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05-05-2008, 01:32 PM
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#16 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ohio Gender: Male
Threads: 25
Posts: 141
| Left out of the gas tax discussion are all the wasteful earmarks Congress (and the President) put through using this tax revenue slush fund. Quote:
Department of Transportation (DOT) earmarks have increased in number by 1,150 percent in 10 years (1996 – 2005), with the value of earmarks in the same timeframe jumping 314 percent.
• Ninety-nine percent of earmarks (7,724 out of 7,760) were not subject to the transportation agencies’ review and selection processes or bypassed the states’ normal planning and programming processes.
• Earmarks may not be the most effective or efficient use of funds. The IG report identifies five ways in which earmarks impact programs in the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Federal Aviation Administration, as follows (see pages 11 – 14 of the full report):
o Earmarks can reduce funding for the states’ core transportation programs.
o Earmarks do not always coincide with DOT strategic research goals.
o Many low priority, earmarked projects are being funded over higher priority, non-earmarked projects.
o Earmarks provide funds for projects that would otherwise be ineligible.
o Earmarks can disrupt the agency’s ability to fund programs as designated when authorized funding amounts are exceeded by “overearmarking.”
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05-05-2008, 01:39 PM
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#17 | | Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Threads: 30
Posts: 871
| Post #14 = More unsubstantiated speculative Nonsense! | |
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05-05-2008, 01:44 PM
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#18 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA
Threads: 124
Posts: 5,998
| Just to make clear what I'm talking about in terms of racial bloc voting, let's take an example state, perhaps one like North Carolina that has 40% black voters and 60% white voters in Democratic primary.
The black candidate gets 90% of the black vote:
.40 x .90 = 36%
So, he starts at 36% of the Democratic primary vote.
Now, he gets a pathetic 25% of the white vote:
.60 x .25 = 15%
Add the 15% to the 36% from the black vote and you have a 51% winning margin for the nomination.
But, here's the grim general election math, when black voters are 20% of the electorate and white voters are 80%.
.20 x .90 = 18% (from black voters)
.80 x .25 = 20% (from white voters)
The Democratic nominee gets 38% of the vote in the same state against the Republican. There is an insurmountable disconnect between the Democratic Party nominating math and the general election winning math.
The Democrats are structurally configured to nominate losing candidates, unless they can figure out how to INCREASE their white vote in general election, not DECREASE it. Whatever Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry offered, didn't work for white centrist voters. To win elections, Democrats need to figure out a nominating process that identifies candidates with appeal to white centrist voters.
Now, here's the irony to end all ironies. As the black voting block gains more and more power over the Democratic Party (thru "white flight" to the Republicans), their chances of actully electing national and statewide Democratic leaders to push their agenda items decreases. For example, nominating Obama ensures a Republican win which ensures the one more Supreme Court justice necessary to drive a nail in the coffin of affirmative action.
Last edited by interesteddad : 05-05-2008 at 01:59 PM.
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05-05-2008, 01:45 PM
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#19 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Princeton, NJ '11 Gender: Male
Threads: 15
Posts: 869
| 1sokkermom: Do you ever contribute anything meaningful to discussions like this? Maybe a counterargument, showing Obama's overall viability, or something?
Just saying "nonsense!" doesn't make it so.
(On the other hand, idad isn't exactly an unbiased political visionary either...) | |
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05-05-2008, 01:49 PM
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#20 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA
Threads: 124
Posts: 5,998
| I've never claimed to be unbiased.
Come to think of it, what fun would it be to be "unbiased" on an internet chat forum. That would be boring as heck.
"Well, I don't know. I like all the candidates equally well. They are all swell. I think it really matters which way we vote, since they are all so gosh darn good, doncha think?"
Yaaaaawwwwn. | |
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05-05-2008, 01:53 PM
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#21 | | Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Threads: 30
Posts: 871
| 1of42,
I have contributed a lot of articles and news reports that validate my claims. You may not have read or seen them, or automatically denounced them as biased simply because they support my position.
For example, CBS came out with poll results today that contradicts the speculation offered by I'dad. It states, "On one key measure, Obama has seen a big reversal since his denunciation of Wright’s remarks on Tuesday. He now leads presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in the hypothetical fall contest by eleven points, 51 percent to 40 percent. That compares to a tied match-up in a CBS News/New York Times poll that was released last Wednesday. "
Current polls may not be accurate. However, they probably present a more accurate prediction than projections based on totally unrelated historical matchups.
One can not speculate on race and gender based on past history. The general Presidential election has never seen a matchup between a female democrat vs. a white male republican; or never a matchup between a black male democrat and a white male republican.
Last edited by 1sokkermom : 05-05-2008 at 02:11 PM.
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05-05-2008, 03:55 PM
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#22 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007
Threads: 10
Posts: 942
| "Obama's rejection by rank n' file white voters has devastating implications for the future of the Democratic Party."
This is where the nonsense part comes in. The mere fact that a bunch of white voters preferred Hillary doesn't mean that they've "rejected" Obama, any more than all those Edwards and Richardson voters "rejected" either of them. Of course, maybe you're right, and enough people will vote for McCain just because he's white, even though Obama is much closer to them on the issues. If that happens, well, the country will deserve what it gets, just like it deserved the debacle of the last four years. | |
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05-05-2008, 04:07 PM
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#23 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA
Threads: 124
Posts: 5,998
| Quote: |
Of course, maybe you're right, and enough people will vote for McCain just because he's white, even though Obama is much closer to them on the issues.
| White Democratic party voters don't like being called racist, as the Obama campaign and its surrogates did in an effort to explain humiliating losses in NH, OH, and PENN.
That's the catch-22 of the Democratic Party. A black candidate can't lose the nomination as long as he mobilizes the base with charges of racism, even better if he uses Malcolm X language ("bamboozle", "hoodwinked", etc.). But it is precisely that appeal to racial division that sends white voters scurrying.
And here's the kicker. John McCain is closer to centrist Democrats on the issues that the people Obama has surrounded himself with: Farakhan, Wright, Ayers, Kerry, Kennedy, Sharpton, Clyburn, etc. | |
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05-05-2008, 04:18 PM
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#24 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA
Threads: 124
Posts: 5,998
| Quote: |
If that happens, well, the country will deserve what it gets, just like it deserved the debacle of the last four years.
| Typical Democratic Party elitist response: blame the voters for being "too stupid" to buy what you are selling. Here's an idea for the Dems: figure out what all those "stupid people" you look down your noses at want to buy. | |
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05-05-2008, 04:38 PM
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#25 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA
Threads: 124
Posts: 5,998
| Hot off the presses. Final S-USA poll of NC: SurveyUSA Election Poll #13844 Black Voters (32% of the electorate)
Clinton 12%
Obama 85% White Voters (64% of the electorate)
Clinton 62%
Obama 32%
------------------- Conservative Voters (18% of the electorate)
Clinton 49%
Obama 40% Moderate Voters (40% of the electorate)
Clinton 52%
Obama 44% Liberal Voters (19% of the electorate)
Clinton 41%
Obama 57%
---------------
It's all racial bloc voting. The demographic numbers make it impossible for Clinton (or any white candidate) to win the NC Democratic Primary against a African American opponent. Those same numbers make it impossible for a Democratic African American nominee to win the state in November.
It's hard to paint a more vivid polling picture of the coalition the Dems will likely take to the November election: African Americans & extreme liberals.
Last edited by interesteddad : 05-05-2008 at 04:43 PM.
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05-05-2008, 04:42 PM
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#26 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007
Threads: 10
Posts: 942
| "And here's the kicker. John McCain is closer to centrist Democrats on the issues that the people Obama has surrounded himself with: Farakhan, Wright, Ayers, Kerry, Kennedy, Sharpton, Clyburn, etc."
Does the truth mean nothing to you? How can you possibly expect anybody to take your statements seriously? Tell me, do you think it's good or bad that (according to you) a black candidate can't win in November? | |
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05-05-2008, 04:50 PM
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#27 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA
Threads: 124
Posts: 5,998
| Colin Powell could probably win in November.
You have to ask about specific African American candidates. | |
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05-05-2008, 05:00 PM
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#28 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007
Threads: 10
Posts: 942
| interesteddad, why all the love for Hillary? Didn't you already say that in November you were going to vote for McCain or not vote at all? It's very peculiar. | |
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05-05-2008, 05:13 PM
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#29 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: suburb of buffalo
Threads: 53
Posts: 2,557
| Some days I feel like King Solomon with that baby in front of him and the two mothers arguing, each saying, "it belongs to me!" The King announces he'll have the baby cut into two halves and give a half to each mother. One mom says, "Fine," and the other says, "No, give the baby to the other mom." King Solomon says he now knows who is the real mom -- the one who'd sooner give away the baby than see it killed.
If Hillary got the nomination, I'd imagine Obama speaking eloquently and stumping hard to encourage everybody to pull together to beat McCain in November. If Obama got the nomination, I think Hillary's support of him would be half-hearted, and she'd be back to business here in NY State as the good senator she always was.
Therefore, I (King Solomon) feel that Obama should have the nomination. He's the true mother and cares more about his party's future and less about his own personal stake in it. | |
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05-05-2008, 05:31 PM
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#30 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Threads: 3
Posts: 100
| I don't think Hillary should drop out. I have really been inspired by Hillary. She has been an agent of change since high school. She did not become an agent of change this year for the election. I have never given anything to any campaign until this year. She is not perfect, but she has been part of the system to bring real change to a lot of people.
She has campaigned very hard throughout this election, and she has really connected with a lot of people. The biased and sexist media has slammed her a lot during this election, but she still gets up every single day. She is tougher than the so called leaders of the party.
GO HILLARY, I AM WITH YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE CONVENTION
Last edited by tega : 05-05-2008 at 05:37 PM.
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