Who are American politicians beholden to? The People? The Constitution?

[Straybow]

HAHAHAHA.

I blame late night insomnia. Forgot that was a home rule screw-up.

[Sava]

If your posts are satire, you are a ****ing genius.

[Straybow]

Nobody has starved since the potato famine!

Oh my God I'm such a delusional moron. I can't even read a full sentence or understand the context of the discussion.

FTFY

[Dauphin]

I blame late night insomnia. Forgot that was a home rule screw-up.

And the fact that David Cameron wasn't PM and opposed it?

[Straybow]

Nobody has starved since the potato famine!

As Krill might say, you're an idiot. Go read something.

But in New York City in 1931, there were 20 known cases of starvation; in 1934, there were 110 deaths caused by hunger.

Sad but not the millions Stalin and Mao deliberately starved.

[Straybow]

And the fact that David Cameron wasn't PM and opposed it?

Yes, that too.

[Sava]

Even if nobody starved since the potato famine, it seems as if that would be a colossal victory for modern government... and an argument against accepting the conservative "return to the constitution" fantasy.

Are black people property? Let the market decide.

[kentonio]

Sure, I believe you ken.

I'll be sure to file that away under things I give a **** about.

Apparently you didn't fully understand what she stood for then.

Sure, I just grew up under the Thatcher government in an area that was directly impacted by the miners strikes, and have voted Conservative in every election since I was old enough to vote. Obviously I just don't understand what she and the party stand for.

[kentonio]

Liberalism is all about making conservatives compromise. A liberal never has to compromise on an issue.

Such as the last couple of years when Democrats have had to compromise constantly on spending?

We have to listen to liberal crap all the time, it is unavoidable.

It's extremely funny that you can't see the obvious irony in insisting Liberals never compromise on anything, yet you raging at having to even listen to 'liberal crap'.

I certainly don't hear you condemning terrorists who actually and intentionally kill innocent civilians with the same vehemence you condemn eeeevil capitalists and conservatives. No, you actually address the latter as equivalent to the former. Just like the liberal drumbeat.

But they don't harm only the boozer/smoker. You pay for their health care when they get an entirely preventable illness. That illness takes them out of the workforce on disability before they might otherwise retire, reducing their contribution to productivity and putting a greater load on the rest.

Personally I hold personal freedoms quite highly, but I don't expect you to understand that it doesn't have to be a black and white thing.

No, just mocking the accusations the left routinely makes against conservatives. Again, the supposedly conservative kentonio thinks and acts just like a liberal.

Tell you what skippy, just think of all Europeans as liberals. It's not actually true but as you're clearly incapable of seeing nuance in anything, it's probably going to be easier.

But the poor as a whole weren't starving to death; they haven't since the potato famine.

You've hit the nail on the head, but don't even realize it. Who says conservatives want to remove the safety net? That is the accusation leveled by the libs every time conservatives try to fix the flaws of the safety net. Again, you show that there is vanishingly little difference between kentonio the pseudoconservative and liberal wacko propaganda. You don't even demonstrate that you know what conservatives are and do.

Ok, let's clarify this, so you're arguing that the current GOP are fully supportive of Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps and Unemployment benefits?

Do tell. Whom did you admire, and what conservative goal did these wonderful politicians accomplish?

I was quite a big Reagan fan back in the day actually.

We are at an ideological impasse. You claim Thatcher as your hero. I propose you name one specific ideology that identifies you as a recognizable conservative.

The reason I loved Thatcher, was because she was a genuinely strong leader who governed on principle rather than polling. Possibly the last UK Prime Minister to do so. She took on and destroyed a union structure that was genuinely crippling our country (which is why I laugh at you American conservatives when you claim the unions there are such a threat), restored the UK economy and had policies that actually moved to encourage people to better themselves, rather than just dumping people on the side of the road like your current sick GOP bastards want to do.

The pinnacle of her government for me was probably when she sold off the council house stock, giving people who'd never even had a vague possibility of home ownership the opportunity to step onto the housing ladder and aspire to more. That is true conservatism to me, inspiring people to achieve, giving them a helping hand to get there, and yet still being there to catch them if they fall.

[kentonio]

Grr, jonmiller

[DinoDoc]

Such as the last couple of years when Democrats have had to compromise constantly on spending?

What color is the sky where you live?

[kentonio]

What color is the sky where you live?

Let me guess, we're back in full on GOP hallucination mode now right? Where federal spending is rocketing up, the dems never compromise on anything, and the poor Republicans are the last desperate hope of America before the evil Kenyan finally unleashed the apocalypse in a wave of abortion, gun control and free handouts to devilish poor people?

[DinoDoc]

Let me guess, we're back in full on GOP hallucination mode now right? Where federal spending is rocketing up, the dems never compromise on anything, and the poor Republicans are the last desperate hope of America before the evil Kenyan finally unleashed the apocalypse in a wave of abortion, gun control and free handouts to devilish poor people?

So what you're saying is that without the GOP forcing a compromise there would have been 12 trillion in debt over Obama's 1st term?

[Sava]

The debt is a long term problem, not a short term problem... and probably not even that urgent of one at that. This fixation on it is for very transparent partisan reasons. And if we're going to blame someone for it, the GOP is clearly more to blame if we look at the growth of debt under the last 30+ years of Presidential administrations.

[DinoDoc]

This fixation on it is for very transparent partisan reasons.

Who wrote this?

Why worry about deficits? There is a huge army on the march. Baby Boomers are getting older. this enormous generation will being turning 65 in 2010. Their ranks will swell inexorably. This aging population will create huge, foreseeable budget problems.

The numbers are fairly simple. Medicare and Social Security have both promised the great majority of people benefits that are much larger than their contributions…..Those paying in will stagnate, those making claims will explode. The result will be a completely predictable budget crisis. [...]

We know and surely as you can know anything about the economic future at 15 years from now our obligations will face large increases. Borrowing ourselves ever deeper into debt is Startlingly Irresponsible behavior by any standard.... It will create a severe political crisis.

We must act soon or there will be a real problem with solvency.