Special Election - 6th Congressional District (Decatur: unemployment, salary, living)

[Cameron H]

Originally Posted by MikeHonchoATL

Bad choices in life have consequences.

They certainly do for the poor! The affluent, not so much. They don't face the same imperative to "save for such a life event" because their parents already did it for them. When they **** up, they have the resources to hire a good lawyer, the social capital to quickly find another good job, the security of never having to worry about access to life-saving health care.

Make some really bad choices and lose millions? No sweat -- it's other people's money, you can just *********r contractors, creditors, and working-class employees, pile the debt onto a zombie company, file for bankruptcy (multiple times, if necessary), protect your own wealth, and for the kicker, carry the losses forward to avoid taxes on your millions in future income. Money is the ultimate armor against the consequences of bad choices.

Of course, your ideology is logical if we grant one premise: The poor deserve their suffering and the rich deserve their freedom from it.

I don't believe that ideology is defensible for the richest country in the world, and I'm happy to support slightly higher marginal tax rates that are still among the lowest in the developed world in order to make poor and working-class peoples' lives a little less miserable.

[BeyondInfinity]

Originally Posted by MikeHonchoATL

By creating generations of losers dependent on government aid...

You never cease to amaze me!

So you are a fiscal conservative that voted based upon fiscal responsibility yet Trump is not going to make a dent in the deficit (Trump's first budget calling for $54B increase in defense spending faces GOP hurdle | Fox News) (https://www.yahoo.com/news/significa...usiness.html)?

Jon Ossoff is fresh just like the Trump, who you voted for, yet all you keep saying is that he (Jon) is not experienced and he is bought. Yeah, Trump was not bought and Trump is on track to outspend Obama's entire 8 year tab on Vacation spending within 1 year (Trump On Fast Track To Outspend Obama's Entire Travel Tab In A Single Year | The Huffington Post). What do you have to say for that, fiscal conservative, or are you going to keep defending the lying pathetic President that we have?

Jon Ossoff may not be the best candidate but dammit he is going to be better than any of the Repubs who will just fall in line to do whatever Trump wants.

I mean look at how Trump tweeted that we should stay out of Syria back in 2013 and now all of a sudden they are gassing their people (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/u...tter.html?_r=0)!!!!!! REALLY??? You would have to be a moron to believe that is what actually happened. History repeats itself people, and every single time a Republican gets into the Presidency, we always end up at war. The people in power lie to the American people to benefit themselves. Trump was just at the lowest ratings of any recent President. What better way to improve his ratings by bombing a country (Syria) to prove that he is not in collusion with the Russians. Democrats and Republicans alike are falling for this mess and you all should know that this tactic was borrowed from George Bush Jr.,'s playbook. Did you all forget about Vietnam and Iraq?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os5FOQ4kHdM

You all may not agree with Ossoff but he is a much better pick than any of those Repubs who will do whatever Trump wants to do. See Bush Jr.'s Presidency to understand where we will be with Trump if he continues to get his way.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by MikeHonchoATL

Should've saved in preparation for this life event.



Should've saved in preparation for this life event. If you can't afford kids, don't have them. If you need to downsize your lifestyle to afford it, do it.



Should've saved in preparation for this life event. If they were smart they would have made themselves marketable so finding another job would not be an issue.



Should've saved in preparation for this life event. Long term disability insurance exists for a reason.



Should've saved in preparation for this life event. Seems to be poor planning to have no plan B in life. All your eggs in the 'my man gunna take care of me' basket is not very smart.

Bad choices in life have consequences. Insulating people from facing the responsibility of poor decisions does not help society out,but only emboldens people to live more foolishly.

Good God dude...like seriously?

[primaltech]

I don't agree with either 'everything imaginable = personal individual responsibility to somehow know how to make all the exactly right choices at every turn', or 'no bad situation is people's own fault or responsibility, and society should cushion the blow for everyone every time'. The truth is in the middle- there is both a such thing as bad choices and also difficult to impossible circumstances to be able to make good choices. Our general policy should therefore reflect that actual reality. Some degree of social welfare/safety net/redistribution, but also an expectation of people in bad situations doing the reasonable best they can to better themselves and make at least decent choices, not being totally lazy or totally stupid.

I think all the education opportunity in the world should be universal and quality for everyone with a single payer, and health care needs should be universal and quality for everyone with a single payer system across society. And anti-homelessness shelters and basic meals and whatever. A basic safety net. But beyond that, it should be everyone's responsibility to work hard and contribute to society in order to have a good life. Not an entitlement or an expectation of being handed anything.

Extremism on either side of the welfare state question are idiots on so many levels. Clearly the most prosperous and productive and healthy and happy countries on this planet have a balance of capitalism and socialism, not a complete reliance on either.

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by Forhall

At least investing in social safety nets pays returns. The defense spending is nothing but giving tax payer dollars to the wealthy friends of the GOP who own or have stock in defense companies. There's no need for us to spend SO much money on the military. It's a scam. Yet republicans are okay with THAT spending that we never see any benefits from.

Meanwhile republicans can greatly benefit from social safety net spending. We can ignore for a moment the fact that many republican voters are themselves (especially in rural areas) are on social safety net programs. Even the wealthy republicans who just don't want to pay taxes can benefit. How much are they spending to move to expensive suburbs to avoid crime and poor schools? Create a social safety net and there will be less crime, and schools will improve as well. Those types of selfish republicans focus on the "fairness" of it, and thus they WANT there to be poverty. They don't think it's fair that they had to work hard and others can survive even if unable to work. They want to see them suffer to make themselves feel better. Instead, they should focus on how much better their own cities, states, and even the country as a whole would be if there were social programs to ensure no one falls into severe poverty. That poverty leads to crime, blight, failing schools, etc. If they're willing to pay the money to move to suburbs and avoid this, why not pay to clean it up altogether?

Yup

Defense stocks jump after US missile strike on Syria (RTN, LMT, BA) | 04/07/17 | Markets Insider

But but but... Sally bought a snickers with her EBT card!!! (Repub logic)

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by vtecluder617

Yup

Defense stocks jump after US missile strike on Syria (RTN, LMT, BA) | 04/07/17 | Markets Insider

But but but... Sally bought a snickers with her EBT card!!! (Repub logic)

We can look the other way as long as Sally is white, right? /s

[MikeHonchoATL]

Originally Posted by primaltech

I think all the education opportunity in the world should be universal

That is the most naive thing I've ever read.

So, everyone gets into elite programs regardless of ability? Everyone gets into college, even if they aren't suited for it? These programs ARE already open to everyone. There is just a measuring bar to get into them.

C'mon son. Get real. The World needs ditch diggers too. The sooner we can screen out some of these folks and put them in trades that offer a livable wage, the better they would be. Not everyone needs college and $100,000 in debt from useless degrees.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by MikeHonchoATL

That is the most naive thing I've ever read.

So, everyone gets into elite programs regardless of ability? Everyone gets into college, even if they aren't suited for it? These programs ARE already open to everyone. There is just a measuring bar to get into them.

C'mon son. Get real. The World needs ditch diggers too. The sooner we can screen out some of these folks and put them in trades that offer a livable wage, the better they would be. Not everyone needs college and $100,000 in debt from useless degrees.

^^ This guy doesn't know what "opportunity" means.

Get a clue, Grandpa.

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by MikeHonchoATL

That is the most naive thing I've ever read.

So, everyone gets into elite programs regardless of ability? Everyone gets into college, even if they aren't suited for it? These programs ARE already open to everyone. There is just a measuring bar to get into them.

C'mon son. Get real. The World needs ditch diggers too. The sooner we can screen out some of these folks and put them in trades that offer a livable wage, the better they would be. Not everyone needs college and $100,000 in debt from useless degrees.

I'm pretty sure it says nothing about everyone needs to go to top schools. But everyone should have a chance to go to college in general if they want, be it a community college, state school, or elite private. Admissions standards should stay, but requiring certain incomes by charging high tuition isn't fair. How many bright young minds are turning into "ditch diggers" as you so disdainfully call them because of lack of funds? Our country should be fostering the ability for everyone to succeed.

Like you, MikeHonchoATL, I detest all of the crime and blight in Atlanta. I long for the day the whole city is safe. But I know the answer is not walling myself off in a gated suburb. It's investing in people so that we can change things. Your solution is to hide away, while investing in people is confronting the problem head on. Is money and pride so important to you that you care not for human life at all if it will cost you a few cents on the dollar? Could you really watch someone die of a treatable cancer in front of your eyes, and justify their lack of healthcare by the fact that at least you got to save 1% on your income taxes? How can anyone be that cruel?

[BeyondInfinity]

Originally Posted by JPD

^^ This guy doesn't know what "opportunity" means.

Get a clue, Grandpa.

He is obviously being ignorant at best, What a moron!!!!! THis is why we are in the situations we are in currently with Trump and his Trump-Pets!! They are ignorant until it effect them or their family. Typical Repub!!!