Everybody gets a participation certificate huh? Your generation...
I know memory starts slipping with time, so let me remind you ... we are the same age.
I mean, I get the argument that subsidizing poor behavior leads to more poor behavior, I do. I don't fully agree with it but even if I did, what is the alternative? Let mothers with children to fend for themselves in an economy that doesn't give a rats ass about them? Republicans are great at identifying problems with liberal policies, they just don't have any alternatives that don't have unthinkably inhumane repercussions. Same is true for Obamacare ... Their solution: get rid of it because its too expensive -- result: 20 million people lose access to healthcare. If you aren't offering a solution that both retains peoples' access to healthcare AND saves money, don't waste your breath. Returning to the old system is a nonstarter.
I'll bet all of them except San Francisco and Denver have had non-Democratic mayors in my lifetime. Minneapolis is fine by me, they practice a very pragmatic form of left wing politics. San Diego has a Republican mayor right now btw. Sand Diego and Orange Counties are Conservative overall so for future reference, don't use SoCal as fodder for arguments, only LA CO. (the 800lb gorilla for sure) is Dem controlled.
I'm not making any arguments, you are. But not very good ones if you are saying that any city that ever had a non-Democratic mayor at any time in the last 50 years is off limits in an argument that they benefitted from progressive policies -- particularly those those cities that are in a progressive state.
That is correct. The private sector went into the "industry" because business was booming. Our court systems want everyone under their thumb. They want as many people as possible paying fines, court costs, probation. I'd love to only blame that on the Dems but i can't. It's EVERY body who runs for an office because they have to be "tougher on crime" than the last guy. So one would think the tough on crime stance is a Conservative issue but incarceration rates skyrocketed under Clinton. Don't blame the Conservative / Capitalists for running a better prison than the state did. The States were simply inefficient and had to give away the rights to the prisons.
Everybody gets a participation certificate, huh? Your generation ...
Fact of the matter is that private prisons are a terrible idea, and the companies who run them lobby increase incarceration because the more behind bars the more money they make. It is a dispicable practice.
In regards to Goldwater. Call him what you will but you better embrace the fact that LBJ did as much to segregate Americans by race as any single person and only the institution of slavery was more detrimental to black Americans.
Nonsense. There has been no time in American history in which blacks were treated fairly. They have always been at the bottom of the economic ladder. Giving them enough money to survive and feed their families was only detrimental if you were not a black American.
We were losing steel and automotive jobs before Reagan. It became ok for people to buy Japanese cars in the 70's. Foreign steel imports were hurting our mills. When heavy manufacturing started to shift overseas and OTHER companies saw that American consumers would buy products from Japan, Taiwan and China then the flood gates opened. My Dad and all my grandfathers were UAW or USW members and the 70's were the transition into the new economy... part of what brought Reagan to power.
Reagan-era propaganda convinced many Americans that we could no longer help the poor, even demonized those who relied on assistance to survive. His policies corroded the social contract that had prevailed since the New Deal.
He is widely viewed in hindsight as a tax cutter, largely because he slashed the tax rate of the wealthiest Americans from 70 percent to 28 percent. But he also raised taxes three times, once on payroll taxes which hurt the poor and middle class while sheilding the rich. His tax cuts for the rich brought on the era of income inequality that has gained momentum ever since. When Reagan became president the richest 1 percent of Americans controlled 8 percent of the nation's wealth. Today, that number is at 40 percent and climbing.
Your party preaches the gospel of free market capitalism, yet Reagan policies made for an uneven playing field. The fact of the matter is that the Japanese made superior cars in the 70s (still do in most cases). Instead of increasing the quality of cars (policies that a president could push for, like presidents do with gas mileage and safety). Reagan let them operate in what was against the best interest of Americans. They responded by shipping the jobs of their workforce overseas to keep the prices down and continue to make shitty cars that could compete on price with their Japanese competition.