Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Huffignton Post Comments, 12/10/2012

Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
prudencehall
Your logic is flawed!  
Me
Would you care to enlighten me as to how my logic is flawed?
prudencehall
Your logic is clearly flawed when you use one specious example to disprove another unrelated example. 
Me
Stop me when I am wrong:

1. this article is about there being a lot of homeless
2. the government has spent lots to reduce the numbers of homeless
3. the government has failed to reduce the numbers of the homeless

These are three facts. After I made two of them, I pointed out that the government always fails to achieve its stated goals and expressed my surprise that people who have witnessed the continuing failures of the government want to have more of it.

How is any of that specious?

How is any of that unrelated to the subject at hand? 

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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
SmartladyDem
So you will not accept your medicare services when you reach 65?

Oh yeah, you weren't talking about you.  
Me
I don't know what my plans are when I reach 65. I do know that that program cannot continue to exist while running a deficit. If we do not make an attempt to fix the problems with it, then it will not exist when I turn 65.

Why would I be the subject of your discussion?
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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
FanOfProgress
Government bashing is so 2010. Time for the Republicans to wake up and realize that our government is not the enemy. Stop whining and start offering ideas. 
Me
Like the ideas that you offered in that comment?

This article is about the fact that there are lots of homeless despite all of the government attempts to end poverty and improve our economy. We've had a "war on poverty" for more than 40 years. The government has spent trillions of dollars on reducing poverty. How is that not another example of the government not doing what it said that it would do?

If the government did not reduce poverty over the last 40 years, then what makes you think that it will in the coming years?

Here are some ideas to improve the economy:

Don't require mountains of paperwork to start a business
Don't regulate how, when, and where we can buy healthcare insurance
Don't tax the only people capable of hiring at higher rates
Balance the budget
Stop bailouts for people and companies that have spent themselves into bankruptcy

Or would you prefer just to continue to declare that I am "whining" rather than offer actual substantive thoughts?
FanOfProgress
Sounds like even more whining to me but since you asked for my "substantive thoughts" I will happily give them to you.

The economic turmoil this world is facing today comes from the failed notion of supply side (trickle down) economics, a lack of regulation on Wall Street and $4 trillion of war expenses that were taken off the budget and called "Emergency Expenditures" by the Bush administration after 9/11.

So... why are there so many homeless people? Why are so many of the veterans?

Maybe... just maybe... we should try staying out of ground invasions for a while and work on that good old "nation building at home" and then we won't see so many homeless people. 

When Republicans stop obstructing everything Obama tries to do (and I do mean everything) then maybe we will start to see the homeless problem and some others making progress. 

In the meantime, we will listen toy your whining a bit longer but when 2014 comes, your days of obstructionism are over.
Me
Don't those of you on the left ever get tired of name calling and insults?

Why is it that so many on the left claim that all republicans do in arguments is use "talking points," and then use themselves mostly talking points? (see: your second, fourth, and fifth paragraph)

From 2008 to 2010 the democrats had the white house, senate, and house and yet they were incapable of even passing a budget.

There have been two parties since near the beginning of this country. The republicans obstruct because what the democrats want to to is make our problems worse.

How can you claim that we live with a lack of regulations when Obamacare alone adds more than 2,000 pages of new regulations?

Many of you on the left claim that our problems were caused by not enough government. How can that be the case when we have social security, minimum wage laws, OSHA, Obamacare etc. You can claim that we are better off with those things but you cannot claim that we are unregulated, or "free." 
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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.

Franklin Smith
The government isn't going to "run" your healthcare. They are providing a means for you to acquire it. Knock off the ad hominem nonsense. 
Me

The government does indeed "run" healthcare in this country.

Examples:
Laws dictate that I cannot buy health insurance over state lines
Laws dictate that I cannot buy health insurance with low premiums and a high deductible
Laws dictate that insurance companies must cover children until they are 26
Laws dictate that all people will be required to buy health insurance or be fined

How do you define "running our healthcare system"?

Give me a definition and I will show you how the government "runs" it. 
Franklin Smith
Doctors, nurses and hospitals "run" your healthcare. And before you respond with examples of  laws covering those three examples, consider that laws don't administer or "run" your healthcare, they regulate it.
Me
You have not defined "running healthcare," you have said who, you think, does it.

How is regulating healthcare different from "running" it?

Are you saying that the government does not do actual healthcare "work"? That is true, but the government does decide what work is done and how it is paid for.

That is very similar to how a factory manager "runs" a factory. He decided what is done and how it is paid for, despite not doing the manual "work." 
Franklin Smith
I don't have the patience right now to debate semantics with you. I understand your point of view. Thanks for the civil discussion.
Me
My thanks for the civil discussion.

Although I do doubt that you fully understand my position. Or could guess who I voted for.

http://spootville.blogspot.com/2012/11/im-not-voting.html

Have a nice day. 


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Editor's note: These are all of the replies to my one comment.  Notice that not one so far has offered a substantive criticism of my argument.  They prefer to say, "stop arguing" rather than make an actual argument.

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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
SubgeniusMustHaveSlack
republickconism is pathetic sociopathy. 
Me
Its cute how you called my thoughts "republickconism" with a "k."

It must be terrible having no actual arguments and resorting to insults instead. :( 
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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
PivotalForce
The government does a lot of good, the problem is companies paying less than a living wage so they can bump up their stock prices and give million dollar bonuses to upper management.
Me
Can you give me one example of where the government does good, while not also causing lots of unintended side effects that make the problem worse?

The people not being paid "a living wage" (who gets to define that?) are the people who don't yet have the skills to make more.

If a company like McDonalds needed to raise its employees' pay, then it would need to increase the prices of its food. 
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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
rothomaha
Do you travel on roads, do you take public transportation, do you call the police when you need them, do the firemen come when you have a fire? Do you have a library, clean water to drink, parks for your children to play in? Shall I go on? Think before you post! 
Me
40,000 people each year die on American roads. This would not be acceptable if the roads were privately owned. Why are 40,000 deaths each year acceptable because they are overseen by the government?

http://mises.org/document/4084/The-Privatization-of-Roads-and-Highways

I own a car and have no need for public transportation.
The police seem only to be good for giving me speeding tickets.
I haven't had a fire. Why couldn't fire departments be privatized?
I have a kindle library (free books), no need for a government library.
I drink from a well.
Who would take their kids to a filthy public park? I suppose that you would suggest that after the dirty park I take my (imaginary) kids to a public restroom. How gross could that get?

Please do go on.

I'm rather insulted by the fact that you think that my comment was written unthinkingly rather than from years of study on a variety of subjects.

My above link is an example of a book that I have read on how roads could be privatized and made much safer. I have read countless books, traveled, and witnessed life from poverty to wealth. It is very insulting to have my thoughts dismissed without even an actual argument as to why I am incorrect.

Since you ended your comment with advice, I will do the same:

Don't assume things about people
Don't insult people
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Me
The government has spent trillions on reducing poverty and yet we still have poor people. That's not surprising when you realize the government is incapable of doing anything good. And yet many of you want this same incompetent government to run your healthcare. I can't imagine why.
Robert Karp
That is because that money is going to over inflated salaries instead.  
I did not bother to respond.

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Notice that after all of the replies that I received to this comment, that not one responded to my argument that the government is incompetent, except that one said, "The government does a lot of good,".  Is anyone convinced after that?

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One more reply for the day, after stopped being interested for the day.

Republiconmen
Sorry, almost half of Obama's budget goes to pay Republican created debt. 
Republicans created the debt, NOT DEMS AND NOT OBAMA.  OBAMA HAS TO REPAY THE DEBTS REPUBLICANS RAN UP JUST AS THEY ALWAYS DO!

BOTH PARTIES ARE NOT TO BLAME REPUBLICANS ARE TO BLAME! TAX CUTS FOR 11 YEARS, 2 UNPAID FOR WARS!  YOU DON'T DEAL WITH REALITY!?
Does the word "rabid" sound about right? How about insane? Occasionally I think that I clearly win a debate (see: Franklin Smith above), but I doubt that anything I could write would make the slightest difference to this person.

Why do people ever write in all caps?

4 comments:

  1. You have alot more stamina than I do, dealing with such immaturity has to be pyschologically taxing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have to have fun while doing so.

      Whenever you talk about freedom, smile. - Milton Friedman

      But I onlty do this once a week.

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    2. I especially like the guy who tells you to "...knock off the ad hominem nonsense," notwithstanding that there's nothing in your post which might even be mistakenly considered an ad hominem argument.

      Vox Day and Steve Sailor both linked to a discussion on 'heterotopic' versus 'sensitivity based discourse'. Liberals it seems are exceedingly drawn to the sensitivity based discourse, and hence they take any argument against their position most personally.

      Delete
    3. I saw that post and will try to remember it for next week.

      Stay tuned for my 2:00 post. I've been laughing ever since I read it. Liberals are so stupid.

      Delete