The Republican Thread

[southsider2k5]

I don't know if they were or weren't. and it really doesn't matter. getting offended by those shirts is retarded. end of story really.

 

sad thing is the students walking out of class in protest are probably the ones with the worst test scores. they should worry about their academics a little more IMO and forget about some Old Navy shirt.

 

This is exactly why schools discourage these kinds of displays. They take away from academics by refocusing everyone on the shiney things.

[EvilMonkey]

[/b]

 

This is exactly why schools discourage these kinds of displays. They take away from academics by refocusing everyone on the shiney things.

Then the school should have prevented the hispanic students from wearing flags, facepaint, etc as well.

[mr_genius]

[/b]

 

This is exactly why schools discourage these kinds of displays. They take away from academics by refocusing everyone on the shiney things.

 

yes, but there are lots of shiny distractions in life. they needed to learn a lesson in mental discipline. ignore the old navy shirt. read a text book. win win.

[bmags]

What an absolute crock of s***. If I was a parent of one of those kids I would be livid at the school district.

 

after reading it i'm pretty much with ss2k5 in being sympathetic to the school. Realize for a second that they are responsible for people's children. I don't think being overly cautious is a bad thing.

[EvilMonkey]

after reading it i'm pretty much with ss2k5 in being sympathetic to the school. Realize for a second that they are responsible for people's children. I don't think being overly cautious is a bad thing.

I understand their caution as well, but will they be consistent in their application of 'caution'? They surely didn't stop the hispanic students from displaying their 'colors'. Too bad they are not in school around July 4th, we would see how they would react in the opposite situation. i wonder if the kids just left school and marched outside with signs instead, if that would have been acceptable. I am sure the school has a truancy policy, and those kids that marched left the school, which has to be against some rule. Were they punished for that?

[Balta1701]

I understand their caution as well, but will they be consistent in their application of 'caution'? They surely didn't stop the hispanic students from displaying their 'colors'. Too bad they are not in school around July 4th, we would see how they would react in the opposite situation. i wonder if the kids just left school and marched outside with signs instead, if that would have been acceptable. I am sure the school has a truancy policy, and those kids that marched left the school, which has to be against some rule. Were they punished for that?

It's interesting how your entire argument is based on guessing about how the school behaved in other circumstances.

[EvilMonkey]

It's interesting how your entire argument is based on guessing about how the school behaved in other circumstances.

Kinda like refereeing. Just be consistent so i know what the hell to expect. I would like to see that in news reporting as well.

 

I found this quote in a story about the incident. "Kathleen Sullivan, a school board trustee, said Live Oak experienced problems on Cinco de Mayo last year. She said some students had complained to the principal and vice principal that they had felt intimidated by students waving American flags. " OK, so if some non-hispanic students had said that they felt threatened by the zealous display of the Mexican flag, would they have curtailed that as well?

 

This whole country is f***ed because of the nationalism that new people coming here retain. We became a great nation in part because of the assimilation of immigrants to this country. They became AMERICAN. They learned english, they got jobs, they joined society as Americans. Yes, you can be proud of your heritage, but if all the hispanics are coming here because their home country is such a s*** hole, why do they have such pride in that s*** hole? You would think they would want to forget everything about it and embrace their new home that provides them with opportunities they could never get back there. Not on the same level, but I grew up and lived in a small south suburb for most of my life. It became a raging s*** hole that I finally was able to leave in 2005. I don't ever want to go back, or celebrate coming from there.

[southsider2k5]

Kinda like refereeing. Just be consistent so i know what the hell to expect. I would like to see that in news reporting as well.

 

I found this quote in a story about the incident. "Kathleen Sullivan, a school board trustee, said Live Oak experienced problems on Cinco de Mayo last year. She said some students had complained to the principal and vice principal that they had felt intimidated by students waving American flags. " OK, so if some non-hispanic students had said that they felt threatened by the zealous display of the Mexican flag, would they have curtailed that as well?

 

This whole country is f***ed because of the nationalism that new people coming here retain. We became a great nation in part because of the assimilation of immigrants to this country. They became AMERICAN. They learned english, they got jobs, they joined society as Americans. Yes, you can be proud of your heritage, but if all the hispanics are coming here because their home country is such a s*** hole, why do they have such pride in that s*** hole? You would think they would want to forget everything about it and embrace their new home that provides them with opportunities they could never get back there. Not on the same level, but I grew up and lived in a small south suburb for most of my life. It became a raging s*** hole that I finally was able to leave in 2005. I don't ever want to go back, or celebrate coming from there.

 

Speaking from what I have seen on both a first and second hand experience through our school system, they would have stopped it to if it had gotten complaints. The last thing a school system wants is something that disrupts the kids, and has the potential to turn into something ugly. Remember these are high school kids, it doesn't take much for them to do something stupid.

[Balta1701]

This whole country is f***ed because of the nationalism that new people coming here retain. We became a great nation in part because of the assimilation of immigrants to this country. They became AMERICAN. They learned english, they got jobs, they joined society as Americans. Yes, you can be proud of your heritage, but if all the hispanics are coming here because their home country is such a s*** hole, why do they have such pride in that s*** hole? You would think they would want to forget everything about it and embrace their new home that provides them with opportunities they could never get back there. Not on the same level, but I grew up and lived in a small south suburb for most of my life. It became a raging s*** hole that I finally was able to leave in 2005. I don't ever want to go back, or celebrate coming from there.

And you know the amazing thing? The actual data out there shows that Mexican immigrants are actually assimilating faster than European immigrants did in that wave a century ago. I guess those southern European immigrants really f***ed this country in the 20's and we never recovered.

Immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations, according to a study released today.

 

Modern-day immigrants arrive with substantially lower levels of English ability and earning power than those who entered during the last great immigration wave at the turn of the 20th century. The gap between today's foreign-born and native populations remains far wider than it was in the early 1900s and is particularly large in the case of Mexican immigrants, the report said.

 

The study, sponsored by the Manhattan Institute, a New York think tank, used census and other data to devise an assimilation index to measure the degree of similarity between the United States' foreign-born and native-born populations. These included civic factors, such as rates of U.S. citizenship and service in the military; economic factors, such as earnings and rates of homeownership; and cultural factors, such as English ability and degree of intermarriage with U.S. citizens. The higher the number on a 100-point index, the more an immigrant resembled a U.S. citizen.

 

In general, the longer an immigrant lives in the United States, the more characteristics of native citizens he or she tends to take on, said Jacob L. Vigdor, a professor at Duke University and author of the study. During periods of intense immigration, such as from 1870 to 1920, or during the immigration wave that began in the 1970s, new arrivals tend to drag down the average assimilation index of the foreign-born population as a whole.

 

The report found, however, that the speed with which new arrivals take on native-born traits has increased since the 1990s. As a result, even though the foreign population doubled during that period, the newcomers did not drive down the overall assimilation index of the foreign-born population. Instead, it held relatively steady from 1990 to 2006.

 

"This is something unprecedented in U.S. history," Vigdor said. "It shows that the nation's capacity to assimilate new immigrants is strong."

Maybe white people are just inherently dumber than everyone else.

[EvilMonkey]

And you know the amazing thing? The actual data out there shows that Mexican immigrants are actually assimilating faster than European immigrants did in that wave a century ago. I guess those southern European immigrants really f***ed this country in the 20's and we never recovered.

 

Maybe white people are just inherently dumber than everyone else.

Then I guess we can stop printing government forms in spanish then. After all, they are learning so fast, they can figure it out. And no need for spanish language television, they can watch english crap like everyone else.

[EvilMonkey]

Speaking from what I have seen on both a first and second hand experience through our school system, they would have stopped it to if it had gotten complaints. The last thing a school system wants is something that disrupts the kids, and has the potential to turn into something ugly. Remember these are high school kids, it doesn't take much for them to do something stupid.

ss2k, I disagree with you here. If a group of white students went to the school and told them that they were threatened or intimidated by the display of nationalism exhibited by hispanic students on May 5, they would have been told that somehow THEY were being culturally insensitive and should just deal with it. They wouldn't dare stop the displays, unless there was a school code prohibiting ALL displays, for fear of some sort of retribution from LaRaza or some other hispanic hate group out there.

[StrangeSox]

ss2k, I disagree with you here. If a group of white students went to the school and told them that they were threatened or intimidated by the display of nationalism exhibited by hispanic students on May 5, they would have been told that somehow THEY were being culturally insensitive and should just deal with it. They wouldn't dare stop the displays, unless there was a school code prohibiting ALL displays, for fear of some sort of retribution from LaRaza or some other hispanic hate group out there.

 

Do you see the difference between Mexican students wearing Mexican flags on Cinco de Mayo or Americans wearing American flags on July 4th and wearing American flags and bandannas on May 5th or a bunch of Mexican flags on July 4th?

 

eta: also LOL at La Raza being a "Hispanic hate group"

Edited May 8, 2010 by StrangeSox

[EvilMonkey]

Do you see the difference between Mexican students wearing Mexican flags on Cinco de Mayo or Americans wearing American flags on July 4th and wearing American flags and bandannas on May 5th or a bunch of Mexican flags on July 4th?

 

eta: also LOL at La Raza being a "Hispanic hate group"

What would you characterize La Raza as? They pretty much want to take over the southwest, and have no respect for anything not hispanic. And can you imagine a white or black group called 'The Race'?

[southsider2k5]

ss2k, I disagree with you here. If a group of white students went to the school and told them that they were threatened or intimidated by the display of nationalism exhibited by hispanic students on May 5, they would have been told that somehow THEY were being culturally insensitive and should just deal with it. They wouldn't dare stop the displays, unless there was a school code prohibiting ALL displays, for fear of some sort of retribution from LaRaza or some other hispanic hate group out there.

 

Considering I have seen exactly the situation you are talking about happen in my school system, I would disagree with you.

[StrangeSox]

What would you characterize La Raza as? They pretty much want to take over the southwest, and have no respect for anything not hispanic. And can you imagine a white or black group called 'The Race'?

 

A minority special interest group that I don't particularly agree with. But your characterization of them as a "hate group" is just plain ridiculous. Also, their name is a good example of meaning being lost in translation. It has a different connotation in Spanish countries than "the race" would in English-speaking countries.

 

edit: also please address my primary question in that post

Edited May 8, 2010 by StrangeSox

[Balta1701]

Utah Sen. Bob Bennett lost his bid to be nominated for a fourth term Saturday, defeated at the state Republican Party convention amid a strong conservative sentiment that threatens to unseat other establishment-backed Republicans in the months to come.

 

Bennett, who had spent the past two decades as a respected insider in the Senate, came under fire in recent months for what some claimed were his insufficient conservative bona fides.

 

Bennett's critics cited his vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as well as his seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee -- both symbols, conservatives said, of his lack of commitment to shrinking the size of government.

 

While state Republicans had expressed uneasiness with Bennett, it was the DC-based Club for Growth that helped crystallize that opposition. The Club spent more than $200,000 on a combination of television ads, direct mail pieces and phone calls designed to influence the 3,500 (or so) delegates who attended Saturday's state convention.

 

Under convention rules, all eight candidates appeared on the first ballot. The top three -- attorney Mike Lee, former Congressional candidate Tim Bridgewater and Bennett (in that order) advanced to the second round of balloting.

 

Bennett was defeated there as Lee, a former counsel to popular former Gov. Jon Huntsman, and Bridgewater, who had lost two races against Rep. Jim Matheson (D), advanced to the final ballot.

 

Bennett told the Associated Press he has not ruled out a write-in campaign.

 

Bennett's defeat marks the first time a sitting Senator has lost in an intraparty fight since 2006 when Sen. Joe Lieberman was ousted by wealthy businessman Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary. Lieberman went on to run and win as an independent; under state law Bennett cannot pursue that course.

Link

[juddling]

I'm really not sure what to say about this

 

Posted: 1:55 pm EDT May 8, 2010

 

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. -- Preston Blackwelder proudly showed off a painting of his grandmother that had hung next to the front door of his Port Wentworth home.

 

She was the woman who led him to God, Blackwelder said Friday.

 

And with that firm religious footing, Blackwelder said it would be preposterous to stop praying before meals at Port Wentworth's Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah because of a federal guideline.

 

"She would say pray anyway," Blackwelder said of his grandmother. "She'd say don't listen."

 

But Senior Citizens Inc. officials said Friday the meals they are contracted by the city to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state.

 

On Thursday, the usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence.

 

The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn "Pig" Jones.

 

Tim Rutherford, Senior Citizens Inc. vice president, said some of his staff recently visited the center and noticed people praying shortly before lunch was served. Rutherford said his company provides meals like baked chicken, steak tips and rice and salads at a cost of about $6 a plate. Seniors taking the meals pay 55 cents and federal money foots the rest of the bill, Rutherford said.

 

"We can't scoff at their rules," he said of federal authorities. "It's a part of the operational guidelines."

 

Rutherford said the moment of silence was introduced to protect that funding. He said although the change may have been misinterpreted, perhaps his company could have done a better job selling it.

 

"It's interpreted that we're telling people that they can't pray, but we aren't saying that," he said. "We're asking them to pray to themselves. Have that moment of silence."

 

Mayor Jones said he was outraged by the change and has promised to find a solution.

 

"It was one of the hardest things I ever did as mayor is to look those people in the eyes and ask them to be patient with me and honor their God in a moment of silence until I can have a resolution to this," Jones said. "For me to look at their eyes and tell them they can't thank God for their food, it's unheard of - I can't take it."

 

Jones said he flirted with the idea of ending a contract the city has with Senior Citizens Inc.

 

"Like one lady said, 'You can stop me from speaking, but you can't stop me from praying what's in my heart,"' he said. "But the best answer right now is that we're trying to get the best information possible and legal council is looking at what would happen if we continued to pray."

 

Blackwelder said the center's already fragile visitors have been rattled.

 

"This is, in my view, an unnecessary intrusion into the private lives of individuals. It's a bad place to draw a line in the sand."

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Here is the first of many stories like this...

 

http://www.weareillinois.org/connect/newsd...spx?newsid=9535

 

CBO ups health care cost projections

5/11/2010

 

By Jennifer Haberkorn - Politico

 

Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections.

 

The additional spending — if approved over the years by Congress — would bring the total estimated cost of the overhaul to about $1 trillion.

 

The Congressional Budget Office expects the federal agencies to spend $10 billion to $20 billion over 10 years on administrative costs to implement the overhaul. The CBO expects Congress to spend an additional $105 billion over 10 years to fund discretionary programs in the overhaul.

 

The CBO released the estimates in response to a request from California Rep. Jerry Lewis, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. A spokeswoman for Lewis said the inquiry was filed before the House voted on the bill.

 

“[L]arge sums of discretionary spending in both the House and Senate versions of the health care reform bills have not yet been included in estimates by the CBO, rendering it impossible to make informed decisions regarding the outcome of this legislation,” Lewis wrote in a February letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asking her to postpone votes until the discretionary spending analysis was complete.

 

The CBO estimated in March that the net cost of the overhaul would be $788 billion over 10 years, but cautioned that it couldn’t make an estimate of the discretionary costs without more time and information.

 

The figures represent estimates as to how Congress will decide to spend money. The CBO cautions that lawmakers could decide to spend less. They would still have to respect the administration’s nonsecurity discretionary spending freeze.

 

The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to need $5 billion to $10 billion to implement changes in Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and insurance industry reforms, according to CBO estimates.

 

An administration official cautioned that Congress doesn't always spend all that it is authorized to and that lawmakers would have to make other cuts to make up for any new spending they approve to stay within the budget and avoid adding to the deficit.

 

"The Affordable Care Act will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion in the first decade, and that will not change unless Congress acts to change it," said Kenneth Baer, an OMB spokesman. "If these authorizations are funded, they must be offset somewhere else in the discretionary budget. The president has called for a non-security discretionary spending freeze, and he will enforce that with his veto pen."

 

The nonpartisan CBO expects the Internal Revenue Service to spend another $5 billion to $10 billion on implementing the rules regarding premiums and cost-sharing credits.

 

The legislation says that the agencies would receive the funding to implement the programs through the appropriations process.

 

“The law establishes a number of new programs and activities, as well as authorizing new funding for existing programs,” CBO director Douglas W. Elmendorf said in the letter. “By their nature, however, all such potential effects on discretionary spending are subject to future appropriation actions, which could result in greater or smaller costs than the sums authorized by the legislation.”

[Balta1701]

So, basically, Lewis asked them to produce an estimate if Congress votes to weaken the cost controls, and it turns out that it costs more money if they do that?

 

What a scoop.

[kapkomet]

So, basically, Lewis asked them to produce an estimate if Congress votes to weaken the cost controls, and it turns out that it costs more money if they do that?

 

What a scoop.

 

 

GOVERNMENT SAVES (repeat).

[Balta1701]

 

GOVERNMENT SAVES (repeat).

Overwhelmed am I at the power of your argument. Failed I have. Into exile I must go.

[kapkomet]

Overwhelmed am I at the power of your argument. Failed I have. Into exile I must go.

 

GOVERNMENT SAVES!

 

WOOT!

 

Yes, we all know that marxism is better.

[Balta1701]

You folks will be nominating a former half term governor in sunny Tampa Bay, Florida, in 2012.

 

 

 

[mr_genius]

You folks will be nominating a former half term governor in sunny Tampa Bay, Florida, in 2012.

 

i would attend, but i'm boycotting Tampa Bay (reasons undisclosed)

[GoSox05]

You folks will be nominating a former half term governor in sunny Tampa Bay, Florida, in 2012.

 

Very exciting! I always wanted to live in a Theocracy.

Edited May 13, 2010 by GoSox05