allentown wrote:

drsmooth wrote:

traderdave wrote:I am probably very naive about such things but, as somebody mildly involved in local politics and strongly considering a run for elected office in 2010, I have a certain lack of respect for somebody who would vote a particular way just because that is his/her party's position on a particular issue. Elected officials should vote his/her own conscious, IMHO, not the way they are expected to vote by his/her party's leaders.

Getting votes is difficult b/c most people, most days/weeks/years, don't really care all that much

so, getting "automatic" votes is helpful. It allows you to focus more on people that actually intend to actively make up their minds.

to get them, you might have to concede that yes, that outfit that can help with the "automatic" getting of votes for you (the party), may have a point on an issue or 2 or 3 that you - being like most people, most days/weeks/years - don't really care all that much about*. Now some of those automatic votes would go your way anyway, so that outfit doesn't deserve the entire credit - but as in advertising, or business, or baseball, or other activities, it can be hard to suss out cause/effect when it comes to what produced results - in this case, in the vote-getting process (JHoya will no doubt strenuously object).

(*I know that YOU care more than most people most days, but I'm just using "you" to make the point more emphatically).

Elected reps in Congress and the State House vote as the caucus tells them, because otherwise they lose access to a lot of campaign funds and find themselves with a well-financed primary opponent.

Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began the affair with the staffer several months after he separated from his wife, Darlene. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package, and the two parted ways.

Some time later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money — at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.

"The real question is not whether these cities shrink – we're all shrinking – but whether we let it happen in a destructive or sustainable way," said Mr Kildee. "Decline is a fact of life in Flint. Resisting it is like resisting gravity."

....

The exodus – particularly of young people – coupled with the consequent collapse in property prices, has left street after street in sections of the city almost entirely abandoned.

In the city centre, the once grand Durant Hotel – named after William Durant, GM's founder – is a symbol of the city's decline, said Mr Kildee. The large building has been empty since 1973, roughly when Flint's decline began.

Regarded as a model city in the motor industry's boom years, Flint may once again be emulated, though for very different reasons.

But Mr Kildee, who has lived there nearly all his life, said he had first to overcome a deeply ingrained American cultural mindset that "big is good" and that cities should sprawl – Flint covers 34 square miles.

He said: "The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there's an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they're shrinking, they're failing."

But some Flint dustcarts are collecting just one rubbish bag a week, roads are decaying, police are very understaffed and there were simply too few people to pay for services, he said.

If the city didn't downsize it will eventually go bankrupt, he added.

.....

The city is buying up houses in more affluent areas to offer people in neighbourhoods it wants to demolish. Nobody will be forced to move, said Mr Kildee.

"Much of the land will be given back to nature. People will enjoy living near a forest or meadow," he said.

Mr Kildee acknowledged that some fellow Americans considered his solution "defeatist" but he insisted it was "no more defeatist than pruning an overgrown tree so it can bear fruit again".

jerseyhoya wrote:Don't call her Liz

Epic

Sounds like you got played by someone who KNOWS I hate that name and that it's a fast way to TICK me off. Who told you that I go by that name? They are not your friend...

jerseyhoya wrote:Don't call her Liz

Epic

pacino wrote:

Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began the affair with the staffer several months after he separated from his wife, Darlene. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package, and the two parted ways.

Some time later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money — at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.

So Ensign is the bad guy where? Who cares?

jerseyhoya wrote:Don't call her Liz

Epic

Werthless wrote:Iran, in pictures.

pacino wrote:what?

traderdave wrote:

Werthless wrote:Iran, in pictures.

These are very, very sad pictures. One thing I found quite interesting was in the comments below the pictures; one poster indicated that the official vote tally had Ahmadinejhad finishing third. I had seen the vote totals elsewhere but I just assumed that MA had finished second behind Mousavi.

On a somewhat separate note, I am curious, does anybody here hold ELECTED office or has sought/held elected office in the past?

allentown wrote:

pacino wrote:

Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began the affair with the staffer several months after he separated from his wife, Darlene. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package, and the two parted ways.

Some time later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money — at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.

So Ensign is the bad guy where? Who cares?

Just because Ensign is separated that gives him the right to have an affair with a married employee. At the company I worked for, a manager could be fired for an affair with a subordinate and if the subordinate was married, it would pretty much be a done deal. That is a relationship of very unequal power. The 'severance package' could also be viewed as a hush money bribe paid with your and my tax $. So yes, he is still the bad guy.

jerseyhoya wrote:

pacino wrote:what?

"You know, do me a favor could you say senator instead of ma'am? I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it. Yes, thank you."

He should have responded, "And the senator will address me as General or sir. I'm quite certain I've earned it."

drsmooth wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:

pacino wrote:what?

"You know, do me a favor could you say senator instead of ma'am? I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it. Yes, thank you."

He should have responded, "And the senator will address me as General or sir. I'm quite certain I've earned it."

"Boxer? I wouldn't even grudge f_ her", etc

allentown wrote:

traderdave wrote:

Werthless wrote:Iran, in pictures.

These are very, very sad pictures. One thing I found quite interesting was in the comments below the pictures; one poster indicated that the official vote tally had Ahmadinejhad finishing third. I had seen the vote totals elsewhere but I just assumed that MA had finished second behind Mousavi.

On a somewhat separate note, I am curious, does anybody here hold ELECTED office or has sought/held elected office in the past?

4 terms on local school board.