This is just like your last fucking argument, a "well acktshually", no, fuck you. They're taking more American dollars for themselves, because God forbid they use their own personal fortunes for anything productive
You chickenshit. The budget has a name. All you have to do it look it up but you are too scared. You talk a big game with your guns but you aren’t man enough to face facts. You would just piss yourself in the face of an actual enemy. You have one chance in the next reply to come up with the name of the budget, what it is used for, and why they are increasing it. Should take you 5 minutes. If you don’t I will and it will prove every claim I made against you correct and I will rub that in your face every time you make another claim like this.
.
Time to nut up and be a man.
You know what happens when more money is sent to a group of people? Do you think you can buy Russian gas and then tell me you're not financing Russian invasions?
Money allocated is money freed up is money embezzled. But I'm sorry that you can't think more than two seconds ahead.
Not here to sling mid or take sides. I think you both make valid points- I agree with famousone that this bill has causes for concern, and scat is correct too in their main point-
Let’s bury the falsehoods and talk facts first.
You don’t have to trust me or the media. The bill os public. Anyone can read it and verify with their own eyes there is no raise for congress in it.
What the bill DOES say among other things is that congressional staffers- not members of congress but the workers who support congress- are getting a pay raise. In itself not necessarily a bad thing, government workers are workers, and staff don’t generally make the salaries their bosses do.
Of course, Congress people often hire family and friends to their staff- so there ARE reasons to be concerned like nepotism or favoritism or tit for tat dealings and such.
These very valid discussion points get lost when we parrot inaccurate information instead of discussing the actual facts.
For those who care about the whole truth the budget is called the Member Representational Allowance. It’s is the discretionary budget given to members of congress to fund the logistics of their offices. That’s includes stuff like paper and post-it notes but most importantly it includes the salary of staff. Currently staffers are starting at around $20k and peaking at $60k in a city with 150% cost of living compared to the national average. This increase allows them to eliminate unpaid interns and increase the or staff to a living wage. This is them taking care of people like you and me.
No, let's just let them steal even more money to be embezzled, "lost", or allow them to pay their friends and family who already benefit from insider trading!
@famousone There’s the bias again. Confessional staffers are not paid from their boss’s personal wealth. You are just thrashing around trying to make the people you don’t like into bad guys. @guest_ has always been too polite to point out how pathetic your reasoning is but I’m not.
@famousone Keep doubling down on your feelings against my facts. Bad people can do good things and this is one of those times. An honest man acknowledges when that happens. Sadly you aren’t even a man
You're arguing with someone you seem to think is a kid, on a dying site being smothered by a narcissist frog and a commie with a therapy fetish. With your biggest back-up being a condescending prick who can't make a coherent point in 4 pages or less, if ever. But stay mad, I hope you take yourself seriously, this is gold!
You had potential at one point. You listened to everyone and were absolutely certain that the military was your great high calling. And when the truth hit you that all those talking heads had been shitting in your ear the whole time and it was a shit situation you got out. But you didn’t learn a god damned thing. You still take what they say and internalize it as you are the only one who knows the Truth. You are undoubtedly smart but you can’t seem to grasp wisdom so you end up stuck as the tiny little person you are blaming your incapacity to grow on the world around you.
And by the way you are a kid to both @guest_ and me. I’m not sure his age but I’m guessing it’s close to mine and I’m well old enough to be your father.
I'll break it down Barnie style. I do not care. You are not worth the energy to actually earnestly engage with. I'm shitting down your throat after working out, while watching cinema sins, cleaning my favorite pistol, and waiting on a good friend of mine to get online for a game.
You are just another asshole in a long line of assholes. I have nothing to prove to you. You are the guy who tried to bully me, who I'm now laughing at because holy shit you actually take yourself seriously after all these years!
My guy, I used to argue for the audience. The audience is gone. So I'm just gonna keep pissing on you personally, yes you, and yes personally, because you're still standing there when it's just you, me, and your cheerleader in a puddle of my piss and your salt.
You still play video games like a child. If you think the things you listed are accomplishments you have not gotten mature enough. Have some kids. Get wealth independent so you don’t have to bitch about gas prices. Stop stamping your foot all the time. Become a man and then make decisions based on facts instead of your emotions.
Holy shit, thank you! You just solved every problem my life has ever had, I'm forever indebted to you! Clearly I need to listen to you about what to do with my freetime and how to live my life,
I mean, oi, fuck Boi. You're on a meme site. Like a child.
But sure, suckle that government weenie, and hey, follow me to the gas pump. Your ass is paying, right?
I understand both how why those are insults for people your age and how pathetic it makes you. At least bring up hardcore you fucking n00b. Want to know the difference between you and me?
.
I can use red stone, slime, and honey blocks to create wonderful contraptions that makes my kids happy I have alradt made my bones and I don’t have to worry about 10% at the checkout while you struggle to keep the internet on so you can post memes to make you feel better. If my children accomplish twice what you have they will be losers. I’ll stil love them tho.
Hardcore? n00b?
Leetspeek is so 2009, scatty boi.
But sure, keep trying to flex on people over the internet for, let's check the notes, uhh. Being under 50 and having less than a 6 figure job? Wow, weird flex but whatever gets your dick hard.
1337speak was 1997. 2008 was the retro n00b. I was not paycheck to paycheck by 19. I was financially independent by 30 and I retired three years ago at 42. Got any life advice for me?
Yeah. Rat poison tastes great, but not nearly as good as knowing that some old fuck actually feels the need to flex on you about being an old fuck.
Also, don't try sounding with anything porous. I don't care how shaved down it is, a pencil is always porous.
@scatmandingo- I think that’s probably part of the truth. I have…. A bit of experience in politics and around politicians in public and private. What you say is dead on about these jobs. They are often very difficult and require lots of commitment. They often pay very little of almost nothing for the work. They can involve… gray areas of risk, and are often inherently risky as a career.
So I didn’t mean to imply it is always illegitimate when relatives and such are hired- so many jobs and so much work- politicians will take help where they can get it, and many positions require a level of trust that can take decades to build- but family has an inherent trust to it often. In much of the country, but especially DC, the salaries paid to many who keep the wheels turning behind the scenes aren’t enough to live on- or live within 10 zip codes of your work anyway lol. So I’m also not saying that raises for staffers are inherently bad. Government employees are human too and work hard and…
.. at the VERY least, keeping their pay up with inflation is something I’d expect from the government and hope that we could one day standard across the private sector. But- I do think that there are valid talking points surrounding the pay scales and the staffing and the overall “systems” behind our government. I think that things like public housing in areas like DC with income disparities and dense populations that are critical to our nation- if not almost everywhere- could benefit from offering affordable housing with priorities to people like the lowest income and homeless as well as public employees.
I think that there are many changes from mild to radical that could be used to help reform our system and not only better serve the people who serve us, but make sure that the people who supposedly serve the public are focused on that and that’s their primary goal in public service.
So overall I don’t think raises for congressional staffers are inherently bad- but I think the topic is a doorway to conversation about larger reform. I am not against spending money for the people. I expect it of good government. I do not however believe that money is a “magic bullet,” we shouldn’t try to throw it at problems at the government level. I believe in more comprehensive reforms across sectors that work in concert to achieve the goal or goals.
Of course politics is compromise- such complex plans are much more difficult to actually get implemented, but when you slap “bandaid” solutions on top of each other…. It ends up messy. So I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I do think asking questions is important- especially with government.
Tbf I don't know why @scatmandingo is hard defending any gov ever, they are all corrupt and want nothing but money and power. They do not care about us; it's been proven time and time again; especially with how hard they control the media to create people to defend them. They will end interviews early and tag you as this month's hot word whether it be "racist" or "homophobe" because you broke the narrative. It's crazy how anyone can defend any sort of government
I defend them taking actions I think are right and I condemn them when they take actions I think are wrong but what I don’t do is lie or mislead like this post does. Misinformation is always wrong.
@scatmandingo It took you a really long time to actually state the name of the bill in question and explain an actual point. I'm not saying you're wrong, it would just appear that you are intentionally confrontational so you can act aloof as a follow-up. Discussions are wonderful, but you seem to approach them in bad faith.
It appears to me as immaturity to begin with insults rather than information. I am not trying to insult you here, either. You just seem profoundly angry and I personally don't believe you'll find satisfying discourse with this approach.
Best of luck to you.
@z - powerful people are usually crooked IMHO. You don’t get and stay that far “above” the average person without doing whatever it takes unless you’re one in a billion special, and we have way more rich and powerful people than is possible for them to all be once in a generation geniuses- so by default most are crooked.
So we have some agreement there.
My question is, are you crooked?
If a person was accused of a wrong they didn’t do and you knew better, would you speak up, or say nothing? If a man is in prison for murder and the police try to pin 4 other open murders on him but you knew he didn’t do it, would you speak up or shrug and say “he’s already a murderer on death row, why defend him?”
I’d hope not. Asides that being a clear case of ourselves not standing up for the truth, there’s more to it. When a person becomes a scapegoat we not only stop looking for the real culprit but we may miss the bigger truth.
Tl:Dr and conclusion: it isn’t about defending the government or defending a criminal or ideals or support or politics etc.
there are people who make reality for their version of truth and people who consider what is real to be true.
Those who defend things based on what they want to be real, and those who defend what is real.
George Bush and Bill Clinton- neither were terrible presidents regardless of your party affiliation. Neither were perfect either. Many would say one or the other was the devil. Both men made mistakes and did bad things. Both men did great things for the country and helped people in need.
Being realistic means accepting the good and bad of people and things. Blame where it is due and credit where due.
@littlehorse I was intentionally confrontational. Satisfying discourse isn’t possible with someone who has a pattern of starting discussions with misleading information. I usually don’t take the bait but it was so many back to back over the last couple of weeks that I couldn’t take it anymore.
God damn, that was a nice read.
Ever seen someone you despise get wasted and make a fool of themselves publicly ? That's how it felt watching @famousone argue that a raise to the budget that is used to pay staff is the same as a personal raise to congressmen. And then try to argue that he is a badass who's sitting there with better things to do, cleaning a gun, (I guess that's part of the badass ? Im unconvinced), 10 comments deep but he "doesn't care" and has "nothing to prove".
It's a guilty pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.
.
Time to nut up and be a man.
Money allocated is money freed up is money embezzled. But I'm sorry that you can't think more than two seconds ahead.
Let’s bury the falsehoods and talk facts first.
You don’t have to trust me or the media. The bill os public. Anyone can read it and verify with their own eyes there is no raise for congress in it.
What the bill DOES say among other things is that congressional staffers- not members of congress but the workers who support congress- are getting a pay raise. In itself not necessarily a bad thing, government workers are workers, and staff don’t generally make the salaries their bosses do.
Of course, Congress people often hire family and friends to their staff- so there ARE reasons to be concerned like nepotism or favoritism or tit for tat dealings and such.
These very valid discussion points get lost when we parrot inaccurate information instead of discussing the actual facts.
You are just another asshole in a long line of assholes. I have nothing to prove to you. You are the guy who tried to bully me, who I'm now laughing at because holy shit you actually take yourself seriously after all these years!
My guy, I used to argue for the audience. The audience is gone. So I'm just gonna keep pissing on you personally, yes you, and yes personally, because you're still standing there when it's just you, me, and your cheerleader in a puddle of my piss and your salt.
But sure, suckle that government weenie, and hey, follow me to the gas pump. Your ass is paying, right?
.
I can use red stone, slime, and honey blocks to create wonderful contraptions that makes my kids happy I have alradt made my bones and I don’t have to worry about 10% at the checkout while you struggle to keep the internet on so you can post memes to make you feel better. If my children accomplish twice what you have they will be losers. I’ll stil love them tho.
Leetspeek is so 2009, scatty boi.
But sure, keep trying to flex on people over the internet for, let's check the notes, uhh. Being under 50 and having less than a 6 figure job? Wow, weird flex but whatever gets your dick hard.
Also, don't try sounding with anything porous. I don't care how shaved down it is, a pencil is always porous.
So I didn’t mean to imply it is always illegitimate when relatives and such are hired- so many jobs and so much work- politicians will take help where they can get it, and many positions require a level of trust that can take decades to build- but family has an inherent trust to it often. In much of the country, but especially DC, the salaries paid to many who keep the wheels turning behind the scenes aren’t enough to live on- or live within 10 zip codes of your work anyway lol. So I’m also not saying that raises for staffers are inherently bad. Government employees are human too and work hard and…
I think that there are many changes from mild to radical that could be used to help reform our system and not only better serve the people who serve us, but make sure that the people who supposedly serve the public are focused on that and that’s their primary goal in public service.
Of course politics is compromise- such complex plans are much more difficult to actually get implemented, but when you slap “bandaid” solutions on top of each other…. It ends up messy. So I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I do think asking questions is important- especially with government.
It appears to me as immaturity to begin with insults rather than information. I am not trying to insult you here, either. You just seem profoundly angry and I personally don't believe you'll find satisfying discourse with this approach.
Best of luck to you.
So we have some agreement there.
My question is, are you crooked?
If a person was accused of a wrong they didn’t do and you knew better, would you speak up, or say nothing? If a man is in prison for murder and the police try to pin 4 other open murders on him but you knew he didn’t do it, would you speak up or shrug and say “he’s already a murderer on death row, why defend him?”
I’d hope not. Asides that being a clear case of ourselves not standing up for the truth, there’s more to it. When a person becomes a scapegoat we not only stop looking for the real culprit but we may miss the bigger truth.
there are people who make reality for their version of truth and people who consider what is real to be true.
Those who defend things based on what they want to be real, and those who defend what is real.
George Bush and Bill Clinton- neither were terrible presidents regardless of your party affiliation. Neither were perfect either. Many would say one or the other was the devil. Both men made mistakes and did bad things. Both men did great things for the country and helped people in need.
Being realistic means accepting the good and bad of people and things. Blame where it is due and credit where due.
Ever seen someone you despise get wasted and make a fool of themselves publicly ? That's how it felt watching @famousone argue that a raise to the budget that is used to pay staff is the same as a personal raise to congressmen. And then try to argue that he is a badass who's sitting there with better things to do, cleaning a gun, (I guess that's part of the badass ? Im unconvinced), 10 comments deep but he "doesn't care" and has "nothing to prove".
It's a guilty pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.