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Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#121826: May 9th 2016 at 6:58:55 PM

Neoliberalism is generally an economic stance, neoconservativism is primarily a foreign policy position.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#121827: May 9th 2016 at 7:30:43 PM

[up][up]Neoconservatism = social conservatism + imperialism. George W. Bush and his entire cabinet are the textbook examples.

Neoliberalism = social liberalism + free-market economics. Bill Clinton and his cabinet, minus Robert Reich, were mostly these. Different from American libertarianism in that neoliberalism is mostly an electoral strategy, while libertarianism is rooted more in abstract philosophy and principle.

Both are inherently contradictory, because many conservatives are isolationists and a growing number of liberals are social democrats. I'm not an authority, but that's my interpretation of the two factions. Both are discredited nowadays,

edited 9th May '16 7:38:06 PM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
GameGuruGG Vampire Hunter from Castlevania (Before Recorded History)
Vampire Hunter
#121828: May 9th 2016 at 7:39:06 PM

"On my plan they're [tax rates for the wealthy] going down. But by the time it's negotiated, they'll go up," Trump said. "Look, when I'm negotiating with the Democrats, I'm putting in a plan. I'm putting in my optimum plan. It's going to be negotiated, George. It's not going to stay there. They're not going to say, 'There's your plan, let's approve it.' They're going to say, 'Let's see what we can do.'"

Sure, it's a change. I'm allowed to change. You need flexibility, George, whether it's a tax plan, where you're going — where you know you're going to negotiate.

I hate to say it, but Trump's not wrong here... Politicians do need to be able to compromise, which is something the Republican Party has completely failed to do with the Obama Presidency. Just the mere fact that Donald Trump is saying that there needs to be flexibility and negotiation says everything that needs to be said about the current sad state of the Republican Party.

Wizard Needs Food Badly
Keybreak (Long Runner)
#121829: May 9th 2016 at 8:22:59 PM

I can't think of a caption.

You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stay
Discar Since: Jun, 2009
#121830: May 9th 2016 at 8:47:18 PM

[up][up] People do need to be willing to change and negotiate, but coming from Trump it sounds like "I'm going to say whatever the audience I am in front of at this moment currently wants."

Yes, I'm being harsh on him, but I don't think it's an unreasonable assessment.

Writing a post-post apocalypse LitRPG on RR. Also fanfic stuff.
theLibrarian Since: Jul, 2009
#121831: May 9th 2016 at 8:53:18 PM

Yeah, that's been a really big criticism of Congress for pretty much the entire Obama presidency. Every Republican stonewalls every Democrat bill and the body is just two groups of children screaming at one another, and the government shutdown was someone getting mad that they weren't winning at a video game and instead walking up and unplugging the console and saying "I win."

GameGuruGG Vampire Hunter from Castlevania (Before Recorded History)
Vampire Hunter
#121832: May 9th 2016 at 8:59:26 PM

[up][up] To be fair, I blame the obstruction entirely on Republicans. I also think Trump would be the worst U.S. President.

Wizard Needs Food Badly
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#121834: May 9th 2016 at 11:28:04 PM

Trump: "U.S. can never default because it prints money"

To expand that point — presumably Trump means to follow that with "which means we can spend as much money as we like".

edited 9th May '16 11:28:31 PM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#121835: May 10th 2016 at 12:02:10 AM

Yes, and yes.

It should be noted that Trump is correct - and since this is on economic issues, he's not correct in the stopped-clock sense. We can't run out of money and the whole debt ceiling thing is a farce to begin with.

pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#121836: May 10th 2016 at 3:19:40 AM

If Uncle Sam were a private citizen, he would have been thrown into debtor's prison ages ago. But governments are not bound by the same economic conventions as individuals or corporations. The idea of "running the government like a business" shouldn't be taken so literally; people just mean that there should be less waste and inefficiency.

Governments provide many services that the private sector simply can't. Don't like the long lines and poor service at the DMV? Well, where else can you get a valid driver's license?

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#121837: May 10th 2016 at 4:32:12 AM

people just mean that there should be less waste and inefficiency.

So, not like a business, then?

As for your latter point, you're using the wrong example. Private organizations could just as well provide a reliable certification of driving ability... and they could just as well cause long lines and poor service.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#121838: May 10th 2016 at 6:57:28 AM

Congressional considerations in whether Sanders will back Hillary - I found the thing about appointments most interesting.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Keybreak (Long Runner)
#121839: May 10th 2016 at 7:39:52 AM

#5 is more support that Trump is a plant for the Democrats. The rest of them are eh.

I don't disbelieve it now.

You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stay
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#121840: May 10th 2016 at 7:44:34 AM

I have never seriously believed he was a plant; it's more of a tongue-in-cheek idea. But Trump is most definitely not a traditional Republican politician, because the distinguishing factor for them is that they have to both sell the party-line BS and visibly believe it. Trump does neither, so while he's got his own brand of very visible ignorance going on, he occasionally says correct, sane things because they are what a normal, observant person would say.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#121841: May 10th 2016 at 8:11:38 AM

If Donald Trump is a Clinton plant, then Hillary Clinton is a frikkin' genius and deserves to be president.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#121842: May 10th 2016 at 8:15:50 AM

She'd be a Kissinger sort of genius, really, unless she didn't know what kind of campaign he would conduct.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#121843: May 10th 2016 at 8:46:38 AM

I was just thinking about this, actually.

If it is a ploy, the idea that so many people went for Trump is...disquieting.

Oh God! Natural light!
DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#121844: May 10th 2016 at 8:47:57 AM

Is it any less disquieting if it's all real?

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#121845: May 10th 2016 at 8:57:05 AM

I suppose not. I mean, it's not something they would have tried if they didn't think it would work.

Oh God! Natural light!
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#121846: May 10th 2016 at 9:13:52 AM

Well, I think a more plausible version of "Trump's a Democratic plant" is that Trump isn't in Hillary's pocket per say. Rather, he wants the Democrats to win so he ran as a Republican with the intention of sabotaging from within by drawing attention away from better candidates (IE, all of them), drive people away from the GOP, while still pandering to a base that could win him the primary.

Leviticus 19:34
FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#121847: May 10th 2016 at 9:29:41 AM

His nativist bullshit was pretty real even before he was a Republican. I'm fairly sure that he's sincere about that and doesn't actually care about either party; the Dems are too namby pamby for him.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#121848: May 10th 2016 at 9:51:34 AM

@Handle: Successful businesses are never inefficient unless they're getting help from the government. Where liberterians are wrong is that an efficiently run business is one that's as beneficial to its customers as possible, an assumption which is very frequently the opposite of reality.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#121849: May 10th 2016 at 10:09:29 AM

Trump's always been a nativist and a massive bigot. He's been taken to court more than once for refusing to rent homes to black people.

And even if he is a secret liberal or a plant or if he's just plain lying for votes, it don't matter. He's caused irreparable damage to the political process and psyche in America. All the most bigoted and militant elements in this country have been stirred up and are out for blood and political power.

Oh really when?
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#121850: May 10th 2016 at 10:20:01 AM

[up]

And even if he is a secret liberal or a plant or if he's just plain lying for votes, it don't matter. He's caused irreparable damage to the political process and psyche in America. All the most bigoted and militant elements in this country have been stirred up and are out for blood and political power.

Hmm...in your opinion, how long do think the US has left?

edited 10th May '16 10:20:13 AM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On

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