Racketboy Political Discussion Thread

[J T]

I'm voting Obama. That probably doesn't surprise a lot of you.

I just can't get behind these old "trickle down economic" plans like what Romney/Ryan are proposing. I also just don't trust Romney or Ryan. They are rich people with rich people problems and are out of touch with the rest of America.

Obama's not perfect, but it's also hard to entirely put the blame on him when so many of his plans and ideas are always being trashed by a Republican congress. It's harder to create than it is to destroy.

That being said, the two were remarkably similar on many of their positions in the debate. They both talked gruff and threw jabs at each other, so it looked like an argument, but it was mostly just loud agreement (at least in the general ways one can talk about issues in a debate like this. I know they disagree on specifics).

We put all of our "Hope" in Obama when he was elected, and so he has struggled to meet those high expectations he set for himself ever since and he has failed on numerous occassions (again, often due to Republican meddling, but sometimes due to his own shortcomings). Nevertheless, Obama actually has done a lot while in office. I recommend browsing through the PolitiFact website, which has some great features for tracking which promises the president delivers on and for fact-checking the points that are made in the presidential debate (which had a lot of inaccurate info and lies on both sides).

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... -promises/

[Luke]

I'm voting Obama. That probably doesn't surprise a lot of you. ...http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... -promises/

http://votesmart.org/ is a terrific tool as well to show what can actually happen.

I have two friends with cancer who HATE Romney and praise Obamacare. Obama can do no wrong in their eyes and Romney is the devil. I hate it when it's black or white.

I'm about to type something that is stupid, but you guys should know by now I am not good at analogies. Being forced to purchase health insurance is no different from prohibition or making abortions illegal. Laws on my body that don't affect others is tyrannical.

Don't like either of the guys, but I'm leaning towards the seasoned and successful businessman rather towards the popular academic. The real issues are tertiary to entertaining the American Public and landing Zingers during debates.

Sincerely,

Stick in the mud

[prfsnl_gmr]

Think the writing is on the wall and I could never see Obama losing this election. Popular, shmopular, the democratic heavy electoral college will keep our current commander in chief.

The electoral college is - perhaps, accidentally - a brilliant way to elect a president. Here is one article espousing its virtues:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-elec ... nt-2012-10

and another explaining its mathematical justification:

http://discovermagazine.com/2004/sep/ma ... st-tyranny

Enjoy!

[Luke]

The electoral college is - perhaps, accidentally - a brilliant way to elect a president. Here is one article espousing its virtues:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-elec ... nt-2012-10

and another explaining its mathematical justification:

http://discovermagazine.com/2004/sep/ma ... st-tyranny

Enjoy!

Yup. For some reason people rely on "Every vote counts". It does, if the electoral college agrees.

Not bashing it, it's a solid system. But if Romney wins I'll eat crow.

[dsheinem]

Being forced to purchase health insurance is no different from prohibition or making abortions illegal. Laws on my body that don't affect others is tyrannical.

The argument, though, is that not creating mandatory healthcare purchasing has resulted in much higher costs to taxpayers to cover those who don't have coverage. This was at least part of the reason that the The Supreme Court ruled it was akin to a tax...

[prfsnl_gmr]

Not bashing it, it's a solid system. But if Romney wins I'll eat crow.

I also think that the electoral college is going to tilt toward Obama...but it will be interesting to see the reaction if Romney wins the popular vote and Obama wins the electoral college.

In any event, check out the Discover article. It makes a very solid argument as to how the electoral college actually empowers individual voters. It also has some great baseball analogies that transform it into a great read. I highly recommend it, and I was very happy that I could track it down. (It is a reprint of an article that first appeared in 1996...)

The argument, though, is that not creating mandatory healthcare purchasing has resulted in much higher costs to taxpayers to cover those who don't have coverage. This was at least part of the reason that the The Supreme Court ruled it was akin to a tax...

Any serious constitutional scholar (or run-of-the-mill lawyer, for that matter) also recognized that the Affordable Care Act was well within the Congress's commerce power. That fact, however, did not prevent the more activist members of our current Supreme Court from ignoring precedent and further politicizing the issues surrounding the law.

[Luke]

Not creating mandatory healthcare has(will) resulted(result) in higher costs to taxpayers to cover those who aren't insured.

I hate editing posts when it is not in jest, but does that sum it up?

[J T]

One thing you should know about Obama, is that the man can dance.

[StuntDouble]

I don't like the way our country is headed right now under Obama, and I'm not sure I'd like it under Romney either. I'll probably end up flipping a coin the day of.

[MrPopo]

I don't like the way our country is headed right now under Obama, and I'm not sure I'd like it under Romney either. I'll probably end up flipping a coin the day of.

Or you could... not vote.