this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
328 points (98.2% liked)

politics

18894 readers
4465 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
  2. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  3. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  4. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
  5. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  6. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

They talk deficit reduction. But what they actually do—time after time after time—is raise it via corporate giveaways. Here’s the latest example.

top 11 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Faultylogic83 21 points 1 year ago

Let's not forget how much they cost the taxpayer when their stupid government overreach loses in lawsuits.

[–] YoBuckStopsHere 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm that rare type who is ignored being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Neither party likes people like me because I want to see the taxpayer cost before the vote is taken. I'm all for solid government programs and incentives, but show me the money. Show me who wrote the legislation and who is putting money in people's pockets for or against said bill. I want to see our taxpayer money spent wisely, not wasted as we saw the PPP Loans (are they loans when the rich didn't pay them back?). I know all about the color of money in the Federal Government. I know where it starts and where it ends.

I've seen no real shift toward a balanced budget since the Clinton era and I absolutely despise Continuing Resolutions. We the taxpayers deserve to have a government do the math and present us with a balanced budget for a term of four years. I don't want to see our money given to the filthy rich either. No corporation should be bailed out. If you fail to run your business then your business dies. End of story. I don't like to see these monopolies cry to Congress about losses and then go out on their yacht and snort cocaine. I want to see a diversified private sector with at least three major competitors in every market (not three from the same conglomerate). If I go to a local store I should be seeing a lot more options than I am. Typically today you get one option for any product and maybe a second which is owned by the first and is labeled differently to give the illusion of choice.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Strong Towns. Go to their website read their stuff. That's what it looks like to be fiscally responsible in modern America.

Fiscally conservative isn't a thing. Conservatism is a philosophy and framework built around social orders and preserving hierarchies. It isn't about financial choices. Wanting responsible government spending is part of being a progressive -- progressives can and do disagree over which services The government should offer and progressives can and should fight to make sure the government does the things it does efficiently.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The two party system struggles with nuanced views like yours. It's most unfortunate. I'm similarly aligned and when I vote I often feel that it's not a great reflection of my opinions.

[–] YoBuckStopsHere 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thus why I don't support any political party. I support my own views and vote on those views. I have the benefit of being in Colorado where there are many like me and our state does a pretty good job appealing to all walks of life.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m just glad TABOR really helps keep things in check!

[–] YoBuckStopsHere 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

TABOR has a lot of issues and really needs some reform. Look at Colorado and how deep in debt it was in the early 2000s because of TABOR. Cities were not even able to keep the street lights on as a result. While maybe getting a check for $14 is a big deal to a select few, I'd rather my tax money go toward state programs and education. $14 is nothing to me but collectively it could do more good with the government.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek with that answer. TABOR has a lot of things wrong with it but the one group that it does appeal to across party lines are those that are fiscally conservative. It forces the state budget to be voted on and you can’t go over it - that gets refunded to the tax payer. Everything has to be accounted for by the tax payer and money only goes to what the majority wants. This is true even if the program absolutely needs a bump in budget to operate correctly. I would much rather it not be in place, but I’m also not as fiscally conservative as some people. Most people don’t want to pay any taxes and that leads to debt.

[–] argo_yamato 4 points 1 year ago

Yep that's the GOP way. Give to the rich (cut taxes) and steal from the poor (cut or eliminate social/safety net programs).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’m all for solid government programs and incentives, but show me the money. Show me who wrote the legislation and who is putting money in people’s pockets for or against said bill.

These are all very much public record. While the 'donations' are a little harder to find. You can find the votes and everything else including sponsors on .gov websites like www.senate.gov, https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/how-to-research-public-records/individual-contributions/, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/Public_Disclosure/contributions_download.htm.

What you're requesting is journalism lmfao. And nobody wants to pay for it anymore, so you have to do it yourself or look for articles where journalists already have lol.

I've seen no real shift toward a balanced budget since the Clinton era

You're absolutely lying to yourself with the both sides bullshit. Democrats always balance their budgets. It's the point of the article you're not reading and has easily been verifiable since before Clinton lol.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jul/29/tweets/republican-presidents-democrats-contribute-deficit/

Tax cuts for rich people don't close the deficit. And it's what Republicans have been running on while lying to the lower middle class about Democrat spending since before I was born 30+ years ago lol.

[–] FlyingSquid 3 points 1 year ago

"Reagan proved deficits don't matter." -- Dick Cheney.

Of course, that's only true when they're in charge for some reason.

load more comments
view more: next ›