Jake Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2013 -> 12:20 PM) What are the odds smokey the bear is between us and an explosion of camp fires. What about we encourage states to have 1 quarter of phys ed cover outdoor education. Seems worthwhile. That would cost significantly more than the proposed cut costs. May improve efficacy, but not efficiency. You're looking at many teacher hires, supply purchases, curriculum research, etc. On the note of cost cutting that refuses to happen, the defense budget summed up in charts. After seeing that, you may realize that we don't have a spending problem, we have a military spending problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 8, 2013 -> 10:46 PM) That would cost significantly more than the proposed cut costs. May improve efficacy, but not efficiency. You're looking at many teacher hires, supply purchases, curriculum research, etc. So? On the note of cost cutting that refuses to happen, the defense budget summed up in charts. After seeing that, you may realize that we don't have a spending problem, we have a military spending problem. We have a revenue problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2013 -> 05:05 PM) So? I thought we were talking about ways to spend less money. We have a revenue problem. I can get on board with that. Of course, we now have made permanent a tax code that doesn't pay for our most precious programs. Perhaps more importantly, the deficit goes as unemployment goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Incoming House Freshmen given a typical suggested schedule during a powerpoint presentation (on the Dem incoming side): Call time? AKA fundraising. 1/2 the day for an incoming Congressperson is spent fundraising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Time for a Congressman is very precious. Spending half the day fundraising and talking to constituents isn't uncommon at all, many do it more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 09:23 AM) Time for a Congressman is very precious. Spending half the day fundraising and talking to constituents isn't uncommon at all, many do it more. I like how you lumped "taking phone calls from big money donors" and "Talking to constituents" together into the same item, when there's clearly a very big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Big money donors are constituents, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 08:28 AM) I like how you lumped "taking phone calls from big money donors" and "Talking to constituents" together into the same item, when there's clearly a very big difference. Those are often intermingled. Part of cold calling these people is hoping for more than their vote in the end run. They also will schedule meetings with lobbyists around these times. The lobbies are just as important, really. Most congressmen learn the most about issues of concern from the lobby groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 10:03 AM) Those are often intermingled. Part of cold calling these people is hoping for more than their vote in the end run. They also will schedule meetings with lobbyists around these times. The lobbies are just as important, really. Most congressmen learn the most about issues of concern from the lobby groups. This is an indictment of our system, not a statment of fact or a compliment to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 he's really gone off the deep-end, hasn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 02:11 PM) he's really gone off the deep-end, hasn't he? No more than anyone else in the strongly-pro-gun side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I meant more in general, like his "n***** n***** n*****" post a few weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Stewart had a great segment on gun control last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 well, he's just dealing with being irrelevant now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) well, he's just dealing with being irrelevant now. How so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 07:53 PM) How so? Drudge used to own beltway media stories. The past two elections he hasn't pushed anything into national conversation. Last thing was...that one school bus beating? The only one who pays attention is politico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 oh, politico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I actually like Politico. Most of their reporting tends to be pretty much down the middle when I read it (I don't necessarily read all of their stuff, especially not their opinion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 good lord. You like Politico? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) good lord. You like Politico? You should probably bear in mind that I read a variety of things like Breitbart, Fox, National Journal. I try to get a full spectrum of reporting and I really have no issues reading Politico. On the other hand, Breitbart and Fox usually get my anger switches going off so quickly that I cannot read for long. A site like ThinkProgress might give me the news the way I see it to be true, but I often feel when reading news material from Politico that there is an honest attempt to report from multiple partisan viewpoints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Being "down the middle" isn't necessarily what makes Politico terrible, though faux DC media centrism is a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 9, 2013 -> 10:56 PM) Being "down the middle" isn't necessarily what makes Politico terrible, though faux DC media centrism is a problem. It's their obliviousness to how policy affects real people, and all that really matters is gamesmanship and optics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Tactical Response CEO Issues Threat Over Gun Control: ‘I’m Gonna Start Killing People’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 CNN's coverage of Biden's gun violence event was interrupted to report on a school shooting. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/01/...chool-shooting/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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