On the town hall protests

[Mental]

That kid is my hero.

[Shrinweck]

Americuhhh, fuck yeahhhh. Abolish federal government wooooooooo hell yeaaaah. Okay, fuck it, let's get some beer.

[SineSwiper]

These "protests" are staged by Republican thinktanks, especially FreedomWorks. Fox News take their talking points and plants them as something for the people to recite in town meeting. Then Fox News reports on the town meeting as if they are confirming what they said. Daily Show has a really good explanation of this:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-a ... rank-cycle
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-a ... er-skelter

[Kupek]

"Just give us the same health plan as congress." Hah. I bet congressmen and senators pay a lot of their own money for health care - more than, I bet, that guy can afford.

[Imakeholesinu]

"Just give us the same health plan as congress." Hah. I bet congressmen and senators pay a lot of their own money for health care - more than, I bet, that guy can afford.

If only there was no money in politics, we wouldn't have these idiots in power.

[Kupek]

No, it's the other way around. If you don't pay professional politicians well, then only the independently wealthy can do it. Rank-and-file congressmen are paid well, but not exorbitantly: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongres ... esspay.htm

It also looks like their insurance plan is the same as all other federal employees, which I know is Blue Cross Blue Shield (my father has worked for the federal government for 30 years). It's an excellent insurance plan, one that I doubt this guy could afford without employer assistance.

[Zeus]

"Just give us the same health plan as congress." Hah. I bet congressmen and senators pay a lot of their own money for health care - more than, I bet, that guy can afford.

I really envy your idealistic views. I lost that a very long time ago

[Zeus]

If only there was no money in politics, we wouldn't have these idiots in power.

It's not about the money they get paid in office, it's about the connections/networking access that they get due to the power they can grant people. There's a reason why so many wastes of skin and bones bounce back and forth between being executives and politicians.

[Kupek]

I really envy your idealistic views. I lost that a very long time ago

Explain how that is idealistic. My point was not one of idealism. It was that most people in public office are wealthier than the rest of the population, and while they probably pay more money absolute money than others for their health care, it is a lower percentage of their income and net worth.

By the way, Zeus, I think it's ironic that just a few days ago you were lamenting the state of conversation here and elsewhere, but just now you're using condescension in place of content.

[Zeus]

I really envy your idealistic views. I lost that a very long time ago

Explain how that is idealistic. My point was not one of idealism. It was that most people in public office are wealthier than the rest of the population, and while they probably pay more money absolute money than others for their health care, it is a lower percentage of their income and net worth.

By the way, Zeus, I think it's ironic that just a few days ago you were lamenting the state of conversation here and elsewhere, but just now you're using condescension in place of content.

I'm trying to figure out how you read that as being condescending. I meant it as a compliment, actually. I'm not exactly happy about my cynicism, I'm just unable to ignore "realities" I see/read about. It is what it is. I don't have to like it I just have to deal with it.

The "idealistic" part I was referring to was the thought that they would pay anything for anything at all. Public office is all about perquisites.