the anti-bank people, and a hell of a lot of other people who KNOW they're getting screwed out of their savings, their retirement, their upward mobility, and their children's futures. I expect useful things to grow out of the anger from all sides.

I wish I could agree. I mean, the premise is sound. But we're not there yet. Not even close (IMO, obv)

If you look at all these groups, they all have a similar thread. Firstly, they begin with a sound, easily acceptable and popular sentiment. The Tea Party, at its base, wishes for decreased spending, a decrease in the deficit, and smaller, less intrusive government. OWS rallies against social and economic inequality, and condemns the greed, corruption, and influence of big corp on .gov. Both of these concepts are very hard for anyone to argue against. From AMS to AZD and all the RonC's in the middle, I find it hard to believe many would argue their premise. The problem here is that these things get tarnished, and quickly. I don't claim to know why; perhaps it is a case of the people most likely to get involved are those who hold a lot of passion, and passion is a key ingredient in extremism. I dunno. But it didn't take long for the TP to go extremely Right to the point is was somewhat ridiculous, and OWS turned into a bunch of dirty hippies banging drums all day for no apparent reason. I dunno about you, but when I heard about each of these groups, I got kind of excited. Just months later, and still today, I scoff at them both. They're a bit... laughable. The sound concepts they began with have faded behind a new facade of silly pomp and pageantry.

In my life, there has only been one time when I really felt whole and hopeful when it comes to my country. That time was 9/11. We just had a "remember when" flashback started by 1BB, and everyone shared their memories of that day. But what I remember just as clear as I do the disaster is the following days and weeks. A day or two after, when things sunk in and we started to become assured that it was over, something happened. It brings me to tears every time I recollect it. Because for the the only time in my 34 years, I saw America become One. For a fleeting and glorious month or so, there were no rich and poor. There were no black and white. There was no blue collar, no white collar, no Christian, no heathen, no gays, no straights. There were no Yankess fans or Bills fans or Pats fans or Flyers fans. No fags or ragheads or crackers or niggers or spics, NO NOTHING. EVERYONE was just ONE thing and just ONE color. We were AMERICAN, and we were RED and WHITE and BLUE.

THAT is the level of dedication it will take to make a difference, to enact real change. And man, we're just not there yet. I mean, look at us now as individuals. How many here are fat? I know there's some. And every one of you know that you have some serious cardiovascular problems in your future. Oh, but it's too hard to make a change now. That morning donut is too good, that after work 6 pack is too much a key to your routine. It's too easy to ignore it now, too hard to change it now. Not until you wake up in the ER after an emergency op to insert a stent to keep your fat ass alive does you finally say "Oh gee, better take care of myself". I smoke. I banged down 2 and a half freaking packs yesterday. Why? Oh, I had "a rough day". I don't need to quit now, I can't. Too much going on. It's too hard. And it'll be too hard tomorrow, and it'll be too hard a year from today. And hell, I can still run faster than every single person I know. I don't need to quit. Not until that little shadow pops up on the CT will I finally say "Oops". Only then will I get serious, only then will I finally be forced to do some work, only then will I stop being a mental defective who purposely crams poison into his body 20-40 times a day. Smoke too much, eat too much, drink too much, sedentary lifestyles, all of them self serving, all of them "easy".

That is us. And the problem with us as individuals mirrors our problems as a whole. The days following 9/11 were goddamn hard. We were scared, we were in mourning, we were unsure. But that smokey hole was our shadow on the CT. We finally got rocked enough to do something. Nobody cared that the NFL got canceled that week, no one cared that Dan Rather had bumped "One Life to Live", zero f#$%s were given to Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. Our focus shifted to the Real. And dammit, we did something. We gave our time to sift through the wreckage. We gave our time to console our fellow man. We did our work to knit back together the fabric of our society that had been so torn. We focused on what mattered and we rose to the occasion.

That's what it's gonna take. The problems we lament are that big in scale and reach that deep. But we're just too fat and happy to fix it right now. How can you be expected to read about the TPP? That's some dry reading, and you're hot on a barnburner game of "Words with Friends". You're gonna lose because of it but you ain't lost it yet, so just soothe those worries for now with a "Dog the Bounty Hunter" marathon. Ahhh, that's better, innit? That's us, man. Can't name a single Supreme Court Justice, but know exactly who designed and created the dress for Jenner. Can't manage an investment portfolio, but can totally run two different 58-man fantasy football leagues. That's us.

The pain train's a'commin'. I for one cannot wait.

Quote: AxelWolf

ANY ONE?

I'm almost certain it has to be something like a current utility bill or something. Perhaps one of them small back-wood counties where you sleeping with your sister is the norm may have less stringent requirements.

Not according to the story I saw on CNN a while back. mail absolutely will not be accepted. You must have driver's license or state issued ID. No exceptions. In the story I saw, people were being turned down with military discharge papers. And the big problem for many is that in order to get drivers license or state Id you must have birth certificate, which can be tricky to get for some older people.

You gotta remember, the purpose of this law IS to make it more difficult for certain demographics to vote. There are many republicans on record as admitting that. So they are NOT going to try to work with you as far as alternative documentation being accepted.

Face, good rant.

But seriously, as pawns in the system, we are given enough freedom to operate our lives in whatever way we want. You wanna go race cars, you can race cars. You wanna download porn and watch it all night, you can do that. We pay our municipal taxes and tolls so that I-90 is kept in good repair and your kids can go to school and our air is relatively clean. We can walk into a grocery store with money or credit cards in hand and walk out with whatever we want. And no matter what government is elected, our lives don't change meaningfully. The road still works, gas prices change, we pay a little less or more for our homes, and there are no drastic changes. We get complacent.

What problems exist today, face, in your daily life? You say "the pain train's a commin'" and I fail to understand why. Is it our deficit that worries you? The moral degradation of society? The oversight of government in your life? I mean, in the days before 9/11 we were all focused on the same bull shit. We were watching Friends, lamenting over the loss of Seinfeld.

Quote: boymimbo

What problems exist today, face, in your daily life? You say "the pain train's a commin'" and I fail to understand why. Is it our deficit that worries you? The moral degradation of society? The oversight of government in your life? I mean, in the days before 9/11 we were all focused on the same bull shit. We were watching Friends, lamenting over the loss of Seinfeld.

Hope you don't mind me throwing in, I am of a similar mind.

"The Pain Trains' a commin'" IMHO also. Several reasons. Here are three.

First, while liberals just hated the "47%" thing, the reality is that we have probably 30% of the population nearly incapable of running their own lives. Many of these have some kind of addiction problem--there is a huge heroin epidemic going on that is nearly unheard compared to how we talked about coke in the 1980s. Different segments of society have their favorite, but it is huge. Others have financial issues to the max, much of this a side-effect of the illegitimacy rate. Women with kids they cannot support without help, guys having their paychecks drained by the courts. Other people just get themselves in trouble--20% of California drivers have a suspended license due to unpaid tickets. Some of these people I see at the courthouse and even dressed up they look a mess, empty shells. I talk about serfdom on here and you peeps probably think I am silly. But a woman with kids on assistance is a total serf. She has little say in where she lives and little hope of improving her situation in the system as it is.

Next, we have a population with skills more and more out of sync with needs. All this education and so little practical skill. Get a 4 year degree and get qualified to work in a GD call center. Open a trucking company and go crazy looking for drivers. Say you want to drive the truck to your HS counselor and be told to try for the 4 year degree, with a $80K price tag, so you can work in that call center for less money. Mike Rows has it right, we are loaning kids money we do not have and they cannot pay back to get education for jobs that do not exist.

Third, and people do not see this yet. the next generation is well on their way to being an assetless generation. They are loaded with student debt. This debt is keeping them from buying homes. Their attitude is more that they want "experiences" than to spend the money on a house, car, etc. Instead of the suburban stead with car they want an apartment in town and Uber at their beck and call. Fine for now, but in 15-30 years things change. A house is a huge store of wealth, and to pay it off by your 50s and live rent free is to make that last push for retirement. To have equity in case you need it is equally wonderful. But while they may live a more hipster lifestyle, this generation is not going to have wealth.

Meanwhile, people on either side don't even sound as if we live in the same country and society. Parts of society like illegal alien activists and #blacklivesmatter are getting very near the point of violence to make their point. Society is balkanizing. We used to all discuss "Seinfeld" on Friday morning. Now one side pushes sitcoms to have a "diverse" cast of every group of people while having the "right" group look good to the audience all while pushing some kind of PC lesson. While this happens, folks like myself have tuned out pop culture and exist on 20+ year old material on Netflix or some other alternative media source.

It will take pain to wake a huge part of this country up to reality, by the time it comes though we probably will have lost our freedoms in the name of the public good.

From the respected Morning Consult poll,
Trump 32% Carson 11% Fiorina 4%,
4000 registered voters polled.

Quote: EvenBob

From the respected Morning Consult poll,
Trump 32% Carson 11% Fiorina 4%,
4000 registered voters polled.

Wait! respected by whom? You because you like what the results are? You are funny. lol

Stop cherry-picking EvenBob.

Morning consult is an internet poll and like some of the other internet polls that you favor, they will be tilted towards a candidate with a heavy presence on the internet and social media......meaning Donald Trump.

I am not saying you throw them out as total nonsense, but that is why the best methodology is to take an average of a number of 'credible' polls.

Quote: AZDuffman

Hope you don't mind me throwing in, I am of a similar mind.

"The Pain Trains' a commin'" IMHO also. Several reasons. Here are three.

First, while liberals just hated the "47%" thing..."

So what you are saying is that a good portion of the population are addicted, incapable of managing their own lives, have screwed up and can't get ahead. About 83 million able Americans are not in the workforce, with 8 million on the unemployment rolls and a participation rate around 62.6%. Latinos participate a bit more, African Americans about 4% less. The difference between men and women is about 18% (71 to 53% which probably represents child rearing). And a lot of the participation rate is age related, but some is discouragement. Still, I would put the number of unemployed who are living off the dole at about 45.5 million (and some of these are children), which is the number of people now on SNAP, down from 47.8 million a couple of years back, and the cost of the monthly benefit is decreasing as well. So I would put the number closer to 20%.

Quote: AZ

Next, we have a population with skills more and more out of sync with needs.

Agreed. Supply and demand will solve this eventually. Truck drivers will get paid more, and other trades and IT (huge need here) is needed as well. But that's always been an issue. Accountants are sorely needed.

Quote: AZ

Third, and people do not see this yet. the next generation is well on their way to being an assetless generation.

Things are cyclical. Boomers will die off and there will be homes on the market. And many American (especially kids graduating today) have seen the housing bubble in action. You could try making university less expensive and promoting trades, or have very low loan rates. And kids today are just backlashing on their parents' experiences: living an unfulfilled life where 40 years of a career lead to a retirement party and an empty life. On top of that, the employment experience is completely different for today's kids. A corporate life of 40 years at a company is very rare, as employees are expendable and companies do not reward loyalty. So the youth's reaction is to more live for themselves than anyone else, and let their parent's death take care of the equity for them. And what does it all mean, anyway, to "have wealth".

Most kids who graduate see a desolate future in front of them, and that is also part of the reason to "live for today".

Quote: AZ

It will take pain to wake a huge part of this country up to reality, by the time it comes though we probably will have lost our freedoms in the name of the public good.

You'll be fine.

Quote: boymimbo

In the days before 9/11 we were all focused on the same bull shit. We were watching Friends, lamenting over the loss of Seinfeld.

Before 9/11, we were NOT "all focused on the same bullshit." Some of us were actually more familiar with Bin Laden and the Taliban than with "Friends," or, today, "The Kardashians" and "Hey, Look at Me, I'm Caitlin." The problem was that the vast preponderance of the U.S. population was not concerned about the dangers. Sadly, much of that continues today, thanks to our national leadership.

Quote: kewlj

Wait! respected by whom? .

When I see a poll quoted everywhere, ABC, NBC, CNN,
FOX, MSNBC, which MC frequently is, then it's a
respected poll. You are the most poll averse person
on here, you hate all of them if they don't agree with
with whatever convoluted Leftie notions you have
floating around in your head.

It's easy to find MC mentioned frequently by HuffPo,
DailyKos, Reddit, ABC, NBC, Breitbart, Wash Post,
Politico, Weekly Standard, The Hill, Weekly Insider,
CNN, PollTracker, FoxNews, and on and on. What
do they know that you don't. Pretty much everything,
apparently.

Quote: boymimbo

So what you are saying is that a good portion of the population are addicted, incapable of managing their own lives, have screwed up and can't get ahead. About 83 million able Americans are not in the workforce, with 8 million on the unemployment rolls and a participation rate around 62.6%. Latinos participate a bit more, African Americans about 4% less. The difference between men and women is about 18% (71 to 53% which probably represents child rearing). And a lot of the participation rate is age related, but some is discouragement. Still, I would put the number of unemployed who are living off the dole at about 45.5 million (and some of these are children), which is the number of people now on SNAP, down from 47.8 million a couple of years back, and the cost of the monthly benefit is decreasing as well. So I would put the number closer to 20%.

Good figures, but unemployment is only only part of it. Many of us have worked with people who just have a disaster of a life. 47% get some kind of check, but of that 47% some part could make it on their own, plus the figure was always an estimate to match the part of the population paying no taxes it seems. Still, 20% who can't make it on their own is insanely huge.

Quote:

And what does it all mean, anyway, to "have wealth".

It means to have a security blanket and independence. If you never buy a house you rent until the day you die. If you buy one with a huge payment at age 40 you are paying when you are 70, not a house you bought but rather a coffin. Right now I have my upstairs unit rented, which pays my mortgage. So it is like having a paid for house. That lets me put other monies aside. If you are stuck with a payment approaching SS age, you are living on the edge.

Quote:

Most kids who graduate see a desolate future in front of them, and that is also part of the reason to "live for today".

I see one as well, but that is why I choose to prep for bad things. We will see who ends up right. I still predict more and more loss of freedoms, that is the way of government. Just now people more and more beg for them to be taken away.

Quote: AZDuffman

Hope you don't mind me throwing in, I am of a similar mind.

"The Pain Trains' a commin'" IMHO also. Several reasons. Here are three.

First, while liberals just hated the "47%" thing, the reality is that we have probably 30% of the population nearly incapable of running their own lives. Many of these have some kind of addiction problem--there is a huge heroin epidemic going on that is nearly unheard compared to how we talked about coke in the 1980s. Different segments of society have their favorite, but it is huge. Others have financial issues to the max, much of this a side-effect of the illegitimacy rate. Women with kids they cannot support without help, guys having their paychecks drained by the courts. Other people just get themselves in trouble--20% of California drivers have a suspended license due to unpaid tickets. Some of these people I see at the courthouse and even dressed up they look a mess, empty shells. I talk about serfdom on here and you peeps probably think I am silly. But a woman with kids on assistance is a total serf. She has little say in where she lives and little hope of improving her situation in the system as it is.

Next, we have a population with skills more and more out of sync with needs. All this education and so little practical skill. Get a 4 year degree and get qualified to work in a GD call center. Open a trucking company and go crazy looking for drivers. Say you want to drive the truck to your HS counselor and be told to try for the 4 year degree, with a $80K price tag, so you can work in that call center for less money. Mike Rows has it right, we are loaning kids money we do not have and they cannot pay back to get education for jobs that do not exist.

Third, and people do not see this yet. the next generation is well on their way to being an assetless generation. They are loaded with student debt. This debt is keeping them from buying homes. Their attitude is more that they want "experiences" than to spend the money on a house, car, etc. Instead of the suburban stead with car they want an apartment in town and Uber at their beck and call. Fine for now, but in 15-30 years things change. A house is a huge store of wealth, and to pay it off by your 50s and live rent free is to make that last push for retirement. To have equity in case you need it is equally wonderful. But while they may live a more hipster lifestyle, this generation is not going to have wealth.

Meanwhile, people on either side don't even sound as if we live in the same country and society. Parts of society like illegal alien activists and #blacklivesmatter are getting very near the point of violence to make their point. Society is balkanizing. We used to all discuss "Seinfeld" on Friday morning. Now one side pushes sitcoms to have a "diverse" cast of every group of people while having the "right" group look good to the audience all while pushing some kind of PC lesson. While this happens, folks like myself have tuned out pop culture and exist on 20+ year old material on Netflix or some other alternative media source.

It will take pain to wake a huge part of this country up to reality, by the time it comes though we probably will have lost our freedoms in the name of the public good.

Face,

If this is what you take as your worldview, I can see you going Postal. There are some frozen snapshots that are somewhat true for some people right now. It wasn't always like this, and it won't be like this forever. People are, by and large, willing to make an effort to be self-sufficient. Some need to be shown how to start. Some need to live with less for now. Government money and private money practices have dug this hole, and they can be fixed.

Credit cards with more than about Prime + 3% APR are out of line. Those charging above 18% (and many of them are in the 20's and above) should be illegal.

Loaning more than 100% on a house's comparative value should be illegal. Mortgages should not be allowed for those whose payments would exceed 40% of monthly income.

Student debt should be financed at Prime +1%, and be able to float with Prime if rates go up or down significantly. The banks do this for themselves, and the Fed does it for the banks; it's a no-cost investment in the future of this country.

Derivatives should be illegal, along with junk bonds and other vapor-share financial crap.

Financial advisors should be held criminally accountable for putting people into investments and funds just so they can put more favored money against the same investments.

Companies should not be able to show pension funds as assets, to be taken in a bankruptcy or grabbed to finance operating costs or company infrastructure or expansion. It's not the company's money; it's the employees.

We, the Middle Class, got the short end of the stick on every one of these abuses, resulting in many more people homeless, foreclosed on, upside-down on their assets, stripped of pensions, IRA's/401K's crashed, college costs increasing 5000% over the last 30 years and student loan debt becoming overwhelming, Most of this was not going on until the last 25-30 years, and it doesn't have to go on for even one more. Almost all the money the Middle Class lost wound up in the pockets of the uber-rich; the rest is in lost asset value during the housing crisis and Recession of 2008.

Instead of resenting it, or giving in to despair, we need to go and get it back, over time, through legislation and accountability for those who stole it (yes, I said stole it) through dishonest, biased business practices. It can be done. It will be painful. There will be a lot of whining involved by a lot of very rich people. Too bad.

Quote: AZDuffman

It will take pain to wake a huge part of this country up to reality, by the time it comes though we probably will have lost our freedoms in the name of the public good.

You would think we already lost all our basic freedoms the way some people think. We're not even out of first place.

Quote: EvenBob

When I see a poll quoted everywhere, ABC, NBC, CNN,
FOX, MSNBC, which MC frequently is, then it's a
respected poll. You are the most poll averse person
on here, you hate all of them if they don't agree with
with whatever convoluted Leftie notions you have
floating around in your head.

It's easy to find MC mentioned frequently by HuffPo,
DailyKos, Reddit, ABC, NBC, Breitbart, Wash Post,
Politico, Weekly Standard, The Hill, Weekly Insider,
CNN, PollTracker, FoxNews, and on and on. What
do they know that you don't. Pretty much everything,
apparently.

That approached being insulting, tread lightly, or at least lighter.

Quote: EvenBob

You are the most poll averse person
on here, you hate all of them if they don't agree with
with whatever convoluted Leftie notions you have
floating around in your head.

EB, I have changed my political registration, specifically in preparation of voting for Trump. And in Nevada, we have caucuses, so voting isn't something that takes two minutes. It is an evening of discussions and meetings and such, which I am looking forward to experiencing.

So give me a break, with the 'leftie notions' bull crap. What I am is a realist. In the case of polls, I am looking for as accurate a measure as I can find for this particular moment. Not just singing the praises of some poll that says what I want to hear.

Quote: rxwine

You would think we already lost all our basic freedoms the way some people think. We're not even out of first place.

Nice chart, but more people need to get to the gun shop.

I hate to break it to you, but guns are just one of our freedoms. USA not even among top 10 most free nations in most rankings anymore.

Quote: boymimbo

Face, good rant.

But seriously, as pawns in the system, we are given enough freedom to operate our lives in whatever way we want. You wanna go race cars, you can race cars. You wanna download porn and watch it all night, you can do that. We pay our municipal taxes and tolls so that I-90 is kept in good repair and your kids can go to school and our air is relatively clean. We can walk into a grocery store with money or credit cards in hand and walk out with whatever we want. And no matter what government is elected, our lives don't change meaningfully. The road still works, gas prices change, we pay a little less or more for our homes, and there are no drastic changes. We get complacent.

What problems exist today, face, in your daily life? You say "the pain train's a commin'" and I fail to understand why. Is it our deficit that worries you? The moral degradation of society? The oversight of government in your life? I mean, in the days before 9/11 we were all focused on the same bull shit. We were watching Friends, lamenting over the loss of Seinfeld.

But that's the thing. I can't do that. You see, I'm a grunt. I come from a long line of grunts and I'm raising a grunt. Used to be that being a grunt was fine. In fact, it was desired. You could come out of school in 10th grade and go directly to the plant or the farm or the factory and enjoy actual success. All you needed to make it in the world was a good work ethic and a bit of try-hard. My grandpa, for example, worked in our hometown. Showed up in 1951 and never left. The factory never left. My little podunk town, who not even SOOPOO who lives just 40 minutes away has ever heard of, was the Glue Capitol of America. Using nothing more than a good work ethic, he was making $60k+ a year, in his home town, in the late 60's / early 70's. That's a damn good wage. Hell, it's good now. But people could do that. There was opportunity.

What can a grunt do now? The factory is gone and ain't coming back. The plant is in Mexico. The tannery in China. The NIMBYs and BANANAs are making sure nothing of the sort will ever come back. I can envision a good spot for me, see me succeeding, and all of it is dammed up by a moratorium on fracking. All of the small farms are gone, all of the big farms are drying up. So what's a grunt to do?

Even the most absurd positions seem to require higher education. I ain't got one. I can figure out most things and only need to be told once. I can wire, and diagnose and repair a car, and weld, and paint, and operate machinery... but I have no degree or certificate attesting to it. Where's my opportunity? How am I to look at a representative and think "He's there for me, he knows what it's like"? Wasn't Obama's slogan "Hope" ? How am I supposed to hope? What is there to hope for?

This is one of the ways my life has been impacted. Granted, this ball got rolling likely before I was even alive, but farming grunt work overseas has left me and many others high and dry. Seems to be this is only accelerating and will finish off grunts for good which, since I am raising one, does not assuage my worries. I live in the same geological area as AZD. We could be fracking our faces off. But nope. Plenty of rural acreage just begging to be farmed, and the MJ industry is the fastest growing. But nah. Too much red tape, too many special interests. Instead of not success, but just the opportunity for success, I've got a death grip on my part time USPS job some 40 miles away and spend my time rooting through trash to find enough f#$%ing pop cans to redeem so I can take my kid to the races one last time. Maybe this refereeing thing will take off and I might find an extra $200 a month. Who knows? Maybe I can raise my yearly salary from $15k to $16.5k. Won't that be something? And then there's the whole gun thing which made me a felon overnight, but I digress.

I realize all this is extremely personal. I suppose there's folks who came from a family of techies. Man, didn't they hit the jackpot. Everything is computers now. One who is computer savvy could probably work just about anywhere, and have the upward mobility to be making six figures by my age. I don't lament their success; in fact, I say good for them. But what of guys like me? What of us who are labeled as "uneducated", even when we're smart as a whip, just because we were smart enough to realize that college without a plan was folly? Where is my opportunity?

And the fact that some of you Boomers aren't enraged sort of boggles my mind. Hopefully Babs doesn't mind me using her as an example, but let's take her. I know she was a Fed, and therefore has a pension. I know she's intelligent and has her s#$% together, so I assume her life contained a lot of planning. Managing her pension, 401k or whatever, spending her working life making sure she was taken care of for her retired life. You do all this, you spend all of your best years doing this, and then what? A handful of jackwagons on Wall Street really screw the pooch. At best you can say they were grossly negligent, most of us see that they were nothing short of criminals. They played games they knew weren't sustainable all for their own good. And when the floor came out from under them... they gave themselves multimillion dollar bonuses, had .gov bail them out, and they're still there doing it. They didn't just ruin a business or even ruin a region, they f#$%ed up the entire global economy. Now imagine you're Babs. You had this stout pool of your life's work, plenty to go off and enjoy yourself, and the f#$%t#$%s come along and just dump gallons of water into it, diluting your savings all to hell and back. Every one of your dollars is now worth ninety cents, or eighty. Everything you worked your entire life for suddenly isn't what it was. Now you have less, and through no fault of your own.

Yeah. I got a problem with that. And I'll admit, I wasn't enraged when I first heard about it. I, too, was in my comfortable little bubble of Good Enough. I was into street races, not Wall Street. I spent zero time on the leaves of my portfolio, instead spending all my time on the Leafs of Toronto. But the pain train has already come for me. When I say I'm making $15k this year, that's not some exaggeration spun for effect. I didn't have one bad month and extrapolate off of it to garner sympathy. Since 1/01/15, I have brought in $11,6XX. That's it. That's all I have / had. And I've banged down every door within a 50 mile radius of me. Entry level cashier work? Making $8.75 an hour with no bennies? That is not below me. I cannot even get that.

The America I was raised to believe in is dead or dying. The thought that you can succeed through nothing but hard work and dedication is all I ask. I don't want to walk on to $50k a year, working days, with weekends off. I'm not asking for $20/hr to bag groceries as well as all my medical bills to be paid for. All I want is a chance, all I want is that opportunity that's all but promised to every single American. And at least here today, it just doesn't exist. And that pisses me off.

Wow!
You got me going.
Maybe you SHOULD run for office.
Or maybe you need to leave your beloved area.
They used to say, "Go West".
Now they just come south, may be too late to pile on.
New Zealand?

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

They used to say, "Go West".
Now they just come south, may be too late to pile on.
New Zealand?

He need only get to PA. I am sure there is gas field work he would be great at. Billboards listing want ads in Washington County, PA.

Quote: Face

....
The America I was raised to believe in is dead or dying. The thought that you can succeed through nothing but hard work and dedication is all I ask. I don't want to walk on to $50k a year, working days, with weekends off. I'm not asking for $20/hr to bag groceries as well as all my medical bills to be paid for. All I want is a chance, all I want is that opportunity that's all but promised to every single American. And at least here today, it just doesn't exist. And that pisses me off.

There's a whole lot to be said about your situation, and in fact, about mine. But I'm going to concentrate on this last paragraph.

One part of this, for you, has to be a location issue. From the first that this country was settled, the people traveled to find their opportunity. The pilgrims. The pioneers. My mom from Canada. Our family when I was a kid. Me spanning 2 careers, my Bachelors, my Masters, my marriage. I'm 57 and have had 44 residences (addresses) in that time. Staying in your hometown, perhaps near your son, might be a compromise that's worth making, but without worthwhile work for you, it is in fact a compromise, and you will never reach your earnings or job satisfaction potential if you can't find worthwhile work.

I'm a big believer in trade careers, and finding competent people is getting harder and harder. If you want to stay there, I personally think you should go into small and large appliance repair, refurbish, and sales, working for yourself. You have most of the skills and a lot of the talent and interest to do it, basic electrical wiring, welding, mechanical and materials understanding, and the whole internet's worth of free tutorials on how to fix every model of every old appliance, along with the operating manuals, parts wholesalers, and schematics. Even the electronic brains of most appliances can be bought and changed out or repaired, since this is reportedly the majority of the problem on appliances crapping out the last 20 years. If you can solder, you can fix a Mitsubishi big screen for $3 worth of resistors and solder, and charge $1000 for it (an example from my life - I found the trouble report on the internet, ordered the resistors, and repaired the board myself - it worked).

We only have 1/2 dozen guys doing this in this county, with a pop near 500K. They get most of their stuff off the curb for free, from people who are happy to have it hauled. There are a couple who have deals with the local Lowe's or other appliance stores, to take the replaced unit off the delivery truck for almost free or free. Most of it just goes to the dump, though. They can't keep up with how much discarded stuff is out there.

Work your own hours. Advertise and sell on Craigslist for free. Hell, get your stock for free there too; "free hauling on large and small appliances, working or not; some might have small premium payment to you". Neighborhood signs stuck in medians with a phone number. Salt a cheap ad into the garage sales listings from time to time. No pee tests, HR bs, or other nonsense, just a basic business license. Once you get going, hire a couple young bro's to be your recovery crew and save your back. Yeah, doors have closed. But OMG, others have opened.

No idea if this is feasible there or of interest to you. But it's just one thing out of dozens you could be pursuing right where you are, no more formal schooling.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Face,

If this is what you take as your worldview, I can see you going Postal.

It is. I mean, I'm not Henny Penny. Again, I realize my situation is very personal. Some of the things are my fault - maybe I should've carried on with my B.S. in biochem and not spent all my educational days getting stoned. And some are just because of where I live - The Great Lakes / Rust Belt isn't in any way near similar to, say, Austin, Tx. I don't think America is going to revert back into the Dark Ages, or cease to be, or even fall from being a major player in the world. And let's be real. I'm talking to you. That means I have a house, and electricity, and internet, and I damn sure have a pack of smokes at the ready. It's not like I'm gonna die.

But what I feel America to be is dying (IMO, obv). I mean, I'm a guy who was GM of a multi-million dollar business at the age of ~28. I came into that position just months before the '08 bust. I saw gas go from $1.50 to over $3 seemingly overnight. But I always turned a profit. I always figured it out. I had no business degree or even experience; I came up from being a GD gas pumper. But I did it, all while managing 20+ low skill people, all of whom had varying levels of some sort of addiction issues or serious life drama. I went to the casino having never been inside one before. Before my 90 days were up, already they were trying to get me to apply for a management position. Investigations aren't easy. The amount of rules and laws and P&P's one needs to know is mind boggling, and skills such as interrogation don't come easy. But dammit, I did it. I have a glowing resume. I have no less than 20 very personal references, all of whom do nothing but sing my praises, more than half of which are coming from folks with "Director" or "Specialist" in their title. I held the highest possible gaming license, have an unrestricted carry permit in one of the hardest counties in the Nation to obtain one, and am a Federal employee. Not a single legal issue holding me back, no ridiculous Facebook rants casting a pall, there is literally nothing in my past throwing any sort of flag... yet I have been reduced to sifting through garbage just to be able to do something nice with my kid.

Something is wrong. I'm right in that wheelhouse where I feel my potential has peaked. I'm old enough to know things while still being young enough to do them. You need samples examined to determine acidity prior to planting crops, I'm smart enough to figure it out. You need someone 110' up in a tower to replace a radio antennae, I can climb it. You need someone to be the face of your company, I clean up well. Need a metric ton of deer carcasses shoveled into the DOT incinerator, it doesn't phase me at all. Short of being a surrogate mother, there is no task I cannot do, and I have the work history and references to prove it. I've put it out there. I've looked, in some cases begged. Yet here I still am.

Ain't right. And until the majority gets a taste of what it's like, I don't think it'll ever be. I've been on both sides. It's frighteningly easy to ignore things and go back to your life when stuff happens and you're still afloat. Just wait until that water reaches your nose. I won't sound so insane then.

Choo-choo.

Quote: kewlj

In the case of polls, I am looking for as accurate a measure .

You wouldn't know one if it bit you on
the nose. How many times have you bashed
a poll I refer to, every time? Be careful, EB!
Watch out, EB! No cherry picking, EB. I've
come to the conclusion you have no idea
what you're talking about.

The first time I voted was for Nixon is 68.
I've voted in 12 presidential elections.
Is Obama the first president you ever
voted for? That's what I thought.

Quote: face

And at least here today, it just doesn't exist. And that pisses me off.

And yet the people who know say, there is
a huge shortage of the grunt jobs here
already, and will worsen in the next 5
years. Plumbers, electricians, mechanics,
all the wrench turning jobs that pay well
but nobody seems to want. You also live
in a highly depressed area. I've been there,
I've seen it. There are jobs, but you have
to move to find them.

Quote: Face

Choo-choo.

I think my gun post sent him over the edge. Sorry, about that.

Quote: EvenBob

You wouldn't know one if it bit you on
the nose. How many times have you bashed
a poll I refer to, every time? Be careful, EB!
Watch out, EB! No cherry picking, EB. I've
come to the conclusion you have no idea
what you're talking about.

The first time I voted was for Nixon is 68.
I've voted in 12 presidential elections.
Is Obama the first president you ever
voted for? That's what I thought.

I don't know what you are getting so angry about, but whatever.

As for your 'experience' in presidential elections and reading polls, that clearly showed in the last presidential election when you cherry-picked the polls that said what you wanted to hear, rather than what was really happening, right up until election day morning. And then you conveniently disappeared for 6 months. :/

Quote: rxwine

I think my gun post sent him over the edge. Sorry, about that.

Lol, no. Not even close. And sorry to all the rest of you for going on a derail better fit for my diary. I just had to vent, you know? When people are claiming everything is OK, or unemployment isn't a problem, or we get so focused on gay marriage and Confederate flags, it wears on a person.

And it doesn't help that it's Almost Winter. Hiring's just gonna slow down that much more, and bills are gonna rise, and I guess I needed to crack a bit now before I snap for real later.

And really, what is an election all about? You try to choose what's best for you, and I would hope, somewhere in there, what's best for your country. I'm neither gay nor do I any longer have any gay friends, but I enjoyed learning about how that decision affects those here. I don't get out much, so it gives me insight to an issue I'd not have known about otherwise. Same goes for how stuff affects the Oil and Gas men here, or how Obamacare affects those self employed, or how financial stuff affects those already retired.

This is me. Maybe it doesn't apply to you. Maybe you don't care. But it's at least a look into an American's life that you may have not known about previously, that might give you something to think about.

I'm all ranted out now. Do carry on.

Quote: kewlj

I don't know what you are getting so angry about, :/

I'm sick of you chastising me every time I
post a poll result. You don't even understand
the Drudge poll, you dismiss it entirely as
'meaningless'. It's an accurate poll of the pulse
of the country. All polls mean something, they
all point to something. Some are more
meaningful than others, but all are worth looking
at.

Quote: Face

Lol, no. Not even close. And sorry to all the rest of you for going on a derail better fit for my diary. I just had to vent, you know? When people are claiming everything is OK, or unemployment isn't a problem, or we get so focused on gay marriage and Confederate flags, it wears on a person.

And it doesn't help that it's Almost Winter. Hiring's just gonna slow down that much more, and bills are gonna rise, and I guess I needed to crack a bit now before I snap for real later.

And really, what is an election all about? You try to choose what's best for you, and I would hope, somewhere in there, what's best for your country. I'm neither gay nor do I any longer have any gay friends, but I enjoyed learning about how that decision affects those here. I don't get out much, so it gives me insight to an issue I'd not have known about otherwise. Same goes for how stuff affects the Oil and Gas men here, or how Obamacare affects those self employed, or how financial stuff affects those already retired.

This is me. Maybe it doesn't apply to you. Maybe you don't care. But it's at least a look into an American's life that you may have not known about previously, that might give you something to think about.

I'm all ranted out now. Do carry on.

I, just me, appreciate that you said what you thought needed saying. You weren't bashing anyone, you just vented your frustration. There are a lot of frustrated people in this country. It hasn't worked out exactly ( or even close ) to how they imagined it would. But we are still chugging along, whew, whew (train whistle .

Of course you could have been just jerking our chain all along. Did I see in there somewhere you actually are a gov't employee? Did I mis-read, get something wrong (again)?

I feel for people, I feel for you, though we have never met and probably will not in the future.

I suggest, I would ask actually, that you post daily for the next 20 freaking years or so. That just so we know you didn't jump off the effing cliff!

Quote: EvenBob

I'm sick of you chastising me every time I
post a poll result. You don't even understand
the Drudge poll, you dismiss it entirely as
'meaningless'. It's an accurate poll of the pulse
of the country. All polls mean something, they
all point to something. Some are more
meaningful than others, but all are worth looking
at.

I don't think I 'chastised' you. I simple cautioned you for putting to much stock into any poll that has an obvious bias. Almost any poll conducted by a website where they are polling a specific type of people, with specific characteristics and views, or they wouldn't visit that web site in the first place, is going to show a bias and likely not be representative of a true cross-section or pulse of the country.

I am sorry if you feel I undermined you. I will refrain from doing so. If you want to think Donald Trump is running away with the republican nomination, on his way to a landslide presidential victory, go ahead. If that alternative version of reality makes you feel good, then enjoy.

Quote: AZDuffman

USA not even among top 10 most free nations in most rankings anymore.

I presume you're refereing to the Heritage Foundation's list? The Heritage Foundation leans right/conservative, and yet looking at their list most of the countries ranking higher than the U.S. have extremely high taxes, government-controlled healthcare, and no gun rights.

Quote: kewlj

If you want to think Donald Trump is running away with the republican nomination, on his way to a landslide presidential victory, go ahead.

WTH??? Where did I EVER EVER EVER
even hint at that? 2 months ago, I
thought he was sure loser. You don't
get it, but then you've only ever
voted for one guy. This never happens,
it's irrelevant if Trump wins or not.
This is the first time the actual people
are not being herded like sheep towards
who the rich and powerful want elected.

One time faves like Perry and Walker have
dropped out, do you even realize how big
that is? That one outsider can shake things
up this much is wonderful, people who have
never been involved in politics are really
paying attention. Bush is at the bottom, who
ever thought that was possible.

The one guy thing isn't true so stop saying that. There have been 3 presidential elections that I have been eligible for and I voted in all of them.

I too, like that an outsider is 'shaking' things up. Our system on both sides, and way we run elections, with the outside money and all is broken and needs to be 'shaken up'. That's why I am supporting the same 'outsider' that you are. I am just trying to be a little more realistic about it.

Quote: reno

I presume you're refereing to the Heritage Foundation's list? The Heritage Foundation leans right/conservative, and yet looking at their list most of the countries ranking higher than the U.S. have extremely high taxes, government-controlled healthcare, and no gun rights.

Theirs is just one list. The same has happened on several others. You can google it if you like. One had USA at 46.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Of course you could have been just jerking our chain all along. Did I see in there somewhere you actually are a gov't employee? Did I mis-read, get something wrong (again)?

Nah, I don't jerk chains without making sure it's apparent that I'm joking. I work PT at the post office, guaranteed a whole 17 hours per month at about 75% pay of what a FT makes. I do hustle it and grab every hour I can find, so realistically you could say I work 24hrs a week. But even after screwing up my paperwork to have no Federal taxes taken, I'm still only bringing home a bit over $300 a week sometimes. I don't consider that "employment".

Quote: 2F

I suggest, I would ask actually, that you post daily for the next 20 freaking years or so. That just so we know you didn't jump off the effing cliff!

I'm not gonna off myself, too much to do. I've a kid to raise yet, not to mention a whole country to overtake and rebuild =)