A tea bagger co-worker explained how he would fix America in 6 months

[Mortos]

I was surprised at the general lack of bragging and gloating from my right wing co-workers (which is the majority of them) after the mid-term elections. One guy was trying to be conciliatory, I guess, and offered up his take on the elections. He said that he respects the office of President and would take a bullet for Obama (which, presumably, he didn't fire) but then went on to tell me how the president had "jammed health care down our throats" and had lost sight of what the American people wanted and how his radical left wing agenda backfired on him. I just nodded my head and tried to focus on my work. He went on.

"I could fix America in 6 months if they would let me."

He peaked my interest. "How would you do that," I asked.

He then explained to me his solution to all of our problems. First, he would fire half of the U.S. Senators and Congress. I asked him if that wouldn't increase unemployment and he agreed that it would for a short time. I didn't bother explaining the Constitutional requirements for the U.S. Congress. He continued. Then I would shut down the EPA, get rid of the IRS and all taxes. Free businesses to do what they want without any regulation. Implement a consumption tax, except on personal goods like food and clothing. If businesses didn't pay any taxes and had no stupid federal regulations holding them back, we would have full employment in 6 months. He said he would get rid of all but a small portion of the entire federal government, "...and I mean small."

He would also get rid of all federal social programs like social security, medicaid, medicare and welfare. "To those people on social security I would just say, I'm sorry and get over it." I didn't know if I heard him correctly. What would you tell people on social security, I asked. He repeated, "I'm sorry but you ain't getting any more money. Get over it."

As I tried to wrap my mind around how someone who has such a simplistic and fatally flawed worldview can function at a job that requires some level of competence and responsibility, I realized that this is what the Tea Party Patriots and the right wing republicans want. No taxes, no regulation and a tiny federal government. The states would magically handle everything and free enterprise would take care of everything else.

I am sure most of the people I work with and share a state with would agree with him. They elected a big old batch of like minded folks to represent them. I don't know how we fix this. I am beginning to think we may not be able to.

[sakabatou]

1. That guy has no idea how to run things...

How the hell he takes care of himself is a mystery.

[Kablooie]

155. Yes he does. He knows exactly how to run things. Limbaugh and Boehner have told him this works.

[kwolf68]

161. And???

How does that make him any different than the rest of the rubes who got elected?

[opihimoimoi]

2. KnR....The level of Ignorance out there is mind boggling, staggering, stunning...

I give up...

[Mortos]

5. That's why I don't waste my time trying to educate or argue anymore

It's just mind numbing the level of self imposed ignorance out here.

[opihimoimoi]

8. and they dare suggest the Dept of Ed eliminated

[Arkansas Granny]

40. What strikes me as mind boggling, staggering and stunning is that much of it is willful ignorance.

They refuse to consider or even listen to opposing viewpoints. If it doesn't agree with their opinion, they just totally disregard it without giving it any thought or consideration at all.

[opihimoimoi]

71. Confucius said SILENT MAN LEARN MORE THAN TALKATIVE ONE"

The art of Listening is alien to that group...they wanna talk so much they forget simple rule of balance.....

They wish to teach while not knowing HOW

[malaise]

3. He sounds exactly like Rand Paul

Tell the fool that would guarantee more outsourcing.

[iamjoy]

140. No, Less Outsourcing

IF you got rid of all the pesky regulations government imposes on business here in the United States, it would reduce outsourcing.

After all, why should companies bother having stuff made in China and shipped to the US if they only had to pay US workers a couple dollars a day and didn't have to worry about creating a safe work environment or providing health insurance. Why would companies need to outsource if the US government didn't impose any regulations on pollution or toxic waste disposal?

His solutions are so simplistic, and that is what is appealing to many. It is hard for people to acknowledge that the problems our country faces are complex and there are no easy answers or solutions.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Clueless. The people who get SS are getting their own money

They paid into the system so they could have a crust of bread to eat in their elders years. If this clown and his RepubliCohorts stop the SS checks, they are -- in point of fact -- stealing money from our elders, and then forcing them out on to the streets to live.

Republicon Family Values like these constitute a wasteland of soul poverty.

[regnaD kciN]

78. Unfortunately, not...

The notion that the SS taxes you paid were for your own retirement in the future is a popular myth. The fact is, SS taxes you pay go directly to supporting your elders' retirement right now. The understanding is that, when it comes your time to retire, SS taxes paid by currently-working people will go to fund your benefits. But there's no guarantee that will happen; all it would take would be a majority vote by both houses of congress and a president's signature, and the whole system would go away. No more taxes, no more benefits. If the workers of this country decide that's a good trade-off (keeping in mind that they wouldn't get benefits themselves down the road), it'll happen.

And I'm sure the response of the teabaggers to claims that it would be massively unfair would be "Well, when the system first started, lots of retirees got benefits without having paid a penny into the system. That's unfair, too. So what? Life is unfair. Deal with it."

[Naturyl]

82. That's correct.

SS is not "insurance" and there are no "individual accounts" or anything like that. It is a standard social welfare program.

How come we don't know that? Simple. Because the world "welfare" has been demonized beyond belief - and that's also exactly how the kind of thinking expressed in the OP has been able to flourish.

[texastoast]

135. Welfare?

I beg to differ. Welfare recipients benefit from the social net of a civilized society which is funded through taxes other than Social Security.

I funded the Social Security for the previous generation for the last 42 years separately from the funds provided to "welfare" recipients.

[Hannah Bell]

176. The money you pay to your insurance company doesn't go into a separate "account" either.

It goes to pay out other claims & to company profits.

[rfranklin]

128. You are wrong...Social Security was paid for and runs a surplus...

The fact is that the Social Security Trust Fund holds Treasury bonds which would have to be defaulted on. Those are what George Bush called "worthless IOUs." They only become worthless if we allow the Treasury to refuse to pay up. SS has been funded fully through 2037. Read up and get educated-- What the 2010 Trustees’ Report Shows about Social Security http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3262

Please stop repeating right wing talking points about SS.

[regnaD kciN]

183. You misunderstand...

The vaunted "trust fund," which is indeed pre-paid, is only designed to cover the difference between taxes coming in and benefits going out. In past times, there was no real difference, but the trust fund was established for the point (starting right about now) when the huge baby-boomer generation starts depending on it for their retirement, but the smaller generation following it, still in the work world, would not be able to fully pay for their elders' benefits with their taxes.

How much of a difference would it make? You can see for yourself in the link you posted: by 2037, the trust fund will be exhausted, but (if no other funding sources are developed) Social Security would still be able to pay out "more than three-quarters" of benefit levels. That figure is based on taxes coming in and benefits going out, and establishes that the amount set aside in the trust fund would only cover less than one-quarter of benefits.

I suppose that means that, if the right-wing took over and decided to eliminate Social Security, they could stop collecting taxes and still continue to pay retirees out of the trust fund, but that would only be about one-quarter of current benefits, and would only last until 2037; if, instead, they chose to continue paying full benefits levels out of the trust fund, they could only continue for a few years at best.

How that constitutes "right wing talking points," I don't see.

[Hannah Bell]

202. it constitutes right-wing talking points because it is.

1. SS tax rates were deliberately raised in 1983 in order to produce a steadily growing surplus. The talking point was: The boomers can prefund their own benefits & not put a burden on the next generation. These surplus collections = the TF.

2. A 2% increase in SS taxes would cover the entire cost of future benefits -- even under the conservative assumptions of the SS Trustees.

3. However, rescinding the Bush tax cuts on the top 2% would pay off the entire TF, so there's no need to raise SS taxes.

Anything that styles SS as "welfare" or suggests there is a funding problem that requires structural asjustments to the program or benefit reductions = right-wing talking points.

[Hannah Bell]

175. um, not since 1983 when the boomers started paying extra, supposedly to prefund their retirement.

The SS taxes you pay are part of a social contract; paying for someone else now is payment for the right to be paid for in the future, i.e. it's equivalent to paying for my own benefits.

It's no "myth".

why don't you quit repeating the standard right wing talking points. It's really disgusting.

[regnaD kciN]

184. See my response above...

"Prefunding" is only for the shortfall when the boomers retire and a smaller population is paying FICA. It doesn't mean that the whole amount of my future SS benefits are sitting in some vault waiting for when I turn 67. Maybe a sum equal to about one-quarter of such future benefits is currently invested in federal securities, but that amount alone isn't going to suffice for my old age.

I would agree that the Social Security system is in fine shape, provided they continue collecting FICA from workers and employers. And I would definitely agree that it is a "social contract" in the moral sense. But there is no binding legal contract that says, just because I paid into the Social Security system while working, that I am legally entitled to collect X amount of benefits from the system upon retirement. While it would be morally-odious (and, at this point, with more than one in six Americans collecting some form of Social Security benefit, probably politically-suicidal) to break that social contract, it certainly could be done. If a majority of both Houses of Congress and a President agreed on ending Social Security, it could happen in a matter of weeks, and those who had paid into the system for years would have no legal recourse.

And what is it with people accusing me of "repeating right-wing talking points"...? Their standard talking points are that Social Security is supposedly on the verge of financial ruin, and is going to need to be privatized in order to keep it going. I, on the other hand, am saying that Social Security is doing just fine -- but, if the political winds blew in a particular direction (like that suggested by the teabagger in the original post), it would be quick and easy for a Congress and President to abolish (not privatize, but eliminate) it, even if it was in solid financial shape. (And, by the way, if they abolished it, they would not be under any legal requirement to pay out the remaining trust-fund monies to retirees, either -- they could just decide to turn it into subsidies to their pals in Big Oil instead.) That's not a right-wing talking point...that's a warning to those of us not on the right to stay vigilant.

[Amonester]

162. Not only it would just hasten the death of millions of seniors...

who PAID into the programm all their working years (and they accuse us of wanting 'death panels'?!?), but it would precipitate this country into the WORST DEPRESSION EVER (and by FAR), because all these people that nutcase would tell them to 'get over it' BUY FOOD, NECESSITIES, CLOTHES, TRANSPORTATION, TRAVELS, ETC. Can anyone imagine how BAD this calamity would affect the state of the economy???

If his DELUSIONS would be implemented by THESE CRAZY FOOLS, they would risk of sabotaging THEIR OWN JOBS!

Talk about shooting themselves in their on two feet at once! :silly:

[regnaD kciN]

186. I'm assuming that the aforementioned "nutcase" is quite young...

...and, therefore, can't imagine himself as needing to retire one day; or he probably assumes there's plenty of time for him to put together a private retirement savings that will last him for however many years he will be alive. (In the words of Noah: "riiiiiiiiiiiiight.") But, I would love to ask him: how close are his parents to retirement? If Social Security and Medicare were abolished, how would he like having his elderly parents eventually have to move in with him, and be personally responsible (remember, teabaggers are supposedly big on "personal responsibility") for all their living and medical expenses? That was part of the reason for Social Security, too -- to free children, already facing tough economic times, from the burden of supporting their parents in their old age. It seems some people could stand to remember that.

ON EDIT: I see, below, that this nutcase is actually 45 -- that makes him even loonier.

[nenagh]

6. I think you are seeing the power of advertising writ large...

Recently I read that the Right Wingers are in effect a total information environment..

Between Fox/Beck/ Rt wing radio etc.. it's kind of like walking in a dream of created perception..

Thank you for the info.. he is an open book about magical thinking

[HughBeaumont]

7. Unemployment would skyrocket like mad, crime would increase 100-fold,

The reason being is that businesses still wouldn't hire here because there'd be no demand because the problem has nothing to do with "high" taxes (another bullshit right wing canard). The problem has to do with stagnating wages not meeting the never-decreasing cost of living. All money goes towards necessities, debt is used to buy stuff. No disposable income, no buy-a da products and services; it's not really THAT difficult a concept.

"I'm sorry, but you ain't getting any more money, get over it"?? Yeah, good luck with dodging THOSE bullets.

No regulation on anything? Yeah, well, you better not invest your money in anything then. Vegas slots would have better returns.

Crime would be rampant and there'd be no military or police or fire to defend you (I mean, how does he think this sort of shit gets paid? FAERIES?). Garbage would pile up to the moon, roads would look like the moon's surface, schools would be useless Biblical free-for-alls, your food would come from some third-world shithole, pollution would make the air cancerous and your water would have all kinds of neato plagues in it. It'd be a chaotic and unequal dystopian nightmare.

You can print this and let him wrap his tiny brain around it while he's downing his Wendy's.

[Wednesdays]

34. I live in the same city as Mortos, and I know exactly the environment he speaks of

Unemployment? That's YOUR fault, no matter how high the rate gets.

Dodging THOSE bullets, about "Get over it?" They revel in that attitude.

Crime? Heh, just use your own concealed 9 millimeter glock to blow the crooks away.

Fire? That's YOUR responsibility. If you're not so CARELESS, your house would never catch fire. Garbage? Just toss it in the crick.

Pollution is a figment of the imagination. And well, don't matter how bad the roads get, you can always get around anyplace in your Ram-tough pickup.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

118. Where do you live so that I can stay away and don't wander there by accident?

:scared:

[Mortos]

166. The great state of Oklahoma

Oklahoma city, to be exact. I love my state. Hate the fact that we just gave the keys to it to almost all republicans. Oh well, the fact that they are now almost exclusively in charge will expedite the fucking up of everything and democrats will be voted in again soon enough to cleanup the mess. Yay stupid voters. You won!

[MrScorpio]

9. This is the problem: His wish will NEVER happen

Since it won't, he'll never find out, for a fact that all of his stupid ideas are unworkable.

The people that he voted for, that conned him into thinking that they would make it so, won't be able to.

However, these same people will make things worse if they have enough power in government, because they're really a bunch of crooks and incompetents, plus they're too greedy, stupid and stubborn to change.

So, your friend is stuck a loop. He's a fool. He can't stop being a fool, yet he's free to be one without suffering the full on consequences of his own foolishness, because the system won't breakdown completely and convert to the way his foolhardiness wants it to.

You can't talk him out of his foolishness, because he's living in his own head, as is his God-given, American right.

Instead. just ask him what he's going to do since he's really never going to get that chance to fix the economy. He already knows that he'll never get the chance. I'm interested in his answer.

What you should do is encourage him to talk to the politicians that he voted for, tell them what he told you and insist that he get a satisfactory answer from them. Tell him to never give up on that. He voted for them, so he's entitled to be heard. Ask him to write and call these people everyday. Keep bugging him about it. Mention to him that if the people who you voted for had treated you like the people that he voted for are treating him, you'd be pissed and you'd do something about it. May sure to show him some pity about being treated poorly by the politicians that have forgotten about good, tax paying Americans like himself... It's a crying shame. Be sympathetic to his plight. Once he's mad and depressed about the lackluster job done the people he worked for and voted for to get elected, suggest that he ought to try something different.

Suggest that he vote Democratic instead.

He just might take you up on your suggestion.

[Crusader Rabbit]

10. Social Security... An Entitlement????

It is becoming clear that the Tea Party folk consider social security to be something akin to welfare for life? What if I call it social security retirement? Since July of 1957 I have been continually employed. Never have I pulled any unemployment compensation. Now I am retired and I receive social security checks every month in accordance with the original contractual agreement with the government. My social security benefits were paid for by my working for more than 50 years during which time I contributed to the fund. Now along come the Tea Party people who make it sound like I am on welfare? Am I "on the dole" in retirement? Am I to be thrown away because I now serve no useful purpose or something?

If social security were to end there would a massive and immediate social emergency in our country. Millions of old and disabled folks would simply not be able to sustain their lives any more. Homes that have been paid for for decades are now in jeopardy because property taxes can't be paid by the owners. If I can believe what I've been hearing for so long the Tea Party would say to these citizens "I worked for my money. You go work for yours and quit being a burden on real citizens". Or something like that.

Tea Party kiss my old senior citizen ass......

[SammyWinstonJack]

23. These morons apparently have no idea how Social Security works if they thinks it's some sort of

welfare paid by the government. Clueless ignorant asshats. :dunce:

[Naturyl]

84. Well, I'm a "clueless ignorant asshat," then.

Because SS is a welfare program. It's not "insurance" or anything like that. There are no individual accounts and the money paid out to recipients is derived directly from payroll taxes on current workers.

How come people don't know this? Simple. Because the word "welfare" has been demonized beyond belief. We'll go to any lengths to make something "not welfare," when what we ought to be doing is taking the term "welfare" back from the right wing and restoring its meaning as something GOOD.

[WinkyDink]

92. I don't think it's so much the demonizing of "welfare" as it is the demonizing of "entitlement."

[Naturyl]

98. Yeah, same general idea, though.

"Entitlement" is a code word for welfare.

[Curmudgeoness]

104. Although I can agree that the word welfare should not have a

bad conotation, I do not agree that SS is a welfare program. It was a forced retirement savings plan, and it was set up and sold as an insurance. You are right, there are no individual accounts. And no, they did not put the money in the mattress. Money paid into the system did not all go toward current recipients. If that were the case, there would be no arguing about how the federal government raided the SS trust fund. Your comments are the same as I hear from Repugs every day. And this is just not fact.

[txlibdem]

203. Who raided the Social Security Trust Fund?

Ronny Raygun did it first to hide his incompetence and otherwise huge budget deficits.

Then Papa Bush came in and raided SS some more.

Then Dubya did it again.

Damn if it aint the same idiots that say "the GUBMINT aint gonna be there for you when you need it the most." It's been a self-fulfilling prophesy with no doubt as to the outcome.

Make note of all the idiots here on DU who are spouting right wing talking points. They are your enemy.

[Curmudgeoness]

207. It will be self-fulfilled prophesy if they repeat it enough times

to convince everyone of the so-called truth of it. We really have to counter this assumption every time we hear it.

And I do make note of some here, just hope that they really are not really enemies as much as uninformed. Sigh.

[txlibdem]

209. Maybe not enemies

Just friends who would happily put a knife in your back to get ahead?

That's ok. That is my opinion of everyone in America nowadays. It the Corporatista and Capitalista way. That's why I'm starting a commune. No backstabbers allowed. No ladder climbers, no Teapublicans. Just good honest hard workin' folks who know that there are a lot of costs that could easily be shared and a lot of work that is duplication of effort for us all to do. Share the land, share the costs, put the extra money into solar panels and sell the extra power back to the electric company. Eventually we'll all be able to quit our jobs and just live off the beautiful sun!

[newspeak]

120. well, your calling it welfare

we do pay into it--it's not a free ride.

[Hannah Bell]

173. it is insurance. there are no individual accounts in insurance companies, either,

except for billing.

comments like yours are not helpful, they just confuse the issues.

'welfare' in social programs has a meaning. it's pejorative. social security isn't welfare.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

141. Welcome to DU Crusader Rabbit!

I agree with you completely. My husband worked and paid into SS for 48 years and now they think they can come in and say it is welfare or just decide to stop paying? I think they would have an uprising of senior citizens!

[caveat_imperator]

150. Senior citizens

would definitely exercise their second amendment remedies on those morons if they tried to mess with social security.

[Desertrose]

159. I agree with you completely Crusader Rabbit!

Entitlement my a$$!!!! How can they call it welfare when we've paid in all our lives is beyond me. Wonder how many Tea Baggers who count on SS would REALLY be willing to give it up. Yeah, right.

Welcome to DU!!

[MedicalAdmin]

11. I run a medical cllinic so you'd think I would meet lots of fact based folks.

You'd be wrong. Our docs are good, but the worst or the self proclaimed "evidence based" docs. They don't know the latest research, they don't understand the underlying functions and interreactions of body systems, and they think their opinion is the only valid one.

Do I need to say that I see them with Bachmann bumper stickers and proudly donating to the tea bag party? Keep on mind that these are very educated white men. Wait? Did I say white men? Yes I did. And it's not a coincidence.

On the up side, they screw up their patients treatment protocols so often, while simultaneously blaming the patient, that our office does good business fixing their mistakes.

Snort. There are times when I think standard of care treatment and teabaggin go hand in hand.

So I ask you, if the professional class that is supposed to be about compassion and caring is so chock a block full of teabaggin chowderheads, what hope is there?

[formercia]

27. Going the way of the Roman Empire

Instead of Lead in the Water, it's Propaganda saturated Neurons......Propaganda Plaque.

[AspenRose]

60. "Propaganda Plaque," that's good.

[alanquatermass]

63. Well, there IS good news, formercia! Read on...

-- cuz I tend to get as morose as you do sometimes, but I bet with a gun to my head (pointed, no doubt, by a Rethuglican, LOL!) I'd find solace in the fact that American Society is starting to drift further and further to the Left.

Just a few examples: BEFORE Fox News, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh... the United States had criminalized abortion, segregation, no gays serving openly in Congress, no possibility of a black President, zero Medicare, and no comprehensive Health Care Bill.

NOW, however, we've got: Roe V. Wade (thank goodness!), the Civil Rights Act, gays serving openly in congress and elsewhere (and shows like WILL & GRACE, MODERN FAMILY, GLEE, etc. on television)... not to mention Medicare, Obama-Care, AND A BLACK MAN AS PRESIDENT (YEAH!!!)

So, not a bad scorecard to have, overall.

When you step back and consider the overall "drift" of our society, it is hard to imagine why anyone here at DU (even after Monday's election) would be feeling disillusioned.

[formercia]

70. I have a fondness for Gallows Humor.

You are right, this country has made a lot of progress in the last 50 years. The trick is to keep the crazies from returning us to those dark days.

[Naturyl]

87. You're right, and it's good to keep that in mind.

The direction of history, over the long term, is invariably to the left. It's the direction of the very atoms and subatomic particles that constitute the physical universe, in fact. Increasing complexity translates to inexorable leftward drift. I have lengthy papers showing this, but there's no use boring anyone. The gist of it is that no matter how hard regressives try to hold back progress, it is simply not possible in the long term. They are trying to swim upstream against the river of history.

However, this doesn't mean that in the short term (as in decades or even centuries in some cases), they can't make life a royal pain in the ass.

[DeschutesRiver]

180. Used to know a doctor

last time I saw him was in 2004 back when I was in a certain social circle for decades. Republican, white older male, lousy businessman with his investments, kind of bland to talk to, and was never sure he was all that great of a doctor. Without going into details, quite a few things he did made me assume he might have been bottom of his class. Very low key, quiet demeanor, pleasant to talk to on subjects that require no depth. That said, I still assumed that someone with that much education couldn't be a teabagger for sure. Though I knew him prior to the whole teabagger crap, but he just seemed moderately republican and not crazy-assed.

I was wrong. Recently read his facebook page. Palin should be our next president - smart woman; Obama is a muslim, here is the evidence (and no, he doesn't have a birth certificate, absolutely true - more "youtube" citations); Bachman is simply brilliant and will go far; no mosque on sacred 9/11 ground; Obama is going to kill old people and his Obamacare is screwing doctors who are leaving the field by the thousands, no MILLIONS; impeachment is on the table; much misc. about Obama taking a bullet; and more of the craziest theories you have ever heard a teabagger utter. I mean, the ones that are not only complete lies, but that anyone with a freaking pulse could immediately debunk by even a casual google search - Mr. Doctor is posting these moronic myths on his facebook page as absolute "truths" that he is simply apoplectic and outraged about on a daily basis. I guarantee that if you met him, you'd never guess what was on his facebook page. Never in a million years - I KNEW him (and that was back before facebook) and I can't even tell you how shocked me and my dh are to read this shit. If someone had told me he held these views back when I knew him, I wouldn't have believed it. I almost wish I'd never seen it, as it means I am a far worse judge of character than I'd imagined possible.

And I know he isn't just jabbering to stir things up - he means it. He is a truther, birther nutjob to the extreme. How the hell does something like this take hold of a mind that could get through medical school and practice for decades?

[regnaD kciN]

187. You know Dr. Frank Burns???

[Mister Ed]

12. Reminds me of my co-worker who knew the answer to our difficulties in Iraq.

Five years ago, when the Iraq quagmire was at its worst, I had a co-worker who sincerely believed that the solution was to simply kill all the Iraqis.

"What?", we asked incredulously, "All forty million of them? Every single one? Men, women, and children?"

"Well, yeah", he said earnestly. "You have to be sure and kill all of them. Then, problem solved."

So was this guy otherwise stupid, vicious, or crazy? Nope, none of those things. He was a gentle, affable IT professional. His appearance and demeanor reminded me of John Goodman.

Guess what his favorite news channel and radio talk-shows were, though.

It's that bad out there. That's what we're up against.

[progressoid]

67. I've had that same conversation

And not with teabaggers, but rank and file GOPers.

It's sad.

[Naturyl]

90. He was a sociopath, quite likely.

You can't tell a sociopath by their behavior or demeanor. Some of them are the most personable folks you'd want to meet - but in their hearts, there is just a void. Nothing there. No conscience, nor morality, and no humanity. They can play along, follow all the rules, and act for all the world like perfectly decent people, but at the core of their being, there's just nothing.

[WinkyDink]

95. Eichmann was probably gentle and affable, too. But he made no pretense of "bringing democracy".

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

103. You mean John Goodman, or Walter Sobchek? (n/m)

Or maybe Goodman's character in Barton Fink......

[regnaD kciN]

189. Sounds more like his character...

...in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

[regnaD kciN]

188. Why just Iraqis...?

I had a co-worker, right about the time of the first Iraq war, who came up with his own "solution" to the world's problems: develop a strain of HIV that would only work on those with the genetic markers indicating Arab ethnicity.

Just to show he wasn't a one-direction bigot, he then added that, once we'd killed off all the Arabs, our next task should be to invade Israel. :crazy:

And, in case you were wondering, the guy was a "brilliant" (note the quotes) programmer. Who later became a meth addict.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. This sort of thinking is every common, and not just in politics...

How many times have you heard great advice on simple solutions to complicated problems?

And we have it on our side, too-- how many "simple" solutions are proposed here?

I'm not sure why this happens, but I suspect it has something to do with our inability to process too many complex problems at a time. (Most of us, anyway-- the ones who can are the ones running the world.) It's also connected to the obsession some have with having to have something to say about damn near everything, particularly things they have no responsibility for.

No, you can't fix it. All you can do is shake your head and walk away.

[regnaD kciN]

190. Yep. A friend of mine, after the 1980 election...

...commented that it seemed to him that Americans had decided that solutions to the problems of this country required too much thought, and so they'd just decided to give up thinking entirely.

And, yes, the syndrome is common on both sides of the political spectrum, although more of it sure seems to be on the right at the moment. But it's hard not to see the absolute fury expressed at Obama ("traitor," "sellout") by some here as being anything other than a manifestation of this same sort of instant-gratification thinking -- that Obama should have just simply declared that he wanted everything on our laundry-list, and gotten it from Congress instantly.

But I think a wise rule of thumb is that, when anyone says "it's all very simple" about a complex problem, they're unlikely to have anything useful to say about that problem...or anything else, for that matter.

[6000eliot]

14. Why bother even arguing with such a fucking moron?

I swear we are all fucked because idiots have taken over the world.

[quaker bill]

15. What none of them seem to get

is that all this stuff was tried. It did not work. People chose a different approach to address the failures.

Before Social Security, the elderly who could not work often enough ended up living on the streets and starving.

Before the IRS, the government did not have enough revenue to maintain a peace time military of sufficient size to protect our interests.

Before welfare and food stamps, many more children grew up malnourished in poverty.

Before medicare the elderly often went broke from healthcare costs, ended up on the streets, and died through either a lack of food and shelter or the disease that was not treated.

None of this stuff was created by utopia seeking hippies. Most of the folks involved would seem fairly conservative even by today's standards.

The people invented all this stuff to resolve the problems the more "libertarian" world that preceeded it left unaddressed. If the world was all that great under a more "libertarian" plan, people would not have chosen to fix that which was not broken.

All this stuff came from people choosing to fix that which actually was broken.

[rurallib]

37. I think Britain is on the verge of trying it yet again.

[Naturyl]

86. But they don't care about any of those problems. In fact, they aren't even "problems" to them.

This is what too many on left don't get. These people DO NOT have a conscience about such things. Whether they know (or admit) it or not, their basic worldview is Social Darwinism, meaning "survival of the fittest." They don't see poverty, malnutrition, or any of that as a problem. They see it as the natural order, and even a good thing in many cases - "cleaning up the gene pool."

Don't believe me? Ask them. Most will admit it proudly.

The moral bankruptcy of these people CANNOT be underestimated.

[veganlush]

160. exactly. Ironic isn't it,

that the people that deny evolution in biology embrace in society.

[Jamastiene]

165. You are absolutely correct on that.

They DO NOT have a conscience at all when it comes to those things.

[regnaD kciN]

191. It's called: someone who read Ayn Rand as a teenager...

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

[newspeak]

119. I wonder how many know that enlisting for WWII

how many young men were malnourished? Maybe these cretins should ask why these programs were initiated. Nothing like seeing people starving to death, especially children or have children on the streets homeless because their parents couldn't support them. Or, to see the elderly starving. Of course, the industrialists loved the environment-great slave labor. Some of those same industrialists who were funding Mussolini and Hitler.

Even Thomas Paine believed in supporting the elderly after seeing his elderly parents struggle when they became physically unable to work.

I tell you these teabaggers have been listening to the lying hate spewing heads too long. When something is repeated over and over again, any lie, they convince the people it's truth. they've had access for over twenty years on TV and radio, with little or no balance.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

131. I like what you wrote

well said.

[Hannah Bell]

174. don't forget that that was also when people were still able to provide for themselves

if they had access to the land, which a lot of people still did up to ww2. you could make a basic living with a kitchen garden & hunting & trading labor for some basic goods.

that possibility is pretty much gone now. thus if you're out of the money economy (jobless) you're completely sol unless you're not averse to crime.

libertarians are idiots.

[mwb970]

16. Why would you waste time debating a complex topic with a simple-minded moron?

There are a lot of people out there who lack critical thinking skills - we call them conservatives. A prime characteristic of conservatives is simplistic "thinking" - reminiscent of this Monty Python bit:

Alan: Hello.
Noel: Hello.
Alan: Well, last week we showed you how to become a gynecologist. And this week on 'How to do it' we're going to show you how to play the flute, how to split an atom, how to construct a box girder bridge, how to irrigate the Sahara Desert and make vast new areas of land cultivatable, but first, here's Jackie to tell you all how to rid the world of all known diseases.
Jackie: Hello, Alan.
Alan: Hello, Jackie.
Jackie: Well, first of all become a doctor and discover a marvellous cure for something, and then, when the medical profession really starts to take notice of you, you can jolly well tell them what to do and make sure they get everything right so there'll never be any diseases ever again.
Alan: Thanks, Jackie. Great idea. How to play the flute. (picking up a flute) Well here we are. You blow there and you move your fingers up and down here.
Noel: Great, great, Alan. Well, next week we'll be showing you how black and white people can live together in peace and harmony, and Alan will be over in Moscow showing us how to reconcile the Russians and the Chinese. So, until next week, cheerio.
Alan: Bye.
Jackie: Bye.

(A quick spelling note: your co-worker piqued your interest, rather than "peaking" it.)

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Um, Social Security Is An Insurance Program

People paid those premiums for when they needed that return on investment.

It's easy (and simple-minded) to fix things if all one has to do is break every promise one ever made.

I buy a house. Then i tell the bank "Get over it." I buy a car and tell the bank "Get over it". I buy groceries, pass a bad check, and tell the store "Get over it".

Not only wouldn't this fix all the problems in 6 months, it would cause an economic cataclysm. Your co-worker is a moron.
GAC

[PA Democrat]

18. Additionally, 2 out of 3 seniors rely on Social Security

for at least half of their total income. IIRC, Social Security benefits paid to seniors for 2010 will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 billion. The morality issues aside, the impact on consumer spending would be devastating.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. And They Paid Into That System for 40 or 50 Years

How convenient it must be for an idiot like the OP's coworker to just decide to renege on a business deal made with these people since 1950.

I'll presume idiots like that want gov't to run like a business. Well, two problems for someone this stupid:
1) Business don't and legally can't renege on deals they've made just because it's convenient. There has to be, at a minimum, force majeur declarations, or they have to be allowed by the courts to enter bankruptcy. You just don't break a deal because you feel like it.
2) Businesses borrow money in the hopes of future growth ALL THE TIME. It's a basic business principle called leverage. That's one reason why analysts look at debt-to-equity ratios. How much have they borrowed vs. their existing equity. How much of the value of the company is held by the stockholders, vs. how much is owned by the banks? This idiot thinks that every business does every deal, every expansion, every merger, every acquisition, with cash.

So, the teabaggers want us to run government like a business, except when they don't want government to run like a business. Duplicity and stupidity in the very same position.

This is, unforunately, what we're dealing with.
GAC

[provis99]

138. it is NOT an insurance program.

It is a direct income transfer from those under 65 to those over 65. In short, it is a welfare program. Are you a real professor?

[ProfessorGAC]

182. You're Wrong

No further explanation is necessary. Look at the law and title of the act. It is NOT an investment program. It is an insurance program against destitution in old age.

And questioning my credentials is going to do what to make me take you seriously.

I've been here for 10 years. People here know me, many personally. Do your own research instead of asking loaded, insulting questions. Quit being a subsimian know-it-all.

BTW: I've got advanced degrees in Chemistry, Mathematics and Economics, and i've taught all three at one time or another in the past 30 years at the graduate level.

If you have any more questions, make sure thay're not stupid ones based on compleltely baseless beliefs.
GAC

[socialshockwave]

19. Typical teabagger:

arrogant to the point of stupidity. This guy's answer doesn't surprise me. All of the teabaggers are like this.

Sad truth, ladies and gents? There's a Canadian Tea Party forming up here. I'm scared. :/

Either way, just tell your co-worker that he's entitled to his opinion, no matter how stupid it is.

[txaslftist]

142. "All of the teabaggers are like this..."

Well fuck. What's the point in talking, then?

[Codeine]

168. There isn't any point.

Teabaggers are racist, reactionary filth. There is no such thing as a principled and thoughtful teabagger.

[chemenger]

21. "He would fire half of the U.S. Senators and Congress"

I wonder which half of the Senate and Congress he would fire ... certainly not the Republican half (oh no, certainly not!)

The Constitution ... that's just a piece of paper ... good only for wiping your ass with

Get rid of the EPA ... we'll be bathing and breathing in toxic waste (think Love Canal) ... usher in the zombie apocalypse :nuke: :scared:

No IRS ... no infrastructure, no police, no fire department, no military to protect the Homeland :hide:

No regulations on big businesses ... might as well just drop your pants and bend over ... and hand over all your money to them after their done with you

A consumption tax ... I wonder what the % rate would be ... would their just be one tax to cover federal, state and local taxes or would state and local governments also be entitled to levy consumption taxes.

No federal social programs like social security, medicaid, medicare and welfare ... now what do you imagine he will do when the time comes when he will need these social programs :cry:

Good God Almighty :banghead: ... it is incomprehensible just how STUPID some (I hope its not the majority) Americans are. :dunce:

[newspeak]

123. well, I had an idea about elections in this country

couldn't be as bad as what we got now. There's a town in Italy that actually draws lots for city council. All citizens must be up to date on governance and issues because they may be called to serve. So, I was thinking we could draw lots for the house (must serve unless mentally incapacitated or have valid reason) the house choses the senate--you could pick a professor of economy or a top environmentalist. The president is the only one elected All citizens must study on current events and political science. Just think how much money we could save--and corporations don't count as a person--corporations cannot be chosen.

You might say it's a civil draft--well, that's my fantasy.

[trotsky]

22. A consumption tax on the order required to fund the government -

even the government these dim-witted "libertarianesque" idiots envision, would grind our consumption-based economy to a halt. Why don't they understand this?

[Obamanaut]

24. 'piqued' interest. nt

[geckosfeet]

25. and they have the brass to call liberals naive

[Throckmorton]

26. Hey, it worked for the Russian Czar.

Wonder what he is up to these days.

[Dappleganger]

28. These people should not be allowed to vote.

[Vinca]

29. The guy sounds very Hitlerish. Let people starve and die.

I bet he thinks he's a raving patriot.

[mudplanet]

30. As my mother would say, "You just don't understand." The only legitimate

function of the federal govt. is to generate profits for corporations and defense contractors, and since we have ZERO external threats to the country, the only legitimate function of the military is to keep the population in line.

To an extent, this is the situation we now have in America. The bulk of the federal budget in spent on a military, the wars are just ways to generate a need to expend more resources on defense. They serve no other real foreign policy purpose. You don't think we're actually going to establish functioning democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan, do you? The very idea is absurd (as well as anti-historical: virtually everywhere the US has intervened in the last fifty years it has been to establish and maintain brutal dictatorships. Why would we change that pattern now?).

And your co-worker just wants to extend this arrangement.

Once we neuter the other functions of the federal govt. there will be a huge surge in employment, most of it in the security fields. We're going to need a lot of private death squads to deal with the inconvenient and unwanted people who don't agree with this arrangement and don't further the goal of profit maximization. Actually, what we'll do is bring the troops home and use them for this purpose. That way the rich and corporations don't have to pay for the security - they can use the consumption taxes that the average person pays to fund their own oppression.

Eventually we'll have the capitalist paradise that your co-worker envisions: full employment, decent working conditions, respect for law and order, and a pot in every chicken. It's a well thought-out political and economic philosophy.

As any teabagger can tell you, this is exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Constitution.

[LWolf]

31. Sounds like Obama's plan for "turning around" schools. nt

[GoCubsGo]

32. Well, fortunately, nobody's going to let him "fix" things.

And, he needs to "get over it." What a lunatic.

I'm not sure we will be able to fix things, either. You and I both know how we could fix it, but there are way too many like your co-worker in this country to let it happen.

[Brewman_Jax]

33. Typical teabagger lack of mentality

they want to go back to the days of the robber barons, the robber barons ran everything, had all of the money, and "those people" were out of sight and out of mind. One major point the teabaggers like to overlook--not EVERYONE was a robber baron, and those who weren't suffered greatly.

Those days came to an end for a reason.

[Brewman_Jax]

58. I see they learned nothing from the Tennessee house fire incident

the libertarian solutions they're so in love with don't work in real life. :banghead:

You'll note the libertarian solutions are always for "those people" and everyone else, not for them. "Cut spending, but don't touch MY social security/medicare/enter social service here!" scream the teabaggers. :banghead:

[tsuki]

35. Ah yes, we had that once. It was called the 1920's. nt

[newspeak]

61. yeah, you should have asked him if he ever read any US history

anything about the good old robber baron days or the twenties. Asked him what he thought of the disparity of wealth and if it was okay to perpetuate slave labor. If there is no regulation, what will he do if his whole family dies of contaminated meat or tainted water? And, did he realize that more corporations are global rather than the "good old american" company like Hershey (was) helping out communities and treating workers good.

If we read history, we've always had a certain number of very sociopathic people--look at the aggression against the native americans and those who showed outrage against some massacres (like against the Cheyenne) were vilified by their fellow so-called americans. Of course, with yellow journalism, it was easy to instill fear and that "otherness" against the indians. And, don't we have the same today?

Totally clueless, willfully ignorant people, who no nothing about their own past and little about the constitution or the bill of rights, unless it's the second amendment.

[NuttyFluffers]

36. they are mentally spoiled children who can think no further than, "i wanna cookie!"

he basically just described opening the doors to anarchy and couldn't figure that out in the next logical step of his own grand fantasy.

these are the people who would be horsewhipped into building palaces -- until their "morale improved" (abused spouse syndrome) and were upgraded into horsewhipping others into building palaces.

these lunatics should be laughed at in their face, repeatedly, until they cry and learn to doubt themselves. too often shattered self-esteem is tragically reserved for the thinkers of the herd...

[HughBeaumont]

48. Someone on this site once said . . .

. . . "The idea that taxation is 'theft' is childish crybaby nonsense."

I'd like to hear these people's idea of what an ideal tax rate SHOULD be.

[txaslftist]

158. 100%

Why not? That was the idea in the USSR, right? No private property, from each according to his abilities to each according to his needs...

LOL

[Ichingcarpenter]

38. I think his arguments and logic definitely have

Electrolytes

They're... what they use to make Brawndo!

And they use them to make Brawndo

Because Brawndo's got electrolytes.

[BurtWorm]

39. They need to be reminded of what taxes and the social contract are.

They're not thinking, obviously. Do they want roads? Mail? Electronic infrastructure? Water? Security? Safety? Do they want to pay for all of that out of pocket? Do they understand that private property is actually a loan from the commons, which everyone and no one owns? Do they understand that taxes support private property, that without them there is no property, it's every man, woman and child for his or her self?

Of course they don't understand any of that. If they did, they wouldn't be ignorant tea baggers.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

41. Folks Paid Into A Lot Of Those Programs And Righfully Expect Their Benefits

Taking them away amounts to theft. Don't conservatives believe you can use deadly force to protect your property?

[Cobalt-60]

164. My grandfather bagged a Kamikaze. Bagging a Bagger

wouldn't require a twin 4Cm mount.

[Blue_Tires]

42. The sicknes is spreading...

I'm overhearing variations of his "plan" from more than a few people where I live...Makes my head hurt...

[JohnnyBoots]

43. You work with Ayn Rand? I am sorry for you.

[ProfessorGAC]

122. Not As Sorry As I Am

Well, maybe we're both equally sorry. The OP's coworker is a major tool.
GAC

[raccoon]

44. I wonder if any of his relatives/in-laws are receiving SS or Medicare. nt

[bullwinkle428]

45. The mental picture of him getting ripped to shreds by seniors

playing the role of a pack of rabid hyenas (over his views on Social Security) just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling all over my body!

[HughBeaumont]

47. Beaten to death by canes and handbags.

STRAIGHT outta Clockwork Orange! Not coincidentally, a movie about post-modern dystopia.

[baldguy]

46. Hell, if you're looking for simplistic, unconstitutional solutions, I could do it in 4 months!

[lumberjack_jeff]

50. Shit, if I can dispense with math and basic human morality, I can do it in 7 days. n/t

[datasuspect]

85. if we can embrace wide-scale mass murder and liquidation, i could do it even quicker.

[regnaD kciN]

194. Oh, there's a quick way to do it...

...but you'd have to subscribe to the principles of the Scorched Earth Party. :rofl:

[Gold Metal Flake]

49. Does he like perchlorate in his drinking water?

What about tap water that burns?

Be sure to direct him to the libertarian paradise of Somalia.

[JitterbugPerfume]

51. I would get over it real fast without my social security

How long does it take to starve and/or freeze to death?

[JackRiddler]

52. Did you ask this idiot about the "defense" budget?

[Pacifist Patriot]

62. What do you think he meant ...

When he said "he would get rid of all but a small portion of the entire federal government?"

I suspect Defense Budget = American Government would be the proper equation here. :evilgrin:

[guitar man]

53. Does he have family?

Wife, children? Ask him how he's feel if they died from poisioning from unregulated food or drugs etc?

And, my social security...it's mine. Wanna end it? Give me back every last dime I've paid into it over the 32 years I've worked, otherwise, I better get to collect it. If they just take it from me and it disappears, I'll show them what the term "2nd amendment remedy" really means! :grr:

[DeadEyeDyck]

125. I really wish I could get my social sec I paid in...

my race lives less than others, statistically. As others outlive us, they will be collecting money we paid in. I think it would be better that when we get to a certain age, we are written a check for the total amount we paid in. It should at least the compund interest that I would get if I put it in a bank savings account.

I would think that most people, once they have reached retirement age, are mature enough to handle their own retire account.

[guitar man]

130. Exactly

By the time we hit 60 the large majority of us have made enough mistakes and seen the mistakes of others with money to handle it I would hope. And hey, if we don't, we probably don't have that long to live anyway so we might as well live it up. :silly:

But what pisses me off the most is, the ultra rich assholes that are bound and determined to take MY money away from me and piss it away in the stock market or whatever to their benefit. And to add insult to injury, I along with the vast majority of everybody in this country that's actually hit a time clock and worked for a living have paid SS tax on every dollar we have ever earned, whereas the yacht club set has not because of the cap.

Them constantly gunning to take something that rightfully belongs to me, especially when they already have so much does not set well at all. When I hit retirement age I will have pretty much lived my life by then. They better just move along and find something else to steal because there's nothing more dangerous than a crazy old fart with nothing left to lose. :grr:

edit due to iPhone typos :silly:

[arbusto_baboso]

54. What the teabaggers want would make America look like a Dickens novel.

And not in the good, quaint way, either.

Actually, I'm soft-pedaling it. We'd look like Somalia at the end of that 6 months.

[BlueIris]

80. More like an Atwood novel.

Or, as you post, Somalia. Or Burkina Faso.

[Urban Prairie]

55. "I'm sorry but you ain't getting any more money. Get over it."

I have read posts similar or nearly identical to your co-worker's "solutions" on RW internet forums over the past decade. Tax cuts or better still, the complete elimination of taxes for the privately wealthy and business always seems to be their #1 answer to "job creation". Perhaps there was a time, long ago, pre-electronic age, where certain types of tax-cuts would have helped, but now the global economy has made the tax cuts issue moot. Most large businesses, whether domestic or foreign-based, pay little or no federal taxes anyway, due to loopholes in the leaky US federal tax code.

I wonder if this guy's co-worker has parents, and if so, whether they are soon or now retired and living on SS/Medicare? I would have asked him to tell his parents that he feels sorry for them, but that their (only) source of income should be cut off, and see how that flies with them...heh!!

[VOX]

56. You appear to be working with Dwight Schrute III. His 6-month plan would be the end of the U.S.

Not to mention the world as we know it. Unregulated industry would pollute to the point of oblivion, and without Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, would be rendered instantly homeless. Corporations would feud, and make war if they desired. During the magical 6 months, the first major natural disaster would cause widespread panic, disease and a total breakdown of infrastructure; Katrina would be a picnic by comparison.

Sorry you have to work with such pinheads.

[wisteria]

57. In other words, he is clueless how our government works. n/t

[Ikonoklast]

59. They want Somalia.

Everything they dream about...low taxes, escept whatever the guys with the guns extort out of you, no government interference to speak of, except when they try to kill you, no police, unless you are a warlord and can afford to hire your own mercenaries, no Social Security, gubbamnint run Somalicare for those medical freeloaders, no minimum wage, no roads to speak of, no fire department, no rule of law, no food, no schools, no EPA, no hope, death is a daily companion at your elbow, and a few wealthy feudal lords determine if you eat, live, or die.


The Teapublican Paradise on Earth.

They are soooooo lucky to live there.

[Naturyl]

93. "Somaliacare"

I think you just created a winning soundbyte there. I love it. "Somaliacare, the teabagger health care solution."

[IDHow]

64. They dont know what they wish for

[we can do it]

65. The Pukes Make Me Want To Bang My Head Against a Wall

overly simplistic nonsense. How about he just doesn't get paid for the rest of his life?

Get over it MY ASS - this is something people PAY INTO. Fuck these idiots

[Ganja Ninja]

66. I just wish we could send these stupid fucks to an alternate universe

One where they could live in the country they want and deserve.

[progressoid]

68. He's not just a teabagger, he's the Republican base.

I've heard variations on that for the last couple decades from lifelong GOPers.

[Blue Owl]

69. According to NPR, these citizens are our hope for a better America

Why they're perfectly sane, average Americans who just want less government; and who swept the midterms in a landslide.

:eyes: :mad: :eyes:

[Crunchy Frog]

145. The gloating tone on NPR right now makes me want to puke.

Liberal radio my fucking ass! :puke:

[regnaD kciN]

195. They know the teabaggers want to defund NPR...

...and are just trying for a little "job security." :eyes:

[Crunchy Frog]

205. They've been massaging the teabagger movement since it was

a wet dream of Glenn Beck's. They're every bit as much a part of the corporate media as FAUX news is.

[ThoughtCriminal]

72. Eliminate SS and Medicare and say I'm sorry and get over it?

Within hours we would have riots that would make the French look like amateurs. I do not think that the
"Half of Congress" that did not get "Fired" would live through the night.

[Lorien]

76. I wish. But the only way you'll ever see a riot in America is if you cut the cable TV. nt

[indy legend]

91. That's a hell of an idea. No more Fox news. woohoo

[librechik]

73. If they issue their fascistic orders clearly who wouldn't simply obey?

Thousands of destitute grammas and grampas bodies would pile up at his feet as they committed suicide simultaneously.

Everything so simple for them. "Quit bellyachin" "Quit spending" "Do what I say, not what I do."

It's because they think emotionally, not logically. They just can't feel for others. No empathy.

It's the curse of liberals that we do have empathy, and don't want everybody to fail on our command to make things easier for ourselves.

[AnArmyVeteran]

74. Powdered glass in baby formula = Tea Bagger Dream

Tea baggers want an end to all regulation and zero lawsuits against their beloved businesses. If they got their wish their drinking water would be so toxic it would kill them, the air they breathe would be so contaminated their lungs would burn, their food would be contaminated with diseases, children's toys would be made out of toxic wastes, and on and on. A tea bagger utopia would be one where corporations controlled every facet of their lives. They would be forced to work for 50 cents a day. They would be total slaves to a handful of corrupt corporate overlords.

Of course, tea baggers are not capable of thinking beyond their noses, or thinking at all. In a tea bagger utopia our country would be a sewer and we would be worse than a third world nation.

[Lorien]

75. I see conservatives of every stripe spewing the same nonsense here in Florida

they want to privatize EVERYTHING; every road, park, garbage collection, police...everything. They honestly believe that the Government that our founding fathers (who they pretend to worship) designed for us should be destroyed. They believe that there is no such thing as a corrupt and greedy CEO. They have been COMPLETELY brainwashed by their corporate owners and revel in their own slavery.

[Naturyl]

94. Ding ding ding.

Thanks for being awake and aware. You're one of the few who gets it. "They have been COMPLETELY brainwashed by their corporate owners and revel in their own slavery."

That's exactly the case, and you used exactly the right terms for it - brainwashing and slavery. That is what modern corporate employment is.

[kestrel91316]

77. Someone needs to remind him that taxes are the price we pay for a

civilized society. Indeed - they are the price we pay for civilization.

No taxes >>> Dark Ages, or even worse.

[LibDemAlways]

114. I wish there was a way to give these people their wish and not collect

any taxes from them. However, they would, in return, not receive any tax-supported services. No fire or police protection. No court system. No roads. No garbage collection or other municipal services. No tax supported schools or libraries. No inspected food. No veteran's services. Basically just cut them off and let them fend for themselves.

Have a feeling they'd quickly be back at the tax collector's office paying up. Some people are just dumbasses.

[tridim]

79. Sounds like he's an anarchist.

[regnaD kciN]

196. Nah, more like an analist...

...in other words, a real asshole.

[Naturyl]

81. Mmmm, yeah, he's obviously a real genius.

So sorry you had to listen to such utter foolishness and immorality. "Get over it?" Yeah, um... does he have a grandmother? Would he like to to tell her "get over it" as he takes her social security check? Maybe he can replace it with some cat food, as a gesture of goodwill.

[LibDemAlways]

83. How old is this person? Does he have elderly parents?

The next time he starts in with this b.s. ask him if his parents collect social security and take care of their doctor bills through Medicare. If the answer is yes, then ask him why he doesn't take over their expenses and pay all the bills out of his own pocket since that what he seems to be advocating. He sounds like a real piece of work.

[Mortos]

109. He is 45 and he is a government employee

A GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE! But not federal so I guess his job would be safe in his scenario.

[LibDemAlways]

111. What an idiot. He sounds like some of my

staunchly conservative relatives who hold the following jobs:

policeman (public employee/member of union)
toll collector (public employee/member of union)
military subcontractor
teacher (public employee/member of union)

The hypocrisy of the rightwing is breathtaking. So many collect a government paycheck and union benefits while bitching about the size of government and condemning unions.

I would be willing to bet your co-worker's parents (if they are still living) are happily collecting their social security checks and handing over their Medicare cards at the doctor's office. I would also be willing to bet he couldn't afford to support them if their safety net disappeared.

[LarryNM]

133. Some Might Think That This Co-Worker is Fictitious

because you say you and he work for the Government. Wrong! As unbelievable as it may seem to those who have not worked in any government, there are definitely some who have no regard or empathy for the public or those they serve. Think of Cheney, Armey, W et al as examples. Of course, some of the public is the same way. The all too common human failing of me,my,mine; tax the other not me, cut the other programs not mine. I am not speaking of the I-just-want-a-paycheck attitude found among a few everywhere. It is the amoral, if not sociopathic, person filled with a life of insecurity, self-loathing and, more often than not, the American drug of choice - Alcohol. And not just regarding their work but everyone and everything in their life. Obviously, most people are not this way, government employee or not. We can only hope to build societies and organizations where such people will not have a place.

[regnaD kciN]

197. So, feeding off the government teat, eh?

I thought the first step to freedom would be to eliminate worthless government branches...and it sounds like he practically defines "worthless."

[fascisthunter]

88. No Taxes never worked and never will

their whole philosophy is simplistic, narrow-minded and reckless. Also, it's a failure... just look at countries that have just about no taxes... and look at how people are treated there.

[taught_me_patience]

89. Simple solutions for simple minded people... n/t

[HooptieWagon]

96. His ideal government already exists in Somalia...

... why don't you suggest to him he move there?

[Odin2005]

97. What a moran!

[HughMoran]

99. I would have said "so, then you'd be happy just letting those peole die?"

"Doesn't that make you an accessory to murder?"

[Ishoutandscream2]

100. Yep, I'm surrounded by these types as well

And I work with them, in A FREAKIN' PUBLIC SCHOOL. Advocating measures that would ensure they would no longer hold a job. They really, really are stupid folks. It's downright frightening.

[Initech]

101. How did I guess cutting social programs would be first on his list?

You really want to cut spending, teabag fuck nuts? How about we start with the military and prisons? Yeah.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

102. I hope he enjoys working for slave labor

No regulations? Then he gets less than a dollar an hour and likes it......don't need any whiners......shut up and back to work or there's the door......

[CTyankee]

105. Just tell him he has to pay for his mother's health care bills!

Tell him if she can't pay for it, why does he expect the government to pay for it. Therefore, it is HIS responsibility, as her son, to pay for HER medical bills, not the federal government, damnit!

That'll sober him up real fast!

[LibDemAlways]

112. Without her Medicare, his life could certainly become very ugly in

a hurry. Imagine a hip replacement surgery bill in his mailbox? You're right. He'd see the light very quickly.

[Crunchy Frog]

147. I'd guess he belongs to the "throw momma from the train" school of thought.

[southmost]

106. tell him to go to Mexico

its closer to free-fall 'free market' with no social safety nets...

and see how he likes it over there.

[txaslftist]

146. Mexico isn't so bad.

Forget about the border of course. That's the US's doing. If you fuckers could keep your hands off of the bong and the crackpipe for 10 minutes at the same time, we wouldn't have cartels killing each other. But expecting Americans to act responsibly is like expecting them not to talk shit about us while we are doing all the labor they can't fucking handle because they've become so soft.

But south of the border, Mexico isn't bad. Living is cheap, and most of us have extended families down there, so if grandma gets sick, we take care of her and we all pitch in to pay for the doctor. If it's serious we send a son or a grandson up here to work for a summer, and the money is enough to pay the bill. We don't have any 200,000 dollar bill for one surgery, which is why all the gringas from California who can't stand the idea of a dignified old age come down here to get surgery. Because American girls all want to look like they're 20 when they're 50. Because American men don't know how to be loyal to a woman unless she looks like a movie star.

You don't need to disrespect Mexico just because you live in the land of the lazy, vain, irresponsible people who don't pay their bills.

[Codeine]

169. You're a real charmer, dude.

Laying it on a bit think, yeah?

[Permanut]

107. Best thumbnail sketch of a bagger ever..

This encounter captures perfectly the pathology of the barbarian wannabes. Dark ages again, anyone?

[MadMaddie]

108. What you need to do is go find a history book

not one that was written in the last 20 years but one that was written after the Great Depression. The book needs to detail the Robber Barrons, the soup lines, the Dust Bowl......Dare him to read it.....and ask him if that really is the world he wants to go back to?

[DeschutesRiver]

181. "Diary of the Great Depression" by Benjamin Roth - written from pretty much the start to the 40s.

It was a diary kept by an attorney during the Great Depression, and you just get a great sense of this nasty thing dragging on not just for a few years, but many years. Shows how many times things rebounded enough that folks really believed it was finally "over", and acted upon that belief, only to be crushed by the next wave of crap coming down upon them - over, and over, and over again, they'd fall for the idea that it was gonna be short lived. And the freakiest thing is that when you read some entries, they could have been written today. We've given this book to several people, who've said holy shit it was like reading stuff ripped from the headlines of the couple of years, and they were pretty damned sober after reading it.

Also give the guy "The Worst Hard Times: The Untold Story of those who Survived the American Dust Bowl" by Timothy Egan. Covers the bad times prior to the Dust Bowl, the event itself, and the sorry aftermath, plus it tells of events occuring simultaneously like real estate scams and the like.

Give him both of those, and ask for his thoughts when he is done. Should be more than worth the cost of it - or maybe you could loan them to him, then let them be passed around for reading by any other teabagger in your office.

[southernyankeebelle]

110. Only one thing. We these idiots get old they are going to want these benefits too.

[SOS]

113. Funny line from the bagger...

"If businesses didn't pay any taxes we would have full employment in 6 months."

They pay no tax now, genius!

Most Companies Pay No Federal Income Tax
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/12/national/main4342535.shtml

ExxonMobil paid no federal income tax in 2009.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/06/exxon-tax/

General Electric $0 tax bill
http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/16/news/companies/ge_7000_tax_returns/

68% of corporations, including Exxon/Mobil and General Electric don't pay a penny.
So where's that full employment?

[muntrv]

115. This teabagger doesn't know that business would be free to send his job overseas.

[rasputin1952]

116. There is a phrase from Solomon about this...

"even a fool may seem wise if he keeps his mouth closed".

I have yet to meet a fool that could keep their mouths shut, I usually find it it quite entertaining.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

117. Ooh, a horrible combination--mean "just cut off Social Security" and dumb

There have always been mean and dumb people, but I don't remember the mass media ENCOURAGING them so much.

[GearHeadTheStalker]

121. Your tea bagger co-worker only explained how he would destroy America in 6 months

RepubliKKKan Teabaggers have a scorched earth vision for this nation. Kill the poor, the weak, gays, and minorities in the name of Jesus.

[femrap]

124. Still....

can't he see past the next step? No social security so you have homeless, starving people...is that OK? Just get over it and starve to death on the doorsteps of Walmart?

Do you not see the results of their decisions???? So all the water will be polluted? The wages will be slave wages.

I so detest these willfully ignorant people. Can't they understand that there are serious repercussions to their decisions and actions?

Pathetic.

[JDPriestly]

126. So, basically, this guy wants to steal from the Social Security trust

fund to cover the cost of his tax cuts. Brilliant. He would have millions of elderly people starving in the streets and he would tell them to "get over it." Without Social Security, a lot of elderly people, I mean millions of elderly people would be over life. They would be dead. I hope you pointed that out to this guy. That "solution" would make him a murderer on top of everything else.

[regnaD kciN]

198. If he's that much of a libertarian, he probably wouldn't care...

...and say "anyone who reaches retirement age without enough invested in the bank to live on deserves a quick death." :puke:

[JDPriestly]

204. Right now, you can reach retirement with money in the bank,

but you get 0% interest on that money so you actually would have to live on your savings -- which would constantly lose value. Even Rand Paul could find himself penniless on that.

By the way, I would like to know what your libertarian friend says to this proposal:

For most animals, the rule is "only the fittest survive." For humans, however, "the most nurtured survive."

The human baby requires more nurture than most other offspring. It is really true that only the most nurtured of our species survive. The libertarian philosophy is fine for other species of animals, but it does not work for humans. Our survival depends on our parents and on our communities. Our physical fitness and physical adaptability is important, but the nurturance of our parents in our early years determines whether we have the opportunity live or die.

[Drale]

127. and his head would be on a pike 10 days after he took over

we really havent had a good reign of terror in a few centuries but the tea baggers could very well bring one on.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

129. You work with Meg Whitman?

[and-justice-for-all]

132. LOL...so that is how you turn America into a third world country...

in JUST 6 MONTHS. What a clueless clown.

[pipi_k]

134. Guaranteed recipe for revolt and rioting in the streets...

And who knows...maybe that would be his goal...

[Javaman]

136. Why didn't you encourage the dolt to run for office next time around...

he would get a very nice dose of reality.

As much as the half witted ball lickers, who go elected, like to scream and yell about how they are going to change things, the reality is, the ones who did get in office, now have to deal with their constituents. It will be amusing to watch their bullshit hit the fan of reality.

[HughBeaumont]

177. . . . oh, and it's going to be HIGH-larry-us.

Once these poor "TRO DA BUMS OUT" fools realize that politicians beholden to the needs of corporate profits above all never had any intention of creating jobs, much less that it's scarcely possible in today's non-level, Free-Trade-O-Rama capitalist climate . . . there's gonna be loooooooooooooots o' sad wittle delusional tea sippers come next Christmas.

While the "GUB-MINT" remains a universal TeaDoucher punching bag, they're all too ignorant to see that America's problems run far deeper than it's politicians. Mostly, its a toxic marriage of the unregulated capitalist cancer that leads to nothing but regression for 94 percent of us and an out-of-control MIC and it's war addiction, which the U.S. has no intention of kicking.

BOH-ner's going to be in a constant state of inebriation for a month (if not a year) straight, since he and his fellow clownshoes now have to pull off the mother of all smoke-and-mirrors act for the next 2 years. And the joke's on us.

[Javaman]

192. It will be like watching a clown car smashing into a wall...

you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Either way, we will pay the cost of their willful stupitity, because they are driving our car.

[regnaD kciN]

199. Don't encourage him...

It's Oklahoma. He'd probably win.

[caseymoz]

137. That person educated himself with Ayn Rand and stopped.

He found a description of the world that he loved with black/white solutions and he bought it.

[Mortos]

167. I can almost guarantee you he hasn't read a book

unless it was written by Glen Beck, Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly.

[caseymoz]

208. And who do you think they've read?

Or they were educated by someone who loved Rand's fantasy novels and philosophy.

The important thing is, people today shop for the ideology that satisfies them and have a superficial resemblance to the real world, and then they define the evil in it according to that ideology and work to rid the world of it.

You should have asked him, if he was ready to see people actually starve and die because of what he did, and emphasize that starvation, destitution and death will inevitably result from those actions.

[regnaD kciN]

200. "Ayn Rand" and "educated" don't belong in the same sentence...

[ProudDad]

139. For 56 years I've been fighting off Reality

I've been holding on to the delusion that the USAmerican people are essentially good folks but that selfish, evil interests with mucho money and mucho power have got them so confused that they work and vote against their own interests...

This myth has kept me going over all those years; through Lyndon's lies and Nixon's felonies, Ford's pardon and Carter's war buildup, ronny raygun, bush I, Clinton, bush II and Obamabush...war, war, more war and more obeisance to corporate interests to the extreme detriment of the Commons...

I've held on to the fantasy; that if only people were educated enough, had a decent media that told the truth and were presented with viable choices they'd finally do the right thing and elect the right people and support the right policies...

It's people like your tea-bagger co-worker, and events like this last "election" that take my breath away...

Maybe I've been wrong all those decades.

Maybe my dose of hopium is finally wearing off...

The last vestiges of my Humanistic, New Deal loving upbringing are falling away...

Human beings are the only species that can shit all over their living space, kill without compunction; themselves and fellow creatures inhabiting the Earth and whose intelligence in the aggregate is proportional to the inverse CUBE of the individuals...

I'm thinking it's time to say, "Fuck it!", find a fairly quiet, secluded part of the Earth and live out the rest of my days in relative peace - far away from the belly of the beast, the worst offender, the fucking USAmerikan Empire...

I can only pray that Mother Nature gets us before we get her!

Venus, anyone?

[Crunchy Frog]

143. In 6 months we could become Haiti with nukes. n/t

[tjwash]

144. Yay!! We'll be Uganda with the worlds largest nuke arsenal.

Does this guy spend a lot of time playing video games?

[KeyserSoze87]

148. Absolute fucking bullshit.

These clowns couldn't lead this nation out of a paper bag. If Sarah Palin or any member of the Teatard Movement gets elected in 2012, this country will be headed for an economic collapse even worse than the Great Depression.

[Name removed]

149. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mackerel]

152. I know a teabagger who gave my his long laundry list

of things he would do to fix this country. He would basically everything, deregulate everything and use a hands off approach with Corporations. Free market economies govern themselves naturally;)

I told him I was born in a third world country and I have zero desire to return there.

[KT2000]

151. Brainwash complete

this person is considered a success by the RW and their media.

[harmonicon]

153. most people are really really stupid

I don't think there's a lot you can do about it.

[NAO]

154. This is called "MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM" (the creed of the marketeers)

Lots and lots of people believe it 100%...it's like an article of faith:

We believe in One Market, free from government interference,
We believe in unimagined prosperity for all who work in a free market;
We believe in the righteous damnation of those who try to freeload in a free market;
When mankind is free from government interference,
Free to play and create and generate limitless prosperity;
Wealth without end, Amen, Amen.

or something along those lines.

Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand provided the ideological basis. Ronald Reagan was the salesman. The idea has a beautiful simplicity and massive explanatory power. I understand the appeal to people who want to grasp what's wrong. But it's very obviously misguided. But that's very hard to see from the inside. Kind of like religion.

[Kablooie]

156. This is exactly what the right says will fix all our problems and the fools believe it.

[Harry Monroe]

157. Is it just me, or does anyone else here get the feeling that "Idiocracy" began last Tuesday?

[Amonester]

201. Actually, this "round" of "Idiocracy" began in November 1980.

There was other rounds of "Idiocracy" before, but this thirty year-old one is the most threatening to the perennity of "Life On Earth" itself in the "getting nearer and nearer every year" future.

The most powerful people on Earth are getting dumber and dumber each election round (except for 2008) because of propagandized fools like the one described in the OP.

[Larkspur]

163. I would have told him that I'm working towards 2012 to "Take my Country Back" from

the idiots that put the RepubliCONS in power in the House in 2010. And if he wants to live in a country that he describes, he should do the United States a favor and move to Somalia. The central government there has no power, but the militant gangs do.

[NICO9000]

170. Guys like this are often wrong, but never in doubt

Is there even any critical thinking going on in this guy's pea brain? His "ideas" (and I use that term very loosely...) would basically give all power to corporations and fuck everyone else. I guess he actually believes his sick little fantasy, but he's obviously never considered any downsides to his brilliant plans.

God, this kind of stuff makes me sick to my stomach. Like another poster said, this willful ignorance is just astonishing. It's like they've all decided that any adult cognitive abilities had to be discarded so they could stay on the thinking level of a 10-year-old - and a real dumb one at that.



:eyes:

[Hannah Bell]

171. and when 75-year-olds starting crowding the sidewalks with their public dyings, he'd say -- ?

the guy will never get his "small government". big corporations need big government.

he may get his public die-ins, however.

[FrenchieCat]

172. A lot of people really do think that they could be elected,

and then be a dictator.

Guess that's what made Bush a two termer.

[Historic NY]

178. Ask him how much of the miltiary he would get rid of....

since 56 cents of every tax dollar is spent on them.

[BlueJac]

179. Peanut head solutions!!!

What next? Nothing about wars draining the federal budget, or private contractors ripping us off.


Simple Simon met a pie man...............

[Bucky]

185. I believe what your friend just advocated for was the Gilded Age

[Mimosa]

193. Dumbass doesn't realise we PAY INTO SOCIAL SECURITY OURSELVES!

What a stupid man.

[kittykitty]

206. A caller to Washington Journal said almost the same thing this AM. Maybe it was him! nt

[lunasun]

210. stupid is!