The Dreaded Political Poll...

[shadowkat]

[ETA: Apologies - apparently I spelled Bernie Sanders, last name wrong. But hey at least I was consistent about it.]

After Book Club and work, where we skirted around the topic and then skirted back again, I'm curious as to where the political landmines lie on my livejournal flist and the degree to which I should avoid all things political. (Book club was doing a better job of skirting, work not so much -- cubical mate likes to rant about Trump on a daily basis.) I already know where they lie at work and on Facebook, and with family. The people on Facebook are pro-Bernie Saunders, the people at work are either pro-Trump, Clinton, Saunders or staying quiet. And the book club seems to be leaning towards Cruz or no one. Meanwhile my mother is actively campaigning for Clinton.

So a poll. For this poll - I attempted to list all the presidential candidates currently running, but got tired after listing over 20 of them. Most of which, I'd never heard of. I thought, geeze, there's a lot of presidential candidates. And here, I thought only ten people were running, turns out I was wrong. In case you are remotely interested - the complete list of currently registered Independent Candidates running for President on the Independent Ticket, can be found HERE:

[Poll #2035065]

I forgot to list undecided. Damn it.

I tend to stay away from this topic, because...blood pressure inducing. But I'm curious to see where my flist falls. Are you all Bernie Saunder's fans? Or are you all Trump fans? (Ghod, I really really hope not. But one never knows...Honestly I can't imagine a Trump fan reading and enjoying my journal, but stranger things have happened.)

Currently, I don't feel strongly about any of the candidates...except that I'll probably have to move to New Zealand if Trump wins. The man has dead eyes.

[ETA: Apparently there is 1524 people who are running for president of the US. As an aside? This sort of reminds me of scrolling through television channels hunting for something to watch, over a thousand channels, and still, nothing is on!]

Comments

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree! My son owes 200K and has had to leave the country because he can't work in his field, so I know what you mean.

But I still haven't heard how Sanders will get the Republicans to cooperate, or how he will manage to accomplish his goals without Congressional approval. I don't like it--would love to see his goals accomplished. But how?

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It's pretty horrible out there. When I graduated from law school in 1994, you couldn't get a job to save your life either. I was unemployed throughout the majority of my twenties and thirties. Laid off three times. Didn't get a good steady, well-playing job until I turned 40. And it's with a public agency and in a union, so protected.

Granted I didn't have huge loans. School was about $3000 a semester, dirt cheap compared to what it is today.
Even my undergraduate, which was pricey back then, isn't in comparison to what it would be now.

I can't believe it costs $32,000 to go to a state or community college in NY. And $52-60,000 to go to a private school. That's insane.

But I'm not sure how we can lower those costs...without lowering teacher's salaries and other expenses.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

More state support for state schools would be a good start for lowering costs, and more regulation of for-profit private schools (which does seem to be happening, a little).

It really is true that for any school, even a daycare, decent salaries for teachers=high tuition, unless there's some other funding from somewhere.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The difficulty is that the states have no money. And all the agencies keep asking for more money.
I know, because half of our major construction projects - such as handicapped accessible elevators and stairwells, and a huge train yard, are tied up due to funding issues.

Each one of these programs costs a lot of money to implement it. Where's the money coming from? Taxes?
Who? Profit from public transportation? Tuition? I mean it has to come from somewhere. And then there's the problem of which agencies should get it? I remember when I worked in a state legislature - the agencies spent a lot of time lobbying the senators as to where the money should go.

Does education deserve it? Infrastructure (roads, bridges, public transportation)? Health care? Emergency Services? Police? Fire? Sanitation? Environmental?

I've become aware of how complicated it is working in a state agency. The State wants to please everyone -- but the problem with trying to please everyone is bureaucracy. For example - our governor has decided he has to give jobs to veterans, disadvantaged businesses, minorities, and women-owned businesses...but attempting to do so has increased paper work, red tape, and costs.

Have you seen S3 and S4 of the Wire? It brilliantly depicts the problem. You have a politician who genuinely wants to change things, but he can't. Too many problems, too many directions, he ends up playing a numbers game.

I

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I worked for the state for years, and the thing is, they used to have the money. Our state could have education and fix roads, if they'd just break down and pass a gas tax and a realistic property tax. You're right about the bureaucracy, but it's the political will, at bottom.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Not sure what the Carolinas are like, except working for both the State of Kansas and the State of NY has taught me that all states are not created equal. (Also the laws don't coincide.)

We have a gas tax. Actually NY State has the highest property taxes in the country, and some of the highest taxes. But they suck at implementation of funds. We spend way too money on the latest political thing. As opposed to repairs and infrastructure.

The problem is partly cultural and partly poor business and financial management skills. The stupidity that I've seen across the board is staggering. Great ideas --- horrific implementation. And oh lord, the corruption!

I was talking to my coworker who hails from Russia - and he said the biggest problem over there was political corruption and bribery.

I know this sounds cynical...but human beings don't handle responsibility well. And they suck at managing people.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Definitely true. One way or another, people are screwing everybody.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That they are...the headline in one of the various newspapers littering our lounge/common area table (which appears to be on its last legs by the way) stated that political appointees got a 12.6% raise. LOL!

People tell me they don't trust Hilliary. My problem is I don't trust any of them...at least Hillary is a known quantity. I know what she's going to do.

OT: Are you still watching The Good Wife? Alicia reminds me a lot of Hillary.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Alicia has always reminded me of Hillary! And I know, too, that what people think of a person in a public position is not always true, for good or bad. I know people who think I screwed them, as their boss, when the reality was that I saved their asses from being out on the street.

[spikesjojo.livejournal.com]

At the moment Sanders is less than half a percent behind Hilary. He is leading in New Hampshire and Vermont. He's bringing out voters who never voted. My hope is that will have to have some effect on congressional voting. BTW - there is a strong Republicans for Sanders group.

It may be a dream but right now I can dream. :)