For Democrats (and Those Interested in the Democratic Party)

[Guest]

I just had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Sumter County Democrats today, at the Canal St. Rec center. What a great bunch of people, and a really great format. There was a half hour social before the meeting, then a nice DVD was shown, then half hour open discussion about various topics pertinent including the upcoming election and ecology related stuff. If you haven't been, I'd recommend it.

[Guest]

Lil, if you can't tell, I'm not a Republican by any stretch of anyone's imagination, but why should this post be limited to Democrats? Does this mean that an independent couldn't or shouldn't attend? How about a Republican who is truly interested in getting information about the Democrats' viewpoints from the horse's mouth so to speak?

Sorry, I just hate to see anything limited to a select group unless for a very good reason.

[Guest]

How's that?

[Guest]

;D

[Guest]

I went to one meeting and really enjoyed it, but I haven't had the chance to get back. When's the next meeting Dancer??? ???

[Guest]

This is their website: http://users.thevillages.net/democrats/DEC/
It lists a lot of their activities and priorities, and shows meeting dates. I notice April's meeting is not on there yet, but I believe they meet the 4th Saturday of the month at Canal Street, 9:30 am. Hope to see you there. I was told there are about 300 members, but generally 60-80 attend each meeting. There were around a dozen newcomers at this particular meeting. I found the people to be a really friendly bunch, and of course we're all united in a common cause as far as the upcoming elections go. It struck me as the type of club, where if you wanted to volunteer to work on various activities you could, or if you just wanted to utilize the meetings to network with other people of similiar political sensibilities, that is fine also.

[Guest]

Thanks Lil Dancer, hope to meet you soon. :bigthumbsup:

[Guest]

Ditto Chels :agree:

[Guest]

I wish we could do away with political parties with everyone being independent...voting for the best candidate and not the party!

[Guest]

What ever happened to the wording of the founding fathers like, "...We the people..." or how about "...one nation indivisible..."?

What is happening to our beloved UNITED States of America is shameful!!!!

BTK ???

[Guest]

Brightspot, :agree: I wish we could all just be Americans, voting for the presidential candidate that would best serve America.






I wish we could do away with political parties with everyone being independent...voting for the best candidate and not the party!

[Guest]

Hi, I agree with what Bright said and Sam.

HB

[Guest]

I wish we could do away with political parties with everyone being independent...voting for the best candidate and not the party!


I can vote for that. Let's do away with parties, primaries, conventions, super delegates and the electoral college.

Back to my previous (I thought brilliant) idea. Print the ballot on the back of the economic stimulus rebate checks that we should be receiving soon. List all of the known candidates, including the ones who have dropped out, and include space for write-ins. Then when you cash your check you can vote. The one with the most votes, becomes President, and second highest becomes VP.

We will be spared the rest of the mud-slinging and the politicking for the next few months. We can tell the super delegates not to bother packing and we repeat process every 4 years.

[Guest]

A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.


Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we've
seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) the cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value
evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by
$1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.


America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

[Guest]

Sorry renos, but this has been a building for the last 8 years with this adminstration, not just the vote in 2006.

[Guest]

From what I've read, he majority of the items Renos cited are a result of the burst of the housing bubble, which was related to the credit crisis. " Big banks bought up a lot of sub-prime mortgages, then bundled them into portfolios that could be sold downstream as reliably income-producing assets. Thus mortgage debt was “securitized,” made into something hedge funds and private equity firms, and even mutual funds, could buy into as an investment, not as a side bet. When the housing market flattened out, that is, when prices and construction began to fall and when foreclosure rates began to rise —even with interest rates relatively steady—this mortgage debt suddenly looked dubious. " The article I read asks "why did the investment in sub-prime mortgages take place, with such ill effects on the housing market??" The answer is, Bush's tax cuts. http://hnn.us/articles/41985.html

Of course, once the housing bubble burst, all the associated industries came down with it which resulted in the rise of unemployment. When people aren't fixing up homes and selling them, the people that put in granite countertops, do landscaping, put in new wood floors, and all the other myriad of home building trades lose their jobs. Stores that sell the home building products sell less; truckers are moving less goods. Its a domino effect. Contributing to all this was the rise in oil prices. In the case of oil there are several reasons for higher prices, including the high level of demand from Asia, the geopolitical risks of dependence on Iran and the physical loss of production in Iraq.

This all happened over the course of years. To try to blame it on a 2006 Democratic congress is ludicrous. The big question, is how are we going to get the country out of this mess? What we should be discussing are the plans McCain, Clinton and Obama are proposing.

[Guest]

Lil Dancer :agree:

[Guest]

Good post Lil Dancer. :agree:

[Guest]

...

This all happened over the course of years. To try to blame it on a 2006 Democratic congress is ludicrous. The big question, is how are we going to get the country out of this mess? What we should be discussing are the plans McCain, Clinton and Obama are proposing.


Agreed! So far the only comments to come out of any are, "I'm better than the other person because the other person is [pick one or more) too far left, too far right, too old, too young, etc.]. They are all in sound-bite world and betting that the American voter has a very short attention span and doesn't want to be bothered with details.

Many people laughed at Ross Perot's use of flip charts and graphs to systematically describe cause-and-effect followed by engineered solutions versus emotional ones. He still was the only one who thought the American voter actually cared about the substance of an issue and had the intellectual capacity to follow a thought, and found out that population was in the minority.

American politics is almost like professional wrestling - you need a hero and a villain, lots of lights and music, an announcer who can whip up the crowd, a little blood, reactive TV coverage, and next week you do it again (always reversing who's the hero and villain). That act has worked for decades in professional wrestling, week-after-week with no change in this superhyped morality play. Since the Kennedy-Nixon campaign, it's been the norm in the Presidential election as well.

All of the candidates say they have plans, but I have yet to see one handed out. Why should they, when sound bites and accusations work well. Oh well, - - - are you ready to rumble???

[Guest]

I didn't laugh at Ross Perot. I voted for him. :bigthumbsup:

[Guest]

Sorry renos, but this has been a building for the last 8 years with this adminstration, not just the vote in 2006.*

1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) the cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value
evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by
$1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
These things go well beyond eight years.* They transcend any political party and any presidential term.* These things are a result of the our nation's greed and resultant speculative tendencies, the "quick buck" mentality and* excessive self-gratification.* They are a consequence of "free trade at any price" and open borders that sold off the soul of our nation's economic engine.* We started with an "agrarian economy", blossomed into a "manufacturing economy", and now have slouched into an "information economy."* How much economic growth can an "information economy" truly sustain?* I think we were sold a bill of goods on this concept.* To think we can maintain prosperity without a robust manufacturing economy, which we have almost totally outsourced, is ludicrous.* Both parties are responsible.

Soon we will be headed into a food price-driven inflationary spiral because our crops have been diverted to fuel to help overcome our oil dependency. This problem has been brewing for decades due to the inertia of the automobile and oil industries, and the politicians who are controlled by those interests. There is a point when we need to recognize that the wishes of the marketplace (lust for gas powered/guzzling vehicles) need to give way to the greater national interest of conversion to alternative energy consuming technologies.

Sorry I butted into this "Democratic thread", but that's my take on it.

[Guest]

Agreed! So far the only comments to come out of any are, "I'm better than the other person because the other person is [pick one or more) too far left, too far right, too old, too young, etc.]. They are all in sound-bite world and betting that the American voter has a very short attention span and doesn't want to be bothered with details.
All of the candidates say they have plans, but I have yet to see one handed out. Why should they, when sound bites and accusations work well. Oh well, - - - are you ready to rumble???

I agree. Its hard to find specfics. I did read recently, however, that McCain is in favor of extending Bush's tax cuts. I thought thecuts did more harm than good, and personally don't see this as a plus.

[Guest]

Lil dancer,
I totally agree. :agree: :agree: :agree:
It is so nice to have you take the time to speak the truth. I don't think this country can take 4 more years of this.
I hope at election time people will think and not just just listen to party spin or shock jocks or campaign ads. People need to vote with real knowledge.