Obama Reelected

[Nanuq]

Time to turn of the Fox News Network for a while.

Gee, you were doing so well, too. Thanks for the knife in the back.

[kbh]

Well, the "makers and the takers" has been a staple of the Faux News for the last few months. Where alternate realities collide.

Sorry, didn't mean to create pain. lol

[Luthier]

Funniest part is that Luthier came here as an immigrant and now want's to deny everyone else the same opportunities.

Wrong, KGB, I came to US LEGALLY. And yes, I want to deny any opportunity to anyone, who broke our laws. Maybe, you still don't know the difference between legal and criminal?

Get some education then.

[icoopernicus]

Nothing brings man together like the arbitrary and divisive (also constructed and unnatural) political dichotomy of the United States of America Where ideology and cash rule the former land of opportunity

[freddy333]

The salient point, I believe, is that the United States is a country of laws. 1 of those laws, the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution, upholds its citizens' inalienable right to voice dissenting opinions. The Constitution was then amended a 2nd time to give citizens a way to uphold the 1st Amendment, should political winds change.

[kbh]

Wrong, KGB, I came to US LEGALLY. And yes, I want to deny any opportunity to anyone, who broke our laws. Maybe, you still don't know the difference between legal and criminal?

Get some education then.

Hey Luthier, nice to chat with you again. Good to be called KGB again. Makes me miss you.

What I don't understand is the topic, as well as your quote was pretty much all about legal immigration:

They forgot (or don't know?), that each of them, according to statistics, will legally bring up to 27 relatives from Lating America, mostly from Mexico. So, bye-bye, Republican Party, bye-bye peace, with about 200-300 millions of "legal" mexicans here, ]

First, what statistics? "Each will bring 27 relatives? 200-300 millions "legal" mexicans" - wow, just like cockroaches eh? Who mentioned anything about giving their extended family and friends legal status. Yeah, and I like how you put legal in quotations. Say what you really mean..........

You're so prone to hyperbole.

[Watchmeister]

As someone else pointed out. I was surprised when I heard the stats for Federal assistance during the campaign. Only 8% of the population receives some form of welfare or foodstamp assistance. 2 percent or less of the 8% rely on government support for the majority of their existence. And of the folks who receive assistance - 39% black, 38% white and 17% hispanic. Now those are aggregate numbers and don't show whether one group of people is disproportionately represented. In any case I always assumed it was a much larger percentage. Unfortunately the amount of our tax dollars necessary to support that group is more than double that at 16-18%. Now that doesn't include unemployment but theoretically the person had to be working in the first place to receive it.

[KB]

I keep telling myself to stay out of what is none of my business....but...

To say that allowing a block of immigration, yes even 12 million, is some kind of attempt to guarantee future votes is a very flawed concept.

1. There is no way to control these people, come elections they will vote for who best satisfies their needs.

2. There is 315 million people in the US, adding 12 mill immigrants of which stats show at least half wont vote is not going to make a lot off difference.

3. This wasn't a razor edge win this was an ass whop, to win in 2016 the repubs don't need more voters they need better policies and leaders.

Ken

[tomhorn]

I keep telling myself to stay out of what is none of my business....but...

To say that allowing a block of immigration, yes even 12 million, is some kind of attempt to guarantee future votes is a very flawed concept.

1. There is no way to control these people, come elections they will vote for who best satisfies their needs.

2. There is 315 million people in the US, adding 12 mill immigrants of which stats show at least half wont vote is not going to make a lot off difference.

3. This wasn't a razor edge win this was an ass whop, to win in 2016 the repubs don't need more voters they need better policies and leaders.

Ken

1. I agree, but the Republican party will have to make major changes to their current party platform to gain the 'minority' vote. When 75% of Hispanics and 93% of Blacks vote Democrat, it's a long road back.

2. The total vote count difference in the 2012 Presidential election was less than 3 million. If half the 12 million you cite actually vote, well, you can do the math.

3. This was not an 'ass whop' in the popular vote. Based on the break in the States, it may look like it if if all you look at was the Electoral College. In terms of the popular vote, the margin of victory is actually in the bottom third of all Presidential elections since records have been kept.

[KB]

The less than half bit was a guess, I have no idea what percentage of the pop voted but that is the same percentage you would need to apply to the 12million

Ken

[kbh]

It's kind of silly to talk about the popular vote since that's not the way we elect our President. Certain areas of the Country, i.e the bible belt and the farm belt are going to always be highly Republican because of the guns, God, and religion aspect. It's not going to change any time soon. But the people that have actually elected the president have spoken rather strongly that the less educated areas of our Country are not going to win any time soon unless they change either their attitude or our attitudes as a Country. That's unlikely.

I found this rather amusing and just might have a touch of truth. Not meant to be offensive but hopefully interesting and kind of funny to some.

Dear Red States:

We're ticked off at your Neanderthal attitudes and politics and we've

decided we're leaving.

We in New York intend to form our own country and we're taking the

other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon,

Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the rest of

the Northeast.

We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation and especially

to the people of the new country of The Enlightened States of America (E.S.A).

To sum up briefly:

You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.

We get stem cell research and the best beaches.

We get Andrew Cuomo and Elizabeth Warren. You get Bobby Jindal and Todd Akin.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.

We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.

We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.

We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.

You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to make the red states

pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the

Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a

bunch of single moms.

With the Blue States in hand we will have firm control of 80% of the

country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92%

of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines (you can

serve French wines at state dinners) 90% of all cheese, 90 percent of

the high tech industry, most of the US low sulfur coal, all living

redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools

plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States you will have to cope with 88% of all obese

Americans and their projected health care costs, 92% of all US

mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99%

of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush

Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by

a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death

penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that

Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you

are people with higher morals then we lefties.

We're taking the good weed too. You can have that crap they grow in Mexico.

Sincerely,

Citizen of the Enlightened States of America

[ldegeneve]

kbh, thank you for standing up and saying something.

EDIT: not referring to the post directly above.

[By-Tor]

Hey at least you in the US have a real, elected president.

Look what we got. Herman Van Rompuy. An unelected bureucrat, running a comission that adopts its approach from the former Soviet Union.

Nigel Farage sums him up nicely.

[Mike on a bike]

kbh "less educated areas of our Country" do I detect a sense of liberal superiority, just asking. They aren't worried about low sulfur either as they don't buy the Al Gores global warming position (there coal will burn just fine) and you might need some corn & wheat to eat. Maybe want some steak with that wine? Maybe eat some tech. products? That put aside they control the Mississippi for the most part and all the oil in the gulf some will not drill for, along with the finds up north. By the way you will have to cross their territory to get your California produce, oh boy they can charge you a pretty penny for that. Making money by selling paper on Wall St, produces nothing of value except over sized pay for those who do it. And you can keep Hollywood twice over as far as they care. Would not think about sending the troops in where do think most of them come from.

Now keep in mind I am no holy roller and am not from anywhere near there as a matter of fact I'm a city kid. Just not comfortable with obvious hubris in your post.

[Mike on a bike]

I guess you edited the "less educated" as I cut & paste, sorry original thought still there. That is OK we all say & post things we think better of later. No dog in the hunt just had a tone I would be inclined to take exception to from either side.

[Ronin]

[Mike on a bike]

Ronin and your point is?

[kbh]

Mike on a Bike> No hubris intended. I thought is was pretty well known that most of the South has a much poorer educational system than the rest of the Country. It was certainly that way when I grew up. Until I was a teenager, I was born and raised in areas of Mass, Md, and Va. When we moved to Florida, my father, who was a writer and newspaper editor, used to go on regular tirades every time he saw a sign or billboard with spelling mistakes, which was quite often. He was pretty much appalled by the quality of the public schools that his 4 kids ended up in. My 3 sisters ended up enrolled in private schools, as did my son when he got past middle school. That is one of the definite negative consequences of immigration in States that have a high immigration rate such as Florida.

In the South, I believe that there are some great colleges and Universities. Unfortunately there are also some (not all) of the worst high schools where they graduate students that can barely read and math scores are on the 6th grade level.

I think both statistics and Ronin's post will back me up.

[woof*]

"I think both statistics and Ronin's post will back me up"

You realize Ronin's graph shows percentage of people over age 25 with a degree?

I don't think that involves your statements.

[Mike on a bike]

Neither a spelling bee nor a piece of paper gives any man the right to suppose his poltical view is superior. I voted for neither FYI, and will leave the discourse with this pearl of wisedom.

"The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory."

Thomas Jefferson

[Noel Fleischer]

I'm from NYC, obviously a very blue zone. I hope Obama can live up to his potential this 2nd term, maybe the Republicans will be a bit more

compromising. Like most people, I'm concerned about the economy- prices are crazy here and wages are flat,unemployment is a big problem, etc.

We need to address the basic problems here, including the ever increasing gap between rich and poor. This is not to demonize rich people or people who

really do need assistence. The Republicans have a big problem if they want to recapture the White House. They have to stop alienating women, minorities,

non-Christians, etc.etc.

[kbh]

I'm not making this up guys. Sorry if it offends a few people. Just google "education by state ranking". There are plenty more sources to choose from.

In recently released rankings of how states' primary education systems are preparing students for careers in engineering, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey top the list. Mississippi trails as the worst in the country, following West Virginia and Louisiana.

The Science and Engineering Readiness Index (SERI) measures how high school students are performing in physics and calculus -- based on publicly available data, including Advanced Placement scores, National Assessment of Educational Progress reports, teacher certification requirements by state and physics class enrollment data.

The SERI was developed by Susan Wite from the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics and physicist Paul Cottle of Florida State University.

The SERI score given to each state is on a scale of 1 to 5 and reflects how well states perform and allow opportunities for success in physics and math education and teacher qualifications.

The numbers below reveal that few states are performing at high levels, and most are poorly preparing students for science, technology and engineering.

According to a statement last week, Cottle said that although the SERI scores do not compare states to schools' performances in other countries, even the American leader -- Massachusetts -- would struggle to compete with countries like China or Singapore.

For years, the U.S. has lagged behind other countries in math and science. A 2009 study showed that American students ranked 25th among 34 countries, behind nations like China, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Finland.

State Rankings for Math and Science Education

Rank State SERI Well Above Average 1 Massachusetts 4.82 2 Minnesota 4.06 3 New Jersey 4.04 4 New Hampshire 4.01 5 New York 3.94 Above Average 6 Virginia 3.73 7 Maryland 3.57 8 Connecticut 3.28 9 Indiana 3.28 10 Maine 3.24 Average 11 Florida 3.13 12 Illinois 3.08 13 South Dakota 3.08 14 Wisconsin 3.06 15 Colorado 3.04 16 Kansas 3.00 17 Kentucky 3.00 18 Vermont 2.93 19 Georgia 2.88 20 Washington 2.86 21 Utah 2.85 22 Pennsylvania 2.80 23 Tennessee 2.67 24 Ohio 2.64 25 Delaware 2.60 26 Michigan 2.60 27 Oregon 2.58 28 Wyoming 2.58 29 Montana 2.53 Below Average 30 Idaho 2.47 31 Texas 2.45 32 North Dakota 2.40 33 Missouri 2.39 34 California 2.38 35 Rhode Island 2.38 36 North Carolina 2.34 37 Hawaii 2.29 38 Iowa 2.25 39 Alaska 2.20 40 South Carolina 2.20 41 Arkansas 2.14 Far Below Average 42 Oklahoma 2.01 43 Nebraska 1.97 44 Nevada 1.93 45 Arizona 1.91 46 New Mexico 1.72 47 Alabama 1.60 48 Louisiana 1.59 49 West Virginia 1.58 50 Mississippi 1.11 National Average -- -- 2.82

[tomhorn]

It's kind of silly to talk about the popular vote since that's not the way we elect our President. Certain areas of the Country, i.e the bible belt and the farm belt are going to always be highly Republican because of the guns, God, and religion aspect. It's not going to change any time soon. But the people that have actually elected the president have spoken rather strongly that the less educated areas of our Country are not going to win any time soon unless they change either their attitude or our attitudes as a Country. That's unlikely.

Yep, and there are a bunch of precincts in Philly where not one person (one person) voted for Romney. What's your point?

Fact of the matter in a 2 party system like we have Romney was actually right. He said it wrong, and added some unfavorable commentary, but he was right. On both sides, roughly 90% of the people are going to vote for one party or the other NO MATTER WHO IS RUNNING. The candidates can say whatever they want and be whomever they want to be, and those 90% of the people are going to vote for them. They would vote for a trained monkey as long as it was teh Party's representative. The only things that affect elections anymore in the US are relative voter turnout and the 10% in the middle. Obama's campaign was great at getting the voters to turn out, and he won. Not because he was a Democrat, not because his voters are 'smarter' ... but because he gave them a reason to show up.

Funny how the Dems were all up in arms about Gore winning the popular vote but losing the Electoral College, but when someone who voted for a Republican brings up the popular vote to counter someone's opinion that this election was akin to a 'landslide' and now all the sudden the popular vote doesn't mean anything.

[Watchmeister]

IMHO it is not about one person or party being wrong or right but as much about breaking the gridlock between the two parties. They both have been driven too far to the ends of the spectrum. My biggest hope is that Obama becomes more pragmatic and concludes that unlike the first term where he spent all his time worrying about his healthcare legacy he focuses on leaving an additional legacy of a healthier economy. And equally, the Republicans have to turn away from the ideological right and be able to compromise. Unfortunately Politics is now all about keeping your job rather than governing. What this election did show is that people are generally fed up with business as usual.

[kbh]

Funny how the Dems were all up in arms about Gore winning the popular vote but losing the Electoral College, but when someone who voted for a Republican brings up the popular vote to counter someone's opinion that this election was akin to a 'landslide' and now all the sudden the popular vote doesn't mean anything.

Funny how time and point of view can change history. Actually Gore lost because the Supreme Court's right wing majority overturned the State Supreme Court's ruling that Gore won Florida. The people of Florida and it's court system elected Gore which should have made him President. That mandate of the people was overturned when the US Supreme Court butted in and in a 100% partisan move, took the election away from him and handed it to their candidate on a silver platter.. And, I'll give him credit that he accepted the ruling graciously, unlike our current and soon to be ex-Senator Alan West.

Bush actually won that election entirely on the 5 to 4 vote of the right leaning Supreme Court.

http://www.dummies.c...ush-v-gore.html