Zarkon 0 #26 February 26, 2008 QuoteWhat's even better is if the people of America would stop associating everything in terms of Democrats or Republican. How about individuals regardless of party affiliation? That's where the media permits come into play. Most Americans believe whatever the magic box in their living room tells them, particularly the older generations who are not familiar with the internet enough to research on their own. The media is extremely biased towards any third party, they are excluded from most if not all major debates and get next to no air time. If you loosen their grip by allowing more competition you will start to see those different views come into the 'main stream' media. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #27 February 26, 2008 QuoteWhat's even better is if the people of America would stop associating everything in terms of Democrats or Republican. How about individuals regardless of party affiliation? Individuals don't get bills passed in Congress, parties do. Can't ignore them. Ron Paul as President may resemble Carter as President. 4 years of nothing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,090 #28 February 27, 2008 >but I trust that he knows what he is talking about since his plans >aren't filled with the usual 'fluff' you hear everywhere else. It also means they are somewhat unrealistic. It's like talking about the bravery and courage it takes to skydive without all the "fluff" about emergency procedures, suspended harness training, AAD's, decision altitudes etc. All that stuff may indeed be unnecessary for 90% of the new jumpers out there, and for some bravery and courage may be enough - but experience has shown that you need the fluff to effectively teach students. > For example just opening up the media permits and government > funded presidential campaigns would put an end to this media circus > we call an electoral process as well as eliminate a large part of the > lobbyist influence on our candidates(Clinton cough cough). What do you mean by "government funded presidential campaigns?" He strongly opposes any governmental limits on candidate funding by special interest groups. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zarkon 0 #29 February 27, 2008 Quote It also means they are somewhat unrealistic. It's like talking about the bravery and courage it takes to skydive without all the "fluff" about emergency procedures, suspended harness training, AAD's, decision altitudes etc. All that stuff may indeed be unnecessary for 90% of the new jumpers out there, and for some bravery and courage may be enough - but experience has shown that you need the fluff to effectively teach students. I mean fluff as in telling the people what they want to hear. Telling us that we can afford to continue to police the world and fund the war in Iraq and at the same time afford a socialist health care system and lower taxes. Quote What do you mean by "government funded presidential campaigns?" He strongly opposes any governmental limits on candidate funding by special interest groups. Right, he's against contribution limits and subsidized campaigns. I remember hearing somewhere that he mentioned one way to make the campaign system fair would be to have all campaigns get $X.xx and that's it. Of course now that I'm looking for the quote I can't find it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcd11235 0 #30 February 27, 2008 QuoteTelling us that we can afford to continue to police the world and fund the war in Iraq and at the same time afford a socialist health care system and lower taxes. Who has claimed this? I know of no one in either party, nor of any independents that have made such a claim. It looks like a strawman to me.Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROK 0 #31 February 27, 2008 Quote I would love to see someone who is 'outside the circle' win office . Perhaps we should do away with the current system of electing officials and go to a system like American Idol. Take money out of the equation for the individual Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdgirl 0 #32 February 27, 2008 Quote Perhaps we should do away with the current system of electing officials and go to a system like American Idol. Take money out of the equation for the individual Interesting notional idea. Seriously, let's play it out and see where it takes us. American Idol is cursory at best.) Who gets to downselect the final 5, 10, 20 or however many folks will compete? A panel of judges - composed of Bill O'Reilly, John Stewart and Art Bell? Do we do weekly elimination voting? On what is the voting based? A weekly debate? One week address health care, the next education, the next homeland security, foreign policy, economics, etc? How do we do the voting? Are you proposing to eliminate campaigning & individaul campaign donations - "take money out of the equation for the individual"? It's a neat intellectual exercise ... seems perfect for the internet. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROK 0 #33 February 27, 2008 Quote Quote Perhaps we should do away with the current system of electing officials and go to a system like American Idol. Take money out of the equation for the individual Interesting notional idea. Seriously, let's play it out and see where it takes us. American Idol is cursory at best.) Who gets to downselect the final 5, 10, 20 or however many folks will compete? A panel of judges - composed of Bill O'Reilly, John Stewart and Art Bell? Do we do weekly elimination voting? On what is the voting based? A weekly debate? One week address health care, the next education, the next homeland security, foreign policy, economics, etc? How do we do the voting? Are you proposing to eliminate campaigning & individaul campaign donations - "take money out of the equation for the individual"? It's a neat intellectual exercise ... seems perfect for the internet. VR/Marg The specifics are daunting, but probably do-able... Perhaps a panel made up of a "sent" representative from each state with predetermined questions submitted by citizens. Take the top asked questions and use them. Ask each candidate the same question. The call in voting could be shot full of holes and debated, but in the beginning, needing a voter ID # and the last four of your social may work. Take it down to the last twenty standing over a period of weeks, and come up with any kind of acid test that you can think of. Actually go to the polls while narrowing the list to the final two. Each state could take the final few and "invite" them to campain, together at the same time, paid for by the state, at the same locations. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROK 0 #34 February 27, 2008 Quote A panel of judges - composed of Bill O'Reilly, John Stewart and Art Bell? No, we would use the above to perform investigations into the background of each candidate. Mix it up and make the background checkers present what they find as a single entity. Have a redundant group that does the same checks at the same time also. I would love to see Limbaugh and Mayer on the same background panel, forced to agree on the information that they dig up. Not one dollar would be given by the individual, or any corporation. The playing field would be even. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #35 February 27, 2008 EGAD talk about dumbing down the election process...American Idol is a vast wasteland of popularity... with all intelligent discourse removed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROK 0 #36 February 27, 2008 Quote EGAD talk about dumbing down the election process...American Idol is a vast wasteland of popularity... with all intelligent discourse removed. I agree 100%. Just the term "idol" makes me cringe, but there has to be a better way of picking candidates that will allow a more even playing field. Boy the networks would cream themselves over a chance at "American President" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,090 #37 February 27, 2008 >Telling us that we can afford to continue to police the world and fund the >war in Iraq and at the same time afford a socialist health care system and >lower taxes. No one is saying that. >Right, he's against contribution limits and subsidized campaigns. Agreed. Note that this means an INCREASE in the power of lobbyists, since they will have more control over the purse strings. >I remember hearing somewhere that he mentioned one way to make the >campaign system fair would be to have all campaigns get $X.xx and that's >it. Of course now that I'm looking for the quote I can't find it. I think you might be thinking of someone else. He has consistently opposed campaign reform, claiming that it's unconstitutional to prevent people/companies from giving as much money to whoever they choose. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skippyjumps 0 #38 February 28, 2008 Maybe we can do a search of all members of the House and Senate. We will find many "felons". I think that any/ all of these assholes are hypocrites. The family values crew only matters to nit picking idiots who don't have intelligent responses to the problems. Try addressing the issue. A politician has been accused of corrupt behavior. We should also remember that people (poilticians included) are presumed innocent until being found guilty in a court of law. Let the judicial system do its job. We can also cry about how corrupt our judicial system is. Or we can do something to change it. Our system is imperfect yet also the best show in town."whatcha doin with that lawn mower blade?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zarkon 0 #39 February 29, 2008 QuoteI think you might be thinking of someone else. He has consistently opposed campaign reform, claiming that it's unconstitutional to prevent people/companies from giving as much money to whoever they choose. That's possible. I can't find the interview now but was able to find a statement he made where he said taking the money out of politics will take the corruption out, but can't find the exact interview I'm thinking of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #40 February 29, 2008 ...particularly the older generations who are not familiar with the internet enough to research on their own. That just struck me as funny.... :) linz-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zarkon 0 #41 February 29, 2008 Quote ...particularly the older generations who are not familiar with the internet enough to research on their own. That just struck me as funny.... :) linz I'm not saying ALL, but a person over ~55 is more likely to get their information exclusively from Fox, CNN, MSNBC etc than someone in the 18-30 range. Obviously anyone reading these forums would know how to use a PC, just wanted to clarify before I get lynched Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,121 #42 February 29, 2008 Quote Quote ...particularly the older generations who are not familiar with the internet enough to research on their own. That just struck me as funny.... :) linz I'm not saying ALL, but a person over ~55 is more likely to get their information exclusively from Fox, CNN, MSNBC etc than someone in the 18-30 range. Nonsense.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #43 March 1, 2008 I still do research in the library for the most part.... Dark ages, I know. :) linz-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zarkon 0 #44 March 1, 2008 Quote Quote Quote ...particularly the older generations who are not familiar with the internet enough to research on their own. That just struck me as funny.... :) linz I'm not saying ALL, but a person over ~55 is more likely to get their information exclusively from Fox, CNN, MSNBC etc than someone in the 18-30 range. Nonsense. http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/SPECIALS/2005/online.evolution/interactive/chart.online.life/online.evolution.us.by.age.jpg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #45 March 1, 2008 I wonder if those old codgers at the bottom of the graph are using the internet primarily for research while the younger kids (most of whom have never actually *done* any meaningful research) are just kinda fartin' around...lol. Then there's the whole issue of assuming that the internet is the only way to research something. What did people do in the 80's??? linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #46 March 1, 2008 Quote Then there's the whole issue of assuming that the internet is the only way to research something. What did people do in the 80's??? CompuServeMike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #47 March 1, 2008 Quote Quote Then there's the whole issue of assuming that the internet is the only way to research something. What did people do in the 80's??? CompuServe HA! Was kinda hard to find all the world's most up-to-date information with a quick google searh back then.-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,121 #48 March 1, 2008 Quote Quote Quote Then there's the whole issue of assuming that the internet is the only way to research something. What did people do in the 80's??? CompuServe HA! Was kinda hard to find all the world's most up-to-date information with a quick google searh back then. I have not noticed research libraries becoming obsolete, despite Google. Sometimes you need to know the information you are getting is not being fabricated by some 14 y/o kid.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #49 March 1, 2008 Quote Quote Quote Quote Then there's the whole issue of assuming that the internet is the only way to research something. What did people do in the 80's??? CompuServe HA! Was kinda hard to find all the world's most up-to-date information with a quick google searh back then. I have not noticed research libraries becoming obsolete, despite Google. Sometimes you need to know the information you are getting is not being fabricated by some 14 y/o kid. Yep. That was my point. Cracked me up that there was some assumption that "older people" aren't as internet-savvy and therefore are incapable of research...lol.-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
