He just will not change

[TexasTiger 12,876]

21 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

Why go through the bother of invading when you can just buy us 

Buying our debt is a good thing. Buying our farmland & industries? Not so much.

[KansasTiger 3,248]

8 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

So you supported the infrastructure bill?

Parts of it, for sure.

[auburnatl1 4,920]

7 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Buying our debt is a good thing. Buying our farmland & industries? Not so much.

Neither is good. Theoretically I understand your point, but China being the largest holder of our debt - not so much. Rollover exposure. Owing more money than you can pay off in s lifetime rarely ends well.

[TexasTiger 12,876]

10 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

Neither is good. Theoretically I understand your point, but China being the largest holder of our debt - not so much. Rollover exposure. Owing more money than you can pay off in s lifetime rarely ends well.

Not saying debt is good, but our debt is a more attractive investment than most countries— at least historically. 

[GoAU 1,600]

7 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

Democratic leadership has never embraced the defund the police movement. Utter bull****. Who wants to defund the FBI? Justice department? Who refused to honor the capitol police?

Which Democratic leaders have embraced lawlessness? 
 

List the autocratic decrees you referenced?

Defund the police and the soaring crime rates are in a majority of the major cities, and those cities are governed almost exclusively by Democrats.   Take Mayor Adams this past weekend in NYC as a recent example - kids rioting and utter lawlessness and he blames everyone BUT the kids that were acting like hooligans.    Chicago, San Fran, LA, Portland, Seattle, NYC, I can go on and on.  All Dems my not back the Defund movement, but all who back the Defund movement are Dems.  
 

There are certainly Republicans that want to dismantle the political apparatus that has grown into the FBI as they certainly appear to have lost the ability to maintain neutrality, but no one want the organization to cease to exist.  

The autocratic decrees are easy, you must be in denial. The incandescent light bulb decree, Biden’s bans or push for bans on all sorts of home appliances,  his recent unilateral cuts to HFC production which will throw the HVAC market into a tailspin, the EPA fuel efficiency standard changes (this has happened under several presidents, but still should require Congressional action, not just the EPA issuing a decree), Biden’s actions against the firearms industry through the “frames and receivers” and “pistol brace decrees” pushed by the ATF (which are currently being dismantled in the court system) and his waging of war on legal FFLs by the “zero tolerance” policy pushed by the ATF which essentially is just a push to try and run people out of business.  

[GoAU 1,600]

7 hours ago, AU9377 said:

I would rather not have incandescent light bulbs than a President who has no humility and has pledged to use the office of President to get retribution for whatever perceived wrong or slight he believes has been inflicted upon his narcissistic ass.  Unfortunately, there is an entire industry devoted to partisan division.

As I’ve said before, Trump is by far NOT my first choice, but I would take him over Biden.  

[GoAU 1,600]

5 hours ago, auburnatl1 said:

Neither is good. Theoretically I understand your point, but China being the largest holder of our debt - not so much. Rollover exposure. Owing more money than you can pay off in s lifetime rarely ends well.

Completely agree.  What do we do once the interest payments alone on our debt exceed the GDP?   We’re not far at all from that point of no return.  
 

Can you imagine that happening in your personal finances?   How can you let that happen to an entire nation?  

[GoAU 1,600]

6 hours ago, arein0 said:

Who would willingly pay their taxes if there wasn't an IRS?

There are much simpler options to get the tax system to be much more efficient with a fraction of the resources it currently takes to run the IRS.  Simplifying the IRS would be a huge win for most people. 

[arein0 956]

3 hours ago, GoAU said:

There are much simpler options to get the tax system to be much more efficient with a fraction of the resources it currently takes to run the IRS.  Simplifying the IRS would be a huge win for most people. 

I agree, but I don't think that would happen as it would eliminate a big industry 

[LPTiger 5,164]

10 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

Democratic leadership has never embraced the defund the police movement. Utter bull****. Who wants to defund the FBI? Justice department? Who refused to honor the capitol police?

Which Democratic leaders have embraced lawlessness? 
 

List the autocratic decrees you referenced?

TT, here are quotes from Vice president Harris -- "We need to reimagine how we are achieving public safety in America", "For far too long the status quo thinking has been to believe that by putting more police on the street you're going to have more safety and that's just wrong." When LA's mayor slashed the police funding by $150MM "I support investing in communities so they become more healthy and therefore more safe.   I applaud Mayor Garcetti for doing what he's done."    "If you are able to, chip in now to the ____________ to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota."   As bad as she is at saying something that is coherent, these statements are about as clear as she can get.   

[TexasTiger 12,876]

24 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

TT, here are quotes from Vice president Harris -- "We need to reimagine how we are achieving public safety in America", "For far too long the status quo thinking has been to believe that by putting more police on the street you're going to have more safety and that's just wrong." When LA's mayor slashed the police funding by $150MM "I support investing in communities so they become more healthy and therefore more safe.   I applaud Mayor Garcetti for doing what he's done."    "If you are able to, chip in now to the ____________ to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota."   As bad as she is at saying something that is coherent, these statements are about as clear as she can get.   

The left hates Harris for being a tough on crime prosecutor. I’m no Harris fan, but here’s her whole quote:

Well, it’s a concept. We do have to reimagine what public safety looks like. And here’s the thing. It is status quo thinking to believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety. That’s wrong. It’s just wrong. You know what creates more safety? Funding public schools, affordable housing, increased homeownership, job skill development, jobs, access to capital for those who want to start small businesses, or who are running small businesses in communities.

But, no, we’re not going to get rid of the police. We all have to be practical. But let’s separate out these discussions.

 

We have come to rely on police to deal with domestic disputes, emotional disturbances and all manner of things they a) aren’t trained for; b) distract them from focusing on addressing & preventing actual crime. Reimagining how we address the non criminal stuff many police spend their time on is not a bad idea. Other countries have other professionals trained to deal with those issues. But LA has increased their police budget and it’s pretty substantial:

https://abc7.com/amp/los-angeles-budget-mayor-eric-garcetti-city-of-la-spending-police-department/11930136/

[TexasTiger 12,876]

Biden explicitly rejects defunding the police and has promoted more funding:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/02/biden-nix-defund-police/

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/biden-unveil-37b-budget-request-funding-law-enforcement/story?id=87167327

[LPTiger 5,164]

44 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Biden explicitly rejects defunding the police and has promoted more funding:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/02/biden-nix-defund-police/

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/biden-unveil-37b-budget-request-funding-law-enforcement/story?id=87167327

TT, when the Mayor of LA slashed police funding by $150 MM, downtown LA's violent crime rate was 137% higher than the national average and Harris "applauded" it.    When you remove $150MM from a budget what do you call it if you don't call it "defunding."    Excuse those of us who are conservative if we are not, at this point, able to take every word out of Uncle Joe's mouth as the absolute truth.    He also said we had "cured cancer as we know it."   Is that statement true?

[TexasTiger 12,876]

36 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

TT, when the Mayor of LA slashed police funding by $150 MM, downtown LA's violent crime rate was 137% higher than the national average and Harris "applauded" it.    When you remove $150MM from a budget what do you call it if you don't call it "defunding."    Excuse those of us who are conservative if we are not, at this point, able to take every word out of Uncle Joe's mouth as the absolute truth.    He also said we had "cured cancer as we know it."   Is that statement true?

That was Garcetti. The liberal Karen Bass increased the budget even though crime rates are down:

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-police-data-shows-that-crime-has-decreased-in-los-angeles-as-the-city-plans-to-spend-3-2-billion-on-lapd/amp/

https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/04/karen-bass-los-angeles-police/

My original point stands. The Biden administration and the Dem congressional leadership never embraced defund the police. That’s disinformation.

[AU9377 4,931]

5 hours ago, GoAU said:

The autocratic decrees are easy, you must be in denial. The incandescent light bulb decree, Biden’s bans or push for bans on all sorts of home appliances,  his recent unilateral cuts to HFC production which will throw the HVAC market into a tailspin, the EPA fuel efficiency standard changes (this has happened under several presidents, but still should require Congressional action, not just the EPA issuing a decree), Biden’s actions against the firearms industry through the “frames and receivers” and “pistol brace decrees” pushed by the ATF (which are currently being dismantled in the court system) and his waging of war on legal FFLs by the “zero tolerance” policy pushed by the ATF which essentially is just a push to try and run people out of business.  

The problem is an unwillingness by one side to find actual solutions to real world problems.  Can we even agree that a decrease in emissions and improving gas mileage are, in general, good things?  Can we agree that we have a gun violence problem in this country?  These type issues are not approached as being controversial political issues in many other countries with wealth and an educated population.  Some in the U.S. immediately call any restrictions on these issues as restrictions on freedom.

The truth is that people in Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, France and the U.K, among others, are just as "free" as we are here in the U.S.  If everyone would do the right thing, there would  be no need for regulations or standards to govern by.  In a country of 380 million  people, we know that is not a possibility.  The market alone won't solve these issues.  Congress has shown an unwillingness to solve these issues.  Therefore, someone has to attempt something or we will languish in no man's land without leadership.

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

Is this all about semantics?  Let’s look at how a California city treats the victims of crimes as opposed to the crimes.  Although this is not defunding the police, it is how Democratic cities are reun.

https://www.kcra.com/article/stockton-7-eleven-attempted-robbery-beatdown-investigation/44741700

A clerk can not defend the store or they will be fired, if you defend yourself you will be investigated and, heaven forbid, you defend yourself and the criminal dies in the conflict you will be charged for manslaughter.

Look what they do, not what they say.  Dems don’t seem to understand this concept.

[auburnatl1 4,920]

7 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Is this all about semantics?  Let’s look at how a California city treats the victims of crimes as opposed to the crimes.  Although this is not defunding the police, it is how Democratic cities are reun.

https://www.kcra.com/article/stockton-7-eleven-attempted-robbery-beatdown-investigation/44741700

A clerk can not defend the store or they will be fired, if you defend yourself you will be investigated and, heaven forbid, you defend yourself and the criminal dies in the conflict you will be charged for manslaughter.

Look what they do, not what they say.  Dems don’t seem to understand this concept.

The thinking behind this i if a criminal thinks you are armed when they walk in the store they will simply shoot you immediately before you can defend. If there is a perception of no threat, statistically, the odds of survival increase.  In another scenario, a jittery store owner might shoot someone without cause.

Eliminate the Wild West dynamic.

Im not saying I agree with it (I don’t) and it clearly has a bad feeling of defenselessness - but there is a sorta/kinda analysis to it.

[I_M4_AU 7,838]

23 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

The thinking behind this i if a criminal thinks you are armed when they walk in the store they will simply shoot you immediately before you can defend. If there is a perception of no threat, statistically, the odds of survival increase.  In another scenario, a jittery store owner might shoot someone without cause.

Eliminate the Wild West dynamic.

Im not saying I agree with it (I don’t) and it clearly has a bad feeling of defenselessness - but there is a sorta/kinda analysis to it.

There is an analysis to it.  We have lost our moral way.  Men don’t take responsibility for themselves to *do the right thing* when it comes to not breaking the law and the men that do are now looked upon as the criminals if they protect themselves.  It much easier to steal what you want than it is to work for it.  We are upside down.

I’m not sure how to get this under control, but DAs having no bail and letting criminals back out to do the same thing day after day isn’t working.

[LPTiger 5,164]

2 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

That was Garcetti. The liberal Karen Bass increased the budget even though crime rates are down:

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/new-police-data-shows-that-crime-has-decreased-in-los-angeles-as-the-city-plans-to-spend-3-2-billion-on-lapd/amp/

https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/04/karen-bass-los-angeles-police/

My original point stands. The Biden administration and the Dem congressional leadership never embraced defund the police. That’s disinformation.

TT you dodged and didn't answer the ?.   The LA police's funding was cut by $150MM and Harris herself said she "applauded" the move.  Is reducing funding by $150MM "defunding?"    Yes or no.   If "yes" Harris applauded the defunding which means she supported it.   If "no" what do you call it?

[TexasTiger 12,876]

1 minute ago, LPTiger said:

TT you dodged and didn't answer the ?.   The LA police's funding was cut by $150MM and Harris herself said she "applauded" the move.  Is reducing funding by $150MM "defunding?"    Yes or no.   If "yes" Harris applauded the defunding which means she supported it.   If "no" what do you call it?

Is cutting a $3.2B budget by $150M defunding? Of course not. Have you ever seen a government  budget that didn’t have 4.68% of fat that could be cut? 

[auburnatl1 4,920]

44 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

There is an analysis to it.  We have lost our moral way.  Men don’t take responsibility for themselves to *do the right thing* when it comes to not breaking the law and the men that do are now looked upon as the criminals if they protect themselves.  It much easier to steal what you want than it is to work for it.  We are upside down.

I’m not sure how to get this under control, but DAs having no bail and letting criminals back out to do the same thing day after day isn’t working.

I don’t see it as a moral issue. It’s a societal one.  Even back in the Wild West some towns/marshal’s didn’t allow guns in town, some did. I don’t have a problem with LA having that law and Dallas not. Each city or state should be allowed to chose - if someone doesn’t like the laws or culture, just switch towns.  It’s called the “United States” for a reason. Localization. Imo it’s what makes the whole red/blue thing work and whyI prefer local laws to federal laws when possible.

[AU9377 4,931]

3 hours ago, LPTiger said:

TT, when the Mayor of LA slashed police funding by $150 MM, downtown LA's violent crime rate was 137% higher than the national average and Harris "applauded" it.    When you remove $150MM from a budget what do you call it if you don't call it "defunding."    Excuse those of us who are conservative if we are not, at this point, able to take every word out of Uncle Joe's mouth as the absolute truth.    He also said we had "cured cancer as we know it."   Is that statement true?

I'm no fan of Kamala Harris.  I thought she was a bad choice from the start, but her choice ended up being irrelevant to the election in 2020.  All that being said, we do need some real criminal justice reform.  By that, I am not suggesting fewer officers or some kind of reduced commitment to public safety. 

Things that can make a significant impact are things like eliminating cash bail for non violent crimes.  This is the starting point for what many see as two systems of justice.  One for those with financial resources and another for those without.  This would also reduce the local detention (city and county lock up or jail) population and thereby remove stress on the system and the cost created with housing inmates prior to conviction.  The cost of building new or expanding and upkeep of old detention facilities is enormous and the burden is usually placed on local and country governments to increase tax revenues to cover the cost.

There are so many ideas that make sense that never get discussed because they get labeled as being easy on crime.  Choosing not to lock someone up for failure to pay child support or failure to pay what they are required to pay in full, for example, is not something that I view as being easy on crime.  We lock people up for this and thereby remove any ability to pay.  There has to be another solution.

We could have a public workforce or a diversion program that includes military service using military personnel and resources that are already being paid for by the federal govt. I won't go on and on, but we have to try things that we aren't doing now if we want to get different results.

[TexasTiger 12,876]

There’s only one party whose actual leadership is wanting to defund law enforcement as a reaction to being held accountable:

https://patriotcrew.co/products/defund-the-fbi-t-shirt
 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/15/defund-fbi-mar-a-lago-trump/

There’s the fringes of the left and the mainstream right calling for it. Only one Presidential candidate wanting to gut and remake them as his personal army.

 

[AU9377 4,931]

59 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

There is an analysis to it.  We have lost our moral way.  Men don’t take responsibility for themselves to *do the right thing* when it comes to not breaking the law and the men that do are now looked upon as the criminals if they protect themselves.  It much easier to steal what you want than it is to work for it.  We are upside down.

I’m not sure how to get this under control, but DAs having no bail and letting criminals back out to do the same thing day after day isn’t working.

A start would be not treating violent and non violent crimes as though they were equal in the threat they pose to society.

For every example of someone out on bail that commits another, even more heinous, crime, there are thousands of people that were granted bail and didn't get in trouble between their release and the resolution of their charges.  I also hate those examples where someone was granted release that should have never been, but predicting that is not always easy.

[icanthearyou 4,463]

3 hours ago, LPTiger said:

TT, when the Mayor of LA slashed police funding by $150 MM, downtown LA's violent crime rate was 137% higher than the national average and Harris "applauded" it.    When you remove $150MM from a budget what do you call it if you don't call it "defunding."    Excuse those of us who are conservative if we are not, at this point, able to take every word out of Uncle Joe's mouth as the absolute truth.    He also said we had "cured cancer as we know it."   Is that statement true?

You are spreading lies and misinformation.

The states with the most violent crime are predominately "red" states.  In fact, Alabama is the 7th most violent state.

Stop believing the propaganda.  Educate yourself.