Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 4
...now that Election Day is past and the democrats accomplished their objective of driving turnout. Now it's "Safe" for "moderate" democrats (Read: the 4 or 5 left who aren't certifiably insane) to vote to open the government up.
The GOP took a beating last night. It lost not only the leadership positions in Virginia but also got killed downballot in the VA statehouse. Republicans have to get better at turning out voters when Trump isn't on the ballot (as he won't be anymore, everyone knows and understands that except for the aforementioned crazy liberals).
The good thing about the losses is that the quality of the democrat candidate continues to decline. democrats tend to vote 'd' no matter who the letter proceeds. democrat ideas are never on the ballot because they don't have any other than 'make this dude over there pay for stuff'. Real policy isn't something their party writ large is capable of managing any longer - during the Biden administration the descent into payouts for special interest groups and lobbies was the sole focus. Actual, meaningful steps to improve the country are on the back burner.
Which is where we find ourselves today. The US has so many structural problems but only 1 political party willing to even acknowledge them, much less attempt to solve any of them. Sadly, it's going to take democrat victories in 2026 and 2028 - and the resultant pile-driving of the United States - to shock the left into even ack'ing the situation. It will then take another 10 years for the left's "solutions" to fail utterly.
Then the work can begin.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Dope1,
The one structural upside I can see assuming Dems sweep everything in 2026 and 2028 is that they then grant complete amnesty for 20 million or so illegal immigrants and hopefully are able to integrate them into the on the books tax paying system.
The challenge to the continued long term viability of Social Security is demographic. We need more young hard working tax paying employees to contribute to the FICA system. If they have to do a lot of back breaking labor that privileged white liberals dismiss as beneath them--and if it keeps wages low due to an oversupply in the labor force--so much the better for the rest of us.
Further, it sets up a very interesting future World War III scenario between encroaching radical Islamists and the LGBTQ+ crowd. Maybe they can take neutralize each other.
Interesting times.
No. of Recommendations: 2
The one structural upside I can see assuming Dems sweep everything in 2026 and 2028 is that they then grant complete amnesty for 20 million or so illegal immigrants and hopefully are able to integrate them into the on the books tax paying system.
The challenge to the continued long term viability of Social Security is demographic. We need more young hard working tax paying employees to contribute to the FICA system. If they have to do a lot of back breaking labor that privileged white liberals dismiss as beneath them--and if it keeps wages low due to an oversupply in the labor force--so much the better for the rest of us.
It's amazing how financially illiterate most Americans are. Whole big system out there that they can tap into to ensure a wealthy lifestyle and for millions they willingly ignore it. They then find themselves relying on a program that was never intended to be a long term retirement plan.
The little d's will throw the border open again and discuss amnesty, of course they will. Even Empress Hillary! I, First Of Her Name, acknowledged the threat that the drop in the US birth rate will have to the US economy. In true democrat "All I've got is a hammer, and look at all those little nails!" fashion they view the wholesale importation of people they can give free stuff to as the answer.
But as thinking people know, it's not. Europe is learning what happens when you import hordes of culturally incompatible people into your society, park them there, put them on the public dole, but never offer them a path to upward mobility or real integration into the larger society. Sure, the people they're importing have...interesting...ideas about how to treat women but a LOT of their anger and resentment comes from the fact that the elitist liberal western European societies don't want to have anything to do with them. After a while the resentment starts to boil.
That's not necessarily our future when the democrats take things over and start doing the stupid stuff they like to do. Fortunately the melting pot concept is baked into the US DNA and even the Wokest idiot democrat can't kill it.
No. of Recommendations: 9
The US has so many structural problems but only 1 political party willing to even acknowledge them
Interesting, would you mind delineating the structural problems? The largest one, the National Debt, the Repubs have been adding to for some time. Then there's Income Inequality. From what I can see, your solution to the these, is to give the rich tax breaks, and pretend everything is fine, except the government is now much to large, so it needs to be cut in half and drowned in a bathtub, starting with Medicaid, ACA, and SNAP, which will then lead to Social Security and Medicare. The rich get richer and the middle class on down get squeezed
All we ever get in response isn't a real discussion, just sloganeering, posturing, but every now and then y'all do use a fact - starling, I know, but it happens. We have Albaby, Commoneone, Alpha Wold, Steve, etc., here to discuss it, and, as you can see, we don't agree amongst ourselves on everything, so have at it. :)
No. of Recommendations: 1
Yeah the lack of assimilation is going to be a huge issue especially with illegal immigrants from Islamic countries, Africa, and so forth.
However, most likely, the harms will be limited to deep blue urban areas, especially the ones that are already hollowed out due to decades of insane Democrat social, political, and economic policies.
You just got to be sure (like all the progs posting on this board, no doubt) that you don't actually have to live anywhere near those areas.
America is a huge country with a lot of empty space. If the Dems want to fill up that space with tens of millions of amnestied immigrants to do our back breaking labor such as picking avocados and almonds that white liberals believe to be beneath them, I am all for it.
Islam is insular and doctrinaire because exposure to Western values ultimately destroys it. Let's encourage the infection of Islam with capitalist, pluralist values. Ilhan Omar came to the U.S. for a reason. Somalia SUCKS.
No. of Recommendations: 2
"Income Inequality" isn't a problem, it's a necessity.
You need to stop looking at things like money as simply a possession.
In a complex economy, variables such as "income" have valuable information content.
The information content is necessary to tell people if their expenditure of their personal resources--time, energy, their own other assets--is efficient. The more efficient we use our personal resources, including non-monetary, the more utility we receive back.
If you flatten out income received by people and make everything equal, you remove the valuable information content that differential incomes provide.
If you are receiving higher income for how you spend your time than someone else is, that is the economy's way of telling you that whatever you are doing or producing has more economic utility than what that other person is doing. That other person also gets that information, and can use that information to determine whether he/she is optimally using their time and other resources to produce utility for themselves.
No. of Recommendations: 2
You just got to be sure (like all the progs posting on this board, no doubt) that you don't actually have to live anywhere near those areas.
Hilariously, all them live in red, reddish or purple areas. None of them live anywhere under hard core liberal control. It's remarkable.
None of them would like it in a deep blue city where getting your car broken into is a fact of life.
America is a huge country with a lot of empty space. If the Dems want to fill up that space with tens of millions of amnestied immigrants to do our back breaking labor such as picking avocados and almonds that white liberals believe to be beneath them, I am all for it.
That's the problem. liberals want their votes, they don't want them to actually do anything but take the free benefits that liberals offer. Of course as europe is finding out that's a poisonous way to live but as long as they vote the "Correct" way the democrats Just. Don't. Care.
All they want is power and control. Doesn't matter if the ship they're trying to seize control of sinking.
No. of Recommendations: 3
"Income Inequality" isn't a problem, it's a necessity.
Bingo. You're getting at concepts they can't process.
If you are receiving higher income for how you spend your time than someone else is, that is the economy's way of telling you that whatever you are doing or producing has more economic utility than what that other person is doing. That other person also gets that information, and can use that information to determine whether he/she is optimally using their time and other resources to produce utility for themselves.
The left doesn't understand basic incentives and the human psychology behind them.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Interesting, would you mind delineating the structural problems?
Here's one, the lack of acknowledgement of reality by one of our political parties.
As evidenced by statements like this:
The largest one, the National Debt, the Repubs have been adding to for some time.
Why, it's as if democrats never govern, never spend money, never propose any legislation! They never pass massive programs that pump more inflationary money into the economy. At all.
And here's more delusion disguised as posting:
All we ever get in response isn't a real discussion, just sloganeering, posturing,
...a statement that came right on the heels of
give the rich tax breaks, and pretend everything is fine, except the government is now much to large, so it needs to be cut in half and drowned in a bathtub, starting with Medicaid, ACA, and SNAP, which will then lead to Social Security and Medicare. The rich get richer and the middle class on down get squeezed
The best part is, you're completely unaware of what you're writing. You toss out the casual slur, fallacy and "sloganeering" just like you were taking a breath. The level of cognitive dissonance and/or outright programming is *impressive*, I'll give you that.
No. of Recommendations: 3
The most interesting thing last night was the embrace of the democrats extended to a candidate that fantasized about murdering Republicans and having their children die. Only about 9% of Spanberger's voters didn't vote for Jones, which tells you a lot about the state of the dems.
The best quote I saw today was
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/11/05/democrat...We hear all the time about decency being on the ballot and how "grab 'em by the pussy" was totally disqualifying. Trump is mean. He doesn't conform to the country's norms.
Women, in particular, are all about decency, norms, and kindness I am told, and the vote totals clearly show that.
...
Virginia Democrats elected a governor who encouraged people to embrace their rage and gave the nod to a man who said that he would put two bullets in the head of one of his colleagues and be happy to see his children die in their mother's arms.
Only 46% of Virginia voters thought that was disqualifying, and as far as I can tell, every single one of them was a Republican. Yup.
No. of Recommendations: 7
The most interesting thing last night was the embrace of the democrats extended to a candidate that fantasized about murdering Republicans and having their children die. Only about 9% of Spanberger's voters didn't vote for Jones, which tells you a lot about the state of the dems.
Actually, I think says a lot more about the state of the Republicans.
Seriously, the Republicans couldn’t find a candidate to beat someone who hoped an opponent’s children would die? Heck, a cadaver would have probably beat him.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Interesting, would you mind delineating the structural problems?
Here's one, the lack of acknowledgement of reality by one of our political parties.
So it's just a dance, you never delineate any structural problems. Pity.
No. of Recommendations: 1
"Income Inequality" isn't a problem, it's a necessity.
You've completely missed the fact that income inequality has grown over 50-60 years squeezing the middle class. Adios.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Like I said. Impressive.
