Do you fell represented by your Representative?

tinyTURTLE said:

you presume too much and
you have a gift for the mental leap.
i don't want to steal anyone's money.
how you go from 'do your own research' to 'i want to steal your money' is beyond me. maybe you should take some money and see a head doctor. i didn't accuse you of being greedy, just selfish and nearsighted. maybe you can go live in a country with dirt roads and cholera in the water where you don't have to pay taxes. Or, and this is a good idea, give your money away and live like jesus said to. after all, it is easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.

and as far as the tax bit goes.
we get nearly nothing back.
and pay taxes every time we grocery shop, or
pay the cable bill, or the power bill.
every time we send mail or eat at burgerking or get a smog certificate
or buy alcohol or cigarettes.
people have been exhasperated by taxes as long as there has been government.
but i like snow removal and i want my police to have gas in their cars and the paramedics to have a
modern ambulance and streetlights and public schools and libraries and traffic lights and so on.
it's a tradeoff. because i dont like war, or israel, or ethanol, or nuclear missiles makes them no less real.
so, as a pragmatist, i accept things as they are. seems like if you were truly concerned you'd be lobying for change, or doing something proactive instead of bitching to a bunch of stoners on a weed forum. because, dude, i'd like to help you. but i dont care.

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I see LOCAL TAXES, LOCAL TAXES, and an opposition to the crap pushed by the Federal Government.

What, I saw what kind of change is being pushed by Obama, and I rejected it out of hand.

As far as me advocating for Change...

Who has the time to do that?

Politicians and people that don't have jobs.

And the kind of change politicians want, and those with out jobs want is not the kind of change I want.

I want drastically lower Federal Taxes, not to be forced to pay more taxes.

Especially not on something like smoking a damn cigarette.

I don't want the Federal Government, or the State Government, telling an owner of a Bar that they can't allow smoking inside the Bar, or in a Restaurant.

I don't want the Federal Government or the State Governments interfering in every small walk of life.

About the only useful service provided at the Federal Level is the military, and it's only useful when its defending our nation.

Which it's not doing right now. Al Qaida isn't nearly as big of a threat as the drug gangs from Central America that are operating in our borders. how many Americans have those people killed?

Yet neither party seems to be willing to tell Europe, Japan and Korea to take care of their own defense so we can secure our own borders.

At a state level the only useful service is the police, and even that's debatable based on the fact that they are stuck enforcing stupid laws that make crimes out of what should not be crimes.

Then there's the overall inefficiency of the system.

President $400,000 a year, I think $100,000 would be more than fair, it's not like the politicians that are pursuing the office are doing it for the country's good any longer. They are doing it for their own selfish, self-centered reasons.

Senators/Representatives $200,000 , $50,000/year. If they want more than what the average American Earns then Too Damn Bad For Them, unless they are willing to find a way to make America more prosperous with out inflating our money supply (which does absolutely nothing to really increase the standard of living.)

Then there's School Administrators making $300,000/year. Why don't the teacher's complain about that?

What about the fact that it's nigh on impossible for a public school to fire a non-performing teacher?

Oh, yeah, lots of efficiency there...

The system is totally broken, the only way to fix it, is to dismantle it completely and start from scratch.

I don't want change, I want a new start.


Though here's one for you. Since you seem so bent on proving that you pay taxes. What's your definition of fair taxes then?

Me, personally, I always thought that meant that everyone pays an equal amount, not percentage, or anything socialist.

I don't object to being asked to pull my fair share. I do object to being asked to pull more than my fair share.

the only useful service provided by the feds is the military?
that is exemplary of the myopic view i am talking about.
you are not a patriot. infrastucture and public service is not a pay-as-you-go system.
it's a one for all and an all for one kind of thing.
the US coast guard has saved over 1,100,000 people since 1790.
that's over 5000 people a year on average.
but none of them was YOU so i guess it doesn't count.

tinyTURTLE said:

the only useful service provided by the feds is the military?
that is exemplary of the myopic view i am talking about.
you are not a patriot. infrastucture and public service is not a pay-as-you-go system.
it's a one for all and an all for one kind of thing.
the US coast guard has saved over 1,100,000 people since 1790.
that's over 5000 people a year on average.
but none of them was YOU so i guess it doesn't count.

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Coast Guard is a branch of the military, genius...

TheBrutalTruth said:

Coast Guard is a branch of the military, genius...

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you got me there.
how about the NTSB or the FBI.
or the NRC or the dept. of the interior.
or one you probably know, the SEC.

tinyTURTLE said:

you got me there.
how about the NTSB or the FBI.
or the NRC or the dept. of the interior.
or one you probably know, the SEC.

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NTSB - There's free market alternatives, the Air Lines built the Airports anyway.

FBI - WTF do we need the FBI for, you can replace the FBI with better cooperation amongst the state police.

NRC - ???

What the hell does the Dept. of the Interior do that the States couldn't?

If it's the department that's responsible for the National Parks then there's no reason for it to exist, but I thought there was a National Bureau of Parks or some shit that took care of the National Parks.

WTF Does the department of Interior do?

SEC - Epic Fail

Though your missing another 495 branches of the Federal Government ranging from the DO Energy - A state could easily replace it, or a collection of states.

DO Education - Not Constitutional. It should be the states, not the Federal Government deciding what to do with their education systems.

The history of the DO Education is a history of failure.

SAT scores peaked in 1964, before the DO Brainwashing was created.


DEA - Yeah... I'm sure you support that one...

ATF - Waco? Ruby Ridge? Just on the basis of the complete and total lack of responsible management the ATF should have been downsized.
Besides, the States should be responsible for enforcing Federal Law, there is no need for the Federal Government to Enforce it.

Personally, I think it'd make for a much happier country. If it was up to the states to enforce (or not enforce) laws Legislation against Hemp probably wouldn't have gotten as far. We'd all be driving Hemp-Burning Hemp-Composite Built Fords which would be massively cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Hemp-Burning Air Planes, lol...

Hemp Air - Taking you Higher

Anyway, now that I'm horribly off topic, let's see if I can navigate back to topic.

ATF, DEA

US Marshals - How many Federal Enforcement Agencies do we need?


Hell, at this point I might as well go all in.

We don't need the military at the national level either.

We have the National Guard Units at the State Level.

We probably wouldn't have gotten involved in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I, Iraq II, Somalia, or Bosnia if the Federal Government had to get all 50 states to support the War, and continue to maintain their support for the duration of any war.

It'd be something like this...

POTUS - "We're going to War"

States - "You are? With what army?"

Now, arguably we might still need a Navy, but that's more to go to Somalia and kick the crap out of the pirates.

Another Plus for a non-Federalized Military, we wouldn't be stuck occupying Germany, Korea and Japan for eternity.

Let's not forget the latest plan to add Iraq with 50,000 soldiers onto that list of Countries that we are going to occupy forever.


Then there's the CIA, DIA, and NSA - how many security agencies do we need?

(It'd be a lot less if we weren't sticking our nose into everyone's business.)

The case for the drastic reduction in the size of the Federal Government is overwhelming.

What's amazing is that there's a case for downsizing it no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on, unless your a Statist Marxist/Fascist.

the NRC is the nuclear regulatory commision.

so ,it sounds like you have a plan.

Send it in to someone who cares and see what happens.

Or maybe run for president.

Otherwise you are like grandpa simpson yelling at clouds.

you might be pissed at them, but they have bigger things to worry about.

tinyTURTLE said:

the NRC is the nuclear regulatory commision.

so ,it sounds like you have a plan.

Send it in to someone who cares and see what happens.

Or maybe run for president.

Otherwise you are like grandpa simpson yelling at clouds.

you might be pissed at them, but they have bigger things to worry about.

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ZINGER! Well put tinyTURTLE! The Brutal Truth <---who's damn truth is it anyway? His momy's?

NorthwestBuds said:

ZINGER! Well put tinyTURTLE! The Brutal Truth <---who's damn truth is it anyway? His momy's?

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Hey, it's the peanut gallery, and the person that contributes nothing to any of the threads but making dumb ass comments.

So when are you going to do something other than prove how idiotic liberals are. Any one can make idiotic comments like yours, but most people here actually contribute something to the discussions.

tinyTURTLE said:

the NRC is the nuclear regulatory commision.

so ,it sounds like you have a plan.

Send it in to someone who cares and see what happens.

Or maybe run for president.

Otherwise you are like grandpa simpson yelling at clouds.

you might be pissed at them, but they have bigger things to worry about.

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Some one who cares?

You actually believe that there's a politician that cares about anything other than their pocket book?

I can think of one, and they already pretty much have the same plan.

Though you didn't answer any of the other questions.

Makes me wonder if there's anything inside your skull other than fluffy clouds.

TheBrutalTruth said:

Some one who cares?

You actually believe that there's a politician that cares about anything other than their pocket book?

I can think of one, and they already pretty much have the same plan.

Though you didn't answer any of the other questions.

Makes me wonder if there's anything inside your skull other than fluffy clouds.

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well. the reson my reply was so breif was was the over-the-top wrongness of your post. What you are talking about is dangerous-ish. a fracturing of the USA. If you cannot see the potential for that in your 'plan' you indeed have short sight. I don't know what you do for a living, but it sounds like you play in imaginationland (the stock market), making money off of other people's work. This is why i think cumpulsory military service should be instituted. It would have done you some good.

TheBrutalTruth said:

Hey, it's the peanut gallery, and the person that contributes nothing to any of the threads but making dumb ass comments.

So when are you going to do something other than prove how idiotic liberals are. Any one can make idiotic comments like yours, but most people here actually contribute something to the discussions.

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And what do you contribute here? Your completely one sided, wanabee Rush Limbaugh, bullshit?

NorthwestBuds said:

And what do you contribute here? Your completely one sided, wanabee Rush Limbaugh, bullshit?

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Even if that's true, it's still more than you contribute. Which is absolutely nothing. If you think my opinions are wrong, then prove it.

Insulting me doesn't prove that you're right. It just proves that you're an ass.

TheBrutalTruth said:

Even if that's true, it's still more than you contribute. Which is absolutely nothing. If you think my opinions are wrong, then prove it.

Insulting me doesn't prove that you're right. It just proves that you're an ass.

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brutal, your arguments are thin and malformed. you spit out plenty of insults whenever you want. i have tried to be civil, wouldn't you agree? i have learned that rudeness comes from a combination of a lack of self confidence and a lack of good ideas, and while i can say your ideas fit the bill, i am begining to think that you also have self confidence issues. hence your rudeness.
it's an ugly attribute that will only get worse if not corrected. try studying the Tao Te Ching. it is a good book.

stop the fighting, damnit.

fdd2blk said:

stop the fighting, damnit.

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Enough said.

tinyTURTLE said:

brutal, your arguments are thin and malformed. you spit out plenty of insults whenever you want. i have tried to be civil, wouldn't you agree? i have learned that rudeness comes from a combination of a lack of self confidence and a lack of good ideas, and while i can say your ideas fit the bill, i am begining to think that you also have self confidence issues. hence your rudeness.
it's an ugly attribute that will only get worse if not corrected. try studying the Tao Te Ching. it is a good book.

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Well it's clear you haven't been anywhere near any scientific studying regarding ego recently.

Actually me being an ass (bully) is probably more a result of having an over-inflated ego, and thus plenty of self-confidence.

Besides, if my ideas are so thin and malformed why are you resorting to insults instead of picking them apart.

Oh, wait, I get it, it's because you don't have any ideas.

Poor you, you can explain perfectly well what your problem is, but you can't do enough self-reflection to see that it's you that has a problem.

I may not be good with words...but I'm brilliant with Photoshop.

72% of us don't feel represented by our congressmen.

I think that's rather sad...

72% of 26 respondants.
there are like 100k people here.

tinyTURTLE said:

72% of 26 respondants.
there are like 100k people here.

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Yeah, but if the data is extrapolated, assuming that the 26 people represent a good cross section of the population, then it's probably a fairly decent representation of the US at large.

Assuming that everyone that responded was a US Citizen, of voting age...