Walmart on Welfare

[dbackjon]

Bernie Sanders

Is the best Senator out there. The United States would be a much better place if there were more like him in Government.

[dbackjon]

I stopped reading at Bernie Sanders

Too bad - shows how closed minded you are.

[dbackjon]

Those 15-24, the majority of those currently making the current fed minimum wage of 7.25 an hr, don't need an increase in the minimum wage. Teenagers, high school & college age, mostly living at home with mommy & daddy, on their 1st job(s), don't need to be making $10 an hr...

The minimum wage should be left up to the states. They should be allowed to set their own wage at whatever level they choose.

The median age of big box retail workers is 30. For Mcdonalds workers it's 29.

Don't confuse him with facts - that undermines his closed mindedness

[Baldy]

Bernie Sanders

Is the best Senator out there. The United States would be like Cuba if there were more like him in Government.

Accuracy.

[Ibanez]

[CID1990]

Bernie Sanders

Is the best Senator out there. The United States would be a much better place if there were more like him in Government.

Yeah ok.

[kalm]

Is the best Senator out there. The United States would be like Sweden if there were more like him in Government.

Accuracy.

[FCS PATRIOTS]

Wal-Mart is successful because it provides plastic sh!t at a super cheap price...
America can't enough Chinese made plastic sh!t

If you want things made out of wood
or of superior design and craftsmanship you literally cannot shop at Wal-Mart

But we don't want that (in droves) we don't want it
We'll line up NOT to get that

What WE want is Chinese made plastic sh!t - and nobody has more of that than Wal-Mart
So they win

Debate that if you can...

THREAD OVER! CHIZZANG NAILED IT!

[CID1990]

Accuracy.

That's reason enough to not want too many Bernie Sanderses

[Grizalltheway]

That's reason enough to not want too many Bernie Sanderses

Yeah, those Swedes seem pretty fucking miserable.

[dbackjon]

Is the best Senator out there. The United States would be like Cuba if there were more like him in Government.

Accuracy.

More like Sweden

[dbackjon]

Accuracy.

You beat me to it

[CID1990]

That's reason enough to not want too many Bernie Sanderses

Yeah, those Swedes seem pretty **** miserable.

Most Americans do not want the tax burden that Swedes currently have. They are of a completely different mindset, in general. I don't begrudge Sweden their comfortably subsidized lives, but once Sweden starts having to pay for their own defense instead of having the US do it for them, their pigeons will come home to roost.

[Cap'n Cat]

Yeah, those Swedes seem pretty **** miserable.

Most Americans do not want the tax burden that Swedes currently have. They are of a completely different mindset, in general. I don't begrudge Sweden their comfortably subsidized lives, but once Sweden starts having to pay for their own defense instead of having the US do it for them, their pigeons will come home to roost.

I've read Conk comments such as the highlighted above here for years. It's arrogant, militaristic and paternalistic. My guess is that, if you asked the Swedes about the US allegedly "footing the bill" for their defense, a majority would say, "Fuck it, then. Wrap it up and take it home, you Yank cocksuckers."

The "defense" of Sweden is there, because WE want it to be there, not because they cower in fear at any bogeyman and beg at our feet for advanced bombers and missiles. The great difference with countries like Sweden and the United States is that the former leans toward peace and a happy citizenry, whereas the latter is warlike, aggressive and paranoid. The Cold War lives on the US. It does not in Sweden. They laugh at us, not with us, guys.

[AZGrizFan]

Most Americans do not want the tax burden that Swedes currently have. They are of a completely different mindset, in general. I don't begrudge Sweden their comfortably subsidized lives, but once Sweden starts having to pay for their own defense instead of having the US do it for them, their pigeons will come home to roost.

I've read Conk comments such as the highlighted above here for years. It's arrogant, militaristic and paternalistic. My guess is that, if you asked the Swedes about the US allegedly "footing the bill" for their defense, a majority would say, "Fuck it, then. Wrap it up and take it home, you Yank cocksuckers."

The "defense" of Sweden is there, because WE want it to be there, not because they cower in fear at any bogeyman and beg at our feet for advanced bombers and missiles. The great difference with countries like Sweden and the United States is that the former leans toward peace and a happy citizenry, whereas the latter is warlike, aggressive and paranoid. The Cold War lives on the US. It does not in Sweden. They laugh at us, not with us, guys.

Yeah. That's why they provide so many troops to solve problems on the European continent. Europe would shit a collective brick if we took our ball and went home (although I really, really REALLY wish we would).

[Cap'n Cat]

I've read Conk comments such as the highlighted above here for years. It's arrogant, militaristic and paternalistic. My guess is that, if you asked the Swedes about the US allegedly "footing the bill" for their defense, a majority would say, "Fuck it, then. Wrap it up and take it home, you Yank cocksuckers."

The "defense" of Sweden is there, because WE want it to be there, not because they cower in fear at any bogeyman and beg at our feet for advanced bombers and missiles. The great difference with countries like Sweden and the United States is that the former leans toward peace and a happy citizenry, whereas the latter is warlike, aggressive and paranoid. The Cold War lives on the US. It does not in Sweden. They laugh at us, not with us, guys.

Yeah. That's why they provide so many troops to solve problems on the European continent. Europe would shit a collective brick if we took our ball and went home (although I really, really REALLY wish we would).

Um, Z, many of those PROBLEMS on the European continent were generated by the United States and the Soviet Union as a function of the Cold War (which we lost, history is beginning to reveal). The buildup was somewhat of a help after WWII with keeping order, but most of the following seven decades were nothing but an (EXPENSIVE) occupation legitimized by American propaganda that the Russian wolf was ready to enslave them all…….and protection for lecherous US conglomerates.

You and Reagan, two backward Cold Warriors, willing to spend our nation's treasure on the calliope of paranoia……….

[AZGrizFan]

Um, Z, many of those PROBLEMS on the European continent were generated by the United States and the Soviet Union as a function of the Cold War (which we lost, history is beginning to reveal). The buildup was somewhat of a help after WWII with keeping order, but most of the following seven decades were nothing but an (EXPENSIVE) occupation legitimized by American propaganda that the Russian wolf was ready to enslave them all…….and protection for lecherous US conglomerates.

You and Reagan, two backward Cold Warriors, willing to spend our nation's treasure on the calliope of paranoia……….

Perhaps you've missed my multitude of posts over the years regarding my desire to GTFO out Europe entirely? I would love nothing MORE than for Europe to shoulder it's own load, and for the US to stop being the world's policeman. Until that changes there won't be any significant economic improvement in the living conditions of America's poor. Unless we're willing to continue borrowing$1T more per year than we bring in.

And I would LOVE to hear how "history" is revealing that we lost the cold war. Take a good, long, hard look at what's behind the facade in Sochi, Russia. 98% of Russians would fucking LOVE to come to America and live like our "poor" do.

[Chizzang]

Most Americans do not want the tax burden that Swedes currently have. They are of a completely different mindset, in general. I don't begrudge Sweden their comfortably subsidized lives, but once Sweden starts having to pay for their own defense instead of having the US do it for them, their pigeons will come home to roost.

If you're predicting the downfall of Sweden:
Based entirely on our ability to remove our military from Europe then you have completely ignored our past and seriously under estimated the lunacy of our present course...

But I like your spirit

[Cap'n Cat]

Um, Z, many of those PROBLEMS on the European continent were generated by the United States and the Soviet Union as a function of the Cold War (which we lost, history is beginning to reveal). The buildup was somewhat of a help after WWII with keeping order, but most of the following seven decades were nothing but an (EXPENSIVE) occupation legitimized by American propaganda that the Russian wolf was ready to enslave them all…….and protection for lecherous US conglomerates.

You and Reagan, two backward Cold Warriors, willing to spend our nation's treasure on the calliope of paranoia……….

Perhaps you've missed my multitude of posts over the years regarding my desire to GTFO out Europe entirely? I would love nothing MORE than for Europe to shoulder it's own load, and for the US to stop being the world's policeman. Until that changes there won't be any significant economic improvement in the living conditions of America's poor. Unless we're willing to continue borrowing$1T more per year than we bring in.

And I would LOVE to hear how "history" is revealing that we lost the cold war. Take a good, long, hard look at what's behind the facade in Sochi, Russia. 98% of Russians would fucking LOVE to come to America and live like our "poor" do.

I'll start a thread sometime, Z. Briefly, my thought is that it was the Soviet Union who led us around by a leash, making us unnecessarily spend all that cash over what was really hysteria. And they knew it! I've read many passages describing internal Politburo disbelief at how America's presidents and military completely missed the mark and overreacted to Cold War minutiae.
Also, we could not penetrate the Soviet Union with spies as they could readily do in the US. If you lined up all the spy v spy, CIA v KGB capers, the Soviet Union comes out WAY ahead, if you examine the history. In addition, the Russians/Soviets had been in the spy business since the beginning of (their) time, around 900 CE. America, when one looks at it from a long-range and 50,000 foot perspective, was still in an overall "adolescence" in its existence 1945-1991 and struggled to build organic espionage institutions, procedures and practices. It was all we could do to hang on.
Yeah, the Soviet Union ended up collapsing because it couldn't keep up with the American Joneses, but that was by the mere brute force of arms, not the ideological struggle it once was. To this day, we suffer many espionage humiliations because we are still outclassed and outmanned and charged with a different mandate.

My point re Sweden is that the "defense" of Europe is the choice we've made. Sure, the communities around bases might like the dollars, but, it's a violation of sovereignty anymore as the original goals have now passed. The locals could probably do with a few less rapes every year by US servicemen, too.

[Baldy]

Accuracy.

More like Sweden

Hey, if you want to live in a homogenous, mono-chromatic society with 60%+ tax rates where the cost of living is sky high, and upward mobility is virtually nonexistent. What's stopping you from moving?

[Cap'n Cat]

More like Sweden

Hey, if you want to live in a homogenous, mono-chromatic society with 60%+ tax rates where the cost of living is sky high, and upward mobility is virtually nonexistent. What's stopping you from moving?

Take your 1000 sq ft storage unit filled with old Limbaugh Letters to Stockholm and help them see the light, your Baldness.

[kalm]

More like Sweden

Hey, if you want to live in a homogenous, mono-chromatic society with 60%+ tax rates where the cost of living is sky high, and upward mobility is virtually nonexistent. What's stopping you from moving?

A few years dated but it probably hasn't changed much:

Is America the "land of opportunity"? Not so much.

A new report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) finds that social mobility between generations is dramatically lower in the U.S. than in many other developed countries.

]So if you want your children to climb the socioeconomic ladder higher than you did, move to Canada.

The report finds the U.S. ranking well below Denmark, Australia, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Spain in terms of how freely citizens move up or down the social ladder. Only in Italy and Great Britain is the intensity of the relationship between individual and parental earnings even greater.

For instance, according to the OECD, 47 percent of the economic advantage that high-earning fathers in the United States have over low-earning fathers is transmitted to their sons, compare to, say, 17 percent in Australia and 19 percent in Canada.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/1 ... 01788.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CID1990]

Most Americans do not want the tax burden that Swedes currently have. They are of a completely different mindset, in general. I don't begrudge Sweden their comfortably subsidized lives, but once Sweden starts having to pay for their own defense instead of having the US do it for them, their pigeons will come home to roost.

If you're predicting the downfall of Sweden:
Based entirely on our ability to remove our military from Europe then you have completely ignored our past and seriously under estimated the lunacy of our present course...

But I like your spirit

I'm not predicting their downfall, but I do believe that the social benefits of Swedish citizenship will take a major hit with a recalcitrant US and a resurgent (and aggressive) Russia. And the Swedes were never afraid to spend defense dollars when they had to- Saab developed some of the best air superiority fighters outside the US. But therein lies their problem- Finland, Denmark, and all of the Baltic States are not going to give up their own social paradises in favor of defense spending, but Sweden will. And they will find themselves in the curious position of basically being the #2 military power in Europe behind Germany. They will have to significantly tighten their belts.

But yeah. My pessimistic side tells me we will have significant military assets in places like Germany and Korea well after I am gone from this earth. It is nice to dream, though

Edit: eventually, we will have NO choice but to leave some of those places. China is going to financially leverage us out of the world police business

[Cap'n Cat]

Hey, if you want to live in a homogenous, mono-chromatic society with 60%+ tax rates where the cost of living is sky high, and upward mobility is virtually nonexistent. What's stopping you from moving?

A few years dated but it probably hasn't changed much:

Is America the "land of opportunity"? Not so much.

A new report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) finds that social mobility between generations is dramatically lower in the U.S. than in many other developed countries.

]So if you want your children to climb the socioeconomic ladder higher than you did, move to Canada.

The report finds the U.S. ranking well below Denmark, Australia, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Spain in terms of how freely citizens move up or down the social ladder. Only in Italy and Great Britain is the intensity of the relationship between individual and parental earnings even greater.

For instance, according to the OECD, 47 percent of the economic advantage that high-earning fathers in the United States have over low-earning fathers is transmitted to their sons, compare to, say, 17 percent in Australia and 19 percent in Canada.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/1 ... 01788.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Baldy, again:

[AZGrizFan]

Perhaps you've missed my multitude of posts over the years regarding my desire to GTFO out Europe entirely? I would love nothing MORE than for Europe to shoulder it's own load, and for the US to stop being the world's policeman. Until that changes there won't be any significant economic improvement in the living conditions of America's poor. Unless we're willing to continue borrowing$1T more per year than we bring in.

And I would LOVE to hear how "history" is revealing that we lost the cold war. Take a good, long, hard look at what's behind the facade in Sochi, Russia. 98% of Russians would fucking LOVE to come to America and live like our "poor" do.

I'll start a thread sometime, Z. Briefly, my thought is that it was the Soviet Union who led us around by a leash, making us unnecessarily spend all that cash over what was really hysteria. And they knew it! I've read many passages describing internal Politburo disbelief at how America's presidents and military completely missed the mark and overreacted to Cold War minutiae.
Also, we could not penetrate the Soviet Union with spies as they could readily do in the US. If you lined up all the spy v spy, CIA v KGB capers, the Soviet Union comes out WAY ahead, if you examine the history. In addition, the Russians/Soviets had been in the spy business since the beginning of (their) time, around 900 CE. America, when one looks at it from a long-range and 50,000 foot perspective, was still in an overall "adolescence" in its existence 1945-1991 and struggled to build organic espionage institutions, procedures and practices. It was all we could do to hang on.
Yeah, the Soviet Union ended up collapsing because it couldn't keep up with the American Joneses, but that was by the mere brute force of arms, not the ideological struggle it once was. To this day, we suffer many espionage humiliations because we are still outclassed and outmanned and charged with a different mandate.

Nothing you've said makes ANY kind of argument for the Soviet Union WINNING the cold war.

While I agree with you on the spying thing (although I think that is related WAY more to the ability to develop spy networks in FREE countries vs countries that are locked down like Auschwitz), the spending was what drove them into oblivion. And they're STILL in oblivion. Again, look behind the facade in seaport "tourist" towns like Sochi. Makes our "slums" look like Park Avenue.