Newt or Mitt VS Obama. Can either of 'em beat him?

[GQBlues]

BC-
 
Not to squeeze water out of a rock, I will suppose immigration is far more vital to EU's social system structure than the US. Thus, I am not at all surprised at the heightened number of viable immigation into the EU lately. EU's system is reliant for a steady influx of new workers to insure/sustain viability of their social systems.
 
The tough part for Europe is, which is almost nil with the US, Europe faces a tougher road ahead (immigration) due to the 'preservation of their respective heritage/cultural concerns. Italian will be more concerned to satying 'Italians', as Irish folks remaining 'Irish, etc..already Europe had started to see isolated flashes of this pending cultural growing pains. US, for the most part today, is already a hybrid society. Europe is not, and likely will be fairly unwelcoming of that change or evolution.
 
Economic contraction that everyone faces today is painful the world over. The article below shows, for certain age groups, Europe, the US, and Japan is suffering from a prolonged unemployment. This have a direct impact with our respective socioeconomic viability, But would be more so for areas with social systems.

http://money.msn.com/investing/where-young-people-cant-find-work
 
 

[Anotherkiwi]

...You are an employer.  One of your best and most productive employees went out with his pals on a long weekend bar hopping, having a good time and got mugged, ending up with a complex broken collar bone requiring a few screws and hardware plus some cracked ribs that punched his lung.  The perpetrators were not caught. This employee worked in your warehouse so for the next 8 to 12 weeks is basically worthless to you.. 'out of business'.   What do  you do, keep him or fire him?  He's out a couple K for the med bills, doesn't have any sick time accrued and his light, water and mortgage is due.

You really like the guy and want him back.  Will you pay his med bills and keep him above water until he can return?  During his 'down' time he finds another job opening right about the time he is all healed up.  Do you think he will come back if you don't help him out?

In Germany you would just have to cover 6 weeks wages like all other employers, then the state health insurance company would reimburse you for most of his wages thereafter.  He will be happy, you will be happy and he'll be back, ready to go instead of being pissed you had to fire him for just 'one of those many things' that happen in life', maybe going to your competition, raising their bottom line instead.

The joys of the New Zealand system - we have what is called the Accident Compesation Corporation (ACC), a state-funded organisation that covers all legitimate claims for compensation through accidents.  In such a case as your example the employer would be liable to cover only the first week's sick pay (assuming that the employee had sick leave accrued), and then ACC picks up the tab for however long the employee remains off work.  They pay 80% of the person's wage, plus ALL costs associated with treatment and recovery.  This also extends to the self-employed, because we pay levies to ACC based on the risk rate of the industry in which we work.
 
In your example the company will be able to hire a temp to fill in for the employee because it costs them nothing for the employee after the first week (although many companies will top up the wages by paying the remaining 20%, especially if there is still sick leave available).  Of course the temp is highly unlikely to have the same complete skill-set as the employee, but in most cases it's better to have someone doing at least part of the work than nobody at all.
 

Traveler,

...If you have employees, what paid vacation time do you allow? Lets say you allow 1 week the first year and 2 weeks the next 5 years... what happens when a business opens up down the street, selling similar products and/ or services but allows no vacation the first year and only 1 week the next 5 years? Does that not put you at a disadvantage? Or do you think your productivity would be that much higher for 'happy' employees that get a bit more vacation time?

That situation would never apply here because it's the law that all employees must receive a minimum of four weeks' paid leave (plus statutory holidays, although we only have 11 days here compared with the 200 saints' days in France and Italy  ).

[BC]

BC-
 
Not to squeeze water out of a rock, I will suppose immigration is far more vital to EU's social system structure than the US. Thus, I am not at all surprised at the heightened number of viable immigation into the EU lately. EU's system is reliant for a steady influx of new workers to insure/sustain viability of their social systems.

Indeed.  There have been other periods where immigrants were even invited to another country to work.  Post WWII Germany for example. Worked then, don't see why it could not work today or in the future.  The precedent has been set.
 

The tough part for Europe is, which is almost nil with the US, Europe faces a tougher road ahead (immigration) due to the 'preservation of their respective heritage/cultural concerns. Italian will be more concerned to satying 'Italians', as Irish folks remaining 'Irish, etc..already Europe had started to see isolated flashes of this pending cultural growing pains. US, for the most part today, is already a hybrid society. Europe is not, and likely will be fairly unwelcoming of that change or evolution.

Europe, with it's close borders has always been a mixed bag. We are neighbors so the effect you describe may end up being rather irrelevant.

Economic contraction that everyone faces today is painful the world over. The article below shows, for certain age groups, Europe, the US, and Japan is suffering from a prolonged unemployment. This have a direct impact with our respective socioeconomic viability, But would be more so for areas with social systems.

http://money.msn.com/investing/where-young-people-cant-find-work

Sure economic stressors always play a role in society.  All in all though there are few hotspots.  Don't forget though that aside from the social net, the family support network still exists in much of EU.  Despite the figures in your link I do not hear anyone has starved to death in Spain aside from some isolated /unrelated incident.

I am confident that EU is robust enough to take a good bit of punishment in stride. 

Patience...

I will leave you with one thought that puzzles me though... when the Euro first came about, it's worth was less than one USD..  even today, despite Greece, PIIGS et al, it is still worth 20% more.

What gives??  Really....

[GQBlues]

Indeed.  There have been other periods where immigrants were even invited to another country to work.  Post WWII Germany for example. Worked then, don't see why it could not work today or in the future.  The precedent has been set.
 
Europe, with it's close borders has always been a mixed bag. We are neighbors so the effect you describe may end up being rather irrelevant.

I understand. It's very likely any open opposition will not take place in our lifetime but the reality is, it is imminent. The global population is growing in alarming rate (x Russia/Ukraine) and it wasn't too long ago I checked on land mass per person for the US and beyond. One needs 'x' amount of workers working in contingent relation to social outlay, pensions, care, infrastructure, etc...Consequently, living space will be a growing premium everywhere.
 
Most places in EU are nearly tapped out with some even shrinking i.e. Venice, Holland (they're even selling floating habitat tied up on moors, etc). With dwindling 'living' space' and rising demands for such it isn't diffocult to 'see' how this will have an effect in the overall internal economies respectively.
 

Take for instance Japan / Hong Kong...a rental apartment wth one room, close to work, are renting for some seriously absurd monies in these places. It's crazy in Tokyo even SK right now...Europe as a region may not be quite that bad yet, but...

Sure economic stressors always play a role in society.  All in all though there are few hotspots.  Don't forget though that aside from the social net, the family support network still exists in much of EU.  Despite the figures in your link I do not hear anyone has starved to death in Spain aside from some isolated /unrelated incident.

I am confident that EU is robust enough to take a good bit of punishment in stride. 

Patience...

Part of me agrees with you. Europe had always been able to 'survive' tough challenges in the past. I hope this holds true from the type of world facing it in the near future. And us to some extent because Europe is vital to American economy moreso than anyone with a likely eception of Japan, Taiwan and SK. Mainland REDS not too worried about. We owe them so much money they need for us to be around for a long time.
 
 

I will leave you with one thought that puzzles me though... when the Euro first came about, it's worth was less than one USD..  even today, despite Greece, PIIGS et al, it is still worth 20% more.

What gives??  Really....

I'm not BC. I'm always puzzled before why folks think it means something at all. The global market is so different these days especially for those with open trade markets. I'm always 'happy' when the dollar was lower than everyone else...against CD, EURO, POUND, etc..it only means our commodities sell faster and the demand is greater...then folks get to go to work all the time.
 
Just like the mainland Reds and their silly devalued YUANs. Low USD makes for a much robust trade for us. The Chinese know this very well..

[SANDRO43]

(plus statutory holidays, although we only have 11 days here compared with the 200 saints' days in France and Italy ).

Those 200 days are NOT holidays here, and I doubt in France either .

Our current list of statutory holidays:

- January 1st, 6th
- April 25th
- May 1st
- June 2nd
- August 15th
- November 1st
- December 8th, 25th, 26th, 31st

Plus Easter Monday and the city patron's day - which makes a total of 13, or less if any happen to fall on a Saturday or Sunday (but refunded extra in paychecks).

Surprise, that's only 2 more than in NZ - you antipodal loafers .

[Anotherkiwi]

Those 200 days are NOT holidays here, and I doubt in France either .

Our current list of statutory holidays:

- January 1st, 6th
- April 25th
- May 1st
- June 2nd
- August 15th
- November 1st
- December 8th, 25th, 26th, 31st

Plus Easter Monday and the city patron's day - which makes a total of 13, or less if any happen to fall on a Saturday or Sunday (but refunded extra in paychecks).

Surprise, that's only 2 more than in NZ - you antipodal loafers .

Antipodal?  I prefer antipodean.  Loafers?  You're the ones with five or six weeks' annual leave!
 
We have January 1st and 2nd (or 3rd and 4th if the others are on a weekend);
February 6th (Waitangi Day - celebrating our nationhood);
April 25th as well (for us it is ANZAC Day, when we remember those who have fallen in battle);
first Monday in June (Queen's Birthday);
fourth Monday in October (Labour Day, commemorating the introduction of the 40 hour week - and wouldn't we love to see that happen again!);
December 25th and 26th (or 27th and 28th if the others are on a weekend);
plus Good Friday and Easter Monday, and a day to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the local province (Auckland's Anniversay Day is 29th January, so we get the Monday nearest to that).
 
Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day are not "Mondayised" - if they fall on a weekend, so be it.  We get paid for them only if we actually work on those days.

[ML]

The joys of the New Zealand system - we have what is called the Accident Compesation Corporation (ACC), a state-funded organisation that covers all legitimate claims for compensation through accidents.

State-funded you say!

Very interesting.  So the state runs some 'for profit' businesses and uses these profits to fund an organization?

[Anotherkiwi]

State-funded you say!

Very interesting.  So the state runs some 'for profit' businesses and uses these profits to fund an organization?

No, I did mention levies for self-employed people.  I should have mentioned that these are also included in employees' income tax deductions.  Because the risk is spread across the whole working population it works out at only a dollar or two per week per person.
 
It also covers treatment for injuries received overseas if you're a New Zealand resident, so the treatment that I've had since returning home last week has cost me nothing (I received a small gash to my leg in Australia a couple of weeks ago).

[GQBlues]

WOW! Romney/Ryan are toast!

Looking at the tears streaming down off people's faces listening to the Queen Bee herself showed me a collection of folks who'll likely had never bothered, never bother, will not bother to be diligent enough to do any fact-checking of the things they're being fed.

Watching the DNC the first day felt a lot like sitting in a Sunday southern gospel sermon. I could barely hold back my own tears...

4.5 million jobs added since 2009. *I* never knew that. Silly me....

Mewonders if the Union did in fact considered this a paid week off...

[BC]

 
I'm not BC. I'm always puzzled before why folks think it means something at all. The global market is so different these days especially for those with open trade markets. I'm always 'happy' when the dollar was lower than everyone else...against CD, EURO, POUND, etc..it only means our commodities sell faster and the demand is greater...then folks get to go to work all the time.
 
Just like the mainland Reds and their silly devalued YUANs. Low USD makes for a much robust trade for us. The Chinese know this very well..

USD / EUR is back to around the 1.25 levels of 2004-2006 pre crisis levels.  Some seem to think that it is weakness in the EU economy, but considering it hit 1.61 during the US financial crisis, and the US has recovered a fair bit  it doesn't seem that way..  do folks really think the EUR should have gone up to 2.0?  That would be mad... it's a currency, not a stock.  Considering that growth in the US will likely become a bit more conservative over the next years (which is healthy btw) things will probably stay about where they are or maybe with the EUR a wee bit lower, between 1.15 and 1.25 which is also good. That EU continued to export with a prolonged period of high EUR valuation is pretty amazing when you think about it.  At a steady 1.2x  things will pick up even more.

[Faux Pas]

USD / EUR is back to around the 1.25 levels of 2004-2006 pre crisis levels.  Some seem to think that it is weakness in the EU economy, but considering it hit 1.61 during the US financial crisis, and the US has recovered a fair bit  it doesn't seem that way.. do folks really think the EUR should have gone up to 2.0?  That would be mad... it's a currency, not a stock.  Considering that growth in the US will likely become a bit more conservative over the next years (which is healthy btw) things will probably stay about where they are or maybe with the EUR a wee bit lower, between 1.15 and 1.25 which is also good. That EU continued to export with a prolonged period of high EUR valuation is pretty amazing when you think about it.  At a steady 1.2x  things will pick up even more.

Quite possibly it looks better to you from the outside looking in but I can assure you, from the inside looking out, recovery is mighty hard to see or even visualize at this juncture. The indicators are false reads with the excessive quantitative easing. Bernanke and the Feds are printing money like Hobos with a stolen press. The idea that we can pay for anything if we print enough money is some very shallow thinking and leads to a false idea of recovery

[BC]

Quite possibly it looks better to you from the outside looking in but I can assure you, from the inside looking out, recovery is mighty hard to see or even visualize at this juncture. The indicators are false reads with the excessive quantitative easing. Bernanke and the Feds are printing money like Hobos with a stolen press. The idea that we can pay for anything if we print enough money is some very shallow thinking and leads to a false idea of recovery

If I understand correctly, the fed is not controlled by the president or congress.  It does it's own thing regardless....

Is that correct?

[Daveman]

Quite possibly it looks better to you from the outside looking in but I can assure you, from the inside looking out, recovery is mighty hard to see or even visualize at this juncture. The indicators are false reads with the excessive quantitative easing. Bernanke and the Feds are printing money like Hobos with a stolen press. The idea that we can pay for anything if we print enough money is some very shallow thinking and leads to a false idea of recovery

Amen...


This "quantitative easing" (what a stupid euphemism) will lead to another correction.  Not an if but a when.  The only question is how bad will it get?  My guess is it'll hit mid 2013 and peak (dip) 1st quarter 2014.  The dollar will tank. It's only a question of how far. 

[Faux Pas]

If I understand correctly, the fed is not controlled by the president or congress.  It does it's own thing regardless....

Is that correct?

Not totally free of the White House Administration no. The Federal Reserve bank does have a board but the Chairman (Bernanke)is appointed by the President. The board itself is usually a result political appointees with set terms

to add: Bernanke has the authority to tell the president no, but he won't

[Faux Pas]

Amen...


This "quantitative easing" (what a stupid euphemism) will lead to another correction.  Not an if but a when.  The only question is how bad will it get?  My guess is it'll hit mid 2013 and peak (dip) 1st quarter 2014.  The dollar will tank. It's only a question of how far.

I'll Amen that.

When the dollar does tank and I too believe not "If" but "When", there will be no degree of quantitative easing including and aside from printing money that will work to any degree. They are only able to do it now based on the strength of the currently relatively  weak Dollar. That value, they are using it up faster than shit through a goose

[GoodOlBoy]

Slick Willie tonight!
 
Boy, I can't wait. 
 
Maybe Monica will make a cameo appearance? 
 
GOB
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bill-clinton-will-highlight-convention-tonight/2012/09/05/f6d5dcf2-f797-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

[Gator]

I don't know about the rest of the Americans here, but I appreciate the reasoned perspectives from Europe and Down Under.  Such broaden my own perspective and at least compel me to think.  Then I watch the DNC, and the twisted spin makes me shake my head and realize the broad gap between the two choices. 
 
The economy is not discussed much at the DNC, and when discussed is still about blaming others ("much of the mess has been cleaned up and no one could have done it better").  Clinton spoke tonight.  And while Democrats point out that his economic record was good, they fail to point out that Clinton did not believe in big government. 
 
What compels a Democrat to stand behind such a bad performance by a President?    I guess that the Democratic Party is filled with people who seek protection and feel that government is the best provider.  Thus, for example, a healthcare safety net is created which is subsidized by the healthy.   
 
Some quick thoughts about some issues raised by many posters.
 
Federal Reserve
The Fed has multiple monetary policy responsibilities aimed at protecting the value of the dollar (price stability), avoiding high unemployment, and stabilizing our banking institutions.  I imagine the Central Banks in Europe are the same.
 
Euro vs. Dollar
 
BC is correct that over the long term the Euro has been stronger than the dollar.  Much of this is due to the fact that Europe has had less debt than America.  However, that is now changing, especially as Europe enters recession and takes on more debt to cover weak fiscal policies in some member countries.  Nevertheless, the currency exchange rate suggests that Europe will somehow resolve this.
 
Weak Dollar
 
Based on the way the world is now, there is no way that the dollar will tank.  The Republicans will at worst keep the House  and this alone will be enough to stalemate further stimulus.     Those who feel the dollar will tank should be moving their assets to non-dollar instruments.  The US may indeed print more money; however, the whole world is printing.  This is an unsynchronized  global monetizing of debt.  Some inflation will occur, yet it is still a year or two away when i thought it would have been here by now.  The US future looks good in such an inflationary scenario because the Fed has borrowed much of its debt in the form of  long term bonds.  If inflation occurs, the Fed can pay these bonds when due with weak dollars.  This will modulate any tanking.

 
Saving the American Auto Industry
 
GM and Chrysler went broke.  Instead of following legal bankruptcy proceedings, the assets were given to the unions rather than the creditors.  Thus, the hard choices were not made but delayed.   GM and Chrysler are far from saved.
 
Freedoms
 
I hear some claim that the Republican party is about freedom.   However, only the Democratic party allows the freedom for women to accept or decline abortion.  They are also the party that gives poofters the freedom to marry their life partner.
 
My Vote
 
I vote for Romney-Ryan because they will 1) address the fiscal changes and entitlement reforms needed to address America's growing debt and 2) stop the growing influence of government in deciding how private money is spent and allocated. And I believe they will show compassion for those who need it.
 
 

[Anotherkiwi]

I don't know about the rest of the Americans here, but I appreciate the reasoned perspectives from Europe and Down Under.  Such broaden my own perspective and at least compel me to think.

 
Thank you, but somehow I don't think that GQ will agree with you!
 

I guess that the Democratic Party is filled with people who seek protection and feel that government is the best provider. Thus, for example, a healthcare safety net is created which is subsidized by the healthy.

And what's wrong with that?  There's someone in nearly every family who gets regularly or badly ill.  I'm the opposite - I get colds and sniffles two or three times a year, but I haven't had a day off sick since a really bad bout of flu in 1996 kept me bed-ridden for three weeks.  I have no problem in seeing some of my tax dollars go towards health care for those who need it.  I'm not a religious person, but isn't it one of the main tenets of Christianity (and presumably other religions too) that the strong shall look after the weak?
 

Some quick thoughts about some issues raised by many posters.
...
 
Freedoms
 
I hear some claim that the Republican party is about freedom.   However, only the Democratic party allows the freedom for women to accept or decline abortion.  They are also the party that gives poofters the freedom to marry their life partner.

Is the Republican Party preparing to overturn Roe v Wade?  Sorry, but I just find it so hard to accept the crap that I've been reading about various Republicans' attitudes to things such as this.  The Moral Majority and its ilk has a lot to answer for in making so many people shy away from such topics.
 
And "poofters?"  I had thought better of you, Gator.
 

My Vote
 
I vote for Romney-Ryan because they will 1) address the fiscal changes and entitlement reforms needed to address America's growing debt and 2) stop the growing influence of government in deciding how private money is spent and allocated. And I believe they will show compassion for those who need it.

Numbers 1 and 2 may well be good reasons...BUT do you seriously want someone as Vice-President who is STILL trying to argue that there is such a thing as "legitimate rape?"  As for compassion - how much of that did Mr Billionaire Romney show when he was putting thousands of people out of work while closing down their companies in the name of "efficiency?"
 
All you Republican supporters may well consider Obama to be a bad President (and it's pretty obvious that you do!), but I sure as hell would NOT want to live in a country with Romney and Ryan at the helm.

[BC]

 
Numbers 1 and 2 may well be good reasons...BUT do you seriously want someone as Vice-President who is STILL trying to argue that there is such a thing as "legitimate rape?" 
 

IIRC that was someone else, not Ryan.

[Anotherkiwi]

IIRC that was someone else, not Ryan.

True - the original comment came from Congressman Todd Akin, so I'll withdraw the reference.  However, Ryan was one of the sponsors of Akin's bill which sought to redefine rape.  To me, as an outsider, this article illuminates the Republican Party in rather a bad way.
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard/why-akins-crazy-claim-of_b_1822796.html
 
I'm sure that some Republican supporters on here will decry the Huffington Post as they often do, but this article seems pretty factual.

[Gator]

 I have no problem in seeing some of my tax dollars go towards health care for those who need it.  I'm not a religious person, but isn't it one of the main tenets of Christianity (and presumably other religions too) that the strong shall look after the weak?

 
I agree.  America for eons has been a compassionate society.  The problem is that an accelerating number are somehow finding themselves "needy." One trip to an ER would open your eyes.  The system is broke and needs fixing.  Obamacare makes the situation worse.  Obamacare in one sentence:
 
"We're going to be gifted with a healthcare plan
we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't,
which puportedly covers at least 10 million more people,
without adding a single new doctor,
but provides for 16000 new IRS agents,
written by a committee
whose chairman says he doesn't understand it,
passed by a congress that didn't read it
but exempted themselves from it,
and signed by a president who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,
for which we will be taxed for four years
before any benefits take effect,
by a government which has already backrupted social security
and medicare,
all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese
and financed by a country that's broke."
 
 

 

And "poofters?"  I had thought better of you, Gator.

 
 
Did this witty term not originate from Down Under?
 

As for compassion - how much of that did Mr Billionaire Romney show when he was putting thousands of people out of work while closing down their companies in the name of "efficiency?"

Another government worker speaks.  It is called Free Enterprise and produces a more productive and competitive society than government allocation of dollars in the form of job protection, price control, etc. 
 
Strong companies are not taken over.  To reinvigorate a weak company, some fat must be trimmed.  I assert that the job losses would have been worse if these companies were not reinvented.  Also, I read somewhere that Bain Capital takeovers on the whole have more employees today than when taken over.
 
 

I sure as hell would NOT want to live in a country with Romney and Ryan at the helm.

You would never live here anyway because we don't have cricket, consider "All Blacks" as something to do with segregation, have more people than sheep, etc.  Have a good day.

[Gator]

Earlier I mentioned productivity.   The World Economic Forum ranks each year the competitiveness of the world's economies.  Yesterday it reported that the US has slipped to 7th place.  In 2008-2009 this same organization had ranked America first.   
 
The top 10 countries starting with Number One are Switzerland, Singapore. Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, USA, UK, HK, Japan.
 
The Washington Post (a liberal leaning rag but not as much as NY Times) reported:

 

 
...the authors cite a continued lack of trust in government leaders on the
part of  the business community as well as businesses’ continued criticism of
the public  and private sectors. As for the lack of trust in government leaders,
the authors  write that it is “perhaps not surprising in light of recent
political disputes  that threaten to push the country back into recession
through automatic spending  cuts.”

 
The authors also zing U.S. spending priorities, writing, “the government
 spends its resources relatively wastefully,” a pillar under which the U.S.
ranks  76th. Meanwhile, they continue, “a lack of macroeconomic stability
continues to  be the country’s greatest area of weakness.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/us-slips-in-world-economic-forums-competitiveness-rankings/2012/09/05/22eda50e-f77f-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_blog.html
 
Yes, America needs new leadership and a new direction!

[GQBlues]

 
Thank you, but somehow I don't think that GQ will agree with you!

...and with conviction.
 

..And what's wrong with that?  There's someone in nearly every family who gets regularly or badly ill.  I'm the opposite - I get colds and sniffles two or three times a year, but I haven't had a day off sick since a really bad bout of flu in 1996 kept me bed-ridden for three weeks. I have no problem in seeing some of my tax dollars go towards health care for those who need it.  I'm not a religious person, but isn't it one of the main tenets of Christianity (and presumably other religions too) that the strong shall look after the weak?

LOL.  At a rate where the line of the *many* separating from the *few* is nearly unrecognizable ~ of course you do.. 

As for tenets of Christianity? Did you mean the story about the man and the fish and the lessons to fish? Or did you mean the saga of inquisitions, war, strife and destruction of entire civilizations, and lately - child abuse and molestation ~ defines the definition of your *Christianity*?
 

Is the Republican Party preparing to overturn Roe v Wade?  Sorry, but I just find it so hard to accept the crap that I've been reading about various Republicans' attitudes to things such as this.  The Moral Majority and its ilk has a lot to answer for in making so many people shy away from such topics.
 
And "poofters?"  I had thought better of you, Gator.
 
Numbers 1 and 2 may well be good reasons...BUT do you seriously want someone as Vice-President who is STILL trying to argue that there is such a thing as "legitimate rape?"  As for compassion - how much of that did Mr Billionaire Romney show when he was putting thousands of people out of work while closing down their companies in the name of "efficiency?"
 
All you Republican supporters may well consider Obama to be a bad President (and it's pretty obvious that you do!), but I sure as hell would NOT want to live in a country with Romney and Ryan at the helm.

It's simply amazing how technology these days can afford anyone a venue to mainstream media and pretend they actually *know* what they're talking about a situation or region they've either never been to or hardly ever gone to.

AK...in case you haven't noticed, the soundbytes above are nothing more than ploy to deflect the obvious failure to produce any worthy segment of the last 4 years of the present administration. Pro-life/ Pro-choice had been debated for decades and what started out as a debate of moral values had turned into a political grandstanding...you should really quit talking about things you have no clue on.

Stick to Chinese Gooseberry.

[Anotherkiwi]

One trip to an ER would open your eyes.

I've seen plenty already, thank you.
 

The system is broke and needs fixing.

 
I can't see anyone disagreeing.
 

Obamacare makes the situation worse.  Obamacare in one sentence:
 
"We're going to be gifted with a healthcare plan
we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't,
which puportedly covers at least 10 million more people,
without adding a single new doctor,
but provides for 16000 new IRS agents,
written by a committee
whose chairman says he doesn't understand it,
passed by a congress that didn't read it
but exempted themselves from it,
and signed by a president who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,
for which we will be taxed for four years
before any benefits take effect,
by a government which has already backrupted social security
and medicare,
all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese
and financed by a country that's broke."

Nice little story, but "purchase?"  Again, I come back to our model where hospital care is free.  Sure, we pay for doctors' and dentists' visits, and for private medical insurance and private hospitals if we want to, but the latter are very much optional.
   

And "poofters?" I had thought better of you, Gator.

Did this witty term not originate from Down Under?

From the convicts in the West Island apparently.     That's still no excuse to use it in this refined forum. 
   

Another government worker speaks.  It is called Free Enterprise and produces a more productive and competitive society than government allocation of dollars in the form of job protection, price control, etc. 
 
Strong companies are not taken over.  To reinvigorate a weak company, some fat must be trimmed.  I assert that the job losses would have been worse if these companies were not reinvented.  Also, I read somewhere that Bain Capital takeovers on the whole have more employees today than when taken over.

Where on earth do you get "government worker" from?  I worked for my City Council for a while, but that was years ago.  I've never worked for the government and never will.  And I'm sorry, but strong companies DO get taken over.  There's also a big difference between "some fat must be trimmed" and wholesale closures.
 

 
You would never live here anyway because we don't have cricket, consider "All Blacks" as something to do with segregation, have more people than sheep, etc.  Have a good day.

You need to get out more - your national cricket team is actually doing quite well in a tournament in Kuala Lumpur at the moment.     I'll pass on the All Blacks, but agree about the sheep.

[Anotherkiwi]

It's way past my bedtime, GQ - I'll try to think of a witty response tomorrow.