US Elections 2012 Part II: The Conventions, Debates and Election results

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by willx

Not to speak for the market .. but unless you're a trader or investment banker or equity research analyst and know better than I do .. most of the concern is related to the deadlock of a split Congress/Senate and the inability to deal with the "fiscal cliff" .. inflation isn't the problem. They're trying to create inflation, it's just not sticking.

Anyways, there has been a lot of discussion now among pundits and Republican strategists (including the GOP Latino strategist) about how the party needs to figure itself out. Demographics are changing. The Tea Party cost the GOP 5 senate seats over the last few years. Cost them the Latino vote and Florida this year. Cost them female voters. Tying this back to what I was saying before .. the country/voters is/are becoming:

1) Less white, more latino/black/asian
2) More female
3) Split more young / old
4) Split along income levels (rich / poor)

So .. it'll be interesting to see whether there will be a "moderate Republican" backlash against the more conservative elements of it's own party. I'd be happy to see a 3-party system with conservative Dems and moderate Reps getting together. Then again I'm the crazy Canadian that believes in universal healthcare, gun control and a moderate sized government and can't understand my U.S. counterparts south of New York ..

Cannot produce a prediction at this time

You don't have to be any of those to know how fiat money works and why increasing the money supply will destroy the buying power of the dollar.

The GOP was lost after Nixon defeated Goldwater, so no, they're not going to change for the better.
Same can be said of the Democrats.
The last good President they gave us was JFK.

And no, you clearly don't understand the issues that face the US anymore than I understand the issues that face Canada.
For all our similarities we are still very different cultures and countries.

And Saintessheart is correct, China is rapidly becoming the largest economy in the world, and is clearly positioning the Yuan to become the world's currency.
IF that happens, you can kiss the standard of living in the US goodbye.

[james0246]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Sorry for the late response James, I had to go to bed.

I didn't get to sleep until about 5AM . Met a cute girl at the polling place (she was a supervisor or something like that ), invited her to a party a few friends were holding, ending up staying up all night just having fun. At around 2 I even made a triple layer cake (for some reason...I think I was bored waiting for Obama to speak). Good times all around.

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Mr. Johnson understood what everybody that voted for him understands.
There is/was no difference between Obama and Romney.

I did vote for Johnson, but not for the reason you've listed . I felt a Libertarian President would be a great balance for a Democratic Senate and a Republican House. Sadly, not enough agreed with my belief...

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

No the US just chose to shoot themselves in the left temple rather than the right as the DOW Jones is currently showing.

The day after an election is always tumultuous for the DOW (see here). It's traditionally worse for Democrats (mostly because Republicans once upon a time had a reputation for business sense), but it is still a very bad day for the stock market.

---

As an aside, is this the first time that so few Presidents have retained their positions for so long? We've had only three Presidents over the last 6 elections (representing 24 years). That seems like a particularly terrifying number when you really think about it. I dislike so few people being in control of so much power for so long...

edit: Shout out to Maryland for passing a huge law that has brought some much needed equality to the land. Then again, with a name like Mary Land the law only makes sense ...

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Simonsy

Not neccesarily.

At moment when Population is calculated, they just change the electoral votes each state is worht, but keep the total 538 number the same.

So the 538 could stay the same and the states are all adjusted, or it could increase. Who knows.

Thought the number of votes was based on the number of seats in the house + senate? Unless you're also suggesting that some states would lose seats in the house (though at the very least, 2 more votes would be added, since there's a base of 2 senate seats per state, regardless of anything else (note: DC is not a state)).

Originally Posted by kyp275

to be fair, McCain had days to prepare his concession speech, Romney had to write his in the car during the ride to the speech

Choosing not to write one and not being able to write one are different. Just means McCain wasn't a complete moron. Prepare for every reasonably possible contingency, that's a necessary trait for a President.

Originally Posted by Simonsy

What i find dumb is how if you leave a "yes/no" question blank it becomes No automatically.

It should be disregarded. Why should it become a yes or a no. Ignore it.

I've been saying this for a while as well. Give a third, "Abstain vote" option. Congressmen can do it, why can't we?

Originally Posted by Neki Ecko

But this is telling them a message, they got two years to get their stuff together or they are going to be voted it out.

No they aren't. It's fairly obvious at this point that it doesn't matter how much they harm the country as a whole as long as they keep their incredibly small voting block content.

Originally Posted by Ithekro

They might even go as far as to label Obama the Anti-Christ as a sign of the end.

They did that in 2008.

Originally Posted by Vexx

So its a win for "adults can marry" all the way across the board... sort of.

Indeed. So proud of Maryland for passing it. Kind of surprised, I think I only saw one or two ads (total view count, not unique ads) that were against Question 6 on TV. Random signs, sure, but not on TV.

Originally Posted by Destined_Fate

Hmm... Donald Trump seems angry, he tweeted that this isn't a democracy since Obama won both the electoral and popular vote.

Eh, I don't mind. Let them in!

What is this, I don't even...

Originally Posted by james0246

I didn't get to sleep until about 5AM . Met a cute girl at the polling place (she was a supervisor or something like that ), invited her to a party a few friends were holding, ending up staying up all night just having fun. At around 2 I even made a triple layer cake (for some reason...I think I was bored waiting for Obama to speak). Good times all around.

You lucky bastard.

[xxmimixx]

I'm so happy that my vote was worth it. It was my first time voting for President. It just feels great to vote for someone that might win xD. And I agree, the race was very close.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by james0246

I didn't get to sleep until about 5AM . Met a cute girl at the polling place (she was a supervisor or something like that ), invited her to a party a few friends were holding, ending up staying up all night just having fun. At around 2 I even made a triple layer cake (for some reason...I think I was bored waiting for Obama to speak). Good times all around.

Ooh...good for you old boy!
Hope it blossoms into something fun and wonderful.

I did vote for Johnson, but not for the reason you've listed . I felt a Libertarian President would be a great balance for a Democratic Senate and a Republican House. Sadly, not enough agreed with my belief...

There are more of us then you'd think that voted for Gary, just not enough to make the kind of difference the country needs fast enough.
Glad to see you voted your conscience and didn't let yourself get conned by the Red verses Blue dog-and-pony show.

The day after an election is always tumultuous for the DOW (see here). It's traditionally worse for Democrats (mostly because Republicans once upon a time had a reputation for business sense), but it is still a very bad day for the stock market.

Not to this extent.
People who follow the underbelly of the markets (politics of economics) know that Ben was helping out Obama with infusions of money to give the illusion of a recovering economy.
But the proof is in the number of business closures, rising cost of food and fuel, and reduction in the standard of living among other factors.
Hell even the "Mc-Economists" like Dave Ramsey and Susie Orman have been pointing this out and for tame shows like theirs, it says something when they tell their audiences that a lower standard of living, less pay, and having less than what your parents had without a degree, is the NEW NORMAL.

We in trouble, and "Obama-the-Great" isn't going to fix it.

As an aside, is this the first time that so few Presidents have retained their positions for so long? We've had only three Presidents over the last 6 elections (representing 24 years). That seems like a particularly terrifying number when you really think about it. I dislike so few people being in control of so much power for so long...

Agreed.
Perhaps another amendment to the US constitution is needed to further restrict the terms to only 1.

edit: Shout out to Maryland for passing a huge law that has brought some much needed equality to the land. Then again, with a name like Mary Land the law only makes sense ...

Good for them.
I wish Colorado would repeal their ban on gay marriage and/or pass a Civil Union bill that gives homosexuals all the same rights and privileges of people that are Married even if the label has to be different.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Agreed.
Perhaps another amendment to the US constitution is needed to further restrict the terms to only 1.

I'm going to say that is the stupidest idea I've ever seen when it comes to presidential terms. You have no idea what a one-term limit can cause, starting from early lame ducks to completely out of control policies.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

I'm going to say that is the stupidest idea I've ever seen when it comes to presidential terms. You have no idea what a one-term limit can cause, starting from early lame ducks to completely out of control policies.

Oh please, spare me the fear-drama.

Lame ducks are better than the clowns we've had over the past forty years.
Congress is supposed to control this country, not some popularly elected dictator.
Term limits for the house of representative is a must also.
We need to get rid of the career politicians.

[Sumeragi]

It's not sparing the drama, it's what happens in real life. If reality is too much for you, I suppose you can join the Republicans.

[james0246]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Ooh...good for you old boy!
Hope it blossoms into something fun and wonderful.

Don't worry, it won't . What happens on Election night, stays on Election night...

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Agreed.
Perhaps another amendment to the US constitution is needed to further restrict the terms to only 1.

I've always thought that Presidents should get 1 term of 6 years. That way, the President would have enough time to focus on several core issues and work with the Senate and House to enact these issues while not needing to worry about re-election (which also stops the various Congressmen from worrying about getting the President out of office).

I also feel Senators should never get more than 2 terms, and Reps no more than 6 (both getting potentially 12 years in office). Gubernatorial and state senate term limits should be decided by the states.

[willx]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Oh please, spare me the fear-drama.

Lame ducks are better than the clowns we've had over the past forty years.
Congress is supposed to control this country, not some popularly elected dictator.
Term limits for the house of representative is a must also.
We need to get rid of the career politicians.

..I respectfully disagree. I've read your posts about the economy as well as your link to "Monty Pelerin's World" and have come to the conclusion we disagree about the facts at a fundamental level..

Reply hazy, try again later

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

It's not sparing the drama, it's what happens in real life. If reality is too much for you, I suppose you can join the Republicans.

Reality is that these politicians in the US are corrupt and out of control.
Limiting their terms will further limit the damage they do.
If you truly understand the reality of the situation, you'd understand that, but then again you wouldn't have posted what you did if you were aware of the current situation.

[solomon]

Well here in battleground state Virginia, you can offically count NoVa (Northern Virginia) as the Northeast. The close in suburbs and exurbs had good obama showing. They are now Dem to moderate Republican easily.

In Maryland, Same Sex Marriage passed thanks to just enough people going for it in DC suburbs and Baltimore city and suburbs (most populous areas).

Anyways, I am moderately pleased with Obama's reelection but not much is likely going to change due to the makeup of the congress. Maybe something with Education

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by james0246

Don't worry, it won't . What happens on Election night, stays on Election night...



I've always thought that Presidents should get 1 term of 6 years. That way, the President would have enough time to focus on several core issues and work with the Senate and House to enact these issues while not needing to worry about re-election (which also stops the various Congressmen from worrying about getting the President out of office).

I also feel Senators should never get more than 2 terms, and Reps no more than 6 (both getting potentially 12 years in office). Gubernatorial and state senate term limits should be decided by the states.

Agreed.

[Chiibi]

America has ONCE again severely disappointed me.

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)

Hah, I should be numb to it by now. That will teach me to be optimistic.....and I COMPLETELY agree with Victoria Jackson and you guys making fun of disappointed Christians is NOT cool.

That was not sarcasm. Just because our beliefs differ from yours doesn't mean we don't deserve respect.

[willx]

Originally Posted by james0246

I've always thought that Presidents should get 1 term of 6 years. That way, the President would have enough time to focus on several core issues and work with the Senate and House to enact these issues while not needing to worry about re-election (which also stops the various Congressmen from worrying about getting the President out of office)..

Now that can work. Maybe. 6-years "sounds" long enough.

Re: GundamFan - It's just disingenuous to call an elected president a "dictator" when Congressmen and Senators are elected just the same with much less public scrutiny.

Ultimately, the U.S. has both a revenue and expenditure problem. I work in finance, but for the good of the country, Dodd-Frank and the "carried interest" loophole closing will probably be good things. A lower standard of living should be the new normal going forward. The previous generation ate this one's lunch..

Outlook not so good

[Ridwan]

I'll just post this here, even though the word of choice perhaps doesn't totally match our case here :

Originally Posted by Ridwan

This thread, if not this entire forum needs a regulatory system to deal against polemical partisants.

[willx]

Originally Posted by Ridwan

This thread, if not this entire forum needs a regulatory system to deal against ptolemaic partisants.

There, fixed it for you, damn Copernicans!

Signs point to yes

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

America has ONCE again severely disappointed me.

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)

Hah, I should be numb to it by now. That will teach me to be optimistic.....and I COMPLETELY agree with Victoria Jackson and you guys making fun of disappointed Christians is NOT cool.

That was not sarcasm. Just because our beliefs differ from yours doesn't mean we don't deserve respect.

You say our opinion causes America to die. Who isn't respecting whose opinion now? And we aren't making fun of "disappointed Christians", we're making fun of overreacting temper tantrums.

[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by GDB

You say our opinion causes America to die. Who isn't respecting whose opinion now? And we aren't making fun of "disappointed Christians", we're making fun of overreacting temper tantrums.

Riiiight, like if it was "an overreacting temper tantrum" over Obama LOSING, you guys would totally make fun of THAT?

[Ithekro]

If it was from someone famous, yeah, we'd make fun of them.