Topic: Americans "oppose" cuts to Medicare; taxing the rich "favored"

[Glock32]

A big, big, big part of our problem is that so much of our citizenry lives in nothing short of Fantasyland.

Poll shows Americans oppose entitlement cuts to deal with debt problem

They can "oppose" it all they want. They might as well "oppose" the Law of Gravity while they're at it.

This one is even more grating:

Poll: Taxing the rich favored over Medicare cuts

As we've discussed in other threads, Obama could confiscate literally every bit of circulating currency in the world, all the assets of "the rich", and still not have enough to pay our debts. They can "favor" taxing the rich all they want, it's not going to solve the debt crisis. This is it, it's now in clear black and white for future historians: the Cassus belli of the 2nd American Civil War is going to be that part of the population demands their "entitlements" and furthermore demands that anybody but themselves pay for it. You can see it almost as clear as a textbook supply-demand curve, that point where the two lines intersect marks the beginning.

[Sectionhand]

POLITICO places a lot of reliance on a poll sponsored by WAPO and ABC . I'd like to get a look at their methodology .

[Libertas]

WaPo has their moron magnet activated on their polls again...it's all in how you ask the question...
 

GIGO!

And "taxing the rich"...?

Yeah, tax them they scream...until they find out who the rich really are...until family farms fold and small businessmen shut operations...and the definition of "rich" keeps getting defined lower and lower until there is nothing left to loot!

Too many people are too fricken stupid and enjoy being led by their nose and told that turd isn't a turd, it's a tasty pastry!  yeah, who wants to have to make a hard decision for the benefit of everyone in the nation, not just the privileged Ruling Class or the serfs they enslave with the goodies provided by OPM?!

It's a SPENDING PROBLEM not a tax problem!  Government programs need to be terminated or significantly reduced!

I'm fed up!

Let's just to get to the rat-killin' already and be done with it!

[OLJingoist]

POLITICO places a lot of reliance on a poll sponsored by WAPO and ABC . I'd like to get a look at their methodology .

Methodology? ...  that's easy. Liberal, Liberal, Marxist. 

[Glock32]

Yeah, we all know the premise of these polls is a non-starter just on a purely mathematical basis, and that the questions are engineered to produce desired results. But what really sticks in my craw is that there are people -- a significant number by any estimation -- who believe they even have the option to make pronouncements on what they are willing or unwilling to "accept". We're long past that point of being able to choose among several options. There's just a certain sort of delusional arrogance to the thought process of so many people, this idea that in the face of a looming iceberg it is not only realistic but completely acceptable for them to complain bitterly about the captain of the ship upsetting their comfort in his efforts to maneuver around the lethal obstacle. The temerity of the captain! That sudden maneuvering might cause people in the ballroom to spill wine on their finest clothes!

[Libertas]

That turd isn't a turd!

Mmm...yummy, isn't it?!

 

OK, back to your brain-numbed life now!

 

People!

[IronDioPriest]

There is going to be a full court press to create the narrative of a false dichotomy - destroying Medicare or soaking the rich. It's the Leftists best option to demagogue the situation. They're already saying Ryan's plan "ends" Medicare, when it does no such thing (whether it should or not is another discussion).

The reality is that politicians from either party can see no political future in telling the truth, with a few standout exceptions on the GOP side. Because of the liars, we are headed for a brick wall. At least a few brave Republicans are willing to talk about serious solutions, but I fear they are voices crying in the wilderness.

[BigAlSouth]

Until 51% of Americans realize that we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem, this will be a tough political nut to crack.

[LadyVirginia]

Everyone I know always thinks it's the next guy that's rich not themselves.

[charlesoakwood]

There is going to be a full court press to create the narrative of a false dichotomy - destroying Medicare or soaking the rich. It's the Leftists best option to demagogue the situation. They're already saying Ryan's plan "ends" Medicare, when it does no such thing (whether it should or not is another discussion).

The reality is that politicians from either party can see no political future in telling the truth, with a few standout exceptions on the GOP side. Because of the liars, we are headed for a brick wall. At least a few brave Republicans are willing to talk about serious solutions, but I fear they are voices crying in the wilderness.

Ryan & Co need to get this message out clear. Old people hear "they are going to cut medicare" 9 to 1. They do not hear that the debate refers to 54 yr old and younger.  They are one of the biggest voting blocks and would be a tremendous support to Ryan but the message they hear is that they are going to be stripped and left to die.  I'm not sure he realizes his message is not reaching them.  The phrase repeated is "cut medicare" and it is rarely qualified.  This is an "easy out" for the Republicans but again, they do not understand how to deliver a message.

[radioman]

The repubs just don't know how to 'politic'.

[Sectionhand]

There is going to be a full court press to create the narrative of a false dichotomy - destroying Medicare or soaking the rich. It's the Leftists best option to demagogue the situation. They're already saying Ryan's plan "ends" Medicare, when it does no such thing (whether it should or not is another discussion).

The reality is that politicians from either party can see no political future in telling the truth, with a few standout exceptions on the GOP side. Because of the liars, we are headed for a brick wall. At least a few brave Republicans are willing to talk about serious solutions, but I fear they are voices crying in the wilderness.

Ryan & Co need to get this message out clear. Old people hear "they are going to cut medicare" 9 to 1. They do not hear that the debate refers to 54 yr old and younger.  They are one of the biggest voting blocks and would be a tremendous support to Ryan but the message they hear is that they are going to be stripped and left to die.  I'm not sure he realizes his message is not reaching them.  The phrase repeated is "cut medicare" and it is rarely qualified.  This is an "easy out" for the Republicans but again, they do not understand how to deliver a message.

I made this point several weeks ago on another thread . Our Conservative representatives are doing a terrible job communicating these points to the public . We've GOT to get better at this or we're screwed . I'll never understand why we continually give up the public relations initiative to the Democrats and allow them to re-define our motives in a negative manner .

[Libertas]

There is going to be a full court press to create the narrative of a false dichotomy - destroying Medicare or soaking the rich. It's the Leftists best option to demagogue the situation. They're already saying Ryan's plan "ends" Medicare, when it does no such thing (whether it should or not is another discussion).

The reality is that politicians from either party can see no political future in telling the truth, with a few standout exceptions on the GOP side. Because of the liars, we are headed for a brick wall. At least a few brave Republicans are willing to talk about serious solutions, but I fear they are voices crying in the wilderness.

Ryan & Co need to get this message out clear. Old people hear "they are going to cut medicare" 9 to 1. They do not hear that the debate refers to 54 yr old and younger.  They are one of the biggest voting blocks and would be a tremendous support to Ryan but the message they hear is that they are going to be stripped and left to die.  I'm not sure he realizes his message is not reaching them.  The phrase repeated is "cut medicare" and it is rarely qualified.  This is an "easy out" for the Republicans but again, they do not understand how to deliver a message.

I made this point several weeks ago on another thread . Our Conservative representatives are doing a terrible job communicating these points to the public . We've GOT to get better at this or we're screwed . I'll never understand why we continually give up the public relations initiative to the Democrats and allow them to re-define our motives in a negative manner .

We're screwed.

The dem's think thye have a PR problem when they have a batsh*t-crazy ideology problem, and the GOP thinks they have a ideology problem when they have a spine problem...and the left is winning the battle to frame the debate?!

Screwed.

[Predator Don]

Well....When you don't compete for the narrative, you lose the narrative war. We shouldn't be losing this battle...The libs have an overwhelming advantage in number of outlets, but many do not have the ratings as lets say Fox. So our message gets out to millions, just not a lot of outlets.

So, imho, we can correct this imbalance thru the marketplace. It will take decades to turn the tide of democratic strongholds in education, news, etc to a more conservative base...but we do not have this type of time...So, we need to take a capitalist approach to the problem. We need to out flank them. We need to buy a few strategic papers..... a national news outlet or two, a few radio stations.. I don't believe we have a minority of people hearing our message, we have an issue with the number of outlets.

I don't believe it would take wholesale purchases.....But someone brighter than me could lay forth a strategy to "even the playing field" with a few well placed takeovers.

[LadyVirginia]

And there are plenty of wealthy conservatives that could do that but they don't.  I've never undertood why. 

[charlesoakwood]

Yes, we need a strategy for "evening the playing field", for attractive (glossy paper, not literati) outlets of accurate information. 

Obama has the AARP shilling for him.  The only thing they are is a resale outlet cloaking themselves as a service organization.  Also there are cloaked websites: the Huffpo, if one did not know (-vast middle-), one would think it another news aggregation outlet.

Why don't they come out?  Most of the monied Republicans are Ruling Class and don't care about common issues.

[Damn_Lucky]

Lets see 47% of the country doesn't pay income tax.
And 45% of the people think we should tax the rich more.
Naw just a coincidence.

[charlesoakwood]

It's not coincidence, it's the poll.  There are many options unasked.
No one(this should be one word - oh, yeah)None, dares mention eliminating precious money gobbling, disincentive drag on the economy, agencies such as EPA, DOEducation, NPR and it's affiliates.

Nearly all of the existing agencies could be eliminated and never be missed.  Losing these agencies would stop this economic catastrophe and cause a burst of intense dramatic growth equal to the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Eliminating these agencies would open the doors to the digital, the cellular (human as mentioned in another post), and nano technologies.
This catastrophic talk would be thought foolish as America lead the world again in quality invention, creation, and wealth.

The tragedy is no one will broach the thought.

[Libertas]

Yes, we need a strategy for "evening the playing field", for attractive (glossy paper, not literati) outlets of accurate information.  

Obama has the AARP shilling for him.  The only thing they are is a resale outlet cloaking themselves as a service organization.  Also there are cloaked websites: the Huffpo, if one did not know (-vast middle-), one would think it another news aggregation outlet.

Why don't they come out?  Most of the monied Republicans are Ruling Class and don't care about common issues.

I came to the same conclusion.  I've been raging against the inability of conservatives to make greater inroads into media for decades...how it can be that people who profess conservative values and belief in capitalism and the power of the marketplace can be maneuvered into such a disadvantage...I concluded years ago that this was not by mistake, it had to be intentional.

Only with the advent of the internet and the blogosphere have real people with real voices and real values been able to bypass the Ruling Class gatekeepers!

But the old battle still angers me and reminds me that those people will never be forgiven by me, they better hope God is in a better mood!

[LadyVirginia]

But the old battle still angers me and reminds me that those people will never be forgiven by me, they better hope God is in a better mood!

I agree; they are just as responsible.