U.S. Politics Thread

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

Whoa, you want an Arms Race?

How does upgrading a service rifle from a platform that's well over 40 years old constitute an arms race?

Originally Posted by Kyuu

Hell. Imagine if NASA had 5% of the military's budget...

Not that I don't agree with the sentiment, but in all likelyhood you'll have the same amount of waste and corruption, just with a different name on the receipt. NASA is subject to the same politics and deals with the same companies.

NASA did an internal study on the Falcon 9, and estimated that it would've costed them approx. $4bil to create something similiar - It took SpaceX less than a bil to develop the Falcon 1, the Falcon 9, and the Dragon.

Originally Posted by achirist

The US military is a terrorist organization, a racist colonial front that needs to be shut down. Right wing war criminals need to be put in jail, the foreign bases closed.

Why, hello there left-wing internet rush limbaugh

[synaesthetic]

NASA is still needed, though. The private sector isn't all that interested in space development because there's no safe profit in it. We need an agency not concerned with profit to figure out enough stuff so that someone can come along later and then use that stuff to make a profit.

Then the space industry will mirror the computer/smartphone industry and the gains and advancements will be ludicrous.

wtb orbital elevators plzkthx

[ganbaru]

Cruz 2016
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/347052/cruz-2016

A guy born in Canada thinking of being elected to the White House on the Republican Party.
Is it me or something isn't supposed to work here ?

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Cruz 2016
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/347052/cruz-2016

A guy born in Canada thinking of being elected to the White House on the Republican Party.
Is it me or something isn't supposed to work here ?

he is a Canadian Manchurian candidate.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Cruz 2016
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/347052/cruz-2016

Behind the scenes, there is a palpable fear on the right that the GOP will nominate a moderate Republican in 2016.

My god, what a horrible thought!

“We all see a path, and he does, too,” says a former Cruz colleague. “This isn’t someone who needs to be told the obvious. He didn’t run for the Senate to get cozy, so no one who knows him is surprised that he’s at least looking at it.”

Uhm, apparently he does. Not born in US, and not born to 2 US citizens abroad = not eligible. His Mother may be a natural born US citizen, but his father is a Cuban immigrant who didn't become a US citizen until 35 years after Ted Cruz was born. Unless they're such diehard birthers that they intend to play some weird "Obama got away with it!" card.

Cruz isn’t worried that his birth certificate will be a problem. Though he was born in Canada, he and his advisers are confident that they could win any legal battle over his eligibility. Cruz’s mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born, and he considers himself to be a natural-born citizen.

Leave it to the GOP to put what they consider above the actual law.

Seriously, this article makes me wonder if the GOP intends to go even further radical in 2016. Are they really that stupid?

[Ithekro]

Depends on how he fits into the whole "natural born citizen" section when it comes to the office of President of the United States of America.

[Destined_Fate]

Yeah...

I don't see how that would work out.

Was he born on American soil at least? I mean, I was born in the Philippines but it was on US soil(Military stuff) as my father was in the Navy so he made sure that was the case as he wanted me to be an American.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by GDB

Leave it to the GOP to put what they consider above the actual law.

Seriously, this article makes me wonder if the GOP intends to go even further radical in 2016. Are they really that stupid?

they are blaming the pass 2 loss on the GOP running RINOs. They want a real conservative this time.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Destined_Fate

Yeah...

I don't see how that would work out.

Was he born on American soil at least? I mean, I was born in the Philippines but it was on US soil(Military stuff) as my father was in the Navy.

Not unless Calgary, Canada is US soil now.

[Destined_Fate]

I see, so he doesn't even have that...

I honestly don't see what they're doing. Especially over how much of a **** storm they caused with Obama and whether he was a US citizen or not. If they pull through with this than the Democrates will rightly point out this huge contradiction and the Republicans will be starting up another race war of their own doing.

[Ithekro]

The most recent take on it is as follows:

The weight of legal and historical authority indicates that the term "natural born" citizen would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship "by birth" or "at birth", either by being born "in" the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents; or by being born in other situations meeting legal requirements for U.S. citizenship "at birth". Such term, however, would not include a person who was not a U.S. citizen by birth or at birth, and who was thus born an "alien" required to go through the legal process of "naturalization" to become a U.S. citizen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural...citizen_clause

[GDB]

What does that third one even mean? I assume that's his only possible recourse, but it's so... wtf?

[Bri]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Pork barreling aside, one of the main reasons the EU can get away with so little military is because American tax dollars pay for so much military.

The military expenditures of the EU as a whole are 25% higher than those of China and more than 100% higher than those of Russia. There is a lot of room for more efficient use of those funds, but outside of global ambitions that is plenty to support a credible defense.

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

NASA is still needed, though. The private sector isn't all that interested in space development because there's no safe profit in it. We need an agency not concerned with profit to figure out enough stuff so that someone can come along later and then use that stuff to make a profit.

Then the space industry will mirror the computer/smartphone industry and the gains and advancements will be ludicrous.

wtb orbital elevators plzkthx

agree 100%

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by GDB

Seriously, this article makes me wonder if the GOP intends to go even further radical in 2016. Are they really that stupid?

Untill they get than the country isn't as conservative as the most radical of them are, I think than the answer is yes. Some of them belive than Romney didn't win because he wasn't conservative enough and unless the even of a ultra-conservative losing badly in 2016 there's probably little chance of real change inside the GOP .

[Bri]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Untill they get than the country isn't as conservative as the most radical of them are, I think than the answer is yes. Some of them belive than Romney didn't win because he wasn't conservative enough and unless the even of a ultra-conservative losing badly in 2016 there's probably little chance of real change inside the GOP .

Makes me wonder what the balance is these days between moderates and ultra conservatives among GOP voters. If my colleagues are any indication I think a lot must have gone independent.

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by kyp275

How does upgrading a service rifle from a platform that's well over 40 years old constitute an arms race?



Not that I don't agree with the sentiment, but in all likelyhood you'll have the same amount of waste and corruption, just with a different name on the receipt. NASA is subject to the same politics and deals with the same companies.

NASA did an internal study on the Falcon 9, and estimated that it would've costed them approx. $4bil to create something similiar - It took SpaceX less than a bil to develop the Falcon 1, the Falcon 9, and the Dragon.



Why, hello there left-wing internet rush limbaugh

There is a difference between corruption and Congressional stupidity. A lot of NSAS's facilities/research are under the control of congress. Like Armies who are stuffed with Tanks they don't want, NASA is stuffed with equipment they don't need.

In contrast, Falcon 9 are not burdened with the U.S Congress's political agenda to support their district, and they also benefit from years of research done by NASA. Of course, don't let the free marketeers know about that.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

The most recent take on it is as follows:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural...citizen_clause

So is one parent enough or not? And if so, why did Obama come into question at all? Nobody's denied his mother was American, right?

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

And if so, why did Obama come into question at all?

Hypocracy at its finest.

[Ithekro]

Well that definition was from 2011.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

NASA is still needed, though. The private sector isn't all that interested in space development because there's no safe profit in it. We need an agency not concerned with profit to figure out enough stuff so that someone can come along later and then use that stuff to make a profit.

Then the space industry will mirror the computer/smartphone industry and the gains and advancements will be ludicrous.

wtb orbital elevators plzkthx

The basic philosophy of business:

If there's nothing there for me, why bother invest in it?

However, a future space industry? If mankind ever manages to expand in space and reap the resources out there -- today's oil industries would be worth pennies.

Originally Posted by ArchmageXin

NASA is stuffed with equipment they don't need.

Unlike the military, NASA has much greater freedom to divert resources away from unneeded things - like... the Space Shuttle. Oh, how sad it was for that program to go away, but it was absolutely not feasible to keep the Space Shuttle running any longer.