Capitol Hill Blue Forums Thread Like Summary - problems with government

I wonder why nobody has started a list of what is wrong with our government. Here are some samples.

Our congress, in its infinite wisdom has spent the last 10 years slowly but regularly cutting the costs of inspectors of meat, food, etc. to the point where we are in danger. It has lowered the budget of the IRS so much that it no longer has the people available so that they can't do its job.

Why is the ATF (Bureau for Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms) denied computers, by law, to keep track of guns?
https://www.cio.com/article/298864/...to-use-computers-to-track-gun-sales.html

Why can't the United States actually have laws when it comes to immegration?

Why is it more dangerous to eat chicken in the USA then Europe?

Why do we spend more on healthcare than many countries that have better healthcare that is socialized?

Have we (voters in the United States) seem to have cleverly legalized bribery
see opensecrets.com to see where they get their money
https://represent.us/action/5-facts-lobbyists/

Why don't we have mandatory voting so ALL voters have a say whether they want to or not!

Why has it been over 70 years since the United States has had a Hoover Commission (if you don't know about that below is a link):
https://www.cio.com/article/298864/...to-use-computers-to-track-gun-sales.html

<sigh> I am a firm believer that there are some things that should be socialized. Police, Firemen, libraries, healthcare, schools, etc. Some are and some should be. I am not, however, a socialist because that goes too far. Socialism is another political party which, when attempted has consistently failed do to their insistence in controlling ALL means of production. I know, its now become "democratic socialist" but the word is there and it just doesn't matter. It just doesn't work and the word "socialist" is politically a disaster and considered as such by most.

Its also true that you continue to insist on using the word and claiming you are one as well. We have beat this to death and I give up. You win and that's fine with me.

Have a nice day!

The Dems have a single problem - winning in November. Its that simple. Now, if they could at least start entertaining us with live shows of their hearings they just might get a chance to win. I don't think there is any other way for them. I think we all want to see the Republican evil ones in jail but, first, win in November. If they don't then they will be done and we will be well and truly screwed by a party with no stated goal, other than beating the Democrats! On the Dem side they have all sorts of goals, plans, etc. few of which have even a slight chance of actually happening.

If, however, if they actually get real control of the Congress perhaps things can actually get done!

I stress the public hearings because I don't really believe that they even have the capacity to agree on messages, speak with one voice, stop promising and start bragging, etc. Last night the news reminded us all about how Trump has operated. He made a little speech about how great he was to the children on Easter and everybody clapped. Biden has a LOT to brag about but he still doesn't seem to want to tell that to anybody and the Dems don't either.

And it won't be that long before Boomers are gone from the picture altogether. We've screwed up just about everything we've ever touched.

that's why they gotta be entertaining! The GOP understands this and try to entertain with everything. Trump demonstrated this to them. For Americans, NOTHING is more important than being entertained (I know, that is a bit wild but seems about right)

I think the Dems have another problem as well. I'm no longer convinced that their base (where everybody is in agreement) is big enough to count on. They REALLY need to sit down and at least try. I realize that the GOP is peopled with crazies but, when you get down to it everybody seems to have signed up. How does it go, something like: "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." For some strange reason they seem to doing the separate thing.

I find it all strange. Its what political parties are supposed to do. We have two parties and any third parties have always failed. If a party start to separate then its time for it to change. Each side, at any level, must be able to sit down and work out their differences. If any group can't do that then, if they are a majority then that's who they are and if they cannot agree with the majority then they should either adjust or leave. the GOP may be crazy but they are all into it together and it works for them. Our system is based on difference. The plan was, I think, that two groups can get together and do what everybody on each side can agree on. Its that way from town, city, state and federal. In addition every citizen has a right to vote in all elections. The beauty of the system is that extremes tend to be undone by everybody deciding instead of just one side doing all the deciding. We are now at a point where neither side is willing to give an inch and that will, eventually, destroy the nation. Right now Democracy is at risk do to the fact that our system is beginning to move to decisions being determined by a single side which means we seem to be headed to a single side making all decisions. The GOP seems to have figured this one out and want to be the side that decides. I am no longer really sure where the Dems stand or if they stand for anything at all. I know, they have a planks and its in writing but, in reality, they are NOT in agreement on a heck of a lot?

Interesting times............

I'll bite...who have they got waiting in the wings? Since AOC was elected what other millennials have joined her? Who are the up and comers? Where are the young Turks?

I suggest that young liberals are not flocking to elected office as a career move. Preferring safe corporate positions to life under a media microscope in a business that is notoriously dishonest.

And she sure as hell aint no Aretha Franklin!

I can't begin to stress how important I think oratory skills are. And why I think it disqualifies most(qualified) women from the job.

Ideologically, I would love to see AOC make a run for it. Since presidential races are often "beauty contests" she's certainly got the looks, the big brown eyes, and the enormous tits.

But have you ever heard her speak? It's like fingernails on a blackboard.

Perhaps she'll be the Speaker someday, or maybe even a Senator. But she will never be president.

The numbers around abortion are a lot more complex than that, because they all depend on the questions. About 70% of Americans. support the exceptions, conditions, and time limits we have had for decades. Including about 56% of Catholics!

He shoulda put a little more thought into it. Tammy Ducktape is also a woman of color, and already familiar with the ropes in DC. It didn't even have to be a black woman

Harris was the first Democratic candidate to send me emails asking for money. I looked at the stuff she sent and decided I didn't like her. She didn't do well in the primaries because nobody really liked her. She hasn't done well as VP because nobody really likes her. No charm, no charisma and no character. I doubt if she'll run after four years of humiliation as VP.

Just as well, she couldn't beat Trump or DeSantis.

I don't think we need to worry much about VP Harris. She'll be gone, along with old Joe, and the wind, before too many years. Probably replaced by Republicans unless Democrats find the magic bullet to end this economic malaise we find ourselves in today.

I don't exactly buy into the apocalyptic horror stories some here have spun. Because they are little different from the horror stories spun by the other side. Socialism/fascism will be the end of democracy if we let the other side gain an inch. There is no hope for compromise because the other side won't compromise enough.

Oh, woe is us.

Feck that nonsense, you know? Other than casting a vote every two years, I am simply an observer. Floating down a river. I know that the land of milk and honey lies on the left bank of the river...but the hippos and the crocodiles are thick...all who drift too far that way are quickly eaten.

But the same is true for the other side. Trump got eaten. The rest of his minions will be slowly gobbled up. Bernie got eaten...the timing was wrong. The hippos too thick.

They don't eat you y'know, they kill you just for the hell of it. The crocodiles feed around the hippos, but they'll kill you too. Some places there are piranhas. Other places, deadly serpents...

It's a linear game and there's never a do-over. You play until you die.

I don’t comment much on things that aren’t election involved. I consider myself a political realist. Your analogy fits the real world of politics Greger. Mostly those on one side or the other, call them the hyper partisans if you’d like, they don’t want to hear or know about or what’s happening in the real world of politics. It might go against their preconceived thoughts, beliefs or ideas.

I’m with you in that I don’t think neither Biden nor Trump will be running in 2024 and Harris if she does decide to seek the Democratic nomination will be one of the first casualties. A replay of the 2020 democratic primaries. As long as inflation is with us, the Democrats can only play defense. Thanks to Trump, that defense may only give up a field goal this midterm, loss of the house instead of a touchdown, loss of both the house and the senate. Time will tell.

The abortion issue, no matter how the SCOTUS official ruling comes down, the public 1-6 hearings or anything else is going to stop the loss of the house. Those issues are already baked in. You don’t have to be a political rocket scientist to realize that. Just follow the polls. It’s rising prices, empty shelves, thinning to flat wallets etc. that most swing voters care and worry the most about, everything else is secondary. 2024, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Crossing that bridge at that time is a way to stay away from the Hippos and crocs.

I guess it's just a coincident that historically we see the economy going up during Democratic administrations and down during Republican ones. Or maybe it's the Republican economic policies that work, but they just have a four or eight year time lag. (sarcasm)

The root of the differences between the Parties is that Republicans want owners to get more (all?) of the pie, and Democrats want working people to get more of the pie. The problem for Republicans is that the economy just works better when workers have a decent share. So they have to run scams to win elections. To quote Trump: "If we let everybody vote... Republicans would never win another election." We even have some Republican candidates proposing we give rural more conservative counties more votes than people who live in more liberal cities. 3/5 of a vote for People of Color, no doubt.