Hello Bob,

 LL>> Republican Party.  Even Michael Steel admitted the GOP goofed.

 BM>> Agreed.... which only enhances their commitment to a segregated
 BM>> America (My reference here is poor [black & white] vs. the affluent.)

 LL>> Not all blacks are poor.  Not all whites are rich.
 LL>> However, an economic argument can be made, and strongly
 LL>> supported.  Bob Dole, as a candidate for president, tried
 LL>> to make that argument in reference to affirmative action,
 LL>> and actually had Bill Clinton on the defensive (and on the

BK>The point of affirmative action is to insure success is
BK>distributed regardless of race. Only those who oppose AA must
BK>believe there is no racial compenent to poverty.

The point of affirmative action is to discriminate in favor
of minorities - in most cases meaning blacks.  Once equality
has been reached, affirmative action programs are no longer
needed and should be dismantled.  However, once inequalities
re-emerge, affirmative action programs should be put back
in place.  This on again/off again approach is the only way
affirmative action programs can work in a truly fair manner.

 LL>> ropes).  Dole's mistake was not having a viable plan of his
 LL>> own to replace affirmative action. Clinton managed to get
 LL>> up off the canvas, making a comeback by suggesting
 LL>> affirmative action needed to be "fixed" rather than
 LL>> "scrapped" - thus winning his bid for a second term.

BK>Which is true. We need affirmative action for all the poor in
BK>America.

Bob Dole said much the same thing, but wanted to change it from
being a race-based program to being an economic-based program.
The problem was, he failed to do his homework, not having any
details for his plan.  This allowed Bill Clinton to pounce, and
come up with his own "fix it" scheme, thus winning the debate
on the matter, along with winning a second term in office.

 LL>> Black folks are more discriminatory of their own than any
 LL>> other race. There are dark-skinned blacks, light-skinned
 LL>> blacks, blacks who pass for white ...

BK>When you are reduced to survival level your competitors are not
BK>those well off, but those like you scrambling to survive.

Let's see how well those who are presently on disability (SSDI)
manage to survive when their checks are cut by 20 percent in 2016.
Let's see how those on disability manage to survive when conservative
Republicans undo at least some of Ronald Reagan's 1984 reform that
expanded the kinds of disabilities covered.

Do you think the Congress will do anything to save the SSDI trust
program?  By doing nothing, the cuts take effect automatically.
What will happen is Republican lawmakers will say something along
the lines of "Let's compromise" to the Democrats, and then refuse
to go along with anything the Democrats propose.  To obstruct, by
any means necessary, resulting in getting exactly what they want,
while blaming Obama at the same time.

After gutting the SSDI program, Republican lawmakers will move on
to gutting the Social Security program for retirees age 65 and over.
Won't that be grand?

Let's defund Obamacare, and gut Social Security.  Leave everybody
broke and without access to quality medical care.  No more social
security or medicare for anybody.  But let's keep SSI and medicaid,
as funding for those programs come out of general tax revenues
rather than dedicated trust funds financed mainly by payroll taxes.

Imagine that.  Folks who never worked a day in their life are better
off than folks who worked their butts off their entire lives.

What we thought were entitlements are now fast becoming just a pipe
dream.  Maybe you think working until you drop is the thing to do.
After all, there are lots of folks who are in their 80s working as
greeters at WalMart.  But it seems to me that most folks would prefer
having a bit of free time after having worked for sixty or seventy
fucking years.

BK>When I was young they could tell us, if we succeeded in school
BK>we would have jobs. Now they tell kids, if they succeed in
BK>school it's less likely they will be the ones without jobs,
BK>someone else will be. Not much of a guarantee.

Social Security used to be a guarantee.  Not any more.
Pensions used to be a guarantee.  Not any more.
Entitlements used to be a guarantee.  Not any more.
There are only two things that are guaranteed - death and taxes.
The only question that remains is which takes us first.

 BM>> LOL.... irony as it's best... vote for the man who doesn't give a
 BM>> rat's ass about you.

 LL>> You have to remember - we boil our crawfish LIVE.  :)

BK>Hmmm... that seems a bit... disturbing...

Not for the crawfish.  They wave their little claws out the water
and stare at us with those beady little eyes ...

--Lee

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