Poll - Democrat or Republican?

[terrriho 0]

Have I heard of gerrymandering? You bet, and for those who haven't

Main Entry: 2gerrymander

Function: transitive verb

Inflected Form(s): -dered; ger·ry·man·der·ing /-d(&-)ri[ng]/

1 : to divide (a territorial unit) into election districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few districts as possible

2 : to divide (an area) into political units to give special advantages to one group <gerrymander a school district>

We just went through a major redistricting but it didn't stop my state from electing a Democrat for a governor and a Republican majority in the legislature. I don't think either party is going to get what they want.

As for the 10%/90% thing, my math was never very good. And indeed, I made assumptions about how federal laws affect your life rather than staying with your assertion of obeying the laws. But I will take exception to your statement "..the USA is really 50 separate countries..." Those examples I cited before (and others) govern seamless interstate business, travel and legal issues. All 50 states recognize the same layer of federal government regulations and while each has their own laws and regulations you and I, in different states, will have our lives governed in part by the feds. (for better or worse)

Terri

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

I think where the 90/10 disagreement that we seem to be having is that while there is federal government influence and maybe yes intrusion in my life and yours, the laws which govern our day to day lives are basically local (state, city).

What can I do to violate Social Security regulations?

How can I violate interstate commerce laws, unless I am a business owner? And even then, that would be the business rather than me as a private individual who violates the law.

The regulations on auto emissions, electrical generating plants, sewage disposal and Water quality are not something that we can violate. If we dump anything in the street or the lawn in front of our homes, it will most likely be a local violation, except in rare cases where we got a hold of something extremely toxic.

There are thousands of federal laws out there, but except for pirating CD's and copyright infringement, and maybe insider trading, very few of us will ever be charged with breaking them. And even those laws are seldom broken by individuals.

Murder, theft, burglary, breaking and entering, rape, sodomy, spousal abuse, spitting in the street, traffic violations, drug possession, loitering, disturbing the peace, concealed weapons, etc. are all violations of local laws. There are some drug charges which are also federal, but most are state and local.

I remember a few years ago, a man was challenging the incumbent for his seat in the US Senate. He made promises to clean up the streets of violent crime and many other promises. Many people that I know said they would vote for him, but all the things he promised to change were the jurisdiction of the state.

The fact that the states have miniature versions of the federal government is not governed by the federal government. If a state wanted to set up a system with one house and run their state government like the UK runs their government, they would have to change the state constitution and it would not violate any laws as long as all votes counted evenly. I believe that gerrymandering violates the votes being weighed evenly (IMHO).

Gerrymandering was never good (and If I was king, it would be abolished by a law making all districts as rectangular as possible), but now with computers and so much information, it has gotten to be an almost exact science. Yes, the governor's race will not be effected, but both houses can be controlled by one party long after that state has a majority of votes from the other party.

[green 6]

Wow, so what do the feds control? Other than foreign policy, copy rights, and trading practices and to whom do you pay your taxes? I am a Canadian and thus am ignorant.

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

They control interstate commerce and transactions. They also get involved with drugs though many think that is a reach. If someone grows marijuana in Florida on his fenced off property and uses it in his home in Florida, many people would wonder why the Federal government would be involved. Some would even wonder why the Florida government would be involved.

Florida, the state where I live now, has no state income tax nor does the city that I live in. I pay property tax to my locality and sales tax. In NYC where I lived until 3 years ago, I paid property tax, sales tax, state income tax, city income tax and of course we all pay Federal income tax.

The people down here rave about the lack of taxes, but don't seem to notice the lack of prosperity for the working man (and woman).

I was talking to a man who worked as a burglar alarm installer and repairman, because I was thinking of getting a job doing that. After he told me the pay scale, I remarked, "it is a shame that you are not in a union." He told me he wouldn't want to pay union dues. I told him that in NY his job pays double and the union dues are about $50 per month. He said he still wouldn't want to pay "No union no money". I said, "you wouldn't take a $400 a week raise for $50 a month in dues?"

“NO!”

Well it is the same way about taxes. They are lower here and we get less for our taxes. I guess it is s philosophy. Better to be poor with low taxes than to be better off with higher taxes.

[BJean 16]

There's a Bond issue proposal here in my 'hood in the next election. It is for repairs of schools and some new schools. Most people who don't have children attending schools, say they sure don't want to pay for a bond when our property taxes are so high. Actually our tax rate isn't higher than anyone else's and a little lower than some.

What they don't seem to care about is that if our schools continue to deteriorate, their property values will as well. Owning a home is one of the most important investments that most people have and we should make sure that we protect it.

Personally I keep wondering about all that lotto income and where it's going. I remember in Florida when they wanted us to vote in the lotto they told us that a large percent of it would go to the schools. Yeah, it did. But instead of it being in addition to the money that schools already got, they cut the piece of the property taxes that had been going to schools before the lotto. It was a very dirty trick and that may have happened here in Texas. I wasn't here when they voted it in.

Florida patterned their ad campaign for the lotto after one that Colorado used. Very deceptive and a lousy deal! And it goes to the argument about language usage and "spin" that has been going on in another LBT thread.

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

Yes, it does.

They used the lottery money for education as they claimed they would. But they never said that they would not remove just as much money from education which had previously came from the general budget.

Shame on all those who fell for it in each state after the first state did it. :faint:

That is why I said we each live in one of the United (but separate) States. It is sort of like feudal England.

The lottery is an ingenious system to make taxes regressive.

[green 6]

Our property taxes support much of the infrastructure of the city that I live in. The property tax covers pretty much everything including our school system and the welfare safety net: the safety net would include public housing and welfare payments.

Our income tax, provincial and federal, is collected by the feds who in turn give the provinces their share. The poor provinces receive transfer payments from the wealthy provinces. This is in the nature of welfare at the provincial level. The provinces are responsible for maintaining the universal health care programme inside each province and for the school system in rural areas and small villages. They are also responsible for welfare in these areas. And of course they are responsible for the provincial police and for the provincial roads and highways.

We also have federal and provincial sales taxes. These amount to fourteen percent in my province. This is our tax system simplified. We pay much more tax than you do.

You might be interested to know that I pay union dues and that these are tax deductible.

[green 6]

I think that all citizens should pay for the educational system. We all profit from having a citizenry that is well-educated and prosperous. Lack of education, poverty, criminal activities, and, well, just generally dysfunctional neighbourhoods all seem to go together. I don't have kids but I am not resentful of paying taxes that go towards the education system. Better the kiddies are in school and learning than loitering in the streets looking for someone to mug, eh.

[BJean 16]

Definitely, Green. You must be brighter and less greedy that many of the older folks in the U.S. of A. Although it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

[L8BloomR 1]

Has anyone noticed that the poll results at this point is at almost 38% of Republicans, yet very few have had the courage to post a response? I don't think it means they are "ashamed", I think it means that they do not feel safe here because of the judgemental and somewhat sarcastic musings from some. Maybe this could become a little more "open-minded discussion" of issues, and less of an "I know better than you do" group of statements? IMOHO... I don't want to spoil the party, I just think we all feel differently about things and should show respect for others beliefs.

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

Has anyone noticed that the poll results at this point is at almost 38% of Republicans, yet very few have had the courage to post a response? I don't think it means they are "ashamed", I think it means that they do not feel safe here because of the judgemental and somewhat sarcastic musings from some. Maybe this could become a little more "open-minded discussion" of issues, and less of an "I know better than you do" group of statements? IMOHO... I don't want to spoil the party, I just think we all feel differently about things and should show respect for others beliefs.

Then people should join in a say what they have on their minds. Do you expect me, a liberal to make conservative statements?

OK, I will admit we really needed to go into Iraq because the USA was about to be destroyed by Saddam Hussein's Nuclear bombs which were going to be smuggled into the USA by his cousin Osama Bin Laden.

Now will some conservative or Republican please state that we didn't need to go into Iraq and BuSh was wrong?

[cahuber 0]

IF the state of Texas used the $8B (yes, BILLION) in lottery money on education (as our current governor says they did), we'd have one heckuva great education system. Instead, we rank 38 out of 51 ... tell me again, dear gov, where the money went? We know it wasn't to pay the teachers ... many of them have to have a part time job just to survive.

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

Yes, I was being sarcastic, but why would anyone fear posting their ideas? No one has been called any foul names in this thread or the few other political threads going on between this section and the "Rant and Rave" section.

Of course we who are posting are typing in our thoughts on these matters. If no one wants to post their feeling which may differ, why is that our fault? I do not know anyone at this forum. They are just names in cyberspace.

In fact, I do not exist. I am an artificial intelligence program, programmed to respond against all things right. Politically right that is.

Right is wrong. Left is right. Failure to compute!! Reanalyzing!!

Right is wrong. Left is right. Therefor, left is right is wrong and right and left are both wrong. All humans except moderate independents must be eradicated. All Republicans and all Democrats must surrender to nearest sports stadiums for termination proceedings.

[L8BloomR 1]

TOM, that answer is exactly what I am talking about. It is so sarcastic and would be pointless to try to answer. I don't have enough time or energy to play ping pong with someone who just wants to pound home their point of view. I was just trying to convey that most of us believe what we believe just as strongly as anyone else, and since this was a thread asking what political party we all belonged to, I thought it would be helpful if people didn't feel attacked or ridiculed when they responded to it.

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

That was not supposed to be answered. It was supposed to be funny.

If anyone feels that the members who have been espousing their ideas in this thread have been leaning too heavily to one side, then they should say what they think. I was being sarcastic because while people have been drowned out at some forums by personal attacks, no personal attacks have occurred here.

I will not post in this thread anymore. If that makes members feel safe enough to post, that will be my good deed for today.

Sorry if my humor offended anyone. I was just doing my Star-Trek Computer Impersonation.