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pyrohornIII

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by pyrohornIII

  1. I'm open for suggestions on how to reach people without costing an arm and leg.   I work once a week on the phone bank and its in the afternoon.  I don't like it because people work, or go to the doctor or whatever.  But when is the best time to call?     Like it's been said before a lot of people haven't heard of Beto and they are doing the best they can to reach people using as few dollars and as many volunteers as possible.  If you have suggestions, I am sure they would love to hear them. 

     

    If you answer and say you are strong beto or strong cruz, then its less likely you won't be contacted again.   If you indicate Beto, they will ask if you want to volunteer.  They aren't asking for money, just letting people know there are ways to help if they want to and have time.   

     

    I'd rather weather some calls and texts from people trying to help someone sincere about representing Texas than have another term for Cruz.  At least then I know that people are fired up enough to dedicate time to get Cruz replaced by someone better. 

    • Like 1
  2. There is a large grassroots effort being made.  Phone banks being manned by volunteers, as well as texting and door to door canvassing is scheduled.  So I would bet the boots on the ground for Beto outdistances Rafael by 10 to 1.  Especially the unpaid ones.   So it's not all dollars.   What will be interesting is how he runs his campaign, and to this point what i have heard has been an effort to shrug off cruz as you would some cold, and focus on how we can make Texas better through better legislation in DC.  

    So it will be interesting to see what happens when cruz starts slinging mud. 

  3. We've already seen this.  That's where the term "too big to fail" comes from. 

     

    That bailout at the start of Obama's term was a wake up call.   But we didn't seem to learn anything from it.    The next time around, the same financial institutions and investors will get their bailout and the taxpayers will be left with the bill.  It just keeps accumulating the wealth upwards. 

     

    And government does have a role to play when it comes to workplace safety, environment, etc.  Unfortunately that gets over regulated or the power goes to people's heads and emotions rule over logic.   Most government programs started with good intention and purpose, but got kidnapped along the way and got changed into ways people can make money or control people with power. 

  4. You look at all the stock buybacks going on as a result of the last round of corporate tax cuts.  That's not creating jobs, or improving the wages of those already employed.  In fact they closed a Harley Plant and relocated it (probably offshore.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/05/11/union-harley-davidson-ship-work-thailand-closing-u-s-plant/601033002/). 800 or so out of work.   It's putting money back in the pockets of the stockholders.  But yeah, trickle down and all that.  Your first paragraph is pretty much what I am talking about, how the party line is corporations are good.   Tax money going to them or not taken from them is good for everyone in one way or another.  

    Do you really think the corporations, banks, airlines, oil companies, whatever that get government special allowances would close up shop without them?  Or maybe they adjust and keep doing business?  I think the latter.  Maybe there are a few less jobs.  Maybe not.   If you want to take away the personal entitlements, then take all of them away from everyone.    Or you do make a serious effort to use those fund the best way possible for the greater good of the country, not just the upper percentile.   Take that money and pour it back into education and jobs programs.  Maybe with better education our next generations can better figure this out. 

    To me, classism is rooted in the human need to feel superior to others, which in turn is driven by insecurity.  Insecurity is fed on by marketers to get us to want to appear superior to others by owning things others do not have.    But then social justice warriors tend to be elitists too because they hold a different standard of value.    It does cut both ways.  Recognizing that and setting aside the disputes and looking for answers would be nice. 

    There is no way we can all be wealthy, because wealth is based on scarcity.  What we can all be is somewhat comfortable and healthy.  But that's just me.  I've always been someone to try to help others who seem to have it worse than me.  By doing so, I will never be wealthy and that is ok with me.    

  5. So what about the corporate welfare we give away?  Are  you including that in the term entitlement?   Business bailouts, tax abatements, tax exemptions and the like. 

     

    In Texas there are power plants that are constantly contesting their tax assessments downward.  The small rural counties these power plants are in do not have the funds to fight such actions.  State law says that while property tax assessment valuation is being contested, the contestee doesn't have to pay the taxes until it is settled.  Puts these counties in a bind for schools, roads, emergency services.   All the while the corporation is increasing their income by not paying out the taxes and the citizens are having to fork over more to make up for that shortfall.   You would think the cost of the power generated would go down to reflect the tax savings, but no.    So eventually these counties capitulate to accept a lower assessment, just to get something from these companies.  

    Same going on with the "empty building" assessments going on.

    Point is that everyone wants to attack the welfare queens, but they never seem to mention the corporations.  The corporate welfare is protected by stories put out about how they need these tax breaks to keep the economy strong, to keep the jobs and GDP strong. 

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2014/03/14/where-is-the-outrage-over-corporate-welfare/#66cdbdb127dd

    It is a whole lot simpler for people to look at  someone they know not at all and say things about how lazy and shiftless they are.    Maybe they are.  But maybe our society took a lot of wind out of their sails, groomed them to fail from the outset.   I too know people who have immigrated here and done well for themselves.  They weren't raised here for the most part and find small niches in the market to fill.  Like the power washing guy, or the couple who own the Thai restaurant I frequent.   Thing is, they weren't raised here.  They weren't raised in an environment of defeatism. 

    However those niches are disappearing.  Small business is going away.  And so are the jobs.  And automation is replacing jobs too.  Artificial intelligence is grabbing more territory too.  It's beginning to infiltrate the white collar level in a larger way.  Legal and medical are two examples.

    http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/how_artificial_intelligence_is_transforming_the_legal_profession

    If you want to end entitlements, then so be it.  But don't dare do that and leave the corporations with their fat golden eggs. 

    I think there is are good answers that lay in between these two.  I'd like to see us (as a nation) start discussing this middle ground.  Overcome the isolationist movement afoot.  It's rampant through everything now, having fractured our country at home and with our allies.  Until we come together under some common purpose that is greater than racism and classism we won't get there.    There is no way in hell this wasn't Putin's long game.  To divide and conquer us.  Our mighty military bypassed by manipulating our mindset towards devouring each other.

  6. 43 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

    As a young man, Joe Arpaio was an undercover narc. One of his accomplishments in that role was to set up and bust Doug fucking Sahm.

    Sorry, but you lose your Texan card if you have a shred of sympathy for Sheriff Joe. 

    The world is truly an unjust place.  To take Doug and leave Joe.    On the other hand, if that wouldn't have happened, then maybe the whole Doug to California thing never transpires.  

    • Like 1
  7. 8 hours ago, Celery Man said:

    very intimate call, just Beto catching up with whoever donated $20 to his campaign

    yep, pretty much like ted and his conference calls with his PACs

  8. 3 hours ago, sheeeit said:

    Some of this housing talk really misses the point on the original intent of the thread.  I realize it may sound crazy to some, but in the example I provided earlier about a single mom with 2 kids using govt assistance to get a nursing degree, guess what- she might not be able to do it as easily in Austin.  Austin has obviously exploded and that comes with a ton of consequences for those starting out.  But nurses get paid great in every community.  And virtually every major health system will pay for relocation costs.

     

    link to these government assistance programs, please.

  9. And robotics are taking a lot of those skilled jobs away.   As are economies of size.  Modern row crop agriculture is a good indicator of this.  It doesn't take any skill to plow a straight row anymore.  That is all done by computers and GPS systems now.   Larger machines have reduced the workforce too.   

    It is inevitable.  We have to accept these changes and find out ways we can use those changes to make things better for all of us, not just a handful. 

  10. here's some excerpt clips from the tl;dr comments Hugo posted a few pages back.  

     

    The article itself gets more into how Russia is meddling in other democracies around the world, and how now is when we need to be standing with our democratic allies, watching each others' backs from just this sort of tampering. 

    I know it was a long read, but it really lays out what Russia is doing, which in turn points out how Trump is laying out the red carpet and protecting these actions.    But all of this gets washed out by one term "Deep State!" 

    All these Qanon idiots keeping this alive are too blinded by their need to have just one of their conspiracy theories come true.   And Russia planted that crap too.  

    I can only hope that sooner rather than later the voters here wake up to what is going on and how easily they are being influenced and divided.  Somebody has to figure out a way to expose the errors in their logic while still leaving them a way to back out without losing face.    

    I think they would abandon trump fast once they accept he's been using them.  And hopefully there is enough chagrin from being duped that they learn something from it.  Or enough of them do to reduce the power base that put him in office to begin with.  I think we are seeing the beginnings of that.  His shtick is wearing thin with more and more of his supporters. 

    • Like 2
  11. 14 hours ago, DixonHur said:

    Imagine all the prime real estate he could buy on the cheap during a worldwide depression.

    Especially when his pockets are full of Russian cash that needs to be laundered.   Trump dgaf if he owns the building, he just wants his name on it.  Like everything else with this moron, it's all about what he thinks others think about him. 

  12. 36 minutes ago, Goodman said:

    CDC, please do not renew Galindo's contract via espn. Lets get a professional who knows sports and is not a douche, thanks in advance.

    God.  This.  Please.   With an upward inflection on every damn word i just typed.

  13. 2 hours ago, F250 said:

    As long as the U.S. Navy remains the top dog in the world, the U.S. will retain its hegemony. Our navy secures global commerce, without it regional flare-ups would disrupt international trade. China still has a way to go before they can match us in this regard. They won't get control of their region until they have a navy to control it. We have time.

    Granted, Donnie could trade in our Navy for a new fangled Space Force.

     

    Ok, I am not really up on all this, and defer to your knowledge, 250.  But this seems to be in line with how the French viewed the Maginot Line before WW2.  Our navy won't help much if the telecommunications grid that supports it is shot to hell by a group of Russian or Chinese hackers.   

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