The New American Politics thread

[octothorp]

I'm disappointed he didn't throw out a 'Matthew 21:17' there.

[KelVarnsen]

Or a Austin 3:16

[Caged Great]

Considering how big of a portion the Latino vote comprises in the States, the longer Trump is in the race, the greater the chance the Democrats win the next election.

23% of American voters in 2012 were either Black or Latino. That number should climb to 25 or 26%. The lowest % of latino voters that went to a Republican in a victory was 35% in 2000 for Bush and those two groups only comprised 19% of the electorate. McCain got 31% and Romney 27%. With how hospitable the Republicans have been, I wouldn't be shocked if that number hits 25% or lower.


If that's the case, whomever the Democratic candidate is will be the next President.

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Considering how big of a portion the Latino vote comprises in the States, the longer Trump is in the race, the greater the chance the Democrats win the next election.

23% of American voters in 2012 were either Black or Latino. That number should climb to 25 or 26%. The lowest % of latino voters that went to a Republican in a victory was 35% in 2000 for Bush and those two groups only comprised 19% of the electorate. McCain got 31% and Romney 27%. With how hospitable the Republicans have been, I wouldn't be shocked if that number hits 25% or lower.


If that's the case, whomever the Democratic candidate is will be the next President.

If Rubio wins the nomination the Republicans have a chance to flip that and take the White House. It's nice for Trump that he is getting all of the attention at the moment and getting the masses hyped up, but he will eventually burn out when the issue of electability because paramount. At that point, guys like Rubio, Walker, Bush and Kasich will emerge as the front runners. I think that Rubio and possibly Bush are the only ones with a real chance to win the Presidency precisely because of their connection to the Latino vote.

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

Meanwhile college tuition exploded because there was no longer any money to pay for funding, because we're too busy putting money into tanks that we don't need, bombing innocent people in distant countries in a misguided and unwinnable "war on terror", and have spent billions of dollars in yet another misguided "war on drugs."

****

It's great that you managed to pay off student loans, but the point is that you never should have had to take out that many loans to begin with. We should be investing in education, in clean energy, in fixing our crumbling infrastructure. Instead you have Congress wasting time, energy, and a crapload of taxpayer money to try again and again to defund Planned Parenthood, to stop the Affordable Care Act, to investigate Bengazi again.

Also what kind of awful logic is that? There were plenty of people in history who had to labor 16 hours a day just to make ends meet for their families, and because of technology we no longer have to do things like that--do you think those people begrudge us that? Come on, man. Have some empathy.

College tuition exploded because colleges had access to seemingly unlimited funding---otherwise known as student loans, which for the most part are not discharge able in bankruptcy. Because everyone "has" to have a college degree, people take out the loans (backed or funded by the federal government) without regard to whether college makes sense for them personally or to what the money is paying for. And considering that State universities are generally funded by the states (and student loans) (and private universities don't get any state funding), your commentary about putting money into tanks and the like makes no sense.

I disagree that I shouldn't have had to take our loans to fund my education. Knowing that I was paying for my education made me a better consumer of it, and made me make prudent decisions once I graduated. In short, the loans made me act like an adult and having skin in the game made me invested in the outcome of my education. Taking that "incentive" away (or heavily reducing it) does no one any favors.

[Finger Cookin]

A big government capital works project could be just the thing to jump start the economy.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah but are we paying for the wall?

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Yeah but are we paying for the wall?

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

A big government capital works project could be just the thing to jump start the economy.

Cuz the US is overrun by illegal Canadian aliens steal jobs from hard working Americans. Also there are too many dire wolves down there.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

A big government capital works project could be just the thing to jump start the economy.

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Cuz the US is overrun by illegal Canadian aliens steal jobs from hard working Americans. Also there are too many dire wolves down there.

If it is to keep Americans in America if one of the republicans gets in office, then this makes perfect sense. Canada's population would probably double with people trying to flee their "brilliant" ideas.

[Dagger]

It's to keep terrorists from illegally entering the US through Canada.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

College tuition exploded because colleges had access to seemingly unlimited funding---otherwise known as student loans, which for the most part are not discharge able in bankruptcy. Because everyone "has" to have a college degree, people take out the loans (backed or funded by the federal government) without regard to whether college makes sense for them personally or to what the money is paying for. And considering that State universities are generally funded by the states (and student loans) (and private universities don't get any state funding), your commentary about putting money into tanks and the like makes no sense.

I disagree that I shouldn't have had to take our loans to fund my education. Knowing that I was paying for my education made me a better consumer of it, and made me make prudent decisions once I graduated. In short, the loans made me act like an adult and having skin in the game made me invested in the outcome of my education. Taking that "incentive" away (or heavily reducing it) does no one any favors.

You say incentive--I say burden.

There are kids all over the US who would love to go to college, to further their education and improve their place in the world, but they can't afford it. It isn't something to work for, it isn't something they can make happen if they just "pick themselves up by their bootstraps." Massive tuition fees mean that for a lot of people, higher education simply is not an option. Period. What kind of "incentive" is it if it keeps people from obtaining the education in the first place?

Also the US has some of the best schools in the world, absolutely, but for example, you look at the top 500 universities across the globe, and the US is highly rated for education, but the tuition is incredibly high. Meanwhile the other top schools outside of the US are all dramatically lower in cost, and yet they offer exceptional educations.

University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge are #5 and #6 in the world, tuition is £9,000 ($13,500-ish in US dollars for UK students. International runs between $23-38K)

University of Toronto is #14 in the world, and tuition fees run about $6-12k (35-40k international)

University of Tokyo is #24 in the world, and their tuition fees are under $4500 a year for undergraduate.

Meanwhile, San Diego State University, which at number #492 is the lowest ranked US University on the US News and World Report list of the top 500 schools in the world--their tuition is $5400 a year. (And when you add books, room and board, fees, etc, that cost balloons to over $22k)

http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ngs?int=9cf408

So you mean to tell me that those kids in the UK going to Oxford or Cambridge, or the kids in Japan going to the University of Tokyo are getting less of an education or a life lesson because they didn't have to go obscenely into debt in order to obtain that education? Your take is that San Diego State University provides its students with a better education because it costs more than the University of Tokyo?

Education doesn't need to be free, but the ridiculous student loan debt numbers in the US prove that tuition costs have become a gigantic problem and something needs to be done.

[calgarygeologist]

I did not see it tonight and I'm sure most members did not see it but apparently Kanye West declared that he will be running for president in 2020 during the MTV VMAs tonight. I don't know which is more assuming, Donald Trump or Kanye West for President?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Considering how big of a portion the Latino vote comprises in the States, the longer Trump is in the race, the greater the chance the Democrats win the next election.

23% of American voters in 2012 were either Black or Latino. That number should climb to 25 or 26%. The lowest % of latino voters that went to a Republican in a victory was 35% in 2000 for Bush and those two groups only comprised 19% of the electorate. McCain got 31% and Romney 27%. With how hospitable the Republicans have been, I wouldn't be shocked if that number hits 25% or lower.


If that's the case, whomever the Democratic candidate is will be the next President.

Well with all the work republicans have done jury rigging electoral districts and refusing to comply with election result audit requests, I wouldn't be surprise to see them "somehow" get a surprise victory

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

You say incentive--I say burden.

There are kids all over the US who would love to go to college, to further their education and improve their place in the world, but they can't afford it. It isn't something to work for, it isn't something they can make happen if they just "pick themselves up by their bootstraps." Massive tuition fees mean that for a lot of people, higher education simply is not an option. Period. What kind of "incentive" is it if it keeps people from obtaining the education in the first place?

Also the US has some of the best schools in the world, absolutely, but for example, you look at the top 500 universities across the globe, and the US is highly rated for education, but the tuition is incredibly high. Meanwhile the other top schools outside of the US are all dramatically lower in cost, and yet they offer exceptional educations.

University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge are #5 and #6 in the world, tuition is £9,000 ($13,500-ish in US dollars for UK students. International runs between $23-38K)

University of Toronto is #14 in the world, and tuition fees run about $6-12k (35-40k international)

University of Tokyo is #24 in the world, and their tuition fees are under $4500 a year for undergraduate.

Meanwhile, San Diego State University, which at number #492 is the lowest ranked US University on the US News and World Report list of the top 500 schools in the world--their tuition is $5400 a year. (And when you add books, room and board, fees, etc, that cost balloons to over $22k)

http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ngs?int=9cf408

So you mean to tell me that those kids in the UK going to Oxford or Cambridge, or the kids in Japan going to the University of Tokyo are getting less of an education or a life lesson because they didn't have to go obscenely into debt in order to obtain that education? Your take is that San Diego State University provides its students with a better education because it costs more than the University of Tokyo?

Education doesn't need to be free, but the ridiculous student loan debt numbers in the US prove that tuition costs have become a gigantic problem and something needs to be done.

What "needs to be done" is for students to become educated (no pun intended) consumers.

College does not have to be expensive.

Go to community college for 2 years, then transfer to the bigger-name university to get the name on the degree. Or skip the community college route, go to the big-name school, and graduate in 3 years (Don't laugh: it can be done).

Or, if you believe that you need an expensive education, then forget San Diego State University and head over to Oxford and Cambridge and get an apparently higher-ranked education at a marginally higher cost, use the connections that you obtained from Oxford to get a higher-paying job than you likely would have obtained from your San Diego State degree, and pay off the loans quickly.

[driveway]

That's a pretty ridiculous set of expectations to place on teenagers.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I did not see it tonight and I'm sure most members did not see it but apparently Kanye West declared that he will be running for president in 2020 during the MTV VMAs tonight. I don't know which is more assuming, Donald Trump or Kanye West for President?

Spoiler!

it's rapidly approaching...

[CroFlames]

The American election is a circus. And the 4 years between elections is a circus.

Let's build a wall on the Canadian border to keep Americans 'safe'. Good idea.

A lower-middle class American just broke his leg, shouldn't we provide him treatment to keep him safe from further complications? What do you think this is, socialism?


I am honestly going to email some republican candidates and ask them if they think it's a good idea to provide each and every American household with a glock, a tactical shotgun, and an AR-15 free of charge, for home protection.

"Dear Candidate:

This election is all about national security. I am highly impressed with your support to wipe out Isis, build the wall along the border to keep dangerous Mexicans out, and repeal birthright citizenship. We absolutely need this to keep America safe. Additionally, I want to know your opinion on a national security program that will provide each American household with one 9mm glock 16 round sidearm, one tactical 8 round capacity shotgun, and one 30 round capacity AR-15. I believe since this is enshrined in our constitution, the federal government should look to ensure Americans' rights are being looked after. I feel that our constitutional rights are being trampled all over the place (never mind the fact that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right. Let's keep that between us).

Sincerely,

An American Patriot"

[peter12]

It is no longer inconceivable that a detached Washington, and an alienated voter base will result in a Sanders v Trump 2016. I welcome it.

http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/31/...JfoDgM.twitter

[FlamesAddiction]

If Scott Walker wants a wall on the Canadian border, I say go for it. I would welcome it.