Monday, July 4, 2011

On Bernie Sanders

Well, I guess that it did take SOME courage to be on the losing side of that 518-1 vote. I DO have to give him credit for that. But, as far as the country being "better off" if only it were under Mr. Sanders's seemingly pure brand of socialism, I vociferously disagree with that (can you folks say Greece on frigging steroids?). I mean, yes, we need to have a strong government (we also need to pay for it - something that the Republicans apparently HAVEN'T learned). But to have the ENTIRE ECONOMY (or certainly large chunks of it anyway) so centrally run out of Washington D.C., that, I'm afraid to say, would be an abject disaster..........................................................................................................I mean, think about it here. Do you really want the same idiots who run the Pentagon, Amtrak, the post office, the authors of that idiotic cash for clunkers idea/ethanol subsidies, an entity that set up a bunch of entitlement programs that are presently running dozens of trillions of dollars in unfunded liability, etc. to take over the entire economy? Me - I personally would be a little bit hesitant about it.

30 comments:

Dervish Sanders said...

Bernie Sanders is an American hero. I worship the ground he walks on. I'd vote for him as dictator.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

You get scarier and scarier, dude. A politician as a hero?

Les Carpenter said...

Will - I'm with you... wd is not only getting scarier my the day, so are a whole bunch of other pol worshiping progressives.

That goes for some of the far out righties as well.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Fair enough, Les, the Bachmann-Sanders axis of extremism we should probably call it call it.

Jerry Critter said...

How's the current crop of leaders working out for you?

dmarks said...

Bernie Sanders is a hero of the ruling class, but not the ruled.

He's a man for that segment of the population that gets a warm and fuzzy feeling when they hear "We're from the government, and we're here to help you". The folks who DON'T want to question authority. The folks who believe that absolute power does not corrupt absolutely.

Commander Zaius said...

Seriously, too hungover to care. I'd french kiss Bernie, or anyone else who could rid me of my headache right now.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Double b!! You didn't mix brewskis and margaritas again, did you? Youza!!

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Let me backtrack on Mr. Sanders for a minute here. I think that there absolutely IS a place for somebody like that in our politics (the American Eagle needs BOTH of its wings to fly). I'm just doubting whether 534 more just like him would be a constructive thing or not. I personally would vote no.

Rusty Shackelford said...

Interesting fact,yes WD a fact,something which you seem unfamilar with.
The White House Council of Economic Advisors issued a report saying the stimulus package "added or saved" just under 2.4 million jobs,either private or public.At a cost of 666 billion dollars that amounts to $278,000 per job.
Now,there's the results of a government run by the dems.Way to go kids.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

The stimulus package was idiotically constructed, Russ. Even the President's most ardent supporters would probably admit to that (under sodium pentathol, of course).

Dervish Sanders said...

534 more Congresspersons just like Bernie Sanders = Heaven

Rusty Shackelford said...

Who is Bernie Sanders? Is he one of the MSNBC hosts? What time does his show come on?

Hey.what ever happened to that Olbermann fellow?

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

He substitutes when Al Sharpton or Chris Hayes is unavailable.

dmarks said...

WD said "534 more Congresspersons just like Bernie Sanders = Heaven"

A lot more of us would be in Heaven now if there were more Sanders voting to let the terrorists have their way and to keep lauching more and more 9/11's with no consequences.

That is exactly what Sanders was voting for. Thankfully every single other Congressman and Congresswoman gave a lot more thought to their vote than Sanders.

-------------

Rusty asked: "Who is Bernie Sanders?"

He's a representative who consistely votes to take more and more power away from the people and concentrate it in the hands of those who rule us.

As for Olbermann, he fell of a map and ended up on a failed cable TV network.

Rusty Shackelford said...

I kind of know who Sanders is dmarks.He's the self avowed blowhard socialist...is'nt he?

As for Olbermann....I wonder what Al Gore's thinking about that hire right about now?

Dervish Sanders said...

Rusty: The White House Council of Economic Advisors issued a report saying the stimulus package "added or saved" just under 2.4 million jobs, either private or public.

You're going to believe a White House organization Rusty? Rick Santorum says the stimulus created 240 million jobs... Given that the entire American civilian labor force is about 153 million people... it appears as though the stimulus was successful far and beyond all expectations.

Rusty: At a cost of 666 billion dollars that amounts to $278,000 per job.

Calvin Woodward of the AP says "[the] calculations ignore the value of the work produced. Any cost-per-job figure pays not just for the worker, but for material, supplies and that worker's output... 2nd, critics are counting the total cost of contracts that will fuel work for months or years and dividing that by the number of jobs produced only to date".

In other words... nice try Rusty, but your stat is total bullshit.

dmarks said...

I know of private sector jobs lost in my area, as lazy union thugs did a lousy job working on a road (took forever), blocking the driveways of the businesses.

Rusty Shackelford said...

WD,please just raise your hand and admit the stimulus package was an abject failure.You cant make custard out of mustard sport.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Russ, I hate to break it to you and wd, but there is something in between rousing success and abject failure. The way that I see it here, any time that you throw 862 billion dollars into the mix, it's going to have some effect. The question here is, could the stimulus package have been put together to have a more significant effect? And, yes, the answer to that question I think is clearly yes.

Dervish Sanders said...

Rusty: [Sanders is] the self avowed blowhard socialist... As for Olbermann... I wonder what Al Gore's thinking about that hire right about now?

Bernie Sanders is a self-avowed Democratic Socialist. He is NOT a self-avowed blowhard.

I imagine Al Gore is thinking hiring Keith Olbermann was an extremely good idea, and I also imagine MSNBC might be regretting their decision. I'd never watched Current TV before -- now I watch it every night.

I've heard that they are going to be adding more news programs (and that Keith Olbermann will be in charge of the hiring). I'm really excited and can't wait to see what they come up with.

Also, in regards to Will's comment about the American eagle needing both wings to fly. Given your contempt for Progressives... I don't quite buy it. Anyway, how can an eagle with one 4-foot wing and one 2-inch wing fly?

Dervish Sanders said...

Will: The question here is, could the stimulus package have been put together to have a more significant effect?

I agree. The Republicans effed it up big time. BTW, the stimulus package did not "throw 862 billion dollars into the mix" because a large portion of the package was tax cuts (which really aren't that simulative).

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

wd, have I not shown a sufficient enough disdain for people like Sean Hannity and Michele Bachmann? I'll try to do better, O.K.? And I hate to do this to you, but I actually agree with you on the tax cut component of the stimulus. It DIDN'T provide much stimulus and it instead blew a big hole in the deficit. I don't think that you can blame the Republicans, though. I think that Mr. Obama threw that in there as an attempt to get more Republican support. It didn't work, did it (Specter, Snow, and Collins the only Rs on board)?

Rusty Shackelford said...

"If the stimulus package is passed unemployment will not be higher then 8%."

Rusty Shackelford said...

"I will close Gitmo."

Rusty Shackelford said...

"I will bring the troops home."

Rusty Shackelford said...

Shit...even Rusty could write the Republican AD's for 2012,fish in a barrel.

In 2008 Obie was just the former community organizer and junior Senator without a past.In 2012 he will be forced to run on his record and all the flowery hope and change B.S. wont mean a thing.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

In a normal environment, I would probably agree with you, Russ. But with the Republicans currently in such disarray (and even unpopular in certain states like Florida or Ohio) and the huge dissatisfaction with the Republican field, I would have to give Mr. "Obie" (why do you have to call him that, Russ - he is the President, after all?) at least a 50-50 chance next year.......Me - I'd still like to see Bloomberg get in.

dmarks said...

Will: There were and are those whose hatred for a President transcends respect for the office. Like those who call the previous president "Dubya", "Jr" (which is kind of funny, since Bush is not a Jr and Gore is) and "Shrub".

And now those who call Pres. Obama "Obie" and lots of other names, including some racist-tinged ones ("Obammy' and "the man-child").

I think this playground-taunt level of discourse drags things down.

Dervish Sanders said...

dmarks: There were and are those whose hatred for a President transcends respect for the office.

George bush was a criminal president, yet I'm still expected to have respect because he was able to steal the office? I won't, I can't, and I refuse. The guy deserves the same justiced he delivered to death row inmates when he was governor of Texas. Like Rusty said in another thread, I think we should "light him up".