Liberman flusters Dems

[Texsox]

They can only do it after a national census.  Unfortunately, both parties have conspired to gerrymander their incumbents back into office recently.

 

Not exactly true. They did it last year in Texas after both parties and a judge in 2002 agreed to keep the old map. Once the GOP gained control, they redictricted Texas, gaining seats and screwing my area terribly. Each district here looks like a fajita plate. 20 miles wide and 200 miles long.

 

Link Here

Edited March 9, 2005 by Texsox

[TheBigHurt35]

Not exactly true. They did it last year in Texas after both parties and a judge in 2002 agreed to keep the old map. Once the GOP gained control, they redictricted Texas, gaining seats and screwing my area terribly. Each district here looks like a fajita plate. 20 miles wide and 200 miles long.

 

Link Here

 

That's interesting. But that was only because they couldn't reach a redistricting agreement after the 2000 census, correct?

 

I will probably be moving to Texas late next month, so this is of some interest to me.

[Texsox]

That's interesting.  But that was only because they couldn't reach a redistricting agreement after the 2000 census, correct?

 

I will probably be moving to Texas late next month, so this is of some interest to me.

 

They could not agree on a new map, so agreed to keep the old. The courts agreed it was legal and they could continue with the old. The assumption was the map would be in effect until the 2010 census. The GOP came up with a brilliant strategy here, and I believe California, to pick up seats and it worked. Dems in the Texas legislature walked out and left the state rather than face the music and the special sessions. Governor Perry ordered the State Police to Oklahoma to arrest the representatives and bring that back to session so a quorum could be in place. If it wasn't so sad, it would have been funny. It was reported at the time this was the first time a redistricting occurred like this. YASNY mentioned the DEMs had done it before, I'm not certain he was meaning this mid decade plan.

 

What they did on the Mexico border was stretch the district N-S literally they are a couple hundred miles long and of course snake back up into GOP strongholds and pit border Democrats against upstate GOP.

[Rex Kickass]

Tex:

 

The GOP could not have done it in California after the 2000 Census, because the Democrats control the California Legislature.

 

There is talk of Democrats doing tit for tat redistricting in other states that they now control to "level the playing field" so to speak and negate the gerrymandered effect of the Texas redistricting in the 2004 Congressional elections.

 

Personally, I think its a s***ty idea to do it either way. The last thing I want as a private citizen is to have to figure out who my congressman is every two years.

[Texsox]

Tex:

 

The GOP could not have done it in California after the 2000 Census, because the Democrats control the California Legislature.

 

There is talk of Democrats doing tit for tat redistricting in other states that they now control to "level the playing field" so to speak and negate the gerrymandered effect of the Texas redistricting in the 2004 Congressional elections.

 

Personally, I think its a s***ty idea to do it either way. The last thing I want as a private citizen is to have to figure out who my congressman is every two years.

 

My mistake. It was Colorado and Pennsylvania

[YASNY]

They could not agree on a new map, so agreed to keep the old. The courts agreed it was legal and they could continue with the old. The assumption was the map would be in effect until the 2010 census.  The GOP came up with a brilliant strategy here, and I believe California, to pick up seats and it worked.  Dems in the Texas legislature walked out and left the state rather than face the music and the special sessions. Governor Perry ordered the State Police to Oklahoma to arrest the representatives and bring that back to session so a quorum could be in place. If it wasn't so sad, it would have been funny. It was reported at the time this was the first time a redistricting occurred like this. YASNY mentioned the DEMs had done it before, I'm not certain he was meaning this mid decade plan.

 

What they did on the Mexico border was stretch the district N-S literally they are a couple hundred miles long and of course snake back up into GOP strongholds and pit border Democrats against upstate GOP.

 

Not that specifically. Generally speaking, both sides bend and twist the rules in every which way they can to their advantage. In this case, it was GOP. Next time, it will be the Dems, maybe. It all depends when and where the next opportunity comes along. They are all as crooked as a dog's hind leg.

[Texsox]

Not that specifically.  Generally speaking, both sides bend and twist the rules in every which way they can to their advantage.  In this case, it was GOP.  Next time, it will be the Dems, maybe.  It all depends when and where the next opportunity comes along.  They are all as crooked as a dog's hind leg.

 

They both use the same play book, that's for certain. What I think is genius, is the GOP has invented a couple new plays. Mid decade redistricting, media bias, activist judges, etc. are all new plays. Of course the DEMs are trying to find a way to run the same play. But these are pretty solid.

 

I thought the DEMs opening up the Lincoln bedroom for fund raising was a slick maneuver. The GOP counter was equally effective. It would be a fun game to watch if our society wasn't dependent on these myopic ass clowns.

[JUGGERNAUT]

QUOTE

"His attitude is not helping us when we're trying to create a clear divide between the two parties," said Don Kusler, communications director for Americans for Democratic Action.

 

They are dissing the guy because he thinks for himself, and is willing to work with people on the other side. That is just messed up.

This is the line that got me.

They are dissing the guy because he thinks for himself, and is willing to work with people on the other side.  That is just messed up.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree. The more the leaders of the Dem party speak the more they sound angry & disrespectful towards any one who doesn't share their views. Calling Greenspan a "poltical hack" knowing full well that he was a highly respected person under the Clinton & Bush administrations sounds extreme. Is the goal of he Dem leadership to weed out or marginalize all moderates in the party? It sure sounds that way.

 

On the issue of SS itself the Dems are putting all their eggs in one basket & I feel it's going to backfire on them big time. Right now the polls support them mainly because there are two many questions surrounding private accounts & how the acounting would work wrt to the SS reserve. When people don't understand something they tend not to favor it. But on the flip side of the coin Liberman is right in that the Dems are not offering any good ideas.

 

So that's going to arm the GOP in 2006 with the mantra : The Democratic plan to save SS is to raise payroll taxes & retirement ages. Thus taking more of your sons & daughters money now & start paying you the money you've earned when you reach 70. Is that fair?

 

I hoping there is a 3rd option out there & influential people can build support. Americans overwhelming support the idea of diverting some of the reserve into higher yield investments to offset the cost of living raises due in SS over the next decades. Every poll indicates that on the general issue. The problem is how to do that w/out upseting the free-market system of investment. You can't. Congress would have to pass a law that created an exception for investing the SS reserve without fear or reprecussion of lawsuits on the basis of unfair or anti-competitive practices. I don't know how many Americans would support that idea but if it were possible then the government could open a bidding process on reserve chunks valued in the 10's of billions to get the highest guaranteed yield possible from banks & other investment houses. Companies submitting bids would have to agree to the most intense SEC regulatory & auditing requirements possible. The government would have to take every measure to insure the lowest risk on this $ since it would not be FDIC insurable. The government can't insure against itself. Those reserve chunks would be placed into CD accounts with guaranteed ylds & fixed terms. It's a tailor made solution for SS' growth. It sounds easy enough but you have to consider just how much money is being invested here.

 

Though the govt would be investing the money in high yld CD"s with fixed terms the banks would be offering bids based on what they feel they could make on the money in the hands of their money managers. Those 10's of billions per contract would find it's way into the market. Adam Smith's invisible hand just became a whole easier to see. Which is way this option would be phased in gradually so that we could measure it's impact & try to reduce the impact of that influence.

 

But make no mistake the age is going to have to increase. It's possible to save the system without payroll tax increases by contnually raising the SS cap (curr 92K) & seeking higher ylds for the reserve. But the pop demog are against the system. The ratio of those paying in to those taking out is shrinking & is expected to fall to 2 to 1 before the baby boomers die off. There is no other option left than to raise the non-penalty age.

 

The government likewise has to deal with the expected impact of nanotechnology on life expectancy. The wealthiest are going to have the option of living as long as they want in cyborg bodies. The government probably has 20 yrs before that begins to creep into our society beyond 1% of retirees. But in general it brings to light the argument that not all people are the same in terms of the non-penalty retirement age. Some need that age to be earlier, others can do without SS altogether, & others can endure it being higher. The best thing to do would be to immediately associate the age requirement with a financial need assessment. Much like you apply for financial aid at a school a similar process should be setup for SS.