Political Car Analogy

"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain) 01/20/2019 at 02:14 • Filed to: Politics

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Politics after the broken Prius.

Why do we the people continue to re-elect Nancy Pelosi? In 31 years, she has introduced & passed a total of 7 pieces of legislation. She’s not some kind of master negotiator, she’s basically the rock wall in a Looney Tunes show.

To put it another way, she’s basically Toyota. Old, slow, a tease, and ultimately ineffective. The idea of a new Supra is great, but in reality, it’s up to the people developing it to push it forward quickly and with great skill - to keep it from languishing in meetings, negotiations, and committees.

I’m a very centrist person, politically speaking. I firmly believe that both parties are rooted in bullshit and are mostly rotten to the core. I also have the lovely distinction of living in California, where people literally had a psychological break when Trump was elected.

What the people of California want is some kind of version of “stand tall!” “resist!”, something like this:

What they actually get seems to be amounting to an elitist temper tantrum:

It will require two parties to end the government shutdown, not just one. There was a new deal put on the table by the president, and rather than an actual response, it got more screaming and tears and “we will not compromise”. The logical part of my brain, of course, begs the question “compromise on what?” since a border wall, at most, costs just 0.3% of the total federal budget (and would be spread over years, making that even lower). So clearly then it’s immoral to build a wall and all the stories about human trafficking over Texas is just fake news? I don’t really think so. Ah, but visa overstays actually make up 60% of illegal immigration compared to 38% for the southern border! Yet, if you’re going to solve a problem, will you pick the hard one (visa overstays) or the easier one (limited to a smaller geographical region). I think the answer is simple.

I’m being a bit facetious. I understand that the reason Pelosi refuses to negotiate is because her #1 priority is not to get legislation passed or move the government forward. It’s to make sure the current president is as ineffective as possible.

Frankly, that’s literally the opposite of what you should ask from your leaders. How many times have you walked into work and had your boss say “look, I know you don’t like [Joe], but you have to work with him and I think you can make him better.” But Pelosi doesn’t have a boss like that. She has thousands of this person screaming in her ear:

Who, ironically, are all driving around like this in their expensive electric cars:

It’s fascinating to back in the archives 18 months and see what people were writing. If you read this 2017 piece from CNN, you would think that a border wall is a must. If you read today’s headlines, it’s a disastrous waste of money. Clearly both can’t be true?!

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It’s late and I don’t remember where I was going with this other than: please stop supporting ineffective politicians.

Here’s the complete list of all the legislation Pelosi has been able to introduce & accomplish:

To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 867 Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, as the “Lim Poon Lee Post Office”.

Economic Stimulus Act of 2008

Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Act

Winter Run Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Act of 1993

For the relief of Anna C. Massari.

Designating March 1989 as “Women’s History Month”.

Amazing that with all that tough talk, she’s been able to mint some coins, protect some fish, commemorate a month, and rename a post office. This is now the person who is negotiating with the man who literally wrote the book on negotiation. Seriously, California? Can we not do better than this? I take it all back, comparing this track record to Toyota is unfair to Toyota. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 03:34

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I think both parties should be clearing house after their performances over the last couple years but that’s a deprecate issue than the current standoff.

Because the daca part is pretty empty as the Supreme Court doesn’t want to hear the case this year so the Democrats have little urgency to see it have a 3 year extension without permanent solution included.

The whitehouse asked for 1.6 back in nov. they didn’t give a shi t then.

The senate voted unanimously back in dec with 1.6, trump threw a tantrum, now t he house voted for 1.6 and now McConnell is holding the whole thing up.

Berang > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 04:33

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I’m actually still trying to conceive just how fucking stupid a person would have to be to actually think a border wall is somehow money well spent. I’ve got a pretty good imagination, but I can’t quite grasp that level of concentrated stupidity. Donald isn’t even that stupid, which is why his whole selling of the wall was bolstered by the idea that we wouldn’t pay for it, Mexico would.

Keep in mind, I live in Texas, and the only people in Texas who actually think it’d be a good idea are mostly xenophobic yankees who’ve moved here because they’re wannabe rednecks and who’re scurred to live next to another country - and the politicians that pander to that particular demographic.

People who’ve lived all their life here aren’t afraid of Mexico.

Tekamul > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 07:23

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Stop believing you're centrist. The above post is well right of center.

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > Tekamul 01/20/2019 at 08:37

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So true. He’s just believing all their spin and propaganda. Is he excusing conservative racism and dishonestly because  liberals drive electric cars?

Monkey B > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 08:50

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I’m no fan, but she gets called out for “what has she ever done”? What’s Trump ever done FOR this country? For anyone other than himself for that matter...the wall is his only chance to leave his fingerprint on this world. An expensive, ineffective symbol of racism, narcissism and incompetence. Because the only thing hes smart enough to know is that his idiot offspring will erase his dynasty in short order when he’s gone.

Correct, most current politicians are self serving nitwits in it for the wrong reasons. But Trump never had any reason to be President other than he wanted to be the king of something. While he’s there might as well do some things that benefit his “friends”.

From the time he started this campaign he’s done everything humanly possible to be dismissed as a legitimate candidate. His social media antics and the audio/video evidence of who he really is would be enough to get him fired from Wendy’s. Every other candidate would have been dismissed so early in the process they’d be long forgotten. Yet the cockroach survived, and now he’s throwing another tantrum, fucking peoples lives up because he wants what he wants. The only other people who want that wall are the ones that stand to benefit financially and the idiots that voted for him that believe it will work. It’s just another obstacle facing desperate people willing and able to find other ways.

Maxima Speed > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 09:47

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I wanted to compose some responses to the posts below but it would be a waste of my time. The only thing I would say is that it’s in teresting how, again and again left leaning people attack anyone and everyone. Right, center, it doesn’t matter. If you dont align your view with them o n everything  they attack.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 10:36

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A couple takes:

It will require two parties to end the government shutdown, not just one.

Actually, all it would take is Mitch McConnell to do his job as described and not be Trump’s puppet. There have now been at least two plans to reopen the government proposed with enough bipartisan support to override a veto. McConnell said nope to both and did not allow them to come to the floor. What he’s doing is subverting the checks and balances prescribed by the Constitution.

This is now the person who is negotiating with the man who literally wrote the book on negotiation.

He didn’t write shit. A ghostwriter wrote The Art of the Deal. Trump is not a businessman or a master negotiator. He was the figurehead of a massive corporation built on low income housing. He started out as a slumlord, who ventured into luxury apartments then casinos, which, keep in mind, he failed miserably at, and then became a Brand. The Trump Organization does not control in a considerable amount most of the Trump hotels- the organization sells the word “Trump” as a marquee to brand properties.

Also, here’s a take on The Wall. A full border-length wall is not necessary . What is necessary is continuing funding for maintenance of existing physical barriers (like the fences near large metro areas on the border), continued funding for existing patrols along natural barriers, increased funding for holding areas (we absolutely cannot continue to pack people into cells in numbers greater than the cells were designed for. It’s unsafe an inhumane. ), increased intensity of searches at legal ports of entry (that is where the illegal drugs are coming from, not from Weed Cannons on the southern border), and better monitoring of people coming to the US legally and overstaying visas. I won’t get into my thought in general on illegal immigration (in short, it isn’t actually a problem), but Trump’s latest proposal seems the most rational and realistic to me as it extends protections for DACA recipients (many of whom don’t actually know Spanish and would be pretty fucked over if deported), calls for increased implementation of drug detection technology, and doesn’t mandate a wall.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Maxima Speed 01/20/2019 at 10:41

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Extreme left leaners do, just as extreme rights do. I’ve never been verbally accosted by any of my mainstream Democrat of Republican acquaintances , but I have been mocked and berated by the ones who wear MAGA hats and pussy hats in pretty much equal amounts.

Spanfeller is a twat > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 10:57

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Pelosi is elected because she’s a wall. You say she only got eight relevant legislations passed (two of which saved your economy) , but lets not forget the legislation she doesn’t get passed.

Also, How is focusing on visa overstays harder? You can increase the requirements for visas without spending 20 billion in infrastructure, and you can also depend on local police a lot more without needing more and more people working in many inhospitable areas.

When it comes to crime, the numbers are grossly exagerated as it always stays here in Mexico. Sometimes border cities are some of the safest in the United States! We also know that immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than locals. We also know that illegal immigrants spend less welfare money than they pay in VAT and other state taxes...

The best thing the US could do to curb violence around the border would be to have a common sense immigration system and for immigration courts to be handled by the Judiciary branch rather than the executive. It would also help if more money was spent on rehab centers for drugadicts.

Plus, the truth here is that the one that needs to compromise is the least popular modern president who couldn’t even pass the spending bill before loosing th congressional mayority.

Berang > Maxima Speed 01/20/2019 at 10:59

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The problem is your confirmation bias, likely.

Berang > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 01/20/2019 at 11:02

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Wow, you mean lefty. How dare you bring logic into this.

marshknute > Tekamul 01/20/2019 at 11:05

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What does “ right of center” mean in 2019?

Bill Clinton would qualify as “ alt- right” by today’s standards. Just because the left is skewing far to the extreme doesn’t mean the original center has changed.

Nick Has an Exocet > Spanfeller is a twat 01/20/2019 at 11:37

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Dealing with Visa overstays isn’t an “oh, hey, just increase the requirements” issue. It’s an enforcement issue. It’s Elian Gonz alez times a million. There are some checks you can do beforehand, but the US is a very unique situation you can’t apply “oh, the UK just does this” type policy to it. You can’t requirement-away people who come in on a student visa then don’t leave when they quit school.

Your argument about undocumented people spending less tax payer money is moot. If they weren’t here, it would be 0. And if border towns are so safe, you go live in one. Haha.

My point on Pelosi is that I don't want a wall. I don't want someone working for me whose only job it is to make sure someone else gets less done. We're fighting ourselves and it's stupid.

vondon302 > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 11:39

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We’re so screwed.

I'm no fan of Trump but the left's response to him is dismal at best.

Nick Has an Exocet > marshknute 01/20/2019 at 11:43

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Mars hkmute nailed it. I’ve never voted for a republican in a position above mayor in my life. My republican friends think I’m a democrat. I read news from several papers not just the NYT. I don’t regularly watch FOX news. But the left and right have gotten so extreme that no one on either side can accept a view that’s not their own. If you disagree, you must be the enemy.

I also said NOTHING racist. The fact that someone used that word is bth laughable  and disturbing. "Everyone I disagree with is racist" will not get us anywhere. 

Nick Has an Exocet > Berang 01/20/2019 at 11:46

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I wouldn't argue that it's well spent money. However, as the CNN article that I linked to pointed out, areas with a wall more effectively curbed crossings. I actually don't really understand why we can't solves this issue with technology. Sensors should be able to make a virtual wall.

Spanfeller is a twat > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 11:47

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I know a lot of people that moved from Mexico City to San Diego.... it does happen.

Most overstays are on B2s not student visas. And if you want to *stop* it you just need to regulate how many you issue and to whom.

About taxes, you would loose money if they left 

Nick Has an Exocet > Maxima Speed 01/20/2019 at 11:48

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Thanks. I appreciate that but have a different opinion on a single topic / person, someone actually called me a racist. We live in sad times. This country  is over.

Your boy, BJR > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 11:52

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if trump is such a master negotiator, why is he looking for the American people to foot the bill on his stupid ass vanity project rather than use all those tremendous and expert negotiating skills to get Mexico to pay for the wall, LIKE HE ENDLESSLY REPETED ALL CAMPAIGN LONG? Fuck this guy, fuck his wall, fuck a single American penny paying for it. He said what he said. He should either make good on his promises, or admit that it’s a stupid idea (it is) and accept one of the many, many reasonable compromises offered up. Instead he’s chosen to double down on acting like a petulant child and fucking up the country all for his idiotic fucking wall.

The left will wait. It’s not their problem to fix. When he first started this shutdown, he took full responsibility. It’s time people hold him to his word rather than just let him keep moving the goalposts here.

Nick Has an Exocet > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 01/20/2019 at 11:52

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Fair points on the book and McConnel. I actually agree with most of your opinion on the wall. I don’t think it needs to be physical. It would be better spent in a lot of the ways you describe and on technology / cur bing crime. Almost nothing you say I disagree with.

I appreciate the well written response without calling me names. Haha. Thanks.

Nick Has an Exocet > Monkey B 01/20/2019 at 11:54

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Im not a fan of this president but how can you both do nothing and completely fuck up people's lives? I really hate those arguments.

Maxima Speed > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 12:03

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I definitely agree that t he country is pretty much done. The divide is unreconcilable.

Your boy, BJR > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 12:15

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Bruh nobody called you a racist. Someone mentioned “conservative racism” but as a self described centerist, that does not concern you. 

Jayhawk Jake > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 12:58

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I don’t really get how you can talk about finger pointing and name calling while in the same breath making some targeted electric car joke about the left.

But you’re right, it will take two parties to compromise and they have. It’s McConnell that refuses to do his job and bring a resolution to a vote. Checks and balances be damned.

The Republicans controlled the house and senate for two years. If a border wall, funded as currently desired, was truly a priority why did they not pass it in that time?

This, ultimately, is my issue with the entire political landscape at the moment. Logic be damned, we’ll just make up whatever story we want and we’ll that bullshit down river.

Fuck the wall. Building a many billion dollar fence is a complete waste of time, money, and resources, and the only reason it’s still being pushed is purely politics.

Jayhawk Jake > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 12:59

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“How can you do nothing and fuck up people’s lives" um, by doing nothing?

Jayhawk Jake > Maxima Speed 01/20/2019 at 13:06

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This is such an unfair assessment.

We can disagree on many things without an issue. You don’t have to align your view on everything. But when your party frequently pushes social agendas that are often viewed being racist, xenophobic, homophobic, then yeah, you’ll get called an asshole.

In the end that’s the problem with the two party system. You can’t ask for smaller government without also denying rights to gay people, apparently. You can’t ask for higher taxes on the wealthy without also supporting abortion. There’s no a la carte option. And yet most people are far more concerned with social issues than economic ones, so it drives a massive rift.

Jayhawk Jake > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 13:08

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Because the 2020 Trump campaign can’t sell a virtual wall.

That’s why the democrats absolutely cannot (and should not) bow to pressure on this issue. If they truly believe the wall is a waste of money, then don’t let it happen.

And again, two bilateral proposals have come forward with enough support to override a veto. The shutdown should be over, but republican leadership isn’t allowing it to go forward. Instead they blame the liberals with made up bullshit and continue to spread the gap in the country. It’s so fucked, and they should be ashamed

Nick Has an Exocet > Jayhawk Jake 01/20/2019 at 13:19

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Wasn’t a joke about electric cars. I live in ground zero of both Tesla and the Democratic party . Where I am in California, I pay taxes so that a democrat politician 100 miles away can build a multi-million dollar “carpool lane” so he can drive his Tesla in it. The roads and bridges here are falling apart, people are struggling, but hey, let’s build a lane dedicated almost entirely to driving our Teslas!

I don’t disagree with most of the things you say.

The Dummy Gummy > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 13:34

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It always amazes me how the right caves like a sand castle being hit by water when presented with fear tactics . “There was a new deal” art of the deal mastermind came up with a worse ‘deal’ that was given 2 months ago, of course it’s going to be rejected. There was no compromise on Pres Trumps end. His figure for the wall has gone up and up.

This is the same president who said trade wars are easy, but a year later we are still stuck with higher products that probably won’t go down in price when the tariffs are removed and a worse trade deficit than what we started with

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The Dummy Gummy > Maxima Speed 01/20/2019 at 13:36

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the country is pretty much done

D on’t be so melodramatic.

Tekamul > marshknute 01/20/2019 at 14:06

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You’ve got that backwards.

You need to look at political stances of the individual versus the society.

Clinton was left on a lot of things. People criticize things like “don’t ask don’t tell”, but it was a strong progression from “beat ‘em with a sock full of nickels and dishonorably discharge them.” You can’t look at behavior from 20 years ago through today’s lens.

T o the topic at hand, modern society needs to be pro-immigration around the world. Most economically advanced countries are facing steep declines in birth rate. The US is currently below replacement rate. Without increased immigration, the country will falter within a generation (people are fed up with baby boomers, what happens when half of them are still here in twenty years, and most of the Gen-Xers start retiring? The vastly outnumbered Millenials will face 50%+ federal tax rates without a population increase that involves people already born today ).

Both sides have some extremist views. The Right is putting theirs front and center, unfortunately, and have put 42 0k people at risk for them. Never mind that a wall wouldn’t even be effective at stopping the portion of illegal immigration that gets here on foot, and that the actual people crossing have never been the serious issue behind unmonitored border crossings. Illegal contraband does not car about walls. Foot traffic is too inefficient to move the quantities ne cessary.

DipodomysDeserti > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 14:26

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Donald Trump has not literally written any books.

And as someone who has lived his whole next to California, everyone in that state had a psychological break looong before Trump became president.

Please don’t take these corrections as a defense for Pelosi.

Also, I thought Mexico was supposed to pay for this thing? Tha fuck?

nermal > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 15:05

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The system is working as it was designed. It’s sup posed to be difficult to get things done, because that ensures that the things that do get done aren’t too extreme. Also, the Constitution that modern US politics are based on was written in defiance of the British government in the 1770s (!). The entire goal is to prevent what happened in Britain at that time from happening here.

That said, Pelosi and the rest of the Ds are all racists.

Trump is exactly what the country needed when he was elected. I agree with the majority of the stances that he has taken, with a few exceptions. He’s negotiating with the world stage from a position of power, and putting the US first, as he should. More people in the US are in a better spot today than they were 2 years ago, and that trend is continuing. 

The Dummy Gummy > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 15:46

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And if border towns are so safe, you go live in one. Haha.

I h ave lived in a town for a year where there is a wall less than ten miles away that ‘works’. T he town across the boarder, from me at the time, is one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities . The wall ends about 10 feet into the water and hundreds/thousands(?) cross there.

The town I lived in has a crime rate well below the national average. Your fear that the republican media and ‘representatives’ are brain washing you with is simple fear mongering.

https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/jamul/crime

Nick Has an Exocet > The Dummy Gummy 01/20/2019 at 16:18

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I take it that the hundreds and thousands don't stay in that town. I don't think crime rate stats on the border is the justification here. 

The Dummy Gummy > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 16:49

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You stated to go live in a town on the boarder. Between me in the desert is basically barren land and a nature preserve. You don’t get much closer to the boarder than where I am. Honestly it’s my fault; I should have expected goal post moving.

Nick Has an Exocet > The Dummy Gummy 01/20/2019 at 16:53

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Na h, that’s fair. But the comment wasn't directed at you.

The Dummy Gummy > Nick Has an Exocet 01/20/2019 at 17:02

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That’s fair, but people rarely move away from where they grew up. Asking someone to move somewhere to prove a point is silly. I was simply providing real world experiences that the media doesn’t share and prays upon their viewers. 

BigBlock440 > Monkey B 01/21/2019 at 11:18

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I’m no fan, but she gets called out for “what has she ever done”? What’s Trump ever done FOR this countr y?

One’s been in public “service” for over 30 years, the other, barely 2.

Monkey B > BigBlock440 01/21/2019 at 13:13

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and he’s done what exactly? And if he has, for who?