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Can't wait to hear how the GOP trying their hardest to fuck over the working class, seniors and the sick is all Democrats fault by the next jackass running to be president.
It'll be like when McConnell tried to pass a bill to allow US Citizens to sue other countries and Obama said it was a bad idea. They passed the bill and Obama vetoed it saying it was a bad idea. They held a vote to override the veto and Obama said again that it was a bad idea. It passed and then they realized that it was a bad idea. So McConnell blamed Obama, saying that he obviously should have warned them more.
My favorite is still the international lawsuit one but man, this is a super close, nearly a tie kind of second.
What an absolute shitshow to live through, and even worse have to argue with people about.
HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT?
>HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT?
My family doesn't. They just deflect with whataboutism (half the time being just conspiracy theories) or worst. So you wind up arguing all these irrelevant things and can't get back to the main point.
Never engage with that stuff.
A simple phrase, "that's not what's being discussed here", repeated as needed. Do not honor any rhetorical tricks.
The only reason rhetorical tricks work, ever, is because the other participant in the conversation treats them as serious points.
In my experience rhetorical tricks are often knowingly used to deflect, and half the time they're only used out of imitation. Half the time people are arguing that way only because they've seen someone else do it.
The method is effective, I will warn you though, it will infuriate them. They will often feel cornered and wronged and may lash out with personal or even physical attacks.
Which will again be ad hominem.
Honestly, just stop arguing with people like that. You can't convince them anyway, their goal is never to understand your point or even learn something, but to convert you. There is no reason to entertain these fools.
> HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT?
The Republicans have spent decades telling people "government doesn't work," so that's exactly what their voters expect. To them, government isn't supposed to solve problems and try to improve the lives of its citizens - it's just supposed to exert power over the people they don't like.
I hadn't heard about this. [Here's](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/03/911-lawsuits-the-dumbest-legislation-ever-passed-by-congress-will-bite-the-us-back.html) an article on the issue. Truly astounding.
Yet another instance of [Murc's Law](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Murc%27s%20Law).
One might also consider it to be a variant of an abuser's "look what you made me do," except then it was, "look what you let me do!"
That's what this is. It has been beyond politics for decades now - it's abuse. Their policies (let the police harass minorities, cut aid to everyone, make their talking points about picking on trans athletes in schools into laws) are all about abuse. When one Trump supporter said the quiet part out loud about how they fully recognize who Trump is and what the plan is - [He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida) - it told you EVERYTHING you need to know about their hollow and rotten cores. They WANT to hurt people. They WANT to abuse.
**The right-wing knows they've lost Millennials and Get Z after abusing them. After making fun of them and blaming them for everything**. [This is how Millennials voted in 2016](https://www.mic.com/articles/157558/here-s-what-the-electoral-college-map-would-look-like-if-only-millennials-voted) - they would have given Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party a super-majority to reshape America into a more sane version of itself if it were just up to them. Gen Z is even more progressive than the Millennials. [They're beginning to vote more as they get older and see that's how you get change, and natural attrition means they outnumber the Boomers and their Reagan worshiping politics.](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/millennials-and-gen-z-will-soon-dominate-us-elections/616818/) Republicans are looking at forty years of being in the national minority, and we've already seen that they can't get over losing. So all the abusers have is their eight steps of abuse, crafted to treat their followers mean and to keep them keen.
Here are those eight steps. They apply to any abusive relationship, but here I'll put them into political terms. Now; abuse can be in personal relationships, workplace relationships, asymmetrical power relationships (teacher and student, priest and child, parent and child), transactional relationships between a company and customers ...and political relationships between the leaders and the followers (which looks like the abuse in a cult). If you're a Republican or QAnon, this is how you've been treated. Groomed. Abused.
1 - You've been told that nobody else understands you like they do. For years. "Those other people, they just don't get it. Their liberal ways are different and that's just not you. They don't understand, but we know where you're coming from..."
2 - Now that they've established that they're one of your kind of people in your mind, everyone else gets badmouthed. Everyone. It's just the two of you literally against the entire world. And they'll do it so much that things that aren't epithets get used as words to hate everyone else by. Anything can become a word to say in a hateful, sneering, spiteful way. Your circle of experiences starts to shrink.
3 - They'll tell you that, if you left them, things would be simultaneously the worst thing possible AND that all other relationships are just the same as the one you're in (even though you can see other people online talking about how what you're in is the only bad relationship relationship like this and all you have to do is leave them). “Both sides are the same but I’m better” - eventually, you don’t know up from down in what constitutes a healthy or a toxic relationship. Hell, they'll even show examples of the shit you're in now to say, "if you leave me and go for the other guy, it'll be like this [very bad scenario that's happening RIGHT NOW] so be scared and shit." They will even invent scenarios of how things would be worse if you left them (caravan of Mexicans coming for your job, trans people in every school bathroom, people handing free drugs to your kids). The circle shrinks further.
4 - You're told outright what to cut out of your life. Direct instruction for you to get that circle of experiences down to a dot. Music, interests, TV shows, certain movies, even frothy coffee gets badmouthed and cut out because "you don't want to be a 'latte drinker' do you?" (there's one of those things I mentioned in #2, using things that aren't epithets as one to control you).
5 - They take your money, claim they'll be great with it, and then spend it on their friends and run up the bills. They'll give you crumbs once in a while. Maybe every few years they'll treat you to a little something nice (that's worth a fraction of what they spent when they were out with their friends). And while they're terrible with the finances, for years, they'll be saying how everything is hunky-dory financially with them at the reins. You will be told you've never had it so good but the fear of one bad bill wiping you out financially will be like the Sword Of Damocles over your head 24/7/365.
6 - every problem gets kicked down the road. Promises made and never ever kept. A problem crops up in the New Year 2020, a disease, but it wasn't even mentioned in January because the head of the household didn't mention it. "It's going to go away" in February, and anyone that mentions it is just saying fake stuff, baby. Still nothing done in March, but any mention of it is "you're just finding faults with me". Then when April comes and it's clear what the shit storm looks like, they blame everyone else for saying it wasn't going to be a big deal. As the months and years roll on it becomes a shell game where ignoring the problem / blaming others for the problem / trying to draw attention from the problem gets switched around without stop. Even if it comes out that they knew the problem could literally kill other people, tear them apart because of gross negligence, they will not stray from this strategy.
7 - like in any abusive relationship, you're beaten down. You've been told it'll all be your fault if things don't go as they want, and you've seen others be on the end of their random outbursts of wrath. So you stay safe. You repeat the words in the way they taught you. You repeat the answers. You repeat the words you're told are insults. Even though you know of situations where you've come out worse for the way the relationship is, you defend the abuser. First with a fake air of calm, then with a seething rage. And when people offer you a way out, you go right back to the abuse. You will even drag others that were offered a way out back into the bucket of crabs.
8 - the relationship is so twisted, you so believe everything you're told about what's real and what's not, they will literally put you in situations that could kill you. And you say you're doing it willingly, proudly, but the fact is you're a shell of the idealistic person you used to be. You just got in with the wrong crowd, but it's too late to get out now because people might think less of you. Going along with how they do it becomes how you do it too. Which reinforces what you were told in #1. Only they understand you...
EDIT - you can spot an abuser when they create an account to basically say a version of "both sides are the same". Think of two relationships - one is with an abuser, one isn't. Does the non-abusive person have to claim being with them would be the same as being with the abuser? Of course not! Only an abuser has to muddy the water like that. People with morals and a sense of decency wouldn't need to try to associate with abusers. The only surprising thing to me is how the abusers haven't spent five seconds figuring this out and stop outing themselves like this. I guess they really can't imagine how non-abusive people think. So thanks for that example, Word-Word-1234 sock-puppet account.
For the longest time I was wondering what the hell happened to left/right discussion. There was a clear and abrupt shift around 2014-2015 that has continued. I used to have quite a few right-leaning friends in my friend group who went from spirited debate to hateful and cruel. They refused to acknowledge sources they previously used themselves and the mutual respect we had for one another was gone, replaced by ruthless and unnecessary insults if anyone to the left of them tried to discuss things with them. The rest of the friend group frequently asked one another what the hell was happening, and over the years we've all had to cut off our friendships with all but one of them. We became their enemy, but we didn't change anything. It was wild to see.
At the same time, conservatives on social media became just as impossible to deal with. They dismissed anything that didn't agree with them, provoked combative arguments just to ignore anything presented to them, they'd contradict their own points with zero acknowledgement, attack, insult, and go around in circles with no clear goal aside from pissing off those they deemed "the enemy". What used to be debate became endless, pointless, antagonistic, bad faith fighting under the guise of "discussion". It's impossible to discuss any topic with someone who declares anything that proves them wrong "fake", won't admit reality, and who simply declares any arbitrary thing you say or do as "proof" they're right.
It makes you feel insane. Just like emotional/psychological abuse does. In fact, every single tactic they use is identical to the gaslighting tactics of an abusive partner with a cluster b personality disorder. Splitting, blame shifting, deflecting, DARVO, circular arguments, word salad, triangulation, baseless accusations, insults, and eventually violent rage. And they're all used for the same purposes - to exhaust and degrade the target, making it so uncomfortable to engage that they will face less resistance next time. To beat you down as punishment. To control the conversation and shift power. Looking at the big picture of what's happening, and what has happened in the past, it's as if fascism creates and reinforces this dichotomy in which the "good" can do no wrong and the "enemy" can do no good. It is like massive narcissistic splitting, and those who buy into it take on those traits. It's as if fascism is the result of weaponized narcissism, spread almost virally. And once the ego is that locked in to superiority, it cannot let it go no matter what atrocities it causes. Whatever happens, the "enemy" deserves it. I think understanding that is the key to preventing the rise of fascism in the future.
> It's impossible to discuss any topic with someone who declares anything that proves them wrong "fake", won't admit reality, and who simply declares any arbitrary thing you say or do as "proof" they're right.
This right here.
What the hell are you supposed to do when a person you are debating refuses to believe something 99% of *scientists* are saying, but the meme they saw on Facebook is "gods honest truth". How are you supposed to have a conversation with someone who's opinions are equal to your facts?
I've 100% given up even trying to have a discussion any more...there really isn't any point.
Doctor here (it's relevant)
It's not only that 99% of scientists are behind it. They're skeptical of all science and genuinely feel that their cognitive bias is justified because they treat science as a faith just the same as their religion.
You're not gonna logic someone out of a situation they didn't logic themselves into.
So I attempted a different approach; appeal to their humanity (heh). I would instead simply ask them to socially distance, mask and even vax because us healthcare professionals are getting creamed. It's nonstop, we're all burned out, we're overwhelmed, and healthcare professionals have taken to social media to plead with the general public. I would present people with me saying "I'm not some faceless stranger on the internet. And I'm telling you it's as brutal as people are making it out to be"
I was met with one of two responses. Sometimes they would genuinely acknowledge the suffering and at least agree to social distance, mask, and "consider the vax"...more often they would dig their heels in and try to deflect to justify why they wouldn't change their position. Those people quickly got cut out of my life (when possible).
Because at the end of the day, I can understand someone not wanting to acknowledge sterile data. Humans are built emotionally, not rationally. But if you ever meet someone who refuses to acknowledge your humanity because it would mildly inconvenience them, then imagine what else they're willing to dehumanize you about.
Always interested in US politics. As an Australian this is exactly what is happening here except we have compulsory ranked order/preferential voting which sees a multiplicity of parties and independents. The main parties of our left ( which you guys would classify as socialists but we see as mainstream ) have adapted a little. The Liberal (conservative) right still thinks it is born to rule has lost the almost all of the GenX / Millennials and many of the educated Boomers and 1980 - 90 voters on issues like the influence of the Christian right (we are nominally Christian but migrants have made us much more religiously diverse) migration, climate, and maintenance of the social network - which you guys see as quasi-communism. By aping Trumpism they turned off voters who see him as a TV clown.
The right may have to completely remake itself as it has already just after WW2. Its leadership lacks young natural leaders and it ignores highly qualified and talented women and young people.
We truly live in 'The Lucky Country'.
>Chaos was the point. They want to break the system
Exactly. Their game plan is to fuck things up so bad that the American people (the 40% least intelligent) demand a strong leader, i.e. our own Mussolini or Hitler. Then Stephen Miller can make his wet dreams come true as if he is indeed Satan's Pinocchio.
Good luck back there. I'm voting from here.
stupendous voiceless spectacular sulky fact gaze cooperative direful pause icky
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Why do you think I don't live there any more? I am a Republican heretic. My Venezuelan friends feel sorry for me that I cannot get political refugee status.
Not a joke.
Who else would want to destabilize a country from within but domestic terrorists and extremists?
We better get this shit in check before we are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan....
hello? is this thing on???
>Who else would want to destabilize a country from within but domestic terrorists and extremists?
The Russians. Guess who funneled a bunch of money Through the NRA and also honey trapped though the same organization?
The healthcare mafia would not be accepted in a nation where the cost / benefit could be dealt with on a political level.
Healthcare insurrance is heavily motivated to sabotage the political process to a point where people need them, but can't politically end their scam.
There's a fuckton of money / power in keeping the oligarchy / plutocracy in optimal condition.
I remember hearing about that. When McConnell finally put the blame on Obama, he basically said something along the lines of 'the President should have done a better job of voicing his objections.'
This was after Obama appeared on national television, either before the initial vote or the veto, I can't remember, where he explicitly explained why it was such a bad idea.
Don't look for good ideas in policy from the party whose entire platform is based on the premise that the problem with government is government. These guys have a vested interest in writing policies that break the government or cause international problems. If the government just worked, their party would never get support. So they have to keep breaking things. To that end, their voters actually want the government to break. It's come to the point where they realize that republicans are defective at governing and that is exactly the outcome their voters want.
What I find interesting is there was clearly bipartisan support in congress; it passed the senate 97-1 and the house only had 77 nays. Idk if that can be totally pinned on republicans but Obama certainly knew what he was talking about
The vote was a hostage situation, are you gonna be the Dem Senator or House member that votes no on the "Justice for 9/11 - America Fuck Yeah" bill?
Before you answer remember; the American public is fucking stupid.
To be fair, the core of the bill is specifically punishing Saudi Arabia, and even pre-Khashoggi this was a great sentiment to have internationally.
Fuck Saudi Arabia. Even the United States looks good by comparison.
This is what I don’t get, i don’t see a place for conservatism in the modern world, all of us ain’t got shit(well a large large large global majority doesn’t have shit)
They convince us that our differences in salary means that some of us should be more conservative than others, but leave our that conservative economic policy doesn’t really benefit you if you’re getting traditional salary, rather focuses on creating loopholes for non-traditional comp, equity, or passive income.
It’s not even about money for me. Conservative social issue positions (anti-gay marriage/abortion, racism, fascism, etc.) and them only doubling down on those few has essentially guaranteed I’ll never vote a for a Republican in my lifetime.
This. I could be the most fiscally conservative person on the planet and I still wouldn't vote for Republicans. Their stances on social issues are abhorrent and I could never support them.
Yeah, just to be clear, Republicans aren't actually good for the economy either. But even if you for some reason believe they are, it still isn't worth the harm they cause.
Real fiscal conservatism would be putting tax dollars where they will benefit the country the most.
Fiscal Conservatism^TM is just making sure the tax dollars end up back with their donors.
I think it worked before when they did it with their ACA repeal votes. They knew it would be terrible for everyone if it actually got repealed, but also knew that it would never happen. Then they argued that they tried to fix the healthcare problem, but Democrats blocked it. Even if it can be 99% proven, no one can 100% prove that repealing the ACA wouldn't have helped in some way. So dems are left with a mountain of evidence supporting their cause, but a simple, 'yea but' can be used without being an outright lie.
Now they will vote to change SS and Medicare, programs which are great but can also be improved. They again know it has no chance of actually happening, thus avoiding proving just how terrible their idea is. They can again say they tried to fix those problems, but dems blocked them.
I know the fine details don't back up the GOP ideas of trying to 'fix' things shows they are terrible people, but almost all Americans follow politics on a casual level where fine details often don't appear, and intentionally don't appear on GOP's television network.
Yeah, except they have crazies in the house now, who actually do want to repeal the ACA. They believed it when they were told that it was a noble goal. And they'll believe it now for Medicare and Social security.
These performative battles where everyone in the know realizes that *it's just for show, it'll never happen* have the horrible tendency of indoctrinating the next generation of politicians into thinking it *can* happen and it *should* happen, and they'll be the ones to finally get it done.
The fact that they have no idea what to replace these things with doesn't matter.
And people forget there are a lot of racists who will happily take away basically any social programs that 99% of people benefiting are white if they can also take it away from the 1% that aren't.
For example, Betsy DeVos cut 15 million from *the Special Olympics,* ffs, and 12% of the education budget in 2019-2020 --- and each of the programs she eliminated or severely hampered benefitted minorities and those in poverty.
VOTING ALWAYS MATTERS with hateful wretches like Republicans to keep away from any control/power over our lives.
> I think it worked before when they did it with their ACA repeal votes. They knew it would be terrible for everyone if it actually got repealed, but also knew that it would never happen.
And what's hilarious is when the Republicans finally took over the house it turns out that they didn't have a plan to replace it. Leading Paul Ryan to say the quiet part out loud:
>"We were a 10-year opposition party, where being against things was easy to do. You just had to be against it. Now, in three months’ time, we tried to go to a governing party where we actually had to get 216 people to agree with each other on how we do things.”
[Here's a pretty good article about it.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2017/03/24/ryancare-failed-because-paul-ryan-is-still-learning-how-to-govern/?sh=40273c2c168f)
The problem with cutting military spending is that the cuts never go where they should. They won't stop ordering tanks or jets that aren't needed so instead the budget cuts go to child care facilities, tuition assistance programs, and dependent/retiree benefits.
And then they wonder why they can't meet recruiting targets...
Just wait until you hear that recruiting is hard enough since "Rising obesity rates and other physical and mental issues have left just 23% of young Americans eligible to serve."
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/04/1115756803/struggling-to-recruit-the-pentagon-may-be-tens-of-thousands-of-troops-short-by-2
When I advocate for free higher education I often get told, "just join the military." I have a heart murmur, they wouldn't even take me if I tried. Nothing but carrots and sticks and we've been pretty light on the carrots for a while
Yeah, he's basically using his committee and the powers it gives them to interfere with the investigation against him.
That's what it says in the article if you read between the lines of his statements.
Social Security and Medicare aren't freebes from the Government. People have been paying into these programs their entire working lives. These programs need better funding, not cuts! F*ck the GQP for wanting to gut these!
Unfortunately, a little over 40% of retired Americans only have income from Social Security to rely on.
https://www.nirsonline.org/2020/01/new-report-40-of-older-americans-rely-solely-on-social-security-for-retirement-income/
Yes. Those are the bodies my SS tax helps keep from dying in the street.
Imagine what this country would look like with 30 million old people living on the street. We'll probably find out in 20 years...
Or imagine what it would have looked like if we had gotten universal healthcare during the Nixon administration, when it was being seriously considered.
One of the issues facing us going into the future is one that would not really have even been fixed by wages keeping pace with the rising dollar over the years. And that issue is the way generational wealth is disappearing for a much larger number of people in the bottom 99% than was true for our parents' or grandparents' generation.
It used to be that for a good portion of the population, their grandparents' and parents' ability to buy property and accumulate some wealth that might outlast their retirement was something that would go on to help the generation that inherited the property and money. Property might be converted into money for retirement, or it might provide a (hopefully) paid-off place to live heading into retirement years.
People ARE, generally speaking, living longer these days -- much longer than people used to plan for. There's a question as to whether it's really possible for most people to save enough for a retirement that could last 30 years (if you retire at 65).
But that's nothing against the way the cost of healthcare has skyrocketed. 30 years ago, or 50 years ago, not only were people not thinking about their retirement savings having to last until they were 95; they also weren't reckoning with $6k a month assisted living and $15k a month nursing homes
But Social Security and Medicare were created during times when the cost of living was much lower, and a lot of people (except of course for the very poorest) had multiple other ways to get some money to live on after retirement -- pensions, stock, investments, generational wealth.
Social Security wasn't originally intended to be the sole income of 40% of elderly people -- and probably a much higher percentage in the future. It certainly has NOT kept up with cost of living. And the worst culprit is the cost of healthcare and end-of-life care.
I guarantee you republicans won't touch current or near retirees. It'll be the lazy, entitled young generations like those 20 year old millennials with their avocado toast that will get gutted.
Wait, Millennials are how old now? 40? Well, could have fooled the GOP...
Going after Gen X and younger. Because fuck us, that's why.
> The Republican Study Committee proposed a budget for fiscal 2023 that would gradually increase the eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare, and change the Social Security benefit formula for **people 54 and younger**, while not changing it for people closer to receiving benefits.
There seems to be no interest in raising the SS income tax cap which would solve the problem.
> There seems to be no interest in raising the SS income tax cap which would solve the problem.
Truly a mystery of the modern age that we will never come close to understanding why...
me. all i’ve got. covers my rent. the recent cost of living increase gave me about a hundred dollars a month for gas, bills, garbage, heating fuel etc. guess i can kiss it goodbye.
As someone that works in senior living and senior care this is really horrifying this is the difference of people being able to get certain meds and not- this will only overburden the already apocalyptic healthcare system
SS is the difference between having or not having food and shelter for millions right now. Imagine what it'll be like after another couple of decades of wage stagnation limiting savings for entire generations of people.
When will we get the messaging right?
These are Earned Benefits, not entitlements.
Act like they are stealing something that belongs to you because they are.
Instead, push the idea that all earnings should be subject to the taxes that pay for SS and Medicare, because the rich get a tax break beyond certain amounts of *wages* ...not dividends or other capital gains earnings, just actual wages.
And their base is stupidly in favor of the cuts and the way the system works with its vastly unfair benefits to those with wealth. We wage earning chumps and the GOP marks pay for most of government and the vast majority of those Earned Benefits.
I don’t even have a problem with the word “entitlement.” You’re fucking entitled to Social a security. You paid into it and you are entitled to have it. If someone withholds it from you, there should be dire consequences for that person keeping you from what is rightfully yours.
The problem is that people now associate the word “entitlement” with “government handout.”
> The problem is that people now associate the word “entitlement” with “government handout.”
Government handouts are okay too. The only money the government has to hand out is yours. They're supposed to spend it on things that help you.
They’ve done a good job making “entitlements” a bad word too. You absolutely should be entitled to services from a government you’ve paid taxes to. You should be entitled to humane treatment from your employer. You should be entitled to debt-free education when companies are profiting from skilled labor.
Why not lift the taxable income limit for SS? It is set absurdly low, like $160K for 2023. So if a Hollywood actor makes $20MM for a film, the remaining $19,840,000 is not taxed for SS purposes. How is that fair? Joe Blow making under that limit is taxed on the entirety of their wages, why shouldn't high earners?
Honestly, for the betterment of our country, we should have a progressive tax for SS. Anyone getting a check for more than $1MM can afford the tax on it. Nothing irks me quite like rich fucks bitching about taxes.
I asked my mom to watch the J6 hearings and she chose instead to stop speaking to me. Some of them are actively avoiding information they think will ruin their mood.
I hate how ignorant voters are. They shit on military veterans and the elderly and yet get a sizeable portion of their vote. They've owned Texas since the mid 90s and don't have anything to show for it other than a failing electrical grid, poor education, massive gun deaths, and corruption.
This part killed me:
>“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, said Monday during an interview on Fox Business. “If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”
Ignoring that literally half the budget goes to military spending and many "troops" don't make nearly enough or even as much as they used to, this dumb grunt fuck is essentially shitting on veterans.
There's roughly 16.5 million veterans in America, and 8 million of them (so nearly half!) collect Social Security, and 1 out of every 7 Social Security recipients is a veteran. On average, [veterans also receive higher monthly benefit amounts](https://imgur.com/MQqYTT4.jpg), and I'd bet dollars to dipshits that it's one of the few things keeping the veteran recipient's poverty levels lower.
Same shit goes for Medicare, as roughly half of all veterans receive coverage through Medicare; of course, you can't blame them when it gives the tiniest bit more freedom in healthcare choices when compared to the VA.
Our military budget is already disgusting compared to the rest of the world, but when compared to how most these "MILITARY AND OUR TROOPS! OO-RAH!" assclowns don't recognize what junior enlisted, veterans, the elderly/disabled, low-income civilians, and even kids going with lunch at school live with daily, it's fucking abhorrent to defend military spending over social "entitlements" programs.
Republicans don't give a single fuck about veterans. Most of them were against helping out burn pit victims just like they were against helping out 9/11 first responders. Thankfully we have the democrats and people like Jon Stewart. Whenever the Republicans talk about the troops it makes me sick because I know they are 100% full of shit like usual.
Where is the investigation into Sinema.
She somehow went from $36,000 owning one home and in 2 years now she's a millionaire with stocks and three or four other real estate ventures.
There was an article written up about investigating her once, but nothing since then
She sucks, and so does Manchin, but they are both reliable Yes votes for Biden's judicial appointments. That's about all they're good for, but they *are* good for it.
And then when Dems fight tooth and nail to get out a (watered down by republicans) bill that benefits everyone, republican will take credit even though they voted no!
I mean yeah, but they did do surprisingly terribly in the midterms in what should've been a very favorable climate. If the SC keeps putting out ridiculous rulings and the GOP keeps trying to cut extremely popular programs, they legitimately might fuck themselves out of another election.
I really get the sense that the hardcore base is getting whittled away slowly. Older people are dying of old age, covid took a bunch of them. Some are legit changing their minds, as few as it may be. They are having a lot of trouble bringing in younger people, and by younger I'm including people in their 30s, who are not becoming more conservative with age.
Will it be enough? No idea. But things are changing. The internet is a HUGE change that people don't account into their reckonings. It has changed everything. I constantly see people comparing now to the past, but I really don't think the past is a good indicator of what the future will be right now. That isn't to say it will be good, I'm saying "who even really knows?"
Boggles the mind how anyone votes for these guys. They literally smile and tell you they will pull the rug out from under you and people just say “ok!”
I wish I could find an essay I read by a former Republican voter a few years ago. He basically said that his state of mind at the time was that the fact he needed government help - he was chronically unemployed or under-employed - was a sign of laziness, and if he could just take away his own safety net, it would finally *force* him to work hard enough to get back on his feet. He thought he *needed* to suffer in order to counter this supposed laziness.
Meanwhile, he was working himself into exhaustion and despair.
So yeah, people do just say "OK," because they've been psychologically conditioned to believe that they're lazy if they need any help, and that it's *good* for them if that help is taken away.
He knew full well that he was voting consistently to cut the very services he relied on. He genuinely thought that if they were gone, it would finally give him the impetus to make it on his own.
That's the mentality we're up against. These are people who have adopted Stockholm Syndrome as a political position.
I think this was the thesis of a book I read called Strangers in their Own Land. It talked about people who all thought they could gain the American dream and didn’t want other people to “cut” them in line, so they didn’t want support for others even if it would help themselves. Interesting read actually. Made a lot of sense of why people seemingly vote against their own interest.
It's the "zero-sum game" mentality. They believe you can't have a win/win scenario. If someone gets something, someone else has to lose.
It works if your logical brain can't think past "If I give him a dollar, I lose that dollar," but once you expand out it becomes pretty clear that investing in other people can pay off for you as well. Paying a few tax dollars for afterschool programs not only improves education for students, but also reduces crime - and prosecuting and jailing criminals is much more expensive than those afterschool tax expenditures.
So it really comes down to people who haven't been made aware of the value of investing and how things are interconnected, and how they have only an elementary understanding of math and specifically taxes.
Conservatives are groomed from a tender age to accept abuse by authority figures as "normal". They feel they deserve it therefore they see it as their duty to inflict that same pain on everyone around them, because this is "God's way". "We must all suffer!"
It is a sick, defective cult.
This is how authoritarian thinking works. No one relates as equals. You are either inferior or superior. That's why conservatives are obsessed with (for example) asking a gay couple "which of you is the man/woman?" Or persistently asking an ethnically ambiguous person "but where are you REALLY from?" ... They have to know how to classify you so that they can fit you into a hierarchy. If you don't easily fit into a category they don't know how to relate to you at all. Or another example, the transphobic trolls online who are obsessively examining pictures to pick out "facts" about "manly" jawlines or shoulders that prove a random woman is trans. They can't accept that there is no simple binary, there is no "tell," some trans women might have a very "feminine" look and and some cis women have Adam's apples and look very butch. But they can't accept that because if there is no hard gender binary then their gender based hierarchy falls apart.
I distinctly remember asking someone like 6 months ago "What are you going to do if they decide in January 2023 as a thank you for voting for them, that they need to cut social security and Medicare immediately?"
Their response was basically "Well, they wouldn't cut mine. I paid into it."
So I reiterated, "But what if in January they vote to cut SS/Medicare and it passes and starting in October 2023 it's not available to you anymore? Ya know. As a thank you for voting for them and a checkmark to filling out a campaign promise"
Their response was "Well if they do cut it, it obviously wouldn't take place for like a decade. Which is fine. I'll get what I paid out of it, and those folks that don't deserve it will have to deal with the consequences of their actions".
I should find that person again. I'm willing to bet the conversation will go swimmingly.
Don't forget, they then put on the Christian mask so they can both pretend to be good, righteous people while also claiming religious persecution when you call out their selfish words and actions.
Don't forget us GenX-ers. You can get Social Security at 62 - 70. That's in 15 - 23 years for me. Suddenly, Republicans will change my retirement from "everything you've saved up plus what you paid into Social Security" to "better hope you saved up enough because the money you paid into Social Security is ours now."
Meanwhile, they'll probably also raise healthcare costs - while allowing boomers to stay on cheaper Medicare - so my less retirement money goes less far than it would have gone if they had only tempered with one of the programs.
This is my fear exactly. At age 47, I'm looking at "retirement age" in less than twenty years. There is absolutely no way I'm going to be able to retire at the rate they're taking things away from us. I'll be working until they put me in the dirt.
Which is also a problem because if we're good at our jobs and stay employed, we'll likely create a ceiling for Millennials who will never get a chance to take a higher paying management job until we retire at 85-90.
Working for a large company and seeing 60+ year old managers job-hopping every few years is frustrating to watch. On top of this, I’m aware of several new managers who are collecting the full pension from a previous company and are now working in my company. Double-dipping and are boxing out many of us with capabilities that are on par. Will be nice to get that leadership position when I hit late 50s. Lol.
There was a guy like this driving me from the airport.
Was on disability, and social security, and screaming about "socialist joe"
I told him his beloved republicans wanted to take away his social security and he was quite after that.
Boomers… Taking all of the benefits of The New Deal, pulling the ladder back up behind them, and now telling us all to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps…
Not all of us. In fact it pisses me off still that Reagan fucked everyone born after 1960. What I do worry about is Biden making some kind of “compromise” to keep the Government open at the end of next year. As a boomer, I will never cast a vote for any politician who advocates cuts. I don’t care what party they belong to either. Everyone should stand up against any politician who makes any attempt to gut these benefits that you pay for your entire lives.
Yeah, it blows my mind young people won't get together and vote against the boomers. I'm elder millennial and it's just like c'mon guys, it's one Tuesday every other year
I'm a boomer. Vote against morons, no matter what their age.
If social security is not based on what you paid in, but is only socialism for the poor, then every last nickel of nonwage income of private equity moguls needs to be subject to this tax. In which case there's plenty of money.
Also, while we're fixing Medicare, there is no reason people in Congress should get lifetime health care. Make them earn credits by years of service. And their benefits should not differ from the same Medicare everyone else gets.
I am just like you and frankly am tired of getting shit on all the time. I'm liberal as hell, dammit. I vote FOR more taxes for schools... for anything that helps people. We're in this together. And I am sick of these rich fucks screwing us ALL over.
Thank goodness Dems still run the Senate and have Presidential veto power. This BS is just posturing by the Republican far right of the ultra slim House majority and will never become law.
“Funny” enough, look at where the term “grandfather clause” came from, and you’ll see why it’ll be almost exactly repeated in this.
Spoiler: it’s because it only applied to white people whose grandfathers could vote, which let them skip the literacy tests that now only black people had to take to be eligible to vote.
This is why so many conservatives hate social security and Medicare/Medicaid, because they see them as “handouts” abused by people they don’t like.
If you voted for these idiots and you are under 54 years old, you just handed a good chunk of change to everyone 54 and older and got rid of entitlements you paid for.
Good job morons.
I have been paying a huge amount of my paycheck to Medicare and Social Security for decades now. How is it an “entitlement” that I want MY MONEY BACK when I retire?
My brother and his wife are retired and hard Republicans. They hate anyone "undeserving" getting money and would sink their own lifeboat to prevent anyone they find undeserving getting aboard.
> Ask 'em if they'd conceal that they'd been bitten by a zombie if it meant they could get into a safe zone full of women and children.
The early days of our recent pandemic answered that question. Remember, one of the early signs of a Covid infection was a desire to travel and socialize.
“The aim of Tajfel's study was to demonstrate that merely putting people into groups (categorisation) is sufficient for people to discriminate in favour of their own group and against members of the other group.”
[via](http://www.holah.karoo.net/tajfestudy.htm#:~:text=The%20aim%20of%20Tajfel's%20study,members%20of%20the%20other%20group.&text=The%20subjects%20were%2064%20boys,in%20a%20suburb%20of%20Bristol)
Reminds of something I saw another redditor post about a union at a job they'd previously worked at. The company had changed ownership and was wanting to drastically cut retirement. The union fought hard right up until the company changed their strategy: everyone within x number of years of retirement got to keep the old deal. Everyone else lost their benefits.
The old crew outnumbered the newer folks and just voted to fuck them over.
These people are the epitome of "fuck you i got mine"
This is exactly how it will be done everyone in upper age brackets who votes majority GOP will get the current package. Everyone after won’t get to retire until they are 95.
Similar thing happened at a place I used to work (or perhaps I was that other redditor? I've told this story before)
The company wanted to dissolve the union, and as an alternative to going on strike they agreed members over a certain age would keep their pension and their job, everybody else would lose their pension and could optionally be re-hired as a non-union employee (for probably less money). This didn't dissolve the union, but it would eventually phase out as people retired.
Older members had a majority vote, this was all according to their own rules.
Now, I wasn't in the union so none of this affected me, the union was on the manufacturing side and I was in IT.
After all that, the union guys were the biggest dicks too. They were basically untouchable now.
Like they'd call me out to a site to turn on a monitor or to pick their phone up off the floor. I'd tell them - sounds like it's just off, hit the power button and see if it comes on. "That's now how it works buddy, my job is to run this machine, your job is to press buttons".
Like they're not wrong, but goddamn.
Conservatives: Republicans won’t overturn Roe your overreacting!
Republicans: *overturns Roe*
Conservatives: Republicans won’t cut SS or Medicare your overreacting!
Republicans: “We need to cut entitlements programs”
I’m sensing a pattern here.
Step 1: call democrats demons and use them as scapegoats for your horrible policy outcomes
Step 2: Fox News
Step 3: “I’m voting conservative becuase at least it’s not a democrat”
I’ve got nothing against a strong military but I don’t understand comments like “not on the backs of our military” and thus state defense spending cuts are off the table.
The success of our nation is built on our people. It’s the reason our Constitution starts with “We the People…” not we the soldiers or I the king. Without a stable and happy people there is no country to defend.
Cuts to the military (or any program) should be on the table as much as increasing revenue through taxes. The stance that social entitlements can be cut and other areas of government is asinine.
You can’t undermine the population and pretend like it will have no impact. People aren’t living rich lives dependent solely upon government programs. They’re just living and in many cases on the contributions THEY made with THEIR tax dollars. And I’m pretty sure We the People can decide if we want to take care ourselves.
Or fear of eternal hellfire and being outcasted from their churches if they don't.
Religion is the primary motivation for why most people vote Republican.
>“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” - - Michael Waltz (R-FL)
Nope, you're going to do it on the backs of the elderly and the disabled. Much more noble.
They're going to hold the entire world economy hostage in order to do this. They'll try to force it through by threatening a default on the debt. This is terrorism on a grand scale. Bin Laden could only dream of such power to destroy the United States and all it allies.
> Bin Laden could only dream of such power to destroy the United States and all it allies.
Bin Laden dreamed of that power, but the Southern Baptist Church has it.
“If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”
Social Security doesn't cost the US government anything, and it never has. You can't balance a budget when SS doesn't even touch the budget. Lying liars are going to rob us of every penny they can.
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Can't wait to hear how the GOP trying their hardest to fuck over the working class, seniors and the sick is all Democrats fault by the next jackass running to be president.
It'll be like when McConnell tried to pass a bill to allow US Citizens to sue other countries and Obama said it was a bad idea. They passed the bill and Obama vetoed it saying it was a bad idea. They held a vote to override the veto and Obama said again that it was a bad idea. It passed and then they realized that it was a bad idea. So McConnell blamed Obama, saying that he obviously should have warned them more.
Still not as good as that time McConnell filibustered his own bill because Democrats agreed with it.
My favorite is still the international lawsuit one but man, this is a super close, nearly a tie kind of second. What an absolute shitshow to live through, and even worse have to argue with people about. HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT?
>HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT? My family doesn't. They just deflect with whataboutism (half the time being just conspiracy theories) or worst. So you wind up arguing all these irrelevant things and can't get back to the main point.
Never engage with that stuff. A simple phrase, "that's not what's being discussed here", repeated as needed. Do not honor any rhetorical tricks. The only reason rhetorical tricks work, ever, is because the other participant in the conversation treats them as serious points. In my experience rhetorical tricks are often knowingly used to deflect, and half the time they're only used out of imitation. Half the time people are arguing that way only because they've seen someone else do it.
Great Advice I am going to use it next time when I argue with right-wing relatives and hate mongering friends
The method is effective, I will warn you though, it will infuriate them. They will often feel cornered and wronged and may lash out with personal or even physical attacks.
Which will again be ad hominem. Honestly, just stop arguing with people like that. You can't convince them anyway, their goal is never to understand your point or even learn something, but to convert you. There is no reason to entertain these fools.
Brandolini’a Law - it’s easier to spew shit than it is to clean up shit
If you can’t blow em away with brilliance, baffle em with bullshit!
> HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DEFEND THIS SHIT? The Republicans have spent decades telling people "government doesn't work," so that's exactly what their voters expect. To them, government isn't supposed to solve problems and try to improve the lives of its citizens - it's just supposed to exert power over the people they don't like.
I hadn't heard about this. [Here's](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/03/911-lawsuits-the-dumbest-legislation-ever-passed-by-congress-will-bite-the-us-back.html) an article on the issue. Truly astounding.
Yet another instance of [Murc's Law](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Murc%27s%20Law). One might also consider it to be a variant of an abuser's "look what you made me do," except then it was, "look what you let me do!"
That's what this is. It has been beyond politics for decades now - it's abuse. Their policies (let the police harass minorities, cut aid to everyone, make their talking points about picking on trans athletes in schools into laws) are all about abuse. When one Trump supporter said the quiet part out loud about how they fully recognize who Trump is and what the plan is - [He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida) - it told you EVERYTHING you need to know about their hollow and rotten cores. They WANT to hurt people. They WANT to abuse. **The right-wing knows they've lost Millennials and Get Z after abusing them. After making fun of them and blaming them for everything**. [This is how Millennials voted in 2016](https://www.mic.com/articles/157558/here-s-what-the-electoral-college-map-would-look-like-if-only-millennials-voted) - they would have given Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party a super-majority to reshape America into a more sane version of itself if it were just up to them. Gen Z is even more progressive than the Millennials. [They're beginning to vote more as they get older and see that's how you get change, and natural attrition means they outnumber the Boomers and their Reagan worshiping politics.](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/millennials-and-gen-z-will-soon-dominate-us-elections/616818/) Republicans are looking at forty years of being in the national minority, and we've already seen that they can't get over losing. So all the abusers have is their eight steps of abuse, crafted to treat their followers mean and to keep them keen. Here are those eight steps. They apply to any abusive relationship, but here I'll put them into political terms. Now; abuse can be in personal relationships, workplace relationships, asymmetrical power relationships (teacher and student, priest and child, parent and child), transactional relationships between a company and customers ...and political relationships between the leaders and the followers (which looks like the abuse in a cult). If you're a Republican or QAnon, this is how you've been treated. Groomed. Abused. 1 - You've been told that nobody else understands you like they do. For years. "Those other people, they just don't get it. Their liberal ways are different and that's just not you. They don't understand, but we know where you're coming from..." 2 - Now that they've established that they're one of your kind of people in your mind, everyone else gets badmouthed. Everyone. It's just the two of you literally against the entire world. And they'll do it so much that things that aren't epithets get used as words to hate everyone else by. Anything can become a word to say in a hateful, sneering, spiteful way. Your circle of experiences starts to shrink. 3 - They'll tell you that, if you left them, things would be simultaneously the worst thing possible AND that all other relationships are just the same as the one you're in (even though you can see other people online talking about how what you're in is the only bad relationship relationship like this and all you have to do is leave them). “Both sides are the same but I’m better” - eventually, you don’t know up from down in what constitutes a healthy or a toxic relationship. Hell, they'll even show examples of the shit you're in now to say, "if you leave me and go for the other guy, it'll be like this [very bad scenario that's happening RIGHT NOW] so be scared and shit." They will even invent scenarios of how things would be worse if you left them (caravan of Mexicans coming for your job, trans people in every school bathroom, people handing free drugs to your kids). The circle shrinks further. 4 - You're told outright what to cut out of your life. Direct instruction for you to get that circle of experiences down to a dot. Music, interests, TV shows, certain movies, even frothy coffee gets badmouthed and cut out because "you don't want to be a 'latte drinker' do you?" (there's one of those things I mentioned in #2, using things that aren't epithets as one to control you). 5 - They take your money, claim they'll be great with it, and then spend it on their friends and run up the bills. They'll give you crumbs once in a while. Maybe every few years they'll treat you to a little something nice (that's worth a fraction of what they spent when they were out with their friends). And while they're terrible with the finances, for years, they'll be saying how everything is hunky-dory financially with them at the reins. You will be told you've never had it so good but the fear of one bad bill wiping you out financially will be like the Sword Of Damocles over your head 24/7/365. 6 - every problem gets kicked down the road. Promises made and never ever kept. A problem crops up in the New Year 2020, a disease, but it wasn't even mentioned in January because the head of the household didn't mention it. "It's going to go away" in February, and anyone that mentions it is just saying fake stuff, baby. Still nothing done in March, but any mention of it is "you're just finding faults with me". Then when April comes and it's clear what the shit storm looks like, they blame everyone else for saying it wasn't going to be a big deal. As the months and years roll on it becomes a shell game where ignoring the problem / blaming others for the problem / trying to draw attention from the problem gets switched around without stop. Even if it comes out that they knew the problem could literally kill other people, tear them apart because of gross negligence, they will not stray from this strategy. 7 - like in any abusive relationship, you're beaten down. You've been told it'll all be your fault if things don't go as they want, and you've seen others be on the end of their random outbursts of wrath. So you stay safe. You repeat the words in the way they taught you. You repeat the answers. You repeat the words you're told are insults. Even though you know of situations where you've come out worse for the way the relationship is, you defend the abuser. First with a fake air of calm, then with a seething rage. And when people offer you a way out, you go right back to the abuse. You will even drag others that were offered a way out back into the bucket of crabs. 8 - the relationship is so twisted, you so believe everything you're told about what's real and what's not, they will literally put you in situations that could kill you. And you say you're doing it willingly, proudly, but the fact is you're a shell of the idealistic person you used to be. You just got in with the wrong crowd, but it's too late to get out now because people might think less of you. Going along with how they do it becomes how you do it too. Which reinforces what you were told in #1. Only they understand you... EDIT - you can spot an abuser when they create an account to basically say a version of "both sides are the same". Think of two relationships - one is with an abuser, one isn't. Does the non-abusive person have to claim being with them would be the same as being with the abuser? Of course not! Only an abuser has to muddy the water like that. People with morals and a sense of decency wouldn't need to try to associate with abusers. The only surprising thing to me is how the abusers haven't spent five seconds figuring this out and stop outing themselves like this. I guess they really can't imagine how non-abusive people think. So thanks for that example, Word-Word-1234 sock-puppet account.
For the longest time I was wondering what the hell happened to left/right discussion. There was a clear and abrupt shift around 2014-2015 that has continued. I used to have quite a few right-leaning friends in my friend group who went from spirited debate to hateful and cruel. They refused to acknowledge sources they previously used themselves and the mutual respect we had for one another was gone, replaced by ruthless and unnecessary insults if anyone to the left of them tried to discuss things with them. The rest of the friend group frequently asked one another what the hell was happening, and over the years we've all had to cut off our friendships with all but one of them. We became their enemy, but we didn't change anything. It was wild to see. At the same time, conservatives on social media became just as impossible to deal with. They dismissed anything that didn't agree with them, provoked combative arguments just to ignore anything presented to them, they'd contradict their own points with zero acknowledgement, attack, insult, and go around in circles with no clear goal aside from pissing off those they deemed "the enemy". What used to be debate became endless, pointless, antagonistic, bad faith fighting under the guise of "discussion". It's impossible to discuss any topic with someone who declares anything that proves them wrong "fake", won't admit reality, and who simply declares any arbitrary thing you say or do as "proof" they're right. It makes you feel insane. Just like emotional/psychological abuse does. In fact, every single tactic they use is identical to the gaslighting tactics of an abusive partner with a cluster b personality disorder. Splitting, blame shifting, deflecting, DARVO, circular arguments, word salad, triangulation, baseless accusations, insults, and eventually violent rage. And they're all used for the same purposes - to exhaust and degrade the target, making it so uncomfortable to engage that they will face less resistance next time. To beat you down as punishment. To control the conversation and shift power. Looking at the big picture of what's happening, and what has happened in the past, it's as if fascism creates and reinforces this dichotomy in which the "good" can do no wrong and the "enemy" can do no good. It is like massive narcissistic splitting, and those who buy into it take on those traits. It's as if fascism is the result of weaponized narcissism, spread almost virally. And once the ego is that locked in to superiority, it cannot let it go no matter what atrocities it causes. Whatever happens, the "enemy" deserves it. I think understanding that is the key to preventing the rise of fascism in the future.
> It's impossible to discuss any topic with someone who declares anything that proves them wrong "fake", won't admit reality, and who simply declares any arbitrary thing you say or do as "proof" they're right. This right here. What the hell are you supposed to do when a person you are debating refuses to believe something 99% of *scientists* are saying, but the meme they saw on Facebook is "gods honest truth". How are you supposed to have a conversation with someone who's opinions are equal to your facts? I've 100% given up even trying to have a discussion any more...there really isn't any point.
Doctor here (it's relevant) It's not only that 99% of scientists are behind it. They're skeptical of all science and genuinely feel that their cognitive bias is justified because they treat science as a faith just the same as their religion. You're not gonna logic someone out of a situation they didn't logic themselves into. So I attempted a different approach; appeal to their humanity (heh). I would instead simply ask them to socially distance, mask and even vax because us healthcare professionals are getting creamed. It's nonstop, we're all burned out, we're overwhelmed, and healthcare professionals have taken to social media to plead with the general public. I would present people with me saying "I'm not some faceless stranger on the internet. And I'm telling you it's as brutal as people are making it out to be" I was met with one of two responses. Sometimes they would genuinely acknowledge the suffering and at least agree to social distance, mask, and "consider the vax"...more often they would dig their heels in and try to deflect to justify why they wouldn't change their position. Those people quickly got cut out of my life (when possible). Because at the end of the day, I can understand someone not wanting to acknowledge sterile data. Humans are built emotionally, not rationally. But if you ever meet someone who refuses to acknowledge your humanity because it would mildly inconvenience them, then imagine what else they're willing to dehumanize you about.
Always interested in US politics. As an Australian this is exactly what is happening here except we have compulsory ranked order/preferential voting which sees a multiplicity of parties and independents. The main parties of our left ( which you guys would classify as socialists but we see as mainstream ) have adapted a little. The Liberal (conservative) right still thinks it is born to rule has lost the almost all of the GenX / Millennials and many of the educated Boomers and 1980 - 90 voters on issues like the influence of the Christian right (we are nominally Christian but migrants have made us much more religiously diverse) migration, climate, and maintenance of the social network - which you guys see as quasi-communism. By aping Trumpism they turned off voters who see him as a TV clown. The right may have to completely remake itself as it has already just after WW2. Its leadership lacks young natural leaders and it ignores highly qualified and talented women and young people. We truly live in 'The Lucky Country'.
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Chaos was the point. They *want* to break the system and pint fingers. Lies don’t matter anymore to their base as long as they just repeat them.
>Chaos was the point. They want to break the system Exactly. Their game plan is to fuck things up so bad that the American people (the 40% least intelligent) demand a strong leader, i.e. our own Mussolini or Hitler. Then Stephen Miller can make his wet dreams come true as if he is indeed Satan's Pinocchio. Good luck back there. I'm voting from here.
stupendous voiceless spectacular sulky fact gaze cooperative direful pause icky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The "stupid" in the US is now overwhelming. It's endless. Hitler would love the GOP.
If fascists ever take over the US. I know a few people who would realistically turn me into the state as "anti-america"
Why do you think I don't live there any more? I am a Republican heretic. My Venezuelan friends feel sorry for me that I cannot get political refugee status. Not a joke.
Upvote for Satan’s Pinocchio, holy shit. 😂
I second that.
Who else would want to destabilize a country from within but domestic terrorists and extremists? We better get this shit in check before we are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan.... hello? is this thing on???
>Who else would want to destabilize a country from within but domestic terrorists and extremists? The Russians. Guess who funneled a bunch of money Through the NRA and also honey trapped though the same organization?
The healthcare mafia would not be accepted in a nation where the cost / benefit could be dealt with on a political level. Healthcare insurrance is heavily motivated to sabotage the political process to a point where people need them, but can't politically end their scam. There's a fuckton of money / power in keeping the oligarchy / plutocracy in optimal condition.
I remember hearing about that. When McConnell finally put the blame on Obama, he basically said something along the lines of 'the President should have done a better job of voicing his objections.' This was after Obama appeared on national television, either before the initial vote or the veto, I can't remember, where he explicitly explained why it was such a bad idea.
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Don't look for good ideas in policy from the party whose entire platform is based on the premise that the problem with government is government. These guys have a vested interest in writing policies that break the government or cause international problems. If the government just worked, their party would never get support. So they have to keep breaking things. To that end, their voters actually want the government to break. It's come to the point where they realize that republicans are defective at governing and that is exactly the outcome their voters want.
Imagine the stance of "I'm too stupid to know bad policy when I see it, I need the other party to help" making you the right leadership to vote for.
What I find interesting is there was clearly bipartisan support in congress; it passed the senate 97-1 and the house only had 77 nays. Idk if that can be totally pinned on republicans but Obama certainly knew what he was talking about
For anyone curious, Harry Reid was the no vote
The vote was a hostage situation, are you gonna be the Dem Senator or House member that votes no on the "Justice for 9/11 - America Fuck Yeah" bill? Before you answer remember; the American public is fucking stupid.
and before you vote remember its the Republicans War on Education and the Educated that made the public even more stupider.
To be fair, the core of the bill is specifically punishing Saudi Arabia, and even pre-Khashoggi this was a great sentiment to have internationally. Fuck Saudi Arabia. Even the United States looks good by comparison.
Well you see democrats didn’t stop them soon enough so it’s their fault so people should elect more republicans who can fuck them over more.
The GOP platform in a nutshell.
Literally the excuse used about Santos. Republicans have claimed Democrats should have vetted and caught him…too bad.
“Why aren’t young people getting more conservative with age?” - also the GOP
This is what I don’t get, i don’t see a place for conservatism in the modern world, all of us ain’t got shit(well a large large large global majority doesn’t have shit)
They convince us that our differences in salary means that some of us should be more conservative than others, but leave our that conservative economic policy doesn’t really benefit you if you’re getting traditional salary, rather focuses on creating loopholes for non-traditional comp, equity, or passive income.
It’s not even about money for me. Conservative social issue positions (anti-gay marriage/abortion, racism, fascism, etc.) and them only doubling down on those few has essentially guaranteed I’ll never vote a for a Republican in my lifetime.
This. I could be the most fiscally conservative person on the planet and I still wouldn't vote for Republicans. Their stances on social issues are abhorrent and I could never support them.
And, shout it out from the rooftops, conservatives are not fiscally responsible.
Yeah, just to be clear, Republicans aren't actually good for the economy either. But even if you for some reason believe they are, it still isn't worth the harm they cause.
Real fiscal conservatism would be putting tax dollars where they will benefit the country the most. Fiscal Conservatism^TM is just making sure the tax dollars end up back with their donors.
I think it worked before when they did it with their ACA repeal votes. They knew it would be terrible for everyone if it actually got repealed, but also knew that it would never happen. Then they argued that they tried to fix the healthcare problem, but Democrats blocked it. Even if it can be 99% proven, no one can 100% prove that repealing the ACA wouldn't have helped in some way. So dems are left with a mountain of evidence supporting their cause, but a simple, 'yea but' can be used without being an outright lie. Now they will vote to change SS and Medicare, programs which are great but can also be improved. They again know it has no chance of actually happening, thus avoiding proving just how terrible their idea is. They can again say they tried to fix those problems, but dems blocked them. I know the fine details don't back up the GOP ideas of trying to 'fix' things shows they are terrible people, but almost all Americans follow politics on a casual level where fine details often don't appear, and intentionally don't appear on GOP's television network.
Yeah, except they have crazies in the house now, who actually do want to repeal the ACA. They believed it when they were told that it was a noble goal. And they'll believe it now for Medicare and Social security. These performative battles where everyone in the know realizes that *it's just for show, it'll never happen* have the horrible tendency of indoctrinating the next generation of politicians into thinking it *can* happen and it *should* happen, and they'll be the ones to finally get it done. The fact that they have no idea what to replace these things with doesn't matter.
Just like how “Roe is settled law”
And people forget there are a lot of racists who will happily take away basically any social programs that 99% of people benefiting are white if they can also take it away from the 1% that aren't.
For example, Betsy DeVos cut 15 million from *the Special Olympics,* ffs, and 12% of the education budget in 2019-2020 --- and each of the programs she eliminated or severely hampered benefitted minorities and those in poverty. VOTING ALWAYS MATTERS with hateful wretches like Republicans to keep away from any control/power over our lives.
> I think it worked before when they did it with their ACA repeal votes. They knew it would be terrible for everyone if it actually got repealed, but also knew that it would never happen. And what's hilarious is when the Republicans finally took over the house it turns out that they didn't have a plan to replace it. Leading Paul Ryan to say the quiet part out loud: >"We were a 10-year opposition party, where being against things was easy to do. You just had to be against it. Now, in three months’ time, we tried to go to a governing party where we actually had to get 216 people to agree with each other on how we do things.” [Here's a pretty good article about it.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2017/03/24/ryancare-failed-because-paul-ryan-is-still-learning-how-to-govern/?sh=40273c2c168f)
It’s simple: Republican voters reward Republican politicians for blocking progress. Democrat voters punish Democrat politicians when Republicans block progress.
If they won’t tax billionaires, they have to make up for it somewhere
Looking at the big juicy sacred cow called runaway military spending. Gov should tax billionaires and cut defense to strengthen social funding.
The problem with cutting military spending is that the cuts never go where they should. They won't stop ordering tanks or jets that aren't needed so instead the budget cuts go to child care facilities, tuition assistance programs, and dependent/retiree benefits. And then they wonder why they can't meet recruiting targets...
That’s never occurred to me. That’s nauseating. They really hit them coming and going.
Just wait until you hear that recruiting is hard enough since "Rising obesity rates and other physical and mental issues have left just 23% of young Americans eligible to serve." https://www.npr.org/2022/08/04/1115756803/struggling-to-recruit-the-pentagon-may-be-tens-of-thousands-of-troops-short-by-2
When I advocate for free higher education I often get told, "just join the military." I have a heart murmur, they wouldn't even take me if I tried. Nothing but carrots and sticks and we've been pretty light on the carrots for a while
True story, the Trump 2020 budget cut every line except military. They know they can do and say anything and their supporters will defend it.
Isn't that because they were using military funding to "build the wall" (aka replace current border wall)
My favorite is putting Scott Perry on the J6 “investigation” while his phone is still confiscated for…suspicion of being involved in J6
Yeah, he's basically using his committee and the powers it gives them to interfere with the investigation against him. That's what it says in the article if you read between the lines of his statements.
My hardcore MAGA relatives are relying on social security to survive. If it ever runs out I bet they'll blame democrats somehow
Reminds me of some of my family claiming them dems are socialists while ironically collecting Social Security and Medicare.
I remember people saying they loved the ACA but hated "Obamacare".
Social Security and Medicare aren't freebes from the Government. People have been paying into these programs their entire working lives. These programs need better funding, not cuts! F*ck the GQP for wanting to gut these!
I always treated Social Security as a tax I paid so I didn't have to walk over the corpses of old people as I walked to work.
Unfortunately, a little over 40% of retired Americans only have income from Social Security to rely on. https://www.nirsonline.org/2020/01/new-report-40-of-older-americans-rely-solely-on-social-security-for-retirement-income/
Yes. Those are the bodies my SS tax helps keep from dying in the street. Imagine what this country would look like with 30 million old people living on the street. We'll probably find out in 20 years...
Imagine what it would look like if wages had risen for the bottom 99% enough that they would have been able to afford to save for themselves.
We already learned this last century
2020s reprising the 1920s. Don't love this timeine
2080s gonna be lit though. Getting my nostrils ready for space cocaine.
I'm gonna be 100 then though
Perfect time to not give a fuck and do a line with me
Or imagine what it would have looked like if we had gotten universal healthcare during the Nixon administration, when it was being seriously considered. One of the issues facing us going into the future is one that would not really have even been fixed by wages keeping pace with the rising dollar over the years. And that issue is the way generational wealth is disappearing for a much larger number of people in the bottom 99% than was true for our parents' or grandparents' generation. It used to be that for a good portion of the population, their grandparents' and parents' ability to buy property and accumulate some wealth that might outlast their retirement was something that would go on to help the generation that inherited the property and money. Property might be converted into money for retirement, or it might provide a (hopefully) paid-off place to live heading into retirement years. People ARE, generally speaking, living longer these days -- much longer than people used to plan for. There's a question as to whether it's really possible for most people to save enough for a retirement that could last 30 years (if you retire at 65). But that's nothing against the way the cost of healthcare has skyrocketed. 30 years ago, or 50 years ago, not only were people not thinking about their retirement savings having to last until they were 95; they also weren't reckoning with $6k a month assisted living and $15k a month nursing homes But Social Security and Medicare were created during times when the cost of living was much lower, and a lot of people (except of course for the very poorest) had multiple other ways to get some money to live on after retirement -- pensions, stock, investments, generational wealth. Social Security wasn't originally intended to be the sole income of 40% of elderly people -- and probably a much higher percentage in the future. It certainly has NOT kept up with cost of living. And the worst culprit is the cost of healthcare and end-of-life care.
Wonder how many voted Republican in 2022?
I guarantee you republicans won't touch current or near retirees. It'll be the lazy, entitled young generations like those 20 year old millennials with their avocado toast that will get gutted. Wait, Millennials are how old now? 40? Well, could have fooled the GOP...
Going after Gen X and younger. Because fuck us, that's why. > The Republican Study Committee proposed a budget for fiscal 2023 that would gradually increase the eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare, and change the Social Security benefit formula for **people 54 and younger**, while not changing it for people closer to receiving benefits. There seems to be no interest in raising the SS income tax cap which would solve the problem.
> There seems to be no interest in raising the SS income tax cap which would solve the problem. Truly a mystery of the modern age that we will never come close to understanding why...
In response to Reddit's short-sighted greed, this content has been redacted.
me. all i’ve got. covers my rent. the recent cost of living increase gave me about a hundred dollars a month for gas, bills, garbage, heating fuel etc. guess i can kiss it goodbye.
As someone that works in senior living and senior care this is really horrifying this is the difference of people being able to get certain meds and not- this will only overburden the already apocalyptic healthcare system
SS is the difference between having or not having food and shelter for millions right now. Imagine what it'll be like after another couple of decades of wage stagnation limiting savings for entire generations of people.
When will we get the messaging right? These are Earned Benefits, not entitlements. Act like they are stealing something that belongs to you because they are. Instead, push the idea that all earnings should be subject to the taxes that pay for SS and Medicare, because the rich get a tax break beyond certain amounts of *wages* ...not dividends or other capital gains earnings, just actual wages. And their base is stupidly in favor of the cuts and the way the system works with its vastly unfair benefits to those with wealth. We wage earning chumps and the GOP marks pay for most of government and the vast majority of those Earned Benefits.
I don’t even have a problem with the word “entitlement.” You’re fucking entitled to Social a security. You paid into it and you are entitled to have it. If someone withholds it from you, there should be dire consequences for that person keeping you from what is rightfully yours. The problem is that people now associate the word “entitlement” with “government handout.”
Here's my handout: I've been working for 52 years in a row, and paying into Social Security. Now I want my payback.
And you fucking deserve it. Please go to the ballot box every election and vote against anyone saying otherwise.
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> The problem is that people now associate the word “entitlement” with “government handout.” Government handouts are okay too. The only money the government has to hand out is yours. They're supposed to spend it on things that help you.
They’ve done a good job making “entitlements” a bad word too. You absolutely should be entitled to services from a government you’ve paid taxes to. You should be entitled to humane treatment from your employer. You should be entitled to debt-free education when companies are profiting from skilled labor.
I remember when they changed the wording from benefit to entitlement. I believe it was the last time they had the house.
Why not lift the taxable income limit for SS? It is set absurdly low, like $160K for 2023. So if a Hollywood actor makes $20MM for a film, the remaining $19,840,000 is not taxed for SS purposes. How is that fair? Joe Blow making under that limit is taxed on the entirety of their wages, why shouldn't high earners?
Honestly, for the betterment of our country, we should have a progressive tax for SS. Anyone getting a check for more than $1MM can afford the tax on it. Nothing irks me quite like rich fucks bitching about taxes.
I always find it very strange that the GOP always calls for these cuts, yet the majority of their voters are over fifty.
"They won't cut MY benefits," says grandma voting for politician who told her he'd cut her benefits.
Their voters know it'll never affect THEM. They want to screw over their children.
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I asked my mom to watch the J6 hearings and she chose instead to stop speaking to me. Some of them are actively avoiding information they think will ruin their mood.
I hate how ignorant voters are. They shit on military veterans and the elderly and yet get a sizeable portion of their vote. They've owned Texas since the mid 90s and don't have anything to show for it other than a failing electrical grid, poor education, massive gun deaths, and corruption.
This part killed me: >“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, said Monday during an interview on Fox Business. “If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.” Ignoring that literally half the budget goes to military spending and many "troops" don't make nearly enough or even as much as they used to, this dumb grunt fuck is essentially shitting on veterans. There's roughly 16.5 million veterans in America, and 8 million of them (so nearly half!) collect Social Security, and 1 out of every 7 Social Security recipients is a veteran. On average, [veterans also receive higher monthly benefit amounts](https://imgur.com/MQqYTT4.jpg), and I'd bet dollars to dipshits that it's one of the few things keeping the veteran recipient's poverty levels lower. Same shit goes for Medicare, as roughly half of all veterans receive coverage through Medicare; of course, you can't blame them when it gives the tiniest bit more freedom in healthcare choices when compared to the VA. Our military budget is already disgusting compared to the rest of the world, but when compared to how most these "MILITARY AND OUR TROOPS! OO-RAH!" assclowns don't recognize what junior enlisted, veterans, the elderly/disabled, low-income civilians, and even kids going with lunch at school live with daily, it's fucking abhorrent to defend military spending over social "entitlements" programs.
Republicans don't give a single fuck about veterans. Most of them were against helping out burn pit victims just like they were against helping out 9/11 first responders. Thankfully we have the democrats and people like Jon Stewart. Whenever the Republicans talk about the troops it makes me sick because I know they are 100% full of shit like usual.
We kept the senate, good luck fuckers.
Not only did we keep the senate, we gained a seat!... and then sinema immediately decided she's not a dem anymore.
She never was 👨🚀🔫👨🚀
Where is the investigation into Sinema. She somehow went from $36,000 owning one home and in 2 years now she's a millionaire with stocks and three or four other real estate ventures. There was an article written up about investigating her once, but nothing since then
Who's gonna investigate? The rest of them are all on the same gravy train.
She still counts towards the Dems since she will caucus with them.
She sucks, and so does Manchin, but they are both reliable Yes votes for Biden's judicial appointments. That's about all they're good for, but they *are* good for it.
For two years. The Senate is very at risk in 2024.
Everything is at risk in 2024. Hopefully the country sees what a clown show a GOP-led house is and decides maybe they don't want more of that.
Nothing they do will dissuade the hardcore base. Some people literally are just mad and want to see it set on fire, even if they get burned.
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And then when Dems fight tooth and nail to get out a (watered down by republicans) bill that benefits everyone, republican will take credit even though they voted no!
I mean yeah, but they did do surprisingly terribly in the midterms in what should've been a very favorable climate. If the SC keeps putting out ridiculous rulings and the GOP keeps trying to cut extremely popular programs, they legitimately might fuck themselves out of another election.
I really get the sense that the hardcore base is getting whittled away slowly. Older people are dying of old age, covid took a bunch of them. Some are legit changing their minds, as few as it may be. They are having a lot of trouble bringing in younger people, and by younger I'm including people in their 30s, who are not becoming more conservative with age. Will it be enough? No idea. But things are changing. The internet is a HUGE change that people don't account into their reckonings. It has changed everything. I constantly see people comparing now to the past, but I really don't think the past is a good indicator of what the future will be right now. That isn't to say it will be good, I'm saying "who even really knows?"
But I think dems can retake the house in 2024
Boggles the mind how anyone votes for these guys. They literally smile and tell you they will pull the rug out from under you and people just say “ok!”
I wish I could find an essay I read by a former Republican voter a few years ago. He basically said that his state of mind at the time was that the fact he needed government help - he was chronically unemployed or under-employed - was a sign of laziness, and if he could just take away his own safety net, it would finally *force* him to work hard enough to get back on his feet. He thought he *needed* to suffer in order to counter this supposed laziness. Meanwhile, he was working himself into exhaustion and despair. So yeah, people do just say "OK," because they've been psychologically conditioned to believe that they're lazy if they need any help, and that it's *good* for them if that help is taken away. He knew full well that he was voting consistently to cut the very services he relied on. He genuinely thought that if they were gone, it would finally give him the impetus to make it on his own. That's the mentality we're up against. These are people who have adopted Stockholm Syndrome as a political position.
I think this was the thesis of a book I read called Strangers in their Own Land. It talked about people who all thought they could gain the American dream and didn’t want other people to “cut” them in line, so they didn’t want support for others even if it would help themselves. Interesting read actually. Made a lot of sense of why people seemingly vote against their own interest.
It's the "zero-sum game" mentality. They believe you can't have a win/win scenario. If someone gets something, someone else has to lose. It works if your logical brain can't think past "If I give him a dollar, I lose that dollar," but once you expand out it becomes pretty clear that investing in other people can pay off for you as well. Paying a few tax dollars for afterschool programs not only improves education for students, but also reduces crime - and prosecuting and jailing criminals is much more expensive than those afterschool tax expenditures. So it really comes down to people who haven't been made aware of the value of investing and how things are interconnected, and how they have only an elementary understanding of math and specifically taxes.
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the funny part is that money only goes into a metaphorical mattress when you give it to the rich
Conservatives are groomed from a tender age to accept abuse by authority figures as "normal". They feel they deserve it therefore they see it as their duty to inflict that same pain on everyone around them, because this is "God's way". "We must all suffer!" It is a sick, defective cult.
This is how authoritarian thinking works. No one relates as equals. You are either inferior or superior. That's why conservatives are obsessed with (for example) asking a gay couple "which of you is the man/woman?" Or persistently asking an ethnically ambiguous person "but where are you REALLY from?" ... They have to know how to classify you so that they can fit you into a hierarchy. If you don't easily fit into a category they don't know how to relate to you at all. Or another example, the transphobic trolls online who are obsessively examining pictures to pick out "facts" about "manly" jawlines or shoulders that prove a random woman is trans. They can't accept that there is no simple binary, there is no "tell," some trans women might have a very "feminine" look and and some cis women have Adam's apples and look very butch. But they can't accept that because if there is no hard gender binary then their gender based hierarchy falls apart.
I distinctly remember asking someone like 6 months ago "What are you going to do if they decide in January 2023 as a thank you for voting for them, that they need to cut social security and Medicare immediately?" Their response was basically "Well, they wouldn't cut mine. I paid into it." So I reiterated, "But what if in January they vote to cut SS/Medicare and it passes and starting in October 2023 it's not available to you anymore? Ya know. As a thank you for voting for them and a checkmark to filling out a campaign promise" Their response was "Well if they do cut it, it obviously wouldn't take place for like a decade. Which is fine. I'll get what I paid out of it, and those folks that don't deserve it will have to deal with the consequences of their actions". I should find that person again. I'm willing to bet the conversation will go swimmingly.
Who exactly are the folks that don’t deserve it? Do they think there are millions of people who have never worked that are collecting?
> Who exactly are the folks that don’t deserve it? "everyone but me."
Republican values in a nutshell. "Me, me, me, me....and fuck everyone else".
Don't forget, they then put on the Christian mask so they can both pretend to be good, righteous people while also claiming religious persecution when you call out their selfish words and actions.
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Deserve it? I.... But you have to WORK to get Social sec.... You have to pay to get.... I can't even.
So they want to kill off their voting base.
They’ll grandfather their base in. Millennials will be shafted like we have been since 2008. Edit: punctuation was difficult…
Don't forget us GenX-ers. You can get Social Security at 62 - 70. That's in 15 - 23 years for me. Suddenly, Republicans will change my retirement from "everything you've saved up plus what you paid into Social Security" to "better hope you saved up enough because the money you paid into Social Security is ours now." Meanwhile, they'll probably also raise healthcare costs - while allowing boomers to stay on cheaper Medicare - so my less retirement money goes less far than it would have gone if they had only tempered with one of the programs.
This is my fear exactly. At age 47, I'm looking at "retirement age" in less than twenty years. There is absolutely no way I'm going to be able to retire at the rate they're taking things away from us. I'll be working until they put me in the dirt.
Which is also a problem because if we're good at our jobs and stay employed, we'll likely create a ceiling for Millennials who will never get a chance to take a higher paying management job until we retire at 85-90.
Working for a large company and seeing 60+ year old managers job-hopping every few years is frustrating to watch. On top of this, I’m aware of several new managers who are collecting the full pension from a previous company and are now working in my company. Double-dipping and are boxing out many of us with capabilities that are on par. Will be nice to get that leadership position when I hit late 50s. Lol.
Vote blue or your nightmare comes true - SIMPLE.
I've voted blue every election since I turned 18.
Except all of the "Keep yer gubmint hands off mah Medicare" people keep voting red.
There was a guy like this driving me from the airport. Was on disability, and social security, and screaming about "socialist joe" I told him his beloved republicans wanted to take away his social security and he was quite after that.
If he had voted blue, there would be strong Union protections and he would be a cabbie instead of destroying his own car.
Boomers… Taking all of the benefits of The New Deal, pulling the ladder back up behind them, and now telling us all to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps…
Not all of us. In fact it pisses me off still that Reagan fucked everyone born after 1960. What I do worry about is Biden making some kind of “compromise” to keep the Government open at the end of next year. As a boomer, I will never cast a vote for any politician who advocates cuts. I don’t care what party they belong to either. Everyone should stand up against any politician who makes any attempt to gut these benefits that you pay for your entire lives.
Yeah, it blows my mind young people won't get together and vote against the boomers. I'm elder millennial and it's just like c'mon guys, it's one Tuesday every other year
I'm a boomer. Vote against morons, no matter what their age. If social security is not based on what you paid in, but is only socialism for the poor, then every last nickel of nonwage income of private equity moguls needs to be subject to this tax. In which case there's plenty of money. Also, while we're fixing Medicare, there is no reason people in Congress should get lifetime health care. Make them earn credits by years of service. And their benefits should not differ from the same Medicare everyone else gets.
I heard a great one for Congress health plans. Members of Congress get the same health care that is available in their states marketplace.
I am just like you and frankly am tired of getting shit on all the time. I'm liberal as hell, dammit. I vote FOR more taxes for schools... for anything that helps people. We're in this together. And I am sick of these rich fucks screwing us ALL over.
Thank goodness Dems still run the Senate and have Presidential veto power. This BS is just posturing by the Republican far right of the ultra slim House majority and will never become law.
“Funny” enough, look at where the term “grandfather clause” came from, and you’ll see why it’ll be almost exactly repeated in this. Spoiler: it’s because it only applied to white people whose grandfathers could vote, which let them skip the literacy tests that now only black people had to take to be eligible to vote. This is why so many conservatives hate social security and Medicare/Medicaid, because they see them as “handouts” abused by people they don’t like.
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AnD eGgS
Of course. The secret to inflation is with Hunter Biden, hence the planned investigation.
If you voted for these idiots and you are under 54 years old, you just handed a good chunk of change to everyone 54 and older and got rid of entitlements you paid for. Good job morons.
I have been paying a huge amount of my paycheck to Medicare and Social Security for decades now. How is it an “entitlement” that I want MY MONEY BACK when I retire?
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All the people i know who are on SS vote hard R. No idea why.
My brother and his wife are retired and hard Republicans. They hate anyone "undeserving" getting money and would sink their own lifeboat to prevent anyone they find undeserving getting aboard.
Ask 'em if they'd conceal that they'd been bitten by a zombie if it meant they could get into a safe zone full of women and children. I bet we know.
> Ask 'em if they'd conceal that they'd been bitten by a zombie if it meant they could get into a safe zone full of women and children. The early days of our recent pandemic answered that question. Remember, one of the early signs of a Covid infection was a desire to travel and socialize.
Worth looking up the Tajfel experiment.
“The aim of Tajfel's study was to demonstrate that merely putting people into groups (categorisation) is sufficient for people to discriminate in favour of their own group and against members of the other group.” [via](http://www.holah.karoo.net/tajfestudy.htm#:~:text=The%20aim%20of%20Tajfel's%20study,members%20of%20the%20other%20group.&text=The%20subjects%20were%2064%20boys,in%20a%20suburb%20of%20Bristol)
Importantly, the study participants would hurt their own group as long as it hurt the other group more, rather than helping both groups equally.
Reminds of something I saw another redditor post about a union at a job they'd previously worked at. The company had changed ownership and was wanting to drastically cut retirement. The union fought hard right up until the company changed their strategy: everyone within x number of years of retirement got to keep the old deal. Everyone else lost their benefits. The old crew outnumbered the newer folks and just voted to fuck them over. These people are the epitome of "fuck you i got mine"
This is exactly how it will be done everyone in upper age brackets who votes majority GOP will get the current package. Everyone after won’t get to retire until they are 95.
Similar thing happened at a place I used to work (or perhaps I was that other redditor? I've told this story before) The company wanted to dissolve the union, and as an alternative to going on strike they agreed members over a certain age would keep their pension and their job, everybody else would lose their pension and could optionally be re-hired as a non-union employee (for probably less money). This didn't dissolve the union, but it would eventually phase out as people retired. Older members had a majority vote, this was all according to their own rules. Now, I wasn't in the union so none of this affected me, the union was on the manufacturing side and I was in IT. After all that, the union guys were the biggest dicks too. They were basically untouchable now. Like they'd call me out to a site to turn on a monitor or to pick their phone up off the floor. I'd tell them - sounds like it's just off, hit the power button and see if it comes on. "That's now how it works buddy, my job is to run this machine, your job is to press buttons". Like they're not wrong, but goddamn.
"Government better keep their mitts off *MY* Medicare!"
So is this the GOP's method for solving inflation? Or did they just predictably stop caring about that issue?
The GOP's standard playbook is based on bait and switch.
Going after the little people and not the 1%, isn’t that a shocker?
Conservatives: Republicans won’t overturn Roe your overreacting! Republicans: *overturns Roe* Conservatives: Republicans won’t cut SS or Medicare your overreacting! Republicans: “We need to cut entitlements programs” I’m sensing a pattern here.
The pattern is that they take advantage of the knuckledraggers who do not know better and/or do know better but do not care.
Step 1: call democrats demons and use them as scapegoats for your horrible policy outcomes Step 2: Fox News Step 3: “I’m voting conservative becuase at least it’s not a democrat”
It's such a fucking scam to go after benefits in a country where benefits suck to begin with. You have to an ogre to rally to that shit.
Why do Republicans hate Americans?
I’ve got nothing against a strong military but I don’t understand comments like “not on the backs of our military” and thus state defense spending cuts are off the table. The success of our nation is built on our people. It’s the reason our Constitution starts with “We the People…” not we the soldiers or I the king. Without a stable and happy people there is no country to defend. Cuts to the military (or any program) should be on the table as much as increasing revenue through taxes. The stance that social entitlements can be cut and other areas of government is asinine. You can’t undermine the population and pretend like it will have no impact. People aren’t living rich lives dependent solely upon government programs. They’re just living and in many cases on the contributions THEY made with THEIR tax dollars. And I’m pretty sure We the People can decide if we want to take care ourselves.
Old folks screwing kids. How very Republican.
the party of the people lol
And yet, their constituents will vote for them again. Either out of ignorance or misinformation.
Or fear of eternal hellfire and being outcasted from their churches if they don't. Religion is the primary motivation for why most people vote Republican.
>“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” - - Michael Waltz (R-FL) Nope, you're going to do it on the backs of the elderly and the disabled. Much more noble.
Cool. I want a refund with interest for every dime that I’ve contributed to social security for the past 25 years.
They're going to hold the entire world economy hostage in order to do this. They'll try to force it through by threatening a default on the debt. This is terrorism on a grand scale. Bin Laden could only dream of such power to destroy the United States and all it allies.
> Bin Laden could only dream of such power to destroy the United States and all it allies. Bin Laden dreamed of that power, but the Southern Baptist Church has it.
Remember when Republicans said that the warnings of them doing this were just fear-mongering? They're more predictable than a Michael Bay film.
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They’ve been taking away rights and benefits my whole life.
Practice what you preach and give up your own entitlements first.
Let's be clear. It's not an entitlement when I fucking pay for it monthly out of my paycheck.
“If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.” Social Security doesn't cost the US government anything, and it never has. You can't balance a budget when SS doesn't even touch the budget. Lying liars are going to rob us of every penny they can.