So my Republican Dad says, "Half the country is on some government entitlement program...."

[Honeycombe8]

So my Republican Dad says, "Half the country is getting money from the government!"

So I says, "Yeah, I'm sure you're right, if you include the people getting Social Security and on Medicare like you and your wife. Yeah, I'm sure that would make it half the country."

I heard on the other end of the line: crickets.



I love my Dad, but he walked right into that one. Sometimes you just can't let a thing slide.

[Skittles]

1. and LOTS of those are repukes

I am betting MOST of them are

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Ya done good!

Your dad should be proud...

Happy Fourth of July, my dear Honeycombe8!

[Kalidurga]

3. I would say it is more like 100%

No one lives in a bubble. People use public roads, utilities, and most people have a public education at the very least.

[Angry Dragon]

6. +1,697

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. Bingo! We're all in on a sliding scale.

[harun]

35. It is 100% and we should be loud and proud about that

[silverweb]

50. Well said!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I'm going to remember that when dealing with the tea-bag branch of the family!

[loudsue]

66. Wow! Well said! Yes yes yes!

And it doesn't cost nearly as much as privatizing.

[stevebreeze]

4. keep in mid that mortgage deduction is also a government entitlement.

[jonthebru]

56. That actually stimulates

the real estate and mortgage ,thereby banking, industries. Government welfare for private enterprise. Frickin' socialism...

[Angry Dragon]

5. Ask him also about all the corporations geting government money

JP Morgan
all the ones asking for property tax breaks
all the ones that have prison employees

[Honeycombe8]

9. I did that, too. When he was going on about welfare fraud...

I (gently) mentioned that, Dad, you complain a lot about welfare fraud. Fraud is illegal, and it's bad. But you know, anywhere you find human beings, you will find fraud. That's just a fact. And I wonder why it is you focus in on fraud by poor people and never mention all the corruption by corporations, and all the subsidies we give to giants like Exxon. I mean, you're talking big money there!

He just says, "Well, that's true, that's true."

He was probably just humoring me, so we wouldn't get in an argument. But maybe, just maybe, it gave him food for thought.

He watches only Fox, so, he knows not what he knows not.

[JHB]

26. See, here's a case where he should "treat government like a business"...

Welfare fraud is the pilfering of candy from in front of the register. Yes, you wannt to stop that, but but when you devote so much of your attention to the pilfering that you ignore big-ticket merchandise walking out the back door, don't complain about what you "can't afford".

It's simply a matter of getting priorities straight, but there is a whole industry devoted to lying to you about what the basic facts are.

[jonthebru]

52. that is really good

i'm gonna use that analogy with my run government like a business "friends."

[coalition_unwilling]

38. Is your Dad fortunate enough to be in the top 1% or even in the top 10%? If not,

just whose interests does he think the Republicans back? His?

Lay this statistic on him the next time you talk to him: 1% of the country's population controls 40% of its wealth and 10% of the country's population controls 80% of its wealth. Does your father think this is morally right?

[jonthebru]

54. No one who makes less that 250k

should ever vote for a repub-thug.

[The Wielding Truth]

70. ding ding ding

[BumRushDaShow]

7. They need to be told that people pay into these systems

IN ADDITION TO their regular federal taxes, and they do so through payroll taxes. This isn't "free money" given away by the government. The only "free money" is the money that the banksters steal from my tax dollars to live lavish lifestyles.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Used to nail my Dad all the time like that

Said the mortgage interest deduction was white welfare at its finest. This was back in the Reagan years when he'd go on and on about how his tax money was paying for malingerers. He's a birther now and we don't talk anymore. Other reasons why but the politics didn't help matters.

[AverageJoe90]

78. My dad's been suckered in by the birther bullshit too.

Well, not entirely. But for the smart guy he is(no joke!), he sure can be pretty darn gullible sometimes, I'm sad to say.

[Evergreen Emerald]

11. What causes that disconnect?

I had a similar experience when a friend complained about how Obama was ruining the economy due to "entitlements." Now, her children have free medical and free college because her husband had been in the service years ago (he left due to health issues). They also received a monthly income because he was disabled (not from service, but a degenerative disease).

When she said we were paying too much in entitlements...I reminded her of the entitlements her family received and asked if she would prefer that we stop paying for her children? And, she works for the state...so she receives medical, and has a pension plan.

Now, she is not a stupid person. So, what causes the disconnect ? It is as if many have given up critical thought.

[mazzarro]

12. I am interested and curious of how the story progressed further -- n/t

[Curmudgeoness]

15. I have had the same experience with a coworker

who is a teabagger and a birther and Faux News only. Her husband is on disability. Her daughter is going to college with government help. They get food stamps.

So how does the story progress? THEY need it, THEY are deserving of it, THEY are not gaming the system. THEY are the ones who are truly in need. Not like those welfare queens who pop out kids every year by different fathers and drive Cadillacs and have the best cell phones and designer purses and gold and diamonds. And not like all those people who get disability when there is "nothing wrong with them" just to win the lottery of the new welfare. I am sure you have heard all these arguments before.

[newthinking]

32. exactly. I have come to the conclusion it tends toward a sociopathy.

If our party was wise they would fund some studies on the matter. I think enough are starting to realize what is really going on that this could be flipped on them.

[Igel]

43. Nope. They're human.

If you see somebody else getting something that you don't think they deserve, you're pissed off. It violates your sense of rightness.

If you work for the state, it's a job. You get money for labor. Pensions comes with jobs.

Everybody gets some entitlements, or we don't think of them as such: Public education, roads, etc.

Some people think they've paid for their benefits. Even above there's somebody apparently convinced that everybody getting SS money paid in what they get out--"no free money." My mother's gotten free money for years: She paid in during her 30 years of working far less than she's gotten out in her 20+ years of retirement. Even in inflation-adjusted dollars.

What's left are mostly people who do get something for nothing, something that most don't get. My mother would have been irate at my neighbor's kids: Free health care, free lunches/breakfasts, free pre-school, free dental care. We may argue whether poverty entitles them to these, but they're certainly not paid for in any meaningful sense by the kids' parents. And if you think that they are part of a group that should be dissed, well, it's an easy call to say they're malingerers.

It's worse when they're in another social group. As primates, we justify those in our social group; we find excuses for them because, well, we want to maintain the group. Condemn your own group and you might be kicked out. And to make sure that everybody knows that we're in the same group, we vilify people in competing groups. If somebody in "our" group does something bad, we minimize it; we find cultural excuses for it; we find ways of making it seem reasonable. If somebody in the other group does the same thing, we maximize it; we find cultural reasons for its being evil; we find ways of making it seem completely unreasonable.The other groups may compete for resources like oil or land, for things like money or jobs, or for things like prestige and cultural importance.

Race is one such boundary, and in the school I teach in racial distinctions are absurdly deep rooted, and it's hard to tell which group bears the most emnity towards others. Class is another, for those conscious of it. Social standing is also important. It's very easy to dehumanize and condemn those that you see as standing on the other side of several social boundaries: You're human, they're not like you, they're not like humans.

[newthinking]

57. "What's left are mostly people who do get something for nothing, something that most don't get."

hmm... Seems I have heard that logic before. And it simply is not true as a whole.

There are always people who take advantage and there will always be inneficiencies in any programs, especially when we create and manage them in such a divided country.

But I don't expect you to agree.

I don't resent poor people who "use" the system. I don't get angry about it. What I want is not revenge or self satisfaction, I just prefer that the system be fixed when there are serious abuses.

Let me ask you to think about this... why do these people deserve the scorn I see in your post? It is a far easier life if one is fortunate, gifted, whatever you want to call it, and makes enough for their labor not to have to resort to using welfare. Nobody in their right mind, who knows better and who has "opportunity" (believes enough in their capabilities in their mind or reality), not to be poor has to be somewhat out of it to "choose" that life. Working, when it pays enough to take care of the bills, is far the EASIER! They are already paying their penance in lost potential.

Why feel scorn for the homeless or welfare person that is so beat down they can't get it together?

The entire idea that there are a mass of people that would choose that life if they believed in themselves or were not beaten down somewhere in the process is just not reality. I am sorry you chose to believe that about your fellows.

[bvar22]

68. Well Done!

Thoughtful, respectful, and well written rebuttal is in short supply these days.
Reading your post was refreshing.

Thank You,
and welcome to DU.




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[Nikia]

59. But some people who do get "benefits" have paid in taxes or will in the future

Those who complain about "benefits" probably know someone like that who has been down on their luck after losing their job or spouse or developing some kind of disability or other problem out of their control. Whether or not this person thinks that the majority of people receiving benefits deserves them, if benefits are cut, their "deserving" friend or family member loses them too. Sometimes, the ability to get "benefits" will allow someone to get back on their feet faster or at all than if they were unable to get them.
I know that there are people that still believe that the "deserving" unfortunate people can be served through charities, but in many cases today, whole communities are down. There are more people that need "help" and those who could have helped them in the past are struggling to provide for themselves. The rich either don't care or are off living somewhere else where they don't have to associate with poor people, like they did if they owned a company in a small to midsized community.

[vlyons]

62. It's the us vs. them syndrome.

There is no them; there's only us.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

13. I'm sure she see job benefits, which she receives

As being very different from welfare benefits, and she's right.

That doesn't mean people don't need or deserve welfare/food stamp/Medicaid benefits, but there is a big difference.

[Evergreen Emerald]

14. Wait...that is not the definition from the right (or from her)

The republicans are talking about unions, retirement, social security, "expensive state pensions." Their definition of entitlements is not limited to welfare benefits.

She changed the subject. Politics is a touchy subject, as you can imagine. I don't usually confront her, as we each have our own beliefs, but I could not pass up that response.

[JHB]

63. That's one of the dodges and reasons for the dissonance...

Even before FOX, outfits like the Heritage Foundation and other RW "think" tanks would generate reports to then be quoted by conservative politicians and AM talk radio (before Rush, there were guys like Bob Grant feeding that same audience).

The reports would call attention to how much of the budget was devoted to "entitlements", spun in a way to let people wave the number around when ranting about how much we were spending on "welfare". By far the most money in those figures were Social Security and Medicare, but that little tidbit was buried in the thick of the report where it didn't matter except as ass-covering. The summary and press release would decry the great burden of entitlements, and it would be used as ammunition against aid programs.

And since the same spin teams were busy equating "welfare" with "lazy black people living it up on your dime". Under other circumstances people might have stopped and thought "wait, that doesn't add up", but toss in racism (doesn't have to be foaming Klansman-grade racism, just "racist enough&quot and any skepticism was shut down. Some people are convinced there's a vast army of do-nothings laying about on their dime.

[nenagh]

16. Very good question... I'm sure they have studied how the brain processes messaging..

The Fox message is clear and consistent...

And they build their message on anger, fear, envy, biases etc.. With people responding emotionally..rational thought goes out the window.

Just think yourself about panicking over an exam.. Or extreme fear... It is hard to get to a place of rational thought from the emotional state.

Fox, Rt Talk Radio etc ratchets up fear, anger, envy etc so regularly that their viewers really exist in a plane of emotion that leaves them very suggestible and vulnerable to propaganda..essentially.

It's like a mini thrill or high.. I think.. And unless W Bush is seen peering out a plane window thirty thousand feet above Katrina...which is obviously so wrong then their conditioning begins to break down.. (but probably just about Katrina)

[Cali_Democrat]

17. Fox News and racism

Remember Reagan and his portrayal of people on welfare as Cadillac-driving welfare queens? It was coded language.

Your average conservative American tends to be white and older than the overall population. Many are on social security and medicare. They don't think of themselves as getting money from the government. They think of entitlements as minorities with their hands out. Problem is, most of the folks on welfare are white.

[L0oniX]

74. FOX Breaking News: Obama is black. Now back to Nancy.

[Marr]

20. Because in this case, "entitlements" means "lazy black people".

When people like this talk about entitlements, they're not really talking about budgetary concerns. They're saying minorities are getting a free ride. That's it. It doesn't matter whether they are themselves on government assistance, or how many members of their own family draw their paycheck from a government job. They're simply not talking about that.

[newthinking]

29. Pride and selfishness, evil ways of thinking, lack of empathy, sociopathic tendancies

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but after many years of paying attention to people like this and living with them (relatives), I am conviced that other than a minority, most simply don't really *want any responsability regarding the world around them. Even those who sometimes do good things because of their "faith", most of them do it because they believe they are going to get something out of it... salvation, favor of God, spiritual karma, etc. Most of their "acts of kindness" are short term emotionally charged acts (a person they emotionally get involved with from a tv story, an act of bravery in an intense situation) or involve close personal relationships (which they have a stake in) which is seems like the things that can move them out of their super self focus.

I have come to the conclusion that the "dividing" line between the "forces for good" vs "forces for evil" really mostly comes down to those who care about others vs those who mostly only care about themselves.

It could be a change in evolution? Older evolutionary methods that used to work for survival vs those who have "evolved" to understand that "survival" of their genes relies on progressing humanity past the old ways?

[Igel]

45. My mother was a loyal Democrat her entire life.

Rabid, even.

Racist to the core, but that happens.

If there was some sort of public benefit, some progressive law, she was for it. (ERA? Sure. Roe v Wade? Absolutely. Civil Rights? You bet. Well, to the extent it helped women.)

In every case she empathized with those who would get them because she could see herself in those situations because she was crucially like them. Had been a single mother, had been poor, was a woman, had been discriminated against because of her biology. In many cases, she would benefit directly from them.

She had little use for the GI Bill because it didn't help women like her. She saw no point in the space program because it didn't help women like her. Foreign aid was evil because it took money away from programs that helped women like her.

My mother was one of the most intensely self-centered, selfish people I've ever known. Her politics were all about her. She only abandoned her racism--in part--when Obama was nominated. She got over Hillary. The reason she decided that Obama, that (expletive deleted) was okay was that he would make sure that people got help--people like her. Unlike McCain, who'd cut her Medicaid, Medicare, etc., etc.

[stockholmer]

61. critical thought (regardless of the political spectrum to which it's applied) is utterly discouraged

by the totality of the American educational system.

In George Carlin's words:

[Honeycombe8]

81. My dad, too. He was a working man (oil co.), BUT he was valedictorian

at his high school. College dropout due to having kids...had to go to work. But still, a smart man.

But he'll even spout the right wing dislike for those "elite academics and smart people." I DO remind him, in front of his wife (who may not know)...but Dad! YOU are really smart yourself, Mr. Valedictorian! It's a good thing to be smart! Not that there's any shame with being not so smart. I've said that twice to him, and he didn't respond.

It's Fox, I tell ya. They have the people brainwashed.

[Marr]

18. Can I assume your dad's salary was payed by the taxpayers?

Just about every person I've ever met you demanded government be smaller had been sucking the government teat their entire life. But they always-- always-- deserve it. It's "those other" people who need to be fired.

[newthinking]

31. Exactly... There is a denial in many of those most focused / jealous

You have observed what I have also seen on a fairly consistant basis.

Someday I would love to see a University do a study on political beliefs vs consumption of social programs.

There is a disconnect: Something about lack of ability to use empathy appears also tied to seeing your ownself realistically and looking to blame others when they find themselves in conflict on a subconcious level.

I used to find it odd: Like the person I know who got themselves on disability and has been living off the government since they were in their 30s who really did not likely need it, who has a child who really does have a disability and the government has taken care of both her and her child most of their lives. But yet she is staunchly conservative and convinced she deserves the assistance and resents that the programs help other people. It is just amazing the disconnect.

[Honeycombe8]

82. He's retired, but worked all his adult life for an oil-service company. Owned by Halliburton.

He started out as a roughneck on the rigs. Hard work. Some of his co-workers got killed. Then he got promoted over the years.

[cstanleytech]

19. Not to mention VA benefits. nt

[AverageJoe90]

21. My Republican dad believes the bullshit claim that half the country doesn't pay their taxes.........

Which was, of course, a lie from the beginning. Wouldn't they all be facing prosecution by now?

[Blanks]

46. There is a portion that don't pay any income tax.

They have to pay sales tax, and even if they rent; a portion of that goes to property tax.

That seems to be one of the points that they use to beat up poor people, but the ones closest to the spigot need to pay a higher share (up to 90% like in the good old days) its the only thing that keeps them from getting too greedy.

[AverageJoe90]

76. True. Very True.

But it's nowhere near the percentage that certain conservative pundits will claim, though.....as I stated before, they claim that around half of Americans don't pay income tax, when it's really only something like maybe the 10% of Americans who are at or below, the poverty line.

[magic59]

22. Yes but the other half also

uses public roads, schools, hospitals, fire departments, water, sewer, so they are also getting services from government, participating in socialism.

[Amonester]

23. +1000

We're all in this together, except the 1%, as they also use roads, traffic lights (their limousine Chauffeur does), airport services, and many times goverment subsidies for their businesses, but (almost) none of them want to have to pay taxes, income or otherwise.

Go figure...

[Blanks]

47. Don't forget government lakes and streams.

Which are there for the socialist practice of fishing on government property.

[TrollBuster9090]

24. You have to give the Republican spin doctors their props. They've pulled off an incredible feat of

engineering in Cognitive Dissonance.

They've convinced their supporters that:

1. The government programs THEY use are not, in fact, 'government programs.' Hence, boneheads like Craig T. Nelson saying "we were so poor when I was a kid that we were on welfare. Did we get help from anybody else? NO!"

2. The government programs that everybody LIKES, and which are highly successful are not really government programs. Only the high profile FAILURES that everybody HATES are actual government programs.

3. That there is a quid pro quo relationship between the taxes they pay and the services they get. ie-"I only get out of Medicare and Social Security what I PUT INTO it."

4. That the pre-adolescent, childish, egocentric "the whole world revolves around me, what do I get out of this? I'm not putting anything IN unless I get exactly the same or more OUT of it" is actually a higher VIRTUE, sanctioned by the philosophy of the Founding Fathers. Fuck that! What are we? A nation of SPOILED CHILDREN? Actually, YES, we ARE! You can fault The Greatest Generation for one thing, and one thing only...SPOILING THEIR CHILDREN. And now we're being governed by the most spoiled generation in history. "I've got MY toys, and fuck all the other kids." That should be the motto of the Baby Boomers (of which I'm one, by the way).

It was spoiled Boomers who demanded government spending in the 60s to create cheap university education so we could all get a degree. Then we demanded cheap housing in the 70s and 80s when we were all trying to buy a house (mortgage subsidies). Then when we were making money ourselves we said "give us LOW TAXES, but don't cut out mortgage subsidies." The pandering politicians were glad to give us all those things, and THAT'S how we ended up with a 15 trillion dollar National Debt. Then we said, "alright, now that we've GOT our education and our houses and our cars...FUCK everybody else. Fuck the next generation, THEY can pay off the debt we ran up through cuts to education and housing subsidies. Just don't touch the programs I'm going to use when I RETIRE!"

[xtraxritical]

75. I resent your simplistic denigration of my generation.

We hit the streets and put an end to the Vietnam debacle. We hit the streets and spearheaded the civil rights movement and the voting rights act. We went to Mississippi and the south to register voters. The list goes on from here. My brother and I did all these things, our neighbors did too. I won't mention our race, as is so often the case with DU posts.

[nanabugg]

25. You think your dad is bad? Did you see the CNN interview with those two men from the mid-west?

I can't remember the exact state now but it was one that received money for the auto industry. I could not believe my ears. Both admitted that they benefited from Obama being President....one guy by having a job, the other by having insurance and a pension from the auto industry. The pension buy (looking a little more well-off) was going to vote for Mitt even though Obama's policies saved the auto industry, is lowering unemployment, has resulted in changes in insurance that benefit him. /Why, because Mitt has experience with corporations and business and has created jobs. The other guy said that Mitt had created jobs but the kind of jobs he helped create only paid$7 per hour and he could not afford to keep his family on that kind of wage.

I just can't explain some people except to say they just don't like Obama and are willing to hurt themselves to keep him out of office.
Obviously these RW funddies can overlook Mitt being a Mormon but hold it against Obama for (not) being an Mulsim.

[RKP5637]

28. Sadly if Mitt gets in, they will get what they deserve, a swift kick in the

ass by Mitt. And sadly they are taking the rest of us down with them if Mitt gets in. Why does this country always have to drag along so much baggage and dead wood.

[jonthebru]

58. It is our job to prevent that from occurring.

[RKP5637]

27. I hear remarks like that about ACA from people that have taken all

sorts of assistance ... section 8, welfare, food pantries, food stamps, SS, Medicare, Medicaid, it's always an incredible WTF to me. They come out and say I'm not gonna pay for someone else's health care. It's just an incredible WTF.

Yes, you are so correct, "Sometimes you just can't let a thing slide." Pointing out the fallacy in ones thinking can be a learning experience for them, and if done correctly, as you seemed to do, it's a good one.

[NOLALady]

30. Couldn't resist huh?

[2on2u]

33. Send him these ten statistics.... and maybe the link if you think it could open his eyes.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-working-poor

#1 In 2009, total wages, median wages, and average wages all declined in the United States.

#2 Since the year 2000, we have lost 10% of our middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs. Meanwhile, our population is getting larger.

#3 As 2007 began, only 26 million Americans were on food stamps, but now 42 million Americans are on food stamps and that number keeps rising every single month.

#4 Since 2001, over 42,000 U.S. factories have closed down for good.

#5 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government.

#6 Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

#7 The number of Americans working part-time jobs "for economic reasons" is now the highest it has been in at least five decades.

#8 Ten years ago, the United States was ranked number one in average wealth per adult. In 2010, the United States has fallen to seventh.

#9 In 1976, the top 1 percent of earners in the United States took in 8.9 percent of all income. By 2007, that number had risen to 23.5 percent.

#10 According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

[jenmito]

34. I watched Faux today. I saw some RWer say that exact thing. n/t

[MrTwister]

40. That's how it works . . .

(as you've no doubt noticed)

Fox says it, and the echo chamber repeats it endlessly.

[TeamPooka]

36. You know why they call them "entitlement programs"?...

because you're "entitled" to it with your buy-ins.
Like an investment.
They aren't "grant's", "gifts" or "presents".
You don't "win" them or get them randomly "assigned".
Words matter.
Understanding words matters even more.

[The Wizard]

37. earned benefits (NT)

[Igel]

48. They're called "entitlement programs" because the people are entitled to the benefits.

Buy-ins don't matter. You can pay all you want and if you're not entitled, you're not entitled.

Under feudalism, a king or bishop could grant you title; with the title came privileges. Land and income from the land, for instance. The right to draw from the treasury. The right to a circuit as judge. Or, if the bishop entitled you, you might have income from tithes in a parish or the right to beg in a given area. The grant might be because of service--or because of services expected in the future. Or just because the guy felt sorry for you or owed your relatives a favor. Often "earned," but disproportionate in return on investment; sometimes not "earned."


Same now, except that it's the Congress that grants title to a right or a privilege, and, again, they're only "earned" in the sense that you've satisfied the condition for claiming the benefit or right. My SIL's kid got disability payments, my SIL and brother paid FICA for decades. The benefits aren't directly tied to anything he did. And for all the "buy in", the benefits could change over time--and Congress could revoke them. The right is entirely one that's granted. It's not earned, it's not due.

My neighbor's kid could claim all sorts of rights without so much as one cent's buy-in: Father and father were undocumented, seldom paid into the fund that his kid's entitlements came out of. The kid could apply for free dental care, health care, pre-school, etc., etc., because he met the conditions: American citizen, family income less than a certain amount. He's entitled to the benefits because he met the conditions. His "buy in" was being who he was. Nothing more.

[TeamPooka]

49. that is true

well said thank you

[Scootaloo]

51. Republicans are offended by the notion that anyone is entitled to anything

They like the idea of people living on the edge of misery. it makes them feel heroic, because that way they can pretend they're "self made"

[MrTwister]

39. Priceless! nt.

[xxqqqzme]

41. Near the end of our 4th parade today,

a woman, had to be late 60s, had a huge 'Repeal Obamacare' sign around her neck. Guess she hasn't heard the good news.


BTW, our Democratic Clubs of Orange County float was awarded the 2nd place trophy - beating out the rethug and TWO tea bagger floats!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. Also remind him everyone has known the baby boomers were going to be retiring

and tell him you are grateful that Reagan did something about it.

He increased taxes to shore up Social Security and create a surplus.

[freshwest]

44. Hope he talks to you next week!

[Populist_Prole]

53. Nobody that's NOT a tool would spout that line without being prodded by RW pundits on Fox et al

Normal people don't talk that way.

[DCKit]

55. Wiould you mind dealing with my Dad too?

I'm sure it's exactly the same deal, no change of script. Text me for his ###.

Are there any truly evil folks out there? Of course not, you're Democrats. That's not what we do. When they ask, that's our answer. "We're not like you".

[Phlem]

60. Seems to me these days

you cant let anything slide.

Good on you, ignorance must be cured!

-p

[MADem]

64. That had to feel like "nothing but net." nt

[krispos42]

65. How's that mortgage deduction "social program" working out for you, anyway?

[hifiguy]

67. I pictured Wile E. Coyote

hanging in mid-air twenty feet off the cliff, then looking down and waving goodbye before he plummets into the canyon when reading this story.

[vkkv]

69. And don't forget all the WOUNDED SOLDIERS of the BUSH WARS who all have it SO EASY NOW! (sarcasm)

And their FAMILIES, too, who also receive the benefits of war.

Ain't war grand?

[AlbertCat]

71. More than half...

.... if you include corporations, churches and big agra....

[Bake]

72. Tell your Dad, lovingly, of course, to go F*** himself.

That is all.

Bake

[GopperStopper2680]

73. I know how you feel..

My mother and her mother are both Republicans. My mother acts just like one of the high and mighty GOP elitists, constantly parroting the talking points without, I think, having any true idea what the GOP is really all about. The reason? She's 'Christian' and she seems to think that voting for GOPs is what 'God would want her to do' because from time to time they spout Biblical scriptures. It's hard to have a close family member that votes GOP. It's terribly frustrating and alienating. Thankfully I don't have to deal with it much.

[Honeycombe8]

83. My brother, who I'm close to, is also far right wing. Even tho he was a union man!

It makes NO sense to me.

My dad is far right wing. (He doesn't see what's wrong with the "N" word.)

I have three sisters who seem to be apolitical...we avoid politics.

I and my brother and Dad seem to be the only ones who have an interest in politics. But I am the most informed, of course.

[Hubert Flottz]

77. Oh it's okay to get a government check if you're a republican.

You can do anything you like if you're a GOPer and it's fine!

That's the "REALITY" they've created.

I don't think a shrink would think someone was crazy if...he asked, "Why do you hate your father?" If your answer was, "Because he's a damned republican!" I'd say that's about as sane as it gets!

[muntrv]

79. Don't forget the republickers in the US House & Senate & Scalito

& Thomas.

[redwhiteblue]

80. Half the people.....

Harry S.Truman quote.
6. Socialism with a Harry S. Truman quote.
A Quote from Harry S. Truman.
" The Republicans will try to tell you that everything the government does for the country is socialism.They will go to the people and say:"Did you see that social security check you got the other day-you thought that was good for you didn't you? That's just too bad!That's nothing in the world but Socialism.Did you see that new flood control dam the government is building over there for the protection of your property? Sorry,-that's awful socialism.That new hospital that they are building is socialism. Price supports, more socialism for the farmers.Minimum wage laws? Socialism for labor.Socialism is bad for you my friend.Everybody knows that. And here you are with your new car, and your home and better opportunities for the kids and a television set__You are just surrounded by socialism.Now the Republicans say."That's a terrible thing my friend and the only way out of this sinkhole of socialism is to vote for the Republican ticket."

[Honeycombe8]

84. That's an excellent post. I think I'll borrow that quote, if you don't mind. nt