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#51 2009-10-21 5:06 pm
- bedstuy
- Archimandrite, Eastern Elite

- From: King Cole Bar, St. Regis Hotel
- Registered: 2003-09-20
- Posts: 13620
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
More dissection of that ABC/WaPo poll: source
What *IS* it with the South?
Obama favorability
Fav Unfav
All 55 37
South 27 68
Rest of USA 67 24
NE 82 7
Midwest 62 30
West 59 32
Democratic Party favorability
Fav Unfav
All 41 51
South 21 72
NE 62 26
Midwest 44 48
West 44 50
Republican Party favorability
Fav Unfav
All 21 67
South 48 37
NE 6 87
Midwest 10 78
West 12 75
Generic Congressional Ballot
Dem GOP
All 35 29
South 21 47
NE 51 8
Midwest 37 26
West 36 28
Last edited by bedstuy (2009-10-21 5:08 pm)
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#52 2009-10-21 5:26 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..

- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18394
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
bedstuy wrote:
Republican Party favorability
Fav Unfav
All 21 67
South 48 37
NE 6 87
Midwest 10 78
West 12 75
Yeesh, can anyone say regional party?
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Barack Obama
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#53 2009-10-21 5:30 pm
- JakeTheTall
- Cargo Cultist

- From: In Permanent Opposition
- Registered: 2003-03-13
- Posts: 9589
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
Obama now has a passion index of -13, with only 27% of respondents strongly approving of his performance and 40% strongly disapproving.
Yes, Rasmussen came up with new ways to measure approval after President Obama was elected. Apparently to "differentiate" themselves from other pollsters.
Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
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#54 2009-10-21 5:56 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..

- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18394
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
The only reason the Republicans have any power at all is because the south gets disproportionate strength in the senate.
If we had proportionate representation in Washington this whole health care thing woulda been finished up last spring.
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Barack Obama
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#55 2009-10-21 6:32 pm
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
Pariah wrote:
The only reason the Republicans have any power at all is because the south gets disproportionate strength in the senate.
Yeah - it's called the Great Compromise, and it is part of the Constitution of this great country.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#56 2009-10-21 7:33 pm
- radarman
- Member
- Registered: 2005-02-28
- Posts: 3590
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
Pariah wrote:
The only reason the Republicans have any power at all is because the south gets disproportionate strength in the senate.
If we had proportionate representation in Washington this whole health care thing woulda been finished up last spring.
Lets review the primary difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives...
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#57 2009-10-21 7:34 pm
- Sternum
- Slathered in barbecue sauce

- From: Ribcage
- Registered: 2002-01-10
- Posts: 3344
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
The Great Compromise was written 1787, when the majority of the nation's population lived in rural areas. Post-Industrial Revolution, in which the nation's population migrated from rural farms to urban factories, it doesn't make much sense.
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#58 2009-10-21 7:42 pm
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
Tallgeese wrote:
radarman wrote:
Alien wrote:
I thought soda was cheaper than water, hence the poor drinking so much of it?
.tsooJI wouldn't be surprised. Sodas are just drinks. Bottled water is a "lifestyle choice" - and thus, costs more.
We had a thread on this. Another poster and I came up with figures showing that jugs of water or faucet filters are very, very cheap.
And then that thread mysteriously disappeared, right after I had rebutted that with the fact that if I have $35 at the grocery store, and I need to choose between getting groceries for the week and a faucet filter, I'm buying the food.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#59 2009-10-21 7:44 pm
- radarman
- Member
- Registered: 2005-02-28
- Posts: 3590
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
Sternum wrote:
The Great Compromise was written 1787, when the majority of the nation's population lived in rural areas. Post-Industrial Revolution, in which the nation's population migrated from rural farms to urban factories, it doesn't make much sense.
Actually, it makes more sense today than it did then. Otherwise, loosely populated states would have little power, and get railroaded by more populous states. Remember, the civil war was, indirectly, about this very issue.
Let's not dink with concepts that have worked for centuries, and are still relevant today.
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#60 2009-10-21 7:45 pm
- Tallgeese
- Sternly Advising
- From: Pool Party
- Registered: 2000-10-17
- Posts: 34013
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
You mean the concept that "one man, one vote" doesn't apply to Southerners?
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#61 2009-10-21 7:55 pm
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
sturner wrote:
And this is different from the law requiring ERs to accept all patients, even if they can't pay?
So they would be more comfortable going to an ER as an indigent person rather than declaring their indigent status and having government sponsored health care? What is the difference?
That isn't the issue I'm addressing. I'm looking at this from the POV of thousands of homeless Americans who were were betrayed by the system. I think a fine is problematic, and I think there are numerous problems with the idea that make this a change, but not necessarily an improvement.
user wrote:
Another point about this post: what do you think happens when you qualify for Medicare?
Participation in Medicare is compulsory, not mandatory. There are those who choose not to use it.
I might be making underinformed evaluations, but that's because I can't be bothered to read the tome of a document that the bill is, and I'd bet that most of the people who are voting on it haven't, either.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#62 2009-10-21 8:06 pm
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
You can't opt out of Medicare Part A (hospitalization) but you can opt out of Part B (outpatient). However you can't participate in many private supplemental plans without Part B. If you do opt out, you get a bit more in your SS check. But the last think you want to do is opt out. Insurance premiums go up a huge amount when you hit 40, then 50 and just keep going up and up. Most retirees lack the funds needed to buy private coverage on their own, the premiums are astronomical. Hell, supplemental coverage isn't exactly cheap for many on fixed incomes and Medicare has quite a bit of out-of-pocket costs - it's nowhere near comprehensive.
The issue of providers opting out of Medicare is another story. Participation is by no means compulsory, but it is the nation's largest insurer by far. Unfortunately it often doesn't cover the full cost of care and it appears that is going to get worse. We may see more dropping Medicare, or capping the number of Medicare patients they'll see. That's been the case for some time with Medicaid, even with states transitioning to offering benefits through private insurers - the reimbursement is just too low. Most will take a few patients out of a sense of community, but can't afford to base their practice on providing care to the needy. Then again, some providers have quit taking private insurance for many of the same reasons - low reimbursement and the necessity of overhead costs to jump through the hoops to get that reimbursement.
It is an odd thing, but every one who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.
- Oscar Wilde
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#63 2009-10-21 8:14 pm
- JakeTheTall
- Cargo Cultist

- From: In Permanent Opposition
- Registered: 2003-03-13
- Posts: 9589
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
resedit wrote:
Pariah wrote:
The only reason the Republicans have any power at all is because the south gets disproportionate strength in the senate.
Yeah - it's called the Great Compromise, and it is part of the Constitution of this great country.
More populous Southern States were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free, non-Native American people towards population counts and allocations.
Great compromise.
Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
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#64 2009-10-21 8:40 pm
- bedstuy
- Archimandrite, Eastern Elite

- From: King Cole Bar, St. Regis Hotel
- Registered: 2003-09-20
- Posts: 13620
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
Since 1789, the Senate has become much more malaportioned. At the time of the Connecticut Compromise, the largest state, Virginia, had only twelve times the population of the smallest state, Delaware. Today, the largest state, California, has a population that is seventy times greater than the population of the smallest state, Wyoming. In 1790, it would take a theoretical 30% of the population to elect a majority of the Senate, today it would take 17%. Today, there are seven states with only one Congressman (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming); at no time in the past has there been as high a proportion of one-Congressmen states.
One thing with this subject to keep in mind, is that when the West was settled there was never any population threshold and Republicans (then the more progressive party) rushed statehood during and right after Reconstruction to counter the political power of southern-based Democrats (then the conservatives) as they kicked out Republican puppet governments in the old Confederacy.
I somehow doubt that our esteemed Founders intended for things to end up quite where they are, so let's not be disingenuous about this argument here.
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#65 2009-10-21 9:12 pm
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
I'm beginning to think that in addition to holding a constitutional convention, it may be time to consider splitting CA into smaller states. There are many conservatives here who are pissed that they get drowned out by the more liberal metro areas. I say we let them have OC south and east to the border, the central coast and maybe parts of the north.
It is an odd thing, but every one who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.
- Oscar Wilde
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#66 2009-10-21 9:21 pm
- Tallgeese
- Sternly Advising
- From: Pool Party
- Registered: 2000-10-17
- Posts: 34013
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
They have enough of a voice to block tax increases despite a permanent minority. They can suck a fetid dick.
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#67 2009-10-21 11:33 pm
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
JakeTheTall wrote:
resedit wrote:
Pariah wrote:
The only reason the Republicans have any power at all is because the south gets disproportionate strength in the senate.
Yeah - it's called the Great Compromise, and it is part of the Constitution of this great country.
More populous Southern States were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free, non-Native American people towards population counts and allocations.
Great compromise.
Oh - I just find it hilarious that people here post political comic strips about conservatives wanting to do away with the constitution while they also complain about the constitution themselves.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#68 2009-10-22 9:14 am
- bedstuy
- Archimandrite, Eastern Elite

- From: King Cole Bar, St. Regis Hotel
- Registered: 2003-09-20
- Posts: 13620
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
That comment, of course, is entirely non-sensical.
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#69 2009-10-22 4:30 pm
- Pariah
- James Carville Fan..

- From: Belly Of The Beast, Oklahoma!
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 18394
Re: The game is on ... midterm elections
resedit wrote:
JakeTheTall wrote:
resedit wrote:
Yeah - it's called the Great Compromise, and it is part of the Constitution of this great country.More populous Southern States were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free, non-Native American people towards population counts and allocations.
Great compromise.
Oh - I just find it hilarious that people here post political comic strips about conservatives wanting to do away with the constitution while they also complain about the constitution themselves.
I am not calling foul on the clause which causes this imbalance. I am just pointing out, for the sake of discussion, that the only reason that the right has the clout they have is due to a quirk in the constitution.
This is in regards to the right's arrogance about being the "real Americans" when in actual fact they are more like a protected class enjoying a form of affirmative action that gives them more power than they might actually deserve, considering their actual representation in the population.
"and it's not surprising that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Barack Obama
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