What is BO really up to?

The government regulates thousands of things in thousands of industries for the sake of public safety. It is not merely semantics as you claim. Regulation has a very specific meaning in this instance and it is far more accurate than takeover or control. You simply were mired in your right wing talking points and used their words and you now can't defend them by calling them merely semantic differences. And just to let you know, nowhere is it written that you have freedom of choice. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly sure, but freedom of choice, not guaranteed by anything.

 

And I certainly see this as the road BO is taking us down...and I can imagine you cheering him on using this as a mantra.

I am curious to hear what you believe BO's next target should be?

 

It's not a road, it's just a fact, nothing guarantees you or anyone else freedom of choice. I don't even know where you got that idea.

Obama's next target should be some kind of jobs legislation. People need to get back to work as this country recovers from the recession of the last few years. I am quite comfortable myself but I see people all around me losing their livelihoods that want nothing more than to get back to work. They just need the opportunies to be there. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

 

Regulation and control. BOTH great things when you're referring to the republican, corporately CONTROLLED societal rapists. We've seen what the fat cats do when left to run rough shot over the rest of us. Perhaps if "the free market" hadn't discarded the MAJORITY of Americans in the country, we might not need the regulations the elite scream about. Same argument they make about attorneys (yeah I know...everybody hates attorneys), but if attorneys didn't exist, I can guarantee you that we'd all be working for 7 cents an hour and being killed, drinking, and breathing carcinogens (much larger volumes of it) or losing appendages daily. The only thing that even keeps them in check is the threat of a lawsuit when they stick it someone's hind quarters (and some corporate creeps still do anyway because it's a calculated "business" risk, and many would rather take the risk and settle out later).
The point is if capitalism was working so wonderfully, and was such a huge benefit that the Fox watchers proclaim that it is, there would be no need, no desire by ANYBODY, to have to institute such regulations, and certainly would not have been elected by the majority of America. But the right think controlling the big money and huge profit is the way to political success. They don't even recognize their own arrogance when they have stumbled over it.. Fact is the whole system is quite broken, and severely tilted towards big money interests. (the Bernie Madeoff with everybody else's cash' type of interests).
Perhaps if the republican leaders like the permanently suntanned Boehner, actually took an interest in the common man, they might actually be able to stay in power. Trouble is they cater only to rich and the American people have to throw them out of office for selling them out. (literally..to India, China).

Obama and the dems FINALLY have a major victory to be damn proud of. Now they need to keep rolling and the elections will take care of themselves. Right on Obama, and right on to the dems for getting it done. LET the right try and repeal it. I can't wait to see that bloodbath. About time the right be truly represented electorally by the minority that they really are. Go get 'em O!! Keep it up!!

 

Go Cubs! Yay team! lol

 

WOW. I never knew lawyers were super heroes!
So lawyers keep us alive & safe? They help us keep our arms & legs and they help prevent us from geting cancer?

Hey moen, you know this guy is the only other poster here who thinks the same way you do. Hmmmmmm.

 

Well that's strange. I always thought group-think was your forte.

We're just happy to know that we're raising the QI average of this forum as best we can.

 

No man...we should replace all those guys with corporations! Mega profit! More! MORE!!!! (Oh yeah...we already have that). All hail the great party of the extractors!!! Long live Fox!

 

Freedom by definition means the unobstructed ability to make choices or actions. And the jobs will return on their own once the economy recovers. BTW, how exactly are people losing jobs in Academia?

 

Socialists want to create a society where the majority is happy with the state making their choices & determining their action. So what if they have to give up a little thing like freedom, they don't have to work as hard and they get the satisfaction of taking from the rich (read: middle class). What about the rest of the people, the ones who want more? Well, laws are passed through questionable actions,and that freedom is stripped from you. Little by little, freedom is stripped.

 

You must have missed this in the other thread David so I thought it best to repeat it here

David can you provide me with a link to the speach that President Obama swore unemployment woudnt go above 8.5% (thanks in advance)

 

Good question. Most of the nonsense stereotypes bantered around by people who know absolutely nothing about academia make me laugh. You first have to understand the differences between private colleges, Community colleges, public universities, etc. They are all funded in different ways from tuition, to grants, to private donations, to state tax money.
In my case, we get about 25% of our funding from the state coffers. Well, in an ordinary year that would be true except that we never received out July 2009 payment and if we ever receive our July 2010 payment, it will be reduced to 2006 funding levels. We aren't holding our breath that it will show up. We haven't had to lay off anyone yet because of the stimulus money we received last year but that isn't coming this year so they are considering everything from furloughs to massive personnel cuts in addition to the total hiring freeze, the end of travel, the reduction of benefits, the lack of even a 1% raise in years, and the loss of some of the best and brightest due to budget cuts. My wife for example could triple her salary by going into private industry but this institution would lose one more extremely capable teacher. Most people in academia aren't in it for the money and could make far more money in private industry but love what they do so they certainly do not need to hear people say how good they have it. It just ain't that lucrative of a gig.
I've worked in both private industry and academia and I am making half the money I made in private industry but I have never had more job satisfaction. That is the trade off. If you don't understand that, you don't understand academia. If both my wife and I worked outside of academia, according to the head hunters, our household income would be about 350,000 a year. Money just doesn't motivate us and I think if it does, it makes a person pretty shallow.

 

You can't have it both ways. In your first post you stated that people around you are losing their jobs and in the second post stated that nobody has been laid off yet. The fact that your academic institution is just now considering things like layoffs, travel restrictions, and hiring an raise freezes only shows how out of touch with reality academia really is.

Let me tell you how it has been in the real world for the last two years. Since September 2008, casino gaming revenues in Atlantic City have been down over 15% per year on average. The casino that employs me at one point employed over 5,000 workers. That number is currently under 3,000. In case you are a liberal arts professor, that is a 40% reduction in the work force. All employees who earn under $50K/year are capped at 2% raises and departmental raise averages must be no higher than 1%. That means if you give someone 2%, someone else must get no raise. Employees from $50K-$100K get no raises indefinitely. The $100K+ employees lost their bonuses and were required to take a 5% pay cut.

Now if you think that sounds bad, consider the fact that I am only taking about one casino. There are 11 other casinos in Atlantic City that have suffered the same fate. The total number of jobs lost from just the casino industry during this recession in the greater Atlantic City area is over 10,000.

But you want me to feel sympathy for the workers in Academia who depend upon the taxes levied upon our shrinking revenues to pay their salaries. I propose that your academic institution should have been taking significant cost savings measures at least a year ago if not longer, just like any other responsible business. Calling people who don't have the luxury of near 100% job security shallow for trying to accumulate wealth while they can during their careers is naively condescending IMO.

 

People all around me in MY COMMUNITY. My God! Broaden your mind a little.

New Jersey has an overall unemployment rate of 9.8 while my state is at 11.4 percent. My state has 12.8 million people, New Jersey has 8.7 million people. You do the math and tell me which area is doing better. I am impressed that you'd admit to working in one of the "sin" industries. By doing so you make my profession seem way more honorable. We empower people through education to better themselves and by extension better society in the process. I think being critical of my profession is somewhat sour grapes on your part. You simply feed off of human misery and desperation no matter how much you sugar coat what your industry provides. I guess you can say it's a living. How about if we agree not to judge each other's lives. I simply don't need to feel superior to you or anyone else. I like my life and I'm sure that you like yours. That is all that matters.

 

And of course the only way to recovery is tax credits for the rich and a republican power base coupled with a few more wars, maybe one or two 911 type events thrown in for good measure. That should scare the common population enough to vote the republicans back in. By then...minimum wage should be at least $7.25 an hour.

 

I have no moral problem with my profession and I really don't care about your sense of honor. If you really had any, you wouldn't criticize my profession and then suggest that we not judge each others lives in the same post. I will make it very clear that I have very little respect for people in academia. The majority including yourself will take the moral high ground and publicly state that they teach to enlighten our youth. The truth is that the majority of college professors are complete egomaniacs who can't make it in the real world and resort to satisfying their need for power by playing in the kiddie pool. You say you don't need to feel superior to me or anyone else. In my experience, that is completely opposite of most college professors. Your posts on this forum also indicate that the statement is untrue.

You wield the statistics like a club claiming that you live in a state with more unemployed people than I do which is supposed to indicate that you have been personally affected. We know this is not the truth from your previous post which admitted that nobody has lost their job where you are employed. Furthermore, you ignored my point which was that we don't need to legislate new jobs. Job opportunities will return with the shifting economy and the end of the recession.

BTW, I live in Atlantic County NJ where the current unemployment rate is 11.8%.

 

Ahhh yes.. The "real world" of the casinos. Casino revenues down. That IS a shame. Holy mackerel dude! Casinos and reality?? Man...what a distortion. Atlantic City is literally built on an illusion! I was around when they first built those casinos. Touted as how it would help AC...blah..blah...now look at it. It's the armpit of the tri state area, equal to or worse than some areas of Philly. Nice lights, glitzy picture if you stay close...one block off the boardwalk, you can find it all..drugs, prostitution, worthless residential property..oh yeah..did I mention drugs and prostitution??? Turned a poor, desperate area into a complete trash hole of feces. That's "business" for ya though...capitalism and all that. Corporate mentality at its' finest.

If you like AC though, you'll love our current economic system, that is AC's corporate criminal enterprise. Coming soon to a Walmart invaded town near you.
Wow wee...that does explain your thought process. I do now also understand your lack of faith in God..AC, God, not exactly compatible.

I see where you get your perspective from a little more clearly now though Lehigh. I imagine Davey has a similar delusion and perversion of reality. You might want to recognize that places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas aren't representative of the real world. I picked up on your AC references in earlier posts..I didn't pick up on how you considered that to be everyday reality though. My bad.

I hope you can get some help soon Bud...I mean that brother.

 

To the contrary, Atlantic City and Las Vegas are the real world. You wouldn't know because you don't go to either place. You mock the casinos and celebrate the fact that revenues are down with no regard for the people who depend on those revenues to provide for their families. Here is hoping that whatever business employs you sees a drastic reduction because we all know with your attitude you will be one of the very first to go. Never in my life have I seen someone happy that 2,000 people lost their jobs. And you have the nerve to call others evil.

Are you so ignorant that you actually believe that the "evil" casinos spawned crime, prostitution, and drugs? Are you saying that other cities sans casinos don't have crime, drugs, and the world's oldest profession? Grow up! The reason for the crime in Atlantic City is simple, ineffective government and police corruption. The police department has been instructed to spend their days issuing jaywalking tickets to the tourists while the drug dealers conduct their business less than a block away in plain sight. We call the police to enforce vagrancy laws and the police refuse to arrest them. One police officer actually said to me "where are we going to send the summons? to the casino?" Humorous or not, he should do his job or quit and become a comedian.

I just returned from my vacation in Las Vegas. The city is beautiful, the weather is beautiful, the hotels are beautiful, the restaurants and entertainment are fantastic! You can spend a month in that city, never gamble, and have a wonderful time. It is second only to New York in terms of restaurants and I don't recall feeling any sense of danger at anytime like I would in most major cities. Corporate greed is not confined to the gaming industry or the cities that house gaming establishments. If God came to Earth, I am sure he would spend some time in Las Vegas which truly is a sight to behold. Of course, we could criticize where you live and what you do, but you are too scared to tell anybody. Easier to troll the forums when nobody really knows anything about you huh. So here are some photos of sin city.





Wow, what a horrible place!

 

Well...well..glad to know I wasn't too far off on my latest assessment.

Just so everyone knows. The only picture there that is AC is the center photo, which is a very limited view of one end of the once moral town. Drift about midway down the boardwalk, and a few blocks west, IN THE DAYLIGHT. Check out that fine,fine community! So,2000 lost their jobs. Well, I'd say that's the responsibility of the corporate dogs and stuffed shirt "legitimate business men" that made the decisions to cut them. I'm sure they weren't passing out bonuses when they were rolling in the dough during the fatter days. Fat is relevant too. 500 million gazillion versus 600 million gazillion is heartbreaking for the poor big whig b*st*ards for sure. No need for them to suffer the losses of excess though...just pass it on to the "low tier" folks. Surprise, surprise.
Been to AC many times...too many. Frequented the Playboy, used to be my favorite, then it became "Atlantis", and I have no idea what it is now or even know if it's there, nor do I care. The Sands was another favorite, while it was still there, the Claridge, and if I felt like taking a stroll, down to the Golden Nugget. Done Resorts and the Taj Mahal many times. Never got to go to Harrah's or any other place off the boardwalk. I spent days playing blackjack. Don't know what is and isn't there now.
I was young and stupid then and dumped a lot of cash there and one of these days I'll probably drop in again with my wife as she's never been there and wants to go some time. I told her she's not missing anything. Neat for about an hour or two. After that..you realize how sad the places actually are, the losers hanging out there (of which I was one of at the time), the hookers roaming in between tricks, the drunks who pissed away their kid's futures. Beautiful place. Oh yeah. Can't forget the endless gold shops to sell your teeth, your shoes, and whatever else you MIGHT have left after you lose everything else in the Wall Street mini marts. Never been to Vegas...you got me there.
Police...I've got a thought. Pay them what they're worth so they might think about actually consider enforcing the law?? When you can make more as a Jitney driver, hey, why bother risking your life for next to nothing?
Lastly, if God came to visit Vegas or AC, I'm sure he'd be just thrilled. Maybe he'll take you out for a drink before he vaporizes the place. Put down the booze and the poker chips my friend. Check out the "real" world sometime. Maybe you'll even get married again. Don't look for her in the casinos though, cause she'd probably be a hooker or a strung out heroin addict. Good day my friend.
Oh by the way. What I do for a living isn't anybody's business, but I'll tell you this much...I don't make 300k a year.

 

Yeah, but a great thing about this wonderful country of ours is that you could if you wanted to & were willing to put forth the effort to achieve it!!!!