Re: I want to start a new political Party

Please Lord, Do you have any ideas for my party? I think they might try to limit my entitlements somehow, we need to start now, before it's to late. They tax SS checks, that must stop. I earned it! Just cause the country is broke don't blame me. Mikek

Why mess with politics? Designing electronics is far more fun. More moral, too.

It's frightfully boring, and boringly frightful.

Agreed. But, to dust off an old Greek guy, "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." --Plato

"Why be ruled by evil men when I could be ruled by a hot chick?," quoth me to a blushing candi-babe. (She won.)

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But you are ruled by greedy men (who strike me as distinctly evil - though they may not realise, any more than you do, that the policies that they are advocating work to their own disadvantage, as well as seriously disadvantaging everybody with less money than they have).

As satire goes, this is pretty pathetic, and exceedingly unoriginal. James Arthur has been making the same kinds of fatuous claims about socialism for years now.

Admittedly, he's got such an extreme case of political tunnel vision that he may believe the twaddle he posts, but your content is pretty much exactly his.

Bill you might be able to help, do you have any planks to add to my platform? I'm just looking for ideas that I can mull over, ideas that might sway 30% of my followers, we can manipulate, buy or lie to get the other 20%. I need planks, thanks, Mikek

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Actually, you need a better understand of what is going on. I've just read Jonathan Israel's "Democratic Enlightenment"

which does cover the basics in fair detail, though you might need to read bit more to pick up the detail of Spinoza's contribution to what was going on then - and is still going on now.

To get a grip on modern socialism - which is all post-1790, though it is clearly based on the Radical Enlightenment - you will need to read more widely. Will Hutton's "The World We're In" could be a good place to start.

You'd be lucky to get sawdust from BS.

Yawn... Take a number and stand in line:

Yawn 2.0... It's been done in UK. A Union Of Welfare Campaigners Fighting To Defend The Welfare State In The United Kingdom And Raise Awareness Of Its Importance. While not exactly a political party, it would be easy enough to hire a few professional candidates to run for office. It could probably be cloned effectively in the USA.

The GUM (great unwashed masses) clamoring for more government handouts don't have enough money to buy an election. What you probably want is the "Corporate Welfare Party".

What's missing is a party slogan. In the past, there's been "a chicken in every pot", "the new deal", "the great society", "tax simplification", etc. However, the recent candidates have not and memorable slogans. You're party can easily fill the slogan gap. I suggest something like "tax until it hurts", "deficit reduction through spending", "after us insolvency", or "the end is near".

To gain attention, don't forget to inscribe the platform in poetry:

Well, I'm not for giving taxpayer money to corporations, on the other hand I think taxing corporations is just hiding the taxes that individuals pay, because we all know the customer pays all corporate taxes. Mikek

There's no need to be for or against anything. You just need to assemble the correct combination of dogma, advocacy, promises, lies, FUD, distortions, endorsements, and policy to get elected. Once elected, you can break your promises and you can do whatever is convenient. For example, Obama's broken promises list:

However, you're correct about taxes. Corporations don't pay taxes. They just pass them on to consumers.

Maybe resurrect the Apathy Party or 2008? The only problem is that none of its members bother to vote.

Of course they do. They just proved it.

We've got plenty to work with:

"Yes we can [take it]" "[our] Fair share [of yours]" "Forward [downward]" "Millionaires and billionaires [i.e., you]" "War on women" "Money for nothing, chicks for free" "O-ba-ma-phone!"

Su casa es mi casa?

Your attempt at satire founders on the simple fact that Obama is effectively a moderate Republican. You are still trying to fight against an invented enemy. You see where that got the Republicans?

James is a little out of touch with reality. The GUM of the USA has just rejected the "Corporate Welfare Party", presumably figuring that corporations were already getting more government handouts than they should, at the expense of the great unwashed, who can't even afford hot water any more.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Perhaps some details on American style politics might be helpful.

The GUM (Great Unwashed Masses) tends to vote for whichever party will support a free lunch or welfare lifestyle. Given the opportunity, the GUM will always vote themselves a free lunch, tax break, or bonus.

Both parties provided the usual creative plans for financing the free lunch and welfare programs. The Democrats itemized how they plan to tax the rich. However, the Republicans could only offer a restructuring of deductions and tax breaks, while refusing to even consider a change in the tax rate, and not bothering to be very specific as to which income classes this would apply.

The GUM may be dense, greedy, clueless, stupid, and dirty, but they can smell money at great distances and see through even the most Byzantine government finance plans. They smelled a probable betrayal and voted for the candidate most likely to deliver. This has great appeal to the immigrant, illegal alien, welfare opportunist, votes-for-sale, and rent-a-voter groups. Unfortunately, I'll shortly be 65 and am slowly morphing from a tax payer into a professional recipient. The metamorphosis will be complete in about a year, after which I plan to live off the tax revenues provided by those still working and paying. Since the USA has a growing senior population (baby boomers) on social security, the preference for the party that offers maximum benefits is understandable. The Republicans promised a combination of disassembling Social Security and imaginative financing. The Democrats delivered severe dilution by adding about 22 million recipients that have never paid into the system, and promised more of the same in the future. Given the choice between two obvious evils, the Democrats seemed slightly less evil.

Please note that both parties subscribe the principles of Corporate Welfare, the Republicans only more so. The Republicans believe in redistributing the wealth in the direction of large corporations in exchange for campaign funding. Eventually, the money will trickle down to the GUM. The Democrats believe in redistributing the wealth towards big government bureaucracies, which act as a proxy for the large corporations. With luck, some of this wealth may actually be used for voter approved worthy programs, but is more likely to absorbed by entitlements and inefficiencies.

Remember, we have the best government that money can buy.

"Popular Wrench Fights a Chinese Rival" The company that makes the Max Axess wrench [the Chinese clone] and other tools for Craftsman, the Apex Tool Group, is being acquired by Bain Capital, the company founded by Mitt Romney, in a $1.6 billion deal.

I just received a notice in the mail that my Social Security Benefit will be increasing because I have continued to work and pay into the system :-) ...Jim Thompson

Jeff, your finely honed cynicism is appreciated but allow to add some information to the above from somebody who just recently made the same metamorphosis.

It's probably needless to say that most of us seniors paid all or a good portion into the SS fund from which we are receiving that pension. In fact, though we were taxed on the paid-in contributions, we are taxed on it again when we receiving it. Luckily not on the full 100%, just on the

I think here again you are a bit sloppy in comparing corporate welfare with GUM welfare. A true corporate welfare is what Obama did with Solindra, for instance, giving taxpayer money to the company without that company contributing first to the Treasury. Giving tax cuts to corporations is not the same thing because you just allow them to keep more of the money they earned in the first place. It's like a mugger, after taking your valet has a change of heart and lets you keep a few dollars for the bus fare to get you home.

On behalf of the other social security recipients and myself, I thank you for your ummm... contribution. Keep up the good work and keep those tax payments coming.

$14,640 limit for 2012. Anything over that, half gets deducted from your Social Security payments.

Drivel: Because I wasn't born in the USA, I was required to present my naturalization documents, passports, name changes, SSI card, licenses, etc papers in person to the local Social Security office. Upon arrival, I was directed to an impressive looking machine that vaguely resembled an ATM. The touch screen offered two choices "English" and "Spanish". I chose "English" causing the machine to immediately vomit a certificate assigning me the number 51. It proclaimed that I would be duly served when my number was called. The wonders of modern electronic technology. I resisted the temptation to press the other button to see what would happen.

The office furnishings included a security guard at the entry door. As soon as I sat down, he immediately approached me, with his hand on his gun. I guessed that he was able to deduce my intention to personally bankrupt the US government social security system, but that wasn't the problem. I always carry a black Mini-Maglite LED flashlight on my belt in a black leather holster. From under my jacket, it looked very much like the barrel of a gun. I carefully removed my flashlight for his inspection, but that was insufficient to calm the guard. He asked if I had any other weapons. I gave him my pocket knife, pocket screwdriver, tuning tool, PDA stylus, and paper clip collection (useful for resetting wireless routers). The guard was about to recite a verse from the scared book of Federal rules and regulations when I was rescued by the a synthesized voice calling number 51.

After a the clerk copied and rubber stamped literally everything I dragged to the office, I approached the guard at the doorway and demanded my weapons be returned. Once again, with his hand on his gun, he carefully returned my flashlight, pocket knife, screwdriver, tuning tool, PDA stylus, and paper clips. I asked if one of the paper clips was missing. When he looked into the basket for the missing paper clip, I made my escape.

Action item: Paint the Mini-Maglite pink.

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What exactly? The roads you use to drive to work? The education that makes you useful at work?

You are and you do. The US has been running a huge balanace of payments deficit since Regan was president, basically to pay for the oil you import, and you need to import less oil.

Fine satirical point, but scarcely original. "A chicken in every pot" goes back a long way.

Probably not, at least not for any length of time.

ut a car.

Depending on what you mean by "survive".

A decrepit second hand clunker. I was driving a 12-year-old car until just before we left the Netherlands, when I sold it for 500 euro ($636). It might have been old, but it was extremely reliable and reasonably quick.

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Getting excited about what the government might do is bad for your blood pressure. If James Arthur is anything to go by, it can rapidly destroy your brain - I think the technical term is "micro-strokes".