Good points.

Your comments in relation to the GOP are valid arguments. I wish you’d argue like that on subjects where we don’t agree instead of (for example) the string of nasty words you use in your second paragraph about the Dems. You’d find the other commenters much more receptive if you did that.

My opinion is the GFC was so bad it scared the sh*t out of people. It ‘s been harder to recover because it hurt much more people, and hit them harder. A lot of people learnt the lesson that they need to have more assets behind them. Too many were borrowing, and being given credit, (it was a two-way street as far as blame goes) against the increased value of their houses. Since then, people have been using any extra money to increase their savings and especially to pay down debt.

Businesses have actually got plenty of cash. The problem is demand people aren’t buying because they still feel insecure because of what happened in the GFC. The GOP is proposing giving tax cuts to business to get them to create jobs, but that’s not the problem. The weak businesses have collapsed. Those still going have already got the money to create jobs, but nobody’s buying. What’s needed is an increase in the incomes of the poor, because they spend all, or almost all, of any extra money they get. That’s why, in the current environment, an increase in the minimum wage is what’s needed (among other things). It’s Macroeconomics 101.

I’m skeptical there’s that much practical difference between a two-party system versus multi-party. When you have a binary choice, each party’s raison d’etre is to get to 50% +1. Winning inevitably trumps ideology, and principles are compromised. That’s why true believers in both parties are perpetually frustrated. It’s why zealots like Grandpa Sanders don’t join parties. And it’s why the Oval Office almost always changes hands when the lease expires.

Despite the sideshows, the Republicans have been blessed with an exceptional number of highly qualified candidates compared to the other side. Kasich, Bush, Rubio, Pataki, Perry, Walker, Jindal, Fiorina, Christie, Graham: All perfectly reasonable centrists with actual accomplishments. All vastly more qualified than any Democrat candidate in decades — let alone extremist ideologues like Obama and Grandpa Sanders, or sleazy connivers and scofflaws like Grandma Clinton and her old man, the randy hillbilly.

93% of US counties still haven’t recovered from the recession. Come November the Republicans will be unified and determined to end this madness and save humanity.

Meanwhile, the Dems ain’t doing so good themselves: “In January, Republicans will occupy 32 of the nation’s governorships, 10 more than they did in 2009. Democratic losses in state legislatures under Obama rank among the worst in the last 115 years, with 816 Democratic lawmakers losing their jobs and Republican control of legislatures doubling since the president took office….The average age of the three top Democratic leaders in the House is 75, while the three most senior Republican leaders — with the new speaker of the House, Paul D. Ryan — average 48 years old…Hillary Rodham Clinton is 68; Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, is 74; and the biggest intrigue had been whether Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who turns 73 next week, would join them.” — NY Times, 13 November 2015.

I agree. I’m wondering if it might be evidence for hope though. The GOP can’t handle the forces pulling it in so many different directions for much longer – the Libertarians, the Tea Party, the Evangelicals, and the Establishment, are all fighting for control. In countries like NZ, all those sorts of groups are separate parties, and elections show that despite some of the making a very loud noise and getting lots of media time because of it, very few people actually vote for them. It effectively puts them in their place, and more moderate parties rise to the fore.

It’s been my opinion for a long time that the US electoral system needs a major reformation, and if the GOP implodes, maybe that will be a catalyst for it to happen. At the moment, there are too many on both sides who have an interest in maintaining the status quo.

I hope more Republicans come to their senses like your brother did. That’s refreshing to hear.

Real Paxton here. I guess I’m subconsciously modeling myself on “The Donald”. Here’s an interesting take on how he has defined the terms of the Republican debate:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/01/15/republicans-have-surrendered-to-donald-trump/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_most

Yeah, I see the point, but I think too much is made of it.

He has the same e-mail and IP address, so I’ve assumed it’s the same person.

I think it’s a bit of a stretch to call capitalism an Enlightenment value, though I see your logic. Don’t forget the Protestant work ethic came before the Enlightenment, and I suspect that has a lot more do do with it.

Obama recognizing that a big part of the problem in the ME was caused by the US is not a problem. Doing things like carpet bombing, which several candidates are promising, would create another DAESH. It was things like the hundreds of thousands of innocents that were killed during the Iraq war, and the use of things like depleted uranium shells, that caused ongoing resentment. Candidates are saying that by being in Raqqa, the people are guilty, but many of them have nowhere else to go, and can’t get away even if they could afford it. The only way they can survive is by cooperating with the regime. It is to Obama’s credit that he is doing his best to try and avoid civilian casualties.

Christie implied that that’s what Obama should be doing by making the comment he did. There is a meme amongst many Republicans that America is less respected than is was in 2008, but that’s simply not true. Obama is very highly respected by the majority of other nations/heads of state.

I think Sanders would do better than most people think, though I suspect the Democrats won’t let him win the nomination. Everyone’s focusing on whether someone like Trump could win the Republican nomination, but if Clinton is found to have done anything illegal, there could be big trouble and lots of insider trading on the Democrat side. I suspect someone like Biden will be asked to step in and there will be all sorts of horse trading at their conference.

Thanks Mark. 🙂

I din’t know that stuff about Cruz’s mother. I’ve heard him denying something like that, and that must be the reason he was denying it – because of what you said. Cruz is one of those people I think who thinks the end justifies the means, especially when it’s for, in his opinion, the greater glory of God. He thinks his campaign is blessed and therefore whatever he does is OK. It’s scary.

As I said to Brujo Feo, I do wonder how much this has to do with the idea of someone as revolting as Cruz becoming president. And I say it as well – I too would even prefer Trump to Cruz.

My brother is a Republican from way back. He has all the credentials – MBA from Yale, former Wall Street Trader for a company everyone knows the name of etc – but he told me at Christmas (and he told me I could mention it on the website) that he was now officially a Democrat. He can’t get over how extreme they all are. None of the current crop of candidates are fit to be president in his opinion, and their policies are just crazy, he says.