GOP debate on CNN

[RandomGuy]

Gotta disagree. I give Perry a better shot at Obama than anyone else the republicans could put on the ticket. Jobs are going to be the big ticket issue in 2012. Job growth in Texas is blowing away the rest of the nation and Rick Perry gets to take credit for it. (No, he's not responsible for it, but welcome to politics.) There's some pretty high unemployment rates in key swing states.

Not saying Perry would win, but he could.

I would agree, generally.

Although another governor from Texas would not sit well with a lot of people.

[SnakeBoy]

He's a pos... didn't debate Bill White (who would have kicked his ass) because his minions didn't feel he needed to. Can you imagine of Obama decided to ignore and dodge the debates? The outrage!!!

Perry had nothing to gain from debating White so it was smart of him not to do it. I don't particularly like Perry but he is a very effective campaigner. If he jumps in I'd put him as the favorite to win the primaries and I think he'd have a very good shot at beating Obama.

As for the op, it's a pathetically weak field right now. I'd put Pawlenty as the best candidate if he can overcome the issue of being one of the most forgettable people on the planet. I don't see any of the current field beating Obama unless the economy takes even more of a nosedive next year.

I wish Christie would get in the race. The Fatman would kick everyones ass.

[ChumpDumper]

Christie is too fat and heli-limogate didn't help that perception.

[ElNono]

Every politician has a few skeletons in their closet. Christie is no exception.
The biggest issue with him, IMO, is that he's more of the same: Liar, hypocrite and to top it off, full of himself.

[ElNono]

dp

[Nbadan]

Palin/Perry 2012

[SnakeBoy]

Palin/Perry 2012

That's not all that unrealistic. Palin could easily step in late and steal the primaries if she gets good people around her and sticks to the message. And they are friends so...

[ElNono]

That's not all that unrealistic. Palin could easily step in late and steal the primaries if she gets good people around her and sticks to the message. And they are friends so...

You mean if good people around her deliver the message?

[Winehole23]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/show...25&postcount=4

[Winehole23]

Oh I was pissed about that. The media tried to sell it as him trying to protect her even though she was doing fine. They just didn't know that sleaze bag attention Perry was just pissed that none of the reporters gave a about him.

Oh well, baby doll says let it slide.

[Winehole23]

[Winehole23]

Baby doll says let it slide.

[Winehole23]

She was right. Much worse was coming.

[boutons_deux]

Bachmann says Barry HUSSEIN is a secret conservative intent on killing Medicare, too.

=======

"This hasn't been talked about very much -- the president's plan for senior citizens is Obamacare," Ms. Bachmann told party activists here. She added, "I think very likely what the president intends is that Medicare will go broke and ultimately that answer will be Obamacare for senior citizens."

Bachmann's principal problem is that she combines the worst of two important traits: she's strikingly ignorant about public policy and she's paranoid to the point of delusion.

It's these qualities that lead Bachmann to come up with such odd theories. In this case, the unhinged Minnesotan believes President Obama is secretly trying to eliminate Medicare, forcing seniors into the Affordable Care Act. Is there any evidence at all to support this? Of course not, but that's not important right now.

In practical terms, Bachmann apparently thinks the president is secretly right-wing -- she believes Obama wants to end the existing system of socialized medicine for seniors, and force these millions of seniors into the private insurance market.

Of course, there is a group of people who actually support such an approach. They're called "House Republicans." Indeed, the House GOP budget plan -- written by Paul Ryan and endorsed by none other than Michele Bachmann -- seeks to end Medicare and convert the program into an ACA-style system. Bachmann's conspiracy theory is that Obama secretly agrees with her far-right colleagues.

http://www.alternet.org/module/print...ndviews/618220

=========

Like any hard-core evangelical, paranoid ignoramus, she make up any old and spreads it around.

[fraga]

The scary part is that she believes everything she says...100%...

[boutons_deux]

Many Americans have suckered by preachers into thinking that belief in any old the preachers make up as "truth" makes irrelevant, replaces science, rationality, evidence, critical thinking, analysis.

It's LYING that pays very well, the fooled and their money are soon parted.

[ElNono]

Chris Christie salary cap on school superintendents forces some to seek work elsewhere, retire early


What happened with letting the free market dictate what people should make?

[RandomGuy]

Chris Christie salary cap on school superintendents forces some to seek work elsewhere, retire early


What happened with letting the free market dictate what people should make?

Most conservatives don't want any government jobs competing salary-wise with that of the private sector. A waste of money.

The end result of that is that you get a less and less competant government over time, which also feeds their worldview.

win-win from their perspective.

[TeyshaBlue]

Chris Christie salary cap on school superintendents forces some to seek work elsewhere, retire early


What happened with letting the free market dictate what people should make?

Public (taxpayer supported) education has never been a free market. Sorta strawish, El.

[coyotes_geek]

Public (taxpayer supported) education has never been a free market. Sorta strawish, El.

"Sorta" is being pretty generous.

Most conservatives don't want any government jobs competing salary-wise with that of the private sector. A waste of money.

The end result of that is that you get a less and less competant government over time, which also feeds their worldview.

win-win from their perspective.

So does this mean you're against the highest compensated employees in the public education system having to take a paycut during a time when school budgets are incredibly strained?

[ElNono]

Public (taxpayer supported) education has never been a free market. Sorta strawish, El.

How is that? School superintendents in New Jersey have had 'tenure' and such shenanigans removed a while ago, and are supposedly 'free agent' paid free-market value.

The original idea to remove such perks was that the market should dictate what they should be paid... guess the market was wrong.

[ElNono]

So does this mean you're against the highest compensated employees in the public education system having to take a paycut during a time when school budgets are incredibly strained?

Nobody forced school boards of education to sign off on those contracts, did they?

[TeyshaBlue]

Your position is predicated upon there actually being a marketplace. There's not. The market approximate your referencing is a publicly funded structure whose pay structure is tied, for the most part, to local property taxes. Those taxes vary by region for sure, but that variation does not create a free market.
However, the resemblence is striking when relative salaries of supers:teachers is considered. But just because it looks like a market imbalance, doesn't make it so. IMO, there are very few supers that earn their salaries. Most are unbelievably overpaid relative to the classroom teacher. However, you will see that imbalance amongst coaches:teachers as well. Is that free market at play? No. Like the supers, their salaries are set by an elected board of citizens...not that many of those boards make quality decisions in that regard.

[coyotes_geek]

Nobody forced school boards of education to sign off on those contracts, did they?

No. Your point?

[ElNono]

Your position is predicated upon there actually being a marketplace. There's not. The market approximate your referencing is a publicly funded structure whose pay structure is tied, for the most part, to local property taxes. Those taxes vary by region for sure, but that variation does not create a free market.

But it isn't restricted to a publicly funded structure. Charter/private schools also have superintendents (even for schools as small as 300 students) making the same amount of money or more (and those in the private sector are NOT capped).

However, the resemblence is striking when relative salaries of supers:teachers is considered. But just because it looks like a market imbalance, doesn't make it so. IMO, there are very few supers that earn their salaries. Most are unbelievably overpaid relative to the classroom teacher. However, you will see that imbalance amongst coaches:teachers as well. Is that free market at play? No. Like the supers, their salaries are set by an elected board of citizens...not that many of those boards make quality decisions in that regard.

I didn't compare teachers and supers salaries, not sure where that came from. I do agree that BoE sometimes makes shoddy decisions, but who's fault is that considering they're voted in by taxpayers themselves?