tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post905764578673960698..comments2024-03-17T12:51:46.412-07:00Comments on Cutting Through The Crap: UndecidedSid Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-11927241362963805712012-09-26T07:53:41.638-07:002012-09-26T07:53:41.638-07:00Good comment, Timmyson. I agree that when you comp...Good comment, Timmyson. I agree that when you compare the two parties against, say other parts of the world, they aren't all that different in many ways.<br /><br />However, what R and his Rs are proposing, if carried out, would drastically reduce domestic spending on really important (to me, anyway) stuff, compared to what the Ds propose. And they'd do it in order to increase defense spending and further to decrease taxes on the most wealthy. That's not really in dispute.<br /><br />To my commenters who like to repeat the RWS™ talking points about golf games and how many pages are in the Affordable Care Act, I ask them to say if they agree with those cuts and increases; they remain silent.<br /><br />I think Obama accomplished most of what he said he'd do, despite massive and unified opposition from the Rs. Health care, ending the war in Iraq, Wall Street reform (admittedly puny), the stimulus: all pretty big deals. And a lot of other stuff, including equal pay for women, ending DADT, etc..<br /><br />I do agree -- and have written -- that Obama's approach to businesses isn't much different from Romney's; although my point in raising it is in response to the oft repeated and easily swallowed R claim that Obama hates capitalism and has been bad for business. <br /><br />As to same sex marriage: I do think voting has much to do with it, although I agree it's sort of following the movement. We'll be voting in my state whether to reverse a law that allows it. That the trend is looking good has to do with many things: maybe at the top of the list is the realization, via TV shows, etc, that gays are human beings. <br /><br />But the fact that the president acted on DADT and DOMA, and has finally fully supported same sex marriage is not, in my opinion, incidental. <br /><br />And if Mitt Romney (or the people that have bought him) gets his way there'd be a constitutional ban on same sex marriage; making all abortion under all circumstances illegal; voucherizing Medicare; privatizing social security; cutting public investment in schools, roads, cops, firefighters, all so drastically that there'd be no way forward. As I see it.<br /><br />So, yeah, when the dust settles and Congress has its way, differences shrink; and maybe that's a good thing. But the visions of the two are pretty different. <br /><br />And I think public opinion, which translates into voting, has much to do with our wars, both going in and getting out. Romney's made it clear he's of the Bush view: you gotta invade a place now and then or people will think you're weak. Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-676415952306975042012-09-26T07:07:44.838-07:002012-09-26T07:07:44.838-07:00I'll play devil's advocate, even though I&...I'll play devil's advocate, even though I'm a everyone-should-vote kinda guy.<br /><br />Obama got elected on a platform of doing a whole bunch of stuff. How much of it did he do? He got blocked by Republican stubborness and Democratic milquetoastiness. So voting for a president isn't the be-all and end-all of social policy.<br /><br />It wasn't voting that finally got Trayvon Martin's killer arrested, nor which drives forward the progress toward gay marriage, nor which encourages your government to leave Iraq and Afghanistan (not got it in in the first place).<br /><br />Also, it's not clear that there are remarkable differences between how Obama <i>acts</i> with respect to the very wealthy and what everyone's pretty sure Romney would do: they're both quite willing to indulge the rich.<br /><br />Yeah, Romney's a dick, but the difference between him and Obama (perhaps hampered by spineless democrats, or perhaps one himself) might not be enough for a lot of people to get involved.<br /><br />(The only US Political ads I see are Daily Show, and what you post here, so I might not have the whole picture.)Timmysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12740161456878839854noreply@blogger.com