NLBS: 3.05 American Politics Is Screwed: But It's Not What You Think

As I have been saying for a long time you have more options... but most people will complain about the D's. or the R's and then run right out and cast the same vote for the same idiot thats been in office for 20+ years and has done jack squat for the average american.

you know based on the last presidential election a third party needs 7 million votes out of a country of 300+ million to become and officially recognized party that gets them into the debates and a cut of the federal dollars.

Think about that... 7 million ... there were roughly 83 million votes cast in 2014... out of a potential 240 million of age voters.

Stopping voting for the lesser of two evil and try voting for people you believe in... heck at the very least if your disgusted with the parties... leave them.. if enough people leave the two parties they can be relegated to third party status by law.

Wow another blatant attack piece... I thought this bull # was above that.. Guess we can throw moderation and balance out the door.. This show sucks

a reply to: theNLBS

LOL - " and then we have ousted former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fior....Fior....Fior" .....ah #### it!!

Now, on topic......excellent analysis, I agree that the bottom-feeders known as US politicians, and in particular the 2016 line-up ranging from full blown lying psychos to individuals with delusions of grandeur so in regards to voting next year, you are rather damned-if-you-do & damned-if-you-don't.

You are either getting a big wall, a career liar or a socialist agenda - good luck with that.

Maybe (hopefully) there is a dark-horse yet to emerge.......

a reply to: theNLBS

Pretty much couldn't agree more. When people get all caught up hating a president I ask them, why? Why waste your time focusing on one guy when there's an entire group of people behind the scenes calling the shots? It's all a show and its meant to drive people apart so they can divide and conquer.

It's obvious that the entire political system is a failure and reeks of corruption. Even if our votes count it still won't matter because the same agenda's just continue on no matter whose in office. We're given a few choice hot topics to bicker over but not much else changes, definitely not in a positive way. Not since we went to Moon. When the hell are we going back to the Moon?!

So that's why I'm voting for Sanders. He's the one guy not accepting money from the wealthy, SuperPacs included.

originally posted by: starfoxxx
Wow another blatant attack piece... I thought this bull # was above that.. Guess we can throw moderation and balance out the door.. This show sucks

Why so angry? Did he say something you didn't like about a candidate you support?

Joe, I'll wager that if Trump threw, say, a million bucks your way, NLBS would become TNLBS.

Great episode! It's unfortunate but true, it doesn't matter who wins the election, nothing really will change. I keep touting this Princeton study, but its quite the eye opener:

Gilens & Page found that the number of Americans for or against any idea has no impact on the likelihood that Congress will make it law.

“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

One thing that does have an influence? Money. While the opinions of the bottom 90% of income earners in America have a “statistically non-significant impact,” Economic elites, business interests, and people who can afford lobbyists still carry major influence.

And what's really eye opening? Just what these people are getting for the money:

In the last 5 years alone, the 200 most politically active companies in the US spent $5.8 billion influencing our government with lobbying and campaign contributions. Those same companies got $4.4 trillion in taxpayer support — earning a return of 750 times their investment.

globalresearch.ca

And going back to just how insignificant we are as individuals, here is a graph from the actual Princeton study showing just how much influence we have, elites have, and lobbyists have. Note that for the bottom 90% the line is flat. Ideally, it would be at a 45 degree angle...the more people support something, the higher the likelihood of it becoming law. Notice how the groups with more money have their line closer to that "ideal" 45 degree angle:



Pretty eye opening, isn't it? So bravo NLBS -- you are absolutely correct ... sadly, it doesn't matter who wins the next election

Since it appears to be topical to the OP here you go My views of the candidates, Before I get to that please understand I am not a Democrat and I am not a Republican to me those two have always been the same party all the way back to when they were the same party.

I agree that the Race for President is a Dancing chicken Act to begin with, if course Douglas Adams had it right the office of president is there to distract from those really in control... by that standard

• Jimmy Carter.......was Horrid enough for there to be a Misery Index
  
  
• Ronald Reagan ......was Amazing kept the focus on himself
  
  
• George H.W. Bush...Read my Lips he was Horrible
  
  
• William Clinton... Would have voted for him a third term had he said on the stand, "Yes I did it, but look what I wake up next to every morning."
  
  
• George W Bush..Better at his real job them most people give him credit for, heck he took most all the blame and those responsible for the messes that never even got looked at. After all it was all Bush's fault even to this day.
  
  
• Barrack Obama.. OMFG how bad has he failed, we Saw congress in all its glory and splendor. He could not even Executive Order his way into the limelight. He Made Jimmy Carter look like a Saint.
  

Now that the history is done lets get into the meat and how I see it.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

• Hillary Clinton... Potential to be a good one by the standard above, but has a major problem, Not good enough to keep Bill's Attention... If she can not keep Bill's eyes, hands, and cigars from wandering off how is she going to keep the people's eyes on her away from congress and their puppet masters?
  
  
• Martin O'Malley... Who? Ok supposedly he is a Governor I think he is in the Running and the Debates to keep the Democrat side of the puzzle from looking any more old and scripted then it currently is.
  
  
• Bernie Sanders... "Feel the Bern" um no, He is offering the Buffet table of "free" everything but how the heck is he going to pay for it, heck the guy voted for his own pay raise. There could not Be a More Status Quot Candidate out there, oh wait there is on the other side. We would wind up looking at the Senate harder because that is where the Last failure at the job of president came from...
  
  
  REPUBLICAN PARTY:
  
  
• Jeb Bush... Would be the Next Status Quot president, sick thing if somehow he gets the party nod I think this is what we will get stuck with. He will not be able to do the job as good as his brother, and would be worse then his father at keeping the eyes off the puppet masters.
  
  
• Ben Carson... In every Romantic Comedy, or Slasher flix there has to be the Token. This Comedy of Errors this time the part of Herman Cain will be played by Ben Carson, but the media will fail at trying to pull a Bill Cosby on him Like they did with Cain. If he got elected we may as well call it a lame duck four years, Congress will have no restraint and walk all over his rubber stamp... There is such a thing as too nice.
  
  
• Chris Christie... had potential screwed it up, too many toll gates. His second strike is he is a Governor, he is part of the Mess in the first place. He would not be able to get eyes off congress.
  
  
• Ted Cruz... Yippy yippy yippy look at Buster (Fil that is), he might get eyes off congress, nope. Where did he come from everyone would be looking at the hill to see what they are going to do to neuter and shut him up.
  
  
• Carly Fiorina ...The real warhawk in the Not so much Eye Candy wrapper. I am sorry the Tina Fey Look alike from two elections ago looked better. She strikes me as the type that would intentionally put the focus on Congress and try to bully them from the Pulpit. The powers that be would not allow this to happen.
  
  
• Jim Gilmore... YAG, Yet Another Governor, it is for the best he is under card and will be forgotten in half a year.
  
  
• Lindsey Graham... Yet another Senator, The people calling yet here goes another deaf ear... We seriously got to look into the Senate and why it keeps producing presidential candidates.
  
  
• Mike Huckabee ... Reruns of Reruns do I have to say YAG again?
  
  
• Bobby Jindal.., Um yeah YAG...
  
  
• John Kasich... Ok this is getting Recursive here maybe if I say it backward the YAG will stop.. nope on second thought best not to do that, might accidentally offend some really nice happy people.
  
  
• George Pataki... If I keep YAGGING like this I will not be able to afford the carpet cleaning bill, what part of Governors are already part of the problem do these people not get.
  
  
• Rand Paul... Dang it I wanted his daddy to have the job, he is not even close to a quarter of what Ron could have been. Oh and what was I saying about the hill and the office they need to stop mixing.
  
  
• Marco Rubio... Seriously another Senator
  
  
• Rick Santorum... Yep this Election is not a Horror flix it is a comedy. Here we go again.
  
  
• Donald Trump.. Ok got him last but not least by a long shot. Here is the candidate that would pretty much put the truth to the lie. Yes by the standard above congress would all but vanish. At least the truth behind the lie of Government would be Teabagging you in the face and not slipping around in the shadows anymore. Even if by some miracle he wins the Primary and the Popular vote he will not win the Electoral Collage, This much truth in the Charade of Government would be way too much for those in real control. Plus there is the off chance he could slip up and go way off the rails and spill the beans.
  

There you go... Something to chew on while you enjoy a

CoBaZ

All the best America... It is good to see freedom of choice alive and useless.... can't wait for the moment the elitists finally get what they want because im sure the UK will follow suit sharply.... with our prime ministers tongue firmly wedged in each and everyone of their A-HLES. Peace, Viva La Resistance.

originally posted by: starfoxxx
Wow another blatant attack piece... I thought this bull # was above that.. Guess we can throw moderation and balance out the door.. This show sucks

Curious who he attacked besides everyone?

The show I just watched had him ticking off the field on both sides of the aisle. Which imaginary bias did you see?

RE: the show....well founded and astute points. Outside of the over used executive order, it is absolutely correct that political change has to start in the legislative branch.

a reply to: theNLBS

TLDR: "This edition of NLBS consists of Joe swinging a pillowcase full of bricks at GOP candidates because they represent political and personal positions he disagrees with, a pillowcase full of nerf balls at Hillary because he kinda disagrees with her consistency while using the 5 different agency's investigations of her as an additional swipe at the GOP, a pillowcase of feathers at Sanders with a handful of mockery against the very real fears and criticisms against him rather than any actual detractions from Sanders, himself, and a catch all "it doesn't matter who you vote for" at the end to point at when the inevitable accusations of pushing a very liberal agenda is made against NLBS."

Check you facts, Joe. The TEA Party isn't supporting Donald Trump. The opportunistic Republicans who hijacked the public vision of the TEA Party is backing Trump. Those of us who actually supported the movement before that hijacking see Trump for what he is: another bloviating jackass who has no business running on the GOP ticket when he is clearly more in-line with the Democrats circa 1980s. n second thought, he has every business running on the GOP ticket considering the modern GOP is a liberalized bastard that in no way reflects Barry Goldwater's conservative visions.

I'm also fairly convinced that the "*GASP* He denies science! How is he a neurosurgeon?" criticisms against Ben Carson can be distilled down to a single message: "I can't accept the fact that a man who has rejected the modern en vogue intelligencia community's opinions is vastly more intelligent and learned than any of our figureheads." The same holds true for Ted Cruz, who most likely has the highest IQ of any candidate in the race, yet has his intelligence consistently questioned by a peanut gallery of art majors and amateur sociologists.

Just my opinion, YMMV.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

C'mon man, the "attack" on Clinton was mocking the Republican assault on her and you cannot even call his sarcastic comments on the popular criticisms of Bernie Sanders an "attack" on Sanders. That's about as disingenuous as a Patriots' fan sarcastically commenting on Brady's deflated balls...

a reply to: burdman30ott6

This episode was the result of a lot of back and forth between Joe and I. It took several versions and a few arguments for us to agree on a final.

You know -- you better know -- that the Republican candidates are all crap wrapped in stinking crap. That irritates me, I'd like nothing more than a viable Republican candidate.

But what irritates me even more is that the most reasonable candidate is a socialist from Vermont, skewing the conversation too far in the wrong direction with half-policies that ignore core problems. (I'm so viscerally against a big minimum wage increase, I could spit nails)

I wrote the bulk of the script, and we went back and forth on tweaks. The republican candidates are a joke... just as are the 2.2 Democratic candidates.

With the possible exception of Supreme Court appointments up until the early '90's (and that might be generous), the President has never mattered.

We're screwed until the masses realize Congress has been the problem all along.



edit to add:

My prediction: Hillary is in deep trouble. The email scandal is a big deal. She won't be brought down by the nuts-and-bolts of the private email server, but by her subsequent attempts at cover-up. Look for Biden to step in... "reluctantly."

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

I think it is more likely we see Romney enter on the GOP side than Biden on the Dem side. I don't think Biden is over his son's death and I don't think he has remaining interest in the job. I also don't think the Dem establishment cares if Sanders wins nearly as much as the idea of a Trump ticket scares the GOP establishment. It's a damn scary world when somebody further left and three times as crazy as Chris Christie is leading the Republican primaries!

You know I can't stand Trump. You also know my opinion on Sanders and what a massive mess I believe that would make. I'm honestly OK with Carson, Cruz, and Rubio. Everyone else on that platform can take a long walk off a short pier.

I'm getting real sick and tired, however, of massive mountains being made out of Ben Carson's religious beliefs and Ted Cruz's religious beliefs, neither of which will realistically impact so much as a single American if they were in office, while ignoring the HUGE elephant in the room where Bernie Sanders is concerned... THE MAN WILL ECONOMICALLY DEVASTATE THE MIDDLE CLASS IN AMERICA. His minimum wage (which you mentioned) will effectively represent yet another huge middle class tax hike brought about by yet another Democrat. His taxation plans will send what little manufacturing and non-service industry America has fleeing overseas and Southward to Mexico, and then who the hell is going to foot the tab for Bernie's Kids? Oh, that's right... just as with Obamacare, the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare, and many of the various welfare programs currently in effect, the upper half of the Middle Class will once again be latched onto and bled out. Bernie Sanders would represent a curb stomp to the back of America's skull same as Trump would, albeit while Trump will pocket the country's teeth to sell off later, Bernie will collect them off the pavement and cast them down to his supporters.

With all of the butthurt over corporations lobbying and spending on politicians to obtain wanted policies is a genuine issue that needs addressing, so is the now 47% of America that represents "Kept Voters" who will not vote against their Meal Ticket on the left that happily takes money from Americans making over $50K per year to give to their Kept Voters. THAT is the idiotic cycle that Bernie Sanders represents. All of them (ultimately including Sanders) will be corporate whores, but Bernie will be putting up red lights on both sides of his house.

a reply to: theNLBS

dude from Canada here...

I'd vote for the guy in the video before any of those candidates

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

originally posted by: starfoxxx
Wow another blatant attack piece... I thought this bull # was above that.. Guess we can throw moderation and balance out the door.. This show sucks

Curious who he attacked besides everyone?

The show I just watched had him ticking off the field on both sides of the aisle. Which imaginary bias did you see?

RE: the show....well founded and astute points. Outside of the over used executive order, it is absolutely correct that political change has to start in the legislative branch.

Then i'd like to hear JOE'''' tell us who we SHOULD vote for then?? Since we already know THEY ALL SUCK
and i'll take a Trump over another Clinton, and the BUSH. or the other psycho lady fiorina or the 4 thousand year old earth year thinker dude, or bernie the socialist really make us broke sanderstein. We know THEY ALL SUCK, so I agree lets tell the world what we think of the politicians and vote someone the dems and rep. establishment BOTH HATE, Trump... Only way i can see ANYTHING will change with either establishment..

Another great show, helping clear things up for this layman across the pond. Whatever you say about US politics it is definitely entertaining.

They only cover candidates that support the corporate agenda.

Until we rely much more on alternative media outlets and paying attention to grassroots candidates that the media refuses to cover then we won't have democracy.

They rig elections by rigging coverage in the consolidated corporate media!

a reply to: MystikMushroom

The fact that the government works in the interest of corporations and rich individuals rather than the average American should come as a shock to no one. First of all, the federal government's duty is to protect the States. It is for the States to worry about individual welfare. If the U.S. federal government were to get too strict with businesses, it could be bad. Good for the average Joe, but bad for the country.

However, I can assure anyone afraid of America not being the #1 country in terms of economy...the fall from grace won't be that bad.